Film Intuition: Review Database

Blu-ray Review: 12 Rounds -- Extreme Cut (2009)

2009-07-09T19:05:00.001-07:00

Now Available to Own on DVD & Blu-ray

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Life After Film School:
12 Rounds Podcast With John Cena

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Unfortunately, this week I made the promise in the attempts to become more "pop culturally" aware to watch something relating to UFC to satisfy my big brother's wish which coincides with his new obsession involving the extreme sport that I'm only familiar with from seeing Jon Favreau mindlessly attempt it on TV's Friends. However, the last time I watched anything having to do with wrestling aside from a certain film with Mickey Rourke was when it was the only way I could stop a group of neighborhood boys from screaming as an in-over-my-head young babysitter.

Although admittedly I never quite got the appeal of the overly theatrical sport that didn't seem to have the same sort of rules or discipline of boxing or kick-boxing-- it's been fascinating since the popularity of the man formerly known as The Rock who now goes by Dwayne Johnson to see more and more superstars of WWE make the jump to feature films.

On the surface, one would think that wrestlers would definitely have an advantage for acting over your average ball player, golfer, or figure skater since what they do really depends on their charisma and the sort of interplay they have with the audience but the mediums are so different and film work is much less broad so that emoting well and striking just the right chord to sell a scene as an actual character proves to be a challenge. And it's one that Johnson initially struggled with but has finally mastered in his most recent films such as the delightful Disney father/daughter charmer The Game Plan and with a spirited turn in Get Smart opposite Steve Carrell and Anne Hathaway.

Totally unfamiliar with John Cena the wrestler-- a few years back I did check out The Marine when looking for a mindless action flick and although it was a bit hokey and you could tell even without any research that it was his first feature, he had a definite appeal and boy-scout like ambition to just go-for-it that made us root for him.

And it's this drive to push himself further to entertain and surpass what he's done that has only increased in the three years that followed for the release of his second and far superior film, 12 Rounds from the renowned action director Renny Harlin (Die Hard 2, Cliffhanger, Long Kiss Goodnight, Deep Blue Sea).

Although as an actor, Cena still could use some work and perhaps a good coach when it comes to his more delicate and emotional scenes-- he's improved from The Marine and this time, in surrounding himself with the best and the brightest-- John Cena has starred in the second sleeper "man on a mission to get his girl back" action movie of '09 so far.

And incidentally I first saw the trailer for 12 Rounds while at the press screening of Taken. And although it's admittedly the B-movie since it's missing the brains of the A-movie Taken as well as the dynamite turn by Liam Neeson as well as an innovative approach in exploring the seediest side of Paris imaginable by way of dealing with an issue of international and timely significance-- like its 20th Century Fox brother-- (save for one that's been relegated to Fox Atomic and WWE for its production), Rounds knows it's an Arnold Schwarzenegger Commando-esque modeled formula picture given a zany Riddler style time limit gimmick twist.

Moreover, the fact that Rounds comes from Fox couldn't be more fitting since essentially, 12 Rounds is a one-man version of the studio's superior Die Hard series combined with Speed throughout its running time and whereas Rounds director Harlin helmed Die Hard 2, Speed director Jan De Bont had been the cinematographer on Die Hard 1 so that all of its influences are tied together with Fox.

While it's not on the level of those pictures-- Rounds is a wholly successful popcorn movie that consistently tops itself as it finds Detective Danny Fisher (Cena) unwillingly pulled into twelve rounds of a game when his girlfriend (Ashley Scott) is kidnapped by a vengeance seeking Irish terrorist played the deliciously wicked Aidan Gillen.

As long as you don't think too hard about the gaps in logic and just how much pre-planning would've had to go into something so ridiculously elaborate-- it's easy to get lured along with Fisher as he races from one round to the next in a series of increasingly dangerous and bizarre New Orleans set challenges to make it by the sound of the bell.

Obviously since he's the puppet, Fisher doesn't realize that the man pulling the strings may have a grander scheme in the works that's larger than simply making him run from Point A to Point B. And when this begins to sink in as the movie careens towards its conclusion-- the presentation of the mastermind's plan is deduced a bit too quickly and with far too much convenience as a sort of uneven "well, here's how we're going to justify three acts of insanity" succinct discussion that works in its own right as yet another justification for an even bigger act of insanity in the inevitable showdown.

When you couple some of these complaints with lingering questions like, "well, how on Earth would he know that it would take..." you're left with plot-holes bigger than the fire trucks, streetcars, helicopters, and more used throughout the movie which most could use to shred it to pieces let alone annoy the chess fans who will dislike the way it tries to aspire to the villain's chess-like precision in his battles. However, if you watch the movie in this manner, you'll miss out on what is one extraordinary live-action feast for thrill-junkies.

And refreshingly-- despite the fact that we live in an era of too much CGI and easily touched up green-screen effects-- the Blu-ray for 12 Rounds (once again proof that Fox excels at this format especially given its riveting sound and unsurpassed picture quality in action movies) is proof that-- as my mom is fond of saying, when done right sometimes the bonus features can be just as good if not better than the movie.

Featuring two versions of the film including the PG-13 theatrical take that nicely doesn't revel in the same carnage that the Die Hard films did as well as the unrated extreme cut-- the Blu-ray also boasts two alternate endings, commentary by Harlin, Cena and screenwriter Kunka but the most dynamic extras are the overwhelming amount of behind-the-scenes featurettes that break down the action including some of the most dangerous stunts that amazingly were all done with Cena (and a few stuntmen here and there).

While most new releases feel padded with typical press kit extras where the actors all talk about the movie as though they're making Gone With the Wind or Citizen Kane and praise each other as the next Cary Grant or Audrey Hepburn-- every single extra included in 12 Rounds was completely riveting as a film fan who's growing wearing of the endless amounts of CGI in movies.

Moreover, the extras made me that much more willing to put up with some of the film's imperfections whether they were found in the structural stage or in Cena's struggles to hold his own opposite Gillen--all for the sake of one truly entertaining, switch-off-the-brain Blu-ray version of a theme park ride where it rattles up the hill to drop you off fueled by steel, guts, and mechanics as opposed to clicks of a mouse.

Text ©2009, Film Intuition, LLC; All Rights Reserved. http://www.filmintuition.com
Unauthorized Reproduction or Publication Elsewhere is Strictly Prohibited.

Movie Review: Weather Girl (2009)

2009-07-09T15:10:00.007-07:00

Opening in Limited Release on 7/10

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In writer/director Blayne Weaver's utterly charming indie summer sleeper, Tricia O'Kelley plays the titular (albeit soon-to-be-former) weather girl who's as sassy as hell and she's not going to take this anymore.

