Fast & Furious 6 Blu-ray Review

Actors: Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson, Michelle Rodriguez, Jordana Brewster

Director: Justin Lin

Writers: Chris Morgan

Producers: Vin Diesel, Neal H. Moritz, Clayton Townsend

Format: Color, Widescreen

Language: English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo), English (Dolby Digital 5.1), English (DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1), French (Dolby Digital 5.1), French (DTS 5.1), Spanish (Dolby Digital 5.1), Spanish (DTS 5.1)

Subtitles: French, Spanish, English

Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1

Number of discs: 2

Rated: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)

Studio: Universal Studios

Blu-ray Release Date: December 10, 2013

 

 

        This was supposed to be the last film of the Fast and Furious franchise; the real last film amongst what seemed many. The only problem came down to a timing issue for Actor Jason Statham, who was set to play the final villain. When he was unable to film this one this franchise set up for Fast and the Furious 7, boasting even more cast members in the already impressive ensemble. With the early departure of Paul Walker, the film franchise’s main protagonist from film one, the last film’s future looks uncertain. Fast and the Furious 6 is not a masterpiece, but it is a solid action film from the initial racing premise, only slightly less exciting than Fast Five. 

 

        Two films prior had seen the demise of Michelle Rodriguez’s character, Letty, who suddenly comes back from the dead with a case of amnesia in Fast and the Furious 6. This revelation brings the whole gang back into action, in pursuit of a mastermind criminal (Luke Evans) leading a team of mercenaries on a mission to steal a top secret weapon. Teaming up with the government officer previously hunting them (Dwayne Johnson), Dom (Vin Diesel) and his team of criminally good drivers set out on a mission to take down this deadly enemy. 

 

Paranoia Blu-ray Review

Subtitles: English, Spanish

Dubbed: English, Spanish

Aspect Ratio: 2.40:1

Number of discs: 1

Rated: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)

Studio: 20th Century Fox

Blu-ray Release Date: November 19, 2013

Run Time: 90 minutes

 

 

        Paranoia boasts an impressive cast, perfectly balanced with both veteran actors and young stars. Gary Oldman and Harrison Ford carry each scene they are in, while Liam Hemsworth and Amber Heard are pretty to look at while the real actors perform. In the end, however, it is all cancelled out by an uninteresting script that hardly has enough thrills to qualify this as a thriller. Only a twelve-year-old would think this film is intelligent, and the rest of us are just bored. It fits in perfectly as a double feature with Brian De Palma’s equally unimpressive Passion.

 

        Based on the best-selling novel by Joseph Finder, Paranoia is a cat-and-mouse thriller in the business world, and Adam Cassidy (Hemsworth) is the mouse stuck between two deadly feline aggressors. Cassidy works as a lowly employee at a powerful technology corporation dealing primarily with cell phones, but even that job is threatened because of the way he thinks outside of the box. When his boss Nicolas Wyatt (Oldman) fires him, it comes with an interesting offer of espionage. Blackmailed into working for the competition in order to steal their trade secrets, Cassidy finds himself working for another business tycoon; Jock Goddard (Ford).

 

Throwback Thursday Review: After Life

 

Actors: Liam Neeson, Justin Long, Christina Ricci, Josh Charles, Celia Weston

Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1

Rated: R (Restricted)

Studio: Anchor Bay Entertainment

Release Date: August 3, 2010

Run Time: 103 minutes

 

 

        The premise of After Life (I refuse to call this film After.Life, because I have no idea what the point of the period is) is rather compelling. In fact, it seems like the kind of scenario which would work perfectly as a short film. As a feature film, it is nothing but frustrating. At first I was convinced that the film was compelling simply because it kept me guessing about the end.

 

I knew that the film was going in one of two directions; ghost story or serial killer. As long as I didn’t know what type of film it was, I couldn’t predict where it was going. Here is the problem: the distinction is never made. Rather than make a decision, this film backs itself into a corner which makes either implausible, giving no final conclusion either way. It is one thing to allow the audience to decide, but only when the clues are there. After Life attempts to have it both ways, failing miserably.

