Category: The Couch Potato Report

The Couch Potato Report – March 15th, 2014

At last weekend’s Canadian Screen Awards – recognizing accomplishments in film, television, and digital media – THE ART OF THE STEAL had two nominations: Jonathon Sobol was nominated for ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY and Jay Baruchel received a nod for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role.

Neither man won a Screen Award, but their film is a winner and one that I can easily recommend.

I love heist flicks! Whether the thieves in the film are trying to steal money, diamonds, cars, paintings, or just about anything, I tend to enjoy even the most mediocre films in the genre.

The made in Hamilton and Niagara Falls flick THE ART OF THE STEAL isn’t an instant classic – like OCEAN’S ELEVEN, THE TOWN or RESERVOIR DOGS – but it has a great cast, an interesting story, and you can’t see the ending coming a mile away…all important ingredients for heist films.

The great Kurt Russell of ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK stars in THE ART OF THE STEAL as a motorcycle daredevil and part-time art thief who teams up with his brother to steal one of the most valuable books in the world, even though that same brother ratted him out on their last job, sending him to jail for five and a half years.

Matt Dillon plays the brother and Jay Baruchel of the Academy Award winning film MILLION DOLLAR BABY is Kurt Russell’s closest friend and confident.

THE ART OF THE STEAL has more than a few really smart scenes, and some well-done action. This is a very good heist flick and I easily recommend it.

I also recommend – highly recommend – INSIDE LLEWYN DAVIS, although I know many movie fans will disagree with me and not like it.

INSIDE LLEWYN DAVIS is the latest film from Joel and Ethan Coen, the brothers who also gave us O BROTHER WHERE ART THOU, FARGO, THE BIG LEBOWSKI and NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN.

But this one is not in the same league with those great, more accessible Coen Brothers films. INSIDE LLEWYN DAVIS is more for people who enjoyed A SERIOUS MAN, INTOLERABLE CRUELTY and BARTON FINK.

Llewyn Davis is an exceptionally talented young singer trying to make it in the Greenwich Village folk scene of 1961, but he can’t seem to catch a break.

However, he isn’t a cinematic hero you root for, someone you hope rises above his position in life and beats the odds to succeed. Instead, he’s actually kind of a jerk, someone who maybe doesn’t deserve to be successful.

INSIDE LLEWYN DAVIS is – as you’d expect from Joel and Ethan Coen – exceptionally well written and populated with a unique cast of characters, and I really enjoyed it – even its flawed ending.

I highly recommend it to anyone who loves the Coens or likes their films to be a bit challenging.

AND if you love the roots style folk music featured in the film, the blu-ray and DVD comes with the bonus concert film “Another Day Another Time: Celebrating the Music of Inside Llewyn Davis” that features Joan Baez, Marcus Mumford, Patti Smith, and Jack White, as well as the star of the film Oscar Isaac.

I loved the concert just as much as the film!!

I have two releases for you now that are based on well received books, but neither film is worth the time of anyone who hasn’t read them.

Fans of the literary version may really enjoy them, but I did not.

No, I did not enjoy THE BOOK THIEF, the war drama based on the novel of the same name by Markus Zusak. I was interested in seeing it, and the story is interesting, but the film is so boring.

THE BOOK THIEF takes place during World War II in Germany. A young girl finds solace by stealing books and sharing them with others, especially her foster Father and the Jewish refugee who is being hidden by her foster parents in the basement of their home.

Add to that interesting plot the fact that the film – and the book – are narrated by Death, during a place and time when he notes he was extremely busy.

First published in 2005, THE BOOK THIEF has won numerous awards and was listed on The New York Times Best Seller list for over 230 weeks. The film stars Oscar winner Geoffrey Rush and Oscar nominee Emily Watson.

A great pedigree and cast, but the filmmakers failed to capitalize on all of that. They failed convince me the movie was taking place in wartime, and that the little girl aged at all, even though she’s supposed to as the story lasts over the course of a few years and as it went on I just couldn’t wait for it to end.

Now, that said, in conversations I’ve had this week on Facebook and Twitter, you can find me at Facebook.com/saskweekend and on Twitter I’m @DanReynishCBC, in those conversations it seems that those who’ve read the book also really enjoyed the movie, and those who didn’t did not.

I did not, and – as I’ve said many times before – if you have to read a book to fully enjoy a movie, then that movie has failed.

As I’ve not read the book, I can’t profess it a failure, but THE BOOK THIEF is not a movie I recommend

I also don’t recommend the movie ENDER’S GAME, based on Orson Scott Card’s military science fiction novel of the same name, although it too has an interesting premise and a great cast – that includes Harrison Ford, Hailee Steinfeld, Viola Davis, Abigail Breslin, and Ben Kingsley.

This is the story of a young boy named Ender Wiggin. Before he’s even a teenage he is recruited by the International Military to lead the fight against the Formics, a genocidal alien race that nearly annihilated the human race in a previous invasion.

Ender doesn’t think he’s ready to lead, and just about everyone agrees with him, but the Colonel, played by Harrison Ford thinks he’s the only one who can save the human race.

ENDER’S GAME is not awful, but it is never great and – since I haven’t read the book – it just seemed like a version of STARSHIP TROOPERS for kids.

The novel won the Nebula Award for best novel in 1985, and the Hugo Award for best novel in 1986, considered the two most prestigious awards in science fiction, but the movie was a bit too slow and boring for me to recommend.

But if you love the book, check it out. You may very well love it!

Finally this week, less a review than a chance for me to let fans of the television series NEWHART know that THE COMPLETE SECOND SEASON is now available on DVD.

NEWHART was a comedy series that aired from October 25th, 1982 to May 21st, 1990, and starred comedian Bob Newhart and actress Mary Frann as an author and wife who owned and operated an inn located in a small, rural Vermont town that was home to many eccentric characters.

Season Two highlights include Dick fighting against the advances of a celebrity author, Joanna challenging the town’s historical practice of the men and women eating separately during the town’s potluck dinners, and more!

I laughed out loud at THE COMPLETE SECOND SEASON of NEWHART this week, and fans of the show shouldn’t miss this great three-disc set!

THE COMPLETE SECOND SEASON of the still great series NEWHART; the slow and boring teenager’s sci-fi flick ENDER’S GAME; the very slow and also boring adaptation of the bestseller THE BOOK THIEF; the great, but not for everyone Coen Brothers film INSIDE LLEWYN DAVIS; and the very good Canadian Screen Award nominated heist picture THE ART OF THE STEAL are all available now, either on disc or on demand.

Hey, coming up inside the next Couch Potato Report is the Box Office smash FROZEN, which features the Academy Award winning song “Let It Go”!

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!

The Couch Potato Report – March 8th, 2014

In the Summer of 1970, some of the biggest names in music got on a train after a concert in Toronto and traveled to Winnipeg and Calgary to perform shows there as well.

Those big names on the train? The Grateful Dead, Janis Joplin, Ian & Sylvia and The Band among others!!

The 2003 documentary FESTIVAL EXPRESS features amazing live footage shot during the concerts, as well as jam sessions recorded about the train itself, because there was no sleeping as the train rolled across Canada, they just played music and partied all night…until they ran out and had to stop to replenish their supply.

FESTIVAL EXPRESS also includes present-day interviews with some of the performers on the train, sharing their very entertaining memories of what happened.

FESTIVAL EXPRESS features beautiful footage of Canadian, Ian and Sylvia performing with the Grateful Dead, and the opportunity to see some classic rock stars we’ve lost – like Janis Joplin and Jerry Garcia – just having fun and playing music.

It is a tremendous film, and the brand new blu-ray is a must see and a way to see Toronto, Winnipeg, Saskatoon and Calgary again, as they were in the early 1970s.

