By Christopher Stipp
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The Exploding Girl -DVD Review
Bradley Rust Gray has made a film that champions life and love the way it happens, unfolds, and dissolves: slowly.
All you really need to know about this film, which stars Zoe Kazan as Ivy, a girl you wish you could have known throughout your own formative years, is that it is really an intimate portrait of a woman who has a boyfriend waiting for at the college she’s currently attending, she is coming home for spring break, and she is connecting with her old friend Al (Mark Rendall).
What happens after these two re-connect after having been away from one another for a while is the basis for what can only be called one of the most gentle examinations of young people I have seen all year. Kazan has a minimalist style when it comes to pacing and framing a scene but that works oh so well here because our subjects themselves are unpolished and aren’t weighed down with the accouterments of real life bearing down on them.
This is the time, college, when relationships with people are quickly formed and can be dissolved just as fast. The character trait that Ivy has an unfortunate medical condition whereby she is prone to stress related seizures only punctuates the fragility of this woman as she tries to discover just what it is she wants. More importantly, she is also trying to discover what it is she can handle. We watch as Al and Ivy quietly tiptoe around each other, the ritualistic dance many boy/girl friends have done since time immemorial, trying to see whether there is a fit for this person beyond just friendship. It’s a defining time for these two people as they knock around a big city, the camera feeling like an intimate conduit that is beaming us a real time blow-by-blow of the events of people who feel so real.
Kazan, for her part, deserves all the kudos for acting in a movie that showcases her to have a real talent at just being, well, real. We believe her because she believes in the strength of Ivy and this movie could not be more worthy of your acceptance and attention.
The DVD is available now.
Red Riding Trilogy – DVD Review
Everything you’ve heard about this film is true. All the good things, anyway.
What people who have already seen this appreciate about these films is that they all tell a great story. It’s not enough that the premise of these is that it follows the destruction left in the wake of a serial killer that terrorized a section of England in the 70’s and 80’s but it’s that you have three different directors making three different films that all feel connected in an emotional way.
Sure, you have talent behind the lens of Anand Tucker, Julian Jarrold, and James Marsh who are all, in their own right, brilliant filmmakers making three films that could stand on their own against a lot of what Hollywood would deem a thriller, but the real power here is the performances of those tapped to make this story feel as visceral as it is.
With actors like Sean Bean, Andrew Garfield, and even the indomitable Peter Mullan, you have actors that turn what could have simply been a mini-series on the Lifetime network a series of films that simply form a triptych of powerful proportions. For, you see, the movie is much more than just people getting murdered in two separate decades. The movie delves into the politics and corruption at the heart of a case that shatters any idealism that honest police and hardworking detectives were doing their best to find the killer that could not be found.
We owe a lot to the power of these films in seeing how our own foibles and commonalities here in the States coincide with botched investigations and crooked cops, politicians, and government officials. Is it that this movie is a reminder that this could happen anywhere at any time, that it is a simulacrum of the many events we ourselves have witnessed being tucked gently under a rug and almost willed to forget? I would say that this movie derives its sense of evil not so much of the killer who is out hunting lambs but that there is a killer of a different sort who is a lamb himself.
The movie is not only worth a rental but it is worth your money to go out and purchase. You should spend time watching them, jamming through them all at once like a seasonal television show just out on DVD, would spoil the intended effect of letting the questions it raises about the nature of man and his unending ability to be corrupted sink in.
The killer is almost perfunctory to the thrill of watching who really becomes the hunted.
About the DVD:
Sure to be one of the cinematic events of the year, RED RIDING is a mesmerizing neo-noir epic based on factual events and adapted for the screen by Tony Grisoni (FEAR AND LOATHING IN LAS VEGAS) from David Peace’s electrifying series of novels. An official selection of the Telluride, New York, Chicago and AFI Festivals, and acclaimed by critics an eminent accomplishment, the trilogy follows several characters in intertwining storylines united by the horror wrought by the “Yorkshire Ripper,” a serial killer who terrorized northwest England in the 1970s and ’80s.The three films are directed by three notable filmmakers–Julian Jarrold (BRIDESHEAD REVISITED), Academy-Award(R)-winner James Marsh (MAN ON WIRE) and Anand Tucker (SHOPGIRL). Each boasts a stellar British cast that includes Andrew Garfield (THE IMAGINARIUM OF DOCTOR PARNASSUS), Sean Bean (LORD OF THE RINGS), Paddy Considine (DEAD MAN’S SHOES), Rebecca Hall (VICKY CRISTINA BARCELONA), and Peter Mullan (TRAINSPOTTING).RED RIDING – 1974 (Directed by Julian Jarrold) centers on a rookie journalist, Eddie Dunford (Andrew Garfield), whose investigation of a series of child abductions and murders leads him to suspect that there’s a terrifying connection between the perpetrators and the upper echelons of Yorkshire power.
