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Talk about boldly going: This reboot of the "Star Trek"
franchise is not merely a prequel, it dares to rewrite "Trek" lore with an
origin story that chronicles the first voyage of the Enterprise crew with a
story that sends them into a whole Federation history. Time travel is involved
(it's "Star Trek"; when is time travel not involved?), as is apocalyptic revenge
and the fate of the universe (ditto), but director J.J. Abrams knows what he's
doing. Call it "When Kirk Met Spock" with Chris Pine as an almost unbearably
cocky Kirk, a two-fisted delinquent turned Starfleet maverick, and Zachary
Quinto channeling Leonard Nimoy's deadpan commentary and raised eyebrow as Spock
in a modern space thriller of breathless action and colorful spectacle. It
aspires to be everything to everyone but its prime directive is to recapture the
chemistry of the bridge crew with a young, new cast. On that score, this
starship hits warp speed.
Abrams is joined by writers Roberto Orci and
Alex Kurtzman, producer Damon Lindelof and executive producer Bryan Burk
(joining via satellite) for a lively and busy commentary track that manages to
cover a lot of territory while having fun; these guys seem to enjoy one
another's company. Both the two-disc DVD and three-disc Blu-ray editions include
three hours of featurettes (watch Abrams resort to old-school solutions to
practical effects in "A New Vision"), nine deleted scenes (including the birth
of Spock and another scene with Kirk and a green girl), the obligatory gag reel
and a digital copy of the film for portable media players. The Blu-ray features
extended versions of the featurettes via "branching pods."
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| My Sister's Keeper |
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Cameron Diaz is a fiercely protective mother with a one-track
mind: saving her eldest daughter (Sofia Vassilieva) from leukemia by turning her
youngest (Abigail Breslin) into a living donor. When the youngest balks at
continuing the painful medical procedures, the legal struggle tears at the
fabric of the family. It's a tear-jerker of a drama, but MSN critic Mary Pols
insists that "its tear-jerking is dignified by strong, measured performances, a
provocative premise and the fact that it really is just sad as hell." Nick
Cassavetes directs the adaptation of Jodi Picoult's novel, and Jason Patric,
Joan Cusack and Alec Baldwin co-star. Features 15 minutes of deleted scenes and
a digital copy of the film for portable media players.
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| Brüno |
Lightning does not strike twice for Sacha Baron Cohen and
director Larry Charles, who spring yet another of Cohen's trademark characters,
a flamboyant Austrian fashionista seeking fame, on America. This time, people
are not so easily taken in by his outlandish stunts and provocations. "Even
Brüno's fabulous hair can't hide the sense of 'Lather, rinse, repeat' we get
from the new film," complains MSN critic James Rocchi, who
explains that the film "somehow feels like it's both trying too hard and not
trying hard enough." Features an hour of alternate, extended and deleted scenes,
enhanced commentary by Cohen and Charles, and an interview with Hollywood agent
Lloyd Robinson. The Blu-ray features exclusive video commentary. |
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| Humpday |
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Two college buddies, one now a comfortably married man (Mark
Duplass) and the other a world-travelling free spirit (Joshua Leonard), reunite
after years and end up daring each other into a radical art project. Director
Lynn Shelton crosses over from art-house to multiplex with this Sundance
award-winner, an audience-friendly indie sex comedy that features almost no sex
but plenty of nervous male bonding and a whole new angle on performance anxiety.
Features two commentary tracks (one with Shelton and actress Alycia Delmore and
members of the production crew, the other with actors Duplass and Leonard), a
very brief behind-the-scenes featurette, seven deleted/alternate scenes, and a
collection of unused endings.
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| Thirst |
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If the idea of a vampire film from the director of "Oldboy"
sounds like fun to you, then check out Park Chan-wook's predictably
unpredictable take on the genre. Park regular Song Kang-ho is a Catholic priest
infected by a medical experiment, tormented by his affliction yet infused with a
ferocity to live (so to speak) and act upon his forbidden desires. It's a horror
film roiling with desire, guilt, sex, revenge and redemption, a moral tale
directed with a cheeky sense of humor and understated visual wit. In Korean with
English subtitles, no supplements.
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Sean Axmaker is a film critic for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, a DVD
columnist for MSN Entertainment and a contributing writer for GreenCine.com,
Turner Classic Movies Online, Parallax View and Asian Cult Cinema, among other
publications. Find links to all of this and more on his shamelessly
self-promoting blog.
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