LITTLE ROCK — Recent DVD releases:
Zombieland (R, 86 minutes) An almost simple-minded movie, Zombieland is elevated by warm empathy-grabbing performances and macabre humor. Ruben Fleischer’s directorial debut is effective because it refuses to overexplain the ravaged world in which it’s set: Within a few months of a guy eating a tainted hamburger, mad-cow disease mutates into a mad-human disease, which results in a plague of animated flesh-eating corpses. The few human survivors are forced to run, hide, kill zombies and scrounge for food. Among them are nerdy college student Columbus (Jesse Eisenberg) and gun-toting Tallahassee (Woody Harrelson), who, as different as they are, must join together in a battle to survive. The Blu-ray and DVD versions come with deleted scenes; commentary with Harrelson, Eisenberg, director Fleischer and writers Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick;making-of featurettes; visual effects progression scenes, and theatrical trailers.
Grade: 88
The House of the Devil (R, 93 minutes) An arty, intriguing horror film (low body count, minimal blood flow and gore, interesting plot and character development) that concerns college sophomore Samantha (Jocelin Donahue), who accepts a job from creepy Mr. Ulman (Tom Noonan) to keep an eye on his elderly motherin-law while he and his wife go out to celebrate the lunar eclipse, which turns out to be a much more terror-ridden task than she ever imagines. Blu-ray and DVD bonuses include English and Spanish subtitles, feature-length commentary with writer-directoreditor Ti West and actress Donahue, a couple of making-of featurettes and deleted scenes.
Grade: 87
Maid in Manhattan (PG-13, 105 minutes) Making its Bluray debut is Wayne Wang’s 2002 romantic comedy that relies on the star appeal of Jennifer Lopez as a hotel maid and Ralph Fiennes as a senatorial candidate to pull off a pleasant contemporary Cinderella story/mistaken identity caper set in New York’s Waldorf Astoria. A blooper reel is included.
Grade: 82
Mona Lisa Smile (PG-13, 117 minutes) The Blu-ray release of this 2003 drama from Mike Newell follows a broad-minded instructor (a not-quite-inspired performance by Julia Roberts) who, in the 1950s, teaches art - along with her own brand of philosophy - to privileged Wellesley students (played by the likes of Kirsten Dunst, Julia Stiles and Maggie Gyllenhaal). Included are a couple of featurettes, a music video by Elton John and an art forum.
Grade: 80
More Than a Game (PG, 105 minutes) Enjoyable if starryeyed (and borderline apologist) 2008 documentary that follows future NBA superstar LeBron James and four of his talented teammates through Ohio’s high school basketball tournament. While James is a charismatic figure who comes off as a decent, responsible sort, as Wilt Chamberlain famously observed, it’s sort of hard to root for Goliath. The extras include a making-of featurette and a sports psychology primer.
Grade: 87
New York, I Love You (R, 103 minutes) Eleven directors, including Natalie Portman, Brett Ratner and Allen Hughes, ambitiously create entwined vignettes - with varying degrees of success - staged among the iconic boroughs and neighborhoods of New York. Performers include Shia LaBeouf, Bradley Cooper, Blake Lively, Orlando Bloom, Robin Wright Penn, Chris Cooper, Andy Garcia, Julie Christie and many others.
Grade: 83
MovieStyle, Pages 35 on 02/05/2010
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