In the aftermath of last year’s holiday dud The Guilt Trip, it’s difficult imagining a time when Barbra Streisand’s name was synonymous with major box office. But during the late ‘60s and ‘70s, Streisand starred in a string of massive movie hits, including Funny Girl, What’s Up, Doc? and A Star Is Born, all three of which would be considered the equivalents of a modern-day, $300 million-plus grosser after adjusting their ticket sales for inflation. (Quick, name the last time a female-starring romantic comedy or drama earned anything close to that amount, Mses. Bullock, McAdams and Witherspoon). Of course, we all know money doesn’t equal quality and, taken out of the context of its ‘70s-era success, A Star Is Born certainly stands as proof that yesterday’s milky-smooth hit can be today’s cheese-crumbled miss.  Hit the jump for our review of A Star Is Born on Blu-ray.

I should probably admit my political bias up front: I enthusiastically voted for Barack Obama back in ‘08. That said, I’m not ashamed to confess I was equally riveted that same year by Republican candidate John McCain’s competing campaign, particularly any and all parts having to do with his running mate, Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin. Like most college-educated individuals – hell, any-educated individuals – I couldn’t take my confused eyes or bleeding ears off this bizarrely overconfident and suspiciously under-qualified woman who might end up our next president, should her white-haired running mate get elected and, well, croak. Matt Damon famously compared the whole scenario to “a really bad Disney movie.” To me, it was a potential horror flick. Thankfully, Obama won the election and, four years later, HBO Films has turned the near debacle into a thrilling political drama, which you can now see “from your house” on Blu-ray and DVD.  My review after the jump the Game Change Blu-ray after the jump.

After sending Pee-Wee on a big adventure, raising Beetlejuice from the dead, and flying Batman into Gotham City (twice), Tim Burton was heralded as one of America’s most original and commercially viable directors. So, what did he decide to do as a follow-up to his successful late ‘80s/early ‘90s run? Why, he made a quirky little film about Ed Wood, a man often referred to as “the worst movie director of all time.”

It’s easy to imagine why Burton was drawn to the life and career of this notoriously wacky filmmaker, who also had a penchant for wearing woman’s apparel. Clothing fetish aside, both directors take (or “took,” in Wood’s case) an inventive, handcrafted approach to filmmaking and always exhibit a deep affection for their misfit, on-screen characters. The biggest difference between the two, however, is that, Wood only succeeded in making a few so-bad-they’re-good cult films, while Burton can’t seem to make a truly bad one.  My review of the Blu-ray after the jump.

Over the past ten years, a plethora of movies have been made about American schoolteachers. Some of our on-screen educators have been good (Hilary Swank inspiring at-risk students in Freedom Writers), some bad (Cameron Diaz sleeping off hangovers during class in Bad Teacher) and some downright ugly (Ryan Gosling smoking crack between his in Half Nelson).  But what we haven’t had much of in the past decade is a large cinematic output from Tony Kaye, the acclaimed filmmaker behind 1998’s American History X. This year, however, Kaye made a bold return to narrative filmmaking with Detachment, the story of a high school teacher who’s mostly good, sometimes bad and only occasionally ugly. Like American History X, Detachment features a strong central performance, and tells a powerful, if somewhat bleak tale of one generation striving to lead another toward grace and dignity.  My review of the DVD after the jump.

During the late 1980s, a generation of American boys went to war in Vietnam. Doing so, however, didn’t require any basic training or an actual tour of duty. Nope, all that was required was a working VCR and a VHS copy of any one of the squad of Vietnam War-era movies available at the local mom and pop video store. Seriously, I can’t remember a single birthday party from that time that didn’t involve a screening of Good Morning, Vietnam or Hamburger Hill or Platoon. But the Vietnam War movie that has always lingered strongest in my memory – the one that looked different and felt different from the others – was Stanley Kubrick’s Full Metal Jacket.  Hit the jump for my review of the 25th anniversary Blu-ray.

You’ve got to hand it to Nicolas Cage: while age peers Brad Pitt and Sean Penn refuse to work on anything but highbrow, Malick-ian fare and Tom Cruise rejects any role that doesn’t reflect his Level VII OT superhuman awesomeness, Cage willingly rolls around in the muck of any and all genres, with even the most dubious of filmmaking talent. In the past year alone, he’s starred in the action/horror hybrid Drive Angry, the family friendly The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, the meta-comic book movie Kick-Ass and the gritty drama The Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans. Seriously, you’ve got to love this guy for working so much. He’s like a hungry immigrant but with the net worth of his fatherland. (well, before back taxes).  Continued after the jump.

All Good Things falls into the tricky subgenre of unsolved crime drama. Whether handled expertly, as in the case of David Fincher’s Zodiac, or sloppily, as in Brian De Palma’s The Black Dahlia, there’s something inherently dissatisfying about these films. Perhaps it’s because, on a primal level, we prefer our monsters caught and killed. Ancient myths were certainly never built on ambiguity and irresolution. Then again, ancient listeners never had the chance to watch a Blu-ray like Magnolia’s All Good Things, which not only includes the speculative story of a possibly monstrous human being, but also a fascinatingly bizarre audio commentary from the possible monster himself, Robert Durst. My review after the jump.