The Office: Season 6 -DVD Giveaway
Do I think it’s right that my seven year-old knows who Michael is, that she can tell you why Dwight is the best part of the show? Further, does it make me proud that she has a vested interest in why Jim and Pam love each other?
Not really but I really liked this season’s batch of episodes, I can tell you that. The series is most certainly evolving and this season showed a glimmer of growth that we haven’t seen in a television comedy in a long time. I know some were perturbed by some of the directions this series took this year but, and I would assert, it’s still trying new things and is constantly looking to up its game. I’m going to be there for season seven and I am hoping it again challenges what you’ve come to love about this series.
For those wanting a chance to be ensconced in the love that is Nard Dog shoot me a line at Christopher_Stipp@yahoo.com and I’ll get you entered to win a hefty Season Six DVD set.
About the DVD:
Experience the ultimate way to enjoy “…TV’s best comedy” (Alex Pappademas, GQ), The Office, with this must-own five-disc set that includes every Season Six episode, plus an uncensored original digital short, hours of deleted scenes and much more! Follow Michael (Steve Carell), Dwight (Rainn Wilson), Jim (John Krasinski), Pam (Jenna Fischer), Ryan (B.J. Novak), Andy (Ed Helms) and the rest of the Scranton crew as they pursue new heights of inappropriateness while facing everything from new romances, marriage and parenthood to new ownership, Darryl’s (Craig Robinson) rise to middle management and a ball-busting new boss! Developed for American television by Primetime Emmy® Award winner Greg Daniels, “The Office is so funny it hurts” (Joanna Weiss, The Boston Globe)!
Robin Hood – DVD Giveaway
A movie that showed the kind of grit and dirt that ought to have been there all along, Robin Hood was a pleasant surprise.
The trailers didn’t sell the movie well so it’s great that the world will now be able to see that this was a movie worth your time. Russell Crowe is actually a great Robin, those who want to talk about Kevin Costner can go suck it with that mullet wig of his, and the story is a fairly compelling one that at the very least makes for a perfect movie that’s worth your rental cash.
But you may not even have to spend any cash getting your grubby little mitts on a copy of this as I have a few sitting on my desk that need a home. If you’re interested please shoot me a note at Christopher_Stipp@yahoo.com and I’ll get you entered to win a copy.
About the Movie:
Oscar winner Russell Crowe stars as the legendary figure known by generations as “Robin Hood,” whose exploits have endured in popular mythology and ignited the imagination of those who share his spirit of adventure and righteousness. In 13th century England, Robin and his band of marauders confront corruption in a local village and lead an uprising against the crown that will forever alter the balance of world power. And whether thief or hero, one man from humble beginnings will become an eternal symbol of freedom for his people.
The untitled Robin Hood adventure chronicles the life of an expert archer, previously interested only in self-preservation, from his service in King Richard’s army against the French. Upon Richard’s death, Robin travels to Nottingham, a town suffering from the corruption of a despotic sheriff and crippling taxation, where he falls for the spirited widow Lady Marion (Oscar winner Cate Blanchett), a woman skeptical of the identity and motivations of this crusader from the forest. Hoping to earn the hand of Maid Marion and salvage the village, Robin assembles a gang whose lethal mercenary skills are matched only by its appetite for life. Together, they begin preying on the indulgent upper class to correct injustices under the sheriff.
With their country weakened from decades of war, embattled from the ineffective rule of the new king and vulnerable to insurgencies from within and threats from afar, Robin and his men heed a call to ever greater adventure. This unlikeliest of heroes and his allies set off to protect their country from slipping into bloody civil war and return glory to England once more.
