Thursday, February 15, 2007
The Departed (R): This film got Oscar nominations for best director (Martin Scorsese), best supporting actor (Mark Wahlberg) and best picture. The cast also includes Leonardo DiCaprio (who probably would have been nominated had he not snagged one for his work in Blood Diamond instead), Jack Nicholson, Matt Damon and Martin Sheen. It's available in a single-disc version and in a two-disc special edition, which includes such bonus features as additional scenes with introductions by Scorsese, the feature-length TCM profile Scorsese on Scorsese and featurettes "The Story of the Boston Mob" and "Crossing Criminal Cultures.
"
The Infernal Affairs Trilogy: Special Collector's Edition Box Set (R): If you really like The Departed, you can go back to the source with this three-disc boxed set, which contains the original Infernal Affairs that Scorsese based The Departed on, plus the prequel and sequel, all from directors Wai Keung Lau and Siu Fai Mak.
F (Unrated): A documentary on the infamous f-word. Interesting in spots, but 1 1/2 hours of talk, talk, talk can grow tedious.
It does sprinkle in clips from movies and television among the parade of commentators, a group that includes Drew Carey, Ice-T, Bill Maher, Alan Keyes, Alanis Morissette, Pat Boone, Ben Bradlee, George Carlin, Ron Jeremy, Eddie Murphy, Hunter S. Thompson and Kevin Smith, among others.
Half Nelson (R): Ryan Gosling (who received an Oscar nomination for best actor) plays Dan Dunne, a junior high school teacher in Brooklyn who tries to teach his students Hegelian dialectics by day and smokes crack by night.
Dan seems to be cracking between the pressures of his ideals and a nagging sense of cynicism and futility. Extras include commentary, deleted and extended scenes and a music video of Rhymefest's "Wanted."
Police Story 2: Special Edition (PG-13): Jackie Chan reprises his role as a police officer who - all together now - "doesn't play by the rules.
" He gets demoted, but still becomes the target of an old foe with a grudge. This 1988 movie includes some of Chan's most spectacular stunt work.
Teen Titans: Trouble in Tokyo (Unrated): The animated Cartoon Network series Teen Titans, about a team of teenage superheroes, has spawned a straight-to-video movie in which the characters take on a Japanese crimelord and his high-tech ninjas.
The setting is appropriate, considering that Japanese anime cartoons influenced the show's art style.
Infamous (R): A.k.
a. the other film about Truman Capote. British actor Toby Jones plays the author in this version, which, like the earlier Capote, tells the story of his writing In Cold Blood.
It also features Sandra Bullock, Daniel Craig and Sigourney Weaver. Bonus features include a commentary by screenwriter-director Douglas McGrath.
Marie Antoinette (PG-13): Sofia Coppola's story of the famed French queen starts slowly.
Coppola displays a nice hand at capturing a mood and atmosphere, and you can almost physically feel the queen's (Kirsten Dunst) isolation in her royal world. Still, despite a lushness to its look, it's ultimately a tedious trifle.
News RSS