Buena Vista

In the Bedroom carries with it some very powerful acting performances. The story is good, but not as great as it was hyped up to be around the Academy Awards. If you like a very powerful drama, you will enjoy this film.

“Frank Folwer is a young man home from college. He develops a special relationship with an older woman and their love blossoms in their small New England town. Natalie is the older woman (Tomei) and has two children from her marriage to an abusive husband. When this abusive ex...continues to meddle in this budding relationship, Frank’s parents (Spacek and Wilkinson) warn him to stay away. Following his heart, Frank stands by his woman, only to be shot and killed during a confrontation with her ex. Caught up in legalities, Frank’s father takes the law into his own hands and brings justice for his grieving wife.” – Buena Vista

Film

If one thing can be said about Michael Bay films, it would be that they are beautifully shot. I cannot think of many directors’ that have such a unique cinematographic feel to their films… and Pearl Harbor is no exception. This film contains some of the best fighting sequences ever put onto film. Unfortunately, this fabulous action is tainted by a sub-par love story that is interwoven into the story. With the elimination of this love story, Pearl Harbor would have been an amazing action film...with a reasonable length of 120 minute (rather then its 180+ minute running time). This Director’s cut of Pearl Harbor showcases an extra 1.5 minutes of footage… mostly extra gore and graphic war sequences. If you are looking for a noticeable amount of extra footage, you may be disappointed. Enough for my ramblings… here is a bit about the story:

Welcome to Oliver Stone’s history 101, where Vietnam looked a lot like Florida, and JFK was killed by a conspiracy so large it included the mafia, FBI, CIA, the Teamsters, and two bag ladies on Pennsylvania Avenue. Hollywood has always tinkered with history, but Oliver Stone performs reconstructive surgery. Nixon is no exception to this rule. It is much easier to view the film more as a character study than an historical piece. The film has you believe that Nixon used the F word more times than Richard Pryor on a roll, hated most of his advisors, and also had a hand in the JFK ordeal. The film also sports more artsy camera angles than a season of Batman. The true life-blood of the film is without any doubt Anthony Hopkins. Hopkins nailed Nixon like no actor before. From his stooped stance to his shuffled walk, he becomes ol’ Tricky Dick.

This Edition of Nixon includes the Director’s Cut of the film… with 28 minutes of additional footage not seen in the theatrical or original DVD release. If you can handle sitting through this 212 minute version, you will enjoy the extra footage.

Intro

It is about damn time that The Empire Strikes Back made it to DVD… oh wait; this is Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back, not The Empire Strikes Back (Damn it). Oh well, at least we now have one “Strikes Back” on DVD, and it is a dandy DVD release.