Home Media Magazine - March 9, 2009 - (Page 12) REVIEWS Edited by John Latchem www.homemediamagazine.com I HOWARD THE DUCK Street 3/10 Universal, Comedy, $29.98 DVD, ‘PG.’ Stars Lea Thompson, Tim Robbins, Jeffrey Jones. B I ELEGY Street 3/17 Sony Pictures, Drama, B.O. $3.6 million, $27.96 DVD, ‘R’ for sexuality, nudity and language. Stars Ben Kingsley, Penelope Cruz, Peter Sarsgaard, Patricia Clarkson, Dennis Hopper, Deborah Harry. E legy details the May-December romance between a middle-aged college professor (Ben Kingsley) and his beautiful young student (Penelope Cruz). If it sounds like an old man’s fantasy, that’s kind of how it plays out. David Kepesh is a divorced writer, critic and professor with a long line of flings with younger women. Consuela seems like only his latest conquest, until the Cuban beauty gets under his skin, forcing him to face his trivial life. Isabel Coixet, directing a screenplay based on Philip Roth’s The Dying Animal, does well by corralling the finest cast for which one can ask. Kingsley is almost too good to be unlikable as the controlling Kepesh; Patricia Clarkson and Peter Sarsgaard are excellent, as always, in small roles as Kepesh’s no-strings-attached lover and son, respectively. The problem with Elegy lies in its lack of energy. While trying to explore the complexities of relationships in an austere fashion, it forgets to infuse its relationships with much passion. Cruz, so great and fiery in films such as Volver and Vicky Cristina Barcelona (for which she recently won an Oscar) is relegated to being the dutiful babe with more than half a brain. Only in one scene — in which Kepesh is admiring Consuela’s bare breasts, and she intently asks, “Do you like them?” — do you feel that shiver of intensity that she can convey. While the film is good at leaving you wanting more, its mediations on aging and death should have been exploited further to offset the older-manwith-a-younger-woman thing, although by the end the film becomes genuinely touching. So, Elegy, with its many fine qualities — namely its acting — is not quite what it could be, but does well as a sort of Sunday afternoon, not-so-taxing but still mindful romance. Restraint is good, but better when it pays off. – Billy Gil I MULLIGAN Prebook 3/10; Street 4/14 Osiris, Comedy, $19.98 DVD, NR. Stars Steve Lattery, Joshua Will, Cedric Yarbrough, Trei Michaels, Bill Borea, Alex Cole, Allison Kending, Mikki Daniels, Eve Overland. T his 2000 film is being promoted as Caddyshack meets Clerks. Now, there is a tendency to compare any movie with golf to Caddyshack. However, Mulligan really isn’t about golf. It’s about four friends playing golf, and using the experience to reflect on where their lives went wrong. As expected from a movie with the title Mulligan, they are hoping for a do-over. The group includes Jordan (Steve Lattery), a would-be writer; Davis (Trei Michaels), a used-car dealer who has sold too many lemons to the wrong people; King (Cedric Yarbrough of “Reno 911!”), a recently discharged Marine who has found God; and Langer (Joshua Will), who can’t hold a job for more than a week and just broke up with his girlfriend because she was smothering him (one of the subplots involves her trying to track him down to make amends). There’s also a tendency to reference Clerks when discussing any indie involving friends making wisecracks about random people. The shoe fits, so to speak. But if we’re throwing out comparisons to movies with similar themes (in this case, the creative process), let’s add Chasing Amy, Swingers, Sideways and Free Enterprise to the list. Movies like this usually use cutaway flashbacks to cover what would be a boring linear narrative, or pop-culture references to endear us to the characters. Mulligan does both, adding some “Family Guy” style parodies for good measure. The only way such a film works is if we find ourselves caring about at least some of these people, and we do. A few moments