Mini DVD Reviews

Paranoid Park - It's no secret that I think Gus Van Sant is brilliant. A genius, even. He is most definitely ever present on a list of my top ten directors of all time (perhaps I shall make that list sometime...). And while I like to pretend that the ill-conceived Psycho remake never really happened, I have come to terms with the all around mediocre lameness of Finding Forester. After all, he's better than those two bit boring films. And Paranoid Park is the next film to prove it. With it's minimilistic cineamatography, non-linear story telling and mostly non-professional cast, Parnoid Park is another gem from Van Sant. It's exceedingly well done with an interesting story (did a high school skateboarder accidentally kill a security guard?) and great acting from lots of unknowns. Van Sant has not disappointed me in a very, very long time.
Grade: B+

Return to Sleepaway Camp - Having long been a believer that Sleepaway Camp is one of, if not, THE best horror films, perhaps my expectations were too high for the long, long, LONG awaited sequel. And since the original Sleepaway Camp has possibly the best twist ending ever, the sequel can't possibly top it, right? Well, unfortunately, it is right. While Return to Sleepaway Camp has the same cast (Felicia Rose and more!) and the same director, it also, unfortunately, has the same story line. There is little difference between the original and the sequel... except for, you know, twenty years or so. You can see the big twist ending coming a mile away and the main character is probably the most annoying horror movie character since Franklin in The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. Still, it's not a total bust. The death scenes are all original and cool as hell, my friend Nick has a scene stealing cameo and, well, it's just great to have the original cast back together. It's not a great film by any means but it's a fun way to spend an hour and a half.
Grade: C

Get Smart - The best parts are pretty much everything you see in the trailers. There's nothing really to expand on here. Bill Murray's cameo in a tree is brilliant. Other than that, I wasn't shocked by anything: Alan Arkin is a hilarious scene stealing genius, Steve Carrell is adorably dorky, Anne Hathaway is a terrible actress and The Rock has a certain amount of charm that makes up for his lack of talent. It's not a bad movie by any means... it's just not good either.
Grade: C

Transiberian - Now let's talk about the hidden film gem of 2008. I never even heard of this movie. Usually, I at least hear of most films. If I haven't heard of something, then I think it's probably a bad sign. But the cast of this film was enough to make me change my mind and give it a try. After all, it's got Ben Kingsley, Woody Harrelson, Kate Mara and, of course, Emily Mortimer who is so good and so fantastic in this film. The film follows a young couple (Mortimer and Harrelson) who get entangled in a drug trafficking plot while traveling on a train through Russia. Kingsley plays a drug agent who is on to their incidental involvement. Of course, there's so much more to the story but I wouldn't want to spoil anything. Plus, there's so much story it would take forever to explain. Basically, let me say this - Transiberian is totally worth it. It's completely engulfing, interesting and pleasantly surprising.
Grade: B

Pathology - Next on to a film which is neither engulfing, interesting or pleasant in any way. It follows Milo Ventimiglia from Heroes as a pathology student who gets involved with a little game. He and the rest of the med students begin to kill random people. The others have to figure out how it was done. Interesting concept, I guess, but that's all it really has going for it. The acting is mediocre, at best. The character arcs of certain people are completely unbelievable and bizarre. It lacks any likeable characters to cheer for. It's just a bad film, plain and simple.
Grade: D

Birds of America - Who is the MVP of pretty much every movie he's ever been in? If you answered BEN FOSTER, then you're right. Birds of America is just above terrible. The only saving grace, really, is Foster and his performance as a man so sick of society that he begins eating berries and living by a ravine. Maybe it's that I can completely relate to him because that's what I want to do just about every day of my life or maybe it's just that he's such a fantastic actor (or probably both) but it was enough to keep me interested in an otherwise dull and boring movie.
Grade: D+ (the plus is for Foster, of course)

Coming soon - Bond. James Bond.