DVD reviews: NO GOOD DEED/FORUMLA 51

I watched a couple of movies starring Samuel L. Jackson on DVD: NO GOOD DEED (modern film noir featuring a femme fatale with nine toes) and FORMULA 51 (which is one crazy movie- love Emily Mortimer as Dawn aka Dakota the hired gun). Samuel L. Jackson is the Man!!! He's such a cool actor, and one can't beat having Milla Jovovich in NO GOOD DEED (even though Emily Mortimer looked cuter in FORMULA 51).

NO GOOD DEED (which came out on DVD last month) is about a police detective about to go on vacation when he is asked to go look for a woman's daughter, and instead he comes across a group of thieves planning a clever bank hiest. The detective is knocked out cold before he even knows anything, and he is kept company by Milla Jovovich who plays Erin, a femme fatale with nine toes. Can he convince Erin to let him go before he needs another insulin shot or before the other thieves come back?

NO GOOD DEED isn't a bad thriller. It is a movie with some twists and some good acting. You wonder who Erin is going to go for as she plays four different men (two of the thieves, a bank man who is the inside man to the scheme, and the detective. Also will she go for the money or part with the money if given the choice? the script is based on a short story written by Dashiel Hammett (the writer of such books as The Maltese Falcon and The Thin Man, both movies did get turned into movies with The Thin Man spawning five sequels).

On the other hand, Samuel L. Jackson plays drug chemist Elmo McElroy in last year's FORMULA 51. Elmo made one mistake 30 years ago after he graduated from college and now he plans to get out after elminating the drug boss The Lizard (Meat Loaf) that he works for. He flies to the UK to sell a new designer drug for $20 million , but he has a problem since The Lizard survived the explosion. He sends Dakota to kill him and yet he changes his mind because he wants to be there in person. Dakota's new job is to make sure no one gets close to Elmo, but she has some complications including her former boyfriend Felix who is helping Elmo and corrupt police detective Vrigil Kane(Sean Pertwee with another brillant performance).

Director Ronnie Yu puts lots of energy into this very crazy movie. There are explosions, humor, mishaps, and plenty of action as everyhing spirals towards the over-the-top climax and why Elmo is wearing a kilt when he came to the UK.

FORMULA 51 is both presented in widescreen and full screen formats on the disc where NO GOOD DEED is presented in full screen (even though it says widescreen on the back of the DVD jacket). Sadly there are no extras on either DVD (and not even a commentary track) except for trailers for other movies from Columbia Tristar.

this review is (c)2003 David Blackwell and this review cannot be reprinted without the author's permission. Send all comments to lord_pragmagtic@hotmail.com  and look for site updates (and additional content ) at http://www.livejournal.com/users/enterlinemedia/

DVD review: PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN- THE CURSE OF THE BLACK PEARL

by David Blackwell

PIRATES is a summer action movie, but I have to say Johnny Depp has the most bizarre acting perfomance of the year. What is he actually trying to do with Captain Jack Sparrow? Is he playing a gay pirate or a pirate that always sounds drunk (to the point that he is almost mumbling his words)? If he is playing a gay pirate, no wonder women are slapping him and it might make sense since he says to Elizabeth (the beautiful Kiera Knightley), in one scene, that it would have never worked out between them.

PIRATES has some interested extras on the second disc. Some of the 19 deleted scenes should have been kept in the movie like the two scenes where Elizabeth and Jack Sparrow are stranded on the island together. Jack shows his battle scars in one of those scenes and it is made clear on how she tricks him (so she can build teh big bonfire to attract any passing ships to get rescued from the island). Some of the other scenes of interest including an extended scene that shows a conversation between Elizabeth and the Commodore after she accepts his marriage proposal, a scene at the ship graveyard where Elizabeth asks Jack why he didn't tell the British about the curse, and a scene where Jack sparrow lifts the curse from himself (a scene that was cut before any skeleton effects work was done). The rest of the scenes include some extended scenes, alternate scenes, and some deleted scenes that were obiviously cut for pacing reasons (and some becuase they weren't really necessary).

BELOW DECKS is an interesting interactive history as told by a maritime historian as you learn about real pirates (including Captain Kidd and Blackbread, women pirates, and chinese pirates). The image galleries are disappointing (including the fact they are only available in slide show format). The photo diary of producer Jerry Bruckheimer shows that Jerry is actually a good photographer and he takes pictures on every movie he produced. Also I found the 11 minute diary on the journey of the replica ship, The Lady Washington, to be interesting as the story is told of the 40 day journey to get the ship from Long Beach, California to St.Vincent Island where the ship will be known as the Interceptor in the movie.

The "Fly On The Set" featurette is interesting as you get to see footage of what is going on with the movie on various days during the production from behind-the-scenes stuff in between shots and showing the actual filming of some scenes. "An Epic At Sea"- The Making of Pirates is disappointing as it is filled with lots of quick featurettes on various aspects of the production including some pointless footage from the premiere of the movie at Walt Disney World. Also included on disc two is an old feature from the Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color that goes behind the scenes into the creation of the Pirates theme park ride to showing footage of the ride itself. The only other complaint I have with disc 2 is there are so many things that are only accessible if you have a DVD-ROM.

this review is (c)2003 David Blackwell and cannot be reprinted without the author's permission. Send any comments to lord_pragmagtic@hotmail.com   and look for site updates (and additional content) at http://www.livejournal.com/users/enterlinemedia