Due Date DVD review

DVD reviews give us a chance to review a movie that we may not have seen in theaters.  Or, we saw it in theaters and we were too lazy to review it.  Or, we want to give you all a heads up as to what cool extras are on the DVD or Blu-Ray. 

Due Date is directed by Todd Phillips who's helped create such hits as Old School and The Hangover.  It stars the amazing Robert Downey Jr. and 'Hangover' breakout star, Zach Galifianakis. 

Downey is about to be a father, but is on the opposite side of the country, and needs to get to his wife.  Due to hilarious events, he can't fly, so he MUST take a road trip with Galifianakis, an aspiring actor.  Hilarity ensues as they start their road trip across country with a little dog, no money and a ton of funny situations.  I'm gonna start.

What I liked about the film:
It's Simplicity

This film is very simple and very straight forward.  Two guys who have nothing in common, who are very different from each other, are forced to drive cross country.  There is some physical comedy but for the most part, it's grounded in reality.  I'm starting to mention that more and more in my reviews because I'm realizing it's a vital part of my movie-going experience.  If I can't relate, it doesn't equate.  Sorry, I had a Johnnie Cochran moment.

The Cast

Downey is one of my favorite actors, and Galifianakis is right there.  The two play such contradictory characters, they're bound to clash from time to time.  They play off each other like a game of ping pong.  Downey is great as a stuffed shirt, always serious, business man.

Galifianakis basically plays a variation of his character in 'Hangover', but it's still different enough for it to be fresh.  That's why it's not a "dislike" on my review.  He has a few emotional scenes in the film that gave me a whole new perspective on him as an actor, kudos for showing some range.

The supporting cast is great, including one of my favorites, Danny McBride, also Michelle Monaghan and Jaime Foxx.  Good stuff.

Director
Todd Phillips just has a knack for these comedies.  If you look at his work, he always has a terrific cast and supporting cast to carry the film.  His movies all have that "it could happen" feel, as well as relateable characters.  He also knows how important timing is when it comes to comedy.  The jokes and execution are perfect.  Nicely done, again.


What I didn't like about the film:
Sub Plot

Without giving too much away, there is a sub plot in the film that doesn't really ever go anywhere.  It involves Monaghan and Foxx's characters and it felt so stupid and a complete filler.  It's not enough to write off the movie or anything, its just one aspect that didn't work.


The Blu-Ray:
A Let Down
There aren't too many features to jump up and down for.  Also, it's important to note that if you want any features at all, you'll have to shell out $24.99 for the Blu-Ray/DVD combo.  The single Blu-Ray and single DVD don't have any features at all.  The combo has the complete "Two and a half Men" scene that is mentioned throughout the film.  It has a few mash-ups featuring scenes already in the film.  A short featurette about Galifianakis' character and a gag reel.  That's it. 

The Verdict:
Buy the DVD
The film is great in my opinion.  The actors, the story, the direction are all great.  The movie is a definite buy in my book.  But I would go with the DVD.  There are no scenes that require 1080p visuals, and the features fall flat on the expensive Blu-Ray combo.  Get the good 'ol regular DVD for $13.99 on Amazon.com.  Great price for a new release.  Enjoy!

FattMatt: "Law Abiding Citizen" Review

Every year the American public is bombarded with a crapload of action movies whose trailers promise that they'll keep you "on the edge of your seat." Only a select few, however, live up to that famous tagline.
Law Abiding Citizen is one of those select few.

Jamie Foxx (Ray) stars as a district attorney who took the easy way out in a trial 10 years ago. Gerard Butler (300) is the man who doesn't feel that justice was done and decides to take matters into his own hands like a madman, killing and torturing those he feels should pay.

Everyone was cast very well in this film, including the excellent supporting cast. Everyone did a wonderful job.
Butler especially showed a little more emotion than I'm used to seeing from him, playing a character whose wife and daughter have been murdered.

The best part of this film, however, is the way the story plays out. Without giving too much away, I'll just say that Butler's character figures out many different, uniquely creative ways to get his prey. Sometimes, without being even remotely around them. He uses any means necessary. It helps that he's a brilliant inventor and holds many patents on different mechanisms he's created. You'll literally be on the edge of your seat, waiting to see in what crazy way he's going to get his next victim. His methods will leave your mind blown.

