Netflix Holiday Movie Review: “A Boy Called Christmas” (2021) & “A Castle for Christmas” (2021)

The Netflix equivalent of putting up your Christmas tree and/or starting your holiday shopping the day after Thanksgiving, this year, the streaming service's version of Black Friday comes in two new high profile, high caliber Christmas movies which are scheduled to premiere on Friday, November 26.

Inspired by the question “was Father Christmas ever a boy?” which was posed by author Matt Haig's son, the first film, from “Monster House” director Gil Kenan, is a gorgeously crafted, old-fashioned fairytale adaptation of Haig's bestselling 2015 British children's book “A Boy Called Christmas.”

Tonally a cross between C.S. Lewis, Hans Christian Andersen, Charles Dickens, J.K. Rowling, and Roald Dahl in its balance of darkness, magic, heart, and light, Kenan's film begins with a framing device straight out of “The Princess Bride.”Arriving at their home late at night, a great aunt played by the irreplaceable Maggie Smith tells the tale of the brave boy we'll all eventually know as Father Christmas to her young relatives at bedtime. Next, switching to a different time and place, we move away from contemporary London as Smith's fable starts to play out before our eyes.

Still reeling from the loss of his mother, which is something shared by the characters in the modern setting as well, “Christmas” chronicles the plight of Nikolas (portrayed by top-notch relative newcomer Henry Lawfull). Fearing for the safety of the sole parent he has left (Michiel Huisman), Nikolas sets out on a perilous journey to the north to find his dad when he fails to return from his search for the village of Elfhelm in order to bring hope to us all.  

Populated by a who's who of great character actors, including Sally Hawkins, Kristen Wiig, Jim Broadbent, Toby Jones, and Stephen Merchant (priceless here as the voice of Miika the Mouse), the film looks and sounds like a dream, thanks to the effects team and production designer behind the “Paddington” movies, and a lovely score courtesy of the great Dario Marianelli. Additionally, it's fun to see the actors let loose, particularly Hawkins and Wiig who relish their Wicked Witch-like moments to eat up the screen. 

The type of film you could leave on in the background when you make cookies or put up your tree, while it's easy to lose yourself in the snowy spectacle of it all, disappointingly from a narrative standpoint, “A Boy Called Christmas” runs out of steam quickly. With episodic plot points, as the indefatigable, ever-determined, delightful Lawfull encounters one new character or problem after another in a by-the-numbers fashion, it grows increasingly repetitive as it continues on.

Although I am unfamiliar with the source material, I can't help but ask if perhaps its error might be an early “Harry Potter” franchise-style case of staying far too faithful to the book. Needless to say, of course, young fans of Haig's novel are sure to love seeing every moment come to life. For the rest of us, however, despite some beautiful revelations that come to light near the end of the movie, its muddled second act makes it feel twice as long as the first, and I think most viewers who don't know Haig's novel will grow restless as soon as the storyline begins to wander.

Still, from the jaw-dropping 4k presentation where even the opening sequence of Smith walking down a light-filled city street feels painterly (and indeed I wondered but really didn't care if it was CG), “A Boy Called Christmas” is a stellar technical achievement from these talented craftsmen, even if it doesn't fully work for me as a film overall. Not nearly as successful as “Monster House” or Kenan's wonderful adaptation of “City of Ember,” (of which I might be the only fan and still wish for a sequel), he's such a great director that regardless of the film's shortcomings, I look forward to seeing what he'll do next.

Incidentally, it turns out that looking forward is exactly what romance author Sophie Brown (Brooke Shields) realizes she needs to do at the start of director Mary Lambert's picturesque holiday romcom travelogue “A Castle for Christmas.” 

Whereas “A Boy Called Christmas” was made for the kids, “A Castle for Christmas” is Netflix's present for teens and adults. It comes in the form of a fun, fluffy, snowflake light hybrid of the kinds of seasonal romances that Lifetime and the Hallmark Channel produce with alarming frequency and the sassier UK romcoms that Hugh Grant made popular back in the '90s. 

Centered on Shields' Brown, the plot of "Castle" is incredibly straightforward.  Having killed off the romantic hero of her dozen bestselling novels after a messy divorce, Sophie Brown incurs the wrath of her heartbroken legion of fans who want their dream man back. In desperate need of a change of scenery, she journeys to Scotland to not only hide out and write the next book in her popular Emma Gale romance series but also visit the castle that her late father loved while growing up as the son of the groundskeeper there. 

Having barely arrived in her new surroundings, Sophie finds new friends quickly when she joins the knitting club in the pub of the inn where she's staying. The same dynamic we encountered in Netflix's outstanding (and much more substantive) adaptation of the acclaimed novel “The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society," in “Castle,” the scenes that producer-star Shields shares with her motley knitting crew are absolutely delightful.

