Daily Archives: April 29, 2008

DVD

Grosse Pointe Blank

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There are certain milestones we all dread: turning 30, becoming eligible for Social Security, and our high school reunions.  It used to be that we only worried about the 20-year reunion; but over the past 30 years, we have seen the rise of the 10-year reunion.  I remember mine approaching and realizing that I had not accomplished all that I thought I would.  Turns out that not everyone else did either.

Well, a couple of years before my reunion, a movie came out that had its environment center around the 10-year reunion.  Grosse Pointe Blank allowed us to examine this milestone in a unique way: what if you wanted to make a change in your whole way of life, could you do it with minimal “damage”?

John Cusack does a great job of expressing what we are feeling without coming across like a whiny little baby.  This the first movie that I took notice of Minnie Driver and thought she did well playing a tough, but vulnerable love interest.  Include a crazy Dan Aykroyd and a great soundtrack, and you have the recipe for a fun couple of hours.

The DVD only had a trailer as extras, so that was disappointing.

My advice:  Good for any night of the week that you want to have fun watching movies…

Movies

Harold & Kumar Escape From Guantanamo Bay

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Well, if you read my review of the first one, then you know I was looking forward to this one.  I was afraid that they might have put too much hype behind the movie and that I would leave disappointed.

The story is more developed than the first movie and the humor is a little smarter in drawing parallels.  Ultimately this is a movie about friendship and how far you can go before it is destroyed.  It works because the guys playing our heroes are likeable.

There are parts that are funnier than the first and the rest is about the same.

My advice: if you liked the first one, you will not be disappointed — If you were missing 10 minutes of gratuitous naked females in movies, then why are you still here and not at the theater?

DVD

Def Leppard: Rock of Ages

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I know, I know — you are used to reading reviews about movies, but DVDs are more than movies and TV shows.  A couple of years ago, I picked up a DVD of Def Leppard’s greatest videos on sale.  While I didn’t listen much to Pyromania, Hysteria came out my senior year in high school.  You couldn’t escape the sound of the band and if you were like me, you didn’t want to.  It particularly played well in Panama City Beach, where it could be heard on the beach and at the beach clubs.  Over the years I continued to listen to them, rediscovering them in 99 when they released an album (Euphoria) that harkened back to their Hysteria days.

So, Sunday night found me doing work on the computer and I decided to plop the DVD in — even though I had owned it for 2 years, I had yet to watch it.  Why I waited so long, I’ll never know; but it was amazing.  19 videos, many 5+ minutes in length, graced my TV screen while the music came pumping out in DTS 5.1 .

The DVD also had a bonus video from a rehearsal in 06, as well as the ability to create your own, ordered playlist.

My advice: If you loved their music, check this one out — your ears and eyes will thank you….

Movies

Forgetting Sarah Marshall

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We have all been there:  madly in love with someone, thinking things are going great, and then…

WHAM!!!!!

You are left picking up the broken pieces of your heart as the one you thought loved you casually walks out the door.

Usually Hollywood shows this as the guy dumping the girl; not this time around.  This time around we see the guy getting the shaft, which has been more my experience.

So do I go see this movie by myself?  Nope — I go on a date — but we had fun.  We went over for a Sunday matinee at the AMC Altamonte and settled into our seats just as the trailers were beginning.  Some interesting ones — it was the first time I saw the full Get Smart trailer — I want to see more of that one…

The movie starts off in a way that I am sure my friend, Spaldy, will love:  Jason Segel (How I Met Your Mother), with nary a stitch of clothing.  Interestingly enough, we get three different scenes of him in full-frontal, but really nothing of the women, barely a boob.  Anyway, Kristen Bell (Veronica Mars) dumps our young, nude hero for some girly-looking rock singer; seriously, Richard Simmons looks more manly.  Segel runs off to Hawaii, where, surprise, he runs into Bell and her girly-man.  What follows is pretty formulaic, but good.  My date and I had a lot of laughs from this one.

My advice:  Don’t miss it amongst all of the summer blockbusters — it’s even a decent date movie, as long as your date is not a prude…