This week on DVD

Here are the releases for the week of June 28th:

Hot Tub Time Machine, Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief, The Crazies, The White Ribbon, and Creation

Smoke Up Johnny! New taxes for the tobacco the inclined

It's no secret that the tobacco industry is one of the life-bloods of the American Economy. The industry makes billions of dollars each year off the public's decision to kill themselves slowly with nicotine and carcinogens.
And of course we've all seen the anti-smoking campaigns, everything from real blackened lungs (gross) to those truth.org commercials (totally preachy and pretentious.) But in the end do we really need all that garbage? Come on! We all know smoking is bad for your health. Anyone who doesn't think so is either deluding themselves, unbelievably ignorant, or smoking something else as well (if you take my meaning.)
Just as "smoking is bad for you" is a fundamental truth, so is "New York State will find more ways to tax you." Tobacco and taxes in New York state go together like Chuck Norris and a roundhouse kick. Therefore it comes as no surprise that NYS has once again increased the taxes on cigarettes by $1.60 effective July 1st. This will raise the cost of an average pack of cigarettes to a whopping $9.20 and $11 or more in New York City.
What is slightly surprising is how forthright NYS lawmakers are about the reason for the tax hike. They aren't trying to hide behind the idea that this will reduce the amount of smokers. Rather they say it's about one thing: money. Wow! Refreshing candor from Albany! Who would have thought?
At least they recognize that taxes will in virtually no way affect whether or not smokers quit. In some cases it may, but if the people really want to smoke they will find other methods, such as Native American reservations, the Internet, border states, or (gasp!) the black market. It's kind of like the idea that levying higher taxes on the rich works. It's a fallacy. The rich will just find a way to hide their money, just like committed smokers will find a way to buy their cigarettes more cost effectively.
The bottom line is that NYS will try to bilk the taxpayers in any way they possibly can. The myopic troglodytes that run this state manage money about as well as Carlos Zambrano manages his emotions.
So am I in favor of this new tax on cigarettes? Hell yes! How else are we going to pay the money we still owe Elliot Spitzer's hookers?

Review: The Road

Plot: Based on the Pulitzer Prize winning novel by Cormac McCarthy, The Road tells the story of a father and son (Viggo Mortenson, Kodi Smit-McPhee )struggling to survive in a post-apocalyptic United States.

Review:

It is a very rare instance when a film can capture the essence of the novel it's based upon, but The Road is one of those films. Top notch acting, stark landscapes, brilliant cinematography, a compelling story, and a haunting score all make The Road one of the best films of 2009. Incidentally, it was also one of the most overlooked. For the life of me I can't understand why this movie was completely bypassed at Oscar time.

The most compelling element of Cormac McCarthy's novels is their ability to strip away all ostentation, all excessive description, all puffery to create something true and real, something that resonates with the reader. Director John Hillcoat has been able to do the same thing with The Road film that Cormac McCarthy did with the novel. The two main characters don't even have names, they are simply The Boy and The Man.

Although The Road film does has some differences from the novel, such as flashbacks of The Man's wife (played brilliantly by Academy Award winner Charlize Theron) Hillcoat chose, wisely, to keep the main focus of the story on the relationship between The Boy and The Man. Yet this relationship wouldn't work at all if not for the fantastic chemistry between Mortensen and Smit-McPhee. Audiences are used to seeing Mortensen as heroic (The Lord of the Rings), protective (A History of Violence), and even malevolent (Eastern Promises). In The Road we see another side: vulnerable. In a world gone dark and dreary, The Man constantly emphasizes to The Boy the need to "carry the fire inside" and look out for the "good guys." Mortensen runs the gamut of emotions from fiercely protective, to joking, to despondent, to hopeful. The results are fantastic. The scene where The Man contemplates killing himself and The Boy to avoid being eaten by cannibals is just as poignant as when the two discover a hidden deposit of food. In fact the juxtaposition of these two scenes makes Mortensen's performance that much more powerful.

Not to be outdone is Mortensen's acting partner Smit-McPhee. It is staggering to me that a then twelve year old could hold his own with Viggo Mortensen, but he's successful. In a particularly memorable scene Smit-McPhee convinces his suspicious father to let an old man (Robert Duvall) join them for dinner. Amongst all the horror is a boy's mercy. The follow-up scenes between Mortensen and Duvall are nothing short of brilliant. It's amazing when an actor of Duvall's caliber can come in for a few minutes and completely nail a scene. Duvall's cameo only added to an already fantastic film. Additionally, there was also a scene in the film where Smit-McPhee was actually crying because of the horrible weather conditions but he went with it and played the scene out. How many actors at any age could do that? This is just a taste of what the young Australian actor has to offer. (He'll be seen later this year in the horror film Let Me In.)

