DVD Confidential: Doom, Waiting, Hustle & Flow, Repo Man
DVD Confidential
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Edition 7: February 12th, 2006
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DVD Confidential
Finding The Best Movies On DVD
http://www.dvdconfidential.com
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What's New on DVD Confidential:
1) Latest Reviews: Doom, Waiting,
Thumbsucker, Repo Man, Hustle & Flow,
Enron, 40 Year Old Virgin, Tony Takitani
2) Streets Of Legend Poster Winner
3) Monthly Schwag Giveaway: Win
The Untold Story Of Emmett Louis Till
4) Write For DVD Confidential!
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"Just because you got the bacon, lettuce,
and tomato don't mean I'm gonna give you
my toast."
- Key (Anthony Anderson) In Hustle & Flow
So many movies, so little time. Awards
season is crazy around here, but the DVD
Confidential crew has been kickin out the
reviews non-stop. We're almost caught up
and we've got some recommendations for you.
Hey, one other thing - we are looking to
add a new writer to the site. If you love
movies and would like to write reviews
for us, let us know. In the meantime,
enjoy the newsletter!
- Scott Standish Editor, DVD Confidential
http://www.dvdconfidential.com
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1) Latest Reviews: Doom, Waiting,
Thumbsucker, Repo Man, Hustle & Flow,
Enron, 40 Year Old Virgin, Tony Takitani
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The Latest Reviews from DVD Confidential:
Doom (2005)
Directed by Andre Bartkowiak
Starring The Rock, Karl Urban, Rosamund Pike
and Raz Adoti
MPAA: UR
Grade: C+
Review by Scott Standish
By now everybody knows the story on Doom.
Back in the day, Doom was the Jaws of video
games - a blockbuster that created a whole
new style, one that everyone was soon to
follow. Doom was the video game that
everybody had to have, whether you were a
hard core gamer or not.
Why was Doom (the game) such a phenomenon?
Well, for starters, it was a lot of fun. The
object was to shoot anything that moves. It
was a thrill to be able to just blast things
for the hell of it, and every now and then
you were shocked by a creature or two. It was
fun, and a little scary. The film version of
the game doesn't vary from this formula much.
Guys wander around in futuristic tunnels,
slowly shooting everything that moves. But
the problem here is that film is missing the
fun, and come to think of it, it's missing
the horror, too. Unfortunately, not much is
left.
Surprisingly, Doom succeeds where one thinks
it should fail, and vice versa. Based on his
pro-wrestler past, I was expecting The Rock
to be a cartoonish oaf, tossing grenades and
churning out catch phrases like Bruce Willis
in Die Hard. But The Rock is quite decent in
Doom, giving a restrained, fairly convincing
performance. On the flip side, you would
expect Doom to have some awesome action
sequences since it is based on a violent,
action based first person shooter. But Doom's
action sequences are pretty lame. The aliens
are pretty generic and no one will be
surprised by the fight scenes.
Full Review:
http://www.dvdconfidential.com/2006/02/review-doom-c.html
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Waiting (2005)
Directed by Rob McKittrick
Starring Ryan Reynolds, Anna Faris, Justin
Long, Luis Guzmán, & Chi McBride
MPAA: R
Grade: B
Review by Bobby Nashville
Waiting is crude and rude. It's also pretty
funny.
If you have ever worked in a restaurant, then
you know that the number one rule is: never
mess with people who handle your food. It's
amazing how many people don't know this rule,
or think they don't need to heed it. But
believe me, it's a wise rule to follow.
Waiting is a slice of life film, showing what
it's like to work at a restaurant. The angry
customers, the sleazy co-workers, the
mindless bosses, the disgusting in-jokes - if
you've ever worked ina restaurant or bar, you
know the story. In Waiting, Monty (Ryan
Reynolds) takes a new worker under his wing
and teaches him the ins and outs of
Shenanigans, the local eatery. The co-workers
play a sick game where they surprise each
other by showing their genitals. If one
looks, the other gets to kick them in the
ass. A lot of the movie revolves around "the
game" and although its kind of stupid, it
does bring along a few laughs.
