Rick's Flicks Picks on AWN

Arriving in 2008, Nicholas Stoller's FORGETTING SARAH MARSHALL was a surprise comic gem. Now Stoller brings back the sexually charged rocker, Aldous Snow, in his own movie. Going into this spin-off, I was leery of how it would work bringing the broadest character in the previous film to the forefront. Plus you don't have the charm of Jason Segel or Mila Kunis in this movie either. But GREEK avoids all the potential problems by simply making Snow a real character.

Snow (Russell Brand, BEDTIME STORIES) is now on a professional and personal free fall. His latest album "African Child" was named not only the worst album of the decade, but the worst thing to happen to Africa since apartheid. He's in a long-term relationship with pop star Jackie Q (Rose Byrne, TV's DAMAGES), think of a less subtle version of Lady Gaga, which blows up in his face in a very embarrassing televised interview. And after what she said about him, he falls off the wagon big time. Meanwhile, record exec Sergio Roma (Sean "P. Diddy" Combs, MONSTER'S BALL) is looking for the next big thing. Intern Aaron Green (Jonah Hill, playing a different character than he did in SARAH MARSHALL) suggests having an anniversary concert to celebrate Snow's legendary performance at the Greek Theater in Los Angeles. Roma warms to the idea and tasks Green to go to London and retrieve Snow and bring him to the concert.

Jean-Pierre Jeunet makes films full of whimsy and imagination. Most will remember Audrey Tautou as the irresistible waif in his modern classic AMELIE. Jeunet takes the same wide-eyed innocence and mischievousness of that film and mixes in a little HUDSUCKER PROXY and YOJIMBO and comes out with a delightful satire with boundless originality.

When Bazil (Dany Boon, JOYEUX NOEL) was young, his father was killed by a landmine. The tragic event drove his mother mad. As an adult, he takes a job at a movie rental store where one fateful night he is a victim of a random accidental shooting. Luckily, he survives with the bullet still lodged in his head. Unluckily, he loses his job and end out on the streets where he begins performing for pocket change.

The week is another light week, but features a quad of great releases. A great new literary adaptation makes its journey to home entertainment. Two must-see classics are arriving on Blu-ray. Additionally, Blu-ray sees a new Criterion anthology of shorts from one of the most influential experimental filmmakers in history.

Pick of the Week
The Road
John Hillcoat's adaptation of Cormac McCarthy's modern classic novel is a harrowing tale about the fears and hopes of parents. In a post-apocalyptic America, where cannibals roam the landscape, a father, played brilliantly and tenderly by Viggo Mortensen, travels toward warmer weather with his son (Kodi Smit-McPhee). The father knows the hardships of the world while his son remains innocent. While the film doesn't quite capture the scope of the novel (few two hour films can), the film version still retains the emotional weight of its main characters. Great supporting work also comes from Charlize Theron, Robert Duvall and Michael K. Williams. A challenging, harsh drama, but one of the best films of last year.

In my review for SHREK THE THIRD, I said, "[it] doesn’t walk the edge like the other films, but there are still enough flares of that same good ol’ SHREK that you remember why you were friends in the first place." Three years later those flares have completely burned out. This "what if Shrek were never born" fantasy is the kind of desperate plot that tired sitcoms resort to.

Shrek (Mike Myers, AUSTIN POWERS) has given up his kingdom to settle down in the swamp with Fiona (Cameron Diaz, BEING JOHN MALKOVICH) and the kids. The only problem is his repetitive and safe domestic life doesn't sit well with the ogre who can no longer scare a child. So when Rumpelstiltskin (Watt Dohrn) makes Shrek a deal to trade one day from his childhood for one more day as a real ogre, the big green dummy signs on the dotted line.

Read my original INVICTUS review here!

Warner Bros. Home Entertainment brings Clint Eastwood's Nelson Mandela tale to Blu-ray in a 1080p/VC-1 edition. While the picture quality isn't blow-your-mind, the transfer keeps the integrity of the original source. Film grain is presented evenly across the entire film. This is not a title that has the three-dimensional pop to it. Color balance is nicely done across the board with the richest moments coming during the final rugby match between South Africa in the green and gold and New Zealand in their stark white and black. Cinematographer Tom Stern doesn't go for flashy camera work and this transfer keeps true to his realistic visual approach.

Like me, director Werner Herzog has never seen the original BAD LIEUTENANT, starring Harvey Keitel and directed by Abel Ferrara. So he took this project on as an original. That's of course how I had to go into watching it. It seems like the perfect project for Herzog, following a larger than life character with an obsession.