At the conclusion of the 86th Annual Academy Awards last Sunday, Will Smith came on stage to announce the winner for Best Picture. It was no surprise that the Oscar went to heart-wrenching drama 12 YEARS A SLAVE.

This is the brutally violent and heartbreaking story of Solomon Northup, a free black man from upstate New York, who is abducted and sold into slavery.

He was 12 YEARS A SLAVE.

The cast of the film all give great performances, especially Lupita Nyong’o, who won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.

The story is true, the performances amazing and the violence depicted in 12 YEARS A SLAVE is brutal. That makes it tough to watch at times, but I do highly recommend that you do watch it.

This is filmmaking at its finest.

Another movie that I’ll refer to as filmmaking at its finest is the documentary WATERMARK.

Parts of this film and the scenery and places it shows us will take your breath away.

WATERMARK is a Canadian documentary looking at the history and use of water and how it shapes humanity.

I was fascinated by the footage in WATERMARK, it is a visually stunning piece of work that features water in the desert, humankind’s attempts to move water and shape how it moves, fountains at play in Las Vegas and much more.

Search this one out, you will not be disappointed!

But you will, you absolutely will be disappointed if you watch Spike Lee’s latest film, especially if you know Park Chan-wook’s 2003 South Korean cult film that it is a remake of, but even if you don’t you’ll still be disappointed that such a great filmmaker has given us such a boring non-thrilling action film.

Josh Brolin from NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN stars in OLDBOY as a man who is kidnapped and locked into solitary confinement for 20 years.

When he is finally set free he seeks answers and wants to know why he was locked up, and by whom, and you won’t care.

The 2003 version was original, and interesting and had amazing fight scenes and a tremendous story twist. The remake is meant to be all of that, but never comes close.

Skip this remake of OLDBOY, at all costs, but seek out the original. Now THAT is a great flick that is very worthy of your time!

Finally this week is a film I’m reviewing not for fans of Suzanne Collins’ “The Hunger Games Trilogy”, but for movie fans. If you love the book, you’ll love the movie, but should movie fans spend almost two and a half hours watching THE HUNGER GAMES – CATCHING FIRE?

I say yes…mildly.

Much like the first film THE HUNGER GAMES – CATCHING FIRE lacks any immediacy in the story – they are involved in a contest where the lone survivor is the winner, yet they sit around and talk on an open beach instead of hunting down their opponents!!! – plus the special effects aren’t great, and members of the cast can’t act.

The reason I do mildly recommend it is because Oscar winner Jennifer Lawrence is great as Katniss and veterans Stanley Tucci, Woody Harrelson, Canadian Icon Donald Sutherland and the late Phillip Seymour Hoffman are very entertaining in their roles as well.

So, movie fans, I do mildly recommend THE HUNGER GAMES – CATCHING FIRE to you…but you will need to see the first one first.

The pretty good sequel THE HUNGER GAMES – CATCHING FIRE, the awful and pointless remake OLDBOY; the visually stunning and fascinating documentary WATERMARK; the Academy Award winning Best Picture 12 YEARS A SLAVE; and the great 1970 music documentary FESTIVAL EXPRESS are all available now, either on disc or on demand.

And that’s this week’s COUCH POTATO REPORT.

Enjoy the movies and I’ll see you back here again next time on The Couch!

The Couch Potato Report – March 1st, 2014

The 86th Annual Academy Awards will be given out on Sunday night, and if you are looking to see all of the nominated movies before emcee Ellen DeGeneres walks onstage to start the show, then I have good news! Two more of them are now available for you to watch at home.

The more nominated of the two is GRAVITY, which received 10 nods – including Best Picture, Best Original Screenplay, Best Director for Alfonso Cuaron and Best Actress for Sandra Bullock.

GRAVITY stars Bullock as a medical engineer and George Clooney as an astronaut who have to find a way to survive in space and get back to earth after the destruction of their shuttle leaves them adrift.

GRAVITY has spectacular visuals, two tremendous performances and in any other year Sandra Bullock would easily win another Oscar for Best Actress. Unfortunately she is up against Cate Blanchett this year, and Cate is a shoo-in to win, so Sandra won’t get a second trophy just yet, but her film is a complete winner.

I highly, very highly recommend GRAVITY. This is filmmaking at its absolute finest and that’s why Alfonso Cuaron will win the Oscar for Best Director.

We’re off to Nebraska now as that is the destination of the lead character in the Academy Award nominated film named after that state.

NEBRASKA has six Academy Awards nominations, including Best Picture, Best Original Screenplay, Best Director for Alexander Payne , Best Supporting Actress for June Squibb, and Best Actor for Bruce Dern.

Longtime character actor Bruce Dern – father of Laura and co-star of COMING HOME in 1978 and DJANGO UNCHAINED in 2012 – plays an aging, alcoholic father who can no longer drive but decides to make the almost 1400 kilometre trip from Montana to Nebraska, no matter what, because he thinks he has won a million dollars.

His youngest son, played by Will Forte of SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE, knows his father hasn’t won anything, but since he’s so determined to go anyway, he decides to drive him. But he never humours him or anyone, he doesn’t ever pretend that his father has won anything.

NEBRASKA follows the classic cinematic storyline where two estranged people get to know each other again through a road trip and form a new bond, putting old issues aside.

The difference with this one is the humour in the film – it is very funny at times – and the performance from Bruce Dern. If it wasn’t for Matthew McConaughey work in DALLAS BUYERS CLUB and Leonardo DiCaprio’s in THE WOLF OF WALL STREET, Dern would be a lock to win the Oscar. He won’t win, but NEBRASKA is still a great little movie that I really enjoyed and can easily recommend.

The French film BLUE IS THE WARMEST COLOUR didn’t receive any Academy Award nominations, but at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival, it unanimously won the highest prize, the Palme d’Or, and was the first film to have the award given to both the director and the lead actresses, Léa Seydoux and Adèle Exarchopoulos.

This wonderful film is a love story about a young woman named Adele whose life is changed when she meets Emma, a slightly older, much more confident woman with blue hair. Emma helps Adele discover love, desire and herself as she grows from a young woman to an adult.

Adele grows, seeks herself, loses herself and ultimately finds herself through love and loss.

Based on the 2010 French graphic novel of the same name BLUE IS THE WARMEST COLOUR features interesting characters and two tremendous performances. Due to the very graphic love scenes it’s not for everyone, but I really enjoyed it. Even at three hours long, it goes by very fast, and I highly recommend it.

Finally this week…a movie with no major Award nominations…but it is the only release that features one of THE AVENGERS.

THOR – THE DARK WORLD picks up after the events in New York in THE AVENGERS as the superhero must return to earth when Jane Foster is possessed by a great power.

Thor must protect her from a new threat of old times: the Dark Elves, and he needs help to do that, so he turns to Loki, who has been imprisoned for what he’s done, both on earth in New York and elsewhere.

THOR – THE DARK WORLD is a great film!! The action scenes are just right – never going on too long, the special effects superb, and the cast – including Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman and Tom Hiddleston – are all note perfect. I really enjoyed it – even if the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences did not – and can easily recommend it.

The very enjoyable action flick THOR – THE DARK WORLD: the very entertaining, very passionate, Cannes Film Festival Award winning BLUE IS THE WARMEST COLOUR; the great, six time Academy Award nominated film NEBRASKA; and the exceptional soon to be Academy Award winning film GRAVITY starring Sandra Bullock and George Clooney are all available now, either on disc or on demand.

And that’s this week’s COUCH POTATO REPORT.

Enjoy the movies – and the Academy Awards – and I’ll see you back here again next time on The Couch!

