BOLT (2008). In recent years, Disney plus Pixar has led to some terrific animated features, but Disney minus Pixar has led to yearnings to locate the nearest auditorium exit. Bolt is straight-up Disney, which would be worrisome if it wasn't for the fact that Pixar guru John Lasseter has been handed the keys to the studio's entire animation department. So while this Best Animated Feature Film Oscar nominee isn't a Pixar production, it falls under the auspices of Lasseter (billed here as executive producer), and that might possibly be the reason this fast-paced confection is far better than such studio sourballs as Chicken Little and Treasure Planet. But make no mistake: This is still a long way from the giddy heights of the Pixar pack. It mixes the speed of an ADD Nickelodeon toon project with narrative elements from The Incredible Journey, as Bolt (voiced by John Travolta), a canine who believes he really possesses the superpowers he employs on his hit TV series, gets separated from his owner/co-star Penny (Miley Cyrus) and ends up crossing the country in search of her. It's entertaining while it lasts but dissipates from memory the moment it's over, a condition predicated on the fact that neither the noble, stiff Bolt nor the typical toon preteen Penny are especially dynamic characters. There are some clever inside-Hollywood touches, but the lack of any real tension means that the scripters are ultimately forced to turn to a burning building to serve as the "villain" of the piece. Still, the visual design is inventive, and kids and adults alike are sure to love Rhino (Mark Walton), a portly hamster always on the go in his plastic ball. Whenever he's on screen, you can be sure he keeps the movie rolling.
The Blu-Ray edition (which was sent for review) includes an extra disc offering the feature film in standard DVD format, but the extras can only be accessed by those with Blu-Ray capabilities.
Movie: **1/2
Extras: *
THE BOY IN THE STRIPED PAJAMAS (2008). Movies about the Holocaust seem to automatically earn R ratings, yet perhaps because it's based on a novel (by John Boyne) that was originally targeted to teen readers, this one escaped with a PG-13. That's the appropriate rating, I think, since children who can handle (and learn from) the material should not be denied the chance to see it. The film is told from the viewpoint of a young German lad who unwittingly has a front-row seat to the horrors instigated by the Nazi regime during World War II. Eight-year-old Bruno (Asa Butterfield, just perfect) is saddened when his father, a Nazi officer (David Thewlis), moves the family from Berlin to a remote country estate. Bored and lonely, Bruno defies his parents' orders and checks out what his mother (Vera Farmiga) has told him is a farm, a mysterious place where all the prisoners wear pajamas and billowing smoke from the chimneys constantly blackens the sky. There, he strikes up a friendship with Shmuel (Jack Scanlon), a Jewish boy residing on the other side of the barbed wire fence. Credibility takes a serious beating in this picture, which is acceptable since this is clearly intended as a fable about how hatred can destroy even the most innocent among us. Bruno's naiveté provides the picture with its initial childlike charm, yet the movie is complicated enough to explore the conflicting emotions among the adult characters. But even in its lighter moments, it never downplays the horror of the situation, and the devastating ending is potent enough to affect even those viewers who write it off as nothing more than a sensationalist stunt.
DVD extras include audio commentary by Boyne and writer-director Mark Herman; five deleted scenes; and a 20-minute making-of featurette.
Movie: ***
Extras: **1/2
LET THE RIGHT ONE IN (2008). Chilling in more ways than one, this Swedish import uses its frozen environment to great advantage. The art-house counterpart to Twilight, this similarly shows the effect that a vampire can have on the social life of a school-age loner; here, the central kid is Oskar (Kare Hedebrant), a 12-year-old boy who has no friends and who's the constant target of the school bully and his sycophants. One night while hanging around his apartment complex, he meets his new neighbor: Eli (Lina Leandersson), a mysterious 12-year-old girl. Eli tells Oskar right off the bat that they can't be friends; what she doesn't tell him is that it's because she's a vampire. But Eli is every bit as lonely as Oskar, so the two end up spending ample time together. Meanwhile, her empty stomach continues to rumble, and the other neighbors are looking mighty tasty. There have been pitiable movie vampires before, yet it's possible that little Eli is the most tragic of all. With no backstory on hand, we have no idea what led to her present situation, but it's poignant when she tells Oskar, "I'm 12. But I've been 12 for a long time." It's Eli's friendship with Oskar that redeems her, and helmer Tomas Alfredson, working from an astute screenplay by John Ajvide Linqvist (adapting his own novel), emphasizes this connection with a lovely directorial touch: During the gory climax, he focuses not on Eli's blood-splattered mouth but on her twinkling eyes, ones that wrinkle slightly as she stares approvingly at the best friend a vampire ever had.
DVD extras include a behind-the-scenes short; four deleted scenes; and a photo gallery.