As we learn in the movie's memorable opener-- she's driven sassy by being forced to be sassy. Likewise, the factors of her restlessness consist of working in an industry where the show's leads are referred to as "anchors" whereas O'Kelley's 35 year old college educated professional Sylvia is still patronizingly described as a "girl" complete with the sexist stereotype of "sassy" being part of her daily on-air introduction that's of course mimicked all over town (you've seen The Weather Man and Groundhog Day). Of course, this isn't helped by being given the thankless and tireless quest to come up with new adjectives for the word "rain" in Seattle while pointing to a green screen sharing-- what Sylvia reveals in her "career suicide" meltdown is not news but "tidbits for dumb people."

Yet, the most pressing reason that has "blacken[ed] all of" her "skies of blue"-- to quote Ella Fitzgerald-- is that she's found the underwear of the perky alcoholic co-anchor Sherry (It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia's Kaitlin Olson) in the condo she's shared with the main anchor, Dale (NCIS star Mark Harmon) for the past two years.

Confronting Dale and Sherry live and on the air of their Seattle morning program where the network affiliate manager Blair Underwood (obviously frantic about FCC violations and viewer complaints for her "R" rated tirade) wants to cut and immediately go to commercial despite the camera crew's decision to keep rolling since this is the stuff of television gold.

Ridiculing not just her position at the station and encouraging viewers to pick up a newspaper but also belittling the "amateurish" sexual technique of Dale-- her on-air blow-up soon becomes a bigger YouTube-like online hit than the Lily Tomlin/David O'Russell back-and-forth exchange (in separate videos) from the set of I Heart Huckabees.

Yet, shortly thereafter, realizing she's given up her job as well as her medical insurance, her condo, and everything else by becoming the laughingstock of the hiring circuit for-- as a friend chides-- her "weather girl" resume, Sylvia quickly seeks shelter by crashing on the couch in the apartment of her younger brother, Walt (Ryan Devlin). And, after lowering her standards, she accepts a job as a waitress for Jane Lynch (effective in a cameo that seems to be a distant and less crazy cousin to the character she played in Role Models).

While some (read: male) critics are easily dismissing the female-centric work-- albeit one crafted by a male writer/director with a knack for clever dialogue-- via that shudder inducing overused description of comparing it to a Lifetime Movie, it's still a highly entertaining feel-great rom-com that benefits considerably from its avoidance of set stereotypes.

For example, as opposed to most Sex and the City knockoffs, Sylvia's two friends (Marin Hinkle and Alex Kapp Horner) are the opposite of supportive, going as far as to set her up with Hinkle's ex on the TV show Two and a Half Men (Jon Cryer) as a man whose biological clock is ticking so hard that he wants to "fast-track" the relationship in a way that makes him-- as Sylvia describes-- "probably the creepiest person on the planet."

While admittedly the film is fairly predictable especially when Sylvia finds herself on the receiving end of the adorable puppy dog crush of Walt's highly articulate, subtly funny and openly flirtatious 29 year old best friend Byron (Patrick J. Adams) which evolves into a "friends with benefits" arrangement with Sylvia's rule that he's not allowed to fall in love with her despite their frequent couplings-- the scenes between Byron and Sylvia are some of the best ones in the film.

However, most likely this is because they may have come from a personal place as the writer/director shared in the production notes that he "got the idea for Weather Girl after dating a woman about five years older than me... The difference in age was minimal... but the pressures she felt professionally, from her friends and from society kept hammering home this idea that 'she didn't have time.' I really liked the idea of this woman who seems to have it all... but then gives it all up and has to start over again with those pressures looming over her."

Moreover, societal pressures and human relationships-- not just romantic ones-- are laced throughout and help make the movie work as Sylvia's estrangement from her friends who blankly tell her that she's cold and puts up emotional walls (which Dale has has used as the reason he's cheated) is so strong that they forget that she even has a brother at one point. And even Walt is given one revealing scene to show our disconnect from one another when he admits that he's worried when she becomes involved with Byron that she'll mess up his one only real friendship.

In fact, the dynamic between the three and the novelty of a strong emotional rollercoaster friendship between a brother and a sister-- instead of two guys just leaning on each other in a "bromance" or women sipping "cosmos"-- make this the opposite of a Lifetime feature. Likewise, it helps elevate the obviously budget-strapped indie (wherein we have to forgive a few "convenient" moments like Sylvia and Byron running into her friends illogically at night on the docks for no reason) in a way that hides its flaws via the thoughtful script and the sheer likability of the cast.

O'Kelley, Adams and Devlin in particular are all wonderful and a special mention must be given to Cryer and Harmon's knack for making what could've been a pretty clear-cut way to tackle each character into something else altogether... so that instead of just one single joke, they get a lot of mileage out of their roles whether it's Cryer's cameo as a Hummer driving baby mama hunter or Harmon's news man diva who sleeps in his makeup towel but feels that he's the victim in his infidelity.

However, to me, the real story was O'Kelley who is a terrific talent and one who energetically tapped into her character and believed so much in the work that she was on board from the start, fighting to help get funding, cast-mates and serving as a producer on the film. Additionally, I truly admired her lack of fear in showing us the flaws of Sylvia's sense of entitlement before she gets a dose of reality and when she ascertains that it's so much better to be a real woman than a "girl" on TV-- even if, unfortunately the beginning of that revelation happens to occur live on-the-air when Sylvia walks out with a pair of pink panties and a whole lot to say.

Text ©2009, Film Intuition, LLC; All Rights Reserved. http://www.filmintuition.com
Unauthorized Reproduction or Publication Elsewhere is Strictly Prohibited.

Blu-ray & DVD Review: The Jonas Brothers: The 3D Concert Experience -- Deluxe Extended Movie (2009)

2009-07-08T19:00:00.005-07:00

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Perhaps a little bit of Tinkerbell’s “fairy dust” was sprinkled on the Blu-ray of Walt Disney Home Entertainment’s The Jonas Brothers: The 3D Concert Experience – Deluxe Extended Movie that arrived in my mailbox for review.

For, not too long after I removed the packaging, I found myself in a sea of coincidences as though I were playing a new pop culture game called Connect The Jonas Brothers wherein—like Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon—the basic idea is to link the celebrities to others in the fewest moves possible. Except in the case of Connect The Jonas Brothers, there were no degrees needed as a direct connection was made between the trio of heartthrobs and a majority of other items filling my mailbox shortly thereafter.

First, along with Jonas-- on 6/30, Disney also released the surprisingly delightful Princess Protection Program—one of their cable channel’s wildly popular original movies (that truth be told as a “film” was actually more engrossing from start to finish than this concert)—which started Disney cutie Demi Lovato whom the Brothers had not only met on Camp Rock but whom they also invited to perform a song with them on their "Burning Up Tour" captured in this movie.

Secondly—after watching The Jonas Brothers Movie and finally discovering who the super popular singers were as prior to the film I couldn’t name any band member or pick them out of a boy band lineup-- I found another connection in the form of the film’s showstopping guest performer Taylor Swift. Like the Brothers—I’d been completely unfamiliar with the work of Ms. Swift but as soon as she hit the stage I soon became a fan of the singer.

