DVD Reviews (From East London and West Essex Guardian Series)

DVD Reviews

1:21pm Thursday 26th February 2009 in Staying in

A weekly round-up of the latest DVD releases.

By Damon Smith

NEW TO RENT ON DVD/VIDEO

Get Smart (Cert 12, 105 mins, Warner Home Video, Comedy/Action, also available to buy DVD £19.99/Blu-ray £26.99)

Starring: Steve Carell, Anne Hathaway, Alan Arkin, Terence Stamp, Dwayne Johnson, Masi Oka, Nate Torrence, James Caan.

Maxwell Smart (Carell) is a surveillance expert for secret US agency CONTROL, monitoring and deciphering conversations between counterparts from the Russian agency KAOS.

He is keen to prove his worth in the field but the Chief (Arkin) values Maxwell's talents too much to let him stray from headquarters. When the secret identities of CONTROL's operatives are compromised, the Chief has little choice but to promote Maxwell and to dispatch the new operative to Russia under the guidance of mentor Agent 99 (Hathaway).

With geeks Bruce (Oka) and Lloyd (Torrence) providing technical backup and buff Agent 23 (Johnson) as additional muscle, Maxwell and Agent 99 uncover a dastardly plot hatched by Siegfried (Stamp) to kill the American president (Caan).

Based on the madcap '60s television series, Get Smart is a comic caper about an accident-prone yet sensitive secret agent who might just be mankind's last, great hope.

Peter Segal's film incorporates many familiar characters and gizmos from the TV series including the shoe phone and so-called Cone Of Silence, but the director focuses too intently on big action sequences rather than slapstick, burdening the film with a split personality, which the screenwriters are unable to resolve.

Carell embraces the film's peculiar brand of unabashed silliness without restraint. He catalyses a pleasing screen chemistry with Hathaway, who has nothing to do apart from keep a straight face as her co-star goofs his way out of trouble. Supporting performances are largely forgettable and Bill Murray shines in a brief cameo as stir crazy Agent 13, who is stuck inside a tree.

DVD Extras: none stated.

Rating: ***

City Of Ember (Cert PG, 91 mins, Entertainment In Video, Family/Drama/Action, also available to buy DVD £19.99/Blu-ray £24.99)

Starring: Harry Treadaway, Saoirse Ronan, Bill Murray, Tim Robbins, Toby Jones, Mackenzie Crook, Martin Landau, Marianne Jean-Baptiste, Liz Smith, Amy & Catherine Quinn.

For the past 200 years, the subterranean metropolis of Ember has survived with the help of its massive generator but as food stores dwindle and machinery fails, this microcosm of life threatens to slip into eternal darkness.

Graduate student Doon Harrow (Treadaway), the son of noted inventor Loris (Robbins), and feisty classmate Lina Mayfleet (Ronan) resolve to find a solution to the nightmare.

Lina stumbles upon the answer when she finds a metal box containing badly torn, cryptic instructions. With the help of greenhouse keeper Clary (Jean-Baptiste), Lina and Doon attempt to decipher the instructions while outwitting self-serving Mayor Cole (Murray) and his lackeys Barton (Jones) and Looper (Crook).

Based on the novel by Jeanne DuPrau, City Of Ember feels a tad sluggish even at 91 minutes, with just two action set pieces (a close encounter with a giant tentacle-nosed rat at the midway point and a high speed, log flume finale) to quicken the pulse.

Director Gil Kenan (Monster House) works closely with production designer Martin Laing and cinematographer Xavier Perez Grobet to realise DuPrau's vision of an entire city, laid out in concentrate circles.

Created in a hangar in Belfast and bathed in light from hundreds of bulbs to mimic the sun, the sets are truly spectacular.

Digital effects are used sparingly, but are noticeable by their clumsiness against such impressive production design. Ronan and Treadaway are both endearing but we don't spend enough time with either of their adventurous urchins to feel we know them before the grand adventure begins. Murray plays his corrupt official so low key, he's almost lifeless.

DVD Extras: Behind the scenes featurettes, Making Of A Scene: City Of Ember.

Rating: ***

Hunger (Cert 15, 102 mins, Pathe Distribution Ltd, Drama, also available to buy DVD £19.99)

Starring: Michael Fassbender, Stuart Graham, Liam Cunningham, Brian Milligan, Liam McMahon.