The Couch Potato Report – February 22nd, 2014

Streaming sites such as Netflix and the ability to rent movies without leaving your house have changed everything over the past few years. Well, almost everything. There are still occasions where you have to actually go to a store – or order something from an online store.

Oh sure, if you only want to see GAME OF THRONES once, you watch it on HBO and be done with it. But if you want the show, in high quality on Blu-ray, in a box set with plenty of extras…to a store you must go!

GAME OF THRONES is a tremendous television series about what happens surrounding a civil war in a sprawling fantasy kingdom, but it’s also about family, honour, loyalty and friends.

It has adventure…drama…fantasy…beautiful women and men…plenty of action…and dragons!! All of that and much, much more, can be found in THE COMPLETE THIRD SEASON of the series GAME OF THRONES.

Based on “A Song of Ice and Fire”, George R. R. Martin’s series of fantasy novels, this show has a great cast, fantastic sets and costumes, and offers up plenty of surprises…if you’ve been able to avoid the spoilers from SEASON THREE of GAME OF THRONES…good for you!! You are very lucky!!

SEASON ONE of this show was great…SEASON TWO was even better…and this latest SEASON THREE is also great!

I can – and do – easily recommend GAME OF THRONES!! Not just THE COMPLETE THIRD SEASON, but the first and second seasons as well!!

I also recommend THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON of THE AMERICANS, just not as highly. Oh it’s good, it’s just not that good.

THE AMERICANS was created by former CIA officer Joe Weisberg and is set during the Cold War in the early 1980s. Keri Russell from FELICITY and Matthew Rhys of BROTHERS AND SISTERS play two Soviet KGB officers posing as an American married couple in the suburbs of Washington, DC.

They have two children who don’t know they’re spies, and their neighbour is an FBI Counter-Intelligence agent, who may or may not know, which leads to all sorts of tense moments.

THE AMERICANS does have some great spy storylines, as they incorporate real-life events such as the attempted assassination of Ronald Reagan into the narrative, but it is also a show about the couple and their efforts to save their marriage and family.

And that latter fact is why the show isn’t that good. I loved the spy stuff, but then, along comes another scene where they talk about their feelings and how they believe in their marriage and want to save it and I wanted more spy stuff!!

THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON of THE AMERICANS is very good, it is above average, and it is very smart. I just wish it had more cold war storylines than cold marriage ones…so, call that a mild recommendation.

Up we climb now, to THE SUMMIT.

On August 1st, 2008, a tragic event happened that has become known as “The K2 Disaster”. Eleven mountaineers from international expeditions died that day on K2, the second-highest mountain on Earth. Three others were seriously injured. It was the worst single accident in the history of K2 mountaineering.

THE SUMMIT is a documentary about “The 2008 K2 Disaster” and it combines documentary footage with recreations of events.

This is a very good, very informative and very interesting movie, and I do recommend it, but the problem that I had with THE SUMMIT was that I could never tell what was real and what was a recreation. Was this a survivor on the screen in front of me, or an actor playing a person who died?

That wasn’t always clear, and that took away some of the movie’s power and emotion, which is why ultimately it only gets a mild recommendation from me.

It has been said that if you haven’t got anything nice to say, you shouldn’t say anything at all. As a reviewer, it can be difficult to adhere to that…but sometimes I do. When it comes to the animated movie JUSTICE LEAGUE – WAR, I will.

JUSTICE LEAGUE – WAR is an animated superhero film that is an adaptation of Geoff Johns and Jim Lee’s 2011 Justice League: Origin storyline, where the world’s finest heroes create the Justice League in order to stop an alien invasion of Earth.

Yes, this movie features the Justice League, Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Flash, Green Lantern, and others and you won’t care.

I doubt even huge fans of comics and comic movies will care – I am one, and I sure didn’t. This is the 18th direct-to-home-viewing movie that they’ve made from DC Comics, and instead of getting better, they are getting worse.

There is just too much fighting in them, especially in this one, and not enough story or character development. The animation and voice talent are all great, but you won’t care.

Skip JUSTICE LEAGUE – WAR, it just isn’t worth your time. Read the comics, they are great, but skip the movie.

And since I haven’t got anything nice to say, that is all I’ll say, instead of saying nothing at all.

It’s been forty years since one of the greatest revenge flicks ever was released.

Charles Bronson stars in DEATH WISH as Paul Benjamin, a New Yorker whose life is overturned when his wife and daughter are attacked by muggers. His wife does not survive the attack, and his traumatized daughter is left catatonic so he decides to fight back, taking to the streets to punish all muggers.

DEATH WISH came out in 1974 and has just been released on blu-ray in a 40th ANNIVERSARY EDITION, but there is nothing on the disc but the film. No bonus features, no retrospectives on how the film brought the revenge flick genre into the mainstream…nothing but the film that does look a bit dated.

I still recommend it, flaws and all, because I don’t want anyone connected to the movie to come looking for me.

From a 40th ANNIVERSARY EDITION, we move ahead thirty years to the 10th ANNIVERSARY EDITION of an Academy Award winning classic…Clint Eastwood’s MILLION DOLLAR BABY.

MILLION DOLLAR BABY won four Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Actress for Hilary Swank.

She played a determined woman in her early thirties who convinces an aging trainer to take her on to help her reach her dream of becoming a professional boxer.

Eastwood plays the trainer, and he also directed, winning the Oscar for his efforts.

This blu-ray of MILLION DOLLAR BABY does have some bonus materials, plenty of them, including some all new ones for the 10th ANNIVERSARY EDITION.

Here’s co-star Morgan Freeman, who also won an Academy Award for his performance.

MILLION DOLLAR BABY is a spectacular movie that I highly recommend.

Back in November of 2009 it was my absolute pleasure to tell you about a seven-disc box set that had been released called ROCKY – THE UNDISPUTED COLLECTION. The set included all six of the ROCKY films – including the original, Academy Award winning Best Picture from 1976 – along with a bonus disc loaded with extras.

Here in February of 2014, there is now another ROCKY set to talk about, and as much as I enjoyed the HEAVYWEIGHT COLLECTION, I’ll be keeping the one released in 2009.

The main calling card for this set about Rocky Balboa, two-time heavyweight champion of the world, husband to Adrian, and all-around good guy, is the fact that it includes a remastered edition of the original – which looks and sounds amazing!!

The HEAVYWEIGHT COLLECTION doesn’t give fans of this series – like me – any real reason to pick it up…since we already have THE UNDISPUTED COLLECTION.

The other five films are as they were last time – with no special features at all on ROCKY II through V – and no upgrade to the quality of the films…and they could really use that.

I still love the films – yes, even ROCKY V – and I still recommend the series, but the only reason to pick up the ROCKY – HEAVYWEIGHT COLLECTION is if you don’t already have them in HD on blu-ray.

And even if that is the case, something tells me that there will be a 40th ANNIVERSARY EDITION coming out in 2016…and hopefully that one will be the actual undisputed best set yet!

The ROCKY – HEAVYWEIGHT COLLECTION; the 10th ANNIVERSARY EDITION of the classic Academy Award winning MILLION DOLLAR BABY; the 40th ANNIVERSARY EDITION of the dated but still great revenge flick DEATH WISH; the horrible DC Comics animated movie JUSTICE LEAGE – WAR; the interesting adventure documentary THE SUMMIT; the very good COMPLETE FIRST SEASON of THE AMERICANS; and the great COMPLETE THIRD SEASON of GAME OF THRONES, which you may have to actually go to a store to own, are all available now, either on disc or on demand.

Coming up inside the next Couch Potato Report will be the Academy Award nominated films GRAVITY and NEBRASKA, and the Box Office hit THOR – THE DARK WORLD.

