Tuesday, June 24, 2008

New on DVD: In Bruges, 10,000 B.C., Definitely, Maybe, Honeydripper, Charlie Bartlett and Persepolis

By John P. Meyer

Well, since so many films that we reviewed during their initial release reach the DVD distribution channels this week, let's get right down to it without a load of preamble. (Or anything else.)

10,000 B.C. finds Steven Strait portraying a character named D'Leh (D'OH!) who has to wade through an assortment of CG Pleistocene monsters to rescue his girlish lady love from a nasty tribe of urbanite human sacrificers. Lots of bellowing and bluster - not a lot of substance.

The lead character in Definitely, Maybe - Will Hayes (Ryan Reynolds) - sets out by means of flashback to explain to his young daughter (Abigail Breslin, as Maya) all about men and women and romance and stuff, with an emphasis on why there's an unfortunate lack of permanence involved in such things. Particularly on such things as they relate to Daddy Will. Isla Fisher plays one of Will's old girlfriends, and she has great legs. That's what I remember most.

John Sayles' Honeydripper - in addition to highlighting the importance of having a good hat (and looking sharp in it) - presents an atmospheric look at the deep South in the early '50s, on the side of the tracks where electric guitar blues came of age. Nicely nuanced performances by Danny Glover, Lisa Gay Hamilton and newcomer Gary Clark Jr. stimulate our cinematic interest while the slow development of events goes forward.

Charlie Bartlett provides a showcase for the acting chops of emerging star Anton Yelchin, who makes the most of the opportunity and turns in a charming and enthusiastic performance at the outsider kid in a new school who finds the most effective way into the hearts and minds of his fellow students via a) supplying them with prescription drugs, and b) listening to their problems as no one has listened before. Guess which approach ends up being the most lastingly effective?

In Bruges certainly won't appeal to everyone - it's rated R for a reason (the extreme violence; the pervasive foul language), but that can't stop it being one of the best movies of the year so far, because it's also very thoughtful. It's like Shakespeare scripted by Tarantino.

Also releasing is Persepolis, and while we didn't post an actual review, Chad Jones attended a lecture delivered by the author of the work on which the animated film is based.

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