Blu-ray Review: Ghost Town (2008)

Haunting You With Laughter
On DVD & Blu-ray

View the Trailer

In what should have been the crossover romantic comedy smash that would introduce British funny man Ricky Gervais to U.S. audiences who haven't yet had the pleasure of catching him in various BBC shows such as the original version of The Office and HBO's Extras, Gervais elevates a screwball inspired romantic comedy fantasy to hilarious effect.

Opposite two of the most genuinely likable and underrated versatile talents-- the unique comedienne Tea Leoni (a master at the art of a good old fashioned pratfall) and our classy and handsome contemporary American version of Cary and Hugh Grant, Mr. Greg Kinnear-- the trio charm their way into our hearts in one of the sharpest, most surprisingly creative and intelligent films in the tired Rom-Com genre since the early 2008 winner Definitely, Maybe.

Now available on both DVD and Blu-ray from Paramount and DreamWorks Home Entertainment, Ghost Town is not only the sleeper comedy of the year but is ironically being released on disc during a week when I think it would've garnered a happy and willing audience ready to turn their back on both the influx of doom and gloom Oscar bait and a depressing economy.

Simply put, America is in dire need of a laugh as we learned last month when Reese Witherspoon and Vince Vaughn stole Twilight's thunder with Four Christmases and those who move in the direction of Spiderman and Panic Room scribe David Koepp's Town will find themselves rewarded time and time again.

But, before I critique the aspects of the Blu-ray disc itself and visit the disc's Special Features, I'll serve up a second helping of my first theatrical review of the film.

Ghost Town

Director:
David Koepp

Ricky Gervais as a romantic leading man?
"Are you having a laugh?"
Surprisingly no, but Gervais makes us laugh throughout.

Several years back and shortly after the initial hedonistic pleasurable rush I felt upon the installation of our family's DirecTV wore off, I realized how very overwhelming it was to suddenly have hundreds of channels at our disposal. Whether you were into knitting or cooking or knitting while you were cooking, there seemed to be something for everyone and I distinctly remember the one fateful evening when my remote landed on the face of British comedian Ricky Gervais on BBC America. Of course, I didn't know it was Gervais at the time— I was so completely sucked into the mockumentary that was the British version of The Office, I felt that Gervais and his character, David Brent were one and the same. I set the remote down and there it stayed as I was fascinated, appalled, and utterly riveted by the absurdly hilarious utterances coming out of the mouth of Brent/Gervais.

While Garry Shandling's self-centeredness on The Larry Sanders Show fit his character's showbiz lifestyle to a "T" and Larry David's curmudgeon shtick on Curb Your Enthusiasm is the perfect extension of Seinfeld's George Costanza, there was something that hit harder about Gervais' characterization. Namely that he felt more realistic, painful, and heartrending than his overly animated American counterpart Michael Scott (Steve Carrell) on the funny but thematically different version of NBC'sThe Office. We empathize with Brent on a level we don't connect to with Scott and the brilliance of that lies in the talent of the show's co-creator and star, Ricky Gervais.

The hilarious mastermind and co-creator of not just The Office but HBO's Extras has had bit parts in American films over the past few years such as opposite Robert De Niro in Stardust and with Christopher Guest's talented improvisational crew in For Your Consideration. Yet writer/director David Koepp—the man who penned such contemporary classics as Jurassic Park, Carlito's Way, Panic Room, Mission: Impossible, and Spiderman—gave Gervais the chance to be a full-fledged leading man in this month's surprisingly freshest and most entertaining new comedy, Ghost Town.

Yes, that's right-- you don't need an eye exam-- Ricky Gervais was cast as a romantic hero. And no, I'm not, as his Extras character would say, "having a laugh." While no doubt half of you are asking "Who's Ricky Gervais?" and those familiar with his work may even be having doubts despite their admiration for him, fear not—when it comes to second thoughts, Koepp is the first one to admit that he perhaps regrets the casting decision. And his reservations aren't because Gervais isn't great in the part and hilarious, but because as opposed to in England where the man has become their country's Robin Williams, here in the states he isn't quite as well known.

While I'm no Miss Manners, it does seem sort of disloyal for Koepp to admit this publicly especially during the same week the film from Paramount Pictures, Dreamworks, and Spyglass Entertainment opens, but Koepp hopes that his winning performance in the film will change this reality and make Gervais not just a full-fledged leading man but a full-fledged American star. I'm predicting he's right and word-of-mouth will not only propel this film to a bigger audience with each passing week but that Gervais will also be considered in Robin Williams' company on our own soil as well. He almost certainly still has his work cut out for him. I still remember the evening of The Golden Globes a few years back when The Office won two awards and the chilly reception and deer-in-the-headlights look given to him by such A-list stars as Billy Bob Thornton as he and the cast bounded towards the stage, no doubt wondering what was with the latest British invasion. Indeed, Gervais is the reason why Ghost Town's hokey premise works and he's so completely "on" in every scene that it's a wonder any other actor could keep a straight face.

