Feb. 19 Blu-ray/DVD Reviews

Anna Karenina 

The combination of director Joe Wright and actress Kiera Knightley usually translates to Oscar gold, as it did in Pride & Prejudice and Atonement, but it meets its Waterloo here in tackling the stiff, surly prose of Leo Tolstoy. The meandering Russian tale of forbidden aristocratic love — Knightley's character spurns her stiff, high-ranking husband, played by Jude Law for military man Aaron Taylor-Johnson — fails to ignite. Sumptuous visuals and passionate performances can't save the lead-footed tale. The Blu-ray/DVD/digital copy combo features deleted scenes, a featurette on the story, several background featurettes and Wright's commentary.

Argo

Ben Affleck continues to thrust himself into the top echelon of directors with this masterful espionage tale about a daring CIA rescue of Americans caught in Iran during the 1979 hostage crisis. Affleck pulls double duty, starring as the agent who dreams up a caper of masquerading as a filmmaker scouting locations in Iran in order to make off with the would-be hostages. Vigorous pacing, heavy suspense and authentic performances sell the captivating drama. The Blu-ray/DVD/digital copy combo includes Affleck's commentary, picture-in-picture insights and a look at the story that inspired the film.

Atlas Shrugged: Part 2

The determined, if questionably talented, cast and crew of Ayn Rand devotees continue to hack their way through the lionized author's obtuse prose, spinning a laborious tale of an economy torn asunder by socialist tendencies. Preachy and unafraid of schmaltz, the material will either annoy you or tell you exactly what you want to hear, depending on your political leanings. Deleted scenes, a close-up with Sean Hannity, who makes a cameo in the movie, and a behind-the-scenes featurette fill out the package.

Battlestar Galactica: Blood & Chrome

Apparently frustrated that its Battlestar Galactica reboot has run its course and came to a definitive end, Syfy seems determined to milk spinoffs out of its franchise. Following the interesting but unsuccessful deep prequel series Caprica comes this movie, which could well serve as a pilot for a new prequel series. Taking over for Edward James Olmos, Luke Pasqualino plays the younger Adama, a hotshot fighter pilot who is moving up the ranks as humanity is slaughtered by the Cylon menace. Impressive effects and an intriguing roundup of surely doomed characters lend color and heft to the production, but the movie — while fun — probably isn't enough to hook me on another full-blown Galactica series. The Blu-ray/DVD/digital copy combo includes an unrated cut of the film, deleted scenes and a look at the effects.

Fun Size

Victoria Justice makes a rickety transition from Nickelodeon star to movie lead in this droll, Halloween-themed comedy. Justice plays a teenager who juggles an out-of-control social life with the desperate chase to track down her lost little brother. Lifeless dialogue and predictable plotting make the movie insufferable, not allowing the talented Justice to rise to her capabilities. The Blu-ray/digital copy combo includes deleted scenes, a gag reel, a Carly Rae Jaepsen video and a making-of featurette.

Hats Off to Dr. Seuss Collector's Edition Blu-ray

Previous Warner Bros. efforts to package short-form adaptation of Seuss's beloved stories individually were questionable values, but that's not so with this anthology. The Lorax, Green Eggs and Ham, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, The Cat in the Hat and Horton Hears a Who all appear in this roundup, which makes for an excellent impromptu Seuss animation festival. Two hours of special features, including other miniature adaptations of Seuss books, are also here.

On the Waterfront Blu-ray

Criterion deliver a long-overdue tribute to Elia Kazan's astounding 1954 drama, which boasts one of moviedom's game-changing performances with Marlon Brando as a longshoreman who suffers a crisis of conscience when he's placed under the thumb of a mobster. The vivid black-and-white cinematography pops with theatrical glory, giving the movie a sheen I'd seen many times before but never witness. Extras abound, including new interviews with actors from the movie, including Eva Marie Saint, a new documentary on the making of the movie, commentary from movie historians and an impressive tribute book. 

Sinister 

Blending the off-kilter sensibilities of Korean and Japanese horror along with back-to-basics frights reminiscent of 1970s American fright flicks, director Scott Derrickson's film never fails to impress. Ethan Hawke plays a true crime author and beleaguered family man who unwisely moves his brood into a small-town home that served as a setting for an unsolved mass murder. Predictably, the family ends up int he crosshairs of the intrigue, but the story takes many twists that harken back to The Shining and the original The Amityville Horror. Derrickson checks in on a pair of commentary tracks, and featurettes fill you in on the story's creepy facets. Deleted scenes with Derrickson's commentary are also there.

The Terminator (Remastered) Blu-ray

The previous Terminator Blu-ray looked pretty good, and it takes an eye trained better than mine to notice any relevant upgrade in this remastered cut of the 1984 sci-fi stalwart. The film's effects are hit and miss, with the seams more noticeable in HD than they were in the fuzzy VHS days. That's not to say I'd be so silly as to recommend a VHS or DVD version above this spectacular-looking transfer. Seven deleted scenes, a retrospective on the film and a making-of featurette fill out the extras. 

Top Gun 3D Blu-ray

The unashamedly goofy 1986 dogfighting classic flips on the afterburners to make yet another pass on Blu-ray, this time soaring into the third dimension, for anyone who actually has one of the TVs equipped to display the fading fad. The inclusion of the 2D Blu-ray and a digital copy ups the value proposition, but the extra features have remained unchanged from the 2011 25th anniversary edition Blu-ray release. 

Screeners were provided by the studios for review.

Feb. 12 Blu-ray/DVD releases

Bully

This is a true horror movie. Attaining preternatural access into the lives of bullied children, director Lee Hirsch shows just how brutal and bitter life can be for kids who are singled out for constant physical and psychological torture by impossibly cruel persecutors. The raw and devastating footage serves as a sorely needed wake-up call to tear the lid off one of society's closeted cancers. The Blu-ray/DVD combo pack includes deleted scenes, a filmmaker Q&A and public service announcements that deliver the movie's message.