I take great comfort in the fact that moviegoers are flocking to see Black Swan, The Fighter and The King’s Speech right now. Hollywood loves to proclaim the adult drama dead, but all three R-Rated films are quickly on their way toward a $100 Million gross. Perhaps this is owing to awards season hype and filmgoers’ desire to feel part of the Oscar race, but whatever the reason, it’s encouraging to see films made for people other than teenage fanboys succeed. Now, if only viewers would partake in well made adult films that fall outside the awards season calendar. Then, they might not have missed September’s endearing and entertaining You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger.  My review after the break:

James Franco, 2010’s most oddly ubiquitous entertainer, played two real life figures onscreen last year: poet Allen Ginsberg and survivalist Aron Ralston. While Ginsberg is presumably still the better known name, far more moviegoers checked out 127 Hours than Howl, the little seen biography about the Beat founding father from acclaimed documentary filmmakers Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman. Although Howl marks the duo’s narrative film debut, they break from traditional biopic form by utilizing a unique mix of documentary-style interviews, Hollywood-style courtroom dramatics and animated sequences to depict the inspiration behind, creation of and aftermath of Ginsberg’s most famous poem, “Howl.” While pretty boy Franco is a somewhat odd choice to play the less-than-beautiful, but never less-than-charismatic Ginsberg, the actor adeptly portrays the poet’s repressed romantic yearnings, heartbreak over friend’s and family’s treatment by mid-century mental health professionals and, most importantly, his electrifying ability to manipulate the English language. The film itself, however, is a mixed bag: poetic where it should be prosaic; diffuse where it should be focused.  My review after the jump:

Regardless of its quality (or lack thereof), people are likely to check out Dinner For Schmucks based on its menu of comic talent. Pop-com director Jay Roach (Meet the Parents, Austin Powers series) offers up funnymen and frequent co-stars Steve Carell and Paul Rudd (The 40 Year-old Virgin, Anchorman) as the film’s main comic courses, along with The Hangover’s Zach Galifianakis and Flight of the Conchords’ Jemaine Clement as potentially humorous side-dishes. Like a food critic – or, more fittingly, like one of those minions who tests the king’s entrée to make sure it isn’t poisoned – let me warn you: despite its ingredients, this Dinner is cold, tasteless and oddly unfunny.  More after the jump:

Disney’s A Christmas Carol is a holiday feast for the eyes and a boon for the soul. Robert Zemeckis and the crew at Imagemovers Digital have achieved something quite remarkable with their latest motion-capture based animated film. They’ve managed to remain uniquely faithful to the spirit and text of Dickens’ classic novel while infusing the storytelling with a soaring quality that transcends the stodgy stagings we’ve seen of this beloved tale in the past. The Polar Express may have earned bigger box office, but this is Zemeckis and crew’s true holiday masterpiece. Oh, and don’t be put off by the “Disney” possessive. This is every bit the dark and frightening tale Dickens intended, not some sanitized version for the kiddies.  Hit the jump for more:

With a 16% Rottentomatoes.com rating and a final box office take of $95 million against a $100 million budget, it’s fair to call Sex and the City 2 a critical and commercial failure. At the time of its release, however, you would have thought the film’s creators had perpetrated some violent crime against humanity. Critics spewed vitriol and, worse, avowed fans blasted the movie. The most common complaint was that the film strayed too far from the series’ original premise – four single ladies looking for love in New York – with its far flung, Middle Eastern setting. Now that the dust, or Abu Dhabian sand, has settled, I proffer my own take on how, with this sequel, Sex finally lost its appeal.  My review after the jump:

I can’t think of two more likeable stars than Steve Carell and Tina Fey so it’s no surprise that their cinematic joint effort, Date Night, exudes a quality of general likability. Carell and Fey have an easy, natural chemistry playing Phil and Claire Foster, a married couple from New Jersey who decide to reignite their romance with a night out in the big, bad apple. When they end up mistaken for a couple of low-life crooks running a blackmailing scheme against a local politico, they end up on the run from corrupt cops and big-city mobsters. There’s a tradition of Manhattan-set screwball comedies that place during the course of one wild urban night – Martin Scorsese’s After Hours comes to mind – and while Date Night doesn’t do much to advance the sub-genre, it’s still a breezy, funny way to pass the Night. Continued after the jump:

Growing up in a strict monotheistic household, it really wasn’t a priority for anyone to teach me about the ancient Greek gods. Perhaps my devout Catholic parents figured it best not to confuse my evolving young mind since the Bible was already dense enough with tales of one wrathful God and his demigod-like son. Children’s author Rick Riordan, however, raised his son in far more Greco-friendly fashion, regaling his boy with nightly bedtime stories featuring Zeus, Poseidon and the Olympian gang. When he ran out of myths to retell, he made up a new Greek demigod: “Percy Jackson,” modern teenager with human learning disabilities (A.D.H.D. and Dyslexia) and godly lineage (he’s the son of Poseidon). Well, at least, that’s the origin story for the best-selling “Percy Jackson” book series provided on one of the making-of featurettes of the Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief blu-ray.

Every once in a while, you’ll hear a disturbing news account of some mild mannered office employee who suddenly opened fire on his coworkers, a quiet student who abruptly turned his classmates into target practice or a nice father who shockingly hacked his family to pieces. The Crazies preys on our fears of these random, unexpected acts of violence, most effectively in its opening sequence, in which a small town father shows up at a local baseball game presumably loaded and carrying a loaded weapon.  More after the jump: