The Game (DVD) Review

One of Michael Douglas's least appreciated films, The Game is an intriguing movie dripping with suspense. With a heightened intensity few films can rival, The Game quickly moves from one surprising scene to the next, always catching its audience off guard and creating a thrilling, edge-of-your-seat atmosphere. If you haven't seen The Game, you have no idea what you've been missing...

The Game follows the life of Nicholas Van Orton (Michael Douglas), an extremely wealthy San Francisco banker, living in an opulent estate just outside of the city. But Nicholas is not a happy man. He generally spends his time alone, the exception being when he spends time with his clients brokering lucrative business deals. Nicholas even spends his birthday alone, and on his forty-eighth birthday, he is forced to reflect on the fact that his father committed suicide at the same age.

However this year, Nicholas's birthday takes an unexpected twist when his estranged younger brother Conrad (Sean Penn) arrives unannounced at the Van Orton estate. A former drug addict involved in all sorts of nefarious schemes in the past, Nicholas remains skeptical of the true motives behind his brother's return. However, Conrad soon manages to convince Nicholas that his only reason for returning is to provide his lonely, boring brother with a birthday present he'll never forget. So what exactly is the gift?

It's a very expensive entertainment package provided by a firm called Consumer Recreation Services (CRS). Curious as to what sort of entertainment they provide, Nicholas visits CRS where he undergoes a series of mental, physical, and psychological tests to make sure he can handle what they offer. In return, CRS agrees to customize the adventure of a lifetime for Nicholas, just as they do for famous and wealthy executives all over the globe...

But following this initial testing phase, a series of strange occurrences take place and each is followed by a number of seemingly horrendous events. As a result, Nicholas must make use of his intellect and his instincts in order to survive. Fearing the events are part of a misguiding sense of humor on the part of the employees at CRS, Nicholas arrives at their office building prepared to cancel the entertainment package. But to his dismay, the office space is vacant and the landlord has never even heard of CRS. Even worse, Nicholas finds out that every financial account he owns has been wiped clean and that a criminal organization has been pulling similar heists on wealthy industrialists all over the world. Uncertain of his future, Nicholas sets out to discover the truth, and in doing so, he finds out the truth about himself...

Far from a blockbuster commercial success following its initial release in 1997, The Game is an unknown entity among most casual movie watchers. As such, those who stumble upon The Game will be duly impressed with the quality of this cinematic gem. Featuring two show-stopping performances by Michael Douglas and Sean Penn, The Game is an instant fan favorite among those who've seen it. Boasting one of the more suspense-riddled screenplays of the past decade, The Game is pure Hollywood entertainment at its best, featuring an abundance of drama, suspense, and action/adventure all pulled together by ingenious "what if" plotline...

About the Author

Britt Gillette is author of The DVD Report, a movie review site [http://thedvdreport.blogspot.com] where you can find more reviews like this one of The Game (DVD) Review [http://thedvdreport.blogspot.com/2006/03/game-dvd.html].

DVD Review - The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo

Ladies and Gentlemen, do I have a movie for you. It's called "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo."

Like Ali used to say, I'm a poet and don't know it.

"The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo" is a Swedish-made movie with English subtitles, but don't think for a moment that "Made in Sweden" is the stamp of an inferior movie. This one rivets you from the very start, and not once during the 2 hour and 35 minute movie did I think it was dragging and running much too long. Since being released in Sweden in 2009, and in America in 2010, "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo" is already the highest grossing Swedish movie of all time.

"The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo," which was brilliantly directed by Niels Arden Oplev, is based on the first of a trilogy of novels by Stieg Larsson novel entitled "Men Who Hate Woman." That fact is horribly evident, as in this movie, woman are brutalized and killed, and in one scene, horribly raped. Most of the murders, and there were a sting of them spanning 55 years, are discovered after the fact, and it isn't until the movie's surprise ending that we fully realize the scope of the atrocities.

