3 Days To Kill – Kevin Costner stars as the world’s greatest assassin trying to get out, but they won’t let him until he pulls one last job. You think there is a special app they use in Hollywood that just enter a bunch of words and it churns out a summary for you to sell at film markets and studios? If not, there should be. Whoever figures that out can make millions. And yes, Virginia, McG directed this.
...About Last Night – David Mamet’s masterwork gets an “urban” updating. That’s the Hollywood way of saying a black cast was added to it to appeal to a different audience. Fun fact, Orson Welles was one of the first urbanizers: he did a Haitian Macbeth Off Broadway and Broadway and apparently that worked awesome. Would have loved to have seen that. Actually, would have loved to have seen any of Welles’ theater productions. If I could travel time, I would do that.
Gidget: The Complete Series – Sally Field at her most adorable in a highly watchable TV show about teenage kids in an era only our parents and grandparents would understand. I guess I’m getting old is what I’m getting at here.
Grand Piano – I wanna see this, so no one ruin it for me. Frodo has to play a perfect concerto or Rob Gordon will kill him. Sounds like a-plus entertainment to me.
In Secret – This one had a torturous road to getting filmed – so many people were attached and fell away. Based on Émile Zola’s 1867 classic French Naturalist novel Thérèse Raquin, In Secret is all about sexual repression, relationships, murder and shitty people. This iteration stars Elizabeth Olsen, Tom Felton, Oscar Isaac and Jessica Lange so it’s gotta be watchable.
Like Someone In Love – This is this week’s Criterion release, so it just automatically lands on the list.
The Monuments Men – A World War II Ocean’s Eleven is how I heard this one described. Not as good as it should be is something else I’ve heard about this. It’s here because I will judge for myself, but in the back of my mind I believe what I’ve heard.
Pompeii –It was only a matter of time before someone Titantic’ed Pompeii – so why not they guy who gave us Resident Evil? The cast is pretty, huh?
Raze – It’s a Doogan View inside a Doogan’s Queue. Kinda like Inception, but with more Doogan. Raze is about, well, I’m not sure. We as an audience are dropped down into what appears to be a forced underground fighting cell where women are pitted against each other to the death. All they (and we) know is, if they don’t fight, someone they love will die. To prove the minders mean business, a feed of their loved ones is played in their cells showing that whoever it is, they’re being watched. So fight the women do. The main character is Zoë Bell’s Sabrina. Her first sparring partner is Continuum’s Rachel Nichols and if you saw the short film used to get funding you know how that fight turns out. And honestly, the less said about the plot the better. It’s really not about that. It’s more about the atmosphere and the fighting – both are top notch. Raze is a fun film to watch and doesn’t really take itself too seriously. There are a few fun cameos, a couple of twists and I can’t see anyone but the squeamish (there are some really effed up fights here) not liking the film. It’s a solid B. This is a DVD only release and it looks and sound pretty good. Extras include a couple of commentaries, video interviews, trailers, poster art and the short film which was incorporated into the final film but features a few flourishes not seen in the finished film. This is definitely a rental.
Vampire Academy – I’d watch to watch this if I was a teenage girl. I’m not. So take that as you will.
That’s that for this week. If you want a preview for next week: Birds, Dracula, Diaz, HK, Blu Murray and classic horror with a penis and the twist.
You can figure all that out, but while you do, keep spinning those discs…
– Todd Doogan