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The Couch Potato Report – December 8th, 2007
This week The Couch Potato Report peels a Quebec made film, some pirates from the Caribbean, and a 40-DVD Superbowl Box Set.
It is another busy week with five new releases to tell you about, so let me get to this week’s “Hot Potato”, the made-in-Quebec film NITRO.
NITRO is a dramtic film, with action, about a former drag racer who is forced to return to his criminal past when his girlfriend needs a heart transplant, and a shady hospital employee tells him he will only get the organ if he pays.
The talented and very beautiful Canadian actress Lucie Laurier co-stars as a female drag racer who assists our hero in his quest, and her character’s presence allows NITRO to have a few more twists and turns than you would expect, but as a whole the meshing of drama and action doesn’t always work, and when this film does not work….it almost grinds to a halt.
But in the end, there is enough here for me to recommend, especially the car chase around Montreal’s Olympic Stadium…that stuff was cool!!
NITRO isn’t a great film, but it is very, very good.
Up next this week is the film version of the popular book THE NANNY DIARIES.
Scarlett Johansson from LOST IN TRANSLATION stars in this one as a college graduate who goes to work as a Nanny for an upper class family in New York City.
Scarlett plays “Annie The Nanny” and during the course of the film she has to juggle the dysfunctional elements of the new family she works for, with a new romance, and the spoiled rich kid that she is now responsible for.
I have never read the original source material for THE NANNY DIARIES, but since it came out before the book version of THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA, I can’t profess that one book attempts to be like the other.
But the film version of THE NANNY DIARIES seems desperate to be like the film version of THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA, and it suffers by comparison.
If you are a fan of that Meryl Streep, Anne Hathaway film, and you’ve been waiting for a similar film that is half as good, then here you go.
THE NANNY DIARIES is not awful, I have seen worse films this year, but even the great cast of Scarlett Johansson, Laura Linney and Paul Giamatti can’t save it. It suffers by comparison to better films, like the aforementioned THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA.
Another film that suffers by comparison is the third film in the succesful and exceptionally lucrative PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN series.
The difference here is that AT WORLD’S END suffers by comparison to it’s predecessors, and thus this third one is just awful.
I would never profess myself to be the world’s biggest fan of 2003’s THE CURSE OF THE BLACK PEARL, but I did like it. It was fun…, actually, let me be more specific…it was a rollocking good time!
I didn’t think that was true about last year’s DEAD MAN’S CHEST, it wasn’t rollocking at all, but it was still a fun film to watch, and some of the action scenes in it were just superb!
There is nothing superb, rolocking OR fun about AT WORLD’S END…and at a running time of almost three hours…I even found it a tough film to sit through.
Yes, Depp is still great as Captain Jack Sparrow, and Keira Knightly, Orland Bloom and the rest of the cast and crew of the flick and it’s ships are all believable in their roles…but where is the fun?!?
Without fun, this PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN movie gets a failing grade from me. If “A” is the best rating, I will give this one an “R”, not because that is a pirates favourite letter of the alphabet, but because that is how far away from an “A” this movie is.
Arrrrr!!
I’ll end this week on a more positive note with two new releases that aren’t for everyone, but if they are for you, then you will love them as much as I did!!
And I do love and enjoy BATTLESTAR GALLACTICA and the series new release RAZOR.
If you don’t watch the new made-in-Vancouver version of the late seventies series BATTLESTAR GALLACTICA, first off, you are missing out! Even if you don’t like science-fiction, the acting and writing in the series is some of the best on television!!
Secondly, if you don’t watch, then not much about RAZOR will interest, or make sense to you…even though it too, is very well written and acted.
HOWEVER, for us fans, this release is an Unrated Extended edition of the movie that aired three weeks ago on TV, and the special Features on the DVD include deleted scenes, a wide array of behind the scenes interviews, a Sneak Peak of the upcoming fourth and final season, a commentary and more.
BATTLESTAR GALLACTICA is a show that I would highly recommend to anyone, and RAZOR is as well. However, don’t start with RAZOR…go back to the beginning and…enjoy!
It is great television!!
Finally this week is a spectacular 40-DVD Box Set that features a documentary about each team that has won the first forty Superbowls. From the 1966 Green Bay Packers, to the 2005 Pittsburgh Steelers.
NFL AMERICA’S GAME – SUPERBOWL I to XL COLLECTOR’S EDITION features a look, on the field, and off, in the locker rooms, and on the bus, and everywhere that each team that won the Superbowl went.
And they do it with old interviews, new interviews, archival footage and even old television commercials.
NFL AMERICA’S GAME – SUPERBOWL I to XL COLLECTOR’S EDITION is one of the most impressive Box Sets I have ever seen, and if there is someone you love who enjoys four-down football, this is something they will love and watch for years to come!
NFL AMERICA’S GAME – SUPERBOWL I to XL COLLECTOR’S EDITION, BATTLESTAR GALLACTICA – RAZOR, PIRATES OF THE CARRIBEAN – AT WORLD’S END, THE NANNY DIARIES and NITRO are all available now on DVD.
Coming up on the next Couch Potato Report
Go back to the very beginning with SEASON ONE of THIS HOUR HAS 22 MINUTES, and THE COMPLETE SECOND SEASON of SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE.
Also next week is the 3-DISC COLLECTOR’S EDITION of the action film parody HOT FUZZ and the 4DVD set THE JASON BOURNE COLLECTION with the new to DVD release THE BOURNE ULTIMATUM.
I’m Dan Reynish. I’ll have more on those, and some other releases, in seven days.
For now, that’s this week’s COUCH POTATO REPORT.
Enjoy the movies and I’ll see you back here next time on The Couch!