With an instant command of the audience, Swift’s brilliant use of banjos and fiddle players and sassy Shania Twain blend of straightforward, blunt lyrics produced an irresistible confection of pop-rock-country (or "PopRockCo" as I’m trying to call it, working harder than Lacey Chabert in Mean Girls to make my PopRockCo “happen” more than her character’s coined “Fetch”). Her catchy track “Should’ve Said No” stole the tour and the film away from the Brothers and it actually took them awhile to recover!

Realizing that Swift’s appearance and name were familiar not only because of her super fame but also because she was staring back at me in the cover story of the most recent issue of Glamour Magazine—I was stunned to read the article and learn about her former relationship with the Brothers' lead singer and Most Popular Pretty Boy-- Mr. Joe Jonas who dropped Ms. Swift in a twenty-seven second phone call. Further digging online revealed that he did so as to move onto the beautiful dark-haired actress Camilla Belle— and once again, Connect The Jonas Brothers ruled the day as Belle’s new film Push from Summit Entertainment shortly arrived thereafter for review.

And when I realized that I couldn’t turn on the television without seeing the Brothers on Larry King Live, hearing Kathy Griffin tease the host about them (and share their mutual fandom of my personal favorite—Kevin) as well. Likewise, I began to feel like I was transported to the Land of the Jonas especially when I had double vision and conducted a Film Intuition 2-Disc DVD giveaway when Disney was kind enough to send a second copy of the film.

Thus, I was given the unique opportunity to judge both the DVD and the Blu-ray—which actually was unnecessary since par for the course of Walt Disney’s superlative set packaging, the film arrived in Blu-ray form on 3 discs so that viewers could watch it in Blu-ray on Disc 1 in 2D or 3D (with the 4 free Jonas Brothers edition blue and red 3D cardboard glasses included), in 2D on DVD in Disc 2, or by downloading it onto their computer or portable device with Disc 3’s 2D Apple and PC compatible Digital File technology.

As for the film itself-- although it begins with an interesting and candid morning wake-up sequence as their security man, handler and stage MC (?) "Big Rob" awakens the three Brothers at 4:30 am for a full day schedule and director Bruce Hendricks pulls a “run from the screaming girls” sequence in an homage to the seminal rock film A Hard Day’s Night-- essentially it is as the title promises, “a concert movie” overall.

In this extended edition which offers four songs (two of which—“Can’t Have You” and “A Little Bit Longer”—that are worked directly into the movie adding 13 minutes to its running time) that were previously unavailable in the theatrical version-- fans are given a great view of the show and the opportunity to watch the concert in either 2 or 3D via the pristine Blu-ray quality we've come to expect from Disney.

I tested out both technical options as well as switching from the Blu-ray to the DVD for a comparison and I have to admit that while the 3D offered some cool gimmicks, overall it was distracting, headache inducing and unnecessary, dulling out the gorgeous colors of the superlative Disney Blu-ray quality. In fact, I felt that you lost so much of the Blu-ray presentation and its sheer capability by opting for 3D that I couldn't help wondering why the company hadn't offered the option to put 3D on the DVD as well since.

And this is especially because 3D masks what Blu is capable of which was evident right off the bat when I switched out of the mode-- took off the glasses and moved into a sequence in 2D where the color clarity and gorgeous contrast of the flesh tones, depth perception and heightened sense of the entire picture made the Blu-ray pop more than any glow-stick in the crowd would in 3D.

Happily to parents or those who either don't want to go for the budget priced value 3-pack which offers the film in every edition (so that you'll never have to buy it again if you switch to Blu-ray in the future), I can attest that the DVD of The Jonas Brothers Movie is of excellent quality as well. While there's a noticeable difference when you move from Blu directly to DVD and more so when I moved the disc from the up-convert capable player to my standard DVD player, it's still a terrific transfer and proof that Disney doesn't put their name on a lackluster product.

Although I must say that I wasn't a huge fan of the music of the trio since most of it sounded a bit too similar and I wasn't that mesmerized by the teenage Jaggar stylings of Joe Jonas (and actually more impressed by Nick's voice and Kevin's guitar skills)-- there's no denying that the three together put on one entertaining show with back-flips, pyrotechnics, a string section and more. And honestly, for the price of a disc in lieu of a concert ticket with the best view available for every single song-- super fans won't do better than this title, except when they watch it and play Connect The Jonas Brothers at the same time.

Text ©2009, Film Intuition, LLC; All Rights Reserved. http://www.filmintuition.com
Unauthorized Reproduction or Publication Elsewhere is Strictly Prohibited.

DVD Review: Tom and Jerry: Chuck Jones Collection

2009-07-06T17:45:00.001-07:00

Now Available on DVD

Read Our Review of Tom & Jerry's Greatest Chases Vol. 2

Celebrate the Efforts of Veteran WB Artist Chuck Jones

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Recently when Warner Brothers was kind enough to send me Tom and Jerry's Greatest Chases Volume 2 for review-- sort of as a primer, I think for this 2-disc remastered set boasting 34 classic shorts-- I couldn't help but notice the similarities between the popular Oscar winning Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer series of theatrical shorts and Warner Brothers' own Looney Tunes.

And this makes perfect sense since the creation of Hanna-Barbera began as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's answer to the enormous success enjoyed by both Walt Disney and Warner Brothers with their Silly Symphonies and Merry Melodies shorts respectively.

However, as fate would have it-- the tonally and structurally similar styles of MGM and WB with their popular characters Tom and Jerry and Wile E. Coyote and Roadrunner would merge two decades after the cat and mouse first took up the chase.

As studios scrambled to find a way to bring viewers hooked on television back to the multiplex led to a decline in the employment of animators and existence of animation departments at various studios (save for Disney who pinched pennies but kept things running), MGM simply shut its doors and handed out pink slips to the creative geniuses behind Tom and Jerry.

While Hanna and Barbera would bounce back with their development of what's commonly referred to as "limited animation" which is faster, more cost-efficient and sitcom like than the old full-orchestra cinematic scope of their work with MGM that they developed in projects such as The Flintstones and The Jetsons, Warner Brothers soldiered on until inevitably its legendary animator Chuck Jones found himself out of work in 1964 when the studio he'd worked at for thirty years suddenly shut down that division as well.

However, Hanna-Barbera's old studio was ready and eager to snap up Jones-- offering him an unprecedented opportunity of complete creative control in taking over the long-running but then-fledgling (based on outsourced animation and under-funded efforts) Tom and Jerry series.

Bringing in veteran versatile voice talent like Mel Blanc and some of the extraordinary artists he'd worked with back at WB, Jones used the creative freedom to great effect, going against the grain of popular limited animation for the classical style of "full-animation" that was lighter on dialogue and heavier on action and art to tell the story and this can be evidenced right from the get-go on disc one of this beautifully packaged double-disc set (with a box alone that looks like a collector's item).