The 4 Complete Ed Sullivan Shows Starring The Beatles – DVD Review
When I went to see The Beatles LOVE, the Cirque du Soliel Vegas production, I was a marginal fan.
I would support anyone’s assertion that they were the band that changed the face of music but I didn’t realize how deep their fan base was until I saw this show and found myself completely taken by the interpretations of dozens of the Fab Five’s classic pop singles. I immediately bought Shout!, the most comprehensive biography about the band, bought a few new collections of their material and I have been living in the 60’s ever since.
Lo and behold this makes its way to my door and I could not have been more thrilled. Here was a time capsule of true television, of when these four guys just decimated a teenage population and ignited the world.
What you get out of watching these four shows is a taste for what was going on in pop culture at that time. Not only are we talking about the music but we also get the original commercials (!) as they ran with the show. For those of us who get a thrill out of watching commercials around the time we were all weaned in front of the boob tube this is an especially fun feature of this presentation.
About the Beatles, however, this is a gem worth its weight in fun. Not only do we get the original performances on the show but we also get a taste for how Ed Sullivan received the quintet on his program. It was not a love fest on both sides of that relationship and, in fact, you can sense that here was a host that was darn near annoyed at the prospect of having the deal with the boys. Of the oodles of extras you get on this disc you get Sullivan interviewing them and, again, looks pained for having to do so. It’s an amazing thing to witness.
What’s more about this DVD is that it is much more than just The Beatles playing their singles and driving everyone into a complete froth. This is a historical document, really, that shows you where the 60’s became less about the military industrial complex and became more about the youth culture that was roaring forth and claiming their identity. It’s hard not to watch these shows and not feel all of that because you can hear, hear it through your soul, that these guys were destined to be much more than just musicians.
For sheer nostalgia alone this DVD is worth buying. For everything else, there is no doubt it would be a wonderful document to own.
About the DVD:
When The Beatles stepped onto Sullivan’s New York stage on Sunday, February 9, 1964, to make their American TV debut, 86 percent of all TVs on at that hour–73 million Americans–tuned in. It was the most-watched program in history to that point and remains one of the most-watched programs of all time.
“The Beatles changed music and popular culture forever,” says Bruce Resnikoff, President & CEO, UMe . “This DVD collection contains treasured performances and UME is thrilled to bring these milestones of music and television history to fans, whether they saw the shows the first time or have never seen them.”
“We used the full extent of today’s technology,” says Andrew Solt, Executive Producer and CEO of SOFA Entertainment, which purchased all 1,050 hours of “The Ed Sullivan Show” in 1990. “The quality is better than it ever was, in fact, better than when the shows aired, especially visually. For example, the February 16 performance was from Miami ‘s Deauville Hotel, not from a studio. The quality of the tape image was very fragile. We went back and improved it frame by frame.”
With a running time of more than 250 minutes, The 4 Complete Ed Sullivan Shows Starring The Beatles presents those shows uncut, including not only all of the other performances but also all of the original commercials. The audio is available in both mono and a 5.1 remix. Also included on the two-DVD set will be material from other “Sullivan” shows, notably a short interview with The Beatles which has not been seen since its original television airing in 1964.
In addition, the new DVD set has been augmented with approximately 13 minutes of additional footage. The added material, rare Beatles-related gems from other “Sullivan” shows, is placed at the end of each disc. Among them is a brief London interview with The Beatles by Sullivan which has not been seen since the day it aired (May 24, 1964); a 1966 black-and-white commercial for Beatles dolls introduced by Sullivan in color; and the host reading a 1967 telegram from The Beatles congratulating him on the renaming of the studio to “The Ed Sullivan Theater.”
America: The Story of Us – DVD Review
We’ve talked about this before. I’m awful at history.
One of the best things, then, about watching this series that charts America’s history from the very beginning to the 21st century this is one historical document that uses CGI in a way that helps to enhance the stodgy and stuffy videos we used to have to suffer through in grade school.The thing, as well, that makes this such a riveting 12 part series is how it incorporates academics who help couch what we’re watching and modern popular culture icons to talk about what we’re witnessing. One episode, in particular, talks about the Revolution and, through the use of multiple means of defining the moments that shaped this period in history, it’s a refresher for people like myself who want to be entertained as they learn about the bigger events of this time.
