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 Patrick Dempsey and Michelle Monaghan star in the romantic comedy Made of Honor. |
End of summer. Happy-sad, yes, but lighthearted movies allow the season to linger into autumn.
These new DVD releases are unadulterated summer fare. That means they are genre: romantic comedies, slapsticks, farces and even a hardcore horror title. None will challenge you to think too much, nor read subtitles, nor ponder metaphoric subtext.
Made of Honor:
Paul Weiland's preposterous, yet thoroughly enjoyable romantic comedy stars Patrick Dempsey. Guys, get worried. Women love him, even when he is being a douche. Then, turning on the charm, he is lethal.
Dempsey stars as a playboy with a commitment phobia. Starlet Michelle Monaghan, who is easy on the eyes and has real heart on screen, plays his best friend. When she gets engaged to a Scottish royal, Dempsey discovers how much he loves her ... and the race is on to see who wins her hand.
It is Hollywood hokum but feels good and looks great, especially in the Scottish highlands. And the Dempsey-Monaghan pairing is delicious. The DVD, new last week, offers the movie in full and widescreen on the same disc, limiting extras to Weiland's commentary.
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Virgin Territory: Unzipped Collection:
Filmed in Italy and set there in the medieval plague years, this entry is a libinious sex farce inspired loosely by the infamous Decameron, which never gets adapted properly to film.
David Leland's effort stars Hayden Christensen as the sexy rogue who beds naked nuns but longs for that special gal, played by Mischa Barton. Meanwhile, she is engaged to a Russian prince (Mathew Rhys) and desired by an Italian thug (Tim Roth), who teeters and lurches.
The movie is absurd, even wretched, and may prove to Hayden-haters that the boy can't act. I don't agree overall but he is miserable here. Yet Roth is worse. So I blame Leland for missing the comedy mark and turning this, quite literally, into a T-and-A spectacle and nothing else.
The DVD (out Aug. 26) is as bizarre as the movie with its nonsensical extras, especially the so-called "censored scenes of sexuality" which do not deliver.
What Happens in Vegas: Special Edition:
What happened in Vegas this time did not stay there. It was a summer hit and now it is a two-disc special edition DVD. Disc two is the digital copy for uploading to either PC or Mac.
Tom Vaughan's romantic comedy pairs Cameron Diaz as an uptight stockbroker and Ashton Kutcher as a childish loser. Drunk, lonely and stupid in Vegas, they get married and win a $3-million jackpot. Back in New York, their mismatched lives careen into divorce court.
It is silly and unbelievable, of course, but there are a few singular moments of poignant hilarity. Overall, however, Kutcher and Diaz seem as odd together -- as actors -- as their characters do.
The DVD (out Aug. 26) offers the movie in widescreen-only with many extras. Besides a commentary and the usual deleted-extended scenes and featurettes, those include an oddball gossip session. Kutcher and Diaz interview each other about picking up or dumping dates, chatting like I have never heard either do with the media. It is revealing.
Phastasm IV: Oblivion:
Horrormeister Don Coscarelli is back at his mysterious mischief. Phastasm fans will like it. This time, sort of, he answers some of the otherworldly questions involving The Tall Man and the humans he so relentlessly pursues through the portals of time and space.
Technically, this is the slickest in the series, even if Angus Scrimm looks even more cadaverous than usual as Tall Man. As storytelling, Coscarelli seems to be wrapping things up at last as killer spheres fly, zombies prowl, blood spurts, bodies disappear, cars speed up and reactions slow down.
The DVD (out Aug. 26) presents the movie in widescreen-only with some modest extras, including Coscarelli's tag-tam commentary with actors Reggie Bannister and Scrimm, plus a behind-the-scenes featurette.
Other recent genre fare includes:
- The Three Stooges Collection: Volume Three (1940-1942). Self-explanatory n Postal: Unrated: From the world's worst director, Uwe Boll n The Art of War II: Betrayal: Starring macho Wesley Snipes n Felon: Stephen Dorff and Val Kilmer in prison n Street Kings: Special Edition: Keanu Reeves breaks the cop rules n The Riddle: Brit thriller with Vanessa Redgrave n Smart People: Ellen Page hangs with Dennis Quaid, Sarah Jessica Parker and Thomas Haden Church n Blood Brothers: John Woo returns to 1930s Shanghai for a thriller n The Secret: David Duchovny is caught in a bizarre spirit-world situation n Redbelt: David Mamet dramatizes his fascination with jiu-jitsu.