As Bertam Pincus, a misanthropic dentist who seems to have chosen his profession for its endless opportunities to force chatty patients into shutting up with various tools, plasters, and tricks of the trade, Gervais plays yet another jerk to incredible perfection. Whether he's avoiding his fellow dentist's impromptu office party by sneaking out the door or forcing the elevator doors closed when his neighbor Gwen (Tea Leoni) yells for him to hold it open, Pincus is a man without friends or conversation. He frankly prefers to keep it that way. This all changes when he goes in for a routine colonoscopy and makes the request to be completely anesthetized for the procedure.

Hospital Check-In



The Medical Staff



After he's released from the hospital a day later, he discovers that he's being followed by a large number of pushy New Yorkers with unfinished business. No, they aren't people whom he's wronged in the past, but people who find hope in Pincus due to his ability to see and converse with them as they're all, save Pincus, dead. Rushing back to the hospital to find out why he's experiencing what he fears are hallucinations, his inept surgeon (a hilarious Kristen Wiig) explains that the reason he's seeing ghosts is because, well, he actually died "for a little bit" himself.

"You Died."



Pincus' hopes of avoiding others are dashed as the films tagline promises that "he sees dead people… and they annoy him." This is especially the case when the self-centered and unofficial leader of the ghosts famous for his knack of talking people into things, Frank Herlihy (Greg Kinnear) promises that he'll help Gervais get back to his old life if he does Herlihy one favor.

"I Need Your Help."



"New York is Lousy with Ghosts."



With his dashing classic movie star looks and easy charm, Kinnear is the natural choice for the role, playing off the wicked Gervais in the same way he interacted the misanthropic character played by the Oscar winning Jack Nicholson in Kinnear's award nominated role in As Good As It Gets. Unwilling to let Pincus off the hook, the two finally reach an arrangement to solve Frank's problem, namely that his widow Gwen (Tea Leoni) is about to marry a man whom Frank fears is no good.

Even though he shouldn't be one to talk as—upon the film's opening—we realize that Frank had been two-timing his wife with a Yoga hottie, once Pincus sees Gwen delivering a lecture on a mummy for her archaeological work, he finds himself instantly attracted. While to Frank, all Pincus needs to do is distract Gwen enough to make her have second thoughts about marrying a picture perfect human rights lawyer, Pincus takes the assignment literally, falling for the beautiful, brainy, and delightfully odd Gwen. Happily for Pincus, as evidence by her work with mummies, Gwen shares an enthusiasm for people who don't talk and also has a bizarre interest in dentistry.

Although Gwen hesitates to give him the time of day, they live in the same building and he has ignored her on numerous occasions in the past, Pincus keeps trying in one of the film's funniest scenes as he tries to engage her in conversation following her lecture. At one point his ramblings become so ridiculously hysterical, I couldn't even hear Gervais due to the audience's laughter. He and Leoni work very well-together. As I wrote about Leoni in my review of You Kill Me, her characterization here made me, "again appreciate the delightful screwball-inspired nuances that Tea Leoni always brings to her characters and wish that she was given far more cinematic opportunities." Equally adept at pratfalls as she is with verbal gymnastics and improvisations, I began to wonder how much Gervais came up with on the fly. It's a pleasure to watch, even in tiny scenes like this one.

Gwen's Dog



A bright and sophisticatedly witty romantic comedy, I'm expecting Ghost Town will be the ultimate sleeper that could, if enough people take a chance on a film with a man they don't recognize on the poster. Admittedly, while the plot setup is a bit generic and we don't really need yet another ghost movie, the three leads (not to mention the supporting players like Wiig) are all in perfect form.

Several years ago, director Brett Ratner said in a newspaper interview that he hoped his Christmas comedy The Family Man starring Nicolas Cage and Don Cheadle would help America realize what a talent Tea Leoni truly was. And while his film didn't quite reach the level that he aspired in the way that Rob Reiner's When Harry Met Sally launched Meg Ryan (as he is after all Ratner and not Reiner), here's to hoping Koepp's film does double duty.

Ghost Town should help reestablish the gifted comedienne Tea Leoni (who in my book often recalls Carole Lombard and Jean Arthur) and should also successfully introduce the unconverted to the comic mastermind that is Ricky Gervais… even if we're never buying the fact that he's a real life dentist with those less-than-perfect teeth. Still, who cares about teeth when it's the things coming out of his mouth that are the most memorable? So in the end, we're "having a laugh" indeed... over and over and over again.

The Blu-ray

Eager to leave the big-budget special effects films he'd worked on in the past behind him for the welcome change of pace to sit back and try to "stay out of the actors' way," writer/director David Koepp happened upon the idea for Ghost Town when he himself longed to stay out of everyone's way.

