New at BOP: Review: Matrix Resurrections Movie Review: Moonfall Movie Reviews: Scream The #1 Movie in America November Forecast The Many Saints of Newark October Forecast New Trivia Question All site updates Share & Save   Tweet Print this column

For people who never knew how The Castro got so gay: Milk

Though a very good film, Milk failed to live up to my expectations. It's slow moving, and seems to run into this plateau about midway through that it regrettably can't surmount. Thus, when new actions popped up, I'd casually monitor how they played out, instead of feeling fully invested in what I was watching on screen.

General film reactions aside, Sean Penn plays a superb Harvey Milk. It's a performance that merits more at-home viewing that it received in theaters. And, were I not so obsessed with Mickey Rourke in The Wrestler, I'd have been more ecstatic to see Penn accept his trophy for Best Actor (even if his "I've made it hard to appreciate me" rant was a bit off-putting). While on the topic of good performances, Josh Brolin also deserves a shout out for his Dan White portrayal.

Disc includes: Deleted scenes, Remembering Harvey featurette, Hollywood Comes to San Francisco featurette, Marching for Equality featurette

For people who wish Charlie Kaufman could make at least one movie a year: Synecdoche, New York

Charlie Kaufman's first foray in directing was the sprawling, outrageously ambitious Synecdoche, New York. Though the movie managed to appear on a number of critical top ten lists as one of the best films of 2008, a common complaint I came across was how it suffered from a case of poor execution (no matter how unique and interesting its premise may be). I concur. Like Philip Seymour Hoffman's character, Caden, who's never satisfied with his project's direction and repeatedly keeps adding new things to it, writer-director Kaufman includes too much stuff in his movie. The scope is too broad so as to make Synecdoche, New York seem like it's about a lot of things, but then maybe not really at all.

The dramedy, starring Hoffman, Catherine Keener, Samantha Morton and Dianne Wiest, among others, is about a theater director who embarks on his career-defining magnum opus after his wife (Keener) leaves him and he learns he is dying from a mysterious disease. He assembles his cast and crew together and puts them to work. For the director, this means letting them live their lives on one big stage, which over time starts replicating the actors' real lives, and also Caden's.

Disc includes: The Story of Caden Cotard featurette, Infectious Diseases in Cattle: Bloggers' Round Table, NFTS/Script Factory Masterclass with Charlie Kaufman, screen animations

For people who wouldn't mind seeing Paul Rudd and Seann William Scott pair up in more projects: Role Models (Unrated)

Given the comedy talent lined up for Role Models (Paul Rudd, Seann William Scott, Elizabeth Banks and Jane Lynch), it's a wonder how these actors hardly crossed paths with one another in previous projects. The only true connection most of them share is The 40 Year-Old Virgin, and Scott wasn't even in that one.

In Role Models, Rudd and Scott play chums Danny and Wheeler, two energy drink salesmen who are forced to log 150 hours of community service after mistakenly destroying school property, among other charges. They're assigned to a big brother-like program called Sturdy Wings, headed by a recovering coke addict (Lynch), and given separate kids to take care of. Danny gets partnered with a foulmouthed teen (Bobb'e J. Thompson), while Wheeler is handed a LARP-obsessed nerd (Christopher Mintz-Plasse).

Disc includes: Theatrical version, deleted scenes and alternate takes, bloopers, In-Characer and Off Script featurette, On the Set of Role Models featurette, audio commentary

March 10, 2009
Blu-ray
Batman: The Motion Picture Anthology 1989-1997 (Special Edition)
Battle in Seattle
Brokeback Mountain
Cadillac Records
Fractals: Hunting The Hidden Dimension
Let the Right One In
Max Fleischer's Gulliver's Travels
Milk
Pinocchio (Anniversary Edition)
Primal Fear (Special Edition)
Rachel Getting Married
Role Models
Rush: Snakes & Arrows Live
South Park: The Complete Twelfth Season
Stevie Wonder: Live at Last
Synecdoche, New York
Transporter 3

DVD
Alfie
Angel: Season Five (New Box Art)
Barenaked Ladies: Bare Naked Truth
The Baron: The Complete Series
Batman: The Motion Picture Anthology 1989-1997 (Special Edition)
Battle in Seattle
The Best Years: The Complete First Season
The Boy in Striped Pajamas
Cadillac Records
Caroline in the City: The Second Season
Family Ties: The Fifth Season
Get Smart: Season 2
Happy-Go-Lucky
Howard The Duck (Special Edition)
Linkin Park: Coup D'Etat Unauthorized
Max Fleischer's Gulliver's Travels (Restored)
Nas: I Don't Understand Hip Hop Unauthorized
Out Of Ireland (Deluxe Edition)
Pinocchio (Anniversary Edition)
Primal Fear (Special Edition)
Rush: Snakes & Arrows Live
South Park: The Complete Twelfth Season
The Starter Wife: Season 1
Stevie Wonder: Live at Last
Transporter 3 (Special Edition)

Continued:       1       2