Home Media Magazine - July 29-August 4, 2007 - (Page 18)

REVIEWS www.homemediamagazine.com I I’M REED FISH Prebook 8/7; Street 9/4 Universal/Screen Media, Comedy, B.O. $0.004 million, $24.98 DVD, ‘PG’ for language. Stars Jay Baruchel, Alexis Bledel, Schuyler Fisk, D.J. Qualls, A.J. Cook, Katey Sagal, Victor Rasuk, Chris Parnell. n this genuinely quirky romantic comedy, local boy Reed (Baruchel) is a talk jock on the extremely local radio station who has the power to shame the public works department into fixing potholes and persuade the fire department to rescue an errant chicken. He’s also about to marry his I high school sweetheart (Bledel). Or is he? After Reed’s carefully constructed world comes crashing down, he decides that he needs to shake things up. He quits his job at the radio station, takes the insurance money he received when his parents died and makes a movie about his life, casting all the people he knows as themselves. I’m Reed Fish, which is based on the experience of the film’s screenwriter, Reed Fish, is a kind of metamovie, within a movie, about making a movie. An appealing cast keeps the quirkiness at acceptable levels and Baruchel demonstrates keen comic timing as the young man in the middle of an existential crisis. Fisk, daughter of Sissy Spacek, not only establishes that she has inherit- ed at least some of her mother’s talent, but also in the course of the film, writes and performs two songs impressively. Sagal exudes warmth and wisdom as the small town’s mayor. In its tone, I’m Reed Fish owes something to cult favorite Napoleon Dynamite. But even consumers who are not card-carrying members of Gen Y will find much to like in this eccentric little film. — Anne Sherber NOMINEE Mar Del Plata Film Festival Best Film FEATURING AN ALL-STAR CAST JULIETTE BINOCHE (The English Patient, Chocolat) ACADEMY AWARD® WINNER (Quiz Show, O Brother Where Art Thou) JOHN TURTURRO GOLDEN GLOBE NOMINEE ACADEMY AWARD® NOMINEE (Cape Fear, The Prince of Tides) NICK NOLTE I THE BLOSSOMING OF MAXIMO OLIVEROS Prebook 7/31; Street 8/28 ets, ith rainy stre pure noir, w d dripping “… n an blinking neo is charmingly …Binoche histicated blood as a sop convincing Bond… male James French fe humorous as darkly Turturro is ves poetry” killer who lo a Item#: KLF-DV-3124 • UPC: 7-41952-31249-9 • SRP: $26.98 • English and French with English subtitles • Genre: Thriller • Dolby Digital • 16x9 • Running Time: 112 minutes TLA, Drama, B.O. $0.03 million, $19.99 DVD, NR. Stars J.R. Valentin, Nathan Lopez, Soliman Cruz. National Marketing & Publicity Campaign including advertising with LANDMARK THEATRES, FILM COMMENT, FADE IN and DVD TALK Ten days before 9/11, Elliott (Nick Nolte), a CIA agent who is holding top secret information on the immediate future of the world, disappears. Irène (Juliette Binoche), a French agent, along with Elliott’s abandoned son and daughter, follow the trail from Paris to Venice in a race against time to uncover the truth. Pre-Book Date: 8/14/07 • Street Date: 9/11/07 Academy Award® is the registered trademark and service mark of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. For more information visit www.kochb2b.com Watch A FEW DAYS IN SEPTEMBER TRAILER at www.kochclips.com he subject of a gay young man’s coming-of-age has rarely gotten the sweet, humane treatment it receives in the Filipino film The Blossoming of Maximo Oliveros. What stands out from this film is not just the incredibly brave and natural performance of Lopez as Maxi, but the wonderful depiction of the deep bond and love of his close-knit, male-dominated family, which realizes that Maxi is a gift, and does not judge him for his gender confusion. Maxi, with barrettes in his hair, sashays through his neighborhood and puts on faux beauty pageants with his friends. His brothers, much older than 12-year-old Maxi, good-naturedly rib him about his T feminine ways, but also are ferociously protective. The father watches over the entire clan, which makes its living fencing stolen cell phones and running numbers. The neighborhood — and Maxi’s family — are disrupted by new cop Victor, a handsome, earnest man who is immune to the bribery that keeps the peace between cops and petty criminals. Maxi falls hard for Victor, and the two become friends. Victor tries to ignore Maxi’s crush and lead him away from a criminal future. But the friendship is doomed with each on opposite sides of the law. The film was heavily recognized on the festival circuit and hopefully will find the audience it deserves. The Blossoming of Maximo Oliveros is tender without being sappy. The film has a gritty realism that offers insight into living on the edge of poverty without being cloying. The Manila neighborhood, while poor, also is celebrated. Life is vibrant, and everyone knows one another. There are no good guys and bad guys. Rather, people make tough decisions to abide by their own code, whether it’s to keep a family out of poverty or to always do right by the law. And at the center of this universe is a child, who is steadfastly trying to find his place in life, and is amazingly accepted for exactly who he is. — Laura Tiffany 18 Home Media Magazine July 29–August 4, 2007 http://www.homemediamagazine.com http://www.kochb2b.com http://www.kochclips.com

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Home Media Magazine - July 29-August 4, 2007

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