Still, as the romance author she's portraying here knows, you can't have a love story without a male lead, and thankfully, for that we have Cary Elwes getting his scowl on as the sour, curmudgeon-like Duke of said castle, who eventually melts under Sophie's charms.

Phenomenally predictable to anyone who's ever seen a romantic comedy before, while the pair are excellent in their roles, Sheilds and Elwes' chemistry does leave a little something to be desired, although that's likely more the fault of their underdeveloped characters than the actors in question, who aren't given a whole lot with which to work.

One of those movies where the credits reveal that it was written by a committee of four different writers, it feels like certain screenwriters were hoping to emphasize the knitting club as well as develop a potential B or C romantic subplot, and others were more clearly focused on the castle angle. All in all, it's a bumpy yet nonetheless, above-average cheery holiday romance.

Featuring a welcome cameo by Drew Barrymore that bookends the film as she first appears in a slightly cringeworthy over-the-top introduction to Sophie Brown who loses it live on Barrymore's talk show (which Shields plays too broadly), Barrymore returns at the end during the final credits in a very funny two-hander between the two women.

Targeted to Gen X, it's ideally suited to those from the era who grew up watching Shields and Barrymore, were dazzled by Lambert's iconic Madonna music video “Like a Prayer,” and frightened by her adaptation of “Pet Semetary,” and fell in love with “Castle” leading man Cary Elwes in “The Princess Bride.” And indeed, Netflix is smart to aim for this demographic. 

Usually overlooked in seasonal fare that's often developed with late teens and early twenty-somethings in mind, “A Castle for Christmas” is just the pleasantly diverting, if ultimately forgettable thing to settle in with after you spend Thanksgiving in the kitchen and Black Friday setting up that tree and/or starting to shop. With so much holiday stress on the horizon, 'tis the season for snowy movies after all.

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Blu-ray Reviews: The Martian (2015) & Everest (2015)

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Teamwork is at the heart of these two tonally different yet thematically similar tales of survival against all odds.

Featuring a bevy of Oscar winners and nominees on both sides of the screen, while both pictures are ensemble driven overall, Ridley Scott’s humorous and heartfelt Martian shines particularly bright as a veritable one man show for actor Matt Damon.

From its tongue-in-cheek soundtrack of ‘70s disco era hits (which provide endless opportunities for comedic counterpoint) to its high key lighting and bright color palette, the undeniable appeal of The Martian as an all-around crowd-pleaser is so strong that the film inexplicably garnered multiple Golden Globe nominations and wins in the category of Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy.

Infusing what in someone else’s hands might’ve been an overwhelmingly bleak and cerebral storyline with unexpected optimism and charm, The Martian benefits from Damon’s most affable and charismatic turn since his breakthrough role in Good Will Hunting.

Hoping to prove that there can indeed be (plant) life on Mars, Damon’s astronaut/botanist Mark Watney is forced to rely on outside-of-the-box thinking after he’s erroneously mistaken for dead by his crew and left behind on the red planet during the horrific sand storm which opens Scott’s strongest character driven feature since his 2003 sleeper, Matchstick Men.

Storms of an altogether different kind factor into director Baltasar Kormákur’s Everest, which (in stark contrast to Scott’s science fiction adaptation of Andy Weir’s eponymous novel penned by longtime genre specialist and former Joss Whedon co-scripter Drew Goddard) is rooted in fact.

Set during the catastrophic climbing season back in the spring of 1996 where over the course of a single day countless souls lost their lives in their quest to the top of the world’s highest and deadliest mountain, Everest aims to make viewers feel as though we’re right there on the mountain alongside its many larger than life personalities.

A globe-spanning epic that, much like the intergalactic Martian has been captured in 3D, while unfortunately I’m unable to judge Martian’s usage of the format since Everest was the only Blu-ray I received for review in 3D, to its immense credit Everest does much more than just dazzle the senses with out-of-this-world three-dimensional cinematography.

Lensed with the stunning clarity of an IMAX documentary, Everest makes the most of the medium’s ability to enhance our understanding of the experience in an experiential approach.

Whether they're dangling us on the edge of the icy ladders alongside the mountaineers or making sure we can practically feel each gust of wind during a blinding snowstorm, the filmmakers do a tremendous job recreating the harrowing events of May 10 as that long, hellish day journeys into an unforgiving night.

Working from an ambitious and emotionally potent screenplay by 127 Hours scripter Simon Beaufoy and former Ridley Scott collaborator and Gladiator scribe William Nicholson, Kormákur and his talented cast including Josh Brolin, Jake Gyllenhaal, and Keira Knightley are able to elevate the film beyond the level of a mere visual effects spectacle.