 

See This Film: Pride and Prejudice (2005)

 

 

 

 

        When people ask me what my favorite film of the year has been I’m almost hesitant to tell them for fear that it will reflect badly upon my masculinity, but if I were to be completely honest I would have to say that it was Joe Wright’s take on Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. I have never been a fan of period films or Jane Austen, but I was absolutely mesmerized by each frame of this adaptation. Not one shot seems wasted and each detail is meticulously formed to create a captivating and beautiful film. Each role is expertly cast and even more impressively portrayed, and the only thing that is able to upstage the talent is the breathtaking cinematography set to a simple yet poignant score. In short, I would be hard pressed to find more than a few things that I don’t like about Pride and Prejudice.

 

        This version of Jane Austen’s story focuses largely on Elizabeth Bennet, one of the middle children in a liberal household. Elizabeth speaks her mind freely which gets her into some trouble when she meets the seemingly uptight Mr. Darcy. In a family filled with girls, Elizabeth’s mother’s main goal is to marry them all off, but she refuses to marry unless it is for love. Mr. Darcy seems the last person in the world she could love, but first impressions prove to be very deceiving.

 

Throwback Thursday Review: Adoration

 

Actors: Devon Bostick, Rachel Blanchard, Louca Tassone, Kenneth Welsh, Yuval Daniel

Director: Atom Egoyan

Writer: Atom Egoyan

Producers: Atom Egoyan, Jennifer Weiss, Laurent Pétin, Marcy Gerstein, Michèle Pétin

Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1

Rated: R (Restricted)

Studio: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment

Release Date:  2009

Run Time: 100 minutes

 

        Born in Egypt and raised in Canada, filmmaker Atom Egoyan brings a unique worldview to his films. Adoration isn’t a political film in the sense that any coherent message is made, but there are still present nonetheless. Rather than making a film which utilizes the medium to make a point, Egoyan simply shows how the issues of terrorism and religious/political beliefs come to affect the lives of a group of people after a high school teacher encourages a student to tell a white lie.

 

The story involves a teenage boy named Simon (Devon Bostick) and his uncle, Tom (Scott Speedman). They both seem to be having a difficult time with life, Tom struggling to make enough money to raise his sister’s son away from his hateful father. Things only get worse for Simon when his French teacher, Sabine (Arsinee Khanjian), gives a translating assignment about a terrorist threat. When he tells the story as though his deceased parents were the ones involved, Sabine insists that he repeat the exercise out-loud to his class. After that he tells the story to larger audiences, and they all believe it to be true. The deeper issue is why Simon seems to believe that this story is close to his own truth about his parents’ death.

 

The Wolverine Unleashed at 20th Century Fox Studios

 

       

        Unrated and extended versions of films for the home entertainment release have become so commonplace that the title hardly has significance any longer. The extended cut of Fast and Furious 6 was less than a minute longer than the theatrical cut. Even when there are differences to the cut of the film, it is hardly of significance, so I was somewhat surprised by the fanfare the unrated extended cut of The Wolverine was met with by 20^th Century Fox and the film’s director, James Mangold. In anticipation of the film’s release on DVD and Blu-ray this week, on December 3rd, Mangold attended a screening of the extended cut of the film held on the Fox studio lot.

       

New BBC TV on DVD and Blu-ray: Doctor Who, Last Tango in Halifax, The Paradise and Silk

Actors: William Hartnell, Michael Craze, Anneke Wills, Robert Beatty

Director: Derek Martinus

Writers: Kit Pedler, Gerry Davis

Producers: Innes Lloyd

Format: NTSC, Black & White

Language: English

Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1

Rated: NR (Not Rated)

Studio: BBC Home Entertainment

DVD Release Date: November 19, 2013

Run Time: 93 minutes

Doctor Who: The Tenth Planet

 

        As all fans of classic “Doctor Who” are painfully aware of, many episodes were destroyed in an infamous purge of old film and television content by the BBC in the 1970s. Only through discoveries in personal collections and various archives have some of these episodes been recovered, though there are still many storylines which have been left incomplete for decades since they were first created. “The Tenth Planet” was one of these storylines, taking place during William Hartnell’s three years as the first of many to play the Doctor.

 

        “The Tenth Planet” is story number 29 in the “Doctor Who” timeline, and it involves the discovery of Earth’s forgotten twin planet in the year of 1986. The planet Mondas is inhabited with the emotionless Cybermen attempting to convert all of humanity on Earth into the same fate. Only the Doctor can help to save humanity, though very few episodes actually show the otherworldly invaders, and one of those is the episode which is missing. The missing episode has been replaced with a brand-new animated version of the lost section. This storyline also marks the last appearance from Hartnell as the Doctor, making history as he becomes the first to retire from the role.

