Month: December 2009

Facing Ali (R, 2009, Lions Gate)
“Facing Ali” was a 300-plus-page book before it was a 100-minute film, and it takes only a few minutes with this incarnation before it becomes obvious this could, maybe should, have been a mini-series. “Ali” runs through the landmark moments of Muhammad Ali’s career by sitting down with 10 of the fighters who faced off against him, and the energy with which it bounces between subjects and storylines is absolutely breathless. The fighters range from iconic (George Foreman, Joe Frazier, Larry Holmes) to those only fans of the sport are likely to be intimately familiar with (George Chuvalo, Sir Henry Cooper, Earnie Shavers), but all 10 get a chance to say their piece — not only about Ali, but about their own lives and the events that brought them into the same ring as the arguable greatest fighter of all time. No one minces words — about Ali, about themselves or even about the brutality of their chosen profession — and “Ali” bounces from loving celebration to harsh dissection and back without discrimination and with unbelievable grace. The amount of content jammed inside is matched by some of the prettiest cinematography ever to grace a documentary,  and if there’s a failing here, it’s that so much of the material “Ali” touches on would be so much fun to explore in considerably greater detail. Fortunately, there’s a book for that.
Extras: Three behind-the-scenes features, animated trivia cards.

Paranormal Activity: Limited Collector’s Edition (NR/R, 2007, Paramount)
The sorry state of horror films, and the oppressive patterns they’ve fallen into over time, are hard at work against everything “Paranormal Activity’s” first 80-plus minutes attempt to do. These minutes — which come courtesy of a camcorder Micah (Micah Sloat) has set up to document and hopefully trap the source of a lifetime of hauntings girlfriend Katie (Katie Featherston) has experienced — aren’t scary, aren’t gory, and don’t do much in terms of doing the things horror films typically do. That will prove no small issue for a lot of viewers, especially because once the payoff really kicks in, the show practically is over. Many who heard the ill-devised hype about “Activity” — that it’s the scariest film of the last deacde or that it reinvents modern-day horror — are likely to come away just as miffed as so many did 10 years earlier when “The Blair Witch Project” elicited the same claims for using the same playbook. But the misleading hype isn’t the movie’s fault. More than just make people wet their pants ad nauseam, “Activity” attempts to tell an honest-to-goodness story, and by devoting all those minutes almost exclusively to its two main characters, it pretty thoroughly does that. By the time things reach a crescendo, you’ll either be so impatiently ready for it as to be underwhelmed or so caught up in the atmosphere as to be genuinely unnerved — not terrified, not thrown out of the seat, but pleasantly uncomfortable —by tricks filmmakers could do half a century ago. To “Activity’s” credit, it gives those willing to play along every chance in the world to experience the latter.
Extras: Unrated cut with new ending, a trading card with a film cell, a number, limited-edition t-shirt (no kidding). If the swag doesn’t interest you, the regular edition also has the alternate cut.

A Perfect Getaway: Unrated Director’s Cut (R/NR, 2009, Universal)
Newly-married Cliff (Steve Zahn) and Cydney (Milla Jovovich) don’t exactly come off as the roughing-it types, so their choice of a very-nearly-isolated Hawaiian cliffside as a honeymoon spot would seem an odd choice. That goes as well for their near-decision to give two shady hitchhikers (Marley Shelton and Chris Hemsworth) a ride around the island and their choice to buddy up with another couple (Timothy Olyphant and Kiele Sanchez) that wastes no time firing off alarm bells. Oh, and another couple recently was murdered on the island, the killers (one male and one female according to a very grainy surveillance photo) are still loose, and let’s say it again, no one else is really around. What could go wrong? With essentially three twosomes of importance in the picture, there are only so many ways this can go without jerking logic around for the heck of it, so only those looking for a fight can pick on “A Perfect Getaway” for being semi-predictable and going one of those ways. Fortunately, and to its immense benefit, “Getaway” answers the multiple choice question with nearly half the movie left to go. That gives it plenty of time to explain itself and give its cast some extra dimension before shutting its intellectual side down and engaging in a pretty fun dash to the finale. Everything it does has been done before, of course, but so what? “Getaway” does it well — and, in doing so, credibly engenders some real suspense in spite of all it has working against that possibility.
No extras beyond the availability of the theatrical and director’s cut, which adds an additional 10 minutes to the runtime.

9 (PG-13, 2009, Focus/Universal)
The computer-animated “9’s” wonderful attention to visual design is all the more striking given the post-apocalyptic constraints inside which it must work. The same holds true of its characters — a band of rag dolls who, for reasons not yet explained when the film begins, have been given life by their creator right around the same time machines wiped humanity out of existence. A lifeless planet and a collection of burlap dolls never looked so good, and it’s a shame “9” feels a need to rush itself along and give us only 80 minutes of its time to take this world in. The characters are unique and strikingly capable of conveying genuine humanity in spite of their almost comical appearance, and their fight to survive against a stray machine that outlived the war has the capacity to matter if given the time to explain why it does matter. But that’s where “9” really stumbles: The time between our introduction to the main character (named 9), his reunion with the other dolls and the series of events that lead up to the big conclusion flies right by, and the film wastes numerous opportunities to slow down, pad a few extra minutes onto the runtime and add some additional dimension to these characters. By the time the film gives us its biggest jolt of character development, we’re halfway through the climax, and by the time it ends, “9” feels only half-finished — an awfully pretty movie with deeply likable characters that nonetheless feels a little empty when all is said and done.
Extras: Filmmakers commentary, the 11-minute original “9” short (with optional commentary), three behind-the-scenes features.

