Each week DVDs come out. Some of them are worth your time and money and some aren’t. Some of them are movies I’ve seen, and some of them aren’t. Regardless, I give you my opinion on the big releases of the week. Take it or leave it, here’s the DVD Blend.
Alfie - Jude Law strikes again in this remake of Michael Caine’s original 1966 film. Law portrays the same womanizing, noncommittal character placed in a more modern setting, but manages the same charm and charisma - if not more - than Caine had. Law’s film did undergo some critical flack though, with many saying the film was just as shallow as Alfie’s character was, lacking the social significance the original held. Paramount makes it easy for you to decide that for yourself, by releasing not only the remake in both Widescreen and Fullscreen versions, but also by making a two pack available containing both Caine and Law’s versions of the film. See for yourself, “What’s it all about?”
Being Ron Jeremy - In a parody of Charlie Kaufman’s Being John Malkovich comes this film, in which a guy who’s not too smooth with the ladies finds a way to enter adult-film star Ron Jeremy’s consciousness and control him. This is the first of two releases in the next month starring Jeremy (The second being the upcoming Special Edition of Orgazmo). For me it’s a riot to see Jeremy as an almost mainstream actor considering what he does for a living and the fact that he’s had a cult favorite for years. Nothing in this movie could possibly match the absurdity of having Jeremy conversing with Tammy Faye Baker (thanks to “The Surreal Life 2”) but just the concept of this film made it worth a mention in the Blend.
Hogan’s Heroes - Season One - Hogan is one of those shows that is so un-PC, you have to wonder if the same show could be made today? Sure Werner Klemperer required his character never succeed at anything in order to even appear on the show, and most of the key German characters were played by Jewish actors, but would a show about a comedic look at life in a Concentration Camp manage to see the airwaves today? Regardless of its subject matter, “Hogan’s Heroes” manages to be quite funny without being disrespectful. Well, perhaps the Germans were disrespected, but it's not like this sitcom was real. Besides, with soldiers like Col. Klink and Sgt. Shulttz, is it any surprise the Nazi army lost the war?
The Incredibles - How could this not be the CB Pick of the Week? While I had high hopes for the movie just because it was a Pixar film, I had no idea I’d end up loving it almost as much, if not more, than Spider-Man 2 which had the advantage of being about a character I’d loved for years. Thankfully Disney rushed this one out on DVD rather than the standard 9-10 months we’ve had to wait for previous Pixar films. Included is the short that preceded The Incredibles in theaters, the Oscar-nominated “Boundin’” as well as “Jack-Jack Attack”, a new short focused on the youngest member of the Parr family. While Tuesday nights are typically reserved for watching something on my review list, I’ll be putting off those duties for a night this week and watching this one. An absolute must own, regardless of whether you caught this one in the theaters or not.
Miss Congeniality (Deluxe Edition) - Hey, a cutesy Sandra Bullock film where she saves the day by acting as a beauty pageant contestant. It’s a shame nobody told her the real appeal of the film came from costars Michael Caine, Candace Bergen, and William Shatner, all of whom, except Shatner, are missing from the upcoming sequel. Released as the next in the line of “double-dip to promote the sequel” type DVDs, as usual this “Deluxe Edition” contains extras the original should have had as well as a free ticket to Miss Congeniality 2. What’s next Sandra? Hope Floats 2: Floating Away or Practical Magic 2: Practice makes Perfect? If you haven’t seen Congeniality it’s worth a look for the previously mentioned costars, but it’s definitely not worth a permanent addition to your library.
Star Trek - First Contact: Special Edition - First Contact flip-flops with Wrath of Khan as my favorite Star Trek movie of all time. It’s got a little bit of everything in it - the Borg make an excellent villain, Patrick Stewart doing the whole Moby Dick thing (similarly to Khan), even Data doesn’t annoy me as much in this film as he did in most of the other Next Gen movies. I gave director Jonathan Frakes a lot of credit when this movie came out - he knew his franchise, he knew his target audience, and as a result he blew the fans out of the water with what Star Trek could do. Unfortunately then Insurrection came, proving me wrong. Forget about the movies that came after First Contact and pick this one up. Paramount hasn’t done terribly wrong with these two disc releases yet, and if it wasn’t for The Incredibles, this would be my pick of the week.
What the Bleep Do We Know? - The final title of mention this week is a hard one to tack down - it’s part live action movie, part cartoon, and part philosophical journey. This is a very deep film at times and worth a look if you’ve got an open mind about philosophy. I know several people who have their minds set on what the meaning of life is, and for those people this movie was a bunch of junk, but I’ve not only enjoyed the film, but also the ideals and concepts that it left me thinking about. Why are we here? What’s life all about? Is God Really real, or is there some doubt? Oh, wait -that’s not this film. What the Bleep is worth a look if you’re open to exploring different ideals. If not, well - sit at home and read your Book while we pagans figure out how things really work.