 

Throwback Thursday Review: Across the Universe

 

Actors: Evan Rachel Wood

Rated: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)

Studio: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment

Release Date: 2009

Run Time: 133 minutes

 

 

The announcement alone of a Beatles spectacle from the director, Julie Taymor, was enough to irritate a wave of purist fans. Taymor is not unfamiliar with the reforming of previous works of art in different mediums. She was responsible for the Broadway adaptation of the Disney cartoon, The Lion King, now adapting a series of Beatles song into a filmed musical which is able to ride on the past success of Moulin Rouge which did the same. Although The Beatles purists may shy away from the young voices altering the songs to make them fit in the musical better, both meaning and tunes, there is no denying that the plentiful selection of songs from this period fit quite well in this simple love story set during the turbulent days of the Vietnam War in the 1960s.

 

The music really is the most important element in the film, especially towards the end of the film when the plot starts to run thin and song after song fills the ending sequences. The music is also the most creative part of the film, such as the scene in which a lonely lesbian sings “I Wanna Hold your Hand” to her fellow cheerleader as a ballet of football players spiral across the screen in a violent dance of tackles and catches, or a small child singing “Let It Be” amidst a raging riot in Detroit. Although Taymor is an accomplished film director having made several successful films before this, it is the theatrical background that comes into play as the film fluidly moves from music to dialogue as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

 

The World’s End Blu-ray Review

Actors: Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Paddy Considine, Martin Freeman, Eddie Marsan

Director: Edgar Wright

Writers: Simon Pegg, Edgar Wright

Producers: Nira Park, Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner

Format: Color, Widescreen

Language: English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo), English (Dolby Digital 5.1), English (DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1), Spanish (Dolby Digital 5.1), Spanish (DTS 5.1)

Subtitles: Spanish , English  

Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1

Number of discs: 2

Rated: R (Restricted)

Studio: Universal Studios

Release Date: November 19, 2013

Run Time: 218 minutes

 

 

        Apocalypse films have riddled our cinemas in the last decade, but in a surprising turn of events some of the most successful of this summer have been comedies. This is the End was as Hollywood as possible, while the somewhat similarly titled The World’s End is the final film in the extremely popular British films directed by Edgar Wright. The World’s End is the final film in the Cornetto Trilogy (also known as the ‘Blood and Ice Cream’ Trilogy), which began with Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz.

 

        Keeping true to the themes of male friendship paired with a melancholy about youth lost, The World’s End is a fitting end to the trilogy. Simon Pegg serves as our narrator, and the film’s most volatile and unpredictable character, Gary King. Struggling to adjust to the idea of being an adult as he reaches middle-age, King convinces his former cohorts of youth (Nick Frost, Martin Freeman, Eddie Marsan and Paddy Considine) for a return visit down memory lane. They attempt a pub crawl 20 years after they failed it the first time, and somehow become entangled in a robotic overtaking of sorts.

 

Grabbers DVD Review

Actors: Richard Coyle, Ruth Bradley

Director: Jon Wright

Format: Color, NTSC, Widescreen

Language: English

Number of discs: 1

Rated: Unrated

Studio: MPI HOME VIDEO

DVD Release Date: November 12, 2013

Run Time: 94 minutes

 

 

        Grabbers makes a perfect viewing companion to Edgar Wright’s The World’s End, as both provide a plot that allows its characters to get increasingly drunk as a means of survival from an otherworldly attack. In The World’s End it is done through robots and a body snatcher narrative, whereas Grabbers utilizes the creature feature storyline, with intoxication being the one available means of defense. Horror and comedy are balanced with the use of inebriation, adding more absurdity to a purposefully campy film.

 

        The film takes place on a small fishing village on an island off the coast of Ireland, where police officer Ciaran O’Shea (Richard Coyle) is able to drink himself into a stupor while carrying out his menial tasks within the community. The arrival of a straight-laced officer named Lisa Nolan (Ruth Bradley) only highlights the state in which O’Shea has let himself go. When a mysteriously unidentifiable squid-like creature is discovered in a lobster trap, it is all the reason O’Shea needs to stop drinking. Ironically, it also requires that everyone else starts drinking, for their own safety.

