RED on DVD

Now this is what a shoot-em-up film is supposed to be. Take note Angelina.

John Malkovich is crazy! He absolutely steals this movie. Bruce Willis, Helen Mirren, Mary Louise Parker and Morgan Freeman round out the kick-ass crew.

Secretariat on DVD

Official Site: "Disney presents an astonishing true story bursting with hope, heart, and courage. Diane Lane and John Malkovich lead a celebrated cast in this inspirational motion picture from the producers of Miracle, Invincible and The Rookie.

Behind every legend lies an impossible dream. Witness the spectacular journey of an incredible horse named Secretariat and the moving story of his unlikely owner, a housewife who risked everything to make him a champion. Out of the gate with never-before-seen bonus features, Secretariat is hours of pulse-pounding entertainment for the whole family!"

I needed an inspirational film tonight as I sit at my computer working.

This film shows you that no matter what life throws your way, you keep pushing forward. Other people may not believe you. That's okay, you just have to believe in yourself!

Salt on DVD

Who is Salt? Who cares? I don't think the audience knew even when it was over. It felt like a just a few shoot & chase scenes strung together.

The American on DVD

 

 

This is not your typical 'assassin having a mid-life crisis' kind of film. I, unfortunately, did not give it my full attention the first time, but learned that this is the type of film to be watched without distraction, with a glass of wine and digested slowly. 

 As a side note, if you have little experience with Europeans films you may have a hard time getting into this. I do admit, I'd have liked to have seen a little more momentum in the story.

Animal Kingdom on DVD

Official Site: "Following the death of his mother, 17-year-old Joshua 'J' Cody (newcomer James Frecheville) moves in with his doting grandmother, Smurf (Jacki Weaver), and her three criminal sons—the Cody boys. The eldest, “Pope” (Ben Mendelsohn) is an armed robber, in hiding from a cadre of renegade detectives. Then there’s Craig (Sullivan Stapleton), a successful but volatile drug dealer, and the youngest, Darren (Luke Ford), who naïvely follows his brothers' lead.

Just as Pope's business partner and best mate, Barry Brown (Joel Edgerton), decides that he wants out, tensions between the Codys and the police explode. J finds himself at the centre of a cold-blooded revenge plot that turns his family upside down and throws him directly into the path of senior homicide detective, Nathan Leckie (Guy Pearce).

Animal Kingdom is a powerful crime drama that tells the story of a tense battle between a criminal family and the police and of the ordinary lives caught in the middle."

Whoa. This is a great Australian crime story that familiarly echoes my favorites like Goodfellas and The Godfather. 

Collapse (2009)

 This is not the story of David versus Goliath. It's David versus a planet of Goliaths.

While I was watching this I kept thinking of the film Conspiracy Theory. Is this guy for real? Why is this making sense? Can this really happen to our society? The more I think about it, the scarier the inevitability seems. This film is a frightening wake-up call.


Jacket: "... COLLAPSE is the story of Michael Ruppert, former Los Angeles police officer turned rogue reporter whose eerie prediction of the current financial crisis shocked millions. Now Ruppert is warning of a new meltdown, one rooted in oil, economics, and covert U.S. policies that are leading us all towards unprecedented global disaster.  Is he a prophet who can clearly see America's terrifying future, or a conspiracy theorist fueled by fear and paranioa? And if Ruppert is right, can this slide into catastrophe be stopped?..."

The Town on DVD

 

Jacket: "As he plans a job that could result in his gang's biggest score ever, a longtime thief plans a way out of the life and the town while dodging the FBI agent looking to bring him and his bank-robbing crew down."

Officially my second favorite film of 2010!