Thematically similar to The Martian in its celebration of mind against matter and creative problem solving, both Everest and The Martian soar in part thanks to the empathy, compassion, and integrity inherent in the performances of the stars that embody the films’ many characters.

Yet, much like their differences in tone, their reliance on the alignment of these stars varies from one film to the next.

Cool, quotable, and compelling right from the start, even though Goddard’s screenplay sets the stage for a much more memorable cinematic experience, intriguingly whenever it cuts away from Damon and chronicles the roles that others (including Jessica Chastain, Donald Glover, and Chiwetel Ejiofor, among others) are playing in trying to bring our Martian home, the film loses a little of its hold on the audience.

Alternatively, in Beaufoy and Nicholson’s thoroughly researched Everest, the actors manage to disappear so seamlessly into their well-written roles to such an extent that we know (at the very least) one or two important character-defining details that sets each one apart from the rest.

Yet surprisingly more often than not when it comes to The Martian, the only discerning characteristic a supporting player has to set them apart from another person in the scene is the name of the celebrity playing them.

Fortunately for Scott's film, this hardly amounts to a major flaw since The Martian is much more focused on Damon’s lead as well as the thrilling scientific innovation that he (and others) will have to rely on to try and reunite Watney with his crew.

Still while both pictures suffer slightly in their rushed final acts as The Martian, in particular stretches our suspension of disbelief near its breaking point, in the end it’s The Martian that leaves a far more lasting impression by knowing precisely the right note it wants to end the film on.

Two thrillingly crafted stories of science and survival that play even better together as a double feature, while both possess minor flaws, the greatest successes for each lies in their commitment to championing those who inspire us to reach new heights by daring to dream.

Text ©2016, Film Intuition, LLC; All Rights Reserved. http://www.filmintuition.com Unauthorized Reproduction or Publication Elsewhere is Strictly Prohibited and in violation of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.  FTC Disclosure: Per standard professional practice, I may have received a review copy of this title in order to voluntarily decide to evaluate it for my readers, which had no impact whatsoever on whether or not it received a favorable or unfavorable critique.

Blu-ray Review: The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (2013)

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As a freewheeling celebration of the limitless potential and life-altering power of the imagination, director Ben Stiller’s remake of the classic 1947 eponymous film (adapted from the original story by James Thurber) is one of the most stunningly creative works to come out of the Hollywood studio system since Stranger Than Fiction.

Sublimely lensed by the cinematographer of The Piano (Stuart Dryburgh) with incredible special effects by Soho VFX, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, which languished in development hell and passed from one helmer to the next for roughly twenty years found its ultimate storytelling team in the form of Pursuit of Happyness scripter Steve Conrad and a top-of-his-game Stiller.

Building off what he’s learned and explored onscreen in his own twenty year directorial career, Stiller crafts what is his most truly cinematic work to date.

A triumph that was lost in the over-crowded shuffle of too many Oscar-bait films filling the multiplexes alongside blockbusters raking in dough during the holiday moviegoing season, Mitty is an underrated dazzler that‘s sure to gain a larger fanbase on this gorgeous Blu-ray disc.

The type of film that plays that much better the second time around, Mitty is especially satisfying to discuss with others while dissecting just how intricately Stiller, Conrad and company managed to weave together so many seemingly disparate threads to craft such a beautiful, humanistic tapestry.

Walking a fine balance between a wholesome old fashioned approach both in the structure and characterization with some truly audacious techniques that (while risky) pay off in a big way, Stiller elevates the deceptively simple story in which he also stars.

As the titular Life Magazine photo department employee, Stiller’s head-in-the-clouds Walter Mitty finds himself actually embarking on the type of adventures he usually only dreams about, urged on by his crush on a lovely coworker (played by Kristen Wiig).

While the heroic journey storyline is often utilized, because Walter is a character who lives out elaborate fantasies in his mind – forever imagining he had the guts to say what he wants or live like he does in his dreams) Stiller uses a bold magical realism laced approach of expressionist filmmaking where for example we’re given the ability to see the things he usually only imagines come to life.

As he gradually dares himself to act as the film continues, Walter’s real life becomes far more extraordinary than his wildest daydream as evidenced by the way he sees Wiig’s face cheering him on at different points along the way including a staggering sequence wherein she sings “Ground Control to Major Tom” and it results into a big veritable leap of faith for Walter.

That leap of faith comes at a pivotal moment, taking the viewer along for the ride as we realize that the more he participates in life, the more we discover that every daydream he’s had foreshadows something that will pay off later in an unexpected way.

Paying homage to the world of mysteries with various clues that help reveal the larger truth – acknowledged aloud first by Wiig when she gives Walter (and by extension us) key wisdom learned in her mystery writing class – Mitty is a marvel.