 

Dealin’ with Idiots DVD Review

Actors: Gina Gershon, Jeff Garlin, Steve Agree

Directors: Jeff Garlin

Format: Color, NTSC, Widescreen

Language: English

Number of discs: 1

Rated: Unrated

Studio: MPI HOME VIDEO

DVD Release Date: November 12, 2013

Run Time: 87 minutes

 

 

        Dealin’ with Idiots works as a film because of how much of the material was obviously taken from personal experience. Some people are so strange in their behavior and attitudes that meeting them leaves any sane person in disbelief. This film is filled with characters inspire by these real-life lunatics we all encounter on a daily basis, like it or not.

 

        Jeff Garlin directs this highly improvised comedy about the dysfunctional personality types infecting a children’s little league team. Hilariously enough, the children are hardly more than props in the film’s storyline. This is much more about the over-enthusiastic adults living vicariously through their child’s success on the baseball field. Nearly everyone takes the game far too seriously, counterbalanced by the laid-back comedian protagonist played by Garlin himself.

 

Breaking the Girls DVD Review

Actors: Agnes Bruckner, Madeline Zima

Director: Jamie Babbit

Format: Color, NTSC, Widescreen

Language: English

Number of discs: 1

Rated: Unrated

Studio: MPI HOME VIDEO

DVD Release Date: November 19, 2013

Run Time: 87 minutes

 

 

        I hated this movie. I hated it so much that I repeatedly stopped watching it out of anger at the filmmaker for assuming such a low-level of stupidity from the audience that nearly every sequence is flawed from every possible aspect considered. The basic plot is asinine and unoriginal, the dialogue is atrociously bad, the characters are poorly developed with no continuity to their behavior and actions, and the way every single scene is framed, shot and edited made me want to take the disc out of my player and eat it just so that I would be able to vomit this piece of shit out in a toilet where it belongs. Because it is worth saying one more time; I hated this movie.

 

        The plot hardly seems worth describing, because all logic is thrown out the window in order to make events occur within each scene and in the grander scheme of the narrative. There is hardly a believable moment in the entire film, from the manner with which characters are killed to the absolute lack of police work done by detectives investigating them. This film makes Wild Things look like a masterpiece. Compared to this film, Throw Mama From the Train was a brilliant adaptation of the Strangers on a Train narrative. Even worse is the film’s attempt to cash in on lesbian fantasies, while making villains out of the film’s homosexuals and heroes out of the heterosexuals. Director Jamie Babbit made a humorous profound statement with But I’m Cheerleader, but destroys all of that work with the impressively tactless screenplay by Mark Distefano and Guinevere Turner.

 

New to Blu-ray: The Message (1977)

Director:  Moustapha Akkad

Language: English

Subtitles: Spanish

Aspect Ratio: 1.77:1

Number of discs: 1

Rated: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)

Studio: Starz / Anchor Bay

Release Date: November 12, 2013

 

 

        When the backing for The Message vanished mid-production, it was Libyan leader Muammar al Gaddafi who ended up financing the film, as well Moustapha Akkad’s next and final film, Lion of the Desert. Although Lion of the Desert was the bigger failure, The Message was a much bigger risk. It attempts to tell the story of the prophet Mohammed and the birth of the Islamic faith while keeping in accordance with Muslim belief, which does not allow a depiction of the man on film.

 

        The character of Mohammed is often portrayed as the camera, and we are his point-of-view as other discuss issues around him, though a fight sequence is attempted without showing more than a sword. Since not even his wives or sons could be shown onscreen, the character of his uncle, Hamza (Anthony Quinn), became the main character in the film. This actually works quite well, despite the awkwardness of the scenes where actors were forced to pretend to listen to unspoken dialogue, as not even the prophet’s voice was permitted to be imitated.

 

New to Blu-ray: Lion of the Desert (1981)

Director: Moustapha Akkad

Language: English

Subtitles: Spanish

Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1

Number of discs: 1

Rated: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)

Studio: Starz / Anchor Bay

DVD Release Date: November 12, 2013

Run Time: 156 minutes

 

 

        Lion of the Desert is actually a rather good epic, taken in the vein of Lawrence of Arabia (1962) and other epics from the 1960s. The biggest problem is that this film doesn’t seem to have grown any in the two decades since epics such as this had passed in popularity, and that may be why it resulted in one of the largest financial disasters in cinematic history. Costing 35 million dollars to make, it only made 1 million worldwide, banked by Libya’s own dictator, Colonel Muammar Gadaffi.