Although he's been widely and accurately criticized for an over-reliance on recycling the old plots of the Hanna-Barbera era of Tom and Jerry (in their brilliant '40s era you can see in Greatest Chases) as well as re-tooling some of the exact same gags he and his merry band of animation collaborators at Warner Brothers had sprinkled throughout Looney Tunes which won't go unnoticed to avid viewers of either series-- the Jones era of Tom and Jerry is far more cinematic than ever before.

And in fact, the influences of both vintage Hanna-Barbera shorts and WB cartoons are cited directly in one of two fascinating extra features-- Tom, Jerry... and Chuck which actually shows before and after comparisons of the works. When you couple some of the overly noticeable instances of "cribbing" from earlier material and trying a bit too hard to tie in with some popular culture of the '60s along with Jones' downright snobbish and slightly condescending view of the artists who'd worked on the series before him including Hanna-Barbera whose Flintstones and beyond "limited animation" technique he scoffs at, the shorts lose a bit of their luster.

Yet, taken purely on face value as a set for its content and as simply a fan of entertaining animation, it's a solid investment as Warner Brothers has painstakingly remastered the original shorts and similarly has offered them in their vintage theatrical widescreen format for the first time in numerous decades.

Changing the look of the characters themselves by making Jerry far sweeter and touching up the facial expressions of both in order to emphasize the moments just before each one loses it or their reaction to the other throughout their endless, highly violent back-and-forth battles (foreshadowing Jones' admiration for eyes. ears and mouths he'd use brilliantly with the Grinch's wicked grin in How the Grinch Stole Christmas)-- the shorts also tapped right into MGM's brilliant credit sequences of their popular 007 and Pink Panther franchises. They did so by opening with a teaser, going into some wildly inventive credit sequence and then moving directly into the cartoon. A terrific example of this can be found in Bad Day at Cat Rock which follows Tom down a manhole as he lights a match to illuminate the credits.

While the '40s shorts placed their emphasis on the foreground-- these '60s widescreen enabled picturesque shorts provide an endless supply of eye candy with incredibly intricate and detailed background images that moves from the "sets" to all of the individual little touches of "props" that is used to wondrous effect in the Charlie Chaplin Modern Times like I'm Just Wild About Jerry.

Using camera pans for a sweeping effect in The Brothers Carry Mouse Off which flows directly into what appears to be Jerry relaxing poolside only to realize that he's imagining that while stretched out on green carpeting or employing animated trickery for the magically tinged Haunted Mouse-- these are a feast for the senses. And likewise they manage to bust out of the antagonism momentarily for a touching and Disney like Snowbody Loves Me and the Hanna-Barbera directed Matinee Mouse wherein the two temporarily bury the hatchet.

With 216 minutes of content it's tough to pick a favorite but the one that I'd find myself probably replaying the most would have to be-- despite its direct tie to a classic Bugs Bunny short-- The Cat Above, The Mouse Below as Tom performs the Italian opera favorite "Figaro" to a packed house. Of course, while he's using his voice to reach those in the cheap seats, Jerry is busily trying to sleep below stage (a classic Hanna-Barbera era running gag) and war is declared between Jerry and his "noisy neighbor" in this classic favorite.

Retaining the mono sound (yet in Dolby Digital) to keep things authentic-- overall and despite some of the complaints about overlapping ideas and repetitions, visually, you're dealing with Tom and Jerry of the highest caliber with the full force of Warner Brothers' best and brightest behind them, picking up where Hanna-Barbera had left off in their Oscar winning collaborations that makes this set quiet a fun treat for classic cartoon enthusiasts.

Text ©2009, Film Intuition, LLC; All Rights Reserved. http://www.filmintuition.com
Unauthorized Reproduction or Publication Elsewhere is Strictly Prohibited.

TV on DVD: Princess Protection Program -- Royal B.F.F. Extended Edition (2009)

2009-07-06T03:00:00.003-07:00

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When there's something strange in the kingdom, crowned royalty can't exactly call the Ghostbusters nor are they able to disappear into the Witness Protection Program dubbed "Witsec" by hip U.S. Marshall Mary Shannon on USA Network's In Plain Sight.

No, instead as we learn in the most recent hit Disney Channel Original Movie (which as of its June 30 DVD release date had already garnered over 28 million unique viewers from around the globe)-- a top secret agency funded by the world's wealthiest royal families has been set up. Its mission is simple and important-- namely the major function is to move jeopardized royals like Demi Lovato's soon-to-be queen Rosalinda into "P.P.P." a.k.a. the International Princess Protection Program to keep them from harm.

Comprised of four stages including extraction, transition, transformation, and relocation-- after Rosalinda's life is threatened when a powerful adversary stages a coup and names himself the president of two small countries including her beloved Costa Luna, the young woman has no choice but to escape, disappearing into P.P.P. with Major Mason (Tom Verica).

Since he is a trusted agent and friend of her mother's, Rosalinda follows her mother's advice literally by only trusting Major Mason during her transition as the young woman leaves her identity as Princess Rosalinda behind. And shortly following her departure by helicopter, she learns she's simply #383 in the chain of threatened royalty. That is until after some modern clothes and a few contemporary layers cut into her lovely locks later with the shortened moniker of Rosie Gonzelez-- the lonely princess journeys home to Louisiana with the major under the guise that she's the Iowan cousin of his tomboy daughter Carter (Selena Gomez).

Tired of being overlooked by the subject of her roughly decade long crush on Donnie (Robert Adamson) who conveniently forgets her name every two minutes (aside from the times he uses Carter for free fishing bait sold at her father's shop)-- Carter resents the beautiful, prissy, backstabbing girls of her local high school who are currently stressing about which one will be voted to become homecoming queen.

With an eye-roll and a sigh to her father about her dislike of girls she refers to as "princesses," like Jamie Chung's Chelsea and Samantha Droke's Brooke who go to school complete with costume changes and have boys wrapped around their little fingers-- the last thing Carter wants is for a bona fide princess to live temporarily under her roof until it's safe for Rosie to return back to Costa Luna.

Impatient in dealing with Rosie's lack of social skills and proper mannerisms involving her wish to have the room to herself, her statement of "yes, you are excused," and telling Carter that she can help prepare her for bed-- obviously, it isn't long before the girl who speaks fluent French and uses a fork to cut her hamburger in the lunch room draws suspicious whispers and looks from all around.

And while I was amazed that the major failed to put his foot down while Carter set up Rosie in a cruel "chore duty" prank-- making us lose some sympathy for the likable Wizards of Waverly Place star Gomez's bratty character-- Carter's reluctance to help her phony cousin or roll out the welcome mat only increases when Rosie inevitably catches Donnie's eye.