From historical luminaries like Buzz Aldrin to pop icons like Donald Trump and Margret Cho (!) the commentary that we get from these people is much like an episode of I Love The 80’s but this time with muskets instead of Swatches. It energizes a quaint and passe method to learning about the high points of American history without getting bogged down in the reality of the time. It’s not really educational in the strictest sense of the word but who are the ones smiling now that I jammed through 12 episodes of this series? So worth the time to sit down and enjoy.
About the DVD:
The most in-depth television series ever produced by HISTORYâ„¢, AMERICA THE STORY OF US is the first television event in nearly 40 years to present a comprehensive telling of America’s monumental history, and the most elaborate and ambitious in the scale of its cinematic vision. And, on September 14, A&E Home Entertainment unveils this mother of all history lessons, a powerful and compelling 12-part series from the creative minds that brought us Planet Earth, featuring highly realistic CGI animation (the most ambitious CGI the network has ever applied to a historical narrative), dramatic re-creations and thoughtful insights from some of America’s most respected artists, business leaders, academics and intellectuals ““ as well as a very special introduction from President Barack Obama. For Americans of all walks, this extraordinary release will be available day-and-date on both extras-laden DVD and Blu-ray, online downloads, along with a stunning 412-page companion book containing heavily illustrated pages with over 300 full-color images, “charticles” and text.
Making history itself as the most watched premiere in network history ““ seen by nearly 6 million viewers ““ AMERICA THE STORY OF US tells the extraordinary story of how America was invented, looking at the moments where Americans harnessed technology to advance human progress — from the rigors of linking the continent by transcontinental railroad, the internet of its day, to triumphing over vertical space through construction of steel structured buildings to putting a man on the moon. This is history with roots in the physical world: wilderness, animals, weather, and the sea, and it’s brought to amazing life firsthand through patriots, frontiersmen, slaves, abolitionists, Native Americans, pioneers, immigrants, entrepreneurs and inventors. The series is also a story of conflict ““ Native American wars, slavery, the revolutionary war that birthed the nation, the civil war that divided it and the great world wars that shaped its future and an intensive look at the forces that have shaped our nation – the people, places and things that created this most astounding country.
Historical events covered in AMERICA THE STORY OF US include: the arrival of the first English settlers, the Revolutionary War, westward expansion, economic growth of the north and south, the Civil War, the settling of the Great Plains, the development of modern, industrialized cities, the California Gold Rush and the western frontier, the Great Depression and the Second World Wars right up to present day. And, among the breathtaking historical eras and events that have been meticulously recreated with CGI effects are a meteor that crashes through the Appalachian Mountains 300 million years ago to create the Cumberland Gap, the British Navy’s spectacular bombardment of the New York Harbor at the dawn of the Revolutionary War, New England whalers risking their lives to kill their valuable prey, the wide open western plains teeming with massive herds of buffalo, the construction of the Statue of Liberty, and the Erie Canal and transcontinental railroad that opened up central commercial routes and connected the continent together.
Special consultants include Professors Daniel Walker Howe, David M. Kennedy and Henry Louis Gates, Jr. As well, reflecting on pivotal events in American history are some of the most respected names from the arts, letters, media, politics, business and academia who share their personal thoughts on what American history means to them, including: Brian Williams, Buzz Aldrin, Colin Powell, David Baldacci, General David H. Petraeus, Donald Trump, Michael Douglas, General Tommy Franks and many more.
From the revolutionary war that birthed the nation to the civil war that divided it, and to the making of the modern world, AMERICA THE STORY OF US is an epic, dramatic, heartbreaking and triumphant journey that reminds us that American history truly belongs to we, the people.
Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps
Trying to understand why Gordon Gekko is such a failure in this film is to understand what it is that got Wall Street firms, and the American economy, in trouble in the first place.
It was the idea that no one would ever decipher the cipher that is the collateral debt obligation, a financial asset-backed security that ultimately proved to be utterly worthless, and that people would blindly line up to reap the benefits of its complexity. The news I have, however, is that Gordon Gekko starts off as an attractive asset whose mere presence in the marketplace should have meant security and insurance but, ultimately, costs this film its equity. It’s a metaphor, to be sure, but boy does it fit.