Full Review:
http://www.dvdconfidential.com/2006/02/review-waiting-b.html
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Thumbsucker (2005)
Directed by Mike Mills
Starring Lou Taylor Pucci, Vincent D'Onofrio,
Tilda Swinton, Vince Vaughan, Benjamin Bratt,
Keanu Reeves and Kelli Garner
MPAA: R
Grade:A-
Review by Sebastian Francis Kennedy
Director Mike Mills ventures into Todd Solonz
territory with the slightly unsettling, yet
ultimately satisfying feature film,
Thumbsucker. On the surface, the story
concerns a teenager's addiction to sucking
his thumb. However, this addiction is merely
a symptom of a larger problem - the teen
yearns to fit in, but can't. His family is
slowly disintegrating into chaos, and he
feels powerless to change it (or himself). He
decides that he "wants to change". The film
is remarkably well balanced, directed and
acted. It is one of the best indie films to
hit the U.S. in quite some time.
Full Review:
http://www.dvdconfidential.com/2006/02/review-thumbsucker.html
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Repo Man (Special Edition) (1984)
Directed by Alex Cox
Starring Emilio Estevez, Harry Dean
Stanton, Sy Richardson, Dick Rude, Olivia
Barash and Tracey Walter
MPAA: R
Grade: A-
Review by Bobby Nashville
"A repo man is always intense... C'mon let's
go get a drink."
I've seen this movie maybe five or six times
and honestly, it gets better every time. Repo
Man is a sci-fi B movie with some fantastic
punk rock attitude mashed in for good
measure. It's clever, it's insightful and
it's funny as hell. And oh yeah, the music
kicks ass.
Repo Man stars Emilio Estevez (his best
performance by far) as a punker teen in Los
Angeles that is enlisted to work as a repo
man. He learns the trade from some cynical,
freaky cats, such as Harry Dean Stanton and
Sy Richardson. They snort speed, steal cars
and live by the "repo code". There is great
chemistry between Estevez and Harry Dean
Stanton, and the film has wicked dialogue.
Full Review:
http://www.dvdconfidential.com/2006/01/review-repo-man.html
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Hustle & Flow (2005)
Directed by Craig Brewer
Starring Terrence Howard, Anthony Anderson,
Taryn Manning, Isaac Hayes and Ludacris
MPAA: R
Grade: B+
Review by Bobby Nashville
What could have turned out to be just another
"rapper with a dream" film was made special
by the incredible performance of Terrence
Howard. Hustle & Flow is a fantastic film and
although it is a bit uneven at times, it
retains it's focus and eventually comes
across as true.
Terrence Howard stars as D Jay, a Memphis
pimp that is going through a mid-life crisis.
He has two women working the streets for him,
but they both are giving him grief. He hates
his profession, the dead end that lies ahead
of him and the demons from his past. He
realizes that his only way out may be to put
the feelings that he has down on paper, and
those rhymes down on tape. He enlists friends
to help him and he struggles for one last
shot at a better life.
Full Review:
http://www.dvdconfidential.com/2006/01/review-hustle-flow-b.html
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Enron: The Smartest Guy In The Room (A-)
Directed by Alex Gibney
Narrated by Peter
Coyote
MPAA: R
Grade: A-
Review by Scott Standish
The incredible rise and fall of Enron is
clearly documented in Enron: The Smartest Guy
In The Room. The film shows not only the
greed and corruption of the Enron corporate
elite, but also the tight relationship that
the company had with the George W Bush
administration. Although the complex deals
that Enron structured are hard to follow,
this documentary does a great job of focusing
on the people involved, and not the deals.
