Blu-Ray Review: WHEN THE GAME STANDS TALL

Starring Jim Caviezel, Laura Dern, Michael Chiklis, Alexander Ludwig, Gavin Casalegno, Clancy Brown. Directed by Thomas Carter. (2014, 115 min).
Sony

While we’re used to sports movies where an underdog emerges triumphant against all odds, When the Game Stands Tall gives us a team who aren’t used to losing. In fact, the De La Salle High School Spartans haven’t lost a game in 12 years.

Then three events occur which have a devastating effect on the team and community. Coach Bob Ladouceur (Jim Caviezel) suffers a heart attack, and their star senior, just offered a full ride to play for the Oregon Ducks, is killed in a drive-by shooting. Worst of all, the Spartans' 151 game winning streak is broken. These first 30 minutes make it pretty obvious where the next 90 are heading.

Ladouceur, who’s turned down lucrative offers to coach at colleges, has always believed football is more about brotherhood, trustworthiness and character building than winning football games, a philosophy he tries to instill in his latest batch of players (including his son). One major subplot involves running back Chris Ryan (Alexander Lidwig), pressured by his overbearing father (Clancy Brown) to break the season touchdown record, the antithesis of everything Ladouceur stands for. You’ll be able to guess the outcome of this conflict long before it plays out, but there’s comfort in predictability when it comes to inspirational sports movies, especially those based on true stories (which is just about all of them).

"I already told you...you put your left foot in, you put
your left foot out! That's what it's all about!"

Storywise, When the Game Stands All is a bit meandering. The shooting of T.K. (Stephan James) is indeed tragic, but from a narrative standpoint, his death has little impact on the plot. In fact, he’s largely forgotten until the climactic game when a banner is raised in his honor. Additionally, the strained relationship between Ladouceur and his son doesn’t really resonate because the kid is a self-centered jerk (berating Dad for having the nerve to suffer a massive heart attack just before football season).

Speaking of which, there’s a surprising lack of characters we actually empathize with. Ladouceur is certainly likable (and solidly played by Caviezel), but more of a symbol of righteousness than a fallible human being. The opposite can be said for Mickey Ryan, the abusive dad. Clancy Brown is well-cast because all he’s required to do is be blatantly hateful (which he’s good at), but few fathers (even in sports films) are this one-dimensional. Laura Dern is wasted as Bob’s wife, doing little-more than applauding the awesomeness of her husband. And I would have appreciated seeing more of Michael Chiklis as the assistant coach; he’s terrific, but aside from a few inspirational speeches, is criminally underused.

Still, there are some rousing moments in the film, particularly in the final act, when the team finally learns to selflessly depend on each other both on and off the field. The game scenes are suitably exciting, and each major character on the team gets their individual moment of glory, including Bob’s jackass son. I suppose, since overcoming your first high school defeat in 12 years is decidedly a first-world problem, it’s a credit to director Thomas Carter that his dramatic flourishes make the situation seem more life-and-death than it probably warrants.

EXTRAS:

• Director commentary
• Scenes commentary by Bob Ladouceur
• Deleted/extended scenes
• Featurettes: Undefeated - Making When the Game Stands Tall; Gridiron Action - Filming the Football Scenes; The Heart and Soul of a Program - Bob Ladouceur

FKMG RATING:

1/2

(OUT OF 5)

Movie Haiku of the Week: AVATAR

A 3-D wonder,

But I'm feeling deja-vu...

Oh, yeah...Ferngully.

A MOST VIOLENT YEAR: "Art of the Sell" Clip Released

Learn the “Art of the Sell” from Oscar Isaac in this clip from A MOST VIOLENT YEAR, written and directed byJ.C. Chandor and co-starring Jessica Chastain.

A MOST VIOLENT YEAR is a searing crime drama set in New York City during the winter of 1981, statistically the most dangerous year in the city’s history. From acclaimed writer/director J.C. Chandor, and starring Oscar Isaac (INSIDE LLEWYN DAVIS) and Jessica Chastain (ZERO DARK THIRTY), this gripping story plays out within a maze of rampant political and industry corruption plaguing the streets of a city in decay.

