DVD Releases for Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Posted on Aug 17, 2010 @ 02:11PM - Add a comment
Cemetery Junction (R)
DVD Review: Dear John
Posted on May 25, 2010 @ 01:30PM - Add a comment
Can young love survive a war? A long separation? And most importantly, no email?
Dear John pits romance against real life when a studly soldier falls for a mellifluous student while he’s on leave. Based on the eponymous novel by Nicholas Sparks, the DVD bears all of the author’s signature elements: Mid-Atlantic beach setting with gilded summer days? Check. Male love interest with sea-faring hobby and fabulous six-pack? Check (our solider’s a surfer). Painful personal loss? Hand-written love letters? How about subtle class differences and a natural phenomenon that lets the lovers bond (this time, it’s the size of the moon)? Check, check, check and check.
Yet, while Dear John shares many of the components of the author’s genius formula (see: The Notebook, A Walk to Remember and Miley Cyrus vehicle The Last Song), it lacks the character development that made the travails of his other fictional couples worthy of Visine and a jumbo pack of Kleenex. Instead, John (Channing Tatum) and Savannah (Amanda Seyfried) fall hopelessly in love, but it’s never clear what they see in each other apart from his chiseled bod (see above) and her sunny demeanor. It’s plausible that John might subconsciously be looking for a surrogate mom and Savs is so chaste that celibacy is no biggie, but such devotion after two weeks (and 12 minutes max in movie-time) of inexplicable romance is a tough sell for these two without more build-up.
Dear John begs so badly to be a good movie, and the DVD only amplifies the plea with a set of unusually compelling extras. Of course, there’s the obligatory love-fest among the actors for each other and for their director, Lasse Hallström. But there’s also a lengthy featurette on Braeden Reed, who plays the autistic son of the film’s romantic foil, and who is autistic himself. The film’s military consultants get some featurette love, as does the brilliant production designer, Kara Lindstrom, who managed to make Charleston look like locations from Afghanistan to Western Africa and back again.
Throughout Dear John, John and Savannah face hurdle after hurdle in maintaining a relationship. John’s stationed far away, while Savannah has school to contend with (and, one would think, a bevy of new suitors). Plus, John makes a big stumble in a scenario that echoes last year’s awards-monger, The Hurt Locker, which also dealt with men and war and priorities, albeit in a radically different way. In contrast, the hurdle that Dear John faces is simple: Give us a reason to root for Mr. Tough Guy and Ms. Manners, and we might just have a reason to reach for the tissues.
Movie Review: The Last Song
Posted on Mar 30, 2010 @ 06:52PM - Add a comment
Break out the tissues and skip the mascara, because there’s no escape from the tear-jerking clutches of The Last Song.
In her first big-screen departure from Hannah Montana, Miley Cyrus plays Ronnie Miller, a musically-gifted teen with a pretty face and a tough attitude. When she and her little bro Jonah (Bobby Coleman) are shipped from New York to the Southern coast to spend the summer with their dad, family issues, filial bonding and romance ensue -- but not without a shameless amount of melodrama and no-holds-barred emotional manipulation that could bring the most cynical of movie-goers to their knees.
Movie Review: How to Train Your Dragon
Ronnie arrives at her estranged father’s house full of rage and sports combat boots to prove it. In opening scenes that feature her stomping and sulking her way across the beach, both her choice of footwear and her tough-girl demeanor are regionally inappropriate and ready for readjustment, stat. Luckily, she meets hunky volleyball player Will Blakelee (Liam Hemsworth) within minutes of arrival. Instantly smitten, he begins to break her down until she’s helpless in the face of his adorable dimples, perfect teeth, Ivy-League grooming and blue-blood pedigree. Soon, they’re in the throes of gilded summer romance, and there’s no turning back -- except, that is, when Ronnie’s childish ‘tude takes over from time to time, turning on a dime and threatening to ruin everything.
While The Last Song employs all the usual devices that typify films from author and co-writer Nicholas Sparks, it rises above the romantic drama riff-raff with multiple relationship arcs, touching plot details and a polished look perfect for the tween set. As Ronnie and Will play out their star-crossed romance, Ronnie and her dad, Steve (Greg Kinnear), have some patching-up to do as he strives to connect with her through their shared love of music, and she reluctantly seeks out his parental advice. Little Jonah, meanwhile, holds his own with scenes that are absolutely realistic for a younger brother left with the short end of the family drama stick.
Along with trying family dynamics, the Millers also encounter events outside their control, which add texture to the The Last Song’s particularly addictive form of saccharine. There’s an ugly secret ripe for telling, painful class division, some mean girls, one especially mean boy and a nest of adorable turtle eggs that become far more than a plot device. With a relentlessly touchy-feely soundtrack that features indie faves like José Gonzáles, Iron & Wine and -- obvs! -- Miley Cyrus, each dramatic beat gets its own musical sucker-punch that takes no prisoners.
Movie Reveiw: The Bounty Hunter
Don’t even bother trying to hold the tears in -- each blow (Ronnie’s baby brother is neglected!) is followed by yet another (Blake has problems too!) and still another (Someone leaves forever!). For Cyrus, The Last Song is a chance to prove she can do more than broad, Disney-style kid stuff (she has a few old habits to break). For audiences, the film is one big, messy cry that leaves no choice but to snivel loudly, and long for summer.
VIDEO INTERVIEWS: Miley Cyrus and Liam Hemsworth Talk Romance and Hard Rock At Last Song Premiere
Posted on Mar 26, 2010 @ 12:02PM - Add a comment
Miley Cyrus and Liam Hemsworth made their romance official on Thursday night as they walked the red carpet for their new film The Last Song. The young couple and their co-stars revealed details to RadarOnline.com about how their onset chemistry blossomed into offset love.
VIDEO: Miley Cyrus Says She Loves Liam Hemsworth
"It's amazing," Miley said about striking romance gold during filming. She credited the film’s writer, who also brought the world that other amazing love story The Notebook, with setting the scene: “I think Nicholas Sparks is kinda the best at that. It was good, it was awesome.”
EXCLUSIVE VIDEO INTERVIEWS: Heartthrob Channing Tatum Reveals His Inner Romeo
Posted on Feb 02, 2010 @ 06:28AM - Add a comment
The stars were shining and love was in the air Monday night at Grauman’s Chinese Theater in Hollywood at the world premiere of Dear John, starring Channing Tatum and Amanda Seyfried. RadarOnline.com caught up with those walking the red carpet to find out if love letters are still written, or if it’s just something you only see in the movies.
NEW PHOTO: Catch A Rising "Twilight" Star -- At The Airport!
Posted on Jun 05, 2009 @ 12:04PM - Add a comment
Twilight's Kellan Lutz looks like he could be walking down a runway at a fashion show, but he's actually just walking through the airport. The handsome up-and-comer, who plays Emmett Cullen in the popular series, was spotted at LAX Thursday arriving into the City of Angeles. He was reportedly reading The Lucky One, by author Nicholas Sparks. (Photo: NPG)
