Home movies
Posted: December 4, 2009 at 4:38 a.m.
LITTLE ROCK — Recent DVD releases:
Beautiful Losers (not rated, 90 minutes) An affectionate documentary by Aaron Rose that celebrates a unique set of visual artists, influenced by skateboarding, surf, punk, hip-hop and graffiti, who came out of Rose’s Alleged Gallery on Manhattan’s Lower East Side in the 1990s. The DVD includes clips from nationwide Beautiful Losers DIY Art Workshops. Grade: 83
Paper Heart (PG-13, 88 minutes) This unconventional, abrupt and believable charmer follows a disillusioned documentary filmmaker (Charlyne Yi) who’s determined to make a film about love, a subject she definitely doesn’t understand.Bonus features include a making of featurette, music videos, interviews with Yi and co-star Michael Cera, and deleted scenes. On DVD and Blu-ray. Grade: 88
Snatch (R, 104 minutes) Guy Ritchie’s 2000 crime comedy starring Benicio Del Toro, Brad Pitt and Jason Statham is now on Bluray. It’s an ultra energetic sprint that zips in frenetic short blasts from one scene to another. Keeping up isn’t important - just hang on for the wild ride with jewel thief Franky Four Fingers (Del Toro), who takes a slight detour to London en route to delivering a stolen diamond to his boss in New York. The side trip sets off an avalanche of events that involve bare-knuckleboxing, Irish gypsies, pawn shops, pig farming and a stray dog. Bonus features include a cutting room where you can create your own video and access to real-time information on the cast and trivia. Grade: 87
2 Turntables and a Microphone: The Life and Death of Jam Master Jay (not rated, 94 minutes) This low-budget documentary, commissioned by the family of slain hip hop legend Jason Mizell, aka Jam Master Jay, isn’t going to win any awards for investigative journalism, but it’s still a thoughtful look into his groundbreaking career, which came to a sudden end at the hand of an unknown shooter at Mizell’s studio in Queens in 2002.Grade: 81
Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian (PG, 105 minutes) This occasionally funny sequel to 2006’s kid-friendly comedy Night at the Museum brings back Ben Stiller as Larry Daley, who has moved on from his job as night watchman at New York’s Museum of Natural History to Washington’s Smithsonian Institution, where he once again battles nocturnal museum denizens who have a quirky habit of coming to life when night falls. The DVD and Blu-ray versions include an interactive museum scavenger hunt game, a gag reel, 12 deleted scenes, an alternate ending and several featurettes. Grade: 80
MovieStyle, Pages 38 on 12/04/2009
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