Using creative storytelling to the absolute fullest and transcending its rigid scripted confines to make a much more layered work, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty should appeal to those who responded to the same blend of old and new, visual and written spinning of a good yarn on display in everything from Amelie to Eternal Sunshine to the Spotless Mind.

A wholly satisfying picture that marks his most inventive work thus far, with Walter Mitty Ben Stiller has done the unthinkable; he’s turned a studio remake into a big budget art movie with multigenerational, universal appeal.

Text ©2014, Film Intuition, LLC; All Rights Reserved. http://www.filmintuition.com Unauthorized Reproduction or Publication Elsewhere is Strictly Prohibited and in violation of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.  FTC Disclosure: Per standard professional practice, I may have received a review copy of this title in order to evaluate it for my readers, which had no impact whatsoever on whether or not it received a favorable or unfavorable critique.

Blu-ray Review - Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues (2013)

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From announcing the follow-up film as Ron Burgundy on Conan to co-anchoring the news in North Dakota in character, Will Ferrell and company led a tireless advertising campaign to remind the legions of viewers that had been clamoring for a sequel to the cult favorite for years that they were back.

Undeniably creative yet at times just plain obnoxious, as it turned out the aggressive ad campaign was a sneak preview of the very film they were plugging as Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues proved it is possible to have too much of a good thing.

For despite the infinitely clever idea to make a tongue-in-cheek revisionist satire of the decline in journalism in the era of the 24 hour news cycle, Ferrell and the gang should have stopped after the first Ron.

Thankfully the Blu-ray release of director Adam McKay’s unfocused, bloated misfire boasts a “super-sized R-rated version with 763 new jokes,” (including several that actually work better than the final cut that was distributed to theaters in time for the film’s Christmas release) so at least super fans can pick and choose which version and scenes they want to watch.

Yet that’s an awful lot of work to expect from an average viewer who is most likely to be disappointed by the theatrical presentation.

Ultimately Anchorman 2 amounts to a comedic car wreck that rather ironically (or fittingly, depending on your point-of-view) truly begins to go off the rails during an onscreen car crash that occurs as the result of a gag you see coming a mile away when the recently reunited news team of ego-driven airheads realizes that nobody is driving their RV.

An all-out disappointment that’s a missed opportunity of epic proportions, Anchorman 2 tests your patience right from the start after relegating series MVP Christina Applegate to what amounts to a near walk-on role, McKay proves equally inept at handling new female cast members.

Whether it’s in the tonally awkward performance of Meagan Good as Ron’s new African-American boss and love interest at the CNN-like Global News Network we find them working at in the 1980s to wasting Kristen Wiig as a female version of Steve Carell’s intellectually challenged, nonsense spouting Brick via a series of increasingly unfunny encounters, we wind up just feeling embarrassed Anchorman’s newest additions.

Likewise, despite a potential comedic goldmine given the new environment, screenwriters McKay and Ferrell wind up falling back on their old tried and true formulas we’ve seen throughout their oeuvre – borrowing plot points that worked better in previous pictures such as the character-building turning point that came from a medical trauma in Talladega Nights.

Mixing the old with new takes on favorite moments from the first film like a supernatural tinged news network rumble in New York that runs out of gas by the time it’s done introducing all of its celebrity cameo players, everything in 2 is bigger except for the laughs. Likewise, it has that unmistakable Ocean's 12 and 13 like air about it that makes you think that it was infinitely more fun to make than it was to watch.

By filling it with too many on the nose extreme references and crass jokes, the filmmakers have misgauged precisely what was funny about the first film. And while it’s possible that at least 25 minutes could’ve been trimmed from the movie to help match the pace established by the original, all in all it’s hard to guess how much of the work would actually be salvageable since there’s not enough good material upon which to build.

As such, this multi-disc set might just inspire fans to remix their own cut and given the vastly improved first act on display in the R-rated edition vs. the original, there might be a passable Anchorman sequel buried in there beneath all of the bulk. Unfortunately and despite all of the incredible talent involved (that may have spent too much time improvising than refining an already solid script), the one currently calling itself Anchorman 2 isn’t it.

It’s too bad too given the satirical potential of our infotainment-based media and the messages contained in the film that roast the practices of various 24 hour news stations from Fox’s jingoism and speculative reporting to the rise of sensationalism of celebrity fueled stories and car chases in the fight for ratings.

While the intriguing call-backs of age-old scandals from O.J. to Lorena Bobbitt earn chuckles, in an era where The Daily Show and Colbert Report cover the very same terrain with much more sophistication on a nightly basis, the lack of a sharper edge to the writing makes Ferrell and McKay’s gags seem halfhearted and dated at best.