The movie starts with the trial of Mikael Blomkvist (Michael Nyqvist), a journalist who works for the powerhouse magazine Millennium. Blomkvist is falsely convicted of libel against a corrupt Swedish industrialist, and he and the magazine are ordered to pay damages, while Blomkvist is ordered to serve 6-9 months in prison. While waiting to serve his sentence, Blomkvist is approached by Henrik Vanger, the eighty-something member of the wealthy Vanger Group, to find the murder of his niece Harriet some forty years earlier, when she was only 16. What makes things more spicy, is that her body was never found, and we're left with the impression in the back of our minds that maybe she isn't really dead after all.

After he begins his investigation, Blomkvist realizes he's being followed, photographed and his computer hacked by punk rocker (complete with dual nose rings) Lisbeth Salander, played by Swedish/Spanish actress Noomi Raspeth, in one of the most memorable female performances of the past 25 years. Lisbeth is an expert hacker, who has a troubled past and who may have even set her own father on fire, to stop his sexual advances.

During the course of the movie, she gets beaten up by a gang of punks, has a lesbian scene with her lover and is forced to perform oral sex on her evil probation guardian. Then on her next visit to him, he brutally rapes her, in a scene that made my hair stand straight on end. But good triumphs over evil (well, sort of) when Lisbeth exacts her revenge in a scene so deliciously brutal and visually satisfying, a rousing round of applause was in order and was gladly given.

As the plot begins to unfold, Lisbeth sends Blomkvist anonymous clues to help him find the truth about the disappearance of Vander's niece, and soon they are both working together, sleeping together (there's one great sex scene), and fighting the forces of evil together. He gets brutally beaten, shot at and grazed in the cheek, and finally hung from his neck by a pulley manned by the movie's ultimate bad guy. Lisbeth rides to his rescue, on a motorcycle of course, and saves the day. After getting Blomkvist's neck out of the noose, she chases the bad guy in his car until he crashes. Then she watches him pleaded for help (as she smirks), and his overturned car goes up in flames. Oops and Ka-Boom!

The movie doesn't end here and we are treated to another half hour of tension, as the murders of scores of women, dating back to Hitler's days, are uncovered and explained.

Already an American version of "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo" is in the works, but I can't imagine any other actress playing the part of Lisbeth. Yet Rapace said she has already withdrawn herself from consideration for the American movie.

"I lived in Lisbeth's body and mind for 18 months," Repace said in a recent interview. "I want her out of my life so I can get on with my life."

"The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo" was universally lauded, with special kudos given to Repace.

Jason Zingale, movie reviewer for the website Bullz-eye.com, said, "It should come as no surprise that Noomi Repace has become the face of the franchise, because she is nothing short of magnificent in the buzz-worthy role. The gorgeous Swedish actress is virtually unrecognizable as the tortured hacker who looks, as Larsson writes 'as though she has just emerged from a week-long orgy with a gang of hard rockers.' The much talked about rape scene involving Lisbeth (and the events that follow it) pretty much guarantees that every young actress in Hollywood will be campaigning for the part in David Fincher's American remake."

Too bad Angelina Jolie is pushing 40. If she were 10-15 years younger, she'd be perfect for the part. But then again with today's makeup..........

"The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo" is such a fabulous movie, that on a one to five star basis, I give it a full five stars. This movie is so outstanding, I can't help but think I'll be disappointed by the soon-to-be-made American version.

King Of The Hill (Season 3) DVD Review

Initially aired following the 1997 Super Bowl, King of the Hill discovered an instant audience niche that has the followed the show loyally ever since. The brainchild of Beavis and Butthead creator Mike Judge (also known for the hit movie Office Space), King of the Hill is a unique animated series in that it doesn't rely on "cartoon" suspension of reality or outlandish antics. In fact, the show would arguably be just as successful if it were not animated at all. Nevertheless, it's Mike Judge (voice of Hank Hill) and his unique brand of humor that make King of the Hill a must-see TV series...