The accusations fly in Enron: The Smartest
Guys In The Room. According to the film,
Enron's traders stole from the company and
were rewarded for doing so by the head of the
company, Kenneth Lay. Lay and future CEO
Jeffrey Skilling gave themselves
multi-million dollar bonuses while the
company was losing money at an alarming rate.
The company repeatedly turned off power
plants in California to force the state into
rolling blackouts. The blackouts made the
price of energy skyrocket and Enron profited
from it. The company used fake shell
corporations to illegally hide losses while
they used Arthur Anderson's shaky accounting
principles to report "future profits" as
current earnings.
Full Review:
http://www.dvdconfidential.com/2006/01/review-enron-smartest-guys-in-room_29.html
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40 Year Old Virgin (2005)
Directed by Judd Apatow
Starring Steve Carell, Catherine
Keener, Paul Rudd, Romany Malco and Seth
Rogen
MPAA: R
Grade: B+
Review by Bobby Nashville
The 40 Year Old Virgin is the funniest movie
I've seen since Wedding Crashers. Full of wit
and unexpected sensitivity, this is an
excellent comedy.
By now, you probably know the set up to the
40 Year Old Virgin. Steve Carell from The
Office plays Andy, a man that lives alone,
works in a stereo store, collects kids toys,
listens to Asia and (not surprisingly), is
still a virgin. At the age of 40, he has
pretty much given up. That is until his
friends at work find out and pledge to help
him lose his virginity.
Full Review:
http://www.dvdconfidential.com/2006/01/review-40-year-old-virgin-b.html
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Tony Takatani (2004)
Directed by Jun Ichikawa
Starring Issei Ogata, Rie Miyazawa and
Shinohara Takahumi
MPAA: UR
Grade: B
Review by Sebastian Francis Kennedy
Tony Takitani is a wonderful, delicate film
that combines gentle, yet powerful acting
with elegant atmosphere. Director Jun
Ichikawa spins a beautiful tale of love,
longing and loneliness. Tony Takitani is a
lyrical film that slowly develops. The
director's style reminds me of Bergman, Ozu
and maybe even Jarmusch.
Issei Ogata stars in a dual role here, both
as Tony Takitani and as his father, a jazz
musician that "was not made to be a father".
Tony is a loner that is a talented
illustrator. He finds love and eventually
marries a girl fifteen years his junior. The
woman (played in another dual role by Rie
Miyazawa) is a compulsive shopper that
steadily amasses an enormous collection of
designer clothing. She cannot stop shpping
and this puts strain on the marriage.
Full Review:
http://www.dvdconfidential.com/2006/02/review-tony-takitani-b.html
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2) Streets Of Legend Poster Winner
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Congratulations to Big Al, the winner of
the Streets of Legend poster. Didn't win?
No worries, we have a new movie schwag
giveaway opportunity below...
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3) Monthly Schwag Giveaway: Win
The Untold Story Of Emmett Louis Till
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The acclaimed documentary The Untold Story Of
Emmett Louis Till is coming to DVD on
February 28th. Want a free copy? Here's how
to be eligible:
Email ScottATdvdconfidentialDOTcom with the
name of the film's director. On the 28th, we
will chose one lucky winner among the
entrants. Only one winner will be chosen and
you must be in the states to be eligible
(Sorry, Belgium!)
So, email us today - you might just win!
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4) Write For DVD Confidential!
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That's right, we are looking to add a new
writer to the staff. If you'd like to
contribute reviews of films on DVD, contact
us at ScottATdvdconfidentialDOTcom.
The bad news? Writers are not paid. The good
news? You will have your work published on
one of the fastest growing movie review sites
on the web. It's fun, easy and a great way to
share your views. Interested? E-mail us
today!
ScottATdvdconfidentialDOTcom
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See you next month,
Scott, Ellyn, Sebastian and Bobby
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DVD Confidential
Finding The Best Movies On DVD
http://www.dvdconfidential.com
=======================================