Having what he described as a really bad day on a film set, Koepp wandered around until he was struck by the sight of a wooden tooth hanging outside a building and thought how great it would be to craft a character who loves dentistry because he can shove cotton into people's mouths and avoid conversation.

In the film's entertaining twenty-two minute making-of featurette, Koepp describes his creative approach including his wish to only offer a few simple effects as opposed to the CGI prevalent in his bigger films he'd penned for directors like Spielberg. Instead, he preferred to opt for "romantic comedy effects" with entertaining new ghostly quirks such as having characters wear simply what they died in (naturally giving Kinnear a tuxedo so that he's the "host" for the film and immediately stands out) and modeling Leoni's character after Cary Grant's brainy and bright yet often distractedly dizzy Bringing Up Baby paleontologist.

Of course, the main star of the extras is Gervais who crafts a hilarious false anecdote about meeting his director for the first time and chats up the camera along with his dog Gia. And, to be expected, the other actors and Koepp describe how hard it was to keep from laughing when they shared the same scene as Gervais.

Proof of this can be found in the genuinely hysterical outtakes called "Some People Can Do It," (the second of three special features all offered in Blu-ray High Definition) as the actors crack each other up and Leoni scolds Gervais to keep filming and redo a scene when he rambles an alternate version of a line to ridiculous effect. Providing further humorous fodder-- Koepp and Gervais take part in a feature length commentary and those curious about the movie magic side of Town can take in the "Ghostly Effects" extra as well.

Crisp color and excellent flesh tones in a superb transfer with zero artifacting and Dolby TrueHD English 5.1 Surround (as well as French and Spanish Dolby Digital), Ghost Town's Blu-ray quality is another solid offering from Paramount and DreamWorks which seems to have the format down to a science. Likewise, the studios also thankfully provide subtitles in not just French, Spanish and Portuguese but English as well so that way you can read the jokes you find you've missed from laughing so much the first time around. And luckily for us, now that it's available on disc, we can replay our favorite scenes-- including the awkward romantic evening and Gervais' scenes with Wiig-- again and again, managing to go about "having a laugh" as loud as we want in the privacy of our own homes without worrying about anyone shoving cotton into our mouths.

DVD Review: Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2-Disc Special Edition)

Go Behind the Scenes of the Film in our Video Screening Room

Check out Crystal Skull's Trailer Gallery

Visit the Official Site

In honor of October 14's DVD & Blu-ray release, I'm offering you an insider's view of the 2-Disc Special Edition DVD that Paramount Pictures Home Entertainment was kind enough to send my way. But before we adventure into the extras, here's my original review of the theatrical film:

Movie Review: Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

Director: Steven Spielberg

“Here we are now, entertain us.”-- Nirvana

And so we return to Dr. Jones and the gang’s all here, John Williams’s score sounds better than ever, and the fedora has become as recognizable as Chaplin’s cane. Following months of advertising including near singular sponsorship of the 2008 NBA Playoffs, the question wasn’t whether or not Indiana Jones would make money or break box office records, but rather if it was worth dusting off our favorite archeologist from his nineteen year retirement of perfectly preserved and re-mastered memories on DVD and sending him on a fourth perilous search for another trove of treasure. Of course, even to co-creator George Lucas, Indiana Jones was never about the treasure itself—similar to Hitchcock’s MacGuffin, it never quite mattered what he was chasing, for the real treasure was in the quest itself as we followed archeology professor Dr. Henry Jones to the most unimaginable corners of the world in a wit and daring filled hero’s journey to outsmart the Nazis or whoever stood in his way to—much like a modern day Arthur—secure whatever grail he needed to win.

From the groundbreaking Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), to the uneven Temple of Doom (’84) and the enjoyable misnomer Last Crusade (’89), Harrison Ford’s most endearing character since Han Solo (for my money, the coolest one from the Star Wars canon) has garnered generations of fans but now at age 65, bringing him back to high flying adventure sounded like an unlikely and primarily profit driven undertaking. Like many, I feared going in that Spielberg and Lucas, who have both become unparalleled masters of the latest filmmaking technology, would forget the cheesy B movie roots or matinee spirit of the original extraordinary trilogy and in forgoing classic entertainment, offer a perfect reinvention of Jones with Iron Man styled special effects. However, my concerns were put to rest within minutes as we’re faced with the retro Paramount logo and old-fashioned credits announcing that the Indy we love is back.

Opening in 1957 Nevada, it takes less than five minutes for Dr. Jones to find himself in lethal jeopardy as he tries to outthink—not the Nazis this time but rather Communist Russians led by the wicked dominatrix Irina Spalko (Cate Blanchett reveling in her Ukrainian accent and dark colored bob). Admittedly when we first catch a glimpse of the aged Ford cracking dialogue that directly references his age and ability, doubt instead of awe is the new reaction we have to this elder Indy but soon, we’re distracted by enough chaotic complications and old fashioned wonder that cynical preoccupation is abandoned and we’re well into the story.