A true letdown that may have earned audience (and critical) goodwill due to how much we love those involved as well as the original film, while at least this multi-version Blu-ray, DVD and Ultraviolet combo pack offers up a more thorough presentation of what went wrong and what went right, I only wish that Anchorman 2 would’ve been filled with as much ingenuity as some of the stunts pulled to raise awareness of its theatrical release.

In comedy, they say you should always leave your audience wanting more and because Anchorman 2 made me want less, in the end it proves that less is more – from the beautiful simplicity of the original to a shorter running time to the thought that regardless of demand, not every hit movie needs a sequel.

Text ©2014, Film Intuition, LLC; All Rights Reserved. http://www.filmintuition.com Unauthorized Reproduction or Publication Elsewhere is Strictly Prohibited and in violation of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.  FTC Disclosure: Per standard professional practice, I may have received a review copy of this title in order to evaluate it for my readers, which had no impact whatsoever on whether or not it received a favorable or unfavorable critique.

Blu-ray Review: Extract (2009)

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Jerry Seinfeld once described coworkers as-- and I'm paraphrasing-- just a bunch of people who filled out the same job application that you did.

Of course, many of us have formed our greatest friendships through the workplace. But as Mike Judge brilliantly depicted in his insanely quotable, cult classic Office Space, most of the time we're basically stuck working alongside people whom we'd normally avoid in our daily lives.

The same can be said for neighbors as we're never quite sure exactly with whom we'll be sharing a fence, garbage collecting duty, or fake small talk when we sign on that dotted real estate line.

Overall, we're slaves to chance, luck, and proximity, which not only finds us surrounded by a random group at work or at home but has similarly lent a hand deciding the district we'll end up in for K-12 public school, which team we'll support in the playoffs, and whom we'll marry as well.

While Judge's brilliant Office Space is usually labeled a “workplace comedy,” he manages to touch on a few of those same issues of proximity and chance throughout. This is especially true whether it's in scenes wherein we worry that Ron Livingston's girlfriend Jennifer Aniston had dated his “pig of a boss” or marveling that Livingston would be friends with a hilarious, low-brow neighbor whose greatest ambition if he had a million dollars would be to do “two chicks at the same time.”

Following Space, Judge stumbled quite a bit with the disastrous Idiocracy, which was a much funnier idea on paper than it was onscreen in anything other than a short SNL style skit, which would've better suited the material, especially when factoring in that SNL alumni Maya Rudolph was one of its main stars.

However in 2009, Mike Jude returned with a movie that could be a distant relative of Office Space. Although it's nowhere near as laugh-out-loud hilarious as the one released ten years ago, it still culls comedy out of relatable situations involving impossible coworkers and overattentive neighbors.

Additionally, this time around, a more mature feel permeates throughout as though Extract was something he'd collaborated on with The Squid and the Whale's writer/director Noah Baumbach.

Yet the resulting and surprisingly overlooked comedy Extract is one that puts Baumbach's angst-filled oddities like Margot at the Wedding to shame. Far more importantly, it also stays true to exactly why we cheered for the nerds beating the hell out of a fax machine or looking up money laundering in the dictionary as Judge fills what could be fairly typical indie fodder with a comedic rogue's gallery of Office Space-like characters.

Re-teaming with his Juno co-star J.K. Simmons, Jason Bateman plays our frustrated lead. Despite the fact that the former bartender is financially successful running his own extract factory, driving a BMW, and living in a gorgeous home with his wife Kristen Wiig (SNL, Adventureland, Whip It, Ghost Town), he's personally dissatisfied by the dull sameness and demands that go along with being as Ben Folds dubbed, "male, middle class and white."

Hoping to unload his factory to General Mills to break up the daily monotony of trying to figure out exactly which “dinkus” employee his second-in-command Simmons is talking about or settling petty worker disputes, when we first encounter Bateman's Joel, sexual frustration seems to be his chief complaint.

With the unbelievable yet hilarious hurdle of his pushy, insistent neighbor Nathan (actor David Koechner essentially playing a grown up version of Dennis the Menace) flagging him down with chatter as soon as his car turns down the street, Joel is denied conjugal visits with his equally bored coupon designer wife whose eight o'clock sweatpants rule and Dancing With the Stars devotion has closed his bedroom door for months.

When Mila Kunis's beautiful young scheming con-woman hears about the possible settlement owed to one of Joel's Keystone Kops assembling line workers following a freak accident, she becomes not just Joel's newest employee but also one major flirtatious temptation.

Loyal and unwilling to cheat on the wife he loves but who has become the participant in what he worries is a “brother/sister” relationship, Joel finds himself agreeing to the most outrageous of plans when his best friend and old bartending buddy (an unrecognizable Ben Affleck) plays Dr. Feelgood by serving him an outrageous mix of prescription medication and alcohol.