Opening with Shia LaBeouf’s character, Jacob Moore, we see how the world is since the days of Gekko greed. The world has shifted from a marketplace where money was made with those who had access to not only capital but the means with which to execute to one where any Tom, Dick, or Sally with an internet connection could day trade until all they have left in the world is the computer they squandered their life savings on. Moore is much in the vein of the new guard, a kid who doesn’t mind risking everything he has on the one thing he believes to be worth something. He loses it all, of course, and this movie is all about losing. The losing of one’s self, of losing love, of losing sight on what’s important, and, more importantly, losing of one’s money.
Moore embodies the brilliance of young money’s hopefulness and the idea that through sheer brute force money can materialize through effort and belief. And what a belief he has, this young upstart, thinking that biotech is the wave of the future, a profitable future, and thus the blinders that this young man has on his head become apparent.
Not only does LeBeouf play a man who knowingly is dating the woman who Gordon Gekko long ago abandoned on his way to jail for white collar crimes he committed during the first Wall Street but there is a curious relationship that forms between the young trader and the freshly sprung elder statesman. Michael Douglas, as the slightly less volatile version of his former self, doesn’t feel as connected to LeBeouf in the same way as the Gekko/Fox partnership. The latter made for such a sinister snapshot, albeit entirely correct, of 80’s materialism and was a portent of the recession that would soon be on the horizon that you can see how Charlie Sheen’s Fox gets seduced by the allure of it all, how he descends into a pit of his own making.
Here though? LeBeouf only has his stupidity to blame. There is no allure besides the green upstart of a corporation he is all but helping to bankroll out of his pocket, LeBeouf blindly doing whatever he can to keep that dream alive much to the detriment to everything around him. Carey Mulligan, as Winnie Gekko, does a wonderful job being convinced her father needs to stay out of her life and will never amount to anything more than a man who needs money to fuel his sense of self and comes across as sincere when she ditches LeBeouf in favor of staying on the liberal path of social consciousness, eschewing everything that money represents, and providing almost a ham-fisted portrait of someone for whom money means nothing.
Ah, but it does mean something. Through a series of motions and swindles and backdoor dealings, those who deserve their comeuppance get it, ultimately, because they deserve it but it’s really Gordon who deserves the ire for why this shallow exploration of the financial crisis has about as much bite as any piece of financial regulation currently making its way though the legislature. The sad truth is that Gekko’s character is rendered inert through a series of interactions where his motivations are muddy and, the ultimate betrayal, when you can feel a writer’s hand crafting an ending that doesn’t only feel false, it’s just plain inconceivable. I’ll save you the surprise but it’s sad to see that this is how director Oliver Stone wants to end Gekko’s life on the screen. He is a man who we all know from his monologue about what pure love for power and money can do to people and has, now, shifted from a man who has a book to sell and is willing to become a shill for his own ideas about what other people are doing to your 401k or what other people are doing to your money when it should be Gekko’s turn. It’s his time to shine but he doesn’t. The movie collapses on its own wishy-washy logic and the utterly stupid convenience whereby LeBeouf is able to ultimately make his problems magically disappear, down to the precise and exact dollar amount needed, is a sign of not only lazy screenwriting but a sign of how disappointing this movie is when you consider the possibility of it all.
There was a chance here to take men and women who are lighting $1 bills in order to fuel their cigars to task for their wholesale pillaging of the American public and how many of them still are in positions of power simply because we’re too dumb to fire them, lest these geniuses who got us into this mess leave us unable to comprehend how to undo it all, but nothing was done. Sure, Josh Brolin as Bretton James gets his but, really, does he? I would argue that he doesn’t. In a country where wealth buys you a better life, a better criminal defense, and a better world view there was nothing Oliver Stone had to say that was particularly poignant or resonant.
The greatest indignity that we are forced to accept about his film is that a leopard can change its spots. It’s cliched as any cliche out there but Stone wants us to think it’s possible, even after the harshest reality that could be possible is magically undone, to the tune of $100 million dollars. Cliches become more prevalent as we head towards the ending of this film and it’s just a shame that instead of talking about how this film represents what’s best about a director who has let a couple of decades pass before making a sequel, we’re talking about how this represents the worst of what can happen when that same director missteps as egregiously as this.