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!

The Couch Potato Report – February 15th, 2014

In a day and age when we can set our PVRs and DVRs to record anything and just about everything that airs on television, we no longer need to remember when our favourite shows air or return from a break. Just set up the machine to record it whenever it airs and you can watch it whenever you have time.

That being true, there are still shows that I mark the return of on my calendar because I look forward to them and SHERLOCK is one of them. I had January 19th marked it on my calendar when it returned to the airwaves in North America and I had Tuesday of this week marked, as its now available on DVD and blu-ray.

Sherlock Holmes is a fictional detective created in 1887 by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. A television series featuring the detective – and his partner Dr. John Watson – solving cases and crimes in modern day, 21st century London, debuted on the BBC in the Summer of 2010.

Simply called SHERLOCK, each of the first two seasons featured three brilliant ninety minute episodes, and that is true with SEASON THREE as well.

Benedict Cumberbatch is Sherlock, returning from his death at the end of SEASON TWO, and having to explain how he died, and how he faked it to his partner Watson.

Martin Freeman is Watson, who is both trying to come to terms with Sherlock not being dead, and trying to spend as much time as possible with his new girlfriend Mary.

SHERLOCK is clever, smart, fun, funny, touching, and features a great new villain – Rest In Peace Moriarity!!

The writing is exceptional, the cast is perfect and the show is completely and utterly brilliant!!

SHERLOCK – SERIES THREE is a must see…and if you have never seen the first two seasons, head down to 221B Baker Street and investigate them as well!!

Here is a bit of cinematic history, now. WADJDA is the first feature film shot entirely in Saudi Arabia. It is also the first feature-length film made by a female Saudi director.

Haifaa al-Mansour is the director’s name, and she has given us an entertaining and informative film.

Wadjda is the name of a personable and smart 11-year-old girl who wants a bike – even though riding bikes is frowned upon for girls in Saudi Arabia – but she has her heart set on getting one, a specific one, a green one that has caught her eye.

So she enters a contest to try and win the money.

WADJDA is entertaining and informative and I really liked it. Search this one out, it is very worthy of your time.

Here’s another movie that has a bike as a part of its story.

THE ARMSTRONG LIE is a documentary about Lance Armstrong’s improbable rise and ultimate fall from grace while doping to win the Tour de France seven times.

There is nothing new is THE ARMSTRONG LIE, we’ve seen him admit that he took drugs to help him win many times before. What this movie does is tell his whole story, from start to finish, the good stuff, the warts and all, and it doesn’t try and make him look sympathetic in any way.

I thought THE ARMSTRONG LIE was a great documentary, but I’m not sure it’s a movie that anyone needs to see, unless they’re thinking about cheating to win a sporting event, then it should be seen as it is a great cautionary tale.

As we’ve seen lately with professional athletes such as Lance Armstrong and Alex Rodriguez in baseball, cheaters tend to get caught.

Sometimes, sometimes, when it comes to movies, sometimes when a film goes over the top – and I mean waaaaaay over the top of excess and violence – sometimes those movies can work and be entertaining. Sometimes.

The late director Tony Scott managed to pull over the top and violence off brilliantly in the 1993 film TRUE ROMANCE.

Unfortunately his brother Ridley does not pull that combination off in his bloated waste of time called THE COUNSELOR.

Michael Fassbender from SHAME and 12 YEARS A SLAVE stars here as a lawyer who gets in way over his head when he gets involved in drug trafficking.

The film co-stars Cameron Diaz, Javier Bardem, Penélope Cruz and Brad Pitt and the script is the first original film screenplay by novelist Cormac McCarthy…who wrote The Road, No Country for Old Men and For All the Pretty Horses…but you won’t care.

Even though it does have some interesting scenes, it is too over the top, too long, too boring and utterly unforgettable in almost every way.

Allow me to counsel you to skip THE COUNSELOR. You have better things to do with your time.

This next release doesn’t have an original moment in it, not a single genuine moment between its cast of movie characters – because none of these are real people, these are movie characters – and things only seem to happen, through coincidence to move the plot along. Yes, even though there is absolutely no reason for someone to have brought an iPad along with them on a drive to the store, they have it, just so the other person can see what is on it to move the plot along.

THE BEST MAN HOLIDAY is that movie, that unoriginal, not genuine in any way film, that made me laugh and cry. I don’t know why…but I did, I enjoyed it.

THE BEST MAN HOLIDAY is a sequel to the 1999 film THE BEST MAN and it has a great cast that includes Taye Diggs, Terrence Howard, Harold Perrineau, Morris Chestnut, Sanaa Lathan, Nia Long and Regina Hall, all reprising their roles from the original.

The story here is that they all reunite over Christmas and they reminisce, renew old aquaintances and rivalries, and loves. They eat, drink, be merry, love, hate, and fight. They seem to fight a lot.

But somehow, even though it doesn’t sound like I did, I did enjoy most of THE BEST MAN HOLIDAY. I do love films about friends spending time together, so that might be why.

Bottom line, know going in that it isn’t great, but – somehow – it’s better than it should be.

Let’s travel now, to a place for people obsessed with Pride and Prejudice. Yes, in the movies there is such a place, a theme park for those who love Jane Austen, a place where they can go to search for their perfect gentleman.

A place, called AUSTENLAND.

Keri Russell from FELICITY and THE AMERICANS stars here as the Austen obsessed woman, and she is okay in the role…everything about the movie is okay, just okay. It’s nice, but predictable, enjoyable for fans of the genre, but never anything special.

If you are looking for something new to watch this Valentine’s Day weekend, to watch either with or without your own Mr. Darcy, please allow me mildly recommend AUSTENLAND.

In the twenty-three years that The Couch Potato Report has existed in print, on television and radio I’ve reported on the release of this next film on video, laserdisc and DVD, in multiple releases for each format.

And now that it’s now available in HD on blu-ray, I will once again say what I’ve been saying for the last 2.3 decades: I love Disney’s THE JUNGLE BOOK! It is great for people of all ages!! And it features one of my favourite songs of all time, “The Bare Necessities”!

Inspired by the book of the same name by Rudyard Kipling, THE JUNGLE BOOK was the last animated film to be produced by Walt Disney himself, who died during its production, and he put his all in this one.

There is great music, fantastic animation, and the wonderful story of Bagheera the Panther and Baloo the Bear trying to convince Mowgli – The Man Cub – to leave the jungle where he was born and join humankind.

On Blu-ray, THE JUNGLE BOOK looks and sounds terrific and it comes with a wide array of Bonus Materials, new and old.

I highly recommend it – once again – to ages young and old. THE JUNGLE BOOK is one of my favourite animated films of all time and I can’t wait to share it in HD with an all-new generation.

The classic Disney film THE JUNGLE BOOK – that is a classic in any and all formats; the nice but predictable romance AUSTENLAND; the unoriginal, predictable, but mostly entertaining sequel THE BEST MAN HOLIDAY; the not worth any of your time wannabe crime thriller THE COUNSELOR; the exceptional, but stomach turning documentary THE ARMSTRONG LIE; the spectacular Saudi Arabian film WADJDA; and the exceptional SEASON THREE of SHERLOCK are all available now, either on disc or on demand.

And that’s this week’s COUCH POTATO REPORT.

Enjoy the movies and I’ll see you back here again next time on The Couch!

The Couch Potato Report – February 8th, 2014

I always love it when smaller, well-made films that don’t do that well at the Box Office, but have great performances, grab the attention of the Academy Of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. For instance, a film like DALLAS BUYER’S CLUB, from Canadian director Jean-Marc Vallée. When movies like this are recognized over showier, higher profile films like THE BUTLER, I always love it.