The Perks of Being a Wallflower 

The lauded teen coming-of-age drama lost me in the third act, which takes an unneccessary twist that muddies up what was previously a moving and relatable tale. Logan Lerman plays a depressive freshman who starts hanging around with a pair of counterculture-embedded upperclassmen (Emma Watson and Ezra Miller) who help him find himself. The Blu-ray/digital copy combo includes commentary from writer/director Stephen Chobsky, as well as a separate track with Chobsky and several castmembers. Deleted scenes, dailies and a featurette round out the package.

The Sessions 

Sure, it may be Cinemax-style soft-core porn lightly disguised as inspirational drama, but there's plenty of film-snob value here, thanks to a trio of mesmerizing performances by the leads. John Hawkes plays a romantically stifled writer who relies on an iron lung to survive. Enter Helen Hunt as a hands-on therapist who provides some heavy-duty sexual healing. William H. Macy rounds out the trio of heavy-hitting performances as a befuddled priest who walks the Hawkes character through the moral implications of his therapy. The Blu-ray/digital copy combo includes looks at the performances, deleted scenes and cast interviews. 

Silent Hill: Revelation 

Not that the 2006 original was much to live up to, but this wretched sequel embarrasses the franchise by dispensing with the tenuous hold on logic by the previous movie and increasingly nonsensical game series. Adelaide Clemens plays ah school student who hunts for her lost father (Sean Bean) in the haunted title town, with would-be lover with a secret (Kit Harrington) tagging along. Poorly rendered gross-out CGI imagery plagues a parade of silly, inane nightmare sequences that add up to very little. The Blu-ray/DVD/digital copy combo includes a small making-of featurette.

Skyfall

I lump this head-scratchingly beloved Bond flick along with The Dark Knight Rises as the most inexplicably overrated movies of 2012. The heedless 'splosion fest gets off to an invigorating start before devolving into a Home Alone clone. Daniel Craig delivers his usualy steely excellence and Javier Bardem cuts an intriguing figure as a sexually ambiguous villain bent on getting inside the unflappable hero's skull. The film is far more rich in style than substance and, like Quantum of Solace, fails to deliver on the promise of the Casino Royale reboot. The Blu-ray/DVD/digital copy combo includes loads of background featurettes and filmmaker commentaries.

Weeds: Season 8 

Showtime's meandering comedy about a drug-dealing suburban mom (Mary-Louise Parker) who rose to the ranks of master criminal, then crashed spectacularly before trying to scoop the shards of her life back together, makes for a rewarding victory lap. The show has long since lost its edge, and Parker's character is so insufferably narcissistic that she's tough to watch at times, but the writers show some creativity in the final run. A roundtable discussion with the show's creator and producers, deleted scenes, a gag reel and cast and crew commentaries fill out the two-disc set.

Screeners were provided by the studios for review.

Feb. 5 Blu-ray/DVD releases

Alex Cross 

Tyler Perry shelves his overused Madea character for a bit to take on the role of a cop gone rogue in this amiable but dull action flick. A cop on the verge of taking an FBI desk job before his life is thrown into turmoil, Perry's titutlar character and his partner (Edward Burns) tangle with a demented murderer (played by a gaunt Matthew Fox) in an explosion-prone Detroit. Director Rob Cohen does what he can to liven up the humorless take on a Lethal Weapon-like concept. The Blu-ray/digital copy combo includes Cohen's commentary, deleted scenes anda  featurette on the adaptation from the source book.

Celeste and Jesse Forever 

Rashida Jones and Andy Samberg play a couple that has separated and struggles to maintain an intimate friendship as they move on to the next stage. Romances for both parties complicate things, and the bittersweet romantic comedy forces both characters to come to terms with their roles in one anothers' lives. Jones seens a bit too old for Samberg, and the role, but the chemistry they conjure is convincing. Extras include deleted scenes, commentaries from the cast and filmmakers, a making-of featurette and a red carpet premiere Q&A.

Flight 

Denzel Washington tosses another remarkable performance onto the pile, playing an alcoholic pilot who improbably navigates his rickety aircraft to safety amid a terrible storm. Once he recovers from his injuries, the real turbulence begins, as he struggles with a heroic reception blended with a federal investigation into his altered state of mind during the flight. Don Cheadle and Kelly Reilly leave impressions in strong supporting roles, and a freewheeling John Goodman steals all of his scenes. The Blu-ray/DVD/digital copy combo boasts a breakdown of the mesmerizing plane crash scene and a pair of making-of featurettes,

Here Comes the Boom

Kevin James checks in with yet another forgettable family comedy, this time playing a science teacher turned MMA fighter, grappling for funds to save the school's music department and scoring with a hard-up school nurse played by Salma Hayek on the side. It's a wonder that the insultingly awful story is somehow watchable, thanks mainly due to the lead's eagerness to physically humiliate himself for cheap laughs, but the movie is still largely an inoffensive waste of time. The Blu-ray/digital copy combo includes a look at the training regimen and sundry forgettable background featurettes.

Peter Pan Diamond Edition Blu-ray 

Disney's 1953 film was always one of the studio's uglier classics, but the switch to HD boosts its look considerably. The animation is still comparatively stiff and unimaginative compared to the studio's other landmark animated movies from the era, but the movie seems refreshed and more alive than in muddy previous releases. Much like Dumbo, the film still suffers from a slew of embarrassingly racist moments in the midsection. The Blu-ray/DVD/digital copy combo boasts a slew of new background featurettes, as well as previous featurettes and deleted scenes from the previous DVD release.