Scripted by Spiderman and Panic Room scribe David Koepp from a story by Jeff Nathanson and George Lucas, while the psychic, paranormal phenomena and extraterrestrial excitement feel a bit out of place, again that MacGuffin couldn’t matter less as we’re more entranced by the outrageous spectacle first introduced with the arrival of the newest addition to the “good guys,” greaser Mutt Williams (a delightful Shia LeBeouf), whom we first see in perfect imitation of Marlon Brando in The Wild One straddling a killer motorcycle. Bearing information from his mother Marion (Karen Allen), who-- despite being the most memorable Indiana Jones heroine-- for reasons that are never explained (possibly old age?), Jones doesn’t quite put together with being that particular Marion, Mutt serves as Jones’s call to action, leading him on a wild goose chase to the mythic South American city of El Dorado by way of Cusco, Peru to track down the legendary crystal skulls that have fascinated the Russians (and Blanchett) as well.

Soon reacquainted with Marion Ravenwood and other colleagues including Ox (John Hurt) and Mac (Ray Winstone), Indy and Mutt’s lives are increasingly threatened as they get closer to the treasure but along the way, we have our trademark thrills—some of which play like a greatest hits mix tape of the earlier films and some that I still remain dazzled by twenty-four hours later. The ultimate features an unforgettable jeep chase with swashbuckling action in the form of a Mutt and Irina swordfight, gunfire, and more, as-- in true Indy fashion-- Spielberg keeps topping the sequence before it, stacking up danger until he knocks it all down like a wicked Jenga game.

There’s the quintessential “gross out” moment harkening back to the horrifying snake pit debacle from Raiders that indeed sent people fleeing to the restroom as the leads are attacked by, as Indy calls them “big damn ants,” which manages to overstay its disgusting welcome just seconds into the overly long sequence. And while this isn’t the only part of the film that feels like padding and there aren’t as many genuine laughs as Kasdan penned in his memorable Raiders screenplay, the action is so riveting and the affable nostalgic and high energy spirit of the series is kept remarkably intact as to rival the overly cool, and hyper real action movies of today, that I was amazed by just how big of an absence was left in action film when Indy hung up that fedora.

Although it would be woefully unwise to call him back to adventure again and Spielberg does hint that perhaps Mutt may be the next in line for the professor’s whip, it was a fond farewell to the films and a nice reward for fans who, similar to myself as someone roughly as old as the entire series, always looked forward to the next hybrid of imaginative thrills and brain teasing wit.

In other words--we were there, so Spielberg, Lucas and Ford entertained us.

2-Disc Special Edition DVD

Anytime you're discussing a feature that involves not only George Lucas but also Steven Spielberg, you know that first and foremost the technology of their product will be first rate. While it was definitely evidenced in the latest film and in fact cited as the number one detractor by some critics who felt that too much CGI was employed, I thought it brought the magic of Jones universe to an entirely new level and this is evidenced right away on the 2-Disc DVD set. Although I still have yet to find a Blu-ray player in my price range, rest assured that nothing was spared in its transfer to DVD, despite the fact that Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull marks the first Blu-ray new release motion picture from Lucasfilm Ltd. and Steven Spielberg as the press release denotes.

Presented in its original widescreen theatrical version that's enhanced for 16x9 ratio televisions, the DVD's sound matches its stellar picture quality with Lucas' own THX Certified Dolby Digtial 5.1 Surround and audio options to listen in English, French, and Spanish with the exact same choice for the subtitles. Primarily the main attraction of Disc 1 is the film itself and although most will be tempted to just pop in Disc 2 to get right into the special features, there's two worthwhile extras waiting for you alongside the feature on the first disc.

In "The Return of a Legend," Spielberg, Ford, Lucas and others reveal the origin of the fourth film. Although he assumed that ending Last Crusade with that memorably breathtaking iconic western styled shot of Ford's Jones riding off into the sunset meant that the series was over, roughly five years later, the main three (Spielberg, Ford, and Lucas) began getting inundated with questions of when the next movie would arrive from fans and press members around the globe. According to Spielberg and despite being in his mid-fifties at the time, Ford was the first person to take it seriously and its his tenacity that propelled the hypothetical "what if's" into action first by phoning the reluctant Spielberg who declined, then Lucas who was more enthusiastic and called Spielberg on his own. Their double-teaming of the director paid off and plans were quickly put into motion which also ended up involving the original producers of Raiders of the Lost Ark, Frank Marshall and Kathleen Kennedy who'd first met on that set and later married.