DALLAS BUYER’S CLUB did get some early attention simply because of the fifty-plus pounds that star Matthew McConaughey of MAGIC MIKE lost to play a man with AIDS in the early 1980s, but once people started seeing the film the attention it received was primarily due to the quality of his performance.

For the upcoming 86th Annual Academy Awards on March 2nd, DALLAS BUYERS CLUB has six nominations, including Best Picture and Best Actor for McConaughey, who plays a homophobic electrician and rodeo cowboy in Dallas who is diagnosed as HIV positive and given 30 days to live.

When he’s subsequently told that the medicine he needs to survive isn’t available in Dallas, he smuggles it in from around the world and creates a club where members pay a fee to join and are then given the drugs. He works around the system to help others, with the authorities fighting him every step of the way.

Jarred Leto from FIGHT CLUB co-stars as Rayon, an HIV-positive transgender woman, who McConaughey is initially hostile towards, then befriends to help get the Club started. Leto is amazing as well, and his work was also justly recognized and he is nominated as Best Supporting Actor.

Based on a true story, DALLAS BUYER’S CLUB is a superb movie, and don’t be surprised if both Matthew McConaughey and Jarred Leto win Oscars for their performances. Due to the subject matter it isn’t always easy to watch, but it is very worthy of your time.

From THE TALL GUY in 1989, 1994’s FOUR WEDDINGS AND A FUNERAL and NOTTING HILL in 1999 all the way up to LOVE ACTUALLY in 2003 and PIRATE RADIO in 2009, the films that British writer and director Richard Curtis has given us have been very worthy of our time.

And while that is also true about his latest – ABOUT TIME – this is nowhere near his best work. I still enjoyed most of it, and will recommend it in about a minute, but don’t press play on this one and expect the quality of his other works.

His other films have been set in real life situations, where love truly does concur all. Even if the people have to suffer a bit, they all seem like actual humans, and not just movie characters.

ABOUT TIME is set less in the real world as it involves time travel.

No, time travel may not be the central story in the film, it is still a movie about falling in love, being in love, and loving your friends and family – as most Richard Curtis’ films are – but it is present enough to seem like a gimmick.

Canadian actress Rachel McAdams – from THE NOTEBOOK – stars as the main love interest in ABOUT TIME and she is great…a lot of the film is great, but it is far from the best that this great filmmaker has given us.

I do still recommend ABOUT TIME as there are some great Father/Son moments in the film and Richard Curtis knows how to make us laugh and love, just know that this isn’t his best film. But even a mediocre Richard Curtis movie is more enjoyable than some filmmaker’s absolute best.

I really enjoyed this next release, the documentary CUTIE AND THE BOXER.

This very good film is currently nominated for Best Documentary Feature at the 86th Academy Awards and it is a candid look at the chaotic 40-year marriage of famed boxing painter Ushio Shinohara and his wife, Noriko.

He sees he as just his assistant, while she continues to work on her own art and has found a voice of her own.

I hadn’t heard of Ushio Shinohara or his work, or Noriko and so CUTIE AND THE BOXER was all-new to be, and in addition to how interesting it is, their dedication to each other is beautiful at times.

The movie is never great, but it is worthy of your time and I do recommend it.

Also never great is the comedy LAST VEGAS, where four sixty-something year old friends get together in Las Vegas for what might be the final time, because they are all aging and not all completely healthy.

The story here is secondary to the cast, that features Oscar winners one and all – Michael Douglas, Robert De Niro, Morgan Freeman, and Kevin Kline.

What a cast!! They deserve a better movie.

LAST VEGAS is never awful, with that cast AND Oscar winner Mary Steenbergen as a love interest, how could it be, but it isn’t great either. It’s too broad, too predictable, and not as great as it could’ve been.

But the cast and their combined cinematic history enriches the material and ultimately I enjoyed it…I guess, truth be told, I enjoyed the cast.

They were great. Their movie…good enough for me to mildly recommend.

I can’t recommend, mildly or otherwise, the ten part series THE WHITE QUEEN even though the cast is pretty good, the sets are pretty good, and the stories are pretty good.

The reason I can’t is because this historical drama isn’t unique in any way, we’ve seen this type of thing done many times over the past few years in THE TUDORS and shows like that.

This series introduces us to three different, very beautiful, yet equally dedicated women who are all vying to become Queen in 15th Century England.

If these shows are totally your cup of tea, don’t miss THE WHITE QUEEN. Otherwise, there’s nothing wrong with it, but we’ve seen it all before, and seen it done better.

Let’s get in the WABAC Machine now and head to March of 1982 and the debut of a spin off series from the hit show HAPPY DAYS.

By this point there had already been two successful series that had spun off of that show, LAVERNE & SHIRLEY and MORK & MINDY, and there was no reason to think that JOANIE LOVES CHACHI wouldn’t be a third.

Unless you read the premise, or watched the show. At that point…you knew this wouldn’t be the next big spin off.

In the show Joanie and Chachi moved from Milwaukee to Chicago – along with his Mom and her new husband Al.

The kids tried to make it as a couple and make it as musicians as the house band in Al’s new restaurant. The show tried to be funny, but it wasn’t funny all that often. Mostly it was just a pale imitation of the type of stuff we’d grown accustomed to on HAPPY DAYS.

Yes, Joanie and Chachi – or Erin Moran and Scott Baio in real life – were popular characters on HAPPY DAYS, but people didn’t primarily watch HAPPY DAYS for them, they watched it for The Fonz, and that is why JOANIE LOVES CHACHI is considered – to this day – to be one of the biggest blunders in television history.

JOANIE LOVES CHACHI only lasted for two abbreviated seasons before the characters moved back to Milwaukee to be a part of the final season of HAPPY DAYS.

I love these characters so much, it’s too bad the show wasn’t better…isn’t better…but – for you true fans – THE COMPLETE SERIES is now available in a three disc set – and it includes the episode where Fonzie came to visit.

The not quite classic show JOANIE LOVES CHACHI, with classic characters; the okay but never great series THE WHITE QUEEN; the likeable – because of the cast – comedy LAST VEGAS; the very interesting Academy Award nominated documentary CUTIE AND THE BOXER; the very good – but far from great – romance ABOUT TIME, starring Canada’s Rachel McAdams; and the superb – soon to be Academy Award winning – film DALLAS BUYERS CLUB, from Canadian director Jean-Marc Vallée, are all available now, either on disc or on demand.

And that’s this week’s COUCH POTATO REPORT.

Enjoy the movies and I’ll see you back here again next time on The Couch!

The Couch Potato Report – February 1st, 2014

We’re off to Amsterdam to get things started this week, for that is where three buddies from small-town Quebec head for a weekend of partying and fun.

But they tell their wives and girlfriends that they’re going fishing deep in the woods, and they cover their tracks so elaborately as they head to the lake first to take pictures of themselves fishing and with fish before heading to Montreal to get on the plane overseas.

However, once the boys get to the city where just about anything goes, the movie changes from the light hearted comedy it started out as, to a pretty serious drama when one of the guys decides to stay in the Dutch capital because he needs some time to process the fact that his girlfriend is pregnant.

We soon find out why he needs that time…the baby isn’t his.

Once they return to La Belle Province the guys need to prevent their wives from finding out they went to Amsterdam and not fishing, so they tell them – and their friend’s girlfriend – that their buddy just wandered off in the woods and they expect him to come home when he’s ready.

That isn’t acceptable to the worried women, and they arrange for a police search of the area, to no avail.

They don’t find him, and he doesn’t come back…not for a long time.

What starts as a comedy ends as a suspenseful drama and I really enjoyed this film, called AMSTERDAM.

