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Today’s DVDs - A winner from Woody Allen
Picking out the best DVD is a no-brainer this week - it’s the movie that just won Best Comedy at the Golden Globes.
The title may be a bit ungainly, but Woody Allen’s latest film is one of his more graceful efforts in awhile, as it deftly tells the story of a love quadrangle with one man (Javier Bardem) amidst three women (Rebecca Hall, Scarlett Johannson and Penelope Cruz).
Cruz in particular impresses with her fiery and alluring performance which has garnered much Oscar buzz, but all four leads are outstanding. They help smooth over an ungainly voice-over which sometimes helpfully fills in some blanks but too often underlines what we can clearly see.
The movie does not quite rise to the level of Match Point, Allen’s best film of this decade, but it’s a marked improvement over the underwritten Scoop and the pallid Cassandra’s Dream. Let’s hope Allen stays on the upswing when he returns to New York this year with Whatever Works, starring Evan Rachel Wood and Larry David.
GRADE: B+
Also out today
Appaloosa: Ed Harris stars in and directs a western about two lawmen (Harris and Viggo Moretensen) trying to reign in a renegade rancher well played by Jeremy Irons. Renee Zellweger has one of her saucier roles as the woman who comes in between the two men. However, Harris lets the pacing go slack, so the movie never builds up quite enough steam, but solid performances keep it afloat.
GRADE B-
Mirrors: An ex-cop (Kiefer Sutherland) and his family are the target of an evil force that is using mirrors as a gateway into their home. Could it possibly be up to The Lady from Shanghai?
My Best Friend’s Girl: This is destined to be rememebered not for the movie, but for Dane Cook’s diatribe about the poster.
Swing Vote: A Kevin Costner vehicle that couldn’t catch fire in an election year despite being about an election.
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