Romance and Cigarettes: See this movie for Kate Winslet.
John Turturro likes exaggeration and larger-than-life characters, and that's what he gets from Winslet, who bounces through this blue collar musical as the colorfully horny and filthy mistress of James Gandolfini who's nonetheless looking for love. The whole film is beyond quirky, but it's passionate and interesting and a lot of fun - a musical in which the characters sing along with pop songs - such as Susan Sarandon's betrayed wife howling along with Janis Joplin's "Piece of My Heart" and Christopher Walken sharing his own tale of woe through Tom Jones' "Delilah" - to express themselves in ways that they can't with words alone. Turturro's heroic struggle to bring it to the screen in the first place is compelling enough, so reward his efforts and talents by giving this one a rental. Or just buy the thing, because you'll want to watch Winslet warble more than once.
Gone Baby Gone: Amy Ryan's well-deserved Academy Award nomination should draw people to check out Ben Affleck's directorial debut, a moody, bleak drama starring his brother Casey, whom I much preferred in last week's DVD release The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, which earned Affleck Beta his own actor nod.
We Own The Night: Joaquin Phoenix and Academy Award Nominee Marky Mark on opposite sides of the law. It looked like a big deal when it opened, but somehow tanked out of sight. A movie like this shines on DVD, though.
No Reservations: Catherine Zeta-Jones and Aaron Eckhart are chefs who fall in love while she learns how to tend to her niece. You lost me at Catherine Zeta-Jones.
The Martian Child: John Cusack's drama about taking in a child who thinks he's an alien was another 'swallowed up by bigger flicks - namely American Gangster and Bee Movie - but it's John Cusack. Always worth a rental.
Tyler Perry's Why Did I Get Married?: Tyler Perry putting his name in front of a title seems to guarantee a boffo box office. I wonder if that'd work if they called it Tyler Perry's Basic Instinct 2?
The Amateurs: Jeff Bridges, Ted Danson, Joe Pantoliano, Tim Blake Nelson and William Fichtner try to get their town to get together and make a porn movie. Bridges seems to bring a bit of The Dude to his role.
Zapped!: A very important movie to pubescent nerds in the 80s, like myself, about Scott Baio getting telekinetic powers and eventually ripping off Heather Thomas' prom dress. While Baio may have a career with the X-Men, Willie Aames would suffer such guilt over this that hewould transform himself into Bibleman, spiritual hero of the ages.