A Star is Born Blu-ray

Kris Kristofferson and Barbra Streisand pairup for the 1976 version of the too-often-filmed story. The slow-burn melodramatic love story takes a while to get where it's going, but Streisand's star power is in full effect and Kristofferson is deliciously bitter enough to keep things watchable. If you remember the movie from 1980s cable or VHS, the sharp vividness of the Blu-ray transfer will make it look like a new film. Packaged as a tribute booklet, the film comes with extras including Streisand's commentary, deleted scenes and wardrobe tests.

Screeners were provided by the studios for review.

Review: Bullet to the Head

Sylvester Stallone may be old, but he refuses to play the old guy. He takes on the same types of roles he did 30 years ago -- often literally, when he makes Rambo and Rocky sequels. He's taken out restraining orders against gray hairs, wrinkles and flab. His muscles are probably the great-grandchildren of his 1970s muscles, who have all decided to stick around.

His delivery in Bullet to the Head is as wooden and garbled as ever. That's as it should be. An enunciating Stallone is hardly a Stallone at all, and would be like a Bogart who didn't snarl as he spoke or a Jimmy Stewart who didn't stutter or stretch out his vowels. This is Stallone the persona, roaming the New Orleans streets as a hitman with a heart of deer antler extract, narrating his own story like a 1940s gumshoe while spitting out 1980s catch-phrases and good-natured ironically racist jokes that might have been taken at face value in the 1970s.

His de facto partner is Taylor (Sung Kang), a D.C. cop who's under deep cover, trying to track down some mob boss or other who's connected to an evil land developer who wants to tear down old barns before kids can save them by staging musicals. Taylor exists as a surface for Stallone to bounce the post-racist jokes off of, and to antagonize the anti-hero by hitting on his semi-estranged tattoo-artist daughter.

The broad outlines of the movie are as irritatingly and comfortinly predictable as possible, but the finer details keep you on your toes. Director Walter Hill, showing a whisper of the action-crazy bliss he established in The Warriors (1979), 48 Hrs. (1982) and Red Heat (1988), gleefully trots out one bad guy boss after another, letting Stallone and his compadres cap one without a thought before they can get into Bond villain-style explanations of their sinister plans.

Bullet to the Head is a little smart in the way it's so unapologetically stupid. It drags and sags a little, then doubles back to make things right with its utter, detached cool.

The silly affair is as disposable as a tinfoil bubble gum wrapper, but just as shiny. You could get by without it, but this is a little something more than another box to check off for Stallone completionists. The everlasting gobstopper of an action star has done far, far, better and indescribably worse. An average Stallone is still better than most anything you can find in this advanced age.

Staring Sylvester Stallone, Sung Kang, Sarah Shahi and Christian Slater. Written by Alessandro Camon, based on a graphic novel by Alexis Nolent. Directed by Walter Hill. Rated R. 91 minutes.

Jan. 29 Blu-ray/DVD releases

Batman: The Dark Knight Returns Part 2

Frank Miller's 1986 graphic novel, about Batman coming out of retirement to take one last stab at cementing a legacy of stomping out crime, gets the second of its two-part animated film adaptation. The second volume is even more fascinating and fast-paced than the first, released in September. A jingoistic Superman comes into play, tangling with the Caped Crusader in a politically-tinged power play that involves Ronald Reagan. Moving and unabashedly mature, this is perhaps the finest Batman tale yet told. The Blu-ray/DVD/digital copy combo boasts a look at the adaptation, a digital comic and a featurette on the Superman-Batman clash.

Die Hard: 25th Anniversary Collection Blu-ray 

It's hard to beat the value proposition offered by the 2007 Die Hard Blu-ray compilation, but this one takes an honest stab at it by piling on a disc full of new extras. The new set, like the one from more than five years ago, includes the first four movies in the series. The new slate of extras is imprssive, paying tribute to the series' pop culture influences, its impact on the action genre, the choreography of the fight sequences and the makeup of Bruce Willis's unflappable hero cop, John McClane. Whether or not the bonuses are worth shelling out $40 for the new set rather than $30 for the old one is debatable.

Hotel Transylvania 

I was disappointed that this one didn't snag a best animated film Oscar nomination, because it was my second favorite movie in the category last year, after Wreck it Ralph. An exuberant and stupendously hammy Adam Sandler voices Dracula, an overprotective dad who has sheltered his annoyed daughter (Selena Gomez) while running his business, a sanctuary for creatures of the night that protects them from dreaded people. A romance inevitably unfolds, with Drac's daughter spurning the monster lifestyle to fall in love with a human visitor. Creative visual effects, clever writing and a dynamite voice cast that includes Steve Buscemi, CeeLo Green, Kevin James and Andy Samberg ratchets up the excitement level. The 3D/2D Blu-ray/DVD/digital copy combo oozes with extras, including the short Goodnight Mr. Foot, three deletd scenes, filmmaker commentary and a slew of entertaining background featurettes.

Screeners were provided by the studios for review.

Jan. 22 Blu-ray/DVD releases

End of Watch

Jake Gyllenhaal and Michael Peña play young, idealistic LAPD cops who aim to make a name for themselves while pounding the mean streets of South Central. The story unfolds through a found footage narrative, purportedly shot by the cops as they patrolled their beat, which features an improbably high amount of shootouts and other deadly confrontations. The performances and chemistry of the lead and believable, improvised dialogue keep the drama grounded. The Blu-ray/DVD/digital copy combo includes writer/director David Ayer's commentary, deleted scenes and a slew of behind-the-scenes featurettes.

For a Good Time, Call...

Graynor and Lauren Miller get together for a comedy about mismatched Manhattan roommates who team up for a lucrative phone sex business. Taking the same concept as Two Broke Girls and taking it on all sorts of joyfully dirty tangents, the movie rarely fails to deliver the good time promised in the title. The Blu-ray/DVD/digital copy combo includes the theatrical and unrated versions of the film, deleted scenes, filmmaker commentary and a making-of featurette.