Vampire Killers (R, 2008, The Weinstein Company)
A few years ago or a few years from now, a movie like “Vampire Killers” — in which two directionless blokes (James Corden and Mathew Horne) unwittingly find themselves taking on a gang of murderous lesbian vampires —  might, even left as is, be better than it is right now. The premise and general tone are silly, our accidental heroes are likable enough, and everything is generally pleasant to look at. But all of that adds up to mild praise at best, and outside of a funny line or two, “Killers” never really rises beyond those mildly pleasant levels. A comedy about off-kilter monster killers might feel more special if “Shaun of the Dead” and “Zombieland” hadn’t pushed the bar so high so recently or if zombie and vampire movies, television shows, books and video games weren’t being produced in excess the way they have been these last couple of years. But they have, and “Killers” is here now, and while it’s perfectly acceptable entertainment for those somehow hungry for more, that’s about all it is. MyAnna Buring also stars. No Extras.

Jennifer’s Body: Unrated (R/NR, 2009, Fox)
Say this about “Jennifer’s Body’s” stab at contemporary horror: It definitely stands out from the crowd. Whether it does so for any good reason, though, is another matter entirely. The events that drive the film are best unspoiled: When “Body” begins, one formerly normal high school girl (Amanda Seyfried as Needy) is in an insane asylum and the other (Megan Fox as Jennifer) looks like a zombie, and the film’s promise to detail how things got that way provides it plenty of fuel on which to coast. But “Body” never quite coasts. It flirts with formulaic teen horror, but it also appears to be making fun of those same conventions in a sloppy attempt at dark humor that falls too flat. Certain plot turns repeat themselves to the point of predictable, but between those moments the film zigs and zags between moods and character developments without even bothering to allude to the fact that some of this inconsistency merits some explanation. The schizophrenia — combined with dialogue, bit characters and one love scene that’s so bad as to be ironic but isn’t really presented that way — send “Body” meandering aimlessly to a climax that, for all the film’s cooler-than-thou disposition, just doesn’t do that early promise any justice. There’s something of a payoff by the time we return to present day, but so much air has left the room by then that it can do only so much. Johnny Simmons, Adam Brody, J.K. Simmons and Amy Sedaris also star.
Extras: Writer/director commentary on the theatrical cut, separate director commentary on the extended cut.

Worth a Mention
— Glee: Season 1, Volume 1: Road to Sectionals (NR, 2009, Fox): The first season is still underway, but if for some reason you need these first 13 episodes now but have no use for the nine that remain … wait, what? Fox already said it’s releasing a complete season set in 2010, so you’d be smart to just wait for that unless plans change. For those who don’t care or have some financial stake in the show that merits purchasing this, this set also contains audition footage, a couple musical numbers and four behind-the-scenes features. The director’s cut of the pilot episode is here as well.
— “Taxi: The Final Season” (NR, 1982, CBS): It took an eternity in DVD release time, but “Taxi” fans finally can complete their collection with this set. Includes 24 episodes, plus vintage promotional spots.

District 9: 2-Disc Edition (R, 2009, Sony Pictures)
The first sign that “District 9” isn’t just another movie about just another alien invasion appears almost immediately: As the film opens, the invasion not only has already happened, but is 20 years in the past. When we step into the picture, the mothership hasn’t moved an inch in two decades, the aliens (derogatorily referred to as “prawns” because of their appearance) have long settled in as second-class citizens of Earth, and the mission at hand has members of Multi-National United (imagine a privatized United Nations) evicting the exploding alien population out of Johannesburg’s District 9 and into something resembling an internment camp. It doesn’t take a genius to imagine the metaphorical connotations potentially in play here, and “D9,” which is shot partly like a documentary and partly like a traditional feature film, doesn’t flinch in running its fiction through those filters. What emerges is something that’s absolutely fantastical in its construction of alien technology, language and makeup, but simultaneously, intelligently grounded in the realities of a powerful alien race descending on an equally formidable human race that doesn’t know whether to destroy it or observe it for its own betterment. Similarly, the heretofore-unspoiled result of the eviction makes for a wondrous marriage of science fiction and parallel-dimension discourse, and it corners the market on how to create a character (Sharlto Copley as MNU operative Wikus Van De Merwe) who can go from heroic to detestable and back and forth without ever stepping outside of who he is. Similar kudos are in store for “D9’s” special effects, which enhance the film’s realism to an unquantifiable degree rather than bog it down into yet another mess of computer graphics run amok. Forget the rumored sequel — there’s enough engrossing fiction and eye candy for an entire television series.
Extras: Director commentary, deleted scenes, three-part making-of documentary, four additional behind-the-scenes features.

