A good bit of stuff coming out this week, including one or two big releases.
Actually a couple of things I'd really like to get.
here goes....
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Wallace & Gromit - The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (2005)
dir. Steve Box, Nick Park
According to RottenTomatoes.com, this was the "Best Reviewed Wide-Release Movie of 2005", scoring a 95% on the Tomato Meter.
And basically what that means is, 95% of the critics that saw it gave it a positive review.
That's gotta tell you something.
I never got around to watching this movie, but I'll more than likely check it out in the upcoming weeks.
Amazon.com's review:
A decade after their last hilarious short, the Oscar-winning A Close Shave, Claymation wonders Wallace and Gromit return for a full-length adventure. Daffy scientist Wallace (voiced by Peter Sallis) and his heroic dog Gromit are doing well with their business, Anti-Pesto, a varmint-hunting outfit designed to keep their English town safe from rabbits chomping on prized vegetables. Wallace meets Lady Tottington (Helena Bonham Carter), who appreciates Wallace's humane way of dealing with rabbits (courtesy of the Bun-Vac 6000), and sets up a rivalry with the gun-toting Victor Quartermaine (Ralph Fiennes, enjoying himself more than ever). Creator Nick Park, with co-director/writer Steve Box, delivers a story worthy of the 85-minute running time, although it stretches the act a bit; the formula plays better shorter, but the literally hand-crafted film is a joy to watch. Taking a chapter from classic horror films, a giant were-rabbit is soon on the prowl, and the town is up in arms, what with the annual vegetable contest close at hand. (Anyone who's seen the previous three shorts knows who saves the day.) Never content to do something simply when the extravagant will do, W&G's lives are filled with whimsical Rude Goldberg-style devices, and the opening number showcasing their alarm system is pure Aardman Animation at its finest. Even though there's a new twist here--a few mild sight gags aimed at adults--this G-rated film will delight young and old alike as Park, like team Pixar, seems incapable of making anything but an outstanding film.
- DVD Features:
English & French DD5.1 Surround
English & Spanish DD2.0 Stereo
English SDH, English, French and Spanish subtitles
Audio commentary with director/writer Steve Box and director/writer Nick Park
Deleted Scenes with optional commentary
How Wallace & Gromit Went To Hollywood - Featurette
Behind the Scenes of 'The Curse of the Were-Rabbit
A Day in the Life at Aardman - Featurette
How to Build a Bunny - Featurette
Stage Fright - award-winning short film
The Family Album - Colourful production stills of the elaborate sets and meticulous character development
Dreamworks Kids - A variety of fun-filled, engaging interactive games and creative activities.
Elizabethtown (2005)
dir. Cameron Crowe
Cameron Crowe makes good movies, but for whatever reason, I had (and still have) absolutely zero desire to see this.
Did anyone watch this? I could probably just search but I'm too lazy.
Amazon.com's review:
Elizabethtown has all of the elements of a great Cameron Crowe movie, but none of the Cameron Crowe vision that made Almost Famous work. It's mostly a series of sweet moments, each capped with the right song at the right time; in fact, the soundtrack is the real star of the movie, and the right song is all there is to piece together a film that is much less than the sum of its parts.
From the start of Elizabethtown, big contrasts are evoked: death and life, success and failure are side by side, so we're told. When the movie starts, Drew Baylor (Orlando Bloom) is experiencing failure and death in spades: the shoe he spent eight years designing for Mercury (a thinly-veiled copy of Nike) has been recalled, costing his company $972 million dollars. On the verge of a suicide attempt, he learns his father has died, and Drew flies to Kentucky to retrieve the body to Oregon for cremation. On the red-eye to Louisville he meets Claire Colburn (Kirsten Dunst), a perky flight att'ndant with a charming flair for cute lines ("I'm impossible to forget, but I