Movie Update: 2006-01-29

Sunday, January 29, 2006

DVD List

Newly Added DVD's (February 2006):

List of DVDs Added on this blog:

Synopsis:

This film charts the rise and fall of Yuri Orlov, from his early days in the early 1980s in Little Odessa, selling guns to mobsters in his local neighbourhood, through to his ascension through the decade of excess and indulgence into the early 90s, where he forms a business partnership with an African warlord and his psychotic son. The film also charts his relationship through the years with his younger brother, his marriage to a famous model, his relentless pursuit by a determined federal agent and his inner demons that sway between his drive for success and the immorality of what he does.

The lethal business of arms dealers provides an electrifying context for the black-as-coal humor of Andrew Niccol's Lord of War. Having proven his ingenuity as the writer of The Truman Show, and writer-director of Gattaca and the under-appreciated Simone, Niccol is clearly striving for Strangelovian relevance here as he chronicles the rise and inevitable fall of Yuri Orlov (Nicolas Cage), a Ukrainian immigrant to America who makes his fortune selling every kind of ordnance he can get his amoral hands on. With a trophy wife (Bridget Moynahan) who's initially clueless about his hidden career, and a younger brother (Jared Leto) whose drug-addled sense of decency makes him an ill-chosen accomplice, Yuri traffics in death the way other salesman might push vacuum cleaners (he likes to say that alcohol and tobacco are deadlier products than his), but even he can't deny the sheer ruthlessness of the Liberian dictator (a scene-stealing Eamonn Walker) who purchases Orlov's "products" to expand his oppressive regime. Niccol's themes are even bigger than Yuri's arms deals, and he drives them home with a blunt-force lack of subtlety, but Cage gives the film the kind of insanely dark humor it needs to have. To understand this monster named Yuri, we have to see at least a glimpse of his humanity, which Cage provides as only he can. Otherwise, this epic tale of gunrunnng would be as morally unbearable as the black market trade it illuminates. --Jeff Shannon

Order it here >>> Lord of War (2-Disc Special Edition)

Transporter 2

List of DVDs

Synopsis:

Professional driver Frank Martin is living in Miami, where he is temporarily filling in for a friend as the chauffeur for a government narcotics control policymaker and his family. The young boy in the family is targeted for kidnapping, and Frank immediately becomes involved in protecting the child and exposing the kidnappers.

Transporter 2 knows what its audience wants and--like its title character--it delivers. This is a movie that has not only a fight choreographer but also a car stunt choreographer; a movie in which a female assassin wears nothing but a bra and panties because, presumably, additional clothing would be too cumbersome; a movie in which crashing through a concrete wall in order to leap over a four-lane street will not even rumple the hood of the hero's car; a movie in which a drunken supermodel, after her advances are chastely and gently rebuffed by the hero, says "Thanks for the respect--that's what I needed most"; a movie, in short, for those who liked the first Transporter but found it too subdued and character-driven. Jason Statham (The Italian Job) reprises his role as Frank Martin, a perhaps overly diligent chauffer who will break bones if his duty is impeded. The sheer glee with which Transporter 2 casts aside logic, probability, and the laws of physics is infectious. If the sequence in which Frank flips his car upside-down in order to detach the bomb attached to his undercarriage doesn't reduce you to intoxicated giggles, well...you're watching the wrong movie. Transporter 2 is utterly shameless, unstoppably ridiculous, and completely enjoyable. Also featuring Amber Valetta (Hitch), Jason Flemyng (Snatch), and Matthew Modine. --Bret Fetzer

Order it here >>> Transporter 2

Sexual Intelligence

List of DVDs

n a nutshell, Kim Cattrall's Sexual Intelligence is the audio/ visual companion piece to her bestselling book of the same title. Much like her book, the Sexual Intelligence documentary is a fun look at getting honest, serious and, educated, about why we want what we want sexually, albeit in an abridged and lighthearted forum. Your hostess Kim Cattrall, Sex In The City's "Samantha Jones," takes you far and wide in search of the history and roots of sexual desire. From the fertile hills of England, to the shores of Greece, into cities of Ancient Rome, through the Victorian Age and into bedrooms of the modern world Kim Cattrall and her panel of experts (and a few average spokespeople featured in her book) explore and discuss various aspects of the human sexual experience. One of the more interesting segments is a detailed breakdown of the ancient Greek tale of Eros (Cupid) and Psyche. Though not exactly a Joseph Campbell interpretation of the Greek myth, the analysis of how the Greeks explained the importance of balancing carnal lust (Eros) with the soul (Psyche) in order to achieve pleasure is extremely well done. Though Sexual Intelligence does provide some interesting commentaries and the bells and whistles you expect from the medium, it comes off a little light on the "whats" and "hows" of becoming sexually intelligent. If you plan on expanding your sexual mind, expect to pick up the companion book and start reading. But, if you are looking for fun, smart, escapism look no further. --Rob Bracco

Order it here >>> Sexual Intelligence