Top 10 DVD Movies for July 2012
1. Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows
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Robert Downey Jr. reprises his role as the world’s most famous detective, Sherlock Holmes, and Jude Law returns as his friend and colleague, Dr. Watson, in Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows. Sherlock Holmes has always been the smartest man in the room… until now. There is a new criminal mastermind at large – Professor James Moriarty (Jared Harris) – and not only is he Holmes’ intellectual equal, but his capacity for evil, coupled with a complete lack of conscience, may give him an advantage over the renowned detective. Around the globe, headlines break the news: a scandal takes down an Indian cotton tycoon; a Chinese opium trader dies of an apparent overdose; bombings in Strasbourg and Vienna; the death of an American steel magnate… No one sees the connective thread between these seemingly random events – no one, that is, except the great Sherlock Holmes, who has discerned a deliberate web of death and destruction. At its center sits a singularly sinister spider: Moriarty. Holmes’ investigation into Moriarty’s plot becomes more dangerous as it leads him and Watson out of London to France, Germany and finally Switzerland. But the cunning Moriarty is always one step ahead, and moving perilously close to completing his ominous plan. If he succeeds, it will not only bring him immense wealth and power but alter the course of history.
2. 21 Jump Street (+ UltraViolet Digital Copy)
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When 21 Jump Street premiered on Fox in 1987, it offered a cool-kid twist on the cop drama formula. This new-era reinvention keeps the cops, but trades earnest drama for raunchy comedy. At Sagan High, Schmidt (newly scrawny Jonah Hill, fresh off an Oscar nomination for Moneyball) was a brainy guy with no game, while Jenko (ever-brawny Channing Tatum, funnier than expected) was a popular jock with bad grades. Five years later, they reconnect at police academy, where enemies become friends when they pool their resources, but after their first bust goes bad, the deputy chief (Nick Offerman) ships them off to Jump Street, where their youthful looks lead to an undercover sting operation at Sagan (apparently, no staff members recognize the former students). Due to a mix-up, Schmidt ends up with the theater kids and Jenko with the science nerds. Through a production of Peter Pan, Schmidt meets Molly (Brie Larson), who introduces him to her drug dealer boyfriend, Eric (James Franco’s deadpan brother, Dave). Now, they just need to track down Eric’s supplier to shut the whole operation down. Along the way, Schmidt discovers his inner performer and Jenko his inner geek, but these new personas threaten the case, generating several Superbad-style laughs, so it’s too bad the finale devolves into bloodshed more befitting a John Woo crime caper, though the snappy chemistry between Hill and Tatum papers over some of the holes in the script–along with a foul-mouthed Ice Cube and one rather famous original cast member.
3. Wrath of the Titans
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Sam Worthington, Ralph Fiennes and Liam Neeson star once again as gods at war in “Wrath of the Titans”, under the direction of Johnathan Liebesman. A decade after his heroic defeat of the monstrous Kaken, Perseus (Worthington) the demigod son of Zeus (Neeson) is attempting to live a quieter life as a village fisherman and the sole parent to his 10-year old son, Helius. Meanwhile, a struggle for supremacy rages between the gods and the Titans. Dangerously weakened by humanity’s lack of devotion, the gods are losing control of the imprisoned Titans and their ferocious leader, Kronos, father of the long-ruling brothers Zeus, Hades (Fiennes) and Poseidon (Danny Huston). The triumvirate had overthrown their powerful father long ago, leaving him to rot in the gloomy abyss of Tartarus, a dungeon that lies deep within the cavernous underworld. Perseus cannot ignore his true calling when Hades, along with Zeus’ godly son, Ares (Edgar Ramrez), switch loyalties and make a deal, with kronos to capture Zeus. The Titans’ strength grows stronger as Zeus’ remaining godly powers are siphoned, and hell is unleashed on earth. Enlisting the help of the warrior Queen Andromeda (Rosamund Pike), Poseidon’s demigod son, Argenor (Toby Kebbell), and fallen gob Hephaestus (Bill Nighy), Perseus bravely embarks on a treacherous quest into the underworld to rescue Zeus, overthrow the Titans and save mankind.