Yet when she realizes her new roommate's willingness not to stoop to the level of the fake American "princesses" like Chelsea and Brooke who seek pleasure in torturing others including setting Rosie up for an embarrassing disaster, soon Carter realizes she has a lot to learn about what it takes to truly be a princess.

Likewise, Rosie's struggle to see life from a formerly privileged point-of-view as an ambassador in the spotlight is challenged as well when she arrives in a country where she doesn't know a soul and has a hard time just coping with the day to day stuff like finding someones to sit with at lunch or how to fit in at high school.

Of course, inevitably and in true Disney fashion, the girls become friends and learn from the experiences of one another. And while it's predictable all the way and seems to have drawn from some classic Disney tales such as The Parent Trap in the dynamic of the young women as well as once again going back to the studio's favorite female well of fairy tale princesses a la Enchanted and The Princess Diaries-- the two young charismatic leads with beaming smiles are able to draw from their tight-knit friendship (having shared the screen and been part of each other's life since appearing on TV's Barney as children) to make this yet another infectiously fun, high quality Disney Channel Original Movie.

While of course the channel does love to revisit popular hits with sequels and the slightly cheesy Mission Impossible-esque final moment of the work a la a book-end that didn't fit made me fear that a sequel was in the works (and indeed I think I may have predicted it as conveniently Carter's father and Rosalinda's mother could marry like the real Parent Trap), in this case I think that would be a misstep.

For, at its heart, director Allison Liddi-Brown's Princess Protection Program is an admittedly frothy and forgettable yet glossy, silly, and upbeat film about the power of female friendship that marks a refreshing offering for the channel in that-- of course while still turning to "fairy tale" like princesses for source material-- places the idea of girls looking out for each other well ahead of any romantic subplot.

Tying in with this theme, the Royal Extended Edition of the 2009 DVD release boasts a "B.F.F. necklace set," a tween friendly behind the scenes featurette where the real life best friends discuss their own relationship and the making of the film and a music video for their song "One and the Same."

Additionally, it offers a fascinating look at the role of contemporary princesses in society in a worthwhile extra that interviews a real-life Russian princess who breaks down the facts from the myth and above all discusses the importance in having a big heart, giving back to others, and the main job description of "being able to represent your country," in a candid discussion that goes beyond the "Disneyfied" fairy tale look of princesses living castles all waiting for their princes to come.

Text ©2009, Film Intuition, LLC; All Rights Reserved. http://www.filmintuition.com
Unauthorized Reproduction or Publication Elsewhere is Strictly Prohibited.

TV on DVD: Care Bears: Tell-Tale Tummies -- Lessons from the Heart: Telling the Truth (2009)

2009-07-06T02:30:00.001-07:00

Now Available on DVD from Lionsgate

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Drawing inspiration from all classic moral tales (both tall and true) including Pinocchio, the legend of George Washington chopping down a cherry tree and more-- Lionsgate releases a dynamite collection of eight episodes from the new CBS Saturday morning update of the '80s classic animated series Care Bears never before offered on DVD.

Of stellar quality-- much like the studio’s previous release Care Bears: Cheer, There & Everywhere-- this disc titled Care Bears: Tell-Tale Tummies places its emphasis on truthfulness.

And although according to the Lionsgate press release the target demographic is young girls ages 2-5, Tell-Tale actually exceeds that audience level. It does so superior storytelling, a better focus than the previous highly entertaining disc as all stories involve a good lesson that can than be discussed between kids and parents as the never-judgmental bears act in various ways that are identifiable from toddlers up through grade school.

Much like its cheerful predecessor-- the upbeat, bubbly animation style makes the colors nearly pop off the screen all the while retaining the full screen (or television shaped) aspect ratio of the series with 2.0 Dolby Digital Audio sound. Likewise, it utilizes the similar concept of Walt Disney Home Entertainment’s "Fast-Play" by giving you the option of viewing the eighty-eight minute disc in a "Kid-Friendly Direct-Play" mode where the episodes move from one to the next without the annoyance of returning you back to a complicated menu.

Whether the episodes center on Cheer Bear's realization that she "cannot tell a lie" after keeping Grumpy's secret involving moving a bumbleberry tree to selfishly feast on the delicious and coveted fruits of Care-a-Lot, or Share's need to confess to breaking one of Grumpy's inventions, or Oopsy's admission that his mistaken act of heroism was really just accidental, or the dangers of exaggeration or even the responsibility of the press when Share and Trueheart become the Care Bear version of gossip columnists-- the animated stories are far more worthwhile than a majority of popular cartoons.

Celebrating the idea of listening to your conscience or having a positive attitude and the realization that if friends are really friends then they'll accept you flaws and all; the disc is highly recommended to parents and those who care for young children.

So therefore, once again with this magenta colored DVD box complete with a hologram cardboard outer cover-- the Care Bears prove why they've been around for so long that the generation who grew up on them in the '80s is now relishing in the opportunity to continue sharing the lessons and heartfelt stories of the bears with their own children in the twenty-first century.

Movie Review: Lovely By Surprise (2007)

2009-07-06T01:00:00.001-07:00

Available on DVD
7/7/09

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While the rough seas of the film festival circuit can be hard to navigate as many award-winning works become the equivalent of “indie overboard” without the life jacket of a distributor, a limited theatrical run or release on disc—Kirt Gunn’s fiercely independent offering Lovely By Surprise managed to stay afloat.

In fact, it did much more than tread water for two years following its Seattle Film Festival New American Cinema Special Jury Prize accolade since it was buoyed by a positive online word-of-mouth campaign.

With screeners making the rounds of online critics (including yours truly) and further success in festivals in the UK and elsewhere, debut filmmaker Gunn’s Surprise struck a chord with like-minded viewers with its tale of a neurotic novelist (Carrie Preston) plagued by uncertainty when her mentor and former professor (Austin Pendleton) suggests that the solution to her writer’s block would come from killing off one of the main characters in the book she’s struggling to complete.

And as such, Surprise has easily drawn comparisons to both screenwriter Charlie Kaufman’s Adaptation (helmed by Spike Jonze) as well as Zach Helm’s Stranger than Fiction (directed by Marc Forster) for its emphasis on a solipsistic writer in the former and the complication of killing a main character in the latter especially since actor Michael Chermus’ protagonist Humpkin has been written by Preston’s Marian with awareness that he’s a character in a world she’s created.

However, instead of feeling something the way we did for Will Ferrell’s tragicomic tax man in Stranger than Fiction-- it’s hard to feel that moved by the childish world that Marian has constructed for her novel as the admittedly likable Humpkin exists for a majority in the film living on a land-locked boat with his brother Mopekey (a wasted Dallas Roberts) -- both compulsively clad in their underwear—who survive on cereal in a purely absurdist existence until Humpkin escapes.