That Obscure Object of Desire Blu-ray

Luis Bunuel's final film is also one of his finest efforts. In the 1977 masterwork, the filmmaker explores obsessive lust through the warped lens of a wealthy widower (Fernando Rey) who longs for an ever-out-of-reach younger woman (played alternately by Carole Bouquet ad Angela Molina). He chases her desperately, venturing into dark, disturbing territory. The film features background interviews, a featurette on the odd yet appropriate dual-actress casting and a retrospective of Bunuel's career.

Screeners were provided by the studios for review.

Meet Funny Money

Check out my new Money Under 30 column.

Jan. 15 Blu-ray/DVD releases

Farewell, My Queen 

This sumptuous French film delivers a far more authentic take on the final days of Marie Antoinette than what Sofia Coppola delivered in her 2006 take on the material. Diane Kruger shows the youthful monarch quickly evolve from a sheltered, near-oblivious untouchable to a marked woman whose life and institution are crumbling at her feet. Lea Seydoux plays a member of the court whom Antoinette invites into her inner circle, becoming privy of her sexual relationship with a duchess (Virginie Ledoyen). A plot unfolds that tests the Seydoux's character's loyalty, leading to an excruciating finale. A making-of featurette and filmmaker interview round out the disc.

Hannah and Her Sisters Blu-ray

Woody Allen's 1986 relationship dramedy rounds up Michael Caine, Mia Farrow, Carrie Fisher, Dianne West and Barbara Hershey for a wince-inducing tapestry of failed marriage, sibling rivalry and midlife discontent. Allen's talent for witty screenwriting and note-perfect observational touch are in full force, and his stunning cast never fails to mesmerize. The disc lacks extras.

Life's Too Short

Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant continue to keep pumping out offbeat HBO comedy series, this time taking a mokumentary angle in which famed little person Warwick Davis (Willow) plays a pathetic, desperate-for-attention version of his real-life self. Consistently funny and bittersweet, the narrative allows Davis to do some excellently insightful work, providing a peek into something that seems like genuine perspectives on fading stardom and social double standards. The DVD set is light on extras.

Taken 2 

Liam Neeson reprises his role as a former CIA agent who rescued his daughter from a kidnapping. Now he tangles with the dad of one of the scumbags he killed in the 2008 film, seizing his wife and holding her captive in Turkey. While Neeson is as intense as ever, proving himself time and again to be a reliable action star, the story feels tired and worn-out. The proceedings don't flow with the raw urgency of the first film, taking on the forced tone of a Die Hard sequel. The Blu-ray/DVD/digital copy combo pack includes a bonus unrated cut, deleted and extended scenes, alternate ending and a smattering of background featurettes.

To Rome with Love 

Woody Allen, who writes, directs and appears in this madcap, Rome-set comedy of interrelated characters, is still a capable filmmaker, but his comic touch isn't what it used to be. It's still fun to see him round up a gang of acolyte megastars and do his thing though. As always, Allen's cast is staggering. Jesse Eisenberg, Greta Gerwig, Ellen Page, Alison Pill, Roberto Benigni, Penelope Cruz and Alec Baldwin all show up, with Allen playing a retired opera director who longs to make a comeback, and Eisenberg as Allen's younger, neurotic surrogate, who juggles romances with Gerwig and Page. The jokes are hit and miss, but overall the movie is a marginally enjoyable romp. A background featurette takes a rare peek into Allen's filmmaking process, and cast interviews pepper the extras.

Screeners were provided by the studios for review.

What I Learned from the Guinness World Records 2013 Gamer’s Edition

Guinness World Records Gamer’s Edition books are known for providing benchmarks to gauge your own skills against the history’s greatest, but the latest volume provides so much more.

This year’s edition is chock full of valuable knowledge about the 2012 gaming year – or at least about the 2012 gaming year as of the book’s copy deadline of September, as viewed through the lens of marginally informed editors.

I do my best to keep up on gaming news, but the book – which came out Jan. 13 – boasted plenty of mind-blowing nuggets that I somehow had missed.

Here’s what I learned:

* Controversially hiding DLC characters on a disc can net a game a world record. Street Fighter X Tekken snagged the Most DLC Characters in a Fighting Game for the clever tactic. (Page 94)

* EA Sports’ NBA Live franchise, the torch holder for the Best-Selling Basketball Franchise, is “back on track with a scheduled NBA Live 13 Reboot,” despite the vaporware having been canceled in September. Swoosh! (Page 160)

* There is a redeeming quality of the much-derided Vita title Resistance: Burning Skies. Says the book, “The first FPS on a portable console to use dual stick control also has an online option to give gamers the novelty of enjoying deathmatches on the bus or even in the bath!” Which is nice, because slogging through a game with a Metacritic rating of 60 can leave you feeling a bit dirty. (Page 30)

* That despite what rimshot-seeking, sexist comedians of the 1980s would have you believe, females actually can drive, at least in Mario Land. Thirteen-year-old Leyla Hasso, as of Sept. 19 2013, held 30 of the 40 possible time trial records on the PAL version of the game.  Oddly, there is no mention of a male version of the record in the game, nor any distinction between male and female records elsewhere in the book.  (Page 134)

* Draw Something is the Fastest-Growing Multiplayer Mobile Game, for having picked up 50 million players in the 50 days following its launch in February 2012. This despite the game having hemorrhaged 5 million players in May, after the Zynga takeover of developer Omgpop.

* No one does solar system volume like EVE Online, except for EVE Online. The book hails EVE Online for boasting the Most Solar Systems in an MMO, breaking its own record in March 2009, expanding its universe from 5,431 to 7,699 solar systems. (Page 109)

* Uncharted: Golden Abyss is the world record holder for Most Advanced Hand-held Platform Game, despite not being all that good (Page 112).

The publisher provided a copy of the book for review.