Set in the fictional town of Arlen, Texas, King of the Hill follows the life and exploits of Hank Hill and his traditional nuclear family. Hank is a red-state propane salesman who loves beer and apple pie, but he's constantly inundated with modern liberalism and grapples with the demands of political correctness. Hank is joined by his wife Peggy (a substitute teacher), his son Bobby (an awkward pre-pubescent youth), and a trailer park-like live-in niece named Luanne... Providing added comic relief to the series are Hank's off-the-wall friends Bill, Boomhauer (who is inaudible), and Dale (who believes everything is a government conspiracy)... Hank's Laotian neighbor Kahn (whose daughter Bobby is quite fond of) and his family live next door, providing Hank with a continuing dose of culture shock...

The King of the Hill (Season 3) DVD offers a number of hilarious episodes including the season premiere "Death of a Propane Salesman" in which Hank and Luanne narrowly escape a propane explosion at the Mega Lo Mart, prompting Hank to develop a job-threatening fear of propane. Meanwhile, Luanne (who had her hair burnt off in the explosion) follows in the footsteps of Sinead O'Connor and becomes a community activist... Other notable episodes from Season 3 include "Pregnant Paws" in which Hank becomes obsessed in his effort to breed his dog, and "The Wedding of Bobby Hill" in which the Hill family, in order to teach Bobby a valuable lesson, manage to convince him that he'll have to marry his cousin Luanne...

Below is a list of episodes included on the King of the Hill (Season 3) DVD:

Episode 36 (Death of a Propane Salesman) Air Date: 09-15-1998

Episode 37 (And They Call It Bobby Love) Air Date: 09-22-1998

Episode 38 (Peggy's Headache) Air Date: 10-06-1998

Episode 39 (Pregnant Paws) Air Date: 10-13-1998

Episode 40 (Next of Shin) Air Date: 11-03-1998

Episode 41 (Peggy's Pageant Fever) Air Date: 11-10-1998

Episode 42 (Nine Pretty Darn Angry Men) Air Date: 11-17-1998

Episode 43 (Good Hill Hunting) Air Date: 12-01-1998

Episode 44 (Pretty, Pretty Dresses) Air Date: 12-15-1998

Episode 45 (A Fire Fighting We Will Go) Air Date: 01-12-1999

Episode 46 (To Spank with Love) Air Date: 01-19-1999

Episode 47 (Three Coaches and a Bobby) Air Date: 01-26-1999

Episode 48 (De-Kahnstructing Henry) Air Date: 02-02-1999

Episode 49 (The Wedding of Bobby Hill) Air Date: 02-09-1999

Episode 50 (Sleight of Hank) Air Date: 02-16-1999

Episode 51 (Jon Vitti Presents: Return to La Grunta) Air Date: 02-23-1999

Episode 52 (Escape from Party Island) Air Date: 03-16-1999

Episode 53 (Love Hurts and So Does Art) Air Date: 03-23-1999

Episode 54 (Hank's Cowboy Movie) Air Date: 04-06-1999

Episode 55 (Dog Dale Afternoon) Air Date: 04-13-1999

Episode 56 (Revenge of the Lutefisk) Air Date: 04-20-1999

Episode 57 (Death and Texas) Air Date: 04-27-1999

Episode 58 (Wings of the Dope) Air Date: 05-04-1999

Episode 59 (Take Me Out of the Ball Game) Air Date: 05-11-1999

Episode 60 (As Old as the Hills) Air Date: 05-18-1999

About the Author

Britt Gillette is author of The DVD Report, a movie review site [http://thedvdreport.blogspot.com] where you can find more reviews like this one of the King Of The Hill (Season 3) DVD Review [http://thedvdreport.blogspot.com/2006/02/king-of-hill-season-3-dvd.html].

