Tower Heist, originally conceived as a black Oceans 11 by Eddie Murphy, a straight-up heist movie. But then the economy tanked, the Madoff scandal broke, and the script was reinvented as a star vehicle for Ben Stiller, with Murphy riding shotgun. Now theyd be stealing from a big-time swindler: economic justice, the 99 per cents dream come true. Stiller plays Josh Kovacs, GM at a posh tower in Manhattan. Josh takes some advice from Arthur Shaw, a financial whiz who lives in the penthouse (Alan Alda), investing the pensions of all his friends and staff at the tower, only to discover that the FBI are seizing Shaws assets and the money is gone. Josh, his brother-in-law (Casey Affleck) and a few employees (Gabourey Sidibe, Michael Pena) know Shaw must have the money stashed somewhere, and decide to rob him with the help of Slide (Murphy), the only dude Josh knows who has a criminal record. Director Brett Ratner knows how to craft a crowd-pleaser (Rush Hour), and this one has the added bonus of seeming to be pulled from the headlines: whats not to love about a Robin Hood story in this economy? Stiller is reliable, Alda is a treat to watch as the swindler, and Murphy is solid, though we wish we saw more of him.
Both the DVD and the Blu-ray feature two alternate endings, deleted scenes, gag reel, a collection of making-of featurettes and commentary with Ratner, co-writers and editor.
Brighton Rock is a 1938 Graham Greene novel and a 1949 film, with Richard Attenborough in the lead role. Director/writer Rowan Joffe moves the story to the turbulent 60s, with Mods and Rockers running riot all over Britains coastline (look to 1979s Quadrophenia for a mods-and-rockers refresher), and where the pier was the social and entertainment hub of seaside towns. Young Pinkie Brown (Controls Sam Riley), understudy to a recently murdered mob boss, tries to position himself as the new number-one, going up against a formidable rival who has more means and more muscle. A murder complicates things: a shy tearoom waitress, Rose (Andrea Riseborough, soon to be playing Wallis Simpson in W.E.) sees the scuffle that precedes the murder. Pinkie befriends Rose to sniff out what she knows, and a twisted love story results. Pinkie plays-she-loves-me-she-loves-me-not by pulling the legs off a spider, but is too full of self-loathing to ever admit to caring for anyone. Rose, slave to an abusive father in a dingy tenement flat, knows what shes getting into: What do you get out of this? asks Pinkie. A life, she responds. Great supporting performances by Helen Mirren, playing tearoom owner Ida, who sticks her nose where it doesnt belong, and John Hurt as a bookie. The thuggery is violent (one character is killed by a stalk of rock candy, thus the title), the overall tone menacing, and Greenes Catholic flourishes woven seamlessly into the script. A superbly acted, quiet little thriller worth checking out.
Standard DVD offers an impressive slate of bonus features: separate interviews with 10 principal players in the film, a featurette on the making of the film, an extra on some of the films locations, and trailer.
Hoping to cultivate a career after he has sheds Twilights furry werewolf costume, Taylor Lautner goes solo in Abduction. The film opens with the casualties of teen drinking, with dad (Jason Isaacs) offering up a unique hangover cure: boxing. If youre going to drink like a man, lets see if you can fight like a man. Dad and mom seem a little intense, and look nothing like their son. But it isnt until Nathan (Lautner) is doing a sociology paper about missing children that he stumbles across an age-enhanced photo that looks strikingly like him. Was he kidnapped as a toddler? Whats with all these recurring dreams of a gas attack? Theres no time for explanations, as mom and dad are wiped out by some angry Serbs, and the CIA (headed by Alfred Molina) declare Nathan their top priority. With a cute neighbor (Lily Collins) in tow, Nathan embarks on a far-fetched, mad-dash to find people he can trust. It all has to do with a list, and the CIAs most valuable black ops agent, but beyond that there is little that makes good sense. Director John Singleton has assembled an impressive ensemble cast, including Sigourney Weaver and Maria Bello, but clunky dialogue and improbable scenarios ruin any real chance Lautner has of being taken seriously.
Special features on the Blu-ray include Abduction Chronicle, Lautners personal account of shooting the film. Induction of an Action Hero highlights the stunts of the film; The Fight for the Truth is a storyboard-to-screen study and making-of featurette, plus theres a gag reel.
We all love a good story, and what better one than the mystery of the man who supposedly wrote 37 of the worlds most influential plays and 152 sonnets? Son of illiterates, with no evidence of correspondence to or from a William Shakespeare: the evidence does seem to stack up in favour of another author. In Anonymous, Roland Emmerich (2012, The Day After Tomorrow) tackles one popular theory, bringing the authorship question of the planets most famous wordsmith to the big screen. This one posits the idea that it was the Earl of Oxford, Edward de Vere (Rhys Ifans) who penned all. Through several twists of fate, ruffian actor Will Shakespeare (Rafe Spall) takes credit for the plays, which are often treacherous in tone. All art is political, else it would just be decoration. Of particular interest to the Bard was the question over who would succeed Queen Elizabeth (Vanessa Redgrave as the elder queen; Redgraves daughter Joely Richardson as the younger). The bed-hopping and courtly back-stabbing takes on the twists and turns of a Greek tragedy, and the narrative meanders somewhat, but there is enough intrigue and set dressing surrounding the highlights from Shakespeares works to keep things interesting.
Special features on the standard disc include deleted scenes, commentary with director Roland Emmerich and writer John Orloff and a making-of featurette that centres around who Shakespeare was.
