Now Available on DVD .......

Wandering around the video store - searching for that elusive one box film that looks out of place and lonely, unlikely to be rented - but didn't or couldn't see the one. Instead choose 3 I'm not sure I should have watched at all.......

"Tangled" (2010) - Beautifully drawn, fun picture- with really annoying songs. Mandy Moore as a lovely voice and makes a perfect princess. Notice the Princess saves herself, but.....I'm not overly impressed. Pretty with a few jokes isn't enough. I feel so jaded.

"I love You Phillip Morris" (2009) - I expected a lot more from this picture - The first 1/3 is full of shock and gratuitous jokes- just when I thought 'eh?'  it got good. The second 1/3 improved greatly, became funny but with a certain depth and discovery. Then the last 1/3 became this unbalanced joke, shock, funny, joke. The voice over was distracting - just show me the story or break the 4th wall all together. Star Jim Carey was his brilliant self and appears to attack the part with delight. Co-Star Ewan McGregor is brilliant in some scenes and awkward in others. 

"Crazy Heart"(2009) - You really can't go wrong here. The cast could make any ol' script work out okay. Robert Duvall as the best friend, Maggie Gyllenhaal as the new love interest, and a strange choice of Colin Farrell as the former student turned super star. Perhaps after all the whoopla the expectation was to high? Every character seems isolated -there is no feeling of connectedness. Not in a sense of character development by searching out the past through a former protege nor finding a long neglected child. While it makes story sense for Jeff Bridges' Bad Blake to be disconnected and alone - the other characters with background and roots also appear to be attached to nothing around them. We have no reason to believe that Bad would care for any one person out side himself and we don't develop any basis to see his attitude change for the bland reporter. A terrific film, gorgeous cinematography, nice direction, with fantastic individual scenes - no true depth.