Dear SF Film Makers: Give These Plot Points a Rest

John Scalzi is an award-winning science fiction writer.And now, for no particular reason other than I get paid to write things like this in public, here are some science fiction tropes in movies that I would be happy to see filmmakers not use again for, oh, at least five or ten years or so:

1. Stone-faced government officials seeking and/or hiding aliens. This one got trotted out again this year with Super 8, and was the most wearisome part of an otherwise pretty entertaining flick. Look, Area 51 and officious looking g-men and scads of government minions invading a town have had a good run, and back when they showed up in E.T., they were still a little scary. But that was thirty years ago, and now, when you see them you know they're the token opposition. Too easy. Move on.

2. The overwhelming alien invasion. Most recently essayed in Battle: Los Angeles, but, of course, going all the way back to War of the Worlds. It's not that I don't enjoy watching apparently superior alien forces blow the hell out of large buildings while a rag-tag team of humans fights back, eventually finding whatever chink in the alien armor, be it the power source of the invading armada or a bunch of water glasses lying around the house, that will allow the humans to score a major victory and turn the tide against the alien horde. But as the previous sentence may suggest, the folks making these sorts of films are relying a little too heavily on one particular plot engine. No matter how you deck out the details it still runs the same.

3. The dreary, oppressive dystopia. This year Priest ran with this one, chucking in a vampire plot twist in an effort to shake things up (it might have been more effective had not Resident Evil and Ultraviolet gotten there first). Most films with oppressive dystopias borrow heavily from Blade Runner or The Road Warrior or both; the problem is that, as with E.T., both are three decades down the time stream now, which means filmmakers borrowing from them now aren't showing anything we haven't seen dozens of times already.

4. The very special youngster. This is more often the domain of fantasy (hello, Harry Potter!) but it was given a science fictional run-through this year with I Am Number Four, and of course Star Wars trotted out Luke, whiny as he was. These run down a checklist. Orphaned? Of course! Having special powers waiting to be unlocked? Yes, indeed! Found and trained (and protected) by a wise mentor? How could it be otherwise? Hunted by the forces of evil? That goes without saying. When this very special youngster shows up, we know where he's going. Best to leave him in hiding.

5. Super heroes. I know, I know. No chance of that. But I thought I would throw it out there. And actually, it's not so much super heroes that I'm bored with, than it is origin stories -- which is to say, the whole set-up of how said super hero got his powers, how he fumbled a bit with them before he figured them out, how he felt alienated from the world, blah blah blah blah blah, man, I get tired just thinking about them at this point. You know, one of the very salient reasons why Spider-Man 2 and The Dark Knight are considered better than their predecessors is that they didn't have to spend any time setting up the super hero; they could just focus on the story they wanted to tell. But of course it's difficult to get to those films without doing the set-up exercises. It's a catch-22, it is.

And now, having written this, I have no doubt that someone in Hollywood will make a film about a boy, orphaned in a dystopian world, who develops super powers just in time to thwart an alien invasion -- that is, if he can evade the government agents trying to track him down. And when this film is made, and it will, I am certain of one thing: It will be in 3D.

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DVD Review - The Lake House (2006)

If you are looking for a romantic story that shows an extremely independent woman and a very self-reliant man fall head over heels in love, even though they are literally out of sync with each other, The Lake House is a perfect movie for you to see. The story is set in the woodsy northern Illinois area of Lake Michigan, which makes a gorgeous background to watch two people try to sort out their demanding careers and lonely frustrating lives.

The film stars Sandra Bullock and Keanu Reeves, both former co-stars of the film Speed. This romance is actually a story retold from the Korean movie "Siworae". Masterfully directed by Alejandro Atresti, Lake House reveals a mystery centered on a typical looking mailbox right in front of a house on Lake Michigan that somehow is able to bridge time between these two strangers.

