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Home > Blogs > Sir Critic on Cinema > Archives > 2009 > July > 21 > Entry
DVDs: Coraline, Watchmen and What Are You Watching?
After a few moribund weeks, the DVD selection perks up today with two high-profile titles - and one of them is one of the best films of the year.
Coraline: For my money, this absolutely marvelous, stop-motion animated fantasy about a girl who discovers a parallel world is even better than The Nightmare Before Christmas, also directed by Henry Selick. With or without 3D, (the DVD is available both ways), the story and visuals are wondrously imaginative and eerie. GRADE: A
The Great Buck Howard: This film starring Colin Hanks and Emily Blunt, about a man who becomes a PA to a fading illusionist, flew under most people’s radar when it was in theaters early this year, but attracted some good notices from people who did catch it.
Watchmen: If ambition equaled quality, this would be one of the best films of the year. The movie looks great and sports an Oscar quality performance from Jackie Earle Haley as the ultra-violent Rorschach - but Zack Snyder’s film feels oddly stilted and lifeless. My sense is the filmmakers tried to be so scrupulously faithful to Alan Moore’s graphic novel, but what may have worked great in print doesn’t come across so well on screen. (This, Harry Potter fans, is why the films are better when they are more freely adapted.) Some DVD editions sport a director’s cut, but I don’t see how anything short of a remake from the ground up would be an improvement. Full review. GRADE: C
What Are You Watching
Moon: This is what I might rather brusquely call a “WTF movie” - but in that good kind of way. Sam Rockwell stars as an astronaut anxiously awaiting the end of a long stint on the moon when he discovers there’s someone else up there - someone who looks exactly like him. It’s an extremely clever mind-bender, well-directed by Duncan Jones (son of David Bowie) and well-acted by the undervalued Sam Rockwell. GRADE: A-
The Women: George Cukor’s 1939 film boasts an entirely female cast, right down to the smallest part. There’s nary a man in sight, not even as an extra. It’s a little dated, and the Technicolor fashion show sequence is uncharacteristically gimmicky for Cukor. Still, with stars like Norma Shearer, Joan Crawford, Rosalind Russell, Paulette Godard and Joan Fontaine on hand, it’s highly entertaining. One of my favorite performances was by young Virginia Weidler, who stole scenes left and right from Hepburn, Stewart and Grant in a little movie called The Philadelphia Story. GRADE: A-
Tell me what you think of this week’s picks, and tell me what you’re watching.
Permalink | Comments (1) | Post your comment | Categories: Ask the Audience, On Video/DVD, Reviews
Comments
By SRCputt
July 22, 2009 12:14 PM | Link to this
Caught up with An American in Paris Sunday. Wonderful dance sequences, no so great plot. The dance is well worth the time. Also watched Mama Mia!, and I don’t get it. I accept that the vocals are mediocre, but did the background music have to be so uninspired? Streep is wonderful, but she’s not enough to recommend the film. I also rewatched Definitely, Maybe when it was on HBO again. If that’s not the best romantic comedy of the past few years, I don’t know what is. Isla Fisher is so radiant, and in a film also starring Elizabeth Banks and Rachel Weisz that’s saying something.