From Lucas' first instinct of "let's do aliens," once Independence Day was released, its quality impressed Spielberg to such an extent that they decided to rethink their Jones idea. Merging together 1950's B movies and 1930's serials-- the creative well from which the original films had been dug-- Lucas change the aliens from extra-terrestrials (which E.T. and Close Encounters of the Third Kind director Spielberg definitely knew a thing or two about) to "inter-dimensional" beings derived from String Theory.

As writer David Koepp noted, the success of the films had always been to "play with existing mythology" like the existence of actual Crystal Skulls and the idea of the paranoia from the 1950's regarding Soviet mind control and use the real legends as much as possible to make their own fantastical tale seem that much more authentic. Koepp would be the third writer brought on board after Lucas' original script which found Indy discovering a long-lost daughter (which was vetoed by Spielberg; although part of me wondered what a young female Marion Jr. would've been like) and was afterward given to the talented Jeff Nathanson who improved upon it even more before Koepp-- Spielberg's "closer" finished it off.

Revealing some of the several dozen title ideas they'd had from the quintessential Indiana Jones and the... with finishes such as "Saucer Men," and "Attack of the Giant Ants" etc. they finally found common ground upon Lucas's insistence that the word "kingdom" would be included to acknowledge their MacGuffin. Above all, vowing not to reinvent the wheel on the type of a series that now belongs to the entire world as Spielberg shared, their mission was instead to serve up one more helping to both those who grew up with the originals (like this reviewer) and those just meeting Dr. Jones for the first time and agreeing that they wouldn't make the film unless all three were fully on board so they proceeded.

In a second marvelous feature on Disc 1, we delve into the film's "Pre-Production" featurette from both the complicated computerized pre-visualization of the effects via the creators who were some of the first collaborators on board transforming (with no access to the script) Spielberg's vision and rudimentary one dimensional drawings complete with perfect framing into what would ultimately develop into the shot-by-shot execution of some of the most awe-inspiring action sequences.

Their painstaking work provided the first blueprint for Crystal Skull and then it began to trickle down to all of the other departments, informing wardrobe and everything else on the type of film they wanted to make. Adamant about not wanting to change the lighting style or overall visual look of the films which the cinematographer noted invovled "high key, glossy" old Hollywood styled photography, Spielberg began to round up all the players including Ford who revealed that the "whip-cracking skill" took a few weeks to return along with the new inclusion of Shia LeBeouf as Mutt, Ford's son who's modeled on a 1950's greaser.

Given a list of three films to watch as homework-- consisting of Blackboard Jungle, Rebel Without a Cause, and The Wild One-- LeBeouf (who'd first impressed the director with his work in Holes) began to become Mutt, learning how to play with knives from the sword that would be used in one of the film's most memorable scenes to the switchblade the actor perfected on his own, sans blade coach, making the knife his "Tetris" for the shoot.



From this first glimpse of "Pre-Production," we journey right into the fully loaded second disc that offers an in-depth twelve part cinematic "Production Diary," as we're given unprecedented access to the making of a film that was so hushed up, people's livelihood's were threatened for losing a script or revealing anything to the press. While there's far too much to go into here, it's a movie-maker's dream as well as a fascinating look for the technology geek in all of us, especially when we're brought into the offices of the men and women who built miniature sets, incomplete actual sets, and then made them all merge together to brilliant glory via cutting-edge technology. Featuring three pre-visualization sequences for proof of their hard work-- which alone should be sent to Oscar voters to earn the hardworking team a Special Effects statue, the disc also provides photo galleries, trailers, a look at the Lego Indiana Jones video game and much more.

Ghost Town

Ricky Gervais as a romantic leading man?
"Are you having a laugh?"
Surprisingly no, but Gervais makes us laugh throughout.

Read the Blu-ray Review

Several years back and shortly after the initial hedonistic pleasurable rush I felt upon the installation of our family's DirecTV wore off, I realized how very overwhelming it was to suddenly have hundreds of channels at our disposal. Whether you were into knitting or cooking or knitting while you were cooking, there seemed to be something for everyone and I distinctly remember the one fateful evening when my remote landed on the face of British comedian Ricky Gervais on BBC America. Of course, I didn't know it was Gervais at the time— I was so completely sucked into the mockumentary that was the British version of The Office, I felt that Gervais and his character, David Brent were one and the same. I set the remote down and there it stayed as I was fascinated, appalled, and utterly riveted by the absurdly hilarious utterances coming out of the mouth of Brent/Gervais.

While Garry Shandling's self-centeredness on The Larry Sanders Show fit his character's showbiz lifestyle to a "T" and Larry David's curmudgeon shtick on Curb Your Enthusiasm is the perfect extension of Seinfeld's George Costanza, there was something that hit harder about Gervais' characterization. Namely that he felt more realistic, painful, and heartrending than his overly animated American counterpart Michael Scott (Steve Carrell) on the funny but thematically different version of NBC'sThe Office. We empathize with Brent on a level we don't connect to with Scott and the brilliance of that lies in the talent of the show's co-creator and star, Ricky Gervais.