The weather conditions also served to enhance the film as well. Dank rains, fires, constant ash, and the general grimy nature of the future, feature prominently in McCarthy's novel. Cinematographer Javier Aguirresarobe's captures the stark landscapes and dreariness of the novel in a way that I didn't think was possible. Hillcoat chose not to use CGI in The Road either, lending another layer of realism to the film. Much like Gotham City in Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight, editor Jon Gregory made the world of The Road a character in and of itself.

Equally impressive is the haunting score of composers Nick Cave and Warren Ellis. A movie's score should reflect the overall tenor of the film and the music of The Road does just that. Often times sad, sometimes harrowing, and occasionally uplifting, Cave and Ellis's music complements The Road perfectly.

While some may come away from The Road depressed and forlorn, I urge you to look deeper. If you do you'll find what I did; a rich story full of hope and promise, an amazing relationship between a father and son, and a gripping visual work that will stay with you long after the credits roll.

My rating: 10/10

Out this week

Out this week on DVD: Green Zone, She's out of my League, The Last Station, Remember Me, Entourage Season 6, and Hung season 1.

Tebow or not Tebow? A Quarterback In Question

The time has come. I've finally cracked. I'm done with the Tim Tebow love fest and I just have to shout it to the world. Tim Tebow is maybe one of the most polarizing characters in sports of the last 20 years. It seems that everyone you talk to either loves this guy or is rooting for him to fail. I'm neither. I'm not rooting for him to fail in the NFL, I just don't think he's going to succeed. But we will come back to that. My frustrations begin and end with the media when it comes to Tebow. The media coverage of Tebow is ridiculous to the point of absurdity. Do we have to hear every other second that a five minute conversation with Tim Tebow will make you a better person? What is he Tony Robbins? If the media felates Tebow much more they might as well start shopping with Tebow for a time share in Florida. That's not to say that the hype (at least when it comes to his off the field exploits) is not true. By all accounts Tebow seems like someone out of a Norman Rockwell painting. He's clean-cut, handsome, athletically gifted, socially conscious, and devout in this faith. Most know the stories: missionary work in the Philippines, making various appearances in churches and prisons, visiting sick children in hosptials, and in general helping the community at large. What's most impressive to me is that Tebow seems to really live his faith. He doesn't pay lip service to it like so many athletes today do. It's one thing to talk about your faith but it's another thing to live it. Tebow is also not a Bible thumper as some might expect. He'll talk about his faith openly but he's not one of these in your face guys. And as for the Super Bowl ad? I can't believe there was so much controversy surrounding it and what a fuss people made. The ad that was funded by Focus on the Family never once mentioned abortion. So what if it was a pro-life stance? Nobody seems to want to stand up for what they believe in anymore because they are afraid they'll be branded politically incorrect. I say f that. Grow a pair. Have the courage of your convictions. Why is it not cool for Tim Tebow to do a pro-life ad but no one bats an eye when an ad for godaddy.com has Danica Patrick in a shower? (Don't get me wrong I loved that ad. Show as many hots chicks in showers as you want. I'm still not buying what you're selling but thanks for the eye candy.) Lest I be branded biased, and so people won't think I'm some uber-Christian anti-abortion nut job, which if you know me is as about as far from the truth as Earth is from Saturn, I'd also like to add that I was upset that a gay men's dating website commerical was not allowed to air on the Superbowl. It's further upsetting considering the network lied and denied the group because there was no more space left. But I am way off topic now. Back to Tebow. Now that we've established that Tebow is in a fact a good citizen let's look at his football skills. I just think there are too many strikes against him as he enters his NFL career. First of all his throwing motion. Yes I know that he's been working on it to get it NFL ready but it takes a lot to get rid of muscle memory. The second the drops that arm too low, some defensive lineman is gonna pounce on the ball like Michael Moore on a bearclaw. (I partly blame Urban Meyer and the coaches at Florida for this. They should have corrected his throwing motion years ago.) Tebow is also a system quarterback. At Florida he never had to do 3, 5, and 7 step drops. He was always in shotgun. Being under center needs to be something that is second nature to an NFL quarterback. Tebow shouldn't have to be fixing it at this level. There's also the question of his arm strength. Can he throw the deep ball? Can he be accurate? Also Tebow likes to scramble a lot. He's in for a rude awakening when he finds that the defensive linemen in the NFL can run just as fast if not faster than Tebow. However, I think the biggest thing that's going to hamper Tebow is the speed of the NFL game. Tebow is used to coming from a system where almost everyone was always open. He never had to go through a lot of checks or reads. Now he's got to make those progressions and make decisions in a split second. Having said all that I think if anyone can overcome all these difficulties it's Tim Tebow. The two qualities that Tebow has that the great ones possess are leadership and focus. Telling this guy he can't do something will just make him work that much harder. Tebow is anything if not dogged in his pursuit of a goal. The funny thing about all these debates about Tebow is that I think the person who could care less is Tebow. Obviously, he wants to succeed in the NFL but it's not the most important thing in his life. He knows where his priorities lie. Tim Tebow knows that what he does outside of football and after football is more important than whether he succeeds or fails in the NFL. Failing in the NFL is devastating for some. How many times have we heard stories of ex-NFL players committing suicide or getting involved in drugs because football was their whole life? (Travis Henry ring a bell?) Not so for Tebow. Whether or not he succeed or fails in the NFL is irrelevant. I honestly believe that someday he's going to make a great husband, father, and community leader. I read today that one of the essential things to living a rewarding and successful life is compassion. May we all be fortunate enough to possess the amount of compassion Tim Tebow does.