4. Mirror Mirror
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Mirror Mirror is another traipse through the fairy tale of Snow White, this time without animation or songs. Oh, there’s a poisoned apple, and a magic mirror, and a houseful of dwarfs living in the woods, not to worry–and of course, there’s a wicked queen, embodied by Julia Roberts in witchy mode. The pure-as-driven-you-know-what heroine is played by Lily Collins, and here poor Snow is expelled as always from the magical castle and left in the forest, where she comes upon the dwarfs. Now here’s easily the best part of the movie: the seven dwarfs are boisterous highwaymen, stealing from passersby while wearing springy stilts (the spirited crew includes Danny Woodburn, from Seinfeld, and Jordan Prentice, from In Bruges). Also giving it a game try is Armie Hammer (The Social Network), as the prince who wanders into the middle of the tug-of-war between queen and princess. Hammer’s charming, and the movie has the superficial visual gloss of director Tarsem Singh’s previous efforts (including The Fall). But the breezy tone and tongue-in-cheek approach are ultimately so facile they leave you with nothing much to care about, and the Disney cartoon classic seems dark and tough-minded by comparison. Dopey, you never looked so good.
5. Act of Valor
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Act of Valor aims to capture the experience of Navy SEALs as they combat the schemes of a Chechnyan jihadist who wants to send suicide bombers into American stadiums and shopping malls. Their efforts take them all over the world, from Costa Rica to Somalia to the South Pacific. For added authenticity, eight real Navy SEALs have been cast in the lead roles. In terms of tactics and equipment, Act of Valor is rigorously authentic. What marks this as fantasy is the perfection of the missions (there are no civilian casualties; every sniper takes out his target in a single head shot–there are a lot of exploding heads in this movie) and absolute moral clarity (the wild-eyed jihadist and drug cartel foot soldiers are unquestionably evil; one of the main characters carries his grandfather’s folded flag from World War II). The performances of the SEALs, though well intentioned, make you appreciate the complexities of Arnold Schwarzenegger. What’s smart about Act of Valor is that it doesn’t waste much time with setups or dialogue, but heads straight into the missions. However, much of these missions are filmed like a first-person-shooter video game, which lends a sense of immediacy but undercuts the sense of reality. Still, all in all, Act of Valor is a sincere attempt to express admiration for the men and women risking their lives in the military.
6. John Carter
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Disney’s megabudget foray into a new CGI franchise of epic sci-fi mythology arrives with a massive marketing push and an interesting pulp pedigree that will probably inspire as many fans as it will naysayers. This impressively crafted piece of escapist fantasy is based on a character and series of books by Edgar Rice Burroughs that is runner-up to his primary creation, Tarzan, and the 20-plus volumes he wrote about that iconic ape-raised jungle adventurer. Burroughs churned out books in both series concurrently for roughly his entire adult life in the first half of the 20th century. John Carter is a former Confederate Civil War captain and fortune-hunting ne’er-do-well who through a weird incident of astral projection is plopped down on the red planet, where he becomes a passionate warrior against beasts and humanoids for the security of a home world known to its inhabitants as Barsoom. John Carter presents this origin setup in a clever prologue that finds the cranky Carter on the run from frontier military authorities as well as a band of marauding Indians. Carter is played by Friday Night Lights star Taylor Kitsch with great bravado. His character undergoes radical change when confronted with something he can finally care about. It doesn’t hurt that an exotic princess of Mars is part of the prize package that comes from his battle against evil and ultimately doing the right thing. John Carter is a visual feast (especially in well-conceived 3-D) with an array of digital and motion-capture techniques that create an eye-popping world of strange creatures, astounding architectural vistas, aerial panoramas, and luminous landscapes. All the extraordinary detail is not surprising considering that Pixar superstar Andrew Stanton is at the helm (he also directed Finding Nemo and WALL-E). There’s a lot going on in the script, and it sometimes feels as though too much work was done in the editing suite to streamline a story that is often overly complicated. Barsoom is ruled by three species, all with their own political and social agendas. There are the humans whose city-state cultures are threatened by civil war and the aggression of Tharks, a race of giant green-skinned, four-armed warriors with horrific tusks and a deeply bellicose intellect. Separate from both are the mythic Therns, a cultlike sect of über-beings who seek to manipulate all of Barsoom into their own submission. Added to the mix are a variety of outrageous animal creatures both vicious and sublime that make for an extremely motley ensemble of beasties. The huge cast of characters, species, and names becomes a bit confusing to keep straight in all the rapid-fire exposition. Fortunately the movie doesn’t ever stop long enough to allow much time for thinking; there’s something new and exciting to look at in virtually every scene. Because of some fantastical leaps of physics and gravity, Carter’s Martian body possesses super strength and the ability to make single bounds over huge distances. His powers not only make him a godlike presence to the natives of Barsoom, they also provide for some dizzying feats of movie magic. The most bravura element of the conceptual design is a fleet of massive solar-powered flying machines that recall something out of H.G. Wells or a steampunk fantasy. These colorful, insectlike machines soar and float in the gold-hued Martian atmosphere with thrilling precision. Even though the multitude of beings, names, and alliances may sometimes elicit a glassy-eyed response, there’s plenty of attention-grabbing exactitude to behold in John Carter. There’s also a good chance that the fans will make it worth Disney’s while to shell out another hundred million to keep the saga going.