 

        Behind all of the interesting film history is a movie which is often quite entertaining, if not a bit long and over-ambitious. The film’s main focus of the film is the guerilla warfare waged by Omar Mukhtar (Anthony Quinn) and his followers, Bedouin patriots in Libya fighting the Italian colonization in 1929 by Dictator Benito Mussolini. In an effort to get rid of the pesky resistance fighters, General Rodolfo Graziana (Oliver Reed) is appointed as sixth Governor to Libya. Despite an army of men and brilliant minds attempting to stop him, Mukhtar is able to become a menace to the Italian army by evading them in the deserts and mountains.

City Lights Blu-ray Review

Actors: Charlie Chaplin

Directors: Charlie Chaplin

Format: Black & White, Full Screen, NTSC, Subtitled

Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1

Number of discs: 2

Rated: R

Studio: Criterion Collection

Release Date: November 12, 2013

Run Time: 86 minutes

City Lights

 

        My three-year-old nephew has recently become obsessed with Spider-man, so much that he is now rarely seen without his own costume and mask. My sister-in-law has been adamant about which version of the comic book super-hero her young son is permitted to watch, with only a classic 80s cartoon being non-violent enough for his malleable mind. We are careful about how we expose children to ideas, whether in setting examples as role models or by giving them proper ones for heroes. Not that my nephew is likely to have spider-like abilities in the future, but if he did I am certain that he would choose to wrap bad guys in web rather than harm them.

 

        But how can I be certain that our entertainment can even have that kind of effect on behavior and character? The answer to that question lies in City Lights; a comedic romance in pantomime by Charles Chaplin, made years after silent films had become a thing of the past. City Lights may not be Chaplin’s best film, and it is far from his funniest, but I have it listed as my favorite because of the last five minutes of the film. Even with nearly two decades passing between viewings, I still had those final images burned into my brain. I loved Chaplin as a child. He was my hero, and those final five minutes taught me how to love. Within the deepest fibers of my soul is a tattered bowler hat in search of a rose to be plucked from the gutter.

 

2 Guns Blu-ray Review

Actors: Denzel Washington, Mark Wahlberg, Paula Patton, Bill Paxton, James Marsden

Director: Baltasar Kormakur

Writer: Blake Masters

Producers: Marc Platt, Randall Emmett, Norton Herrick, Adam Siegel, George Furla

Format: Color, Widescreen

Language: English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo), English (Dolby Digital 5.1), English (DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1), French (Dolby Digital 5.1), French (DTS 5.1), Spanish (Dolby Digital 5.1), Spanish (DTS 5.1)

Subtitles: French, Spanish, English

Aspect Ratio: 2.40:1

Rated: R

Studio: Universal Studios

Release Date: November 19, 2013

Run Time: 220 minutes

 

 

        I can never have enough buddy cop movies, and 2 Guns is easily one of the best to come out of Hollywood in a great long while. It was so perfectly aligned with the formula for the sub-genre that I felt inspired to have a Lethal Weapon marathon after watching 2 Guns. There are few surprises in 2 Guns, but it serves its purpose with expert marksmanship. The jokes land and the bullets fly with tenacity and confidence that can only come from a truly skilled director and a cast so talented that their performances always appear natural.

 

         Icelandic director Baltasar Kormákur proved his abilities with suspenseful action with the surprising first-quarter release, Contraband, which has an action hero of sorts (played by Mark Wahlberg) who doesn’t use a gun to accomplish his goals. 2 Guns puts a gun in just about everybody’s hand, and blows up most of the vehicles in the film. There is a great deal of action, predictable twists and turns and very little original. Pair this with the dynamic performances by co-stars Wahlberg and Denzel Washington, practical effects and minimal CGI  and you have the formula for a summer blockbuster better than all of the assortments of super-hero films.

 

Parkland Blu-ray Review

Actors: Zac Efron, Marcia Gay Harden, Paul Giamatti, Billy Bob Thornton, Jacki Weaver

Directors: Peter Landesman

Format: Color, NTSC, Widescreen

Language: English

Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1

Rated: PG-13

Studio: Millennium

Release Date: November 5, 2013

Run Time: 87 minutes

 

 

        I was left with something of a bad taste in my mouth when I realized that the release of Parkland, Peter Landesman’s film about the events following the assassination of John F. Kennedy, happens to coincide with the 50^th Anniversary of the tragic day. The Blu-ray release of this new film is perfectly set up for release in November, the month our departed president took that fateful trip to Texas, as is a Blu-ray special edition release of Oliver Stone’s JFK. I can't commend their ability to cash in on an anniversary to sell more copies of films about a tragedy, though I suppose it doesn't make much difference after half a century.