(500) Days of Summer (PG-13, 2009, Fox)
Tom (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) doesn’t exactly handle the rocky path a relationship takes with a level head, but he can’t help it — he’s a romantic. Problem is, new coworker Summer (Zooey Deschanel) is not, and the wild effect her presence has on perfectly coolheaded males spells disastrous days ahead for poor, insta-smitten Tom. The literally-titled “(500) Days of Summer” doesn’t make us wait to confirm our suspicions: Jumping back and forth in time using the nifty trick of numbering the 500 days to always let us know where we are in the timeline, “Summer” immediately takes us to what appears to be a breakup before whisking us backward, forward, in between and wherever else it feels like taking us. The result not only is considerably more coherent than it sounds on paper, but also shrewdly astute in picking apart the comedy, tragedy and unexplainable grey areas that accompany that terrible and wonderful thing we call a relationship. “Summer” runs on the power of grey areas, in fact: It constructs its characters with complete care but never paints them into corners, and different viewers with different perspectives can view Tom and Summer in vastly different ways without upsetting the integrity of the story. And if you just want to kick back and enjoy it? Don’t worry: “Summer’s” pain and insight are real, but so are the dark laughs it provides. Geoffrey Arend and Matthew Gray Gubler also star.
Extras: Writers/director/Gordon-Levitt commentary, deleted/extended scenes.

Extract (R, 2009, Miramax)
It’s always nice when a film hits the ground running, as “Extract” does in introducing us to seductive small-time con Cindy (Mila Kunis) in its first, and arguably funniest, scene. “Extract” also manages a few nice laughs when shifting its attention from Cindy to main character Joel (Jason Bateman), who, in the tradition of sorry Mike Judge-created characters, is the owner of (a) an unexciting extract manufacturing business, (b) a next-door-neighbor (David Koechner) who won’t leave him alone and (c) a marriage (Kristen Wiig as wife Suzie) that might be even less exciting than the job and neighbor. Joel’s and Cindy’s stories eventually collide, and spoiling these and other developments would deny “Extract” its element of surprise — which, frankly, is something it cannot afford to lose. “Extract” is loaded in the cast department, rich with characters and full of story to tell, but beyond the occasional funny line, it rarely rises beyond modest amusement to approach anything close to laugh-out-loud funny levels. Judge’s comedies definitely have a certain underlying tone in common, and “Extract” is no different, but anyone waiting for Joel to unload on his life the way Michael Bolton did on the printer in “Office Space” will find themselves still waiting by film’s end. Ben Affleck, J.K. Simmons, Clifton Collins Jr., Dustin Milligan, Beth Grant and Gene Simmons also star.
Extra: Mike Judge feature.

All About Steve (PG-13, 2009, Fox)
Here’s a tip for all you single folks out there: If you think there’s a chance you might want to fake your way out of a blind date while it’s in progress, do some due diligence and plan your lie ahead of time. That’s an idea television cameraman Steve (Bradley Cooper) didn’t consider before experiencing a date with Mary Horowitz (Sandra Bullock), a small-time crossword designer who knows a ton of trivia but lacks any knowledge regarding how to keep that trivia and other verbal waterfalls from continually spilling out her mouth. Steve constructs a quick lie about having to travel across the country, the instantly-smitten Mary accidentally calls his bluff and follows him, and voila, we have a comedy. As movies go, “All About Steve” is a lot like Mary: It’s an improbable mess and far more cloyingly cute than it is laugh-out-loud funny, but it also contains enough fleeting moments of brilliance — a sharply-written monologue about love, an even sharper dressing down of Mary’s life by a deaf child trapped in a mineshaft, some pointedly funny jabs at Emmy-starved television reporters — to make it easy to like in spite of its many flaws. Thomas Haden Church, Ken Jeong, DJ Qualls, Katy Mixon, Howard Hesseman and perennial scene stealer Keith David also star.
Extras: Kim Barker/cast commentary, deleted/alternate scenes, bloopers (with commentary), Cooper and Jeong sing a capella (with commentary), two behind-the-scenes features (one of which very nicely parodies behind-the-scenes features), photo gallery (with companion rap by Mary Horowitz), episode of Fox Movie Channel’s “Life After Film School.”

Blind Date (NR, 2007, E1 Entertainment)
An unthinkable tragedy has driven a tumultuous wedge into Don’s (Stanley Tucci) and Janna’s (Patricia Clarkson) marriage, and the couple has resorted to engaging each other through a series of mock blind dates in hopes of repairing their relationship. Each date finds Don and Janna in character as different people, and each date purportedly peels away just a little bit of the bottled-up honesty and emotion that’s keeping the couple at arm’s reach from one another. Problem is, the walls that divide Don and Janna don’t just divide Don and Janna. “Blind Date” starts out with great promise by immediately offering us some insight into who our characters really are, but once the couple falls into its land of make-believe, we only fleetingly see it return to reality. Studious viewers can take away subtle insights from each encounter, but the sensation of distance never really dissipates between Don and Janna or them and us. Their frustration becomes our frustration, the film’s wheels keep spinning in place, and while everything about “Date’s” casting, script and visual presentation has polish to spare, it’s hard to be truly moved or entertained when the entertainment so stubbornly keeps pushing the viewer away.
Extra: Tucci/Clarkson commentary.

