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What to Netflix: New DVD Tuesday

BuzzSugar — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 08:30:57 -0700

All of the new DVD releases hit stores (and Netflix) on Tuesdays. So each week in What to Netflix: New DVD Tuesday, I sort through the best of the batch and tell you what to add to your queue. In addition to the titles below you can also rent The Ruins starring Jena Malone and the sixth season of Monk.

Stop-Loss
Stop-Loss joins an ever-growing list of Iraq war movies that bit the dust at the box office. This has little to do with the quality of the films and probably more to do with folks not looking for difficult subject matter when they head to the movie theater. But while director Kimberly Peirce's follow up to Boys Don't Cry isn't flawless, it is well worth your time.

Starring Ryan Philippe, Channing Tatum, Abbie Cornish and a scene-stealing Joseph Gordon-Levitt, the movie centers around a group of friends and family members in Texas struggling with their loved ones in the military who return from serving in Iraq only to be called back.

Special features include 11 deleted scenes, commentary by director Kimberly Peirce and co-writer Mark Richard, and a featurette titled, "A Day in Boot Camp."

One more fun choice so read more.

Psych: Season 2
The men of Psych are quirky and cute together, so it's no wonder that the USA show has built up a following over the years. Now, just in time for the third season premiere, you can find the second season on DVD.

If you're new to Psych, here's a summary of the show's premise: "Psych is a quick-witted comedy/drama starring James Roday as young police consultant Shawn Spencer who solves crimes with powers of observation so acute that Santa Barbara PD detectives think he’s psychic. Psych also stars Dulé Hill as Shawn's best friend and reluctant sidekick, Gus, and Corbin Bernsen as his disapproving father, Henry, who ironically was the one who honed his son's 'observation' skills as a child."

Season two included a ton of great guest stars including: Tim Curry, Gina Gershon (as a funny reality show judge), Lou Diamond Phillips, John Amos, Ernie Hudson, Phylicia Rashad, Thelma Hopkins, and Kevin Sorbo. Special features include deleted scenes, audio commentaries, Podcast commentary, and the all-important gag reel.

Weekend Box Office: 21 Wins the Pot

BuzzSugar — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 08:15:05 -0700

Well, it looks like 21, the film about MIT students who take Vegas by storm, was a safe bet as it easily won the top spot at the box office. However, the overall weekend box office total was down 17 percent compared to last year, Variety reports. 21 earned an estimated $23 million, beating Horton Hears a Who and firmly establishing Jim Sturgess as a viable leading man.

Compare these results to another new release this weekend: Stop-Loss, starring Ryan Phillippe, who is a household name. Another box office casualty in a long line of Iraq War-related film flops, Stop-Loss only earned $4.5 million, coming in at No. 8.

Which brings me to the other box office disappointment this weekend, Superhero Movie. Could it be that Round One of Harvey Weinstein vs. Fanboys' fanboys goes to the geeks (more on the feud here)? Protesters gathered on both coasts where Superhero was playing, though in LA it appears Weinstein was prepared with guards. One protester told the Hollywood Reporter:

Guards were everywhere. At one point, I counted nine, no joke. They hired a whole force and whenever someone showed up looking around for the protest, they were surrounded by guards and told to leave instantly or be arrested. I guess you can't really hold a protest on private property.

Ultimately the film came in the third spot with a measly $9.5 million. Is this a little bit hilarious to anyone else?

Finally, Run Fat Boy Run starring Simon Pegg came in 13th and only earned an estimated $2.3 million here in the US. The movie grossed $22.6 million in the UK last Fall.

Photos courtesy of Sony Pictures

Stop-Loss: Overwrought but Good-Hearted

BuzzSugar — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 12:33:21 -0700

It's an oft-lamented fact that movies about the Iraq war don't do very well - either in box office sales or with audience favor in general. There are plenty of reasons for this, but the fact is it's a challenge for filmmakers to put out movies about a controversial war that isn't yet over. With Stop-Loss, the filmmakers have attempted to make the topic more appealing by getting MTV on board, using popular good-looking young actors and featuring plenty of quick-edit montages set to rap songs.