J.C. Chandor’s third feature examines one immigrant’s determined climb up a morally crooked ladder, where simmering rivalries and unprovoked attacks threaten his business, family, and - above all - his own unwavering belief in the righteousness of his path. With A MOST VIOLENT YEAR, Chandor journeys in a bold new direction, toward the place where best intentions yield to raw instinct, and where we are most vulnerable to compromise what we know to be right.

The Ultimate ADVENTURE TIME Prize Pack Contest!

In celebration of the release of ADVENTURE TIME: FINN THE HUMAN (out now on DVD), Free Kittens Movie Guide invites you to GUESS HOW MANY CANDY CANES CAN FIT IN FINN'S BACKPACK! 

The entry with the closest guess will receive the GRAND PRIZE consisting of:

Adventure Time: The Secret of the Nameless Kingdom (Nintendo 3DS version Out Now)

Munchkin Adventure Time (Out Now) 

Adventure Time Crafts from Potter Craft (Out Now) 

Adventure Time: Finn the Human DVD (Out Now)

Runners-up will receive a copy of Adventure Time: Finn the Human on DVD (including a Finn Backpack). 

TO ENTER: Leave a comment with your guess. Contest ends December 9th, and the winner will be notified December 10th, so be sure to check back! In the unlikely event of a tie, we will randomly select a winner from those with the most accurate guesses. Good luck!

Blu-Ray Review: THE HUNDRED-FOOT JOURNEY

Starring Helen Mirren, Om Puri, Manish Dayal, Charlotte Le Bon. Directed by Lasse Hallstrom. (2014, 122 min).
Touchstone/Disney

In the right hands, it's amazing how cinematic something as seemingly mundane as cooking can be, and we’ve gotten two such movies this year. Jon Favreau’s Chef was a surprising - and welcome - return to his indie roots. The Hundred-Foot Journey is a bit more ambitious, but what both pictures do very well is present flawed-yet-likeable characters, a supreme knowledge of the restaurant business and, at least while we’re watching, stories which seem deceptively simple, when in reality there’s a great deal going on. And yeah, you’ll likely be hungry as hell afterwards. These two films would make a great snuggle-on-the-couch double feature with your significant other.

In The Hundred-Foot Journey, Papa Kadam (Om Puri) is the patriarch of an Indian family forced to abandon their restaurant after it is firebombed due to political unrest. After a brief period wandering Europe, they end up in a French village when their van breaks down. Impressed by the amount of fresh food available at the local markets, Papa decides to buy an abandoned old restaurant right across the street from Le Saule Pleureur, a prestigious French eatery run by Madame Mallory (Helen Mirren), a snobbish widow who doesn’t like their presence one bit. She attempts to sabotage their Kadam’s efforts to get their restaurant off the ground, which becomes complicated, not only by Papa’s tenacity (he’s as stubborn as she is), but by her sous chef, Marguerite, who’s taken a liking to Hassan (Manish Dayal), one of the Kadam boys being groomed to take his mother’s place as their head chef. However, Hassan himself is ambitious beyond the family business, which Mallory recognizes when he demonstrates the capability of being a world class chef.

Not everyone is cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs.

But that’s just the story on the surface. Ultimately, The Hundred-Foot Journey is about tearing down prejudicial walls, acceptance, empathy and, of course, love. Mallory may come across as a cold-hearted bitch when we first meet her (seeing the Kadams as classless), but her epiphany after an act of vandalism on the Kadam’s place renders her a wonderfully-dynamic character (and Mirren plays her perfectly as usual). The same goes for Papa, who’s initially just as pig-headed and set in his ways. The evolving relationship between these two is easily the crux of the movie, providing a majority of the humor and audience-rousing moments. The interaction between Mirren & Puri is about as charming and entertaining as movies get without explosions.

The subplot of Hassan’s quest to be a renowned chef, and how it affects his relationship with Marguerite, is a bit more predictable and not quite as compelling. Still, these two are essential to the overall story, especially during the closing scenes.

I suppose The Hundred-Foot Journey is just a tad ‘artier’ than Chef, but that shouldn’t disuade anyone from checking it out. It’s a film stuffed with great characters we care about and a theme most of us could benefit from seeing more often. Most importantly, this movie is a lot of fun.

