29th
Rod Lott's DVD-a-Go-Go
As much as I’d like to see everything in a theater, projected onto a huge screen, sometimes it just isn’t possible — blame apathy, ice storms, real life. Here’s a look at four flicks I missed at the multiplex, but caught via the relative comfort (no cell-phone jabberjaws!) of DVD.
Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story
I’m surprised this Judd Apatow-produced comedy tanked, but then again, Christmas seemed an odd time to release a raunchy spoof of musical biopics. Johnny Cash, Ray Charles, Jim Morrison, Brian Wilson — all are mercilessly (but reverently) parodied in the tale of superstar Dewey Cox, in a go-for-broke portrayal by John C. Reilly, doing it far better than intended star Will Ferrell would have.
Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem
You know what else you shouldn’t release at Christmas? A sequel to Alien vs. Predator. Heck, maybe this one shouldn’t have been released at all. As an admirer of both film series, even I was left confused, befuddled and just plain bored at this half-assed, assembly-line, sci-fi/horror retread. It really does make the not-bad first one look like art.
National Treasure: Book of Secrets
The $200-million gross of this sequel is a bit astounding for something so average, but never underestimate the public’s low expectations when it comes to overproduced Jerry Bruckheimer extravaganzas. The National Treasure movies aren’t bad (but, boy, are they ever brown!), but can’t sustain the flashes of fun for more than two hours. Yes, Nicolas Cage is slumming, but at least this beats Bruckheimer’s tired, tedious Pirates franchise.
Sleuth
This remake of an extremely clever 1972 mystery stars Michael Caine, Jude Law and a really cool, überexpensive house. Essentially a two-character cat-and-mouse tale, it drags under a plodding Harold Pinter script, but at least director Kenneth Branagh makes it pretty to look at. The tech-savvy update the story gets is nifty, but there’s an odd, out-of-nowhere homosexual angle in Act 3 that make you think you’re back watching Caine in Deathtrap.