On DVD: A Whole Bevy of Films

Bob and I have been watching a lot of movies on DVD lately. With the writers strike, there's only about 2-3 hours of decent television on in a given week. That'll marginally change when shows get back on the air in April/May, but we still seem to tear through batches of DVDs in the Winter.

Anyway, here, in brief, is what we've watched:

• 28 Weeks Later: A retread of a fairly good horror movie (28 Days Later) that, ultimately, couldn't decide what to do with itself, so it had a non-ending (or, more specifically, a pretty damn weak one).
  
  
• 1408: John Cusak gets stuck in a hotel room that is Evil incarnate. Not really sure what to do with itself after 100 minutes of special effects, it has a non-ending as well.
  
  
• Why Did I Get Married?: Ah, Tyler Perry. The man tells it like it is, my friend, he tells it like it is. Too bad it's not fresh, and it's all a wee bit heavy handed (kinda like church on Sunday), but he's a born entertainer, and it shows in his soap-like films.
  
  
• Live Free or Die Hard: It starts refreshingly and entertainingly enough, and blowing up a helicopter with a flying cop car is cool, but then throws all logic out the window at the one hour mark. Did you know it takes the same amount of time to drive from New York to Woodlawn (in Baltimore), as it does to drive from Hampden to Woodlawn? I didn't, until I saw this movie!
  
  
• Across the Universe: Yawn. That's surprising, and disappointing, as the film was directed by Julie Taymor. She's a master of the visual and yet this film was just plain dull, even when the kids singing Beatles songs go off on a Magical Mystery Tour with Bono.
  
  
• 3:10 To Yuma: A good Western, with strong performances, particularly by Christian Bale. I didn't quite buy the ending, but Russell Crowe and Bale are interesting enough actors that they make it work anyway.
  
  
• The King of Kong: A highly entertaining documentary about two men vying for the title of World's Best Donkey Kong player. It's very effective in dissecting the social structure and behavior of the gamers without saying a single direct thing about the issue (letting the subjects speak for themselves? Who woulda thunk?), but it's hand is strongly tipped in favor of the underdog. While reinforcing every bad stereotype about grown men who hang out at the arcade, it's honest and warm about them too.