Home Media Magazine - November 25-December 1, 2007 - (Page 20)

REVIEWS www.homemediamagazine.com I WHO’S YOUR CADDY? Street 11/27 Genius/Weinstein, Comedy, B.O. $5.7 million, $28.95 DVD, ‘PG-13’ for crude and sexual content, some nudity, language and drug material. Stars Big Boi, Jeffrey Jones, Susan Ward, Sherri Shepherd, Faizon Love, Tamala Jones, Andy Milonakis. C MOSCOW INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL BEST FILM WINNER “Malkovich is ideally cast… Ruiz is terrific in evoking a heady atmosphere of decadence” – Los Angeles Times Gustav Klimt lived his life like he painted it, full of intensity, sensuality and passion. A controversial figure, he was celebrated in Paris, but condemned in his home town. As he lies on his deathbed, Klimt (Malkovich) recalls his life, reflecting on his torrid affairs with his muses and his struggles for artistic freedom. KLF-DV-3151 • UPC: 7-41952-31519-3 • ISBN: 1-4172-0167-3 • SRP: $26.98 • 97 minutes • Drama English • 5.1 Surround Sound • Aspect Ratio 16x9 / 1.78:1 Production Year: 2006 • Closed Captioned DVD EXTRAS: “Making of” Featurette, Original Theatrical Trailer heck out the special features first and then the movie. Trust me. Start with the deleted scenes and the must-see “Men Are Like Puppy Dogs.” “Little T.T.” is worth a look, too. Then absorb some serious conversation in a good way, coming courtesy of billionaire Bob Johnson, founder of BET, owner of the NBA’s Charlotte Bobcats and a figure who sometimes gets mixed reviews. He shares his optimism on one of his latest investments, Our Stories Film, which he founded. The vision, he says, is to give minority filmmakers and artists a bigger stage for film and other projects. Producer-director Tracey E. Edmonds is leading the way. She’s COO and president of Our Stories Films. Though she might be known as ex-wife of Kenny “Babyface” Edmonds and the better half of Eddie Mur- phy right now, she carries clout in the film industry. “Soul Food,” on which she and Edmonds collaborated, was a hit for Showtime and a very popular series. Comedian Faizon Love is also a standout, which is no surprise to his fans. He shares the laughs and goodnatured ribbing well with co-star Sherri Shepherd, a talented comedian herself, who tells some of the best Faizon stories. The sexy Tamala Jones is definitely a good addition — and a lovely distraction. Jeffrey Jones and Susan Ward are good, too, as the husbandand-wife team called the Cummins. But it’s Andy Milonakis who almost steals the show. He oozes with talent. The movie? It’s a trumped-up clash of cultures: A snooty country-club crowd meets a set from hip-hop nation battling over a golf course. Now there’s a stretch. Andre “Big Boi” Patton, best known as the equally talented half of Outkast, heads the cast of this comedy as C-Note, a rapper who, despite his fame, desires membership in this exclusive country club. Still, as predictable and disappointing as the movie is, the special features are almost worth the price. – Benny Lopez I THE NAMESAKE Street 11/27 Fox, Drama, B.O. $13.6 million, $27.98 DVD, ‘PG13’ for sexuality/nudity, a scene of drug use, some disturbing images and brief language. Stars Kal Penn, Tabu, Irfan Khan, Jacinda Barrett, Zuleikha Robinson, Glenne Headly, Brooke Smith. T NATIONAL MARKETING AND PUBLICITY CAMPAIGN including advertising in Film Comment, Paste and DVD Talk Pre-Book Date: 12/11/07 • Street Date: 1/8/08 Watch KLIMT clips at WWW.KOCHCLIPS.COM For more information visit WWW.KOCHB2B.COM Academy Award® is the registered trademark and service mark of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences The Namesake is a beautifully realized adaptation of the popular Jhumpa Lairi novel, but it may be better known as the dramatic debut of Kumar. Not to diminish Kal Penn’s accomplishments in the film, but The Namesake is so much more. It’s an intricate, thoughtful examination of family and the effects of living your life with each foot in two distinct cultures. Penn, as Gogol, is the namesake. And although trailers would have you believe he’s the main focus of the film, this movie belongs to Tabu, the luminous actress who ages 25 years in the role of Gogol’s mother, who must navigate new worlds when she first comes to the United States as a bride and later again when her children leave home. Director Mira Nair (Mississippi Masala, Monsoon Wedding) performs her usual visual magic on this Bengali-American drama, and one of the biggest treats in the DVD extras is an extensive filming of a Columbia University graduate film school class with lectures by Nair and her behind-the-scenes cohorts on every- thing from financing and locations to casting and the musical score. It’s a rare glimpse into the process by an excellent filmmaker. Another extra, “Kolkata Love Poem,” uses up Frederick Elmes’ gorgeous cinematography of India, but “Photography as Inspiration” is more interesting. In it Nair shares photographs from which she drew inspiration alongside the affected scenes. A few deleted scenes can be skipped, and an interview with Penn about his character is marginally interesting, as he explains it’s Gogol’s personality that’s similar to him, not their cultural background. Nair’s commentary rounds out the extras. This is a film any fan of adaptations or cultural dramas would do well to revisit. The story is quiet, yet epic. There are no heroics, hysterics or sappiness — just the inner workings of a multicultural family making a history and a home. – Laura Tiffany 20 Home Media Magazine November 25–December 1, 2007 http://www.homemediamagazine.com http://www.kochclips.com http://www.kochb2b.com

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Home Media Magazine - November 25-December 1, 2007

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