The Tourist : DVD released on 3/22/2011

Johnny Depp and Angelina Jolie use their star power to help propel The Tourist to its ultimate, satisfying destination. It just takes a little while to get there. Director Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck (The Lives of Others) sets a leisurely pace for The Tourist, which lets the film be equal parts mystery, romance, thriller, and comedy. But because of its lush cinematography and location-based shooting, The Tourist is perhaps first and foremost a valentine to the city of Venice. Jolie plays Elise, an international woman of mystery, somehow caught up with a glamorous thief who's double-crossed a gangster, Shaw (Steven Berkoff, splendidly menacing). On a train from Paris to Venice, Elise meets Frank (Depp), a schlumpy math teacher from Wisconsin on holiday. Before the train hits Venice, poor Frank has become entangled in a dangerous web that he can't begin to understand. As the plot unfolds, a group of stone-headed thugs dashes after Frank and Elise, darting through canals, across tile rooftops, and into some of the most beautiful hotel rooms in the world. The cinematography of John Seale and the score by James Newton Howard set an immersive tone. Depp and Jolie do a respectable job with their roles, though perhaps because of the mysteries in the plot, as a couple, Elise and Frank lack a certain oomph. But the supporting actors, including Paul Bettany, Timothy Dalton, and Rufus Sewell, are uniformly excellent, and the story (based on the French film Anthony Zimmer) wraps up nicely. Yet the true star of The Tourist is enchanting Venice--and anyone dreaming of a romantic getaway will not want to miss this trip.

• Actors: Johnny Depp, Angelina Jolie
• Directors: Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck
• Language: English
• Subtitles: English, French, Spanish
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Studio: Columbia Pictures
• DVD Release Date: March 22, 2011
• Run Time: 103 minutes

The Girl Who Played With Fire : DVD released on 10/26/2010

The toughest chick in Sweden returns to action in The Girl Who Played with Fire, the second film adaptation of the late author Stieg Larsson's Millennium Trilogy novels. That would be Lisbeth Salander, once again played with quiet, feral intensity by Noomi Rapace. As Larsson's readers and anyone who saw the first film (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, also released in 2010) knows, Lisbeth is small in stature but big trouble for any man who crosses her--after all, this is the woman who set her father on fire after he abused her mother and later, after being released from a mental institution, took extreme revenge on her legal guardian after he brutally assaulted her (those scenes are briefly revisited for the enlightenment of those who missed the earlier film). Also back is investigative journalist Mikael Blomkvist (Michael Nyqvist), Lisbeth's erstwhile lover and partner in solving the Dragon Tattoo mystery. When two of his young colleagues are killed while at work on a story about sex trafficking, followed shortly by the murder of the aforementioned guardian, Salander is the prime suspect. But Mikael is sure of her innocence; in fact, he's convinced she's the next victim, leading to a tangled tale in which Lisbeth learns more about her family and its very dark secrets than she ever wanted to know. The story is compelling, if a bit slow to take shape, and director Daniel Alfredson, taking over for Niels Arden Oplev, skillfully sustains the mystery and tension (there are also doses of nudity and violence, the latter much more graphic than the former). But Lisbeth isn't on screen nearly as much this time, and her relationship with Blomkvist, so central to Dragon Tattoo, is almost an afterthought. Still, The Girl Who Played with Fire will certainly whet fans' appetites for the next installment, The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest; and considering the overall class and quality of these Swedish productions, one shudders to think how they'll turn out in the inevitable American versions, the first of which is due in 2011, with Daniel Craig as Blomkvist.

• Actors: Noomi Rapace, Michael Nyqvist
• Directors: Daniel Alfredson
• Format: Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
• Language: Swedish
• Subtitles: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: R (Restricted)
• Studio: Music Box Films Home Entertainment
• DVD Release Date: October 26, 2010
• Run Time: 129 minutes

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Brooklyn's Finest : DVD released on July 6, 2010

Brooklyn's Finest follows three NYPD cops, which may be from different places (both geographically and personally), but their lives and the compromises they come every day with the streets of Brooklyn, dovetail to a climax that has the audience on the edge next to each other their seats . Fuqua has a star cast here, including Richard Gere, a veteran of the COP only a week gathered out of retirement, which can repeatedly surprisingly, Don Cheadle, an undercover officer whose loyalty to the force by his growing loyalty to the groups he infiltrating be affected, and the film true revelation, Ethan Hawke, a young corrupt police officers, whose morality makes the stomach turns when Hawke's performance is nuanced and riveting. Supporting cast members include Wesley Snipes as a badass gangster whom even the police second thoughts about messing with. Other great performances are from Vincent D'Onofrio, whose wooden delivery works here to make his character all the more dangerous, Lili Taylor, and a gorgeous, world-weary Ellen Barkin. The action is propelled along by the great benefits, excellent camera, Fuqua's skillful direction, and the score by Brazilian composer Marcelo Zarvos Moody. If the plot is a little far-fetched, even for a crime drama, which make up more than excellent performance, so that one of Brooklyn's Finest Fuqua's, and certainly Hawke's finest

• Actors: Richard Gere, Don Cheadle, Ethan Hawke, Wesley Snipes
• Directors: Antoine Fuqua
• Format: Color, DVD, Widescreen, NTSC
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: R (Restricted)
• Studio: Overture Films/Anchor Bay Entertainment
• DVD Release Date: July 6, 2010
• Run Time: 133 minutes

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Law Abiding Citizen : DVD released on 2/16/2010