Review: Gangster Squad

Judged by modern standards, Gangster Squad is a pretty terrible movie. It gives haters plenty of hate to make unsweetened haterade with, and share it with one another at haters' balls, which are the types of parties everyone says they'll go to before bailing out at the last second with lame excuses.

Count me among those who bail. Gangster Squad may be a poor movie, but it's a top-a-the-heap gangsta pitcha. That's "gangster picture" pronouned in the voice of a 1920s newsreel announcer in 1940s gangsta pitchas, in case you were wondering. And as a gangsta pitcha, it's a heck of a video game.

The look, vibe and narration are straight out of the video game L.A. Noire, which is a distillation of the sorts of pulp fiction that Quentin Tarantino sent up and paid tribute to in Pulp Fiction. Gangster Squad is so pulpy, Tarantino probably will remake it next year, with Christoph Waltz as Mickey Cohen and Quentin Tarantino as Random Australian Guy Who Is In The Movie For No Reason Whatsoever.

This gangsta pitcha, though, doesn't have scenes like Tarantino's movies do, but missions. And those missions are less L.A. Noire than Grand Theft Auto, Max Payne and Black Ops Negative 3, the unreleased prequel based in 1940s gangsta pitchas. L.A. Director Ruben Fleischer is obsessed with creating ludicrous and cheesy ways for armies of trenchcoat-wearing, fedora-donning cops and mobsters to shoot what the NRA would vehemently deny are assault rifles (because assault rifles don't exist and are just a lie propagated by government schools, much like the distributive property of algebra).

As top cop John O'Mara, Josh Brolin shoots everything on the screen until all the flashing red dots on the radar circle stop blinking.

Ryan Gosling, as his smarmy, womanizing sidekick, has a differrent job, which is to mumble "hey girl" to Cohen's girl, Emma Stone, until she becomes his emotional plaything. (This only takes the "hey" in the very first "hey girl" to work, by the way.) Sean Penn's job as Cohen is to snarl and rage around breaking stuff in his high-class dining room. Meaning he basically plays himself.

My favorite moment in the movie comes when Brolin's conscience gets to him and he starts questioning whether or not he's better than the gangsters he's going after, being that he too shoots up public places in desperate power plays. This wouldn't be as cool if it wasn't followed by what happened next; that he forgets all that because the gangsta pitcha video game tells him it's time for the END BOSS FINAL MISSION, in which he and the gangster squad most open fire with their non-assault rifles on a gangster-fortified fortress, eliminating all the red dots on the radar until it's time for the final Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots fistfight, which also has much in common with the Rocky Balboa-Tommy "Not-An-Assault-Rifle-Homonym" Gunn final throwdown at the end of Rocky V.

The world doesn't have enough movies in which the good and bad guy dispense with the guns to slug it out like men in the final battle, but if the trend started by Gangster Squad holds, 2013 will feature approximately 26 such movies. That will still leave us a few short of the quota required for everything to be right with the universe, but it will have to do for now.

Starring Josh Brolin, Ryan Gosling, Seann Penn, Nick Nolte, Emma Stone, Michael Pena and Giovanni Ribisi. Written by Will Beall. Directed by Ruben Fleishcer. 113 minutes. Rated R.

Jan. 8 Blu-ray/DVD releases

Dredd 

Erasing the memories of the crummy 1995 Sylvester Stallone adaptation, director Pete Travis enlists Karl Urban to play the helmet-wearing one-stop-shop cop/judge/executioner in a crime-ridden dystopia. He grudgingly totes along a trainee (Olivia Thirlby) as he takes on a scar-faced gangland hooker-turned-mastermind (Lena Headey). The action is crisp and entrancing, while the dialogue is as good as you could hope for in something like this, stopping short of embarrassing the actors. The Blu-ray/digital copy combo boasts featurettes that take a look back at the history of the comic book source material, as well as the making of the film. There's also a prequel motion comic.

Enlightened: Season 1

In one of Laura Dern's wackier roles, she plays a burned out corporate cog who tries to live down an infamous episode that leaves her jobless and dependant on her condescending mother (Diane Ladd). The HBO dramedy probes the silliness of office politics, while taking an honest and appreciable look at mental illness. While not always relatable, Dern is always fascinating to watch. Cast and crew commentaries and episode summaries fill out the set.

Episodes: Seasons 1 and 2 

The bitingly funny, network comedy-skewering Showtime series continues to evolve in its second frame, tracking the ups and downs of a British writing couple's efforts to stick by a bastardized version of ther U.K. hit. In a pompously self-deprecating role as himself, Matt LeBlanc turns in some inspired work. As the show-within-a-show's star, LeBlanc plays off his persona of an oblivous, entitled meathead with aplomb. More assured and quickly paced than in its promising first season, the show has truly come into its own. The two-disc set, which includes both seasons of the series, is light on extras.

Frankenweenie

Tim Burton's somewhat overlooked homage to the roots of horror films shines brightly, keeping his masterful record with animated movies intact. It's a tale of a boy who longs to bring his dead dog back to life with his scientific ingenuity. The heedlessly macabre tone treats its audience with respect without slavishly condescending to kiddos for easy chuckles, and the visual style, which pays tribute to 1930s and 40s horror classics, is elegant and haunting. The 3D and 2D Blu-ray/DVD/digital copy combo is loaded with extras, including the short films Captain Sparky vs. The Flying Saucers and the original Frankenweenie, a look at the animation process and a music video.

Game Change 

A dead ringer for Sarah Palin in the role, Julianne Moore anchors the Cinderella story of the former Alaska governor's rise to the political stage when John McCain (Ed Harris) tabbed her to be her running mate in the 2008 presidential election. In the eye-popping political thriller that catalogs the campaign's surge and fade, Moore captures Palin's magnetic appeal, as well as her eager overconfidence and cut-throat backroom demeanor. A digital copy and a pair of making-of featurettes fill out the extras.