Long after she has moved away from her lakeside home, Bullock who plays a lonely physician, starts to write letters to Reeves, who plays a frustrated architect while he is living in the very same lakeside house. After exchanging a series of letters, they both eventually discover that they are living two years apart in time.

Through several life changing events in both of their lives, the two distant lovers can only share their joys, frustrations, humor, tragedies, and dreams by mail. As other lovers come and go, as parents pass away, and even as birthdays pass, they can still only share these life changing events over the years by mail. Life keeps throwing them twists and turns, causing even their best schemes to meet each other in person, to slip just beyond their reach, or in this case, time.

Sandra Bullock plays her role brilliantly as a hospital doctor with long hours at work and a cat to play chess with, with both relentless compassion and gentle humor. During the film, her life spans time in her life during an era in college, to when she has another boyfriend, and then during her time spent in her lonely, busy career as a physician.

Keanu Reeves has added his own finesse by portraying a very creative architect, living with the disapproval of his extremely well known and famous architect elderly father who has held his son back from building a business with his younger fellow architect brother. He yearns for someone to love, to share his creative dreams and his passion for life.

Although at first, neither the physician nor the architect particularly like one another, however as more letters get exchanged, they became increasingly involved with each other's life and develop a love for each other that only grows stronger as the years pass by.

The Lake House was made in 2006 and is rated PG for some strong language and disturbing images.

Tom Straub is a successful author, and webmaster of DVD Reviews web site, where you can see more of your favorite DVD movie releases and reviews.

Q&A - Cameron Diaz Talks Timberlake, Tough Times for Hot Chicks, and Being the Bad Teacher

Sean is a senior critic for Filmcritic.com.

What with budget cuts, staff layoffs, and falling test scores, our nation's public-school system had enough problems before Cameron Diaz's Bad Teacher arrived on the scene. The jaded blonde vixen takes on an optimistic principal (John Michael Higgins), a horny gym teacher (Jason Segel), and an irrationally clean-cut middle-school instructor (Justin Timberlake) in the deranged black comedy from Walk Hard director Jake Kasdan. Before the school bell rang, Diaz spoke to FilmCritic.com about playing awful characters, finding sugar daddies, and the teacher who messed with her as a little kid.

Q: I can't think of the last time you've actually played such an unlikeable character. Is there a freedom that comes with playing someone this awful?

A: Totally. I mean, there's no reason to try and get anybody to like her. [Laughs] She doesn't even like herself. Clearly! Truthfully, she doesn't like anything, and that was very liberating. You don't have to put out any sunshine for it.

Q: But then your character is surrounded with impossibly optimistic characters as a way to balance the tone and find the humor of the situation.

A: Right; exactly. And that's the wonderful thing about the spirit of J.A.M.S., or John Adams Middle School, where I teach. That was their whole thing -- being as enthusiastic as possible -- and my character, Elizabeth, was just thinking, "Are you kidding me? This is hell for me. This is where I come to sleep. Everybody, be quiet! I am busy!" [Laughs]

Q: Almost everyone in the cast has a distinct memory of an experience with a teacher who made them feel uncomfortable and who has really stuck with them. Do you have such a memory?

A: I do. I had a teacher who wasn't very nice to me. She didn't like me, and she'd try to call me out in class for nothing, really. She'd also try to give me life lessons.

Q: Because they really stick at that age.

A: Right. I was just sort of, "Woman, what are you talking about?" But she was trying to do it more as a way of trying to embarrass me. Or maybe that's just what it felt like when I was that age. But I also grew up with parents who treated me like a person, like an actual human being instead of just a kid. So when I met this teacher, it actually was like, "Really? You are going to talk to me like that?"

Q: I also found it interesting that you played Elizabeth like the ultimate con artist, and the only time she woke from her uninterested haze was when she was able to work a con on some unsuspecting naïve teacher.

