Ninja
The Men Who Stare At Goats
In the months leading up to the blockbuster summer releases, we've been seeing some interesting films arrive on Blu-ray. An indie treat, a festival favorite, a straight to video offering, and a film that solidified the talents of its young star.LINK
This is a round up in two parts. With part one, we'll take quick looks at The Basketball Diaries, The Men Who Stare at Goats, Brief Interviews with Hideous Men
and Ninja.The Basketball Diaries
Written by: Bryan Goluboff
Directed by: Scott Kalvert
Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Bruno Kirby, Lorraine Bracco, Ernie Hudson, Patrick McGraw, James Madio, Michael Imperioli and Mark Wahlberg
Special features: Interviews with Cast and director, Jim Carroll interview and poetry reading
Leonardo DiCaprio stars as drug addicted writer Jim Carroll in this excellent film. Leo delivers an amazing performance here in this autobiographical film about a high school basketball player dealing with a dying friend, a pervy coach, and the struggles of the streets of NYC, eventually spiraling into heroin addiction, robbery and even prostitution.
The Basketball Diaries
is a dark dramatic film filled with some fantastic performances including a pitch perfect Ernie Hudson. This really was one of the films that proved Leonardo DiCaprio was more than just a teen idol. He is a brilliant actor who tackles the dark subject matter here effortlessly.The film looks great on Blu-ray. The picture is really clear and the sound is full. Was this a film that screamed for a high-def release? No, not really but it's a good enough film to warrant the purchase. The special features are a little lacking but the film holds up on its own. In fact, it's my favorite film of the bunch.
The Basketball Diaries
is the only film not currently available to purchase. It arrives on April 20!The Men Who Star at Goats
Written by: Peter Straughan based on the book by Jon Ronson
Directed by: Grant Heslov
Starring: George Clooney, Jeff Bridges, Ewan McGregor, Kevin Spacey, and Robert Patrick
Special features: Goats Declassified: The Real Men of the First Earth Battalion, Project "Hollywood": A classified report from the set, Audio Commentaries, Character Bios, Deleted Scenes, and a digital copy of the film.
Confidentially, my second favorite film on this list is The Men Who Stare At Goats
. Look at this cast! Clooney, Bridges, Spacey, McGregor add those names to the fact that this is inspired by actual events? Win.The film is really clever and very funny. It's pretty off the wall and probably not a film for everyone but it is definitely worth the time (and money).
I mentioned the cast already and I'll go on to say that they are all fantastic. Clooney is really funny here as is Jeff Bridges who recently has become one of favorite actors.
The film looks wonderful with a perfect picture and really crisp sound. The disc has a nice set of special features as well. Nothing mind blowing but some interesting stuff none the less. There's a digital copy here if you are so inclined. I maintain that dropping the digital copy all together would make for a cheaper Blu-ray release and might bode well for the format in general.
If you want a smart and funny film than certainly pick up The Men Who Stare At Goats
.Brief Interviews with Hideous Men
Written and Directed by John Krasinski
based on the book by David Foster Wallace
Starring: Will Arnett, Bobby Cannavale, Josh Charles, Dominic Cooper, Frankie Faison, Will Forte, Timothy Hutton, John Krasinksi, Christopher Meloni, Chris Messina, Max Minghella, Clarke Peters, Lou Taylor, Pucci Ben Shenkman, and Julliane Nicholson
Special features: Interview with John Krasinski, Behind The Scenes, TV Spot, and a Trailer
I can honestly say I never thought I'd hear of John Krasinski writing and directing a movie. Not that he isn't capable of doing it, he just never seemed the type to me for some reason.
Contrary to the near universal panning of this film, I didn't hate it. Granted, I didn't love it either. It is a bit pretentious and it is a little self indulgent but it's not terrible. It's even enjoyable at some points but I can concede and say I can see why so many people hated it.
Most of the characters are unlikable, including the lead. I should have hated the movie as much as everyone else did but for some reason I didn't.
The film looks pretty good on Blu. It's nothing to write home about and the special features are lousy. The film has a pretty steep price tag right now sitting at about $25 bucks on amazon. So I'd hold off on it for a few weeks at least. The price should drop by then. It's worth a watch at about 10-13 bucks. Better yet Netflix it.
Ninja
Written by: Michael Hurst and Boaz Davidson
Directed by: Isaac Florentine
Starring: Scott Adkins, Tsuyoshi Ihara, Mika Hijii, Todd Jensen, Garrick Hagon, and Togo Igawa
Special Features: Previews
Finally, we have Ninja
. The film stars no one I've ever heard of and to be honest none of them are that good anyway. This movie is pretty bad. Its corny, fun, Cinemax original movie of the week fun but still it's pretty bad.Sub par acting, and only decent fight scenes make this movie a watcher only if you feel like getting drunk and screaming at the people on the screen to do something cool.
Considering the complete lack of special features supplementing the film no one else though it was worth supporting either. Featureless releases are a clear indication of just getting something out there that someone is dumb enough to drop money on.
Ninja
ranks up there with the worst of Seagal except it doesn't have his general bad-assness to rely on.I'd pick this up only if you are desperate for some kung fu, even if its not the greatest display.
That's it for this, Part One of our two part Spring Blu-ray highlights. Two great offerings, one okay one, and one bad one that still manages some slight fun make up for an interesting few releases.
In the second half of this update we'll be seeing some more releases, including one that features zombies! Nazi Zombies!
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