It is another disappointing week of releases. Still the show must go on and The Green Hornet did have an audience and may offer you an action fix. In the challenge of international film of the week, Sweden beats France with Smiles of a Summer Night.
First Releases
- The Green Hornet (DVD and Blu-ray)
- The Dilemma (DVD and Blu-ray)
- My Own Love Song (DVD and Blu-ray)
- Waiting For Forever (DVD and Blu-ray)
Re-Releases
- Fat Girl (Blu-ray)
- Smiles of a Summer Night (Blu-ray)
- What Dreams May Come (Blu-ray)
The Green Hornet (DVD and Blu-ray)
What's the Deal?
Back in the 60s The Green Hornet was a popular TV show that started the career of the great Bruce Lee. Now over 40 years later a film adaptation was made. The Green Hornet film project was in development for a long time and many actors and directors were attached to it: Jet Li, Jason Scott Lee (Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story), Kevin Smith, Stephen Chow (Kung Fu Hustle), etc…. Michal Gondry of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind fame took the role, a job he was first offered in 1997. Seth Rogen stars and co-wrote the script with his writing partner Evan Goldberg. Taiwanese superstar Jay Chou played as Kato in his first Western role and Christoph Waltz makes his first appearance in a film since winning an Oscar for Inglourious Basterds. Cameron Diaz also makes an appearance.
Britt Reid (Rogen) is a millionaire party boy and heir to a media empire run by his father (Tom Wilkinson). But when Britt’s father dies in suspicious circumstances Britt takes actions into his own hands. With martial artist and techno wizard Kato, the two become a masked duo to fight crime but have to face a notorious gangster, Benjamin Chudnofsky (Waltz).
Critics Rating (Rotten Tomatoes): 45% (average)
Player Affinity Score: 6.6/10
DISC DETAILS
DVD Special Features: Filmmakers' Commentary; "Awesoom"-Gag Reel; Writing The Green Hornet; The Black Beauty: Rebirth of Cool
Additional Blu-ray Special Features: PS3 Theme; Jay Chou Audition; Double Barrel; movieIQ; The Green Hornet Cutting Room; "Trust Me" -Director Michel Gondry; Writing The Green Hornet; The Black Beauty: Rebirth of Cool; The Stunt Family Armstrong; Finding Kato; The Art of Destruction
Amazon Price: $15.99 (DVD), $19.99 (Blu-ray), $24.99 (3D Blu-ray)
Score (DVDTalk.com): N/A
The Dilemma (DVD and Blu-ray)
What's the Deal?
Even before its release The Dilemma became notorious for using a homophobic slur, even though it was done for comic intentions. But this controversy still did not translate to a good box-office return. The ultimate hit-and-miss director Ron Howard took on Allan Loeb (Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps), and the film will be labeled as one of their lesser films. Frat-packer Vince Vaughn and Adam Sandler’s buddy Kevin James play the lead roles and the cast also features Winona Ryder, Jennifer Connelly and charisma vacuum Channing Tatum.
Ronny (Vaughn) and Nick (James) are best friends and business partners on the verge of a major business deal. But Ronny’s world is turned upside down when he discovers Nick’s wife Geneva (Ryder) is having an affair and you guessed it, this puts Ronny in a dilemma: dum, dum, dum.
Critics Rating (Rotten Tomatoes): 21% (poor)
Player Affinity Score: 4.5/10
DISC DETAILS
DVD Special Features: N/A
Amazon Price: $16.99 (DVD), $19.99 (Blu-ray)
Score (DVDTalk.com): N/A
My Own Love Song (DVD and Blu-ray)
What's the Deal?
Renee Zellweger’s career has not been so rosy recently, starring in flops like Case 39 and New in Town. Now she is starring in a direct-to-DVD drama that was released in French cinemas over a year ago. La Vie En Rose writer/director Olivier Dahan makes his first American film, that also features Forest Whittaker, Madeline Zima (Claire Bennett’s lesbian friend in Heroes) and Nick Nolte.
Jane Wyatt (Zellweger) is a wheelchair-bound former singer who decides to embark on a roadtrip to Memphis with her best friends.
Critics Rating (Rotten Tomatoes): N/A
Player Affinity Score: N/A
DISC DETAILS
DVD Special Features: N/A
Amazon Price: $24.99 (DVD), $24.49 (Blu-ray)
Score (DVDTalk.com): N/A
Waiting For Forever (DVD and Blu-ray)
What's the Deal?