EXTRAS:

• The Hundred-Foot Journey (discussion with producers Steven Spielberg & Oprah Winfrey)
• The Recipe, the Ingredients, the Journey (making-of featurette)
• On Set with Oprah Winfrey
• Coconut Chicken (short recipe video)

FKMG RATING:

(OUT OF 5)

FKMG presents WHO FARTED?*

*Another cheap laugh from the good folks at FREE KITTENS MOVIE GUIDE. You're welcome.

DVD Review: ADVENTURE TIME: FINN THE HUMAN (with Finn Backpack)

Starring the voices of Jeremy Shada, John DiMaggio, Hynden Walch, niki Yang, Tom Kenny, Olivia Olson. Various directors. (2011-14, 176 min).
Warner Bros.

It’s hard not to appreciate a comedic cartoon series populated mostly by mutants in a post-apocalyptic setting. This show is yet another example that television animation aimed at kids is better now than it ever was when I was young. Like the best shows on Nickelodeon, Disney Channel or Cartoon Network, there’s a level of sophisticated, subversive humor in Adventure Time that, while perhaps lost on little kids, has earned the show a deserved cult following.

This single disc is another collection of 16 episodes selected from various seasons (mostly 3 through 6). Though about a third of the episodes have been previously released in season-long boxed sets, it’s a decent, reasonably-priced collection. But the main selling point is, of course, the free nylon backpack included. It looks just like the one Finn wears and is sure to please any young fan of the show.

EXTRAS:
The aforementioned backpack

FKMG RATING:

(OUT OF 5)

JOHN WICK and the Passing of the Pooch

Starring Keanu Reeves, Michael Nyqvist, Alfie Allen, Adrianne Palicki, Bridget Moynahan, Dean Winters, Ian McShane, John Leguizamo, Willem Dafoe. Directed by Chad Stahelski. (2014, 101 min).

In terms of pure audience manipulation, John Wick might just be the greatest tale of revenge ever made. The best ones (from the artistic to the exploitative) all have one thing in common: they make vengeance seem like a totally justifiable course of action. Who didn’t cheer-on Charles Bronson’s mugger-murdering rampage in Death Wish, Clint Eastwood’s cold, calculated retribution in High Plains Drifter or Uma Thurman’s bloody wrath in Kill Bill?

Violent payback seldom works out how we’d like it to in the real world, but it’s damn fun to watch, which is obviously why tales of revenge - both calculated and reactionary - have been mainstays of popular entertainment ever since Shakespeare scribbled Hamlet.

But John Wick may trump them all. Not because of its kinetic action scenes (which are truly exciting), not because of Keanu Reeves as the title character (even though he’s seldom been more brutal-yet-likable), and certainly not because of the complexity of the story (this might be the most simple tale of revenge since the original Mad Max). John Wick manages to get the audience totally onboard because director Chad Stahelski and screenwriter Derek Kolstad know what will truly rouse us into a state of bloodthirsty vengeance…

...killing this girl:

We never want animals to die, do we? Man, that’s tough to take. Case in point…in Independence Day, even though millions of people around the world have been incinerated during the alien attack, the most suspenseful moment comes when a beloved hound manages to escape a rolling fireball at the very last second. And what about Dances with Wolves? Despite the historical atrocities committed on Native Americans, the most tear-jerking scenes are those where Kevin Costner’s horse - and later his wolf companion, Two Socks - are unceremoniously killed by Union soldiers.

You gotta be one steel-hearted bastard not to be moved by the passing of a pooch. Dog deaths are often the equivalent of Spock’s demise at the end of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. Cat deaths, on the other hand, are more like those nameless red-shirted rubes who die within minutes of beaming down to an uncharted planet; their untimely fates simply move the story along. Not to belittle cats or anything. I have two myself and would be truly saddened if they suddenly passed away. But the fact remains Hollywood has never made a worthwhile film where a cat’s death was the emotional crux of the story.