Turner Prize-winning artist Steve McQueen recreates the hunger strikes of the early '80s in the Maze Prison just outside of Belfast in this harrowing narrative feature film debut. The story begins with prison officer Raymond Lohan (Graham) who is part of the team in charge of the infamous H-Blocks. He arrives at work to welcome new inmate Davey Gillen (Milligan), who is flung into a cell with fellow non-conformer Gerry Campbell (McMahon).

At Sunday Mass, Davey is introduced to H-Block's leader, Bobby Sands (Fassbender), to whom all the other inmates turn for guidance. Like his fellow prisoners, Bobby is brutalised by the guards and after one particularly vicious encounter that renders him conscious, he resolves to protest by starving to death.

A confessional with priest Father Dominic Moran (Cunningham), captured in a bravura, 22-minute, single take conversation, poses difficult questions about the nature of sacrifice. "Putting my life on the line is not just the only thing I can do, it's the right thing," responds the prisoner defiantly. Hunger is a breathtaking, impressionistic portrait of a time in history when ten men effectively declared war on their bodies as the ultimate act of defiance against the Thatcher government.

It's an immersive and disorienting piece of cinema, awash with haunting images, like the anguish of an inexperienced riot officer crying his eyes out to beg forgiveness for his part in the brutality. Fassbender is mesmerising, literally wasting away before our tear-filled eyes until every rib threatens to tear through his translucent, ulcerous skin. Violence begets more violence and nobody emerges from the melee with a clear conscience.

DVD Extras: "Making Of" featurette.

Rating: *****

Charlie Bartlett (Cert 15, 92 mins, Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment, Comedy/Romance, also available to buy DVD £19.99)

Starring: Anton Yelchin, Kat Dennings, Robert Downey Jr, Hope Davis, Tyler Hilton.

Deeply troubled teenager Charlie Bartlett (Yelchin) has no paternal influence to guide him (the old man is in prison for tax evasion) and a wealthy mother (Davis) who spends entire days in a drug-induced haze. Craving affection and attention, Charlie rebels against authority at his high school. At first, he is a prime target for bully Murphy Bivens (Hilton) but the new boy soon realises he can turn his outsider status to his advantage, doling out second-hand psychiatric advice and psychotropic drugs to fellow students from his 'office' in a cubicle of the boys' toilets.

Charlie's popularity soars and he woos classmate Susan (Dennings), whose father is Principal Gardner (Downey Jr). However, when the covert counselling service inspires students to rebel against Gardner and his edicts, the youngster realises he may have gone too far.

Charlie Bartlett is a timely rites of passage story, sweetening the bitter pill of the laconic hero's journey of self-discovery ("My family has a psychiatrist on call. How normal can that be?") with droll humour and tender romance.

Jon Poll's film recalls Ferris Bueller's Day Off but screenwriter Gustin Nash's peculiar perspective on life sets this teen misfit apart from the self-absorbed crowd. Yelchin delivers a winning lead performance as the loner in charge of his own destiny.

He forges wonderful screen chemistry with Downey Jr whose tour de force portrayal of a self-loathing alcoholic tugs the heartstrings. Beautifully scripted scenes, in which the two actors bare their characters' damaged souls, are deeply moving.

DVD Extras: Director and actors commentary, "Restroom Confessional" featurette, Spiral Beach "Voodoo" music video.

Rating: ****

NEW TO BUY ON DVD Then She Found Me (Cert 15, 98 mins, Artificial Eye, DVD £15.99, Drama)

Based on the novel by Elinor Lipman, actress Helen Hunt's feature film directorial debut charts one woman's journey of self-discovery and the search for a biological mother.

Then She Found Me considers familiar themes of abandonment and identity, as seen through the eyes of a late thirty-something schoolteacher, whose desire for a child is fuelled by her adoption at birth.

By raking over the smouldering coals of her past, the heroine finds answers to questions, which have lingered her entire life, though not perhaps the resolution she always dreamed. With her 40th birthday fast approaching and her biological clock ticking louder then ever, New York schoolteacher April Epner (Hunt) is desperate to begin her own brood with husband Ben (Matthew Broderick). Out of the blue, Ben sits April down and confesses, "I don't want this life," sending his wife into an emotional tailspin.

Frank (Colin Firth), the divorced British father of one of her students, advises her to keep a cool head and, "Don't do anything until you've slept," which is easier said than done.