Gordon Gekko is an animal, a carnivore. He’s not a castrated stray as he’s portrayed here and it’s a disappointment.
Saving Private Ryan so thoroughly influenced action filmmaking that it’s easy to forget that not only wasn’t it the only war film released in 1998, it wasn’t even the best one. With each year, Spielberg’s war opus looks more dated, encumbered by its legendarily bad framing device and its inability to reconcile the numerous attitudes toward war into one coherent view of it.
On his debut album Intimate Moments for a Sensual Evening recorded in July of 2009, comedian Aziz Ansari presents a veritable torrent of pop culture references throughout the hour-long routine. He jokes about harassing his cousin Harris on Facebook, pokes fun at Cold Stone Creamery, CVS Pharmacy and Craigslist and then finishes with two big pre-encore bits involving Kanye West and R. Kelly, including an extended impression of R&B singer Kelly both in concert and then getting lapdances at the after-party. He even makes fun of himself for being tongue-tied around M.I.A.
Tony Rayns on The World – Rayns contributes a beautiful essay to the Blu-Ray’s booklet written in the updated context of Jia’s full filmography to this point, and this 21-minute feature manages to rehash almost none of the details of the critic’s written contribution. Rayns’ taped segment gives a broad background of the director’s life as a government-educated filmmaker who got his start making unapproved, underground features and even saw the films that informed him via surreptitiously obtained bootlegs.
To get even one show to premiere in any given season that proves an instant favorite is a sad rarity. That there were two shows last season which swept me away is unprecedented, and should be seen as a sign of something. What, I have no idea. One of those shows is 
Yeah yeah yeah, I know what you’re thinking. “What am I thinking?”, you say… Well, I knew that you’d say that, too. You’re thinking, “Why would I ever need a flashlight that looks like The Doctor’s sonic screwdriver?” Well, you don’t really. But still, it is kinda nifty to have a 
The other show that grabbed me by the collar is 
While some fell out of love with the 3rd season of 
There have been a few attempts in the past to collect his incredible body of work in book form, but the one to finally make it out of the gates is 
HBO’s Jonathan Ames created/inspired sitcom 
I can’t watch the ludicrously over-the-top 
I think I may be tiring of 
Taking an in-depth study of middle America – Munice, Indiana, to be exact – in 1982, the 6-part documentary series 
Taking a fictionalized look at the events that brought the infamous alien autopsy footage to the public eye in 1995, 
It’s quite a daunting – some would say foolish – idea to jump in and attempt to do an overview and analysis of the history of film comedy, but Saul Austerlitz’s 
Joseph Campbell’s influential PBS series 
In viewing it again after a quite a few years, the best way I can sum up how 
How many of you remember that the first live action film ever released by Dreamworks was the George Clooney & Nicole Kidman action thriller 
I was shocked – SHOCKED – when Drea de Matteo arrived on Wisteria Lane harboring secrets. Secrets? On Wisteria Lane? Unheard of! And then a plane crashed on the lane, which is probably the most normal thing that’s happened there the entire series. 
The folks at the Warner Archive dip into the vault for a pair of rarely seen George Pal productions sure to make completionists happy – 
It should come as no surprise that the main draw of 
A vampire, a werewolf, and a ghost walks into a second season. You know, that sounded a lot better in my head. No, really, it did sound a lot better there. Seriously. Anyway, the second season of 
Explore the first family of NASCAR racing via the documentary 
Their owner still won’t license them for the Mystery Science Theater 3000 DVDs, but the restored Gamera films continue to roll out with a new pair of double feature releases – 
Witness a little bit of your soul die if you dare to partake of Disney’s latest awkward exploitation of their catalogue characters with 
CARLSBAD – LEGOs…those colorful blocks that snap together so easily. Many view them as a childhood toy, but they’re serious fun among collectors and adult builders. They can vacation at the American LEGOland. They can get those rare pieces at LEGO stores across the country in malls. LEGO video games featuring Star Wars, Batman and Indiana Jones are all the rage. Keeping up with what’s happening in LEGO is about as foreboding a task as your mother keeping up with your LEGOs.
