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Home (Re)Viewing: Will Ferrell beats Russel Crowe!
Like the Oscars, this week’s video releases are a mix of the good, the bad and the ugly.
(Format change this week: Click on the titles for the Amazon link that will give you more info and tell you what’s on the DVD and other info.)
A Good Year: First, the bad: Russell Crowe stars as a businessman who has misplaced his heart until he inherits the French vineyard that was a key part of his childhood. Ridley Scott, is a great director - but not of comedy. The movie comes across like a male version of Under the Tuscan Sun, but its forced whimsy tangles the movie in cutesiness that just doesn’t work. GRADE: C
Stranger Than Fiction: This is the good, and that very pleasantly surprised me. Perhaps the greatest compliment I pay the movie is that I didn’t want Will Ferrell to die. He plays a lost soul who unwittingly finds himself a character destined to meet his demise in a novel. What makes it even more frustrating is that he can hear the author (Emma Thompson) narrating his life. The movie doesn’t always explain its rules clearly, and it’s a little too cerebral at times, but clever direction by Marc Forster (Finding Neverland) and winning performances (especially from the adorable Maggie Gyllenhaal) make me hope it finds the audience it deserves. GRADE: A-
Also Out Today
The Return: Sara Michelle Gellar wisely stepped out of the lead of the Grudge franchise but unwisely still makes lite horror movies no one cares about. That’s ugly.
Tenacious D in the Pick of Destiny: From what I’ve heard, this is only a pick for fans.
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