The death of her adoptive mother (Lynn Cohen) threatens to tip April over the edge, then brassy talk show host Bernice (Bette Midler) drops a further bombshell: she is her real mother. "I didn't give you up. You were taken from me," confides Bernice, apparently keen to make up for lost time with the daughter she never knew. As the two women bond, conversation invariably turns to the identity of the father. "Who was he?" enquires April, a little tearfully.

"Steve McQueen," smiles Bernice, with a twinkle in her eye. Then She Found Me follows a predictable narrative trajectory, underplaying the turmoil wherever possible, enlivened by an eye-catching performance from Broderick as an immature fool. Co-written by Hunt, Alice Arlen and Victor Levin, there are flashes of droll humour to temper the emotional heartbreak and a heartfelt sincerity in the treatment of the characters as they wrestle with life-altering decisions.

However, some of the dialogue sounds a little stilted and Midler's portrayal of the brassy biological mom veers towards caricature as her daughter begs her to confess, "Just say that you wanted a life more than you wanted me."

DVD Extras: Director commentary, cast interviews and behind the scenes footage, theatrical trailer.

Doctor Who - The Rescue & The Romans (Cert U, 168 mins, BBC DVD, DVD £29.99, Sci-Fi/Drama/Action)

Two-disc set comprising the two-part story The Rescue and the four-part adventure The Romans, both originally broadcast in spring 1965. The Doctor (William Hartnell) and companions Barbara (Jacqueline Hill) and Ian (William Russell) arrive on the planet Dido where two stranded survivors of a crash-landing are being menaced by a deadly creature called the Koquillion. In the second story, the TARDIS takes the timelord to Rome 64 AD, where the Doctor becomes embroiled in a plot involving Emperor Nero (Derek Francis).

DVD Extras: Director, actors and designer commentaries, "Mounting The Rescue" featurette, "What Has The Romans Ever Done For Us?" featurette, "Roma Parva" featurette, "Dennis Spooner, Wanna Write A Television Series?" featurette, Blue Peter segment, photo galleries, Coming Soon trailers, PDF material.

Futurama: Into The Wild Green Yonder (Cert 12, 88 mins, Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment, DVD £15.99/Blu-ray £28.99, Sci-Fi/Comedy)

In this fourth and final feature-length film based on Matt Groenig's popular animated series, Fry gains psychic abilities after a freak construction accident and battles against dark forces, which could disrupt the forthcoming Green Age.

Meanwhile, Bender's hardware overheats when he falls in love with the wrong fembot and Leela goes on the run from the government.

DVD Extras: Director and writers commentary, Storyboard Animatic: Into The Wild Green Yonder, Part 1, "Matt Groening And David X. Cohen in Space!" featurette, "How We Make Futurama So Good" featurette, "Louder! Louder!: The Acting Technique Of Penn Jillette" featurette, Golden Stinkers: A Treasury Of Deleted Scenes, "How To Draw Futurama In 10 Very Difficult Steps" featurette, 3D Models With Animator discussion, "Bender's Movie Theater Etiquette" featurette, Zapp Brannigan's Guide To Making Love At A Woman, Easter Eggs; Blu-ray: director and writers commentary, Storyboard Animatic: Into The Wild Green Yonder, Part 1, "Matt Groening And David X. Cohen in Space!" featurette, "How We Make Futurama So Good" featurette, "Louder! Louder!: The Acting Technique Of Penn Jillette" featurette, Golden Stinkers: A Treasury Of Deleted Scenes, "How To Draw Futurama In 10 Very Difficult Steps" featurette, 3D Models With Animator discussion, "Bender's Movie Theater Etiquette" featurette, Zapp Brannigan's Guide To Making Love At A Woman, Easter Eggs, Video PiP with commentary.

City Of Men (Cidade Dos Homens) (Cert 15, 102 mins, Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment, DVD £15.99/Double DVD set £15.99, Drama)

Set in the same crime-riddled slums of Rio de Janeiro as the Oscar nominated City Of God (Cidade De Deus), Paulo Morelli's film revolves around two friends, Acerola (Douglas Silva) aka Ace and Laranjinha (Darlan Cunha) aka Wallace, who live in the same favela. While Ace is married, with a wife Cris (Camila Monteiro) and baby son, Wallace is still trying to find his place in the world, haunted by the abandonment of his father.