Under the influence, Joel and Affleck's Dean decide to remove the guilt of Joel's lust for Kunis by hiring a young but extraordinarily dumb landscaper as a gigolo to seduce his wife beforehand so she'll be the one to break the marriage vows first.

It's a similar set-up to the one in the underrated dark UK comedy The Leading Man with Jon Bon Jovi. Yet in Extract Judge is always in comedic control of the taboo turn of events in what could've easily become a despicable plot sent down the Farrelly Brothers rabbit hole of scatological gags or a weak twenty-first century spin on '70s sex comedies like 10.

Playing it purely for the sake of laughter rooted in identifiable truths (raised to a more ridiculous level) and also withholding one key plot point that goes against our earlier expectations, Judge doesn't let any of his characters off the hook... yet somehow, he manages to keep us helplessly hooked at the exact same time.

Similar to Office Space, which was incidentally one of the first DVDs I ever purchased, the technically impressive Miramax Blu-ray transfer of Extract, makes me think that it's the type of movie that will play much better at home. Just like Space, the humor will not age along with Judge's purposely exaggerated yet uniformly intelligent take on workplace and relationship comedy from neighbors to spouses.

Of course, it's safe to say that it won't equal the iconic pop culture level that Office Space has reached in our society. Although, when you watch Extract and think back on Office Space, you may realize just how accessible, universal, and situational his comedy was from the start. In other words, Judge's impact on work-centric TV shows including The Office and 30 Rock cannot be underestimated.

And actually, the success of Space necessitated him to dig a little deeper than he had before yet luckily for audiences, he didn't go as far out on a limb as he had with Idiocracy. Yes, Judge returned to his roots but he moved beyond work to explore the other levels of Seinfeld's law of irrational proximity.

In Extract, he addresses not just the power dynamic of marriage but our second careers as neighbors trying to avoid our second bosses like Nathan who have turned our homes into a decidedly different style of cubicle life ready for laughter. So don't use the "jump to conclusions mat" from Office Space; pick up Extract and make sure, like Office's Livingston, that you "get the memo" on Mike Judge.

Text ©2009, Film Intuition, LLC; All Rights Reserved. http://www.filmintuition.com
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FTC Disclosure: To extract my thoughts about Extract, I received a review copy of Extract from Miramax Films and Buena Vista Home Entertainment, per standard critical practice.

Blu-ray Review: Adventureland (2009)

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Hindered by a poor marketing campaign-- not to mention the fact that Kristen Stewart's target Twilight demographic most likely hadn't been born when this 1980s set film takes place-- I for one am hoping that Adventureland will reach a wider audience with its recent debut on Miramax DVD and Blu-ray.

Released under the banner of Disney's Buena Vista Home Entertainment that consistently delivers quality in their multipack more bang for your buck Blu-ray releases, the image quality is amazingly clear. And perhaps in the case of Adventureland, it may actually be guilty of being a little too clear for some of the young "in need of Clearasil" cast-mates-- as every individual hair to every individual wrinkle in the dull t-shirts sported by the amusement park employees fills your widescreen enhanced television in 1080 pixels.

While initially I wasn't sure this was a film that would necessarily require the Blu-ray release since it was designed with such a retro feel and purposely cheesy setting of the rigged amusement park, I was pleasantly proven wrong. In my recent viewing of the work in Blu, some of the sequences featuring fireworks over the water, leaves, and the park at night simply dazzle.

Furthermore, since the film was meant to be sort of like a pop song given its intriguing musical choices such as "Pale Blue Eyes" which plays at a key moment in a bummer mix tape that a character makes for another, I'm pleased to say that the sound balance was completed to a dynamic effect of not overpowering the dialogue with the music yet ensuring that we get the impact of the songs selected.

Chronicling the semi-autobiographical tale and its journey to the screen, writer/director Greg Mottola discusses how he found the cast as well as precisely the right vintage park they needed in the main making-of-featurette. And one of the most intriguing things the filmmaker addresses overall were the challenges of making a naturalistic movie set in the '80s that would give off a distinctly "you are here vibe" instead of turning it into a joke or satire.

To this end and to my line of thinking, he tunes the movie's screenplay like a guitar in order to ensure the arc of the characters (some of whom are composites of real people etc.) maximize the sense of losing their idealism and the idea of "selling out" in the decade of the yuppie even though the group of employees aren't necessarily yuppies.

And sure enough, Mottola has created a movies which on closer inspection reminds me of that decade's master John Hughes in ensuring that it blends humor with melancholy and makes every single person in the cast three-dimensional. For example, it would've been far too easy to create a sultry character like the park's coveted Lisa P. and just turn her into "the easy girl" or the movie's equivalent of a spoiled princess similar to the way that Ryan Reynolds' character who reveals unlikable levels soon into the film may have been just a manipulative jerk if handled by anyone else.

