The Couch Potato Report – September 15th, 2012
Inside this week’s Couch Potato Report the second biggest movie of all time, Snow White and The Huntsman.
A lot of people have returned to the RMS Titanic this year, due to the fact that it was one-hundred years ago that she hit an iceberg and sank in the North Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Newfoundland.
Even Kapuskasing, Ontario, born filmmaker James Cameron returned to Titanic in 2012 as he re-released his movie about the doomed vessel, a movie that remains the second highest grossing film of all time, behind only his own film AVATAR.
TITANIC has now found it’s was to Blu-ray and it now looks and sounds even more impressive than ever.
TITANIC was so successful, won so many awards, was such a pop culture phenomenon and remains so beloved to this day, that I don’t need to recap the plot for you.
As I watched it again this week I was reminded why so many people – including myself – love it so much.
It’s because Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet have such great chemistry together, the effects and recreation of the boat are amazing, and the story is both completely engrossing and heartbreakingly tragic.
I have loved TITANIC since the first time I saw it, and the new Blu-ray takes us even deeper inside the film with some all-new retrospective extras that feature almost all of the entire cast and crew…including the great Kate Winslet.
There is also an all-new ninety-minute documentary included here called “Titanic: The Final Word with James Cameron” that features engineers, architects and historians examining why the Titanic sank, using new technology that has come to light since the film was released.
TITANIC is an amazing film, that has resulted in an amazing Blu-ray set, from an amazing Canadian filmmaker and I highly recommend it.
A few weeks ago I lamented the fact that – somehow – 2012 had – for some unknown reason – become the year of the Snow White film. I made that statement while reviewing the film MIRROR MIRROR and I concluded by stating that it wasn’t anything special at all, and that you should just skip it.
In just a few moments, I will also conclude my review of the latest attempt at retelling the classic Grimm Brothers story with that statement because when it comes to the film SNOW WHITE AND THE HUNTSMAN, it should actually be called SNORE WHITE.
Even now, while thinking about it, I am getting sleepy because of how boring it is.
The Huntsman is ordered by the Evil Queen to take Snow White into the woods and kill her in this film, but he winds up becoming her protector and mentor.
SNOW WHITE AND THE HUNTSMAN stars Kristen Stewart from the TWILIGHT films as Snow White, Chris Hemsworth of THOR and THE AVENGERS as The Huntsman, and the always lovely Charlize Theron as the Evil Queen.
Charlize is the only thing about this movie that is even remotely entertaining. Kristen Stewart, on the other hand, just looks miserable the whole time.
I’ll admit that SNOW WHITE AND THE HUNTSMAN does have some interesting twists on the story, and a few well-choreographed fight scenes…and there are a lot of fight scenes…but it doesn’t possess enough of anything to make it worth your time.
This movie just isn’t anything special at all, and so you should skip it.
It happens sometimes that I will watch a film from start to finish and still have no idea where the title of it comes from.
The action thriller CLEANSKIN is one of those movies.
It’s about a British secret service agent in London who is trying to track down a suicide bomber and his terrorist cell, but I have no idea what the title means. If it was explained in the movie, I missed it.
I went online once I was done watching the movie and I now know that a “Cleanskin” – in this case – refers to an undercover operative unknown to his or her targets, or a terrorist unknown to national security services.
And now I know.
CLEANSKIN starts off strong – not unlike a James Bond or Jack Ryan film – and I wanted to see what happened in the end, but along the way it is quite slow and even boring at times and so I can’t recommend it.
It was never awful, it’s just not good enough for me to suggest you see it.
I also don’t think you need to see the wannabe stoner comedy HIGH SCHOOL either, although it does have a pretty good cast, an unseen premise, and some funny moments.
In HIGH SCHOOL a valedictorian parties with the local stoner just before the school announces that there will be drug testing.
If he fails he will lose his scholarship, so he devises a plan to ensure the entire student body and faculty also fail their tests.
The cast of HIGH SCHOOL features Academy Award winner Adrien Brody, Emmy Award winner Michael Chiklis, Colin Hanks from DEXTER, Michael Vartan of ALIAS, Curtis Armstrong from REVENGE OF THE NERDS and even Yeardley Smith, who voices Lisa Simpson.
The main problem here is that HIGH SCHOOL is a comedy that isn’t funny. I laughed a couple of times, but not that often. That is why you should skip the film.
There are better stoner comedies out there. Check out the made-in-Toronto HALF BAKED instead.
As the onslaught of TV Shows on DVD from last year continues – with the new season now upon us – finally this week is the SECOND SEASON of a police procedural show called BLUE BLOODS…starring Tom Selleck, Donnie Wahlberg, Bridget Moynahan, and Winnipeg born actor Len Cariou.
The show BLUE BLOODS is about a family of New York City cops, their dealings on the street, and their dealings with each other.
THE SECOND SEASON of BLUE BLOODS is a well-written and well-acted show, full of characters that you will actually care about. It isn’t the greatest police procedural show of all time…but it is very, very good.
I liked it and I can easily recommend it.
THE SECOND SEASON of BLUE BLOODS, HIGH SCHOOL, CLEANSKIN, the boring SNOW WHITE AND THE HUNTSMAN, and James Cameron’s still amazing TITANIC are all available now, either on disc or on demand.
Coming up inside the next Couch Potato Report
The made-in-Vancouver dramatic/fantasy/mystery/thriller DONOVAN’S ECHO; THE BEST EXOTIC MARIGOLD HOTEL; KATY PERRY – THE MOVIE: PART OF ME and all of the INDIANA JONES films debut in HD on blu-ray in the five disc set THE COMPLETE ADVENTURES.
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 again next time on The Couch!