Yes, it’s representation of Amsterdam as the planet’s party palace is a bit cliché, the fact that the police would organize such an exhaustive search without questioning the guys thoroughly is a stretch, and there are a few scenes that don’t quite pay off, but the characters are multi-layered and the film kept me guessing right up until the end.

Search this one out, AMSTERDAM is Canadian cinema at its finest.

RUSH may not be director Ron Howard at his finest, but with films like SPLASH, PARENTHOOD, APOLLO 13 and the Academy Award winning A BEAUTIFUL MIND on his resume, it can be tough to be that great all the time.

And RUSH is great as it shows us the merciless rivalry between Formula One rivals James Hunt and Niki Lauda that existed in the 1970s.

Chris Hemsworth from THOR and THE AVENGERS stars as James Hunt and Daniel Brühl of INGLORIOUS BASTERDS is Niki Lauda and both of them fully embody these great drivers through their performances.

RUSH also features some tremendously staged racing scenes and a great supporting cast. I’m not 100% sure that people who don’t care for auto racing will get into it, but those who enjoy biographies definitely will.

I really enjoyed it, and can easily recommend it.

When I mentioned Daniel Brühl a moment ago and the films he starred in, I only mentioned INGLORIOUS BASTERDS as I wasn’t sure if you’d heard of THE FIFTH ESTATE. This film about Julian Assange and his WikiLeaks website debuted in theatres last fall and didn’t do that well.

And now that it is available for home viewing, it probably won’t do that well either, but it does give me another film to mention now when I talk about German Spanish actor Daniel Brühl, who has starred in INGLORIOUS BASTERDS, RUSH and THE FIFTH ESTATE.

THE FIFTH ESTATE is a look at the website that was created to allow whistle-blowers to anonymously leak covert data, shining a light on the dark recesses of government secrets and corporate crimes, but turned into so much more.

Benedict Cumberbatch from SHERLOCK plays Julian Assange and Daniel Brühl his partner Daniel Domscheit-Berg.

I like biopics, and Cumberbatch and Brühl are actors whose work I usually admire, but THE FIFTH ESTATE is not great…and it thinks that it’s a thriller, when it really isn’t.

Just skip it.

Oh, and also, absolutely, positively, without a question of a doubt, absolutely skip the remake of BONNIE & CLYDE .

I can’t say that strongly enough…skip it!!

BONNIE & CLYDE – the original – the classic – is a 1967 crime film directed by Arthur Penn and starring Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway as the title characters Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker.

Based on the real life pair of outlaws and robbers from the Dallas area who traveled the central United States with their gang during the Great Depression, it won Academy Awards and is a classic. It was among the first 100 films selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry.

For some financial, certainly not artistic reason, BONNIE & CLYDE was remade as a two part television movie and it is a complete waste of three hours of your time.

BONNIE & CLYDE (2013) is poorly cast, too long with too many excess characters and backstory, and it is so boring.

Skip it, ignore it, do not waste your time on it.

I highly recommend the original, very highly, that is a true cinematic classic, but skip the remake.

It’s so bad!!

I wouldn’t call CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF MEATBALLS 2 bad, but it is nowhere near as great as the original. I loved the original, this second one was only okay.

In MEATBALLS 2, our hero Flint Lockwood and his friends are forced to return to the hometown they left in the 2009 original. Their return to Swallow Falls is caused by the fact that Flint’s most infamous machine is still operational and is churning out menacing food-animal hybrids.

And it is the names of those hybrids that was the most clever thing about the film…cucumbirds, sasquash, watermelophant, wildebeest, shrimpanzees and more. I love these food-i-mals!!

The rest of CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF MEATBALLS 2 is fun and funny, but never as good as the original.

That original was so amazing, so it isn’t surprising the second one can’t live up, but it is still very good.

Kids will love it, and parents should get more than a few laughs out of it as well.

So consider that my recommendation.

Now, the final film I have for you this week is also one that I will recommend…but definitely not to everyone.

If you tend to dislike lewd, crude, rude, juvenile, sophomoric humour, then BAD GRANDPA is not for you.

If you like, or even love that sort of stuff…do not miss it!!

Brought to us by Johnny Knoxville and the makers of the JACKASS films and television series, BAD GRANDPA stars Knoxville in makeup as 86-year-old Irving Zisman who takes a road trip from Nebraska to North Carolina to leave his 8 year-old grandson, Billy, back to his real father…and hilarity ensues along the way.

Unlike the other JACKASS films, BAD GRANDPA has a loose plot that connects the stunts and pranks that the series is known for.

And it is those stunts and pranks that make the movie laugh out loud funny…if you like this sort of stuff, which I do, so I can easily recommend BAD GRANDPA.

I was actually in pain from laughing so hard at a few scenes in it.

The guilty pleasure BAD GRANDPA; the good, never great, and certainly not as good as the original, sequel CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF MEATBALLS 2; the poorly cast, too long, boring remake BONNIE AND CLYDE; the not very good would be thriller THE FIFTH ESTATE; Ron Howard’s great racing biopic RUSH and the very good Quebec made dramatic comedy AMSTERDAM are all available now, either on disc or on demand.

Coming up inside the next Couch Potato Report, the Academy Award nominated film DALLAS BUYER’S CLUB, from Canadian Director Jean-Marc Vallée.

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!

The Couch Potato Report – January 25th, 2014

Prior to the announcement of the Academy Award nominations on January 16th, Tom Hanks was considered by almost everyone to have a lock on another nomination for Best Actor. His performance in the action adventure CAPTAIN PHILLIPS was so strong, everyone expected to hear his name called that morning.

But it wasn’t.

Oh sure, Bale, Dern, Leo, Chiwetel and McConaughey all gave great performances…but none of them are as beloved as Tom Hanks is. He is Hollywood royalty, and his work in CAPTAIN PHILLIPS is amazing, well deserving of an Academy Award nomination, and well worth your time.

Hanks stars in this great film as Captain Richard Phillips and it is based on the true story of the 2009 hijacking of the Maersk Alabama by Somali pirates.

CAPTAIN PHILLIPS is intense and interesting and so well acted!! The film did receive six Academy Award nominations, including one for Best Picture and Best Supporting Actor for Barkhad Abdi – who plays one of the pirates – but I’m still surprised that Tom Hanks wasn’t nominated, and that Director Paul Greengrass, who gave us the two best JASON BOURNE films, wasn’t nominated either.

But even if the Academy didn’t recognize Hanks and Greengrass’ efforts, I sure did, and I recommend that you check it out as well. This is a great film!

Woody Allen’s latest film also features a tremendous lead performance, and the Academy got it right when they nominated Cate Blanchett for Best Actress in BLUE JASMINE, and don’t be surprised if she wins, come Oscar night on March 2nd. She is brilliant in the role.

BLUE JASMINE is about a once rich Manhattan socialite named Jasmine who loses everything when her wealthy businessman husband is exposed as a fraud and sent to jail for stealing people’s money. After falling into poverty and homelessness she moves to San Francisco to live with her working class sister Ginger, someone who had been swindled by Jasmine’s husband.

Comedian Andrew Dice Clay plays her former Brother-In-Law. Sally Hawkins is the sister and she was justly nominated as Best Supporting Actress for her work. Woody Allen was also given a nod for Best Original Screenplay, and BLUE JASMINE is original. It doesn’t fall upon clichés.

Due to her situation Jasmine is a drowning woman clutching at straws as she is now living a life she feels is beneath her. But as her downward spiral goes on, Jasmine doesn’t just have something wrong with her that can be explained and maybe fixed, she continues to fall and make those around her suffer because of the bad choices she’s made.

Ultimately she has to live with the consequences of her actions and even though it isn’t a happy film, BLUE JASMINE is tremendous. It has a great script and some wonderful – Academy Award nominated – performances.