Out this week!

The following films are out on DVD this week:

The Book of Eli, Youth in Revolt, When In Rome, Family Guy Volume 8.

Review: Crazy Heart

Plot: Alcoholic country singer Otis "Bad" Blake (Jeff Bridges) has seen better days. The fifty-seven year old former country star has resigned himself to touring various bowling alleys and bars in his '78 Suburban. Broke, alone, and feeling betrayed by his former protege Tommy Sweet, (Colin Farrell) Blake's life is living up to his nickname. But when a chance encounter with reporter Jean Craddock (Maggie Gyllenhall) stirs the creative spirit "Bad" thought he lost, Blake discovers that, like the adage says, sometimes "the older the violin, the sweeter the music."

Review: The concept of a washed-up, alcoholic, and broke country singer seems almost cliche nowadays. I mean the whole idea sounds like...well...a country song. Yet somehow director Scott Cooper's film adaptation of the 1987 Thomas Cobb novel breathes new life into an oft tried theme. Bridges is remarkable as "Bad" Blake, a role for which he won the 2009 Academy Award for Best Actor. And in case anyone thinks that golden statue might be a lifetime achievement award, think again. Bridges delivers a dynamite performance. Left in the hands of a less capable actor, we might have ended up with a very pedestrian character. Instead we get to see many sides of "Bad"; alcoholic, musical genius, charmer, user, absent father, friend, and lover. Often times the most memorable characters are the ones who we root for in spite of their flaws. "Bad" is one of those characters. He's often crass and cowardly but he's also kind and loving. You laugh when you see "Bad" curse out his agent and feel for "Bad" when he tells Wayne (Robert Duvall) he wants to get sober. All of that is solely because of Jeff Bridges. This is his best role since The Big Lebowski. Not to be outdone is Bridges's co-star Maggie Gyllenhaal, who plays Blake's love interest Jean. Easily her best role to date (she also received an Oscar nomination for Crazy Heart) Gyllenhaal delivers a powerful performance. Although the character of a "single mother with trust issues" has also been done ad nauseum, Gyllenhaal succeeds in Crazy Heart. Her intense love of "Bad" and her son Buddy is just as passionate and powerful as her love of writing. In Crazy Heart Gyllenhaal proves why she's not just Jake Gyllenhaal's sister anymore. Although the chemistry sizzles between Gyllenhaal and Bridges, the same can not be said for Bridges and Farrell. I never quite believed the strained relationship between "Bad" and his protege Tommy Sweet. The Irish born actor seemed out of place in this film. Additionally, the relationship between Blake and Wayne was severely underdeveloped. It just seemed strange for an actor of Robert Duvall's caliber to have such a throw away, minor role. Aside from Bridges's and Gyllenhaal's performances, the two elements of Crazy Heart that really brought the film together were its cinematography and music. Barry Markowitz's visual depiction of the American southwest are as rich and vivid as Blake's music. The music of Stephen Bruton, T-Bone Burnett, and Ryan Bingham crystallizes this character study in a way few other soundtracks have before. The movie's signature song "The Weary Kind" is particularly memorable. (And trust me this is saying a lot coming from me who aside from "The Charlie Daniels Band" and Johnny Cash hates country music.) Aside from Bridges and Gyllenhaal, I have to commend director Scott Cooper for his amazing work. Crazy Heart could have easily turned into a "Bubba Shot the Jukebox." Instead it's a "The Devil Went Down To Georgia." That's how ya do it son.

My rating: 9/10