Duplicity (Blu-ray)
UNIVERSAL
MOVIE C+
SPECIAL FEATURES D+
DVD GEEK FACTOR 4
(OUT OF 10)
Julia Roberts and Clive Owen underwhelmingly team up in Tony
Gilroy’s corporate thriller, which features a lot of twists and turns.
The film wants to be clever, but winds up being frustrating, with a
conclusion that isn’t as smart as it thinks it is.
The two leads have minimal chemistry, although Paul Giamatti and Tom
Wilkinson are pretty good as rival corporate snakes. It’s a shame that
their good work sort of goes to waste in a film that doesn’t live up to
its promise. Considering that Gilroy directed Michael Clayton, I
was expecting a whole lot more.
SPECIAL FEATURES: Gilroy gives a commentary … and that’s
it.
The Last Starfighter: 25th Anniversary Edition (Blu-Ray)
UNIVERSAL
MOVIE C-
SPECIAL FEATURES C
DVD GEEK FACTOR 3.75
(OUT OF 10)
There is no denying the historical significance of this film. Made
in 1984, it was the first movie to use CGI for all of its special
effects (except for makeup). The effects are primitive, but somebody
had to jump into the pool first, right?
As far as the movie goes, I must confess that I had never seen it in
its entirety before. It has a great premise: A starry-eyed teenager
(Lance Guest) gets the high score on a special video game, and is
whisked into space to become a real-life starfighter. It also features
the last film appearance by Robert Preston as the man doing the
whisking.
Cinematic significance aside, The Last Starfighter is pretty
hard to watch. The alien makeup is laughable at best; the pacing is
amateurish; and the effects are, well, shitty. It’s true that nobody
could expect the film to look great while being the first to favor
gigabytes over miniatures, but that doesn’t make it a worthwhile
experience.
Internet buzz has this one slated for a remake or a sequel. I say go
for it. The premise is great, and with CGI being the way that it is
now, taking another crack at it wouldn’t hurt.
SPECIAL FEATURES: A look back at the movie that is actually
as lame as the movie itself. Director Nick Castle also offers up a
commentary.
The Last House on the Left: Unrated (Blu-Ray)
UNIVERSAL
MOVIE B-
SPECIAL FEATURES D
DVD GEEK FACTOR 5
(OUT OF 10)
I don’t know if it’s the extra bit of footage added for this unrated
version, or simply the fact that I was more prepared for this film the
second time, but I actually wound up liking this a little more on the
home screen. It’s sick; it’s depraved; and the ending still sucks, but
Tony Goldwyn is pretty badass as John Collingwood, a vacationing doctor
who finds himself on a vengeful rampage after his daughter (Sara
Paxton) is brutally assaulted.
Garret Dillahunt is a creepy sumbitch as the leader of a sadistic
gang of people who kill some cops, then wind up in the forest with two
young women who know too much. Paxton and Martha Maclsaac do a nice job
of being absolutely terrified; however, some of this film is just too
hard to watch. I actually hated the Wes Craven original that this film
is based upon, because that film’s raw style made it come off as a
snuff film. With the remake, director Dennis Lliadis has actually made
something more atmospheric and polished. It’s just a better way to go
with the material.
The broken-microwave punchline ends the film on a stupid note, but
not before Goldwyn, Paxton and Monica Potter (as the horrified
mother/wife) deliver good work.
This is one of those movies that I could possibly watch a third
time, and go right back to not liking it again.
SPECIAL FEATURES: Some deleted scenes and outtakes, and a
very short look into the making of the movie. Not a very good effort
with the supplements here.
The Beatles: Rare and Unseen
MVD/WIENERWORLD
SHOW F
SPECIAL FEATURES F
DVD GEEK FACTOR 0
(OUT OF 10)
I love just about everything Beatles, but this is a shameless
cash-in. Somebody found some old film clips of the Fab Four (with no
audio) and decided to throw it on a DVD with some tiresome interviews.
The old footage is repeated ad nauseum, with substituted audio and fake
audience screams. The likes of Phil Collins and Len Goodman, one of the
Dancing With the Stars judges, offer entirely unoriginal
opinions on the Beatles phenomenon.
This feels like one of those late-night infomercials. I fully
expected a “$19.99” offer to pop up, complete with a set of steak
knives. Diehard fans will find little of interest here; there’s also
some footage of the Beatles hanging out poolside on vacation, and it
actually feels like something we aren’t supposed to see. The guys
couldn’t even go for a swim without us gawking at it sometime in the
future.
SPECIAL FEATURES: Some unused interview footage. This is a
waste of time.
This article appears in Aug 27 – Sep 2, 2009.