In order to obtain an ID card, Wallace tracks down his old man with the help of Ace but Heraldo (Rodrigo dos Santos) is reluctant to face this ghost from the past. However, a tender relationship gradually forms between the two generations, only to be threatened by the local turf war instigated by hoodlum Madrugadao (Jonathan Haagensen). A two-disc DVD set comprising City Of God (Cidade De Deus) and City Of Men (Cidade Dos Homens) is also available.

DVD Extras: "Building A City Of Men" featurette.

The Girl In The Park (Cert 15, 110 mins, Unanimous Pictures Ltd, DVD £15.99, Drama)

Julia Sandburg (Sigourney Weaver) has never fully recovered from the disappearance of her daughter Maggie from a playground in New York's Central Park. Blaming herself for the loss of her little girl, Julia wrecks her marriage and severs ties to her son Chris (Alessandro Nivola), now a successful builder with a pregnant fiancee (Keri Russell).

Sixteen years after Maggie vanished without trace, Julia encounters homeless grifter Louise (Kate Bosworth) and becomes convinced that this resourceful and beautiful young woman could be Maggie.

Offering the stranger a room to stay, a delicate bond forms between the two women, re-opening old wounds as Julia contemplates the possibility of reclaiming the child she lost all those years ago.

DVD Extras: none stated.

The Kill Switch (Cert 18, 92 mins, Momentum Pictures Home Entertainment, DVD £12.99/Blu-ray £24.99, Thriller/Action)

Steven Seagal not only stars in but also writes this thriller about a cop on the trail of deranged felons, who is haunted by the murder of his brother decades earlier. Jacob King (Seagal) witnessed the slaying of his twin as a youngster and has grown into an emotionally conflicted officer, working the mean streets of Memphis.

When not one but two serial killers start running amok in the city - an evil bomber called Billy Joe Hill (Mark Collie) and a murderer called Lazarus (Michael Filipowich) who leaves codes on the bodies of his victims - Jacob leads the investigation to bring the bad men to justice aided by partner Storm Anderson (Chris Thomas King). However, with few leads and the press baying for a resolution, Jacob must contend with interference from tenacious FBI agent Frankie Miller (Holly Dignard), who has been sent by her bosses to assume control of the case.

DVD Extras: none stated.

Tuesday (Cert 15, 78 mins, Verve Pictures Ltd, DVD £12.99, Thriller)

Actor Sacha Bennett makes his directorial debut with this '80s-set heist thriller. A group of notorious criminals called The Cowboys - aka Earp (Philip Glenister), Silver (John Simm), Billy (Ashley Walters) and Butch (Cristian Solimeno) - plan to rob a bank on the very same day that bank clerks Angie (Kate Magowan) and Samantha (Kirsty Mitchell), and unhappily married man William (Linal Haft) entertain similar thoughts.

Spookily, the strangers all target the same bank on the same day, resulting in the theft of a priceless emerald called the Meidan-i-Noor. Investigating detectives Jerry (Kevin McNally) and Thomas (Dylan Brown) try to unravel the mystery to discover which of their suspects has the jewel.

DVD Extras: Director commentary, "Making Of" featurette, gag reel, vignettes, theatrical trailer.

Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye! (Cert 12, 120 mins, UTV Communications Ltd, DVD £19.99, Comedy/Drama/Musical)

Inspired by a true story, Dibakar Banerjee's comedy revolves around a thief who discovers that there are some things in life you simply can't steal. They have to be earned. Raised in the ghettos of West Delhi, Lucky (Abhay Deol) yearns for a better life like the private school kids with their fancy cars and great prospects.

So anything Lucky wants, he takes, earning decent money from the illegally obtained wares with the help of his fence, flamboyant musical bandleader Gogi Bhai (Paresh Rawal in one of his three roles in the film), who becomes a surrogate father. Childhood friend Bangali joins Lucky in his shady endeavour, watching as the boy from the ghetto grows up to be a flamboyant playboy with the world at his feet. Despite all of the riches, Lucky craves something more - respectability, acceptance, love - but these are things that elude the sticky fingers of even the greatest thief.

DVD Extras: none stated.

Men Of War (Cert 15, 98 mins, Anchor Bay Entertainment, DVD £15.99, Action/Thriller)

Shot on location in Thailand, this straight-to-DVD action thriller centres on the tug of war between big business and isolated communities for the control of the Earth's dwindling natural resources.