The legal thriller meets the Shocker serial-killer in Law Abiding Citizen. The story begins when the home invaders to kill Clyde Shelton's wife and daughter. The bereaved father (played by Gerard Butler indifferent) seems spot in Philadelphia prosecutor Nick Rice (low Jamie Foxx) to see that they receive the maximum penalty. Instead, the murderer, Ames, testifying against his accomplice, Darby, who won the presidency, as he gets 10 years. After his release, the maimed body of Ames' appears in an abandoned warehouse, and all roads lead to Shelton. Rice tries to defend his client but makes it impossible - Shelton wants to go to jail - so long ago, but then the members of the legal team of Rice's home to die. A lawyer for the suspects Shelton, but can not connect to the crimes, so that racing against time to save the life of his assistant, Sarah (Leslie Bibb), DA Jonas (Bruce McGill) and his own wife and son. The film may sound like a restart of the pull of the Japanese healing cooling, which kills an inmate from within the institutional walls, but plays more like a mash-up between the silence of the lambs, without the psychological complexity , and The Devil's Advocate, not the cynical laughter. F. Gary Gray began his career in hip-hop videos and urban action films like Set It Off, to get where they want with their remake of The Italian Job. Law Abiding Citizen is a disappointing mess of a director who has done better in the past and surely will do better in the future.

Actors: Jamie Foxx, Gerard Butler, Leslie Bibb, Viola Davis, Michael Gambon
Format: Color, DVD, Widescreen, NTSC
Language: English
Aspect Ratio: 2.40:1
Number of discs: 1
Rating: R (Restricted)
Studio: Overture Films/Anchor Bay Entertainment
DVD Release Date: February 16, 2010
Run Time: 108 minutes

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Pandorum : DVD released on 1/19/2010

Largely dismissed as yet another Alien carbon, the hybrid Pandorum science-fiction/horror beyond the scope of this criticism with a nice mix of atmospherics and high-voltage shocks. Ben Foster and Dennis Quaid - two actors always watchable, and they also used here - are top-billed as a pair of space travelers who awakens from hibernation along and no idea who they are or how they got on board a huge and apparently empty spaceship. His exploration of the ship discovers not only a handful of human beings, including the martial arts champion Cung Le and French scientist / Eye Candy Antje Traue necessary, but a series of mutants of wild boar with designs on them unpleasant. Director Christian Alvert, which gained international recognition among viewers with its antibody thriller genre, it keeps you committed and unresolved in the shadow of the impregnated film developed and creepy production design, though his own attention span, which can be described as charity blink and miss it obscures the clashes between human and monster cast. However, Alvert has some tricks up his sleeve for the final - an inspiration for others, not so much - not only helps to soften the harsher aspects of Pandorum, but also indicates that it is a genre director to watch.

• Actors: Dennis Quaid, Ben Foster, Norman Reedus, Niels Bruno Schmidt, Delphine Chuillot
• Directors: Christian Alvart
• Format: Color, DVD, Widescreen, NTSC
• Language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Rating: R (Restricted)
• Studio: Starz / Anchor Bay
• DVD Release Date: January 19, 2010
• Run Time: 108 minutes

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G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra : DVD released on 11/3/2009

The Rise of Cobra is not G.I. his grandfather Joe. It's more like C.G.I. Joe with explosive special effects sequences of action that provide the film with a surplus of "Boom Boom Pow" (to quote the Black Eyed Peas song that drives the final credits). This blast from the past summer is very similar to that of metal nano-missile mite eating a (literally) Mad Doctor (Joseph Gordon-Levitt recovery in some of its indie-rock spirit) and McCullen, a Scottish arms dealer (Christopher Eccleston ), threaten to liberate the world. It never stops. Ever. The G.I. Original Joe action figure was a hero to all Americans. These are Joes - all together - "the best of the best," an elite squad of different nationalities. Two soldiers, Duke (Channing Tatum an amateur), a "field, in the fight" type of person, and Ripcord (Marlon Wayans), his best friend funny, are rescued by the Joes after being ambushed while transporting missiles. These are not regular Joes. Snake-Eyes (Ray Park) is a silent ninja, Stella (Rachel Nichols) a bodacious Brainiac, Heavy Duty (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje), a specialist in the imposition of arms, and Breaker (Said Taghamaoui) the techie. They are led by General harsh Hawk (Dennis Quaid), who barks at lines like, "When all else fails, we do not", with the enamel. Duke and Ripcord are recruited to join the unit after qualifying Duke discovers that Ana (Sienna Miller), his former girlfriend, is in cahoots with McCullen and now sports the nickname of claims of the baroness, let alone division for murderer improve latex costumes. This is the first of a budding franchise, lots of back story to cover. The flashbacks dating back to 1641! But the agenda is the underground military command centers, underwater dens of evil, shining high-tech weaponry, persecution of vertigo, and cool gadgets such as hydraulic demand an accelerated rate. It's enough to make you want to dust off your original action figures from Hasbro, or study, without doubt, hope and buy new ones.

• Actors: Tatum Channing
• Format: Color, Dolby, DVD, Widescreen, NTSC
• Language: English, French, Spanish
• Number of discs: 2
• Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Studio: Paramount
• DVD Release Date: November 3, 2009
• Run Time: 118 minutes

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Obsessed : DVD released on August 4, 2009

• Actors: Beyoncé Knowles, Idris Elba, Ali Larter, Jerry O'Connell, Bonnie Perlman
• Directors: Steve Shill
• Writers: David Loughery
• Producers: Beyoncé Knowles, Damon Lee, David Loughery, George Flynn, Glenn S. Gainor
• Format: AC-3, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
• Language: English
• Subtitles: English, French
• Aspect Ratio: 2.40:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Studio: Sony Pictures
• DVD Release Date: August 4, 2009
• Run Time: 108 minutes

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