I can easily recommend it, even to people who don’t usually like Woody Allen’s movies.

A pair of releases now that aren’t great, but I will – and do – mildly recommend them both.

The supernatural horror story CARRIE was first turned into a film in 1976. Based on the 1974 novel of the same name by Stephen King that film was directed by Brian De Palma and received two Academy Award nominations, one for Sissy Spacek in the title role and one for Piper Laurie as her abusive mother.

In the new made-in-Toronto remake, Chloë Grace Moretz from HUGO and KICK-ASS stars as the daughter and Julianne Moore of THE BIG LEBOWSKI is the abusive mother.

If you don’t know the story of CARRIE, she is a shy girl in a small town with no friends who has been sheltered by her very religious mother.

One day Carrie realizes that she has telekinetic powers and she unleashes that terror after being pushed too far at her senior prom.

I have read Stephen King’s book, but can’t remember seeing the original film…so this version of CARRIE stands alone for me. It wasn’t great, but it is a good enough horror film. Fans of the genre will enjoy it. Others should just ignore it.

There isn’t a member of the cast of the comedy IN A WORLD that I don’t like watching in movies or on TV.

From Lake Bell and Demetri Martin to Michaela Watkins, Ken Marino, Rob Corddry and Nick Offerman I enjoy them all.

This great cast all star in a film directed, written, co-produced by and starring Lake Bell as a woman in her twenties who wants a career doing voice-over work for film trailers.

Her arrogant father and his protégé are just two of the roadblocks standing in her way of becoming the voice who brings the classic line IN A WORLD… back to the big screen.

IN A WORLD is never great, but it – and the cast – are always likeable. Plus, it’s fun and quirky and offers an interesting insight into how movie trailers are made.

Love the cast, like the movie, so consider that a mild recommendation.

We’re off to Edmonton for our final release this week, where the action/thriller FREEZER was made.

Dylan McDermott from AMERICAN HORROR STORY and THE PRACTICE plays Robert, a seemingly ordinary man who wakes up after being knocked out and finds himself locked in a meat freezer by Russian thugs.

They believe that he owes them 8 million dollars. He has no idea what they’re talking about.

Or does he?

FREEZER is a small, low budget film that sort of falls apart as it goes on, but still kept me interested, and the cast are all very good.

I didn’t love it, but I enjoyed it enough to give it a mild recommendation.

The made-in-Edmonton action thriller FREEZER; the not great, but likeable comedy IN A WORLD; the made-in-Toronto only okay remake of CARRIE; the great Woody Allen three-time Academy Award nominated comedic drama BLUE JASMINE; and the great action film CAPTAIN PHILLIPS, which has six Oscar nods, but not one for Tom Hanks or Director Paul Greengrass, are all available now, either on disc or on demand.

And that’s this week’s COUCH POTATO REPORT.

Enjoy the movies and I’ll see you back here again next time on The Couch!

The Couch Potato Report – January 18th, 2014

Two of my favourite films of 2013 are now available to watch at home, and I recommend that you do, especially when it comes to the music documentary 20 FEET FROM STARDOM

This superb film will introduce you to backup singers Darlene Love, Judith Hill, Merry Clayton, Lisa Fischer and many others whose names you might not know, but whose voices you are likely very familiar with.

These very talented performers have worked with Bruce Springsteen, Stevie Wonder, Michael Jackson, The Rolling Stones, and Sting, among others.

Over the years, some singers have made it to the front of the stage, but many of them – to this day – remain 20 FEET FROM STARDOM. Sheryl Crow is one who has made it.

I absolutely loved 20 FEET FROM STARDOM. Hearing the stories – both good and bad – from the performers who reside both at the front of the stage and twenty feet back was fascinating and I’m glad – through this film – that these great singers may finally get some acknowledgement for their work.

20 FEET FROM STARDOM is a must see, and not just for music fans as the film has plenty of drama as well.

Okay, ENOUGH SAID. And I don’t mean that I am done yet, ENOUGH SAID is the name of the next movie I have for you, also one of my favourites of 2013.

This great drama stars Julia Louis-Dreyfus from VEEP and SEINFELD and the late, great James Gandolfini of THE SOPRANOS. They both play middle aged divorcees who aren’t necessarily looking for love, but somehow find it.

Complicating their relationship is the fact that Julia eventually finds out that the man she’s interested in is her new friend’s ex-husband.

The main reason I enjoyed ENOUGH SAID as much as I did is the fact that it is a mature, relaxed and calm film, just like the characters in the movie itself are. Just like most of us at middle age are. It has a confidence that most of the romantic comedies about younger people don’t have.

But I also like it because I love Julia Louis-Dreyfus, always have and I always will, and I also love James Gandolfini. His death last Summer at the age of 51 was a huge loss to the entertainment world, and the fact that ENOUGH SAID features such a great performance from him – in one of his last roles – is a great pleasure to watch.

I really enjoyed ENOUGH SAID and highly recommend it. Enough said.

Julia Louis-Dreyfus and James Gandolfini are primarily known as actors from television shows.

So are most of the cast of the wannabe divorce comedy A.C.O.D. – ADULT CHILDREN OF DIVORCE.

This one stars Adam Scott and Amy Poehler from PARKS & RECREATION, Jane Lynch of GLEE, Clark Duke of THE OFFICE, Richard Jenkins of SIX FEET UNDER and the great Canadian comedienne Catherine O’Hara from SCTV.

Adam Scott stars here as a grown-up man who not only finds out that his parents enlisted him in a study on divorced kids but he also stumbles upon them getting back together.

Add to that the fact that his younger brother is getting married, and that the author of the original study on divorced children wants to do a follow-up, and everything starts to fall apart…or as we discover, continues to fall apart for our hero.

A.C.O.D. – ADULT CHILDREN OF DIVORCE has that great cast – which also includes Jessica Alba and Mary Elizabeth Winstead – and it is likeable, it’s just never great, and only occasionally funny.

Huge fans of any member of the cast should see it, but most people should just skip it. I’m glad I’ve seen it, but I can’t recommend it.

Finally this week is a piece of historical fiction called THE BUTLER.

Loosely based on the real life of Eugene Allen, THE BUTLER stars Academy Award winner Forest Whitaker as a man named Cecil Gaines, who happens to be an eyewitnesses to history during his 34-year tenure serving as a White House butler.

THE BUTLER has some great actors playing the Presidents that Cecil Gaines serves under, John Cusack 1s Richard Nixon, Robin Williams plays Dwight D. Eisenhower, James Marsden John F. Kennedy, Liev Schreiber is Lyndon B. Johnson, and Alan Rickman plays Ronald Reagan.

It also has a very interesting supporting cast that includes Oprah Winfrey as Cecil’s wife.

THE BUTLER has some great moments, but it is never perfect. That is primarily due to the fact that many of the actors playing the Presidents don’t quite pull off their roles, and there are too many secondary stories that take away from the story of The Butler, the most interesting part of the movie.

Still, I can and do easily recommend it as THE BUTLER is very good.

The very good, but not great drama THE BUTLER; the likeable but not really all that funny divorce comedy A.C.O.D. – ADULT CHILDREN OF DIVORCE; the exceptional romantic comedy ENOUGH SAID – starring the late great James Gandolfini and Julia Louis-Dreyfus; and the spectacular music documentary 20 FEET FROM STARDOM are all available now, either on disc or on demand.

And that’s this week’s COUCH POTATO REPORT.

Enjoy the movies and I’ll see you back here again next time on The Couch!

