An ongoing attempt to make sense of the onslaught of new swag that people want you to buy. Should you? I’ll try and help.
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Drillbit Taylor didn’t exactly…um…damn, you know I should really make a note here to come up with a clever drill-related pun and insert it later. Yeah, good call. Anyway, it didn’t *insert pun here* the box office. But that’s to be expected. It’s got that shelf-life rental business written all over it. First of all, it’s about geeks trying to get by. And if there’s anything we can relate to, it’s that. And those sort of films linger and are eventually watched by everyone. And second, it’s got Owen Wilson, who you cannot, by law, dislike. No, honestly. Even in the worst of movies, you can’t not like Owen Wilson. For example, if Owen Wilson had been in Ghostbusters 2, the movie would still have been shit and made you cry yourself to sleep, but you would have liked Owen Wilson. Admit it. Anyway, the movie is nowhere near as traumatic as GB2, so take heart. It’s available in DVD and Blu-Ray editions. They both come with the same array of bonus bits–commentary by director, co-producer and the three teens; a chat with the writers; deleted and extended scenes; gag reel; and an extended version of the film. Everything on the Blu-Ray disc, like I said, is the same, but in HD. Worth a rental, especially since we’re all obligated to like Owen. It must be in the DNA somewhere. I dunno. (Click here to buy the regular flavor or here to buy the Blu-Ray flavor.)
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[ad#longpost]This Journey to the Center of the Earth is not, as you might have figured, the 3-D version starring Brendan Fraser that’s hitting cinemas shortly. This is a made-for-TV movie version with Rick Schroder, who changed his name back to Ricky just after I had gotten used to calling him Rick, just to screw with my head. Thanks, man. Anyway, keeping with the grand tradition of taking the title and giving some characters a reason to go inside the planet and run into dinosaurs–which on the surface is usually okay as long as it’s done properly (i.e. an excuse for mindless splode), Victoria Pratt is an heiress who wants to find her husband, who apparently ran off into the planet to get away from her. Cleopatra 2525 wasn’t that bad, come on. Anyway, she hires Schroder and his nephew to help her find him. Let’s just say it’s hard to beat the James Mason version. This is out from Genius and comes with an interview with Peter Fonda, plus behind the scenes stuff. (Click here to buy it from Amazon.)
My Blueberry Nights is the full acting debut of Norah Jones and I have to admit up front that I’m not a big fan of Jones. She sounds like a bunch of other excellent female vocalists. She’s not bad, mind you, but she just doesn’t stand out for me. And since this is her film, you sort of have to be behind her to really get into it. She plays a woman who finds out her boyfriend has been dining without her. So she leaves him and does not immediately fall for Jude Law, instead she decides to take a trip cross country so she can run into Rachel Weisz, David Straithairn and Natalie Portman. This out from Genius and Weinstein and comes with a making-of and a Q&A with director Wong Kar Wai. If you’re into Norah, then it’s probably worth a rental. (Click here to buy it from Amazon.)
Before Get Smart the recent movie, there was…well, there was the series, naturally, but then there was the movie The Nude Bomb. A lot of people haven’t seen the series and I really advise you to check it out before you see this just because so much was changed for the film. And it wasn’t, you know, very well received. But Don Adams is back and facing down KAOS who want to use the titular weapon to destroy all clothing and have the fabric monopoly of the world. Hey, it’s worth seeing at least once. If for nothing else that I remember the chase sequence through Universal Studios, which was cool when I was…I dunno, when did I see this? Ten? No clue. It’s been released on a bare bones DVD by Universal, and considering that it wasn’t available on DVD before, this is probably the best version you’re going to see. I would say a purchase for the Don Adams or Get Smart completist–everyone else can just rent. (Click here to buy it from Amazon.)