Beyond a Reasonable Doubt (PG-13, 2009, Anchor Bay)
Award-winning television journalist C.J. Nicholas (Jesse Metcalfe) has been slumming it with puff pieces since moving to the big city, but when he hatches a theory that unstoppable District Attorney Mark Hunter (Michael Douglas) is planting forensic evidence at crime scenes to win his cases, he sets out to prove it in a way only a preposterous movie could love — by getting himself falsely accused of murder. What could go wrong?! Besides C.J.’s plan, most everything, actually. “Beyond a Reasonable Doubt” is a polished, pretty film that, at least on the surface, has all the ingredients it needs to be a prototypically textbook legal thriller. But it’s hard to shake the notion that the premise “Doubt” presents — and, later, the twists and unbelievably abrupt character personality transformations it employs for purposes of toying with viewers — are feasible in a world with characters as sharp as our intrepid reporter and district attorney supposedly are. You can see the cracks in both characters’ plans from the minute the plans are presented, and the only thing worse than that is the insultingly silly twist ending that, for all the wrong reasons, outdoes all that preceded it. Joel Moore, Amber Tamblyn and Orlando Jones also star.
Extras: Director/Metcalfe commentary, two behind-the-scenes features.

Inglourious Basterds: 2-Disc Special Edition (R, 2009, Universal)
Brad Pitt’s name may sit at the top of the marquee, and “Inglourious Basterds” may have marketed itself as a crazed revenge comedy that sets a ragtag group of nuts on a path to drive Adolf Hitler off a ledge, but neither of these facets have any presence whatsoever in the 21-minute opening scene that, in another film, could pass for the kind of climax from which Oscar buzz is manufactured. “Basterds” does eventually venture without apology into madcap revenge country, and Aldo Raine’s (Pitt) band of vengeance-hungry lunatics absolutely lives up to the marketing’s billing. But “Basterds” is a story of two missions instead of one, and that first scene sets the pace for what ultimately emerges as a sensational ensemble production in which any number of characters arguably steal the show. The odd juxtapositions of disparate moods may strike some as confused, and “Basterds'” need to squeeze every last possible drop of character development out of its every scene will drive some impatient viewers crazy. But if the film wastes any of its 153 minutes, it doesn’t waste many, and while the winding journey makes “Basterds” an experience like few other, the payoff at the end is pretty spectacular in its own right. Mélanie Laurent, Christoph Waltz, Eli Roth and Diane Kruger, among numerous others, also star.
Extras: Extended/alternate scenes, roundtable discussion with Pitt, director Quentin Tarantino and film critic Elvis Mitchell, an uncut copy of “Nation’s Pride” (makes sense once you’ve seen the movie), digital copy.

The Hangover: Unrated (R/NR, 2009, Warner Bros.)
It’s always fun when a movie begins in the middle of the story, gives viewers a few minutes to assess the damage, and then flashes back to the beginning to show how it all became that way. It’s especially fun when, in the case of these not-quite heroes (Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms and Zach Galifianakis), the characters are so hung over from the previous night’s bachelor party that they, too, have no idea what happened — or why the groom (Justin Bartha), whose wedding is mere hours away, has gone completely missing. There’s no good reason to spoil any of the surprises viewers and characters alike have in store, nor is there any good reason to allude to where “The Hangover” goes once the past catches up to the present. It’s shamelessly illogical and stupider with each twist, and on paper and without the aid of the cast and the script that brings them to life, it might as well be another awful straight-to-video National Lampoon film. Fortunately, a bad script is about the only problem these guys don’t have. The hype machine did not lie this time: This film is hilarious.
Extras: Theatrical and unrated cuts, bonus photos from the missing camera (will make sense once you see the film), a performance of “Fame” by The Dan Band (same), improv with co-star Ken Jeong, bloopers, digital copy.

Sita Sings the Blues (NR, 2008, FilmKaravan)
“Sita Sings the Blues,” which rather confidently describes itself as the “greatest break-up story ever told,” isn’t as remarkable for the story it tells so much as the lengths it went to tell it — mixing contemporary, divergent animation styles with blues music recorded close to a century ago and releasing the finished product online for free to circumvent a web of licensing issues surrounding the aforementioned music. All those hoops were worth it, though: “Blues” jumps back and forth in time to correlate a slice of a 3,000-year-old Sanskrit epic with a modern-day not-quite equivalent in Manhattan, and it uses every tool at its disposal to pull it off. The different illustration styles bring with them different storytelling techniques — from some sharply funny commentary between Indian shadow puppets to all those musical numbers, which may as well been recorded with this film in mind — and “Blues” manages to tell a perfectly cohesive (and yes, great) love story without forcing the parts to play nice with each other.
Extras: Director commentary, animated short “Fetch,” 25-minute behind-the-scenes interview, DVD-Rom content.

G-Force: Blu-Ray + DVD + Digital Copy Combo Pack (PG, 2009, Disney)
It’s pretty clear which department worked harder during the making of “G-Force,” which cobbles together a rather trite tale of corporate hijinks and high-stakes espionage for the sole purpose of presenting us a collection of rodents who not only speak brilliant English, but possess enough intelligence to play ball with the country’s most elite special agents. The story is little more than a means to an end — every cranny of “G-Force’s” plot has been tested over time in an uncountable number of spy thrillers — and the rest of the script isn’t a whole lot more inspired. (Get ready for not one, not two, but three fart jokes!) But to criticize “G-Force” for its inability to turn special agent guinea pigs into poetry is, of course, to miss the point. This isn’t a Pixar film; it’s fodder for younger kids who will laugh at the slapstick and pay no mind to the pitiful attempts to humor parents with the occasional flat gag or plot twist. Most importantly, it looks good: The computer-animated critters look perfectly credible among their live-action surroundings, and while the script doesn’t give them much in the way of clever lines to say, they’re no less lovable when playing the hand they’ve been dealt.
Extras: The combo pack includes Blu-ray, DVD and digital copy editions of the film. Three behind-the-scenes features are available only on the Blu-Ray disc, but everybody gets deleted scenes, a fourth behind-the-scenes feature, a “Blaster’s Boot Camp” DVD game and three music videos.

