Reign Over Me is an astute, adult dramedy
that grapples with issues of intervention and familial communication, and asks
what is the socially acceptable shelf life of grief. A smart, thoughtful and
gracefully pitched film, it’s anchored by moving work from Adam Sandler, who
delivers a potentially career-remaking performance.
Daily Archives: March 23, 2007
Death Row
Death Row is not exactly
what you’d call a tony period piece. Shocking, I know, given its genteel title,
and the co-starring presence of Jake Busey (let us now bow our heads for a
moment to observe the memory of Tomcats…), who now becomes notable as the whitest man
ever to play a character named Marco.
explore the bloody past of Isla del Roca Penetentiary, filmmakers Keith (Kyle
Schmid), Brian (Scott Whyte) blow off both a terrifying account from former
prison guard John Elias (Stacy Keach) and a mysterious warming from a priest
(Danny Trejo), and descend upon the aforementioned abandoned detention center with
their production team to begin shooting a documentary. Once inside, the crew
finds that a gang of fugitives from a nearby robbery gone awry have taken
refuge within the prison grounds. Shortly after their discovery, even more mayhem
breaks out when the rampaging ghosts of dead prisoners begin killing their new
guests. With filmmakers and fugitives locked together in a struggle for corporeal
survival against the continued existence of, I guess, the souls of their ghostly
antagonists, much blood naturally flows… which is to say in all sorts of unnatural
ways.
frequently lazy) hook ever since The
Blair Witch Project hit big back in 1999. Death Row doesn’t really score any points as far as imaginative
handling or integration of that tidbit, but railing against the set-up of a
movie like this is rather pointless. It’s not necessarily superbly acted, either, and some of the ways in which scenes cut together is slapdash and grating. Where Death
Row does score decent marks, though, is in its manipulation of effects and gore. Penned
by Rick Glassman (976-EVIL 2: The Astral
Factor… man, how I’ve waited to type that) and directed by Kevin VanHook (Slayer), the film doles out the
requisite carnage and death in interesting enough fashion (there’s nice use
made of a license plate machine), tosses in a few lookers (Shanna Collins, Claire
Coffee and Jamie Mann, above) amidst all that aforementioned sausage, and keeps
things moving at a nice pace.
presented in a 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer with Dolby digital 5.1 or Dolby
digital 2.0 audio audio, Death Row comes
with a smattering of supplemental extras that enhance the disc’s worth as a
rental for those in the market for grimy, gory genre monkeyshines. Joined by actors
Mann and Whyte, VanHook kicks things off with an audio commentary track, full
of backslapping anecdotes about on-set problem-solving. VanHook also talks a
bit about the editing process, but says that since he helped hatch and pare
down the narrative with Glassman (he takes a story credit on the script), he found
himself having a clearer idea of the final product than on some of his other
films, something supported by the sole deleted scene included here. A fairly
standard, 11-minute making-of featurette includes interviews with cast and
crew, as well as some behind-the-scenes footage. A four-minute bit entitled License to Thrill focuses on the gory effects
work involved in the movie. A photo gallery, some conceptual art and trailers
for other forthcoming Anchor Bay DVDs round out the release. C (Movie) B- (Disc)
Global Warming: What’s Up with the Weather?
Thanks in large measure to the efforts of former Vice President
Al Gore,
global warming is becoming less of a partisan politics chew toy, and more and
more a matter of recognized fact. For those who found a voracious interest and appetite
on the matter awakened by Gore’s Oscar-winning documentary An Inconvenient Truth, as well as those that for whatever reason
were predisposed to skip that film, viewing it as a cult of personality-type release,
this timely, interesting NOVA documentary tackles the subject of the Earth’s climate future
with a fair-minded and even-keeled tone and responsibility.
polar icecaps and soaring record high temperatures worldwide, the global
climate seems to be experiencing calamities at every turn. The question, of
course, is to what degree these are natural, temporary glitches, or more the devastating
and worsening product of decades of international environmental neglect.
the Earth’s atmosphere with dangerous levels of greenhouse gasses, so named for
their warming effect. And with demand for fossil fuels increasing daily, almost
all experts agree that emission levels will basically triple in the next 100 years. Yet
this so-called “greenhouse effect” remains the subject of some heated debate (ha
— gallows humor!) among scientists, climatologists and futurists. Some believe
the Earth’s temperature will rise by nearly 10 degrees, melting arctic icecaps
and sending sea levels surging, destroying low-lying coastal areas and touching
off famine and drought in other portions of the world. Others believe the
weather will stay relatively normal. Who’s right? Decide for yourself with this
riveting documentary special, which crunches some data and takes a fascinatingly
speculative look at the forecast for the future.
and at 112 minutes certainly longer than any number of flashier short-form
entries designed to catch the roving eye of a more down-market crowd. Part of the
problem is that it lacks the upwards-tracking emotional arc of An Inconvenient Truth,
and thus at least the partial optimism if not sociopolitical empowerment that that
movie gives off. Still, though, Global
Warming is an interesting and unassailably researched title, and certainly
worth a look for younger scholastic audiences or those with an unquenched interest
in the subject matter.
Video has released many critically acclaimed public television programs,
including the Emmy Award-winning The
Miracle of Life, plus bestsellers like The
Elegant Universe, The Jane Eyre Masterpiece
Theatre Collection, Commanding
Heights: The Battle for the World Economy, Evolution and Africans in
America. Alongside this full-screen presentation of Global Warming, recent releases include The Hidden Epidemic: Heart Disease in America,
Percy Julian: Forgotten Genius and Kaboom!, a chronological history of the
history of pyrotechnics, from ninth century
to 19th century industrialist Alfred Nobel and legendary physicist Robert Oppenheimer. Global Warming‘s DVD supplemental materials consist of printable materials for educators. To
order this title or any other DVD release from WGBH Boston Video, phone (800)
949-8670 or visit their eponymous Web site’s
shop by clicking here. B (Movie) C (Disc)