The Couch Potato Report – January 11th, 2014

As I’ve said before on The Couch Potato Report, any movie being released right now – either in theatres or for home viewing – (with the exception of those with Academy Award buzz) should be met with low expectations, because if it was a better movie it would have come out during the Holiday Season in December, which is one of the busiest and most profitable times of the year, or in a few weeks, in the middle of Winter when people tend to stay home and watch movies.

So, with lowered expectations, I sat down to watch all of this week’s new releases, and that really helped as none of them are great, but all I can mildly recommend almost all of them, including the dramatic thriller CLOSED CIRCUIT.

CLOSED CIRCUIT begins with a terrorist attack in London. Two lawyers who’ve had an affair are put together on the defense team, but due to concerns about national security, they’re given different degrees of access to evidence.

But as the case plays out, and they start to think the presumed terrorist is innocent, or maybe even a double agent, the closed circuit cameras that are everywhere in London – inside and outside – start to keep a close eye on their activities. Someone is watching their every move, and that puts their lives in jeopardy.

CLOSED CURCUIT stars Eric Bana from MUNICH and Rebecca Hall of THE TOWN and they are very good – individually and together – but their film eventually gets away from the interesting legal side of the defence they are presenting and how British law works, and becomes a more standard-type cinematic thriller where it seems that they will eventually solve the case and end up in each other’s arms.

Once it becomes a chase movie, as they run from the bad people, it becomes less interesting…but I can still mildly recommend it because up until then it is a very intriguing movie.

CLOSED CIRCUIT is never brilliant, but with low expectations you just might enjoy it.

I originally thought I would more than mildly recommend a BBC mini-series called TOP OF THE LAKE. I thought I would maybe even love it, when I first heard of it. When I saw its release date on DVD and Blu-ray was January 7th, I lowered my expectations, and good thing I did as with high expectations I might have been very disappointed.

TOP OF THE LAKE is a seven episode series that stars Elisabeth Moss, who plays Peggy on MAD MEN, as a detective in a small town in New Zealand investigating the disappearance of a pregnant 12-year-old girl.

Academy Award winner Holly Hunter co-stars, and it was co-created and co-directed by Academy Award winner Jane Campion, who also gave us THE PIANO.

TOP OF THE LAKE features some great scenery and has some original moments, but long parts of it just comes across like a remake of TWIN PEAKS as it’s populated by a series of odd and eclectic characters, who all seem to have secrets and good reason to want the pregnant 12-year-old girl to stay missing.

There are also several storylines that don’t add up, for episodes at a time, and a love interest for the detective who doesn’t seem like he’d be anything other than a distraction, not someone she’d let get in the way of finding the missing girl, and possibly even spend the rest of her life with.

Great cast, great filmmaker, interesting story and amazing scenery…TOP OF THE LAKE offers all of that, but hold on and lower those expectations if you want to enjoy it.

The series is too flawed to be great, but it is interesting enough that I can – and do – mildly recommend it.

Here we have a film now that is utterly predictable in just about every way, but the stars of it are people we like, so it isn’t as bad as it should be.

We like Ben Affleck and Justin Timberlake, and they are the reason RUNNER RUNNER gets a mild recommendation from me.

Music superstar, and wanna be actor, Justin plays a poor college student doing whatever it takes to financially get by. One night, he goes from broke and plays online poker trying to win all the money he needs.

When he loses it all, he goes to see the sly offshore entrepreneur behind the site – played by ARGO’s Ben Affleck – to accuse him of cheating…and he ends up with a job and the lifestyle he’s always wanted, mostly.

Justin and Ben are Justin and Ben in RUNNER RUNNER, and of course the film has a love interest for JT, she is the lovely and talented Bond Girl Gemma Arterton from Quantum Of Solace.

You’ll see the ending of this one coming a mile away, but that didn’t bother me. I didn’t expect much from it, so I sort of enjoyed it.

RUNNER RUNNER is never great, but it’s okay.

I may never get to type this next sentence again, so I’m going to enjoy it this one time.

“This next movie isn’t as great as SHARKNADO, but BIG ASS SPIDER is fun in it’s own right.”

😀

Cheesy, campy, super stupid…those are all words I will use to describe the low grade action flick BIG ASS SPIDER!, about…wait for it…a big ass spider!!

As happens in movies like this, a giant alien spider escapes from a military lab and attacks the city of Los Angeles.

After a massive military strike fails, it is up to a team of scientists and one clever exterminator to kill the creature before the city is destroyed.

BIG ASS SPIDER! is a low budget movie that – much like SHARKNADO last year – is supposed to look and feel low budget.

It is crazy, stupid fun and that’s all it’s supposed to be. I had a blast watching it. A complete blast!!

I was very excited for the would-be comedy I’M SO EXCITED when I first heard of it. After all, it was the latest from Spain’s Pedro Almodóvar, the Academy Award winning writer/director who also gave us ALL ABOUT MY MOTHER, TIE ME UP! TIE ME DOWN and WOMEN ON THE VERGE OF A NERVOUS BREAKDOWN.

But I’M SO EXCITED isn’t in the same league as those great films, it is an unfunny comedy that features drug scenes and even rape and is one of the biggest disappointments of 2013.

The story here focusses on the flight attendants, pilots and first class passengers of a plane. When it seems as if all is lost and they’ll all die because their plane can’t land, they decide to have some fun…no matter the consequences…and I just didn’t care.

I’M SO EXCITED was neither interesting or fun or funny and I couldn’t wait for it to end. The last thirty minutes of the film were absolutely painful to watch.

No matter how big a fan you are of Almodóvar, skip it, everyone needs to skip this mess.

I’m So Disappointed is more appropriate title.

From that HUGE disappointment, here now was a nice surprise, the television show THE FOLLOWING, starring Kevin Bacon as a former FBI Agent who is brought back to help catch a brilliant and charismatic, yet psychotic serial killer.

Bacon had caught him once before, but he has now escaped prison thanks to a cult of believers who are following his every command.

They are The Following.

THE FOLLOWING was created by Kevin Williamson – who also gave us THE VAMPIRE DIARIES and SCREAM – and I wasn’t expecting much from it – yes, I had low expectations – and they were rewarded.

THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON of the show is very good, and end with a great cliffhanger into SEASON TWO.

It is creepy, and interesting, and I can easily recommend THE FOLLOWING – with low expectations – to all horror fans.

We end this week with a final mild recommendation for SEASON THREE for STAR TREK: ENTERPRISE!!

ENTERPRISE takes place 100 years before the adventures of James T. Kirk and Spock in the original television series.

Scott Bakula from QUANTUM LEAP plays Captain Jonathan Archer of Earth’s first Warp 5 starship, the Enterprise….picking up, actually beginning STAR TREK’s adventures.

Of all the STAR TREK shows, ENTERPRISE has always been my least favourite, but I admit that I did really enjoy re-watching the series again this week on blu-ray.

It looks great in HD and features a wealth of brand new retrospective features, including the reason why the show adopted a season long storyline this time around.

Huge fans…don’t miss STAR TREK: ENTERPRISE – SEASON THREE on blu-ray. Casual fans, I’d maybe wait until the price goes down in a few months.

SEASON THREE of STAR TREK: ENTERPRISE; THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON of the very good television series THE FOLLOWING; the very disappointing Spanish comedy I’M SO EXCITED; the fun but very stupid action flick BIG ASS SPIDER!; the too predictable would be crime thriller RUNNER RUNNER; the interesting but flawed mini-series TOP OF THE LAKE; and the intriguing but not great dramatic thriller CLOSED CURCUIT are all available now, either on disc or on demand.

Remember to keep those expectations low…at least until next week.

And that’s this week’s COUCH POTATO REPORT.

Enjoy the movies and I’ll see you back here again next time on The Couch!