The hilarious mastermind and co-creator of not just The Office but HBO's Extras has had bit parts in American films over the past few years such as opposite Robert De Niro in Stardust and with Christopher Guest's talented improvisational crew in For Your Consideration. Yet writer/director David Koepp—the man who penned such contemporary classics as Jurassic Park, Carlito's Way, Panic Room, Mission: Impossible, and Spiderman—gave Gervais the chance to be a full-fledged leading man in this month's surprisingly freshest and most entertaining new comedy, Ghost Town.

Yes, that's right-- you don't need an eye exam-- Ricky Gervais was cast as a romantic hero. And no, I'm not, as his Extras character would say, "having a laugh." While no doubt half of you are asking "Who's Ricky Gervais?" and those familiar with his work may even be having doubts despite their admiration for him, fear not—when it comes to second thoughts, Koepp is the first one to admit that he perhaps regrets the casting decision. And his reservations aren't because Gervais isn't great in the part and hilarious, but because as opposed to in England where the man has become their country's Robin Williams, here in the states he isn't quite as well known.

While I'm no Miss Manners, it does seem sort of disloyal for Koepp to admit this publicly especially during the same week the film from Paramount Pictures, Dreamworks, and Spyglass Entertainment opens, but Koepp hopes that his winning performance in the film will change this reality and make Gervais not just a full-fledged leading man but a full-fledged American star. I'm predicting he's right and word-of-mouth will not only propel this film to a bigger audience with each passing week but that Gervais will also be considered in Robin Williams' company on our own soil as well. He almost certainly still has his work cut out for him. I still remember the evening of The Golden Globes a few years back when The Office won two awards and the chilly reception and deer-in-the-headlights look given to him by such A-list stars as Billy Bob Thornton as he and the cast bounded towards the stage, no doubt wondering what was with the latest British invasion. Indeed, Gervais is the reason why Ghost Town's hokey premise works and he's so completely "on" in every scene that it's a wonder any other actor could keep a straight face.

As Bertam Pincus, a misanthropic dentist who seems to have chosen his profession for its endless opportunities to force chatty patients into shutting up with various tools, plasters, and tricks of the trade, Gervais plays yet another jerk to incredible perfection. Whether he's avoiding his fellow dentist's impromptu office party by sneaking out the door or forcing the elevator doors closed when his neighbor Gwen (Tea Leoni) yells for him to hold it open, Pincus is a man without friends or conversation. He frankly prefers to keep it that way. This all changes when he goes in for a routine colonoscopy and makes the request to be completely anesthetized for the procedure.

Hospital Check-In



The Medical Staff



After he's released from the hospital a day later, he discovers that he's being followed by a large number of pushy New Yorkers with unfinished business. No, they aren't people whom he's wronged in the past, but people who find hope in Pincus due to his ability to see and converse with them as they're all, save Pincus, dead. Rushing back to the hospital to find out why he's experiencing what he fears are hallucinations, his inept surgeon (a hilarious Kristen Wiig) explains that the reason he's seeing ghosts is because, well, he actually died "for a little bit" himself.

"You Died."



Pincus' hopes of avoiding others are dashed as the films tagline promises that "he sees dead people… and they annoy him." This is especially the case when the self-centered and unofficial leader of the ghosts famous for his knack of talking people into things, Frank Herlihy (Greg Kinnear) promises that he'll help Gervais get back to his old life if he does Herlihy one favor.

"I Need Your Help."



"New York is Lousy with Ghosts."



With his dashing classic movie star looks and easy charm, Kinnear is the natural choice for the role, playing off the wicked Gervais in the same way he interacted the misanthropic character played by the Oscar winning Jack Nicholson in Kinnear's award nominated role in As Good As It Gets. Unwilling to let Pincus off the hook, the two finally reach an arrangement to solve Frank's problem, namely that his widow Gwen (Tea Leoni) is about to marry a man whom Frank fears is no good.

Even though he shouldn't be one to talk as—upon the film's opening—we realize that Frank had been two-timing his wife with a Yoga hottie, once Pincus sees Gwen delivering a lecture on a mummy for her archaeological work, he finds himself instantly attracted. While to Frank, all Pincus needs to do is distract Gwen enough to make her have second thoughts about marrying a picture perfect human rights lawyer, Pincus takes the assignment literally, falling for the beautiful, brainy, and delightfully odd Gwen. Happily for Pincus, as evidence by her work with mummies, Gwen shares an enthusiasm for people who don't talk and also has a bizarre interest in dentistry.