Former mercenary Nick Gunar (Dolph Lundgren) is hired by two businessmen to lead a troop of hired guns to a remote Pacific island to force the locals to sign over rights to a rich vein of minerals. When he learns the truth behind his employers' plans and his conscience is pricked, Nick decides to swap allegiances and support the local community, pitting himself against the band of gun-toting men he brought onto the island in a brutal battle of life and death.

DVD Extras: none stated.

OSS 117: Cairo, Nest Of Spies (OSS 117: Le Caire, Nid D'Espions) (Cert 12, 95 mins, ICA DVD, DVD £12.99, Comedy/Action)

With tongue planted firmly in cheek, Michel Hazanavicius's spy caper draws inspiration from Jean Bruce's novels to craft an entertaining tale of espionage and double-cross, revolving around a dapper hero who sends women into a swoon despite his astonishing arrogance.

Top French operative Hubert Bonisseur de la Bath aka Agent 117 (Jean Dujardin) heads to Egypt in the months preceding the Suez crisis to monitor the situation in the Middle East, using a job at a poultry firm in Cairo as cover. Intelligent and sexy secretary Larmina El Akmar Betouche (Berenice Bejo) is an invaluable guide to the country's culture but the secret agent believes he knows best, riding roughshod over centuries of tradition to ensure peace in the troubled region and keep a close eye on the British and the Soviets.

DVD Extras: none stated.

A Bloody Aria (Cert 18, 114 mins, ICA DVD, DVD £12.99, Thriller/Horror)

Likened to Deliverance, Korean director Won Shin-yun's 2006 thriller imagines the sick and twisted battle of wits between a group of thugs and two unwitting captives. Music professor Young-sun (Lee Byuong-jun) intends to have his wicked way with talented former student In-jeong (Cha Ye-ryun), forcing himself on her during a drive in the countryside. Thankfully, the young woman escapes his clutches, only to run into a violent gang, who delight in playing mind games with their victims. Unable to call for help, Young-sun and In-jeong battle for survival, praying for escape from their hellish ordeal.

DVD Extras: none stated.

La Zona (Cert 15, 91 mins, Soda Pictures, DVD £19.99, Thriller/Drama)

In a wealthy suburb of Mexico, the residents of La Zona attempt to protect themselves from crime by transforming their estate into a fortress of high walls and CCTV cameras.

However, violence still breaches La Zona's defences and the residents bear witness to a horrific attack perpetrated by three young men.

Rather than involve the police, the locals turn vigilantes to track down the trio and dole out their own brand of justice. This radical course of action leads youngster Alejandro (Daniel Tovar) to come face-to-face with one of the perpetrators, who he must turn in to face the consequences of his heinous actions.

DVD Extras: none stated.

Oceans (Cert E, 400 mins, 2entertain, DVD £29.99, Documentary) Dive into the expanses of clear blue which cover two-thirds of the planet in the company of explorer Paul Rose, maritime archaeologist Dr Lucy Blue, marine biologist and oceanographer Tooni Mahto and environmentalist Philippe Cousteau (grandson of Captain Jacques-Yves Cousteau) in this eight-part BBC documentary series, which sheds light on the delicate ecosystems which are being affected by global warming. The three-disc DVD set includes "Sea Of Cortez", "Southern Ocean", "Red Sea", "Atlantic Ocean", "Indian Ocean", "Indian Ocean - Coastal", "Mediterranean Sea" and "Arctic Ocean"

DVD Extras: none stated.

Who Killed Nancy (Cert E, 100 mins, Soda Pictures, DVD £15.99, Documentary) On the night of October 11, 1978, one of the music world's great mysteries unfolded in room 100 of the Hotel Chelsea in New York City. Nancy Spungen, the girlfriend of the Sex Pistol's charismatic bassist Sid Vicious, met her grisly and untimely end, stabbed to death in the bathroom. Police claimed Vicious murdered her whilst in the grip of his heroin addiction but he professed to having no recollection of events that fateful night, sparking conspiracy theories about someone breaking into the apartment. Vicious never stood trial for the crime, dying four months later from an overdose. Director Alan G. Parker, who has written extensively about Vicious, attempts to delve into this fascinating story in his documentary, which interviews key players from the era, inter-cut with archive news footage, photographs and police testimony.

DVD Extras: "Alan G Parker's Story" featurette, out-takes, footage from the opening of No One Is Innocent at the Proud Gallery in London, recording of "Fast Track To Hell" by Neon Leon.