It’s one of three interrelated yet vastly different narratives--some of indecipherable setting aside from the truly imaginative based world of the fictitious creation-- as Marian’s appears to occur in present day but the most engrossing storyline resembles the 1970s (a.k.a. “the past” as I instantly wrote in my notes to keep things straight).

However, the heart of Gunn’s film can be found in the tragic storyline of the widowed Bob (played by an emotive, understated Reg Rogers) as a struggling car dealer who ends up talking prospective buyers out of purchases with questions of life and death, informing them that a car won’t make them happy until ultimately his empathetic boss and friend Dave (Richard Masur) has no choice but to take away Bob’s company car which will be returned following his first successful sale.

It doesn’t take very long for us to realize that the loss of Bob’s wife was sudden and shocking considering the kids-gloves treatment of him at work and the way he always seems distracted, forgetting to go to school to pick up his daughter Mimi (Lena Lamur) who has remained silent since her mother’s death.

Yet, even this storyline which is bolstered by the astute turn by Rogers fails to involve us on the level it should’ve as the movie is bogged down by the uneven and uneasy way the other storylines are woven together which results in a somewhat unexpected yet not fully emotionally earned finale (hinted at in a few earlier shots).

Granted, the conclusion ties it all together in a way that makes more sense the further you get away from the film when you can piece it together. And in doing so, it helps you appreciate the work on a greater level and in particular the character of Marian who had worn on our nerves throughout beginning with her opening scene as she tries to negotiate the enormity of writing a novel with her own self-doubt.

However, I couldn’t help but wish that for the film’s core-- Gunn had stayed away from the Gondry meets Bunuel meets Godard absurdist approach for the setting of Marian’s novel in a way that made it slightly more grounded and less ridiculous so that we could at least buy into her purported talent and therefore care about her struggles genuinely for the length of one hundred and forty minutes.

Beautifully shot and chopped by cinematographer Steve Yedlin and editor Jim Helton with a terrific soundtrack (including the music of Magnetic Fields' Stephin Merritt)—Gunn’s polished production makes its way to DVD to own on 7/7/09. Of course, it’s always inspiring to see a filmmaker remain devoted to his own artistic process but the film’s enormous potential was diminished by its preoccupation with eccentricity instead of emotion.

While Lovely By Surprise works so much better when dealing with what appears to be the narratives that are set in the present and the past as opposed to the eye-rolling imaginary one which should’ve been either axed altogether or rewritten—had Gunn managed to find precisely the right third fictitious one to make it swim even lovelier as opposed to the times when (at least for me) it sunk—I feel like it would’ve been an even greater Surprise all-around.

Still, boasting great promise from an obviously thoughtful and intelligent new cinematic voice—I’m very much looking forward to seeing what Gunn will do next, now that he can jump out of the safe yet constricting raft of a first film and move into uncharted waters with sharper focus.

Text ©2009, Film Intuition, LLC; All Rights Reserved. http://www.filmintuition.com
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DVD Review: Backwoods (2008)

2009-07-06T00:01:00.002-07:00

Now Available On DVD

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Admittedly, I never quite saw the point in strange and forced workplace bonding rituals like "Fish Camp" which used Seattle fishmongers for inspiration in an odd exercise. Finding a way to make money off of those famous fishmongers-- the idea was re-tooled for corporate America wherein we were forced to listen to Jimmy Buffet, try to sail paper airplanes into a fake fish pond for prizes, and be repeatedly reminded that we're special all the while being condescended as though back in grade school with obvious lessons about working together for the good of the company.

Likewise, I just couldn't understand the waste of resources in some of the bizarre arts and crafts style projects that found us enacting games which were just one step above those completed at a baby or wedding shower. Yet I guess in retrospect a paycheck beat the hell out of a tiny bag of bridal potpourri or a thimble sized piece of cake with a baby bootie on it any day of the week.

And while the bizarre yet mandatory customer service training exercises which involved using clips from movies like Jaws and Tommy Boy (sadly, I am so not kidding) were pointless to say the least-- after watching Backwoods, I think most of us will agree that all of the patronizing hoop-jumping and third grade motivational techniques of being penalized for lack of conformity or using enough glitter on our projects is infinitely preferable to a weekend stuck in Deliverance country.

However, the corporate retreat gone wrong follows a rapidly cut collage of terrifying animals, carnage, stereotypical white trash hillbillies, missing persons posters, and ominous danger set to the head-pounding soundtrack of angry goth metal which establishes the tone in the credit sequence of the made for television work.

And its darkness pays off quickly in standard horror movie style amidst a chilling prologue which finds one man dead and his girlfriend captured and caged for her forced use to bear more disfigured, inbred wackos for a clan who seems to exist as a sort of cross between the aforementioned Deliverance along with Roman Polanski's horror classic Rosemary's Baby.

Yet fortunately, just before we are to witness the young captive's rape in a religious based survivalist cult, the film cuts away to the easily interchangeable seven characters who will become our "protagonists" in the form of gaming engineers (including the instantly identifiable Haylie Duff as only one of two women working for the company) who are sent on a corporate retreat which will be a fully paid review of their job performance.

However instead of following a logical path and having the employees do something directly related to their company work-- we're reminded that this is the testosterone fueled strange scavenger hunt like environment of corporate America. So soon, Duff's Lee, her obnoxious alpha male boss, and five other employees (where only Ryan Merriman's sensitive Adam stands out) venture off towards a paintball battle which was supposed to be a metaphor for executive tactics and business strategy but ends up finding the young employees targeted with far deadlier implements than paint and uncool, blue camouflage they prefer to call fatigues.

Forced to leave their BlackBerries and board room mentalities behind to embrace laser sighted paintball guns to be fired illegally in what they assume is a natural preserve-- the seven employees soon divide into two teams. And par for the course, maddeningly they ignore the obvious horror movie red flags including some crazy locals, intimidating bikers, missing person posters, hanging animal carcasses, and elaborate booby traps as they venture into the deadly terrain of the survivalist cult of inbred, ultra-violent, "backwoods" bible thumping stereotypes.

A B-movie all the way that blends together not only the previously cited works but also far more successful, bigger budget B-movies like Wrong Turn and the entire Friday the 13th series and one without any new gimmicks or unexplored terrain, ultimately Backwoods is filled with an abominable script and an emphasis on shock value rather than actively trying to engage the viewer as it never comes close to being any more memorable than its indecipherable, indistinct and unimaginative cast of characters.

Further damaging the success of Duff's turn as the genre's favored type of a tank-top wearing, screaming, running, feisty heroine-- the cheesy and overly familiar Backwoods was released on the exact same day as the extraordinarily similar Crispin Glover lost in the woods effort Simon Says featuring Gossip Girl star Blake Lively.

