The CallHalle Berry headlines this film as Jordan, a woman who works for the Los Angeles Police Department 911 call centre, which gets everything from domestic assault calls and stabbings to requests for directions to the nearest Starbucks. Jordan was the operator on a call that resulted in a young girls death. Six months later she is haunted by the "what ifs" when another call comes in, from a girl locked in the trunk of a car. Jordan and the girl, Casey (Abigail Breslin) communicate by cell phone in a race against time, and a fight against iffy technology. A collaboration between the more mainstream WWE Studios and indie director Brad Anderson (The Machinist). Sure, she doesnt call for backup, and the ending gets a little too Silence of the Lambs for my liking, but its pretty tense, very well acted, its good fun.
No
A historical piece in the same vein as Argo, about the 1988 plebicite on whether to continue the reign of Gen. Pinochet for another eight years, and the people get to vote "yes" or "no," even though the election appears fixed. The left already thinks that advertising man Rene (Gael Garcia Bernal) is fighting a losing battle, but the fact that he wants to sell Chiles future like one of his soda ads makes them mad. He markets democracy like its a happy product. Shot on washed-out film, packed with newsreel footage about a time when up to 3,000 people were killed under Pinochets dictatorship, some disappeared forever, and 30,000 including women and children were tortured. Special features include: commentary, a Q&A with Gael Garcia Bernal, and theatrical trailer. Upside Down
This futuristic Romeo and Juliet story is about a planet with double gravity. "What if love was stronger than gravity?" Up top they are prosperous and happy, while the world below is starving, cold, an industrial wasteland (not unlike the plot of the upcoming Matt Damon/Jodie Foster film Elysium). Starring Jim Sturgess and Kristen Dunst as Adam and Eden, a young couple who finds away to defy gravity. Sturgess is known for interesting choices (Across the Universe). Cinematography is exceptional; much of it is shot upside down. Characters suffer a little in the pursuit of the story, but theres no arguing that its original, with amazing visuals. Great special features, even on the standard disc, of preliminary sketches, storyboards, previsualization sequences, a making-of extra, deleted scenes, and more. Movie 43
Movie 43 is directed by Peter Farrelly and 11 others and stars such big players as Kate Winslet, Emma Stone, Richard Gere, Terence Howard, Julianne Moore, Naomi Watts, Gerard Butler, Halle Berry and many more in a collection of short films very loosely tied together by Dennis Quaid. Its not really a movie, its a gross-out version of SNL or MAD magazine brought to life. Spoiler alert and case in point: Hugh Jackman goes straight from his Oscar nomination to playing a guy with an extra scrotum protruding from his neck. Thats just a starter before the poop, masturbation, incest, racism, menstruation to follow. A spectacular, star-studded film failure. Set One
Iain Glen (Downton Abbey, Game of Thrones) stars as Jack Taylor, a shamed ex-cop who cant seem to put his investigative instincts to rest, at least when he stays sober long enough. Set One opens with the former sergeant looking into a rash of suspicious teen suicides in Galway, in western Ireland. "They say youre good because youve got nothing else in your life," observes a potential client. Gritty storylines, great performances and a film noir-ish feel result in a thoroughly engrossing series. Oz the Great and PowerfulOscar (James Franco) is a circus magician and charlatan who gets caught in a twister and finds himself plunked in the magical world of Oz, hailed as a savior by the people. The sidekicks this time around are a talking, flying monkey (voiced by Zach Braff) and a china doll girl, who is stronger than she looks. Its Oscars job to decide which of the three witches (Michelle Williams, Mila Kunis and Rachel Weisz) is the evil one and save the good people of Oz from destruction, while finding the goodness within himself. Some of the CG work is underwhelming while others (the china girl) are fantastic. Great special features on the Blu-ray including how a marionette was used for all the china girl work, one on the soundtrack, an extra on Francos experience, and much more. Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters
This opens with the familiar Grimms fairy tale, except that Hansel (Jeremy Renner) becomes diabetic after being forced to eat all that candy. The orphans grow up to become mercenary witch-hunters, complete with modern weaponry and slang. So when all the children in a village go missing right before an eclipse, the town calls Hansel and Gretel (former Bond girl Gemma Arterton) to take care of it, which puts them up against a beautiful leather-clad witch played by Famke Janssen. Heavy on the bone-crushing and head-splitting, light on the fairy-tale magic. Blu-ray extras include an extended cut, making-of feature, a bit on Edward the Troll (a CG highlight) and more. Snitch
Fan favorite Dwayne Johnson stars in Snitch, a based-on-true events story about an 18-year-old (Rafi Gavron) who is thrown in jail just because he signs for a courier package. The package contains drugs from his shady friend, and now Jason is facing 10 years minimum unless he frames someone else and reduces his sentence. Johnson stars as Jasons dad, a construction business owner who agrees to go after a drug kingpin if the federal prosecutor (played by Susan Sarandon) will get his son out. Johnson is not going to win any academy awards but Snitch proves to be a fairly entertaining and informative film about minimum-sentencing injustices. Making-of, audio commentary with director Ric Roman Waugh and deleted scenes are featured on the Blu-ray.