Hit & Run

Dax Shepard and Kristen Bell get together for an action comedy that's so forgettable it's tough to piece together the plot right after you've seen it. Shepard plays a reformed criminal in witness protection, guarded by an overzealous U.S. Marshal (Tom Arnold), who escorts his girlfriend (Bell) on an oddly dangerous ride to a job interview. Bradley Cooper and Jason Bateman embarrass himself by sleepwalking through bit parts in the pointless and humor-free affair that's livened occasionally by some cool stunt driving. The Blu-ray/DVD/digital copy combo inclues deleted scenes and making-of featurettes.

Screeners were provided by the studios for review.

Review: The Impossible

The Impossible must be called The Impossible because it's impossible to come up with a more generic title than The Impossible. Since movies are generally about seemingly impossible things that are shown to be possible onscreen, it's possible that just about any movie could be called The Impossible, thus it should be impossible that any filmmaker is willing to name his film The Impossible.

And yet, as The Impossible proves, it is possible for a movie to be called The Impossible.

Good thing for this movie with the impossibly dull title that it's impossibly good.

Spanish director J.A. Bayona, known for the 2007 horror film The Orphanage, which is so good it makes you want to high-five everyone you see, has clearly not spent the past five years playing sudoku. Instead, he must have been doing whatever it takes a budding filmmaking phenom to shake off a sophomore slump. Perhaps his activities included turning down chances to direct Resident Evil and/or Smurfs movies while brushing up on his digital tsunami recreation technique.

Instead, he and his team have fashioned a film that manages to be inspirational while soaked in the darkest of horror trappings, all wrapped up in - here's that word again - impossibly brilliant special effects and makeup that make it truly seem as though Naomi Watts was beaten about by a vividly rendered Southeast Asian tsunami in 2004, separated from her husband and children.

That husband would be Ewan McGregor, who rounds up two of the kids, only to toss them aside in order to find his wife and, apparently, the only child he really cares about. That would be his firstborn son (Tom Holland), who hangs out with his mom until she gets swallowed up by a questionably effective Southeast Asian healthcare system that Tea Partiers will surely somehow blame Obamacare for.

This is a weird story, yes. But it works because of the tear duct-flushing storytelling, passionate acting and ludicrously spot-on effects that show the tusnami's distruction on both macro and micro scales.

Based on a true story involving a family of Spaniards, the story shifts the ethnicity of the cast for no other reason than to underline the assumption that natural disasters only matter if they happen to English speakers. The thinking must have been that the compromise was a necessary evil in order to get as many people as possible to see the movie. The switcheroo is irritating at first, but only if you bothered to see where the movie came from. And it's easy to get over it due to the magnitude of the performances by watts and McGregor help you get over it.

Now that The Impossible is finally lurking into theaters after an under-the-radar platform release, you really should get out there and see it. You can not only do a heck of a lot worse these days, like maybe getting stuck with watching Russell Crowe sing all his dialogue or watching Quentin Tarantino reduced his command of the English language to a single, vile word. And, dare I say, it's nearly impossible to do better than buying a ticket to The Impossible.

Starring Naomi Watts, Ewan McGregor, Tom Holland and Samuel Joslin. Written by Sergio G. Sanchez. Directed by J.A. Bayona. 113 minutes. Rated PG-13.

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Top 10 Movies And Games Of 2012

TOP MOVIES 2012

1. Zero Dark Thirty - Establishes Kathryn Bigelow as one of the greatest current directors.

2. Looper - The year's most rewatchable film.

3. American Reunion - Vastly underrated sum-up to a poorly tarnished series.

4. That's My Boy - Adam Sandler's ridiculously funny return to form.

5. Snow White and the Huntsman - Visually stunning, with excellent storytelling and performances.

6. Marvel's The Avengers - A knockout culmination of a remarkable master plan in character design.

7. Moonrise Kingdom - Heartbreaking and magical.

8. Argo - Exciting storytelling and relatable performances.

9. This is 40 - A soulful and funny rumination on middle age.

10. Flight - Fantastic crash effects and a searing performance from Denzel Washington.

FOLLOWED BY, IN NO PARTICULAR ORDER: The Master, Hitchcock, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

WORST MOVIE OF '12:  Girl in Progress

TOP GAMES 12

1. The Walking Dead - Episodic storytelling at its best.

2. Journey - An anti-game, really. Haunting and elegaic.

3. Retro City Rampage - A mesmerizing and joyfully haphazard celebration of all awesome things from ancient gamedom.

4. Double Dragon Neon - A mocking yet somehow respectful tribute to the greatest brawlers.

5. ZombiU - Survival horror done right, proving the Wii U's potential

6. Xenoblade Chronicles - Looks way too beautiful for a Wii game. It's also a groundbreaking RPG on several levels.

7. The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings Enhanced Edition - Ports a PC RPG dynamo to consoles without hiccups.

8. Minecraft: Xbox 360 Edition - Just like No. 7. Ethereal and imagination stimulation.

9. Trials Evolution - Endlessly replayable and mechanically impeccable.

10. Max Payne 3 - Fantastic revival of a severely dated shooter concept.

FOLLOWED BY, IN NO PARTICULAR ORDER: New Super Mario Bros. 2, LittleBigPlanet Vita, Professor Layton and the Miracle Mask, Paper Mario: Sticker Star, Assassin's Creed III, Nintendo Land, Persona 4 Golden, Far Cry 3, New Super Mario Bros. U, Dishonored

Jan. 1 Blu-ray/DVD Releases

Cosmopolis 

Taking a break from the glittery vampire scene, Robert Pattinson stars as a hotshot financial guru who cruises New York City in luxury, riding around in a limo and taking care of his sexual, business and hygeine needs as he rides around. He seems to have a solid grip on life, but as the night goes on his world steadily falls apart. Director David Cronenberg keeps the claustrophobic story flowing at a rapid pace, and Pattinson shows genuine acting chops, carrying what amounts to something of a one-man show. Cronenberg's commentary and cast and crew interviews highlight the extras.