While neither work was a success-- Simon was infinitely more watchable for not only its extremely inventive (and often stomach turning) Evil Dead II and Friday the 13th style deaths but also for giving us a fascinating doppelganger villain of two twin brothers. Played by the overwhelmingly creepy Crispin Glover-- the Back to the Future actor ensures you're engaged the entire way, much more so than these corporate brats fighting movie stereotype "hicks" when their paintball game suddenly becomes far bloodier than your typical day of glitter, glue, and fish camp.

DVD Review: The Betrayed (2008)

2009-07-03T15:00:00.002-07:00

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You'd think a car crash alone would be enough to ruin your day. Unfortunately, for Golden Globe nominated actress Melissa George's character Jamie in writer/director Amanda Gusack's The Betrayed-- not only was the car crash a high point compared to what would follow-- but the next several days are also ruined when she awakens to find herself held prisoner on the floor of a warehouse.

Yet it isn't a simple kidnap for ransom but more precisely a kidnap for what's owed to the villains when they explain to Jamie that the man she's been married to for six years is in fact a cold blooded killer who worked for the Philadelphia syndicate of an organized crime division. Bluntly informing Jamie that her spouse Kevin had used her simply because she's make a decent "cover," she's also stunned when they note that the man recently double-crossed his employers (a.k.a. her new wardens) to the tune of forty million dollars in drug money.

When Jamie quickly ascertains that she has none of the answers for which they're looking and insists that they must simply have the wrong Kevin when they refer to her husband-- the captors headed up by the masked leader Rathe (Donald Adams) reveal that they are in fact Kevin's colleagues by sharing the most intimate details of her life with her husband.

With zero leverage or information about Kevin's whereabouts including which account or where he could've stashed the forty million doors, Jamie struggles to cope with the mental stress and the physical exertion of being locked in a room and chained in position so that she's directly underneath a shower that her captors turn on at will to try and force her to talk.

Further complicating matters, for Jamie-- concentrating let alone conversing is a nearly impossible feat after they explain that they've given her morphine to try and dull the pain of her severely bruised ribs-- and then reveal that they have her diabetic five year old son Michael whom they coolly state is okay for the time being.

Giving into Jamie's demands for proof that Michael is in fact alive and later going so far as to move her son into locked room next door when Rathe realizes to his surprise that Jamie honestly knows nothing about her husband's extra-curricular position as killer and drug peddler-- Rathe decides that the next thing for Jamie to do if she doesn't have the answers is to find the answers.

Supplying her with a tape recorder and boxes of tapes pulled from surveillance on their home since they'd had the entire place bugged for an extensive period of time, the former computer science student is forced to become a code breaker. As she begins to analyze what sounds on the surface like normal, everyday benign conversations, soon a pattern emerges and she realizes that-- although she can't fully understand the purpose or decide who to trust-- she may have never known the "real" or true Kevin all along as some exchanges he had with others on the phone seemed to be laced with an entirely different meaning.

While from the start, I thought that the film's set-up was going to ensure that The Betrayed would fall into the same territory as the underrated thriller Cellular. For, similar to the previous work which found Kim Basinger as the mom and Jason Statham as the villain-- a dynamic we see again in this film's relationship between George's Jamie and Abrams' Rathe-- but Abrams' is given much more to work with as we begin realizing that on some level he can relate to Jamie and feels equally betrayed by a man he'd assumed was his best friend.

However, while Cellular careened into an over-the-top action thriller when the college aged protagonist has to pull out all the stops to rescue the damsel-- Betrayed is far more straightforward and could actually have worked on the stage as our main focus is on the protective mother who wants to do anything to save her son.

And to this end, filmmaker Amanda Gusack's take on the situation genuinely surprises those of us who are used to more dynamic, elaborate, multi-character line and action-packed narratives with her brave decision to (aside from a few flashbacks) keep the confines strictly within the main room and hallway of the building in which she's captured.

Obviously this is effective from the standpoint of the budget since essentially everyone has the same wardrobe with the minimal of costume changes and could have in fact just grabbed a t-shirt and jeans from their own closet. But more than just ensuring it remained low-cost, Gusack's 99% one-set movie heightens the urgency of the situation with its naturally masculine, steel set that ratchets up the tension considerably.

As Jamie overhears other captors discuss her life and future death and sees the blood spatter outside her doorway in one instance where another abducted associate was killed, it all feels immediate and scary. Simply put, we're with George's Jamie all the way--even when she makes some foolish attempts to create a diversion and/or exit in a ways that made it even more dangerous for her child. And I'd venture to guess that the actress didn't have to worry about taking a long time to get into character since her scenes all essentially take place in her one room cell that's empty, foreboding, darkly lit, and one wherein a veritable Reservoir Dogs style gun showdown at the end is inevitable.

A strong turn for the Alias and In Treatment star George and an intriguing psychological thriller plot about trying to figure out who to believe and/or who to trust, I felt it was a definite shame that The Betrayed from Fox and MGM hadn't made its way to theatres to give female viewers a female hero in which to root instead of the endless barage of wedding and shopping movies.

Of course, this being said, Gusack's work isn't without its problems but luckily they are few and far between until the rushed final act wherein unfortunately Gusack weaves in some noticeable and illogical plot contrivances such as Jamie's section of precisely the right cassette tape at the right instant and one of those foolish only-in-the-movies countdown clocks that shows a few minutes but amazingly takes about three times the length cinematically before "O" flashes on the screen.

Still, despite some of the check-your-brain at the door action movie mandates (which you'll need to do much more often in another fun but dubious action work this week from Fox via John Cena's 12 Rounds), Gusack's truly impressive work all the way through and much better than some of our recent attempts at blending intellectualism, psychology and action on the big screen.

Blu-ray Review: The Pink Panther 2 (2009)

2009-07-03T00:00:00.004-07:00

Crazy About Clouseau & The Pink Panther?

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As I sit down to write this I'm reminded of Jack Black's Stevie Wonder related query in High Fidelity when he ponders: "Sub-question: is it in fact unfair to criticize a formerly great artist for his latter day sins; is it better to burn out or fade away?"

With Steve Martin... I'm not really sure what to think other than beginning to fear he's become so out of touch with reality that he's the only one who thinks these recent films he's made are funny or an even more horrifying question-- namely, for the guy who once upon a time just wanted to make us laugh--has integrity finally just vanished completely and box office greed taken over in its place?

Like the infamous "Black Sox" scandal following the 1919 World Series which found the heartbroken little boy famously asking Shoeless Joe Jackson to "say it ain't so," I'd like to give Martin the benefit of the doubt but then again when he confesses with a straight face on the Blu-ray of Pink Panther 2 that "it turned out even better than I'd hoped for," I'm at a total loss.

Why would one of my favorite comedic idols with a Mensa level IQ, a degree in philosophy who is also an accomplished banjo player, a quintessential "wild and crazy guy," author of the brilliantly witty Pure Drivel, and a highbrow art collector who has created and starred in some of the funniest films of our generation not only needlessly crib from the incomparable Peter Sellers' genius creation of Inspector Clouseau in the Blake Edwards' Pink Panther movies for an awful 2006 remake but return again in 2009 for a sequel to a film that critics and audiences alike mostly couldn't stand?