Although Gwen hesitates to give him the time of day, they live in the same building and he has ignored her on numerous occasions in the past, Pincus keeps trying in one of the film's funniest scenes as he tries to engage her in conversation following her lecture. At one point his ramblings become so ridiculously hysterical, I couldn't even hear Gervais due to the audience's laughter. He and Leoni work very well-together. As I wrote about Leoni in my review of You Kill Me, her characterization here made me, "again appreciate the delightful screwball-inspired nuances that Tea Leoni always brings to her characters and wish that she was given far more cinematic opportunities." Equally adept at pratfalls as she is with verbal gymnastics and improvisations, I began to wonder how much Gervais came up with on the fly. It's a pleasure to watch, even in tiny scenes like this one.

Gwen's Dog



A bright and sophisticatedly witty romantic comedy, I'm expecting Ghost Town will be the ultimate sleeper that could, if enough people take a chance on a film with a man they don't recognize on the poster. Admittedly, while the plot setup is a bit generic and we don't really need yet another ghost movie, the three leads (not to mention the supporting players like Wiig) are all in perfect form.

Several years ago, director Brett Ratner said in a newspaper interview that he hoped his Christmas comedy The Family Man starring Nicolas Cage and Don Cheadle would help America realize what a talent Tea Leoni truly was. And while his film didn't quite reach the level that he aspired in the way that Rob Reiner's When Harry Met Sally launched Meg Ryan (as he is after all Ratner and not Reiner), here's to hoping Koepp's film does double duty.

Ghost Town should help reestablish the gifted comedienne Tea Leoni (who in my book often recalls Carole Lombard and Jean Arthur) and should also successfully introduce the unconverted to the comic mastermind that is Ricky Gervais… even if we're never buying the fact that he's a real life dentist with those less-than-perfect teeth. Still, who cares about teeth when it's the things coming out of his mouth that are the most memorable? So in the end, we're "having a laugh" indeed... over and over and over again.

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

Director: Steven Spielberg

“Here we are now, entertain us.”-- Nirvana

And so we return to Dr. Jones and the gang’s all here, John Williams’s score sounds better than ever, and the fedora has become as recognizable as Chaplin’s cane. Following months of advertising including near singular sponsorship of the 2008 NBA Playoffs, the question wasn’t whether or not Indiana Jones would make money or break box office records, but rather if it was worth dusting off our favorite archeologist from his nineteen year retirement of perfectly preserved and re-mastered memories on DVD and sending him on a fourth perilous search for another trove of treasure. Of course, even to co--creator George Lucas, Indiana Jones was never about the treasure itself—similar to Hitchcock’s MacGuffin, it never quite mattered what he was chasing, for the real treasure was in the quest itself as we followed archeology professor Dr. Henry Jones to the most unimaginable corners of the world in a wit and daring filled hero’s journey to outsmart the Nazis or whoever stood in his way to—much like a modern day Arthur—secure whatever grail he needed to win.

From the groundbreaking Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), to the uneven Temple of Doom (’84) and the enjoyable misnomer Last Crusade (’89), Harrison Ford’s most endearing character since Han Solo (for my money, the coolest one from the Star Wars cannon) has garnered generations of fans but now at age 65, bringing him back to high flying adventure sounded like an unlikely and primarily profit driven undertaking. Like many, I feared going in that Spielberg and Lucas, who have both become unparalleled masters of the latest filmmaking technology, would forget the cheesy B movie roots or matinee spirit of the original extraordinary trilogy and in forgoing classic entertainment, offer a perfect reinvention of Jones with Iron Man styled special effects. However, my concerns were put to rest within minutes as we’re faced with the retro Paramount logo and old-fashioned credits announcing that the Indy we love is back.

Opening in 1957 Nevada, it takes less than five minutes for Dr. Jones to find himself in lethal jeopardy as he tries to outthink—not the Nazis this time but rather Communist Russians led by the wicked dominatrix Irina Spalko (Cate Blanchett reveling in her Ukrainian accent and dark colored bob). Admittedly when we first catch a glimpse of the aged Ford cracking dialogue that directly references his age and ability, doubt instead of awe is the new reaction we have to this elder Indy but soon, we’re distracted by enough chaotic complications and old fashioned wonder that cynical preoccupation is abandoned and we’re well into the story.

Scripted by Spiderman and Panic Room scribe David Koepp from a story by Jeff Nathanson and George Lucas, while the psychic, paranormal phenomena and extraterrestrial excitement feel a bit out of place, again that MacGuffin couldn’t matter less as we’re more entranced by the outrageous spectacle first introduced with the arrival of the newest addition to the “good guys,” greaser Mutt Williams (a delightful Shia LeBeouf), whom we first see in perfect imitation of Marlon Brando in The Wild One straddling a killer motorcycle. Bearing information from his mother Marion (Karen Allen), who-- despite being the most memorable Indiana Jones heroine-- for reasons that are never explained (possibly old age?), Jones doesn’t quite put together with being that particular Marion, Mutt serves as Jones’s call to action, leading him on a wild goose chase to the mythic South American city of El Dorado by way of Cusco, Peru to track down the legendary crystal skulls that have fascinated the Russians (and Blanchett) as well.