Justified: Season 3

The FX Western has truly hit its stride, with Timothy Olyphant honing his Clint Eastwood-like act as a U.S. Marshal who plays by his own rules. Bold writing and breakneck action scenes keep the show wily and unpredictable, save for the certainty that Olyphant's Raylan Givens character will always nail his man. Extras in the three-disc Blu-ray set include deleted scenes, nine cast and crew commentary tracks and a slew of making-of featurettes.

Looper 

Joseph Gordon-Levitt continues to prove to be one of the best actors at selecting scripts. In one of my favorite movies of 2012, he stars as an assassin-for-hire asigned to kill captors sent back in time by a powerful corporation. One of his marks is his future self (Bruce Willis), with whom he teams up to go on the run from the corporation they work for. Relentless action and a thought-provoking script grant the drama enormous appeal, and Gordon-Levitt and Wilson both deliver remarkable performances. The Blu-ray/digital copy combo includes director Rian Johnson's commentary, 22 deleted scenes and a slew of making-of featurettes.

Screeners were provided by the studios for review.

Review: Promised Land

If M. Night Shyamalan made a movie about gas companies' pillaging of the heartland, Promised Land would be it. Meaning there's a "swing away" twist at the end that tries to explain everything but ends up pretty much ruining any credibility and relevance in the story instead.

If you see the movie, slip the projectionist a tip and ask that he dumps a soda on the equipment with 20 minutes left. You'll walk out of the theater without a resolution, but will at least be better off than those who are stuck watching the aliens get killed by water.

New "it" couple Matt Damon and John Krasinski teamed up on the screenplay and play rival tastemakers who storm a small town, manipulating the folk into voting their way on the issue of whether to let a giant energy company frack them long and hard, letting the town splash natural gas all over its farms and water in return for millions of dollars.

Damon, along with trusty sidekick Frances McDormand, is the big gas suit sent to use his silver-tongued devil charms to trick the yokels into the deal, while Krasinski is the idealistic hippie there to stop him with his goody bag of guerrilla tactics, while also finding time to pull a few outrageous pranks on Dwight.

Locked up in a game of spy vs. spy, Damon and Krasinski make for some entertaining one-upsmanship. They lock horns at a karaoke bar — unfortunately not in a singing competition, though — fight for the favor of a teacher/bar rat (Rosemarie DeWitt) and talk some crazy smack as they struggle for the soul of a confused, real-life FarmVille.

Director Gus Van Sant, who boosted Damon to stardom in Good Will Hunting, has the hunting part down pat here, but has a little trouble arranging the goodwill. This is one of those impassioned message movies that makes its point early on, then beats you over the head with it, haphazardly acknowledging the shades of grey without admitting they have any validity. The considerable star power and writing talent goes to waste, but it's to be down on a movie that's so watchable for most of the running time.

Promised Land has a lot of the pieces necessary for a watershed movie. I wish there had been less Shyamalan and more Ben Affleck, I guess. A little organic humor wouldn't have hurt, either. Because I also wish I had a double burger.

Starring Matt Damon, John Krasinski, Frances McDormand and Rosemarie DeWitt. Written by Krasinski and Damon. Directed by Gus Van Sant. 106 minutes. Rated R. 

Review: Django Unchained

Django may be unchained, but his movie could have used some tighter shackles. An editor could have gutted the movie into something that, while maybe not all that entertaining, at least wouldn't waste so much time. Quentin Tarantino himself should have taken out his Kill Bill katana and slashed the way too long, long, long, looooong movie in two. Then, instead of releasing it in two parts in different years, he should have thrown it away because it didn't live up to the standard of the rest of the work.

For his whole career, Tarantino has straddled and spanked the edge of hyperactive overindulgence like a wild pony. His attitude was "This is what's in my head, and I'm my favorite director ever, and if you don't like it too bad because I made this for myself."

Only someone with his talent could pull it off, and it's pretty amazing he's been able to do it for 20 years without embarrassing himself. That's because he's always covered his backside by whipping out prototypical Tarantino Awesomesauce and spraying it all over everything to the point that it didn't really matter whether or not his stories went anywhere.

Tarantino Awesomesauce is made of three ingredients: Smartass dialogue, weird music that nobody has ever heard of but him yet somehow grooves with the action onscreen, and out-of-nowhere actors knocking you down with performances even their mommas didn't realize they had in them.

Django Unchained has none of the Awesomesauce to flavor-up the bland, repetitive side dishes Tarantino serves up: Seven billion instances of people getting shot, erupting with intentionally fake-looking volcano squibs, and eighty trillion uses of the N word. Tarantino uses the N word here more than Smurfs say "smurf," and its diminishing returns hit the floor a few minutes in.

The performances are there from Yosemite Sam-style goofball Leonardo DiCaprio, doddering/sneaky Samuel L. Jackson, and especially gentleman dandy bounty hunter Christoph Waltz, but not from Jamie Foxx, who is such a lifeless, dead-eyed cypher that he may as well have been switched out for Kevin Sorbo.

There usually doesn't need to be much of a story in Tarantino movies, which are more lazy hang-outs than they are bullet trains, but there's so little interesting going on here that it needs one badly. All that's there are patched-together rags from Tarantino's past. There's the self-justified homicidal racist-killing rampage of Inglourious Basterds, an obsessive hunt like Kill Bill, an overly elaborate endgame heist like in Reservoir Dogs and blaxploitation trappings of Jackie Brown.

The framework is there, sorta, but the pieces don't fit. The core partnership of the Waltz and Foxx characters makes no sense. There's no good reason Waltz would risk his life and fortune to help the stranger, nor cause for Foxx's supposedly rage-filled, independent-minded character to latch on to a partner/master. They stay together because this is a buddy movie, and for no other reason.