7. Courageous
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What is the true mark of a man? The male stars of the moving sleeper hit Courageous are all sheriff’s deputies in a small Georgia town, putting their lives on the line every day. Yet as Courageous deftly shows, the true measure of a man’s courage and heart lies in the daily choices he makes, especially as a husband and father. Courageous is a film that examines faith, commitment, and the preciousness of life. If that sounds simplistic, Courageous, made by the same filmmakers who made the Christian film Fireproof and others, is in fact mostly nuanced, sophisticated, and very well acted. Directed by Alex Kendrick, who also cowrote the screenplay with his brother Stephen, and who costars as well, Courageous blends believable action scenes and drama with just enough comedy to keep things from being ponderous. The opening sequence, in fact, is one of the best car-chase scenes in recent film memory–and the “reveal” at its conclusion will bring tears to viewers’ eyes. In fact, Courageous is a weeper of a film, but only because its message is so true and deeply felt. Each of the four deputies–played by Alex Kendrick, Ken Bevel, Kevin Downes, and Ben Davies–wrestles with choices big and small, and finds his faith tested in the darkest of times. Courageous is an excellent faith-based film suitable for teens and older (there’s a death in the film that may be disturbing to very young viewers, though it’s handled off-screen). The Blu-ray disc contains lots of extras, including a thoughtful commentary with Alex and Stephen Kendrick, a making-of featurette that’s as inspiring as the film, outtakes, and a hilarious short called “Courageous in 60 Seconds” that underscores that the filmmakers have an all-important sense of humor. Anyone seeking a quality faith-based film experience will be enormously moved by the heart of Courageous.
8. Mission: Impossible–Ghost Protocol
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The second half of the first decade of the 21st century has been kind of tough for Tom Cruise. That’s tough in a way over and above the hardship of living the legacy of one of history’s top movie stars–a job more demanding than any mere mortal could imagine. But after two fruitful collaborations with Steven Spielberg (Minority Report and War of the Worlds), his stature took a beating from the one-two hits of those wacky PR gaffes and that string of relative box-office disappointments (Lions for Lambs, Valkyrie, Knight and Day), which seemed to start with the third installment of his Mission: Impossible franchise in 2006. It’s hard to say with a straight face that taking in only $398 million worldwide is a disappointment, but it was a low for the series, which some later saw as a prelude to his potentially dimming stardom. But on the cusp of turning 50, it looks like Tom Cruise has put the licking behind him and entered a new phase of self-conception with an upcoming array of roles, starting with a more maturely controlled version of superspy Ethan Hunt in the sleek and supercharged Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol. The things Cruise has done right in M: I part four include toning down his youthful, arrogant preening and letting his castmates share more of the spotlight (Jeremy Renner, Paula Patton, and Simon Pegg all have some terrifically shiny moments). He also lets the unique creative vision of director Brad Bird shine through in a first live-action outing for the acclaimed helmer of Iron Giant, The Incredibles, and Ratatouille. Still looking much younger than his years (that hair! those pecs! those abs!), Cruise is playing more age-appropriately, letting a little wisdom and grace seep into his charisma so the wattage of his mere presence smolders a little deeper. It’s a nice nod to a graying generation that says you can get older and still be cool. All that is not to say he doesn’t play up his action-star chops to the max. In a mostly inconsequential narrative arc that has something to do with purloined nuclear launch codes, an important metal briefcase, satellite uplinks, and global annihilation that leaps from Moscow to Dubai to Mumbai, Cruise is as dangerously nimble as he has ever been. He dangles one-handed from the tallest building in the world, bounds off ledges, springs out of speeding vehicles, tumbles