"The A-Team," "Despicable Me," "The Town" DVD Reviews

It was a big week on DVD and Blu-Ray. Three movies I really enjoyed in theater, all available this week to own. Let's start with The A-Team. For my theater review, click here. As far as the Blu-Ray goes, there's some cool stuff. You get an extended cut for starters. One of things I touched on in my review was that there were 5 significant action scenes in the film, rather than the standard 3. The Blu-Ray offers up one more, just for good measure!

There's also some cool behind-the-scenes material, along with deleted scenes and a gag reel. Here's all the details from Amazon.com:

The Devil's in the Details: Inside the Action with Joe Carnahan

Deleted Scenes

Gag Reel

A-Team Theme Mash-Up Montage

Plan of Attack

Character Chronicles

Visual Effects Before and After with Commentary by Visual Effects Supervisor James E. Price

Theatrical Trailer

The next big movie to hit video shelves this week was Despicable Me. The movie was sooo good. I was really looking forward to getting the Blu-Ray on this one. In my original review, I mentioned how visually stunning the movie is, the Blu-Ray is out-stand-ing. A ton of goodies, including 3 mini movies featuring the adorable Minions. There are a lot of extras that are a bit different from what you're used to. There's games and recipes, as well as the standard making of footage. Below is the full detail from Amazon.com:

Disc 1 (Blu-ray)

Exclusive on Blu-ray and Double-Pack DVD: 3 All-New Mini-Movies Featuring the Minions

The World of Despicable Me

Despicable Beats

Gru's Rocket Builder

A Global Effort

Despicable Me Game Previews

Commentary with Directors Chris Renaud & Pierre Coffin Featuring the Minions

The Voices of Despicable Me

Super Silly Fun Land

Blu-ray Exclusive Features

Gru-Control - see the making of the film with behind-the-scenes footage and cast interviews with a PIP window

Miss Hattie's Top Secret Cookie Recipe

pocket BLU - featuring the 'Minion Me' and 'Minion Dominion' apps for iPhone & iPad

uHear - Never miss another line of dialogue when you're watching Despicable Me with this feature that instantly skips back a few seconds on your Blu-ray disc and turns on the subtitles

Disc 2 (DVD)

DVD of Despicable Me

Disc 3 (DVD)

Digital Copy of Despicable Me (expires 12/31/11)

Finally we have The Town. From the first time I saw the trailer, I was hooked. Then I watched it and reviewed it, and then I sat and waited for the Blu-Ray. The extras here are nice, but I really wanted more to be honest. There is an extended cut of the film, which is great. But I don't know if this happens to you, but I usually can't remember the original cut frame by frame to notice the extras. But there is SOME behind the scenes stuff. One cool feature is "Ben's Boston" where there's a lot of talk about the various locations in the film.

I wish there was a bit more detail and discussion about the characters and what their various motivations were. Especially Jon Hamm and Chris Cooper's characters! Here is the rest of the goodies from Amazon.com:

Includes theatrical version
Extended cut not seen in theaters
Commentary on both versions by Ben Affleck
Ben's Boston
Segments include: The Cathedral of Boston; Nuns with Guns: Filming in the North End; Pulling Off the Perfect Heist; The Town and more.


Three great movies, three great Blu-Ray discs. I spent some serious money this week and next week should be no different. That's when Salt comes out on Blu-Ray and the third chapter in the Family Guy Star Wars parody. Til then, keep your DVD players on and watch some behind the scenes awesomeness.

"The Town" Review

I remember the first time I saw the trailer for The Town and thought to myself, WOW! Now, granted trailers aren't exactly the most accurate way to judge a film, but this one was good, really good. Ben Affleck directs and stars in the film about bank robbers. Let's jump right in.


What I liked about the movie:
The Story/Characters
I'm a sucker for heist movies, I have to admit. But what I hate is when a writer or director plays on all the cliches from movies in the past. This movie does not do that. It's an original story with original characters. Each character is an intricate part of the movie. There are no wasted characters, no wasted plot points.

