Nick’s Picks 01/16/13

DVD REVIEWS

FREE DVD GIVEAWAY

We are doing a Free DVD Giveaway! If you are interested in a chance at winning a free copy of The Wise Kids, it is really easy! All you have to do is send me an email at HoustonMovieGuy@gmail.com. The subject line of the email should read DVD GIVEAWAY. In the body of the email, be sure to put your name, full mailing address and which DVD or Blu-ray you would like. Winners will be selected by random drawing. Best of luck!

THE WISE KIDS – Wolfe

A vivid, dynamic Southern coming-of-age drama, The Wise Kids takes place in the transitional space between high school and college, when life seems to be all questions and no answers, and the future is scarily wide open. Set in and around a Charleston, SC Baptist church, weaving through this ensemble piece are three main characters – Brea, an introspective pastor’s daughter experiencing debilitating doubt, the hyperactive Laura, Brea’s best friend and a devout believer, and Tim, the open-hearted son of a single father, confronting his homosexuality for the first time.

FIXATION – First Run Features

Fixed gear cycling has become hugely popular in recent years. In cities and towns across the nation, young and old are riding “fixies” for transportation, work, sport, and just pure enjoyment. Fixation captures the excitement and popularity of this growing sport from all perspectives. While multiple speed bicycles are commonplace, the freedom and simplicity of a single speed bike brings the rider back to the basics – though because the gear is “fixed”, or locked, riding a fixie is not without its challenges. The best riders don’t use brakes and can do unimaginable moves and tricks. With the resurgence of this original form of cycling, a vast range of riders – from professionals to casual commuters – have embraced this simple, efficient machine, and the lifestyle behind it. This award-winning documentary explores the full spectrum of the fixed gear community: Messengers, Olympic Racing, City Riders, Bike Polo, Brakeless, Freestyle and more. Discover the passion, freedom and excitement of riding with one gear!

I AM BRUCE LEE – Shout Factory

I Am Bruce Lee is the amazing story of one of the greatest icons ever to enter the public consciousness, the first film to truly tell Bruce Lee’s story in his own words and actions, as well as through the eyes of the international stars from the worlds of film, television, music and sports. Featuring original interviews with UFC President Dana White, NBA Superstar Kobe Bryant, boxing champion Manny Pacquiao, actor Mickey Rourke, The Black Eyed Peas’ Taboo, legendary martial artists Dan Inosanto, Richard Bustillo, Bob Wall and Gene LeBell, and unprecedented conversations with Bruce Lee’s daughter Shannon Lee and his wife Linda Lee Cadwell, plus the best of Bruce Lee’s ground-breaking martial arts action films and rare archival footage, I Am Bruce Lee is the definitive story of a man whose legacy will endure forever.

THE AMAZING WORLD OF GUMBALL: The Mystery – Cartoon Network

Gumball’s world is pretty run-of-the-mill. He’s chased around school by a T-Rex. He has a friend named Anton who’s a piece of toast. He’s got a crush on Penny, a peanut with antlers. His dad is a 6’4 bunny. His mom works at a Rainbow Factory. And his brother is a goldfish named Darwin. Yup, everything looks perfectly normal here.

FAREWELL, MY QUEEN – Cohen Media

Based on the best-selling novel by Chantal Thomas, Léa Seydoux stars as one of Marie Antoinette’s(Diane Kruger) ladies-in-waiting, seemingly an innocent but quietly working her way into her mistress s special favors, until history tosses her fate onto a decidedly different path. With the action moving effortlessly from the gilded drawing rooms of the nobles to the back quarters of those who serve them, this is a period film at once accurate and sumptuous in its visual details and modern in its emotions.

CUPID – Vivendi

With Valentine s Day approaching, Eve Lovett (Joely Fisher), a workaholic TV talk show host with a string of failed relationships, is worried she will never find true love. But when a mysterious stranger named Vernon Gart (Jamie Kennedy) shows up on the set claiming to work for Cupid, Inc., Eve has no idea her love life is about to get an arrow right through the heart.

HOW MUCH DOES YOUR BUILDING WEIGH, MR FOSTER? – First Run Features

Born in Manchester, England, on the wrong side of the tracks, Norman Foster rose from a humble working class background to become one of the premiere modern architects of our time. Beautifully filmed in over ten countries and homing in on his most iconic works, including London’s Swiss Re Tower, New York’s Hearst Building, Berlin’s Reichstag, Beijing Airport’s International Terminal and the breathtaking Millau Viaduct, over the Gorges du Tarn in France, How Much Does Your Building Weigh, Mr. Foster? is an unprecedented exploration of an architect whose quest is to improve the quality of life through design, and his work, which offers striking solutions to humanity’s increasing demands.