and careens up and down the levels of an automated parking garage, and generally sprints and jumps his way across the movie with only a scratch or bruise to show for it. Also on the outlandish upside is a happily stereotypical villain straight out of Connery-era Bond and as many bleeding-edge gadgets as the art department techno-geeks could dream up. A running gag is that many of these electronic fantasy tools fail at just the wrong moment, which is part of a larger wink acknowledging how utterly preposterous yet ingeniously conceived this behemoth of a movie really is. The gadgetry is not limited just to the miraculous props. Ghost Protocol employs CGI fakery of the highest order from the sub-industry of effects contractors that ratchet up the standard of computing power and software design, one-upping each successive action-adventure extravaganza. The loving detail that goes into blowing up the Kremlin or rendering a photo-realistic sandstorm erupting across the enhanced skyline of an Oz-like desert city is nothing short of miraculous. What’s more astonishing is that Tom Cruise closes the deal with a selling power that’s as new and improved as the laminates on his multi-million-dollar teeth.
9. Safe House
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The first hint that Safe House will be a notch above the typical thriller comes from the list of supporting actors: Brendan Gleeson, Vera Farmiga, Sam Shepard, Rubén Blades–that’s a smart cast. Then the movie starts quietly: Matt Weston (Ryan Reynolds) holding his girlfriend’s hand, Tobin Frost (Denzel Washington) having a drink with an old friend… then that friend gives Frost a microchip and Safe House takes off, accelerating with every scene as legendary rogue agent Frost ends up in the hands of newbie Weston, who’s just supposed to watch the safe house where prisoners are held for interrogation. But now Weston is racing across Cape Town and Johannesburg, pursued by ruthless killers, his loyalties tested and manipulated by the infinitely charming Frost. Director Daniel Espinosa skillfully orchestrates jolting action sequences and distills quieter scenes down to their mesmerizing essence. Washington and Reynolds both give their characters emotional complexity and a sense of actual thought going on behind their charismatic movie-star eyes. The plot has its clichés (legendary rogue agent, crucial microchip, CIA corruption and whatnot), but this cast and director make Safe House a genuinely gripping thriller.
10. The Vow (+ UltraViolet Digital Copy)
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Price: $14.99
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Can true love really conquer all? That is the question hovering over the genuinely touching, affecting drama The Vow. Based on a true story (which itself might have made a great documentary), The Vow is a showcase for the splendid acting talent of Rachel McAdams and a breakthrough role for Channing Tatum, under the deft direction of Michael Sucsy (the feature version of Grey Gardens). The story is deceptively simple: Happy young married couple Paige (McAdams) and Leo (Tatum) are, well, happy. Then a car accident puts Paige into a life-threatening coma, and upon awakening, she finds she has lost the previous five years of memories–including of being married to, or ever in love with, her beloved Leo. With lesser actors or with a more heavy-handed director, The Vow might have been predictable, melodramatic, or flat–and yet, the talents of the two stars, and the crisp, light-handed direction, make The Vow an enjoyable, deeply affecting love story. McAdams is as winning as always, reminiscent of her early work in The Notebook, and here, as a brunette, channeling a young Jennifer Garner. But it’s Tatum on whose shoulders The Vow must succeed, and he is a revelation. His persona as a tough guy’s guy is perfect here, as a “softer” actor would have led The Vow straight into Lifetime Movie Network territory. The viewer relates to Leo, including his obvious frustration, discomfort, and even moments of terror. Sam Neill and Jessica Lange (who glowed in Sucsy’s Grey Gardens) make memorable supporting appearances. But it’s McAdams and especially Tatum who make The Vow the believable, delicate, and loving journey it is.
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Copyright David Masters 2012