Herb & Dorothy (NR, 2009, Arthouse Films)
Not every good documentary is for everyone who loves a good documentary, and it’s worth noting that if you don’t see a little bit of yourself in Herb and Dorothy, you may not feel so strongly about the film that bears their name. “Herb & Dorothy” tells the remarkable story of a married couple who, with very little financial means, has managed over time to assemble an art collection for the ages. Herb and Dorothy, for their part, are as likable as their story — funny, blunt, self-deprecating and married far too long not to be completely, plainly honest with and about each other. The film, for its part, plays it pretty straight, letting Herb, Dorothy and some of the professionals who have crossed their path over the years compile the story without help. That, along with a few scenes in which the couple works its savvy magic, are all the film needs to inspire would-be collectors who wish to emulate their success. But “H&D’s” power doesn’t really travel beyond that realm, and if Herb and Dorothy’s exploits don’t intrigue you on paper, the straightforward nature of the film won’t change that.
Extras: Deleted scenes, festival  appearance and theatrical premiere footage.

Taking Woodstock (R, 2009, Universal)
It’s safe to assume creative liberty and selective memory are in play in “Taking Woodstock,” which draws on the Elliot Tiber memoir of the same name to dramatize the true story of Woodstock’s humble conception and eventual explosion, but it’s not like the actual events of the story need much help to engender interest. That should come as great relief to “Woodstock,” which doesn’t so much fail to tell the story as it does just kind of stumble clumsily through the process of doing so. A promising start introduces the principal players (Imelda Staunton, Henry Goodman, Dan Fogler, Emile Hirsch, Liev Schreiber) in colorful ways, and the film displays an inviting level of folksiness during its amusingly modest beginnings. But as the tenor of the event shifts from fun to business and “Woodstock” tries to straighten its face, it reveals a tendency to ramble, repeat itself and dwell on story points that didn’t receive enough attention early to really matter later. The light humor gives way to an uncomfortable mix of had-to-be-there nostalgia and melancholy, and the normally hysterical Demetri Martin’s portrayal of Tiber reduces him to a wet blanket bore. “Woodstock’s” nice attention to imagery might touch a nerve in those who were there or there in spirit 40 years ago, but any chord beyond that sits far out of reach.
Extras: Writer/director commentary, deleted scenes, behind-the-scenes feature.

Worth a Mention
— New seasons of top-notch TV: “Lost: The Complete Fifth Season” (NR, 2009, ABC) includes all 16 episodes of what arguably was the most revelatory season thus far, as well as commentary, deleted scenes, four behind-the-scenes features, an expository Dharma Initiative feature and bloopers. “The Tudors: The Complete Third Season” (NR, 2009, Showtime) includes eight episodes, plus cast interviews, a “Tudors” timeline and the first two episodes of Showtime’s new show, “The United States of Tara.” “Robot Chicken: Season 4” (NR, 2008, Adult Swim) includes all 20 episodes (with commentary on all), plus two years’ worth of Comic-Con panel footage, deleted scenes, deleted animatics, alternate audio, video blogs, behind-the-scenes footage and, as always, some of the best package design in the business.
— New York Yankees DVDs: Too poor to buy a World Series championship via the free agency market? How about some World Series championship DVDs instead? “World Series 2009: Philadelphia Phillies vs. New York Yankees” (NR, MLB/Shout Factory) features MLB’s typically pristine narration of the six-game series, while “New York Yankees 2009: Season of Pride, Tradition & Glory” (NR, MLB/A&E) covers the entire season in detail. The crown jewel, though, is the eight-disc “New York Yankees 2009 World Series Collector’s Edition” (NR, MLB/A&E), which includes all six World Series games and the final game of the American League Championship Series in their entirety. All three editions feature bonus footage covering various milestones and celebrations, and the eight-disc set includes optional audio tracks featuring the Yankees’ radio play-by-play team.

World’s Greatest Dad (R, 2009, Magnolia)
Spoilers are called spoilers for good reason, and this is a spoiler-free zone. Every now and then, though, something like “World’s Greatest Dad” comes barreling along and thoroughly complicates the moralistic integrity of sending innocent viewers into a film unspoiled. So let’s just put it this way: “Dad” starts off under modest pretenses as a dryly, somewhat darkly funny comedy about poetry teacher Lance Clayton (Robin Williams), whose inability to publish a novel matches well with his respective failures to cultivate enthusiasm from his students and raise a teenage son (Daryl Sabara as Kyle) who isn’t an abrasively poison-mouthed pervert. But then, something pretty major happens, and “Dad” migrates from darkly dry comedy to a pitch-black farce that will doubtlessly be too dark for some to rationalize as comedy at all. Spoiling exactly what brings on that migration absolutely would flatten the impact of “Dad’s” mood shift, and those who like their comedies nice and burnt are best advised to just jump in, because “Dad” is fearless in its mission and fiendishly smart about making fun of the mess into which it has gotten itself. It might be the smartest comedy of 2009, and it ranks up there with Williams’ very best performances. If you’re prone to offense, though, there’s a chance the events that transpire here will have you reaching for the stop button. You’ve been warned, if not spoiled.
Extras: Writer/director commentary, deleted scenes, two behind-the-scenes features, outtakes, music video.