While I won't bore you with cinematic analysis since the film has already been reviewed on Film Intuition (which I've included below for your convenience), the Blu-ray continues to impress with extra material. Giving viewers the opportunity to take advantage of the Mac and PC compatible Digital Copy feature, the disc also includes audio commentary with Mottola and Jesse Eisenberg, picture music selection control to play select songs, and three Blu-ray exclusive extras such as character based bonuses like "Lisa P.'s Guide to Style," "Frigo's Ball Tap," and faux employee orientation videos and commercials in the "Welcome to Adventureland" section of the disc.

However, while usually deleted scenes feel like an unwanted addition since they either repeat material or contain jokes that fell flat, aside from one that fits the first reason with Ryan Reynolds and Jesse Eisenberg, the other two relish in the humor of Kristen Wiig and Bill Hader. Therefore, these extras can't be missed and of the three "Angry Grandfather" is not only a standout but it's also one of the funniest scenes in or out of the film, not to mention one that thanks to Miramax, you're able to briefly explore in our Video Screening Room by clicking here.

Overall, it's an impressive Blu-ray with an excellent transfer that only solidifies Mottola's goal to have you feel like you're part of the experience. The film is enhanced by the transfer's sharpness and emphasis on close-ups that make us feel at times that we're tiptoeing on some very private and real moments. Moreover, Adventureland is one of the most impressive films about that transitional period between college and adulthood released so far in 2009 and it would additionally make a solid double feature alongside Fox Searchlight's (500) Days of Summer. While many missed it on the big screen, it's worth tracking down now that the theme park can be experienced in the comfort of your own home.

II. Original Theatrical Review

Published 4/3/09

I spent this past weekend striving for fun diversions to entertain my visiting pre-kindergarten age niece and nephew. And after the obligatory trips to parks, McDonald's, children's museums, and Chuck E. Cheese-- we hit a local small-scale amusement park geared for youngsters who haven’t quite reached the age of the wild roller coasters and tilt-a-whirls.

Of course, the first order of business was to guarantee that the kids were the requisite height to relish in their three minutes of fun at two tickets a piece. But after the process of ensuring that all hands and feet were strapped inside each individual ride at the best angles for photos as they whisked by in toy planes and cars, I found myself equally fascinated by the employees of the local park as I was by its young attendees.

As a writer, I've always been overly observant and in fact annoyingly so as seldom a day goes by that my brain isn't working over time imagining what’s occurring just opposite me as I watch a couple at a restaurant or a man at a bus stop. Yet this particular interest in the diligent yet admittedly less than thrilled and some downright apathetic but on-task staff members running everything from the cheesy ring toss games to the carousel was most likely inspired by a recent press screening of writer/director Greg Mottola’s Adventureland.

Coming off the heels of his wildly popular Judd Apatow and Seth Rogen collaboration Superbad starring Michael Cera, on the surface it can be very easy to mistake Adventureland with Superbad. And this is especially true given not only its advertising and youthful appeal but also the fact that its lead actor Jesse Eisenberg (Rodger Dodger, The Hunting Party, The Squid and the Whale) could essentially serve as a mile-a-minute, sensitive and self-deprecating, charmingly awkward brother from another mother version of Superbad’s Michael Cera (Arrested Development, Juno, Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist).

Yet, the recurring comment voiced by those exiting the theatre of Adventureland was precisely that it was not what a majority of the Arizona press expected going in. Basically, they assumed it would have much more in common with Superbad and the Apatow and Mottola television series Undeclared than it did with the film that first acquainted me with the writer/director—the Slamdance award winning Hope Davis and Stanley Tucci indie relationship ensemble piece, The Daytrippers which as Jason Geurrasio reported in indieWire is sadly “unavailable on DVD due to legal issues.”

Although it's been advertised and billed as though it were a 1980s era cousin to Superbad, Adventureland manages to put human comedy, pathos, melancholy, the double-edged sword of moving from post-graduate life to adulthood (with its combination of freedom mixed together with the terror of “what next?”) front and center. Impressively it does this by taking a bittersweet approach to the material that is wonderfully astute, surprising, and instantly relatable especially to those who remember the year of “Rock Me Amadeus” a.k.a. 1987 all too well.

Download the Soundtrack on iTunes

Fighting the urge of producers and studios whose inclination to move Adventureland to a contemporary setting since as Mottola told Guerrasio, “they didn't think young people would want to see a movie referencing another generation”—while the critical and box office success of Superbad helped ensure that “the money came fairly quickly,” the real fight came in Mottola’s conviction “to convince people to make the film as it was written.”