A: Oh, well, that was the best part about her because that was the only effort she ever makes. I look at Elizabeth as being in a time of economic crisis. She's looking for a man who can take care of her, and there aren't that many guys like that who exist anymore.

Q: Certainly not in the education field.

A: Well, definitely not in education. [Laughs] But it used to be easier for hot girls to find someone who would give you a credit card and a car and let you stay in their fancy house. It doesn't happen that often anymore. So she is really having to work. Times are tough. She still has to work at school. So when she suddenly sees an opportunity to mess with people in the place where she feels captive, she lights up, gets ready, and becomes the evil person she was meant to be.

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If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front

Chris Barsanti has been a Filmcritic reviewer since 2002. So there.If you were looking for the least usual suspect to be hauled in as part of a terrorism case, then Daniel McGowan would be a good fit. An average-looking kid from Queens, the son of a cop, who worked in public-relations and environmental cause offices, McGowan was arrested in 2005 for being part of the Earth Liberation Front. A radical environmental activist group, ELF had been labeled domestic terrorists by the government and more vividly branded "eco-terrorists" by the media.  Co-directors Marshall Curry (Street Fight) and Sam Cullman come to this fascinating story via a personal route - Curry's wife was McGowan's employer when he was arrested - but handle it all in an impressively judicious manner.

Unlike the great majority of environmentally-themed documentaries, If a Tree Falls comes at its subject from a personal and criminological perspective - this is as much a law-and-order story as it is one about the fight over environmental issues. The filmmakers want to describe McGowan's journey from well-balanced kid from Queens to environmental saboteur but almost more importantly to use him as a way of putting the whole micro-movement under a microscope. The story of how a muscular anti-logging campaign devolved into sectarian turmoil that shot off radicalized cells like burning cinders is ultimately what drives the film and makes it so rewarding.

When the film begins, McGowan is virtually imprisoned in a Manhattan apartment, an ankle bracelet keeping him there until the authorities determine his fate. He walks viewers through a snapshot of his exceedingly normal upbringing (narration interjected only when necessary) before leading them into his involvement in environmental campaigns of the early-and-mid 1990s in the Pacific Northwest. The filmmakers then rope in other parties, from fellow activists who did a better job at staying out of the law's way, to prosecutors and cops who ultimately brought the ELF down. Together they graph how a number of confrontations in and around Eugene, Oregon in 1996 and 1997, which saw police indiscriminately pepper-spraying and beating down marchers, convinced a number of those protestors that stronger actions were necessary.

Not long after, a carefully calibrated campaign of arson was ignited. Ranger stations, lumber company buildings, offices of professors researching genetically modified tree strains, the targets were widely dispersed. The perpetrators, which included McGowan and a knot of other disaffected activists, left no clues behind, as one of the more genial investigators acknowledges, in the tone of the cop who appreciates occasionally having competent adversaries. Though tactically deft, the ELF's motives seem transparently ill-considered. Having abandoned the way of peaceful protest (even though one famous 1995 action detailed here impressively held off logging in Oregon's Warner Creek area for a year), the ELF members come off as less true believers than impatient adolescents, seduced by the romance of stealth guerrilla actions. Protestations that their actions were planned as being nonviolent appear naïve at best, discounting the possibility that one of their bombs (planted when they believed nobody would be around) could have gone off later than intended.

If the film has a failing, it's only in the relatively uninteresting observations of most of the ELF members themselves. It's very likely that most of them were too nervous to go into much soul-searching detail on-camera, given the weight of charges laid on them. McGowan is particularly guarded in his interviews, and unwilling to delve deeply into any of his or his compatriots' motivations. Given this lack of insight or thoughtfulness, when some complain later about being branded eco-terrorists (which could lead to multiple life sentences), it will prove difficult for even the most environmentally conscious viewer to have much sympathy with their plight. After all, those viewers were more likely to be the ones out doing the long, boring scut work that such movements require to accomplish even the most minor social change, instead of playing with bombs in the woods.

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