The Cove (PG-13, 2009, Lions Gate)
The insurmountable irony surrounding documentaries that advocate the well-being of endangered animals is the stigmatic burden they present to viewers who don’t already support their intentions in the first place. But here’s the thing about “The Cove,” which lifts the veil on the horrific practice of trapping, capturing and killing dolphins in Taiji, Japan: It isn’t a lecture, and it isn’t designed to make you feel helpless and lousy about the fact that you just bought a box of fish sticks the day before. It can’t really afford a high horse, anyway: The crew tasked with infiltrating Taiji is led by Richard O’Barry, who takes responsibility for popularizing dolphin captivity through his work as a dolphin trainer on the television show “Flipper.” His crisis of confidence, and the resulting scramble to make it right and absolve his guilt, is the linchpin around which “The Cove” tells its story, and the crew’s attempts to duck authorities without any protection whatsoever makes for engrossing drama regardless of message. “The Cove” does its message proud, though: Beyond the good intentions, it empirically shoots down the notion that the practice has practical merit or enjoys any level of cultural significance. More importantly, the film leaves viewers with a sense that it’s part of a larger organism and not some isolated springboard viewers must activate to keep alive. Not everyone who sees “The Cove” has the means to act on it, and the film’s convincing promise of positive change ahead is a very welcome lift for those who only can watch.
Extras: Director/producer commentary, “The Cove: Mercury Rising” documentary short, deleted scenes, two behind-the-scenes features.

Julie & Julia (PG-13, 2009, Sony Pictures)
For those unfamiliar with the book of the same name, the “Julia” in “Julie & Julia” represents world-renowned chef and author  Julia Child, who scratched and clawed her way to a book deal that eventually resulted in the atomically successful publication of “Mastering the Art of French Cooking.” Julie Powell, on the other hand, is a New York City government employee who has never finished a project she started until, one day in 2002, she decides to execute all 524 recipes from Child’s book inside of a single year and blog about the experience. Both women’s respective ventures and all they entail provide the basis for “Julia,” which jumps between timelines and naturally uncovers numerous parallels between the two despite the difference of a few decades and the fact that neither has been in the same room as the other. As biographical studies, it’s perfectly sufficient light entertainment, and fans of either woman’s work might find some enjoyment purely in that regard. But “Julia’s” true light shines in its portrayal of the work more than those doing it. The struggle to create something people will absorb, treasure and remember is something millions have undertaken and few have overcome, and seeing it play out here — in two eras, through two media but on the backs of the same overriding principles — is enough to inspire anyone in a rut to pull a Julie of their own and give it another go. For the right crowd, that’s far more valuable than whatever entertainment value “Julia” otherwise provides everyone else.
Extras: Writer/director commentary, behind-the-scenes feature.

Public Enemies (R, 2009, Universal)
On paper, “Public Enemies” seems like a tired idea — the umpteenth attempt to color the facts of John Dillinger’s (Johnny Depp) life, only this time with a big budget and an A-list cast and director (Michael Mann) in tow. In practice, it doesn’t upset those expectations, but whether that’s a problem or not likely comes down to individual taste. Dillinger’s life has already hit some degree of stride when “Enemies” begins, so the film doesn’t attempt to play the all-encompassing epic card. “Enemies” similarly resists the temptation to recite Dillinger’s story from an unorthodox perspective or with an overly stylish bent, but instead chooses the refreshingly conventional route of telling part of the man’s story in polished but straight-faced detail. It doesn’t necessarily provide an unprecedented education in doing so, and the approach finds the film occasionally dragging a shootout a tiny bit past its welcome to fulfill whatever expectations of sizzle some might have going in. Ultimately, though, all that polish and talent goes to good use: Depp’s portrayal benefits from having room to breathe, and Dillinger’s muse (Marion Cotillard) and primary adversary (Christian Bale) arguably benefit even more for the same reason. “Enemies” breaks no ground whatsoever, but it does entertain, and if a fun story told by actors who clearly are enjoying themselves is good enough, then this more than suffices.
Extras: Director commentary, four behind-the-scenes features, digital copy.
— Conveniently-timed companion material: “Crime Wave: 18 Months of Mayhem” (NR, 2008, History): A 94-minute document of Dillinger’s romp through the 1930s. Also included on the disc: “Biography: Bonnie and Clyde: The Story of Love & Death.”