LIFE’S TOO SHORT: Season One – HBO

HBO presents a new comedy series from Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant and starring actor Warwick Davis, who portrays a conceited, self-aggrandizing version of himself. In Life’s Too Short, Davis’ character is an actor desperately trying to jumpstart his waning career and maintain his status as Britain’s go-to little person. He runs a talent agency for fellow showbiz little people called “Dwarves for Hire;” is the vice chairman of a society for small people; and seeks advice from old pals Gervais and Merchant in hopes that their A-list celebrity connections will aid his career. Shot faux-documentary style, the seven Season 1 episodes of Life’s Too Short include cameos by Liam Neeson, Johnny Depp, Sting, Steve Carell, Helena Bonham Carter, Cat Deeley, and others. A cross between Gervais’ Extras and Curb Your Enthusiasm, Life’s Too Short hilariously charts Davis’ every move as he tries to maintain his pride and self-respect in a series of uncomfortable, often-humiliating situations.

THE OTHER DREAM TEAM – Lionsgate

Everyone knows Magic Johnson Michael Jordan and the other members of the 1992 American Olympic Dream Team. This is the story of the Other Dream Team. They didn’t bring their country the gold medal they brought something much more valuable. After leading the USSR to a gold medal (and victory over the U.S.A.) at the 1988 Olympics in Seoul Sarunas Marciulionis and Arvydas Sabonis were poster boys for the Soviet sports machine. Four years later after the fall of the Soviet Union they emerged as symbols of democracy helping their country break free from the shackles of Communism and willing newly independent Lithuania to the medal stand at the Barcelona Olympics.

FRANKENWEENIE – Disney

From Disney and creative genius Tim Burton comes the hilarious and offbeat Frankenweenie, a heartwarming tale about a boy and his dog. After unexpectedly losing his beloved dog Sparky, young Victor harnesses the power of science to bring his best friend back to life – with just a few minor adjustments. He tries to hide his home-sewn creation, but when Sparky gets out, Victor’s fellow students, teachers and the entire town learn that getting a new ‘leash on life’ can be monstrous. Complete with electrifying bonus features, Frankenweenie is alive with enchanting fun for the whole family in eye-popping Blu-ray 3D. The perfect modern celebration to Frankenstein!

THE BEAT HOTEL – First Run Features

It’s 1957 in the Latin quarter of Paris. A cheap no-name hotel became a haven for a new breed of artists fleeing the conformity and censorship of America. The hotel soon turned into an epicenter of Beat writing that produced some of the most important works of the Beat generation. It came to be known as the Beat Hotel. Alan Govenar’s feature documentary The Beat Hotel explores this amazing place and time. Fleeing the obscenity trials surrounding the publication of his seminal poem Howl, Allen Ginsberg, along with Peter Orlovsky and Gregory Corso, happened upon the hotel on rue Git le Coeur and were soon joined by William Burroughs, Ian Somerville, and Brion Gysin. Run by the indefatigable Madame Rachou, the Beat Hotel was a hotbed of creativity and permissiveness, where Burroughs and Gysin developed the cut-up writing method; Burroughs finished his controversial book Naked Lunch; Ginsberg began his poem Kaddish; Somerville and Gysin invented the Dream Machine; Corso wrote some of his greatest poems; and Harold Norse, in his own cut-up experiments, wrote a novella, aptly called The Beat Hotel. British photographer Harold Chapman’s iconic photos and Scottish artist Elliot Rudie’s animated drawings capturing Ginsberg, Orlovsky, Corso, Burroughs, Gysin, Somerville and Norse just as they were beginning to establish themselves on the international scene bring the Beat Hotel to life on the screen. The memories of Chapman and Rudie interweave with the first-hand accounts of French artist Jean-Jacques Lebel, British book dealer Cyclops Lester, and 95 year old George Whitman. Together with the insights of authors Barry Miles, Oliver Harris, Regina Weinrich, and Eddie Woods, among others, they evoke a time and place where Chapman, mentored by Cartier-Bresson, roamed around Paris photographing nuns, bums, and the idiosyncrasies of street life; Corso took scissors to Marcel Duchamp’s tie in a Dadaist statement while Ginsberg kissed his knees; and Burroughs, with the help of Somerville’s lighting, learned to disappear before an audience’s eyes.

