DVD round up

I have not quite got back into watching TV shows on DVD through Netflix because I have not found a good replacement for The X-Files, so recently I have been watching for movies on DVD. I do not typically do DVD reviews, but that is mostly because I do not watch too many movies on DVD. I am not sure how regular this type of thing will appear on the blog, but I know many people rent movies more often than go to the theater, so I thought I would some mini reviews and provide maybe something for someone to watch. Featured in these DVD round ups will be movies of all types- new releases and older films. It is just a place for me to write about all the DVDs I watch.

Invasion of the Body Snatchers- This is the original version of this story. It has had a few remakes, but I am not sure I prefer any of them to this original black and white film. It is not terribly scary, but it features some really cool visuals, like when the leads are all watching the pods start to grow. It is an intense 88 minutes and nothing ever fills like filler, at all. The underlying themes of the suburbanization of America still feels absolutely fresh as we are a race of people constantly trying to get what everyone else has. Good performances, interesting direction and a cool story make up for the forced ending that tries to turn the movie into a happier moments.

Hitman- I did not expect a damn thing from this movie and turned out to be pleasantly surprised. I turned it on as background noise and within 25 minutes I put my focus fully on the movie. Yes, it is bad and full of stupid dialog like "The organization is so secret no one knows it exists." obviously people know it exists, but what it lacks in intelligence, it makes up for by having a sword fight involving 4 people and 8 swords! Yes, 8 swords, SICK! Throw in 3 or 4 nicely shot gun fights, 2 hand to hand fights and one sexy almost always nearly naked Russian girl and you make up for Timothy Olyphant sucking in the role and the trite awful dialog. it is not for everyone, but it was pure trashy fun.

Sky High- I have been hearing for a while now that this was a great superhero movie. It is a kid movie, yes, but people were swearing by it. I now understand, what a treat of a movie. Set mostly in a high school for superhero teenagers, Sky High manages to cross the genre of Superhero with the genre of teen comedy and meld them perfectly into a special effects bonanza with heart, innocence, fun, morals and some entertaining superhero stuff. From having the side kick kids in side kick school, to a main kid not having his powers on the first day of school, Sky High is the perfect teenage parable of acceptance and awkwardness. I highly recommend it.

Finding Amanda- Matthew Broderick stars as a very rich Hollywood writer/producer with a bad addiction to gambling on horses. He is a former drug and alcohol addict as well and now he has a niece who is a hooker in Las Vegas. To impress his wife, he goes to Vegas to convince the niece to go to rehab. The Niece(The perfectly vulnerable and spunky Brittany Snow) has no desire to leave. She seems to love hooking. She has a the perfect house, but it may all be a lie. Don't get the wrong impression though, it is hilarious. The dialog pops out of the mouths of the two leads as they work their way through their own demons in a very frank way. I was very much taken in by the spectacular wordy dialog and stayed for the great characters and interesting morality spins.