 

        Landesman takes an approach which could not be much different from Stone’s, making no effort to find any hidden truths about the events of the day, nor make any statements of any significance. The tragedy is diminished to pure melodrama, albeit with characters taken from real events. However accurate, one must wonder what the point of this film is beyond forcing the moment of anguish upon those who weren’t alive to experience it themselves.

 

Throwback Thursday Review: Adventureland

Actors: Jesse Eisenberg, Kristen Stewart, Ryan Reynolds, Kelsey Ford, Michael Zegen

Director: Greg Mottola

Writer: Greg Mottola

Producers: Anne Carey, Bruce Toll, Declan Baldwin, Scott Ferguson, Sidney Kimmel

Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1

Rated: R (Restricted)

Studio: Miramax Lionsgate

Release Date: 2011

Run Time: 107 minutes

 

 

        Adventureland captures the essence of twenty-something reality in showing the inevitability of compromise and sacrifice of life after college. Hopes, dreams and ideals are endangered species in the real world, and this is apparent in nothing more than a summer job. James Brennan (Jesse Eisenberg) plans on taking a trip to Europe before starting graduate school, but when he discovers that his father has been laid off, the graduate is forced to get a summer job instead, simply with the hope that he will be able to afford further schooling.

 

        Unlike Waiting, the restaurant comedy, Adventureland shows a sweeter and more realistic view of a crappy job. Most of the time it is boring, and what amusement there is to be found can usually be found in co-workers. The theme park is run by enthusiastic couple, Bobby and Paulette (Bill Hader and Kristen Wiig), maintained by the heartthrob married handyman, Connell (Ryan Reynolds), though James learns how the amusement park really works through the help of another co-worker (played by Martin Starr) who seems too intelligent to be working fixed games at a glorified carnival.

 

Desert Island Films: Alien Invasion Films

 

 

The alien invasion film appeared in the United States in the early 1950s, coinciding with the Soviet Union’s shift from a wartime ally of America to a nuclear-armed international rival. In “The Horror Film: An Introduction,” Rick Worland estimates that the alien invasion film as began. Whatever the precise moment to inspire this sub-genre was, it clearly coincided with the rising fears of a nuclear war and a technologically superior enemy.

 

Alien invasion arrived on American movie screens in 1951 with two films that explored the possibilities of the unknown; in one they would arrive in peace, while the other with only destructive motives. The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951) presented a superior intelligence, though they arrive with a positive message for humanity to learn from. In the other alien invasion film of 1951, “Dracula became a blood-sucking vegetable from outer space in The Thing from Another World (1951)” (Maddrey 31).

 

Throwback Thursday Review: According to Greta

 

Actors: Hilary Duff, Ellen Burstyn, Michael Murphy, Evan Ross

Director: Nancy Bardawil

Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1

Rated: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)

Studio: Starz / Anchor Bay

DVD Release Date: January 19, 2010

Run Time: 92 minutes

 

        Teen melodrama at its worst is rampant in According to Greta, a film which seems intent on making Hilary Duff out to be some kind of admirable rebel. Music video director Nancy Bardawil frames her protagonist as if she were the star of just that. Music videos are about making the key figures look good rather than real, and that is exactly what Bardawil does with this predictable teen drama. What is most interesting to me is the fact that Bardawil’s name is completely missing from the DVD, which instead focuses on the cast and Duff’s producer credit. There is no director as far as the DVD is concerned, and the movie has that same feeling. It feels more like a vanity project for Duff than a complete film.

 

        We’ve seen this story before with Lindsay Lohan and numerous other bratty teen stars. Greta (Duff) is a troubled seventeen-year-old with a quick wit and rude manner. In other words, Greta is trying as hard as she is to be a clone of Juno. She is sent to live with her grandparents (Michael Murphy and Ellen Burstyn) in New Jersey while her mother works on yet another failing marriage. Being the unwanted teenager is supposed to justify Greta’s reasons for deciding to commit suicide by the time she is 18, but mostly she just comes off as melodramatic and whiny.