HAMLET 2 [R]
Hey, the Mormons wrote a sequel to the Bible, so why not a follow-up to that other greatest story ever told — William “Billy The Bard” Shakespeare’s “Hamlet”? That’s the premise behind Hamlet 2, the latest comedy from one of the writers of the “South Park” movie and “Team America: World Police,” in which a sad sack high school drama teacher named Dana Marschz (Steve Coogan) takes a group of aimless students and rallies them around his wildly politically incorrect masterwork.
TRANSSIBERIAN [R]
review by Robert Nesti
In Transsiberian, Brad Anderson’s deft thriller, an American couple discover far more than they bargain for on a trip from Beijing to Moscow. Their journey - nearly a week long - is on the Transsiberian Express, a train, which despite its exotic-sounding name, doesn’t offer Old World glamour. Instead it’s an outmoded throwback to Communist era style - crowded, dumpy and utilitarian, making it a less-than-elegant ride for the couple.
“Dinosaur King,” the colossal fantasy adventure of three young dinosaur enthusiasts whose discovery of some mystifying artifacts pull them into an incredible world of adventure, danger – and dinosaurs – and one of the hottest new kids’ franchises, is scheduled to make its U.S. DVD debut on September 23, 2008. Shout! Factory, in association with 4Kids Entertainment, will summon up Dinosaur King: The Adventure Begins, the first DVD release from the smash hit TV series, which currently airs Saturday mornings on 4KidsTV (FOX). Featuring the first five adventure-filled episodes, a Special Edition Trading Card and dino-sized bonus extras, the Dinosaur King: The Adventure Begins DVD is priced to own for $14.99 SRP. Based on the internationally renowned arcade and collectable card game, the fantasy adventure series Dinosaur King has already evolved into a monster-sized hit. The DVD, featuring the first five episodes (Prehistory in the Making, Battle at the Pyramids, Tanks a Lot!, Bungle in the Jungle, and Rubble Trouble), an exclusive Dinosaur King playing card, and a wealth of bonus features, is certain to excite fans both new and old.
QUESTION: How long ago did the dinosaurs disappear from Earth?
E-mail your answer with your mailing address and the word DINO CONTEST in the subject head to RNewton@PagioInc.com by 11:59pm on Sunday, September 21st. Multiple or incomplete entries will be disqualified, as will entries by winners from the last 60 days. Winners will be selected at random from all correct entries. Good luck!
TRAITOR [PG-13]
review by Robert Newton
Don Cheadle leads an engaging and pedigreed cast in first-time director Jeffrey Nachmanoff’s tense thriller Traitor, in which Cheadle plays Samir Horn, a deep-cover government operative who may or may not be working with the terrorist cell he has infiltrated to stage a series of bombings across America’s heartland. The screenplay, which Nachmanoff also penned (sharing a story credit with Steve Martin), is a far cry from the formulaic fodder that was his script for the 2004 floater, “The Day After Tomorrow.” It is a smartly-acted slow-burn with a payoff that comes in the form of one of the best endings ever.
THE HOUSE BUNNY [PG-13]
review by Padraic Maroney
Ageism and beauty are everywhere we look. Whether it’s at the local bar on a Friday or Saturday night or at the gym during your workout after a long day at the office, we are always being judged by how pretty and young we look — mainly because in our culture, youth equals beauty. But the bubbly Shelley (Anna Faris) finds out that for a Playboy Bunny, being 27 years old is equal to being 59 in the real world, and no one wants to see someone who is that old hanging around the Mansion. So goes the concept for The House Bunny.
Funny girl Anna Faris came up the story on her own and tapped the writers of Legally Blonde. The movie follows Shelley, who dreams of nothing more than being a Playboy centerfold, but is instead kicked out of the Mansion on her 27th birthday. While wandering, she stumbles upon the Mother-less Zeta Alpha Zeta sorority, which is quite possibly the most pitiful ever.
DEATH RACE [R]
review by Padraic Maroney
A time-honored complaint about Hollywood is that everything old is new again and that Tinseltown has no new ideas left. When you consider the huge number of remakes being churned out, this would appear to be true.
But a decidedly huge rift has grown in the genre. First, there are the faithful remakes that follow the source material with only minor tweaks to make it relevant to a modern audience. The second group consists of those that are remakes in name only, retaining the most basic premise while nipping, tucking, tweaking and chopping everything else. Being that the movies being remade tend to be cult and semi-popular titles — and not exactly the AFI Top 100 to start — improving upon them should not be that hard. Yet for the most part, improving does not tend to happen all that much with the modern-day counterparts.