Dog Eat Dog (NR, 2008, IFC/MPI)
Colombian kingpin El Orejón’s (Blas Jaramillo) power is so vast and his respect for human life so minute that when he wants to demonstrate his gifts to street-level soldier Eusebio (Óscar Borda), he asks Eusebio to point out a random person on the street and immediately orders the person’s execution for no reason beyond his ability to do so. It’s probably best not to cross a guy like that, but what happens when a series of events leaves Eusebio and cohort Victor (Marlon Moreno) without much choice? Quite a lot, as it turns out. Purely on paper, “Dog” regularly trades on familiarity with regard to story conventions and basic character outlines. Victor, Eusebio and their supporting cast mates develop nicely, but they’re pieces of plays we’ve seen before. Fortunately, the story “Dog” tells and the method by which it tells it are different matters entirely. The stiflingly gritty cinematography is dense with ugly images and unflattering portrayals of characters doing awful things under terrible conditions, and yet it’s executed tastefully — conveying the unbridled ugliness of a murder without leaning on gore or even necessarily showing the act as it happens. What “Dog” chooses to show and not show speaks to how carefully the entire production appears to have been assembled, and its ability to exercise restraint without expensing intensity pays off in the form of characters whose fates matter, a story that’s absorbing in spite of its simple scope and an ending that pays off the film’s buildup rather handsomely. In Spanish with English subtitles. No extras.

Better Off Ted: The Complete First Season (NR, 2009, Fox)
The title is apt, because how many of us wouldn’t enjoy being in Ted Crisp’s (Jay Harrington) shoes? He’s witty, easy on the eyes, and has the coolest job in the world as the head of research and development at Veridian Dynamics, which devises and creates everything from weaponized pumpkins to energy bandages using technology, brainpower and product development timetables that exist only in the land of fiction. The capacity to create pretty much anything means “Better Off Ted” can pretty much make whatever rules it needs to do whatever it wants in any given episode, and its comedic style — think “Scrubs” or “Andy Richter Controls the Universe” without the daydreams, or better yet, imagine a modern-day “Parker Lewis Can’t Lose” if you’re familiar with that one — is in perfect lockstep. “Ted’s” first couple of episodes jump into the anything-goes waters a little awkwardly, but once it finds its groove and lets its characters develop over multiple episodes, it’s about as smart and funny as anything else on television today. The exceptionally gifted ensemble cast (Malcolm Barrett, Jonathan Slavin, Portia de Rossi, Andrea Anders and Isabella Acres), of which any member is capable of stealing any given episode, doesn’t exactly hurt matters, either.
Contents: 13 episodes, no extras.

Worth a Mention
— “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince: Special Edition” (PG, 2009, Warner Bros.): A review copy wasn’t ready as this one went to press, but six movies in, your mind probably is already made up as to whether you’re sticking with it to the finish or not. For whatever it’s worth, the runtime — 153 minutes — hypothetically allows “Half-Prince” a little more wiggle room than the frazzled “Order of the Phoenix” (a 900-plus-page book compressed into a 138-minute movie) received. Extras include deleted scenes, three behind-the-scenes features, a J.K. Rowling “year in the life” feature, a sneak peak at “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows” and a digital copy.
— “Coraline: Limited Edition Gift Set” (PG, 2009, Universal): If you somehow passed on “Coraline’s” recent home video debut but love the film enough to splurge on it — or, you know, if you’re gift shopping — this set, which includes the Blu-ray, DVD and digital copy editions of the film, is a beauty from the box on down. With that said, if you lack a Blu-ray player, a good chunk of the bonus content is off-limits to you. Blu-ray-only features include a making-of documentary, picture-in-picture behind-the-scenes material, two other behind-the-scenes features and deleted scenes. The DVD edition includes director/composer commentary. The package also includes four pairs of 3D glasses to watch the optional 3D video track (available on both discs), a companion art booklet and four postcards that are too pretty to actually mail.

Paper Heart (PG-13, 2009, Anchor Bay/Overture)
Charlyne Yi (Yi, playing an endearingly awkward parallel-dimension version of herself) is so convinced she’s incapable of loving anyone, she’s become the subject and emcee of a documentary in which she attempts to comprehend how others can do what she feels she can’t. But whatever plan she had goes off the rails when she attends a party with her filmmaker (Jake M. Johnson as Nicholas Jasenovec), meets Michael Cera (Cera), and Michael Cera takes an inexplicably sudden liking to her. Though it unfurls Yi’s story in the same fashion a genuine documentary would, “Paper Heart” also takes the kind of creative liberty that’s possible when the film knows we know these scenes are works of fiction. That’s not a bad thing, because the script is intelligently funny, the characters are clumsily lovable, and the story straddles an playfully hopeful line between cutely Hollywood and credibly authentic. But “Heart” actually shines brightest when, between these scenes, it has Yi interviewing regular people about how they met and fell in love. Sometimes, the stories feel too good to be true. Other times, “Heart” illustrates them using a so-cute-it-might-drive-you-crazy style that’s evocative of a grade school diorama. In all cases, though, the line between fiction and documentary blurs just enough to inspire some weird hope that these accounts are 100 percent truthful and real. Even if it turns out they aren’t, “Heart’s” disposition makes it fun to believe they are.
Extras: Deleted scenes, two behind-the-scenes features, interviews, Yi musical performance, music video.