Except for a few scenes, the movie is also pretty unpredictable in how it all plays out. I really enjoyed the calm before the storm, waiting nervously to see what will happen next.

The film is, however, full of cliches that really get annoying sometimes. One example is Jamie Foxx calmly walking away from an explosion without looking back... in slo-mo, of course.
Luckily, they weren't bad enough to distract me from the story completely.

Overall, I really liked this movie and recommend it to everyone. It was just plain badass.
Go see it, people.

Valentine's Day trailer... a criss-cross of love stories... again.

February of 2010 we've got another He's Just Not That Into You; or Love, Actually; or Crash type love movie. It's called, of all things, Valentine's Day. This film is not to be confused with I Hate Valentine's Day, also a love story. Fewwww, Gosh I hate love story movies. In true criss-crossing of stories fashion, Valentine's Day promises just that. Interwoven story lines just like the movies I mentioned above.

It stars, bare with me, it's a long list:

Bradley Cooper, Jessica Alba, Anne Hathaway, Julia Roberts, Ashton Kutcher, Jessica Biel, Jennifer Garner, Patrick Dempsey, Taylor Swift, Jamie Foxx, Queen Latifah, Shirley MacLaine, And George Lopez. Holy Crap man!

Quickie: Law Abiding Citizen trailer

Today is shaping up to be a day of trailers. This film stars Gerard Butler and Jaime Foxx, and is directed by F. Gary Gray (The Italian Job). Just go numb for a minute or two and enjoy this trailer!

Tony: The Soloist DVD review

In honor of The Soloist being released on DVD last week, we're going to give it a review. Our blog is young and was not online when this movie hit theaters, so this is something we're going to do pretty regularly. Also, when movies are released on DVD, we're able to watch special features and report to you behind the scenes information as to how the movie was made. Remember, our reviews are less about plot and more about opinion.

The movie stars Robert Downey Jr. as Steve Lopez, an LA Times columnist. He runs into a homeless person in search of a new column topic. The homeless person is Nathaniel Ayeres, played by Jaime Foxx. Nathaniel is a homeless schizophrenic who has a passion for classical music. The movie then dives into the relationship between the two characters.

Here's what I did like about the movie:
The Story. What a fascinating story. These two men, who otherwise have no business with each other, find a way to put aside differences and be friends. Differences in class, occupation, race, all in the name of friendship. Even though Lopez gets accused of exploiting Nathaniel for his own gains, you see that he isn't. He genuinely wants to help Nathaniel return to greatness in the music scene.

The Cast. Are you kidding me? Downey Jr. is the A-List star he's always deserved to be, and Jaime Foxx is an amazing actor, WHEN HE WANTS TO BE. And believe me folks, in this film, he wanted to be amazing! He sells the character of Nathaniel to the point where you must remind yourself it's Foxx. There are a few scenes where Nathaniel's schizophrenia is making him hear voices that are not there; Foxx sells this to the audience in a way few actors can do. There is no dialogue, and he has to express fear, discomfort, confusion all at once. Great role for a great actor. It doesn't hurt that Foxx actually played all the music in film, not just close ups of his face to make us think it's him.

What I didn't like: one thing really...
The Director, Joe Wright. How the heck could you mess this up, the man made Atonement for God's sake? The story is there, the actors are in place, the scenery is vivid, vibrant and alive, how do you mess this up? Every scene is stretched to an unbearable length. Something that should have been shot in a minute of film is stretched to five minutes. The movie is one hour, fifty minutes, it should have been an hour and fifteen minutes tops.

There's a scene where we're taken into the mind of Nathaniel, while he's listening to classical music. The director tries to impress us but fails miserably. There are light displays that are reminiscent of a mp3 player's equalizer matching the beat to a song. Bouncing lights to help us imagine what Nathaniel is hearing? What?


Overall I give this film a 6 out of 10. This film is like buying a puzzle. All the pieces are there, in a nice and tidy box, just as the pieces to a great film were there for the director. But its on the person to put the pieces together in the right place. And Joe Wright did not do that. Anyone else? Agree to disagree with me?