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Page 1 of 4 The new year is upon us, and so are a roundup of “new” releases that includes discs released both before and after the holidays. This month’s grab-bag includes big hits (“The Simpsons Movie,” “Superbad”), sleeper hits (“Once,” “Waitress”), not-so-big hits (“Zodiac,” “Heartbreak Kid”) and arthouse staples (“Paris Je T’aime,” “Moliere,” “Flanders”).
Which of them are worth watching, renting or having? Read on….
The Bourne UltimatumUniversal
directed by Paul Greengrass
starring Matt Damon, Julia Stiles, David Strathairn, Scott Glenn
The third “Bourne” movie is the franchise’s sharpest and most exciting yet, with Matt Damon as the perfect 21st century hero: an unsmiling enigma. Paul Greengrass’s well-worn hand-held style still pays dramatic and visual dividends, and the stellar supporting cast–David Straithairn, Joan Allen, Albert Finney and Julie Stiles are all first-rate–gives an ideal assist to this almost perfect movie of its kind. Location shooting–particularly in London–is ideal, although in these CGI days, who knows what’s authentic footage any more?
Extras: Greengrass commentary; deleted scenes; behind-the-scenes featurettes.
Death SentenceFox
directed by James Wan
starring Kevin Bacon, Garrett Hedlund, Kelly Preston, Jordan Garrett
Kevin Bacon morphs into Charles Bronson in this crass “Death Wish” knock-off that lingers over the murders of innocent victims even more than those who richly deserve their bloody comeuppance. About 75 minutes in, we seem to get to the end–but no, there’s still another half-hour of revenge killings to come. And what are such otherwise intelligent, credible actors like Bacon, John Goodman, Kelly Preston and the sadly-underutilized Aisha Tyler doing in this?
Extras: unrated version with 10 extra minutes; behind-the-scenes featurettes. DescentCity Lights
directed by Talia Lugacy
starring Rosario Dawson, Chad Faust, Marcus Patrick, Christopher DeBlasio
There’s no denying the genuineness of debut writer/director Talia Lugacy’s cautionary tale about a college student (Rosario Dawson) whose rape transforms her into a shell of her former self, then a vengeful woman after meeting up again with her assailant. Dawson gives the kind of nakedly fearless performance that often wins awards, if only the movie surrounding her were in any way thoughtful, plausible or non-exploitative. Unfortunately, this necessary cinematic subject has been simultaneously over- and under-dramatized.
Extras: commentary; interviews; deleted scenes. Eastern PromisesUniversal
directed by David Cronenberg
starring Viggo Mortensen, Naomi Watts, Vincent Cassel, Armin Mueller-Stahl
After “A History of Violence,” David Cronenberg and Viggo Mortensen re-team for another violent look at the underside of modern society–this time, London is the setting for a melodrama about the Russian mob. The faintly ludicrous story hinges on a midwife (Naomi Watts) and her vacuous family, and there’s too much of the usual Cronenberg creepiness for its own sake—although it must be admitted that the best scene is an elaborately choreographed nude fight in a steam room. At least the elaborately tattooed Mortensen nails a notably difficult Russian accent, which is something to ponder as the cheap dramatics pile up.
Extras: making-of featurette; tattoo featurette. FlandersKoch Lorber
directed by Bruno Dumont
starring Samuel Boidin, Adélaïde Leroux
Director Bruno Dumont tells stories about people not far removed from bestiality–they screw, fight, kill, and go on living no matter what. Now Dumont has transported his aesthetic to the war movie: the slow, introverted “hero” leaves his unfaithful girlfriend behind to go fight in a desert war against enemies he doesn’t comprehend. Shades of Iraq are everywhere, and Dumont persuasively demonstrates how quickly soldiers degenerate into anarchy. But we’ve been down this road before, which make for diminishing dramatic and metaphorical returns, no matter how artfully shot and crisply edited the film is.
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