of annoyance aside, Mulligan is a solid effort that hits the right buddy-comedy notes. Extras on the DVD include a few deleted scenes, an alternate ending and profiles of the characters. – John Latchem efore Spider-Man or X-Men conquered the box office, the progenitor of movies based on Marvel Comics characters was somehow Howard the Duck. For all those who questioned George Lucas’ sanity about “Star Wars” special editions, prequels and Jar Jar Binks, the first signs of trouble may have been this bizarre film he produced in 1986. In one of two retrospectives included on the new special-edition DVD, director Willard Huyck and writer Gloria Katz said they would have preferred to animate the adaptation of the less-than-serious character, a wisecracking alien duck who is plucked from his apartment on Duckworld and transported to Cleveland. But Lucas insisted a cheesylooking animatronic anthropomorphic duck costume would work. Howard the Duck has generally been ridiculed over the years, having earned Razzies for worst picture, worst screenplay, worst visual effects and worst new star (for everyone in the duck suit). The DVD includes an archive of vintage featurettes, which show that in its time, Howard the Duck was presented as a wacky sci-fi adventure, and it certainly is that. The filmmakers also tried to inject a touch of noir through a whimsical John Barry musical score, which ended up outclassing the on-screen action. The movie’s creators recognize the critical hostility toward the film, and retort that they were just trying to have fun. They also acknowledge that the movie has its own legion of fans, having become something of a camp classic. The film’s historical significance is not all negative. It offers an early performance from Tim Robbins, who would go on to win an Oscar (in 2003, for Mystic River). It’s also among the many films (All the Right Moves, Jaws 3, Some Kind of Wonderful, Casual Sex?) that helped establish Lea Thompson as one of the sexiest stars of the 1980s, love scenes with ducks aside. – John Latchem 12 Home Media Magazine March 9–15, 2009
Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Home Media Magazine - March 9, 2009 Home Media Magazine - March 9, 2009 Contents News Cine Mercado Reviews Research Top 20 Sellers Top 20 Rentals Just Announced Home Media Magazine - March 9, 2009 Home Media Magazine - March 9, 2009 - Home Media Magazine - March 9, 2009 (Page Cover1) Home Media Magazine - March 9, 2009 - Home Media Magazine - March 9, 2009 (Page Cover2) Home Media Magazine - March 9, 2009 - Home Media Magazine - March 9, 2009 (Page 1) Home Media Magazine - March 9, 2009 - Home Media Magazine - March 9, 2009 (Page 2) Home Media Magazine - March 9, 2009 - Home Media Magazine - March 9, 2009 (Page 3) Home Media Magazine - March 9, 2009 - Home Media Magazine - March 9, 2009 (Page 4) Home Media Magazine - March 9, 2009 - Contents (Page 5) Home Media Magazine - March 9, 2009 - News (Page 6) Home Media Magazine - March 9, 2009 - News (Page 7) Home Media Magazine - March 9, 2009 - News (Page 8) Home Media Magazine - March 9, 2009 - News (Page 9) Home Media Magazine - March 9, 2009 - Cine Mercado (Page 10) Home Media Magazine - March 9, 2009 - Cine Mercado (Page 11) Home Media Magazine - March 9, 2009 - Reviews (Page 12) Home Media Magazine - March 9, 2009 - Reviews (Page 13) Home Media Magazine - March 9, 2009 - Reviews (Page 14) Home Media Magazine - March 9, 2009 - Reviews (Page 15) Home Media Magazine - March 9, 2009 - Top 20 Rentals (Page 16) Home Media Magazine - March 9, 2009 - Top 20 Rentals (Page 17) Home Media Magazine - March 9, 2009 - Top 20 Rentals (Page 18) Home Media Magazine - March 9, 2009 - Just Announced (Page 19) Home Media Magazine - March 9, 2009 - Just Announced (Page 20) Home Media Magazine - March 9, 2009 - Just Announced (Page Cover3) Home Media Magazine - March 9, 2009 - Just Announced (Page Cover4)
For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.