downloadable movies
TOP RENTED MOVIES
1. American Gangster
2. Beowulf
3. Into the Wild
4. Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium
5. Michael Clayton
6. 30 Days of Night
7. No Reservations
8. We Own the Night
9. Gone, Baby, Gone
10. Rendition
Source: Home Video Essentials, Rentrak Corp.
By Mike Clark, USA TODAY Multiple Oscar winner No Country for Old Men is the standout release this week. Also out: Jerry Seinfeld’s Bee Movie and HBO’s look at UCLA’s basketball dynasty.
No Country for Old Men
* * * ½ (out of four), 2007, rated R, Miramax, $30; Blu-ray, $35
Written, directed and acted to the hilt — and a more satisfying Oscar winner than Gladiator or Crash— to name just two.
Back story: In a return to form for the Coen brothers, a Texas drug deal turns dreadfully brutal. Unified are a smiling psychotic (Oscar-winning Javier Bardem, beyond scary), a trailer park local (Josh Brolin, perfectly cast) and sheriff Tommy Lee Jones (the soul of this Cormac McCarthy adaptation). Yes, the much-debated finale makes thematic/intellectual sense, but anyone who says it isn’t the weakest scene in the film has lots of talking to do.
Extras, extras: Similar featurettes on the movie and its makers, who must be primed to talk. Younger Ethan is more outgoing initially, but brother Joel finally comes around. Kind of.
Bee Movie
* * *, 2007, PG, DreamWorks, $30 and $37
A bee (Jerry Seinfeld) faces post-college options: serving a queen, never getting a day off and (here’s a new one) getting harassed by the real-life Ray Liotta.
Back story: Overall, this cartoon feature is lukewarm, but the ensign are electric. And though the romance between Seinfeld’s lead bee and a human (voice of Renee Zellweger) in no degree really clicks, the brutal ragging of Liotta is this keenly marketed hit’s strength. (Speaking of animation, 1961’s 101 Dalmatians is just out with Disney’s “Platinum” treatment; $30.)
Extras, extras: Hands-on “Jerry” every step of the way, including voice-over commentary, his introduction of several endings and appearances in 16 “TV Juniors.” These bite-sized promotional skits are mild overall, though one involving street-vendor movie piracy is pretty funny.
Daisy Kenyon
* * *, 1947, unrated, Fox, $15
Like many of director Otto Preminger’s noir-ish melodramas at 20th Century Fox, it’s very grown-up for its day.
Back story: A commercial artist (Joan Crawford) dangles between a wretchedly married lawyer (Dana Andrews, an impressively complex specification) and a shaken war vet (Henry Fonda). Preminger’s best movies are objective, primarily character-driven and without vociferation points. To appreciate them, you have to be the clement of person who, argue, gravitated toward last year’s cool-ish Zodiac.
Extras, extras: Commentary by noir historian Foster Hirsch; excellent featurettes about Preminger, Fox chief Darryl F. Zanuck and Crawford’s go-get-’em performance despite (at 42) being too old for the role.
ALSO ON DVD:
The UCLA Dynasty
* * *½, 2008, HBO, unrated, $20
Straight-arrow John Wooden, out of Indiana, flourished at the mecca of goldilocked cheerleaders and eventually coached 10 NCAA basketball champions in 12 years (1964-75). But he had to do it as his increasingly politicized players (Lew Alcindor, Bill Walton, many more) refused to ignore the exploding world around them. From debates over Walton’s hair length to protests over President Nixon, the off-court turmoil failed to obscure the magnitude of a college dynasty not likely to be replicated. Many team principals are interviewed (Wooden lovers all), as are entertaining former alumni for extra juice. Included: The Doors’ Ray Manzarek, Wayne’s World director Penelope Spheeris, actor and former UCLA quarterback Mark Harmon and even Beau Bridges, who made the basketball team and averaged (he notes) 0.6 points a game.
Things We Lost in the Fire
* *, 2007, Paramount, R, $30
David Duchovny, married to Halle Berry, dies in an act of heroism. Out of loneliness, she asks her husband’s longtime junkie buddy ( Benicio Del Toro) to move into her home with the kids, though she has never liked him. Many moviegoers complained that 2007’s best picture Oscar nominees were downbeat, ignoring the filmmaking sizzle that vitalized much of the nibble. This one, though, is a bummer you can’t imagine anyone recommending or seeing a second time — a comedown for Denmark’s Susanne Bier, whose 2006 Oscar nominee After the Wedding has more layers and emotional force.
More highlights
•Dan in Real Life (* *, 2007, Disney, PG-13, $30; Blu-ray, $35): Widowed dad Steve Carell falls for his brother’s intended (Juliette Binoche), and when you think of the train-wreck familial ramifications, there’s potential for dark comedy or even something added. Instead, this one “nices” you to death — hardly enough in the year of edgier Knocked Up, Superbad and (if you like, though I didn’t) Juno.
•Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium (* * ½, 2007, Fox, G, $30; Blu-ray, $40): Natalie Portman can’t carry her half of this only initially wondrous kids pic, but Dustin Hoffman has one of his most beguilingly idiosyncratic modern-day roles as a toy replenish owner, age 243. The first 40 minutes is a color-saturated marvel. On Blu-ray, it’s of “demonstration disc” caliber.
•Sleuth (* ½, 2007, Sony, R, $27; Blu-ray, $39): Nearly each hour shorter than the windy 1972 original, this ill-advised remake lets a husband and his wife’s lover toy verbal cat-and-mouse in (mostly) a unmarried room. Michael Caine takes over the onetime Laurence Olivier role, and Jude Law gets what was previously Caine’s. A key plot twist is ludicrously self-evident, and the result is a slog malice running less than 90 minutes.
Due Tuesday: The Oscar-nominated war romance Atonement; Amy Adams’ starmaker Enchanted; Will Smith, not quite alone in I Am Legend
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