While of course I've watched enough crime shows to learn that your first instinct is always the one you go with so I'm simply going to cite the money but even with that excuse I'm wondering just where exactly the films make money? It definitely isn't in the United States where Pink Panther 2 opened and closed within the span of what felt like a week following abysmal reviews so I can only guess that the press release may indeed be accurate when the first film is referred to as a "worldwide hit."

Therefore, maybe Panther is funnier in subtitles or when dubbed making Steve Martin's recent comedic phase sort of like Jerry Lewis who's worshiped in France as though he were Chanel... or maybe just like with The Da Vinci Code and Angels and Demons' popularity overseas, Europeans welcome some of the films that just don't strike a chord over here.

And international public relations is not only the key to the film as a "product" but also the bulk of its screenplay (which was given a polish by City Slickers and Fever Pitch writers Lowell Ganz and Babaloo Mandel) which was augmented by the decision to widen its net to cast the most globally diverse and popular stars as the filmmakers could find.

Not only a great marketing ploy to then drum up support in the actors' home countries but also to add to its ridiculously impressive roster of performers that gives a second meaning to the film's new group of detectives dubbed "The Dream Team" who are hired to find the world's most treasured artifacts (including the Pink Panther diamond, the Shroud of Turin and the Magna Carta etc.) after they were all snagged by the elusive thief, The Tornado.

Although Kevin Kline-- possibly taking a cue from Bill Murray who was smart enough to jump ship and bow out of the second Charlie's Angels movie-- has left the cast, his Fish Called Wanda co-star John Cleese takes his place as Clouseau's superior. However when you take into consideration that one of his earliest big on-screen moments is literally banging his head against a wall, you wonder if deep down even John Cleese wondered just what the hell he was doing there.

With the adorable, bookish colleague Nicole (Emily Mortimer) setting off sparks with Closeau that neither one can put into words-- their faux romantic relationship is tested as other colleagues fly in such as the drop-dead gorgeous Aishwarya Rai (Bride and Prejudice) who has an only-in-the-movies schoolgirl crush on Clouseau and the Cuban-American Andy Garcia playing a seductive Italian who decides that Nicole is just the type of woman he'd like to "make-a the babies with... lots and lots of babies... all day long with the babies."

In a great moment of in-joke humor as Martin's Clouseau refers to Garcia as Don Corleone-- I couldn't help remembering that yes, although Garcia did star in Godfather Part III, even that film was more welcome than this one because it closed the trilogy's story and had a purpose. Yet, Garcia who also starred in the Ocean's Eleven movies seems to have no problem disappearing into lackluster ensemble projects even though he deserves much better.

Rounding out the cast we find a Japanese computer expert played by Yuki Matsuzaki (thus, of course prompting Clouseau to go thirty years in the past to the previous films to call him his "little yellow friend"), the always reliable Jean Reno as Clouseau's best friend, Jeremy Irons as a suspect naturally, and Lily Tomlin as an enforcer of political correctness who we view as all too eager to reunite with her All of Me star twenty years later even in something as misguided as this film.

Perhaps the best addition to the group is in the form of Alfred Molina who gets the best scene as he and Martin's Clouseau try to out deduce one another by sizing each other up using their skills as inspectors in an increasingly funny intellectual showdown. However, the script pushes barbs to the background and physical humor to the foreground as mostly the wondrous cast is left with little to do other than to try to cover for the clumsy Clouseau as he falls down a chimney or off the Pope's balcony while dressed as the Pope or just react to his escalating physical gags over the course of the movie.

Slapstick and physical comedy are all ramped up to the extreme in Pink Panther 2 as we note in one of the Blu-ray's extra features when it's revealed that Martin did about eighty percent of his own stunts but there were always two doubles around for the most dangerous ones.

However, aside from the aforementioned back-and-forth one-upmanship exchange with Molina-- it's Martin's willingness to go back into his classic comedy skill arsenal and ability to juggle that helped win me over in the film's second worthwhile scene (aka the only other time I genuinely laughed aloud-- making that two chuckles in 92 minutes which was two more than in the original film). As he and Nicole push the boundaries of their professional relationship over a romantic dinner in Rome, Clouseau decides to select the perfect bottle of wine as inevitably they come tumbling out and bottles are tossed and juggled to perfection until the restaurant goes up in flames. And it's in this scene especially where I felt that genuine credit was owed to Martin to get in there and go for the laughs with close-ups rather than sit on the side-lines and just count the money (which no doubt he did later) but two successful jokes in a film's running time is hardly a success overall.

In fact, the more enjoyable experience was definitely to be found reading the reviews of the work-- which ranged from scathing to hilarious. Peter Hartlaub of the San Francisco Chronicle had the best opener yet when he wrote, "One can only hope that something good is coming from all the bad movies that Steve Martin has been appearing in. I keep waiting for Martin, Robin Williams and Ice Cube to announce that they've used all the proceeds from their unfunny comedies to cure cancer."

While I would also add Martin's Bowfinger star Eddie Murphy and The Love Guru's Mike Myers to that list of comedy offenders, Hartlaub has a point regarding all the wasted money, wasted resources, and wasted talent. And replacing the second walk-out in the form of the 2006 director Shawn Levy (who's since moved onto helming the financially lucrative Night at the Museum franchise with Ben Stiller), Netherlands native Harald Zwart's decision to make the jokes bigger and faster in the second one helped ensure that it was more cartoonish and kid friendly than the first. It's most likely a skill he acquired directing Agent Cody Banks before moving onto (sigh) the needless remake of Karate Kid called Kung Fu Kid slated for 2010.

While per usual for the exceptional quality of Fox Blu-ray discs-- once again the wizards working in their technical department manage to make this one sound theatre-level and sparkle in clarity as much as the famous diamond and the breathtaking Aishwarya Rai. And given the extra features, we're able to see at least how much work went into the film and appreciate it on that level. Although in certain behind-the-scenes inclusions including the gag reel which-- despite being mostly unfunny-- did result in three laughs from me as opposed to the film's two, making me sadly note that like Garcia's Ocean's movies, the Panther works are only fun if you're on the set and not if you're at home viewing them.

Luckily, Fox knew that this time-- given the poor product-- they'd have to do more than just deliver another breathtaking transfer so in addition to a digital copy file, there's a third disc in the set that boasts 27 classic Pink Panther MGM cartoons including the Oscar winning Animated short "The Pink Phink" which-- clocking in at nearly three hours-- are infinitely more enjoyable than Pink Panther 2, the feature.

Text ©2009, Film Intuition, LLC; All Rights Reserved. http://www.filmintuition.com
Unauthorized Reproduction or Publication Elsewhere is Strictly Prohibited.