NEVER STAND STILL – First Run Features

Legendary dancers and choreographers Merce Cunningham, Paul Taylor, Suzanne Farrell, Mark Morris, Judith Jamison and Bill Irwin appear alongside new innovators to reveal the passion, discipline, and daring of the world of dance in Never Stand Still. Filmed at the iconic Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival, this thrilling documentary features amazing performances by world-renowned dancers interwoven with intimate interviews, behind-the scenes insights, and rare archival footage. Founded in the 1930s by visionary dance pioneer Ted Shawn on a farm in the Berkshires, today the Pillow is an idyllic mecca for artists and audiences from around the world, a place where dance in all its forms – from ballet to jazz to contemporary – is studied, created, performed and celebrated. Like Wim Wenders’s Pina, Never Stand Still immerses us in the lives of extraordinary artists and the power of dance.

A MATTER OF TASTE – First Run Features

A Matter of Taste takes an intimate look inside the world of an immensely talented and driven young chef, Paul Liebrandt. At 24, he was awarded three stars by the New York Times for unforgettable and hyper modern dishes such as “eel, violets and chocolate,” “espuma of calf brains and foie gras,” and “beer and truffle soup.” Critic William Grimes likened Paul to “a pianist who seems to have found a couple of dozen extra keys.” Conversely, Gourmet critic Jonathan Gold called Paul’s food “the result of a failed science experiment.” He soon became a chef critics loved or loved to hate. The film follows Paul over a decade and reveals his creative process in the kitchen, as well as the extreme hard work, long hours, and dedication it takes to be a culinary artist and have success in the cutthroat world of haute cuisine in New York City. Exploring the complicated relationships between food critics, chefs and restaurant owners, the film delves into the life of an uncompromising, thought provoking, young chef ahead of his time.

ARCHER: Season Three – Fox

Join suave master spy Sterling Archer and his team at ISIS for another hilarious season of over-sexed, hard-drinking espionage and insanity! With a crisis brewing aboard the international space station, Earth may be doomed, but the world’s most dangerous secret agent has bigger worries. Archer’s dead fianc‚e returns to life as a cyborg. His nemesis, Bionic Barry, takes over the KGB, and Archer’s mother has steamy affairs with both the Italian prime minister and Archer’s man-crush. Packed with outrageous operations and irreverent intrigue, Season Three comes armed to the teeth with exclusive, highly classified animated extras.

THE NOTEBOOK – Warner

Behind every great love is a great story. Two teenagers from opposite sides of the tracks fall in love during one summer together, but are tragically forced apart. When they reunite 7 years later, their passionate romance is rekindled, forcing one of them to choose between true love and class order.

LOVE ME – Anchor Bay

Sixteen-year-old Melissa Kennedy has been missing for almost three months and the town of Ridgedale is coming unhinged. Sylvia Potter wants so badly to be in love. Then sexy, quiet, rich kid Lucas Green transfers to Hampton Prep and the sparks fly – despite the warnings of almost every friend in her circle. But what seems like a love story hits a major twist when the police begin an investigation into Lucas’ involvement in the Melissa Kennedy case. What really happened to Melissa and how long can Lucas and Sylvia’s relationship last in the face of this mystery?

THE DEVIL’S MINER – First Run Features

Directed by long-time collaborators Kief Davidson and Richard Ladkani, The Devil’s Miner is a moving portrait of two brothers–14-year-old Basilio and 12-year-old Bernardino–who work deep inside the Cerro Rico silver mines of Bolivia. Through the children’s eyes, we encounter the world of devout Catholic miners who sever their ties with God upon entering the mountain, where it is an ancient belief that the devil, as represented by statues constructed in the tunnels, determines the fate of all who work within the mines, which date back to the sixteenth century. As we come to know the brothers, we learn their fears and hopes for their future, and occasionally glimpse their childlike souls peeking through their stoic faces. Raised without a father, Basilio must work to support their family and to go to school and study, so that he and his family can one day leave the mines. Working 24 hour shifts, eating cocoa leaves to ward off hunger and drowsiness, Basilio then walks to the city to attend a school, where he is ostracized because he is a working miner. Yet, through it all, Basilio and his family retain a dignity and courage that is inspiring.

Short URL: http://www.fortbendstar.com/?p=27313

Posted by FortBendStar on Jan 16 2013. Filed under Nick's Picks. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.