Soon reacquainted with Marion Ravenwood and other colleagues including Ox (John Hurt) and Mac (Ray Winstone), Indy and Mutt’s lives are increasingly threatened as they get closer to the treasure but along the way, we have our trademark thrills—some of which play like a greatest hits mix tape of the earlier films and some that I still remain dazzled by twenty-four hours later. The ultimate features an unforgettable jeep chase with swashbuckling action in the form of a Mutt and Irina swordfight, gunfire, and more, as-- in true Indy fashion-- Spielberg keeps topping the sequence before it, stacking up danger until he knocks it all down like a wicked Jenga game.

There’s the quintessential “gross out” moment harkening back to the horrifying snake pit debacle from Raiders that indeed sent people fleeing to the restroom as the leads are attacked by, as Indy calls them “big damn ants,” which manages to overstay its disgusting welcome just seconds into the overly long sequence. And while this isn’t the only part of the film that feels like padding and there aren’t as many genuine laughs as Kasdan penned in his memorable Raiders screenplay, the action is so riveting and the affable nostalgic and high energy spirit of the series is kept remarkably intact as to rival the overly cool, and hyper real action movies of today, that I was amazed by just how big of an absence was left in action film when Indy hung up that fedora.

Although it would be woefully unwise to call him back to adventure again and Spielberg does hint that perhaps Mutt may be the next in line for the professor’s whip, it was a fond farewell to the films and a nice reward for fans who, similar to myself as someone roughly as old as the entire series, always looked forward to the next hybrid of imaginative thrills and brain teasing wit.

In other words--we were there, so Spielberg, Lucas and Ford entertained us.

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Carlito's Way

Director: Brian De Palma

To say that Brian De Palma loves movies is an understatement. Film buff De Palma has turned cinematic homage into an art form referencing pictures that span the globe and nearly every work he creates can be analyzed not only in the manner of entertainment but film students will delight in exploring the varied influences that pour from several frames. Some are more prominent than others such as Obsession, De Palma’s uneven spin on Hitchcock’s Vertigo, Scarface which was a remake of the 1932 gangster classic, Blow Out that came from Antonioni’s foreign Blow-Up and of course, De Palma’s most discussed homage of the shootout on the staircase with a baby carriage going down the train station steps in The Untouchables that was directly inspired by Eisenstein’s Battleship Potemkin.

In Carlito’s Way which reunites the director with both the star of Scarface (Al Pacino) and one from Casualties of War (Sean Penn), De Palma has another climax that’s indicative of the one used in Untouchables although it was his second choice after hoping to shoot the film’s finale in the World Trade Center which after the first attack was unavailable in ’93. That homage, while accidental, is one of a few others that call attention to themselves in more subtle ways such as using the same name for Al Pacino’s character’s nightclub (El Paraiso) as a food stand from Scarface and filming a tense hospital scene that recalls Pacino’s brilliant work in a similar scene from Coppola’s The Godfather and indeed, the exterior is the same as the one in the mafia classic (IMDb).

Carlito’s Way which was adapted by Jurassic Park and Spiderman screenwriter David Koepp from two novels by Edwin Torres chronicles Carlito “Charlie” Brigante (Pacino), who after being released from prison in the 70’s on a technical appeal after serving five years finds himself struggling with the decision to go straight after he is caught in the crossfire of a brutal shootout and drug deal gone bad. Using the money he claims from the crime to buy his way into the New York nightclub business, the Puerto Rican ex-con tries to reconnect with old flame Gail (Penelope Ann Miller) and rectify his feelings of indebtedness to his shady attorney David Kleinfeld (Sean Penn). Nearly impossible to recognize under the makeup, wig and costuming of the time period, Penn who was nominated for a Golden Globe for his performance (along with Miller) reportedly signed on to do the film solely to make enough money to fund The Crossing Guard, his second work as a director (IMDb).

Featuring impressive character work by actors ranging from an impossibly young Viggo Mortensen as a wheelchair bound con, John Leguizamo as a dangerous up-and-comer that Pacino (possibly reminded of himself) tries desperately to avoid, and Luis Guzman among others, Carlito’s Way is a compelling if minor gangster film that is unfortunately hindered by a lame voice over at the film’s end that is so filled with clichés and pseudo "wiseguy" speak it may cause unintentional laughter. Disappointing to end the film on such a forgettable, B-movie cheesy note but even weak De Palma is better than a majority of post Scarface gangster films that would populate the Tarantino-inspired (a De Palma fan himself) late 90’s.