Terminator Salvation (PG-13, 2009, Warner Bros.)
Considering it isn’t a traditional sequel so much as an offshoot, “Terminator Salvation” arrives with a narrative head start few films of its nature have. The post-apocalyptic last stand between man and machine, following Skynet’s nuclear pounding of most of humanity, is a battle that has been teasingly dangled in front of “Terminator” fans since the first movie debuted 25 years ago, and “Salvation” has an entire feature film’s worth of time to dwell on its every last important detail. But with the can’t-miss plot comes a can’t-avoid caveat: “Terminator” has liberally played with time travel over the course of three movies and a two-season television series, and because all those hours ultimately alluded to the gist of what supposedly happens here, a good deal of the story feels predestined to the point of inevitable. “Salvation” would be foolish to rearrange the timeline and alienate its core audience just to pull off some contrived surprises, so there’s an overriding feeling of anticlimactic returns after waiting a quarter-century for the unabridged story. With that said, though, the movie makes the most of the hand it’s dealt — and, in terms of character development and a few story-within-the-story elements that fill in the unknowns that remained, manages a surprising amount of mileage in doing so. (Without spoiling too much, it’s pretty amazing what — and who — computers can render the way they can today.) Christian Bale, Sam Worthington, Moon Bloodgood and Anton Yelchin, among others, star.
Extra: Digital Copy. Warner apparently wants you to purchase the Blu-Ray edition (review not available at press time), which contains a director’s cut of the film and three behind-the-scenes features in addition to the digital copy.

Pale Force (NR, 2005, New Video NYC)
With so much comic genius materializing over 16 years of “Late Night with Conan O’Brien,” it’s kind of a shame there aren’t 50 more DVD collections like this already out there. But “Pale Force,” which chronicles the animated adventures of two pale superheroes (super-stud Jim Gaffigan and childishly weak sidekick Conan O’Brien) and their battle of attrition against archenemy Lady Bronze (voiced by Eartha Eartha Kitt), is as good a place as any to start. Being a “Late Night” skit rather than a standalone cartoon leaves “Force” with some predictable caveats: Each of the 21 “episodes” runs only a few minutes long, and as such the storytelling and humor flies by at a frantically overcaffeinated pace. Throw in the kind of animation typically reserved for an experimental Adult Swim or Flash cartoon, and the resulting explosion is a mess of purposely low-brow construction and brilliantly, stupidly funny storylines that serve their purpose with hit-and-run efficiency. Consequently, watching all 21 episodes in succession is a somewhat exhaustive experience despite the 84-minute total runtime. But that isn’t the fault of “Force,” which was never written with extended viewings in mind, and as long as you enjoy Conan’s brand of comedy and have enough restraint to hit the pause button whenever necessary, this is impossible not to recommend.
Extras: Gaffigan’s “Pale Force”-related appearances on “Late Night” (don’t mind the box, which mislabels it as “The Late Show”), deleted scene, rough sketches.

Toi & Moi (NR, 2006, Koch Lorber)
The bright colors, the corny character poses, the chipper title. If movies were judged strictly on outer appearances, “Toi & Moi” almost certainly would have to be a cutely silly film about relationships and the adorable misunderstandings they endure. On some level, it is that — at least, when the film enters the imagination of short story author Ariane (Julie Depardieu), who refashions the real-life trials of her and her sister Lena’s (Marion Cotillard) love lives into fanciful, digestible magazine fiction. But Ariane and Lena’s realities aren’t quite so neat, and when you tally it all up, neither is “Moi,” which rather believably manages to offset those fleeting moments of harlequin sunshine with a reality that’s muddy and authentic without resorting to cheap depressive tactics. Ariane and Lena are kind of a mess, but they’re a likable mess that in no way feels alien to the fleeting messes many of us have made of our own personal lives at one point or another. Some of the story turns are predictable and certain endgame hooks, perhaps intentionally, are telegraphed well ahead of time. But all of it exists for the benefit of its two main characters’ separate constructions, and considering how Ariane and Lena turn out, it’s a job well done. In French with English subtitles. No extras.

Death Warrior (R, 2009, Lions Gate)
Everything you need to know about what “Death Warrior” is doing here sits right there on the box — the Tapout logo, the gallery of mixed martial arts stars (Hector Echavarria, Quinton Jackson, Georges St. Pierre, Keith Jardine, Rashad Evans) in the cast, and, for the few who pick this up and don’t know, a notice that the cast consists primarily of world-class MMA stars. Is it enough around which to make and market a film? It’ll have to be. “Warrior’s” storyline is ripped right out of the fighting movie and/or video game playbook: An underground consortium has placed a member of each fighter’s family in jeopardy, and the fighters must fight dirty and battle to the death to keep their loved ones alive. There’s something of a “Running Man” twist at play as well, but no matter: The object is to see fighters pound each other without rules running interference, and the plot certainly provides the means. Unfortunately, a mountain of trouble stands between means and execution, including laughably stock dialogue, titillation straight out of late-1980s Cinemax, a soundtrack that veers between torturously bad faux-metal and background music typically reserved for sex hotline commercials, and the kind of dramatic chops only a film full of untrained actors can deliver. Even the fighting suffers: It looks great, but it’s predictably scripted and thus cannot compare to the unpredictable real thing. “Warrior” is so clumsy as to be an ironic blast fun for a night of so-bad-it’s-good cinema, but that’s about the only level on which this can seriously merit recommendation.
Extras: Two behind-the-scenes features, interviews, MMA training footage.