The main characters in the movie are also relateable and familiar, just regular guys, playing with their techie devices, engaging in silly banter. This is presented right from the start, with a mock-amateur video in which a group of soldiers jostle each other, trade good-natured insults and sing along together as one of them, Tommy Burgess (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), plays his guitar. The action moves quickly to a bloody, violent conflict into which Sgt. Brandon King (Ryan Philippe) inadvertently leads his group of soldiers. Some of the men don't make it out alive, one is severely injured and all the others are thoroughly messed up by the experience. This is the basis for all that comes afterward, so read more.

Brandon returns to his hometown a decorated hero, along with his childhood best friend Steve Shriver (Channing Tatum) and the young Tommy Burgess. Relieved, he begins settling back into civilian life when he is informed that he's being sent back to Iraq via stop-loss, the US policy by which soldiers who have completed their terms of service can be called back to serve again, sometimes referred to as a back-door draft. Confused and furious, Brandon lashes out at his superiors and then goes AWOL and hits the road to Washington DC to discuss the matter with a senator he knows. Of course, the senator won't interact with a fugitive soldier, and Brandon's options narrow down to two: go back to Iraq, or leave the country and never see his family again.

I've heard people label this as an antiwar, antimilitary film when that's only half-right. It's antiwar, for sure, but it's fiercely promilitary. The film shows military families in the most respectful, reverent, and sympathetic light. Director Kimberly Peirce (Boys Don't Cry) has a tenderness for these families, for Americana and cowboy culture, draping her Texas in blue and yellow hues and a warm, downhome atmosphere. These are good people, upright citizens, solid in their belief that it's right to serve one's country no matter what. This belief is challenged by the stop-loss policy, and this challenge - especially since they think they've been doing their time all these years, only to be told it's not quite enough - makes them angry. Very, very angry.

Anger is the key word for this movie, in fact. This is no deft, subtle, poignant piece of art but an explosion of rage, indignation, and violence. Those going to the film thinking there might be a strong love story involved - there isn't. The friendships between the men are intriguing and deeply rooted, but ultimately everything takes a backseat to just this blind fury Brandon feels over his lose-lose situation. Despite the muddled nature of this film, the helplessness of Brandon's dilemma clearly comes through. What's refreshing about this film is that this helplessness reflects the state of political affairs in Iraq on a grander scale. Other movies (Lions for Lambs, for example) may insert some heartfelt sadness amidst the two hours of people discussing politics, but this one does the opposite - a movie full of anger, machismo, and despair peppered with bits of politics. It's not a great movie. The accents are mostly terrible and the performances are not the best (except for the unbearably pitiable Joseph Gordon-Levitt, who is excellent). But it is a powerful salute to our troops, and brings an important issue to light.

To see the trailer and more clips from Stop-Loss, check out movies.ivillage.com.

Photos courtesy of Paramount Pictures

Box Office: Horton Hears a Lot of Ka-Ching

BuzzSugar — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 09:30:41 -0700

After shattering 2008 box office records last week, Horton Hears a Who once again took the top spot over this Easter holiday weekend. Variety reports that Good Friday was the strongest day for Dr. Seuss' Horton which took in $25.1 million over the weekend in addition to the movie's opening weekend earnings of $45 million.

Tyler Perry’s Meet the Browns also performed well, coming in second place with a respectable $20 million.

Plagued by poor reviews and a lack of promotion for the film, the Judd Apatow-produced Drillbit Taylor earned a disappointing $10.2 million, putting the movie at No. 4 behind the thriller Shutter. Compared to how Apatow's comedies like Knocked Up performed last year, this kind of opening indicates that Apatow's attachment to a project doesn't guarantee box office gold. The top five was rounded out by 10,000 B.C. which dropped several spots from the No. 2 spot it held last week.

This weekend will bring several openings that will likely shake up the box office including Kevin Spacey's 21 and the war drama Stop-Loss.

Photos courtesy of 20th Century Fox

Movie Preview: Stop-Loss

BuzzSugar — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 07:30:00 -0700

Stop-Loss, starring Ryan Phillippe, Abbie Cornish, Channing Tatum and Joseph Gordon-Levitt, examines the difficult government policy by which soldiers who have completed their terms of service can be called back to serve again. Phillippe plays a soldier who refuses to return to service, despite being recalled to duty. It's a prickly issue, and so far I'm impressed by how the trailer makes it look like the movie doesn't shy away from examining the various sides of the matter. Stop-Loss doesn't open until March 28, but it's worth checking out the trailer if you read more

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