Green Lantern (Extended Cut) [Available Friday, 10/14]
Coolest extra: Preview of Green Lantern: The Animated Series (DVD); “The Universe According To Green Lantern” featurette (Blu-ray only)
Complex says: One day, when movie studio execs are feeling desperate for profits and adventurous enough to rehash a failed blockbuster property, we might finally the Green Lantern movie that comic book fans more than deserve. The frustratingly botched mess that hit theaters last June definitely isn’t that.
Led by Ryan Reynolds doing his usual cooler-than-you shtick as Hal Jordan, director Martin Campbell’s troubled production mishandles everything it’s trying to do: The effects, supposed to be grandiose and exciting, are flagrant and distracting; the snarky humor would be better served in a Dane Cook movie; and, worst of all, the mythology carried over from DC Comics’ extensive library is jumbled. On the brighter side, it’s not as bad as Jonah Hex, so there’s that, DC loyalists.
Buy it now:Green Lantern
The Tree Of Life
Coolest extra: “Exploring The Tree Of Life” making-of featurette (DVD/Blu-ray)
Complex says: The Tree Of Life, the latest, long-awaited film from the reclusive filmmaking master Terrence Malick, isn’t done much justice on home video formats. A nearly two-and-a-half-hour mood piece about a Midwestern guy’s evolution from rebellious youth to somber corporate playboy (Sean Penn), Malick’s ambitious film abstractly posits the character’s journey as the journey of mankind itself.
There’s a random, not entirely tangible shot of dinosaurs grazing about, a series of breathtaking laser light-shows a la 2001: A Space Odyssey, and tons of powerful scowling from Brad Pitt as the kid’s tough father. The film’s visual scope is so immense that junky TV sets will trivialize Malick’s uncompromised efforts, but the transition from big screens to smaller ones hasn’t changed The Tree Of Life’s overarching problem: It doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. But damn if it doesn’t look absolutely stunning.
Buy it now: The Tree Of Life
Horrible Bosses
Coolest extra: Deleted scenes (DVD); “Being Mean Is So Much Fun” featurette (Blu-ray only)
Complex says: What a shit year for comedies 2011 has been; Kristen Wiig and her female counterparts in the very funny, though certainly flawed, Bridesmaids look more brilliant by the day. Much better than The Hangover Part II (which is like saying a woman is sexier than Nancy Grace), the Seth Gordon-directed ensemble comedy Horrible Bosses is perfectly adequate—not exactly the highest praise.
Jason Sudeikis, Jason Bateman, and Charlie Day forge a solid chemistry as three friends plotting to murder their tyrannical employers (gamely played as insufferable villains by Kevin Spacey, Jennifer Aniston, and Colin Farrell), and moments of R-rated debauchery, such as Day’s cocaine freakout with Bateman, generate sufficient chuckles. But Horrible Bosses doesn’t go far enough into the dark comedy territory its subject matter demands. It’s the safest movie about dreams of committing a triple homicide that you’ll ever see.
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Zookeeper
Coolest extra: “Creating The Visual Effects: The Animals” featurette (DVD/Blu-ray)
Complex says: Listen, it’s not that we don’t like Kevin James. Reruns of The King Of Queens are always amusing time-killers, and his co-starring role in 2005’s Hitch definitely benefitted the Will Smith rom-com. James just needs a new set of Hollywood friends; Zookeeper, the plus-sized actor’s third collaboration with pal Adam Sandler’s spotty Happy Madison Productions, further proves just how far removed the Sandman’s current output is from the glory days of Billy Madison and Happy Gilmore.
In Zookeeper, James find yet another reason not to challenge his comedic skills, this time trying to impress a fellow zoo staffer (Rosario Dawson) with the help of talking animals. Cue the fat guy pratfalls and poop jokes delivered by gorillas, monkeys, and lions. A second cue: Our middle fingers once again pointed at the closest Happy Madison logo. Don’t even get us started on the company’s post-Zookeeper travesty Bucky Larson: Born To Be A Star.