This character is Terence McDonagh (Nicolas Cage, LEAVING LAS VEGAS), a police detective in New Orleans. Before the waters have receded he and his partner Stevie Pruit (Val Kilmer, TOMBSTONE) stumble upon a prisoner still locked away in a cell as the water rises. The detectives contemplate leaving him to die (Terence doesn't want to ruin his expensive underwear), but he decides to jump in anyway. In the process he injuries his back severely and will suffer pain the rest of his life.

Roger Ebert said it best, "BOONDOCK SAINTS II: ALL SAINTS DAY is an idiotic ode to macho horseshite." The original was an entertaining edition to the stylistic actioners of the late '90s such as EL MARIACHI and John Woo's flicks. The film did poorly in a very small release, but gained cult status on DVD. Director Troy Duffy's quick rise to a production deal at Miramax was unflatteringly captured in the doc OVERNIGHT from his former friends Tony Montana and Mark Brian Smith. He comes off as a drunken egotist. Kind of explains this film.

Following the events of the first film, Conner, Murphy and Noah MacManus (Sean Patrick Flanery, Norman Reedus and Billy Connolly, respectively) fled to Ireland to hide out. Good idea after being part of bloody massacres. Then a priest is murdered in Boston in the style of the MacManuses. So the brothers Conner and Murphy head back to the States to see what's up. On their way they meet Mexican fighter Romeo (Clifton Collins Jr., CAPOTE) who recognizes them as the infamous Saints and is desperate to be their new partner. They become convinced that the son of their target in the first film, Concezio Yakavetta (Judd Nelson, BREAKFAST CLUB), is behind the killing as a way to lure them out.

Robin Hood and his Merry Men fight for justice for the little man. They live as outlaws in Sherwood Forest. They steal from the rich and give to the poor in opposition to Prince John's oppression and taxation of the people while King Richard is away on the Third Crusade. These are the conventions one might expect from a Robin Hood film. Don't expect any of them from this Robin Hood film.

In this version there is a Sir Robert Loxley (Douglas Hodge, VANITY FAIR), but he is not Robin Hood. In this version Robin Longstride (Russell Crowe, GLADIATOR), an archer in the army of King Richard (Danny Huston, EDGE OF DARKNESS), becomes the outlaw of legend. This version is the story of how he became that legend. While fighting in France, Robin is challenged by the king to tell him the truth about the crusade. Robin's answer ends him in the stockades. As fate would have it, King Richard dies on the battlefield and Sir Loxley is assigned the task of taking his crown home. On the way, he is ambushed by English double agent Godfrey (Mark Strong, SHERLOCK HOLMES), who is looking to assassinate King Richard for France. Now free Robin and his friends come upon the plot and run off Godfrey. He takes a vow to Loxley to return Loxley's family sword to his father Sir Walter (Max von Sydow, THE EXORCIST).

For years to come this film will be known as the film that won Sandra Bullock an Academy Award. Whether she deserved it over her competition is up for debate, but it does mark her best screen performance to date. While the story is billed as the amazing true-life tale of professional football player Michael Oher, the film quickly becomes a showcase for Bullock's Leigh Anne Tuohy, a real-life Southern spitfire who did an extraordinary thing for Oher, which transformed his life forever.

Oher (Quinton Aaron, BE KIND REWIND) had bounced around foster homes and friends' houses for his entire life. His mother Denise (Adriane Lenox, BLACK SNAKE MOAN) was a drug addict and had multiple kids with multiple men. He starts attending a mainly white private Christian high school when he is brought to the attention of Coach Burt Cotton (Ray McKinnon, TV's DEADWOOD). He lives at a Laundromat and eats leftover popcorn from school sporting events to survive. Then one night walking home in the cold with shorts and a t-shirt on, he has a fateful run-in with the Tuohys. Leigh Ann decides to invite him to stay at their home.

This is a light week, but definitely some quality stuff to check out, especially for Blu-ray fans. A classic, an underrated gem, a solid new thriller, an '80s classic and a Western box set mark this week column.

Pick of the Week
M
Criterion Collection had previously released Fritz Lang's seminal thriller M on DVD and now they're bringing it to Blu-ray. Lang's clever crime classic follows the hunt for a child killer, played with creepy menace by the master of creepy menace, Peter Lorre. From the brilliant visual storytelling to the nuanced subject matter to the dark irony, this classic is a must see. I haven't seen any black & white films on Blu-ray yet, so I'm excited to catch this one soon.