But doggy death? Where do I start? There’s Old Yeller, Where the Red Fern Grows, Marley & Me, Turner and Hooch, Sounder, I Am Legend and The Road Warrior, to name a few. Then there’s the Schindler’s List of dog movies, The Plague Dogs…trust me, if you’ve ever expressed even a single iota of affection for our canine companions, that movie will fuck you up for life.

In John Wick, the title character (Keanu Reeves) is a legendary hitman who retires from the business to take care of his cancer-stricken wife. Her last act before dying was sending John a gift, a puppy named Daisy, so he wouldn’t have to grieve alone. John forms an immediate attachment to Daisy and takes her everywhere. Then a couple of Russian thugs, ignorant of who he is and simply want his classic ‘69 Mustang, break into his house, beat him up and kill Daisy. That’s all it takes for Wick to unleash the fury and hunt them down. Complicating matters is the fact one of those thugs is the son of Viggo Tarsov (Michael Nyqvist), who once hired Wick to kill everyone who stood in the way of his quest to be the most powerful leader of the Russian mob.

But really, John Wick grabbed us at Daisy’s death, because…

...well, just look at her!

Sure, Wick’s revenge is based more by what Daisy represents (his wife’s dying symbol of love) than Daisy herself, but the fact she’s just a puppy (the cutest movie puppy ever) makes his systematic slaughter all the more righteous. Would we feel the same way if his dying wife sent him a cat? I doubt it, because unless they’re hungry, cats generally don’t give a shit about us.

But there’s something about the untimely screen death of a pooch which, no matter how many people have been shot, stabbed, blown-up, crushed, devoured or disemboweled, has most of us crying, “Oh no! Not the dog!” Which is why John Wick, despite its simplistic story, is such a satisfying tale of revenge. Shamelessly manipulative? Absolutely, but supremely effective nonetheless. Perhaps this is because, unless the dog’s name is Cujo, they never deserve their fate. Sure, Daisy’s untimely death is little more than a plot point to justify the ensuing mayhem, but anyone who ever grew up with animals can relate to the untimely loss of one. Who wouldn't want to blow away the bastard who killed our dog?

Hear "I Am Groot" in 15 Languages

Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy is available on Digital HD and for you to take anywhere when you sign up for Disney Movies Anywhere. To celebrate the release, you can watch a video featuring Groot’s famous catchphrase in multiple languages across the galaxy!

LUCY Is Coming Home This January

ON DIGITAL HD JANUARY 6, 2015

AND BLU-RAY™ COMBO PACK AND DVD ON JANUARY 20, 2015 

FROM UNIVERSAL PICTURES HOME ENTERTAINMENT 

In Lucy, the “exciting and smart” (San Francisco Examiner) #1 action blockbuster by visionary director Luc Besson (La Femme Nikita, The Professional, The Fifth Element), starring Scarlett Johansson (Captain America: The Winter Soldier, The Avengers) and Academy Award® winner Morgan Freeman (The Dark Knight Rises, Oblivion), a woman altered by a dangerous drug that allows her to use 100% of her brain, transforms into a merciless warrior evolved beyond human logic.  Lucy debuts on Blu-ray™ Combo Pack, including Blu-ray™, DVD and Digital HD with UltraViolet™, and On Demand on January 20, 2015 from Universal Pictures Home Entertainment.  Lucy will also be available on Digital HD two weeks earlier on January 6, 2015.

Also featuring Choi Min-Sik (Oldboy, Lady Vengeance) and Amr Waked (Syriana, “House of Saddam”), Lucy is a “heart-pounding, 100% entertaining” (The Wall Street Journal) thriller that explores the possibility of what one person can truly do when the furthest reaches of the mind are accessed.   

Bonus Features on Blu-Ray™ and DVD

• CEREBRAL CAPACITY – THE TRUE SCIENCE OF LUCY:  Morgan Freeman serves as guide for fans to dive into the world of Lucy.

Bonus Features Exclusively on Blu-Ray™ 

• THE EVOLUTION OF LUCY – Follow Lucy’s transformation through the eyes of Scarlett Johansson, Morgan Freeman and Director Luc Besson.

www.lucymovie.com

www.facebook.com/LucyTheMovie