The semi-autobiographical and fast-paced quirky period piece, which Mottola penned “in the spirit of the short story,” started after a creative light bulb went off on the set of Undeclared as he and others tossed around tales about their lackluster first jobs. In addition to a great conversational topic, Mottola realized that he had a lot to go on from his own experience employed “in a Long Island amusement park while going to Columbia University in the late 1980s,” as the Miramax press release reveals.

Welcoming,what Mottola viewed as essentially a “therapeutic” opportunity to include “some of his influences, like his favorite boyhood bands the Velvet Underground, Violent Femmes and Talking Heads and films like Fellini’s ‘I, Vitelloni,’” he crafted this tale about Eisenberg’s recent, extremely bright college graduate who gets the shock of a lifetime following life in the suburban bubble. Fitting not only for the past but the present, his bubble bursts when he realizes his father has lost his a good deal of his salary during the economic hardship evidenced during the Reagan administration.

Unable to venture through what he hoped would be the ultimate coming-of-age abroad experience of backpacking through European hostels--he realizes instead that his liberal arts degree hasn’t prepared him with much “on-the-job” experience in the real world. Needing to find a job -- any job -- to cover the tuition for Columbia graduate school, Eisenberg’s James Brennan finds he’s just the right man for the gig at the local self-dubbed “funtastic” Pennsylvania amusement park, Adventureland. However, his new, overly eager employers Kristin Wiig (Ghost Town) and Bill Hader (Tropic Thunder, Pineapple Express) only seem interested in the fact that he’s an applicant with a pulse.

Despite this, he isn’t given the much coveted assignment being in charge of rides like the legendary amusement park hottie Lisa P. Yet once he is pushed in the right direction to use a ridiculous amount of enthusiasm while operating games that are consistently rigged so that nobody will ever win the highly desired and expensive “giant ass panda” prize, things for James begin looking up when he finds a kindred spirit in the worldly, intelligent, and adorable Em (What Just Happened, In the Land of Women, and Twilight’s Kristen Stewart).

Stewart-- who just keeps getting better with each successive role following her breakthrough performance opposite Jodie Foster in David Fincher's Panic Room—is far more alive here playing a much older character than she was in the uninviting Twilight. Likewise, in her sweet, unassuming, casual way she manages to navigate the rocky terrain of heartache balancing the possibility of a new relationship with James while reconciling a beyond-just-friends complication with the married, older, musician janitor Ryan Reynolds (perfectly playing against that gentle Boy Scout-like role we fell in love with in Definitely, Maybe).

It’s this interpretation that seemed to have its roots in both Kate Hudson’s supporting role in Cameron Crowe’s Almost Famous and most likely the film that had inspired that one via Shirley MacLaine's impressive turn in Billy Wilder's Oscar winner The Apartment. Moreover, it's Stewart’s ability to add another layer to what could easily have been an underwritten role that gives Adventureland an unexpected heart that sneaks up on you as the film which begins with the promise of a gag-a-minute suddenly evolves into an exploration of as Mottola notes to Miramax, the type of film that “fits into this very small genre of stories that are about the worst summer ever turning into one of the most transformative experiences of your life.”

Filled with a tremendous ‘80s soundtrack (and way too many opportunities for “Rock Me Amadeus” which is nicely balanced out by an atypical musical decision to instead emphasize ‘70s era Lou Reed and Violent Femmes), Adventureland is Mottola’s cinematic attempt to craft a work that would feel like a pop song in the way that makes you think twice about “the emotions the characters are going through [which] might seem incredibly commonplace, almost superficial.”

While, to some the movie seemed like a harmless trifle or a forgetful piece of cinematic cotton candy, upon closer inspection, I was deeply impressed by his complete respect and understanding of the characters depicted as—much like a pop song, Mottola argued that, “at the same time, these things are enormously powerful when you're going through them. Finding your first love, losing that person, being disappointed, being deeply disillusioned by love, gaining an understanding of what intimacy actually requires -- these things have this huge effect of your life.”

Although it won’t strike the same Superbad chord with the core demographic the advertisers are shooting for in its campaign, much like last year’s overlooked intelligent charmer Charlie Bartlett, Adventureland is one that manages—despite its more than twenty year old setting—to tap right into the same ageless emotions we all experience in a way we don’t normally see being addressed with this level of articulation, introspection, humor, and respect for the age group it’s representing.

Or in other words, next time you’re at a cheap amusement park, look a little closer at the kid trying desperately to avoid handing out those “giant ass pandas." In doing so, perhaps you'll see the ambition, frustration, and yearning in their eyes as they tear our tickets and remind us to keep our children’s hands and feet inside the car at all times to sit back and enjoy the ride as hopefully they will once they venture out of the park and into the real world.

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