BOTTLE SHOCK [PG-13]
review by Christopher Sandlin
Every summer brings a few fantastic films that are unpredicted hits, often times due to lack of publicity and smaller budgets than the catering stipend of blockbuster behemoths like Dark Knight and Iron Man. Now’s the time to chalk up another win for the underdogs. Beautifully filmed with sweeping shots of lush California wine country, a witty and poignant script full of well-crafted characters portrayed by a fantastic ensemble cast, Bottle Shock is a wine-lover’s dream and a surprisingly refreshing vintage of film just begging to be tasted. At times cheesy, but completely charming, this is a feel-good movie no matter if you’re a non-drinker or a seasoned wine connoisseur.
“Criminal Minds” revolves around an elite team of FBI profilers who analyze the country’s most twisted criminal minds, anticipating their next moves before they strike again. The Behavioral Analysis Unit’s most prominent agent is David Rossi (Joe Mantegna), a founding member of the BAU, who returns to help the team solve new cases, while pursuing some unfinished business of his own. Each member brings his or her own area of expertise to the table as they pinpoint predators’ motivations and identify their emotional triggers in the attempt to stop them. Available for the first time, Criminal Minds: The Third Season debuts on DVD September 16 from CBS Home Entertainment and Paramount Home Entertainment for $64.99 SRP.
QUESTION: Which actor did Joe Mantegna replace on ‘Criminal Minds’?E-mail your answer with the word MINDS CONTEST in the subject head to RNewton@PagioInc.com by 11:59pm on Sunday, September 14th. Multiple entries will be disqualified, as will entries by winners from the last 60 days. Winners will be selected at random from all correct entries. Good luck!
THE ROCKER [PG-13]
review by Robert Newton
“The Office” star Rainn Wilson, in his first leading movie role, plays Robert “Fish” Fishman, a corporate drone who cannot let go of the fact that 20 years ago, he was the drummer for the metal band Vesuvius, which went on to superstardom after unceremoniously dumping Fish. When Fish’s nephew, Matt (Josh Gad), needs a drummer so that his band can play his senior prom, Fish agrees to take the gig, and stays on to advise Matt and his band mates Curtis (Teddy Geiger) and Amelia (Emma Stone) as their band, A.D.D., navigates their own rise. So goes the plot of the so-so comedy, The Rocker.
SURFWISE [R]
review by Robert Newton
In a way that HBO’s Shakespearean head-scratcher “John From Cincinnati” failed to capture the mysticism of surfing, HDNet’s portrait of a boarding family catches that wave and rides it all the way to shore (and yes, we used a surfing metaphor in a shameless attempt to become more blurbworthy).
The Paskowitz family — father Dorian “Doc,” mother Juliet, eight boys and one girl — became legends of the sport. This was due not only to the sheer number of them dominating competitions wherever their 24-foot camper trailer would take them, but their love for it and perseverance bred into them from birth by their unconventional Dad made them shine, too. The senior Paskowitz had rejected the cozy life of a Jewish post-War doctor, adopting a life in the froth after two failed marriages and an existential reckoning. An educated and principled man, he and Juliet home-schooled all their children, their nomadic beach life being their most regular classroom. It all seemed life the perfect off-the-grid life.
Writer-director Doug Pray (Scratch) does such a great job making that life seem enviable and beyond reproach. Then, however, he skillfully lets the cracks start to show, and Doc’s utopian vision starts to collapse. While the reaction from the many surf legends past and present remains consistently one of awe, others closest to the family — and of course, Pasko’s own passel — dishes the most intimately.
Pray smartly illustrates the dysfunction when he recounts the kids defying their father’s rigid, cult-like grip and leaving the nest. He gives us metered, alternate glimpses into Doc’s successes and failures; the kids’ immense skill, passion and personality…and their complete lack of marketable job skills paired with an education that wouldn’t even get them into a third-rate community college. He gives us the glory of Doc’s vision for the ideal life, and laments the tragedy of its flawed execution, but most importantly, he makes us care about this colorful clan of beach bums.
Ultimately, Pray’s look under the magnifying glass identifies all that is gorgeous and ghastly in this one family, making it a means of comparison to any family anywhere, and he does it in an even-handed way that neither condones or condemns. One of the boys sums it up best when he says, “I’d rather have a flawed family than no family at all.”•••
Robert Newton is the editor of Worcester Movies.