Peter Craig, Ben Affleck and Aaron Stockard weave together a fascinating story about friends, loyalty, trust, respect and most of all, money. Without giving much away, the movie breaks down into three major action sequences with obvious character development in between. But The Town does something very elegantly. It not only makes us care about the criminals, but the FBI agents tracking them as well.

Acting
The acting in the film was great. Ben Affleck showed off the emotional chops needed to play a troubled lead. He has to portray someone who is lost; his mother abandoned him as child, his father's in jail and he wants out of the family business of robbing banks. Great performance.

Rebecca Hall plays Affleck's love interest, but she's not just some girl. She's the girl he robs at the beginning of the film. The two develop a relationship throughout the film. Hall is great at showing the aftereffects of a traumatic experience like being robbed at gun point.

Jeremy Renner plays Affleck's best friend. He's the crazy gunslinger of the gang and does well to show his loyalty to Affleck. He really didn't have much screen time where he wasn't shooting a gun, but does great with the character development and motivations.

Jon Hamm, aka the rumored new Superman, is awesome! They could have easily written Hamm as a stereotypical FBI agent out to do good and bring the bad guys to justice. Uh-uh! He's a bad ass. He's a perp-beating, insult-flinging, threat-making son of a bitch. I loved his character! Wait until you see the exchange between him and Affleck. It's awesome. Oh, and there are bit roles for Chris Cooper and Pete Postlethwaite which are AMAZING! I don't want to tell you more about their characters, see the movie.

Action Sequences

They did WHAT?! Shot up FattMatt's hometown? Wait, they did what? The climax of the film is at Fenway Park? Are you kidding me? NOPE! The first action sequence is brilliant, perfectly choreographed and executed. The second features a chase through the narrow streets of Charlestown, Massachusetts that is pretty intense. And of course, the much talked-about climax at Fenway Park, home to the Boston Redsox. I don't want to say more, please just see the movie and let me know what you think.


What I didn't like about the movie:
The Love Story

This is a tricky one. The love story works, just trust me, I'm the first to bitch and complain when a love story feels fake or forced. This one works, but I wish there was a bit more of developing the relationship. Yeah, I really did just say that. Maybe one more date, or a walk somewhere would have sealed the deal that the two main characters were as madly in love as we're supposed to believe. I did, however, like the contrast between the relationship of Affleck and Hall vs. Affleck and Blake Lively's character. One is based on nothing but lust (Lively) and the other, love (Hall). Well done.

Coincidences/Tie-in
This one bothered me a bit. I understand the reasoning, but I didn't appreciate the execution. The story needs to tie-in the FBI to the final heist. So Affleck and company give it to us, in a nicely packed box with a bow on it. We're better than that! Come on. It's so absurd the way the FBI is tipped off on the final heist that it left a sour taste in my mouth. Please let me know if it made you roll your eyes as well.

Overall the film was a ton of fun. The characters were rich and their back stories fascinating. Affleck's sophomore effort as director is a great one. I enjoyed Gone Baby Gone a lot, but The Town is even better. The story and execution were unique, great contrast between the thieves and the FBI and a climax that was worth it's location's history. Go see this film and I'm sure you'll have a good time.

Ben Affleck's "The Town" Foreign Movie Poster

A few weeks ago, the trailer premiered for The Town, a new heist thriller starring and directed by Ben Affleck. Click the jump to see the foreign poster for the film. It's interesting, but has way too much going on. Click the jump.

Ben Affleck's "The Town" Looks Incredble!

Holy Moly! Ben Affleck in a movie I REALLY want to see? I never thought I'd use those words all in the same sentence in my life. The movie is called The Town, and Affleck is writer/director/star. The screenplay is based on a novel the Chuck Hogan. The movie co-stars Jon Hamm, Blake Lively, Jeremy Renner, Chris Cooper and Rebecca Hall.

Watch the trailer and look below for my thoughts.

I love this trailer. The story looks so compelling and so enticing. I have to admit when it comes to the acting roles, Ben Affleck's best buddy Matt Damon gets all the good ones. But on the directing side, Affleck's got his number. I really liked Gone Baby Gone, Affleck's directorial debut. And in this film, I think Affleck has captured Boston, the characters and the overall tone necessary to make this movie successful. I am really looking forward to this one, folks.