All the problems could be forgiven if the movie sang, but the thing drags badly, all the more because you watch with such hope, thinking at some point the broken clock will be right and Tarantino will flash his usual magic. That wait will have to last until his next movie.

Starring Jamie Foxx, Christoph Waltz, Leonardo DiCaprio and Kerry Washington. Written and directed by Quentin Tarantino. 165 minutes. Rated R.

The lone 12/24 Blu-ray/DVD release: The Words

The Words

Bradley Cooper may be getting the most attention of his career for his laudable turn in Silver Linings Playbook, but his performance in this film is an overlooked gem about a writer struggling with his own morals. In a story-within-a-story narrated by a successful author (Dennis Quaid), Cooper plays a desperate man who stumbles upon an old, unpublished masterpiece manuscript in a briefcase, which he plagiarizes and rides to success, putting his relationships with self-image and his wife (Zoe Saldana) at risk. Olivia Wilde is a stunner as an acolyte who approaches the Quaid character in a dark night of the soul. Extras include an extended edition and a slew of behind-the-scenes featurettes that examine the movie's making and characters.

A screener was provided by the studios for review.

Review: Les Miserables

While there's some value in making a slavish adaptation of a near-universally beloved stage musical, sticking to all the trappings of the play is a sure path to making the film feel like a translation rather than a similarly inspired production.

That's exactly the problem with director Tom Hooper's sturdy, flashy, yet ultimately inconsequential movie. He tries to outdo the stage production by going bigger, with flashier effects and huge-name actors in every role. Hooper's repertory, though, might have been better served by forgetting about the stage behemoth and drawing solely from Victor Hugo's pages. You know, the ones without the obnoxiously sung dialogue.

At the very least, an organic Les Miserables at least would have spared us having to suffer through Russell Crowe's singing.

Maybe I'm being too harsh. Crowe, while awkward, isn't all that bad. He toughs his way through a miscast performance, holding up his end as well as most anyone else.

I don't begrudge anyone who is fascinated by the film's every flourish. if you adore the play, this is your beloved object of desire on human growth hormone. The performances could have been hammy and forced, but instead are understated and elegant. Anne Hathaway, as a mother forced to disfigure her body and soul as she descends into a life of prostitution, is a standout, delivering probably the most impressive work of her career. Her haunting showing has stuck with me weeks after I saw the film, and goes a long way toward redeeming its cowardice.

And yeah, I think cowardice is the right term for Hooper's approach. It's as though the filmmaker was too afraid to take a chance after he had such success with The King's Speech. In dulling its edge and sticking so close to the stage, the movie lacks the Bastille-storming spirit of Hugo's source material. His movie feels like a pandering, disingenuous sleepwalk rather than a fiery-eyed rainmaker.

Les Miserable has no shortage of adaptations, and any new take on the material, especially at this level, needs to come with something new and bold to say. This filmed stage musical knows all the words, but can't hear the music.

Starring Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe, Anne Hathaway, Amanda Seyfried, Eddie Redmayne, Sacha Baron Cohen and Helena Bonham Carter. Written by William Nicholson, Alain Boubill, Claude-Michel Schonberg and Herbert Kretzmer. Directed by Tom Hooper. 160 minutes. Rated PG-13.

Review: The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

There were plenty of questions that caused fear for the coming of The Hobbit. Why did Guillermo del Toro abandon the project? How does one little children's book merit three friggin three-hour movies? Why have so many The Lord of the Rings characters who weren't in The Hobbit been shoved into the film?

And yet it turns out that one aspect not only obliterates any reservations, but makes you feel silly for ever having them. The reason: Peter Jackson.

Spectacular in every conceivable fashion, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey shows the steady, inspired hand of its creator in every frame. On top of being one of the world's most formidable filmmakers, Jackson lives and breathes Tolkien, and his adaptations of the material feel like pure, undiluted inspiration.

A jubilant adaptation that not only improves on the source material but adds much to it, the film whets appetites for the latter two legs of the saga while telling a thrilling and complete story in its own right.

Methodical and deliberate, the story blossoms with a self-assured, confident pace. The setup, in which wizard Gandalf recruits the unwilling hobbit Bilbo into helping a band of dwarfs reclaim their dragon-ravaged homeland, has the air of the wedding scene early on in The Deer Hunter. Song and spirit are shared, belying the hard, soul-shifting road that lay ahead. Jackson trots out a new series of largely unfamiliar protagonists, making it easy to buy in and care about them as individuals. When they face hardships on the road to redemption, the pathos is palable.

The near decade that has passed since the last of Jackson's LOTR trilogy hit theaters have been kind to the effects department, spawning gorgeously detailed scenery and monsters that move and react with considerable rate. Much has been made about the movie's increased framerate, but if anything it enhances the digital palate that Jackson's effects team utilizes.

None of the technical wizardry would matter, though, unless the acting was up to par. And the cast, led by Martin Freeman in the title role, as well as the character actors who tackle the parts of his dwarf confederates, are all superb. The chemistry among the dwarfs feels rich and lived-in, while Freeman's meek, displaced turn hits just the right notes. And it's tough to expect anything than shimmering brilliance from the remarkable Andy Serkis, who inhabits the bonkers, royal we-commandeering mind of Gollum.

Like that sad, bug-eyed creature, moviegoers may not have realized how much they missed movies like this onscreen in the past several years. Yet we now have our precious back in hand, and here's to two more years of wild, sure-to-be-met expectations of supreme Tolkien mastery.

Starring Martin Freeman, Ian McKellen, Andy Serkis. Cate Blanchett and Ian Holm. Written by Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens, Peter Jackson and Guillermo del Toro. Directed by Jackson. Rated PG-13. 169 minutes.