Movie: ***1/2
Extras: **
RACHEL GETTING MARRIED (2008). Rarely has patience been such a virtue than when faced with Rachel Getting Married, which gets off to an extremely rough start before eventually finding its stride. Movies about dysfunctional families are trotted out by indie-minded filmmakers with alarming regularity, but better to spend some time with Rachel at the wedding than with Margot at the Wedding. Anne Hathaway, unfairly overlooked in such efforts as Brokeback Mountain and The Devil Wears Prada, commands most of the attention – from both audience members and the other actors – in her Oscar-nominated turn as Kym, a recovering drug addict who returns home to attend the wedding of her sister Rachel (Rosemarie DeWitt). Kym, who still feels guilty for a past tragedy, is a complete mess and thus is usually at the center of attention. Naturally, Rachel feels resentment while other family members, including the well-meaning dad (Bill Irwin, excellent) and his icy ex-wife (Debra Winger), are at a loss for how to handle Kym and her frequent outbursts. Because the characters created by writer Jenny Lumet (Sidney's daughter) are nothing but brittle and bitchy at the start, it takes some time to warm up to these people and their plights (it's impossible, however, to ever warm up to the film's handheld camera technique, which is so 1990s). But Lumet and director Jonathan Demme ask us to respect their characters' space, and this leisurely approach allows us to more fully appreciate and understand the situations at hand. By the end, we're happy to have been invited.
DVD extras include audio commentary by Lumet, co-producer Neda Armian and editor Tim Squyres; separate audio commentary by DeWitt; a 16-minute behind-the-scenes featurette; a 49-minute Q&A with cast and crew members; and 20 minutes of deleted scenes.
Movie: ***
Extras: **1/2
THE THREE STOOGES COLLECTION, VOL. 5 (1946-1948). The postwar years found a major change occurring within the ranks of the great comedy team. Because of Curly Howard's failing health, the portly actor elected not to continue acting, thereby forcing the other two members, Moe Howard and Larry Fine, to find a substitute. Thus, the irreplaceable Curly was replaced by his and Moe's brother Shemp Howard (who had actually performed with Moe and Larry back in the troupe's earliest days). While Shemp never achieved the comic brilliance of Curly, he was a more than adequate substitute, and certainly far preferable to subsequent Stooges Joe DeRita and Joe Besser. This fifth collection contains all 25 shorts the gang made between 1946 and 1948, the first 10 featuring Curly before his retirement and the other 15 showcasing Shemp. Among the pieces included are Half-Wits Holiday (Curly's swan song as a Stooge), Fright Night (Shemp's debut), Hold That Lion (featuring a Curly cameo, his last screen appearance before his death in 1952 at the age of 48), G.I. Wanna Go Home, Squareheads of the Round Table, and Brideless Groom (one of Shemp's best).
There are no extras in the set.
Collection: ***1/2
Extras: *
TO CATCH A THIEF (1955) / THE ODD COUPLE (1968). Paramount's Centennial Collection continues with the sixth and seventh titles in this distinguished line, and the featured pictures couldn't be more dissimilar, what with dashing Cary Grant and the dazzling French Riviera on one hand and slovenly Walter Matthau and a cramped New York apartment on the other. The end results are comparable, however: Both films are worth catching, even if their status as "classics" is a bit overstated.
Alfred Hitchcock's To Catch a Thief is an engaging bit of fluff, with Grant cast as a former cat burglar who immediately becomes the prime suspect when a string of jewel robberies hits the French Riviera. The identity of the burglar is easy to figure out, but it's the sparkling dialogue, the gorgeous location shooting, and the chemistry between Grant and co-star Grace Kelly that make this go down smoothly. This earned an Academy Award for Best Color Cinematography, with additional nominations for Best Color Costume Design and Best Color Art Direction-Set Decoration.
The Odd Couple, meanwhile, finds Neil Simon adapting his own stage smash about messy Oscar Madison (Matthau, reprising his Tony Award-winning role) and persnickety Felix Ungar (Jack Lemmon, replacing Broadway's Art Carney), two complete opposites who drive each other crazy after becoming reluctant flatmates. This was the second of numerous films pairing Matthau and Lemmon, and Matthau clearly takes acting honors here, carving out a far funnier characterization than his co-star. This nabbed Oscar noms for Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Film Editing; overlooked was Neal Hefti's now-famous score, so popular that it was subsequently employed in the hit TV spin-off starring Tony Randall and Jack Klugman.
Both films arrive in two-disc DVD sets. Extras on To Catch a Thief include audio commentary by film historian Drew Casper; a making-of piece; a featurette on censorship (no surprise, given the film's ample double entendres, from a spewing champagne bottle to a fireworks display); and spots on Hitchcock, Grant and Kelly. Extras on The Odd Couple include audio commentary by the stars' sons, Charlie Matthau and Chris Lemmon; a behind-the-scenes piece; and photo galleries.
Both Movies: ***
To Catch a Thief Extras: ***1/2
The Odd Couple Extras: ***