The O.C. star Rachel Bilson is like many actors who are trying to turn their TV fame into film success. But her film credits are few and far between, having roles in Jumper and New York, I Love You. Now she is in a romantic drama with English actor Tom Sturridge (Pirate Radio), with Richard Jenkins (Let Me In) adding some experience. Veteran TV director James Keach took on the reigns for this film.
Will Donner (Sturridge) is a young man living in Los Andreas, happy to live a life of unemployment. But his girlfriend, Emma (Bilson), is a young actress.
Critics Rating (Rotten Tomatoes): 6% (awful)
Player Affinity Score: N/A
DISC DETAILS
DVD Special Features: N/A
Amazon Price: $16.99 (DVD), $18.99 (Blu-ray)
Score (DVDTalk.com): N/A
Fat Girl (Blu-ray)
What's the Deal?
Directed by Catherine Breillat, the French film Fat Girl was controversial, being banned by the Ontario Film Review Board in 2001, though the decision was reversed in 2003. It was also an award winning film, winning the Manfred Salzgeber Award at the Berlin International Film Festival and the France Culture Award at the Cannes Film Festival.
Anais (Anais Reboux) is an overweight 12-year-old girl who lives in the shadow of her attractive 15-year-old sister Elena (Roxane Mesquida). When on a family vacation, Anais and Elena explore a coast town where they meet an older Italian boy named Fernando (Libero De Rienzo). Fernando slowly starts to corrupt Elena with promises of love.
Critics Rating (Rotten Tomatoes): 72% (good)
Player Affinity Score: N/A
DISC DETAILS
DVD Special Features: High-definition digital restoration, with DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack; Behind-the-scenes footage from the making of Fat Girl; Two interviews with director Catherine Breillat, one conducted the night after the film’s world premiere at the 2001 Berlin Film Festival, the other a look back at the film’s production and alternate ending; French and U.S. theatrical trailers; Plus: A booklet featuring an essay by film scholar Ginette Vincendeau, a 2001 interview with Breillat, and a piece by Breillat on the title
Amazon Price: $26.99 (Blu-ray)
Score (DVDTalk.com): N/A
Smiles of a Summer Night (Blu-ray)
What's the Deal?
Before the recent resurrection of Swedish cinema the European nation was able to produce one of the greatest film directors ever, Ingmar Bergman. Bergman was known for making films like The Seventh Seal, The Virgin Spring and Through a Glass Darkly. Now his comedy Smiles of a Summer Night has earned a Blu-ray release.
Set in 19th Century, Fredrik Egerman (Gunner Bjönstrand) is a middle-aged lawyer married to a 19-year-old woman, Anne (Ulla Jacobsson). Fredrik has yet to consummate his marriage and he longs for his former mistress Desiree (Eva Dahlbeck). But Desiree is now Count Malcolm’s (Jarl Kulle) mistress and his wife (Margit Carlqvist) wants Fredrik.
Critics Rating (Rotten Tomatoes): 100% (excellent)
Player Affinity Score: N/A
DISC DETAILS
DVD Special Features: Digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack; Video introduction to the film by director Ingmar Bergman; Video conversation between Bergman scholar Peter Cowie and writer Jörn Donner, executive producer of Fanny and Alexander; Original theatrical trailer; PLUS: A booklet featuring an essay by theatre and film critic John Simon and a 1961 review by film critic Pauline Kael
Amazon Price: $27.99 (Blu-ray)
Score (DVDTalk.com): N/A
What Dreams May Come (Blu-ray)
What's the Deal?
What Dreams May Come is what English would describe as a marmite film, a film people either love or hate. Robin Williams who is in serious mode stars in this metaphysical fantasy with Cuba Gooding Jr. and Annabella Sciorra (The Hand That Rocks the Cradle). Rain Man writer Ronald Bass took on the writing duties for Vincent Ward, a man best known for writing a script for Alien 3 that was not used.
Based on a novel by Richard Matheson, What Dreams May Come is a story where Ward has to do the impossible – put Heaven onto screen. Dr. Chris Nielsen (Williams) is a neurologist who dies in an accident. He goes to an amazing afterlife but he has to risk everything when his wife (Sciorra) kills herself and goes to hell.
Critics Rating (Rotten Tomatoes): 55% (average)
Player Affinity Score: 3.0/10
DISC DETAILS
DVD Special Features: N/A
Amazon Price: $19.99 (Blu-ray)
Score (DVDTalk.com): N/A