Blu Tuesday: The Amazing Spider-Man 2, Only Lovers Left Alive and Rosemary’s Baby

Every Tuesday, I review the newest Blu-ray releases and let you know whether they’re worth buying, renting or skipping, along with a breakdown of the included extras. If you see something you like, click on the cover art to purchase the Blu-ray from Amazon, and be sure to share each week’s column on Facebook and Twitter with your friends.

“The Amazing Spider-Man 2”

WHAT: Peter Parker (Andrew Garfield) faces his biggest challenge yet as Spider-Man when an Oscorp employee named Max Dillon (Jamie Foxx) is transformed into the supervillain Electro and wreaks havoc on New York City. Meanwhile, Peter’s relationship with Gwen Stacy (Emma Stone) is tested just as his childhood friend Harry Osborn (Dane DeHaan) returns home seeking Peter’s help in curing a deadly disease.

WHY:The Amazing Spider-Man 2” isn’t nearly the disappointment that some have painted it as, but it doesn’t capitalize on the promise of its predecessor either. The problem with the film is that it’s bursting at the seams with material, and although there’s some cool world building along the way, just like “Iron Man 2,” it spends more time looking ahead to the future than focusing on telling the best story possible. But for as messy as the movie may be from a narrative standpoint, the performances are strong enough to keep you entertained, especially stars Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone. The former really seems to understand what makes Peter Parker and Spider-Man tick, and his chemistry with real-life girlfriend Stone continues to sparkle with charisma, even if the film wastes a lot of time reestablishing the Peter/Gwen romance. And while Jamie Foxx makes for a pretty dull villain (through no fault of his own), Dane DeHaan is fantastic as Norman Osborn, swinging between vulnerable and menacing, often in the same scene. It’s just too bad that Webb isn’t as adept at handling the superhero elements as he is with the human drama, because that’s one of the biggest obstacles standing in the way of the franchise’s continued success: making the costumed hero as interesting as the man under the mask.

EXTRAS: The Blu-ray release includes a six-part making-of featurette that runs just over 100 minutes, an audio commentary with writers Alex Kurtzman and Jeff Pinkner and producers Matt Tolmach and Avi Arad, seven deleted scenes and a behind-the-scenes look at scoring the film.

FINAL VERDICT: RENT

“Only Lovers Left Alive”

WHAT: Reclusive, depressed vampire Adam (Tom Hiddleston) has grown tired of living in a world populated by “zombies,” and sensing that he may be worse for wear, his centuries-old lover Eve (Tilda Swinton) leaves her home in Tangier to visit him in Detroit. But when Eve’s rambunctious sister Ava (Mia Wasikowska) shows up uninvited, she threatens to ruin the pair’s idyllic lifestyle.

WHY: I’ve never been a big fan of Jim Jarmusch’s work, but “Only Lovers Left Alive” is definitely one of the director’s better films. That might sound like damning with faint praise, but while the movie doesn’t work for me as a whole, there are bits and pieces that are actually quite good. In fact, the film gets off to a pretty solid start as Jarmusch explores the unconventional but fascinating relationship between Adam and Eve, going so far as to dress one in black and the other in white to symbolize their yin and yang bond. Unfortunately, the paper-thin plot becomes more noticeable in the second half, especially when Mia Wasikowska’s juvenile troublemaker enters the story. Wasikowska’s character doesn’t serve much purpose other than to create a problem that Adam and Eve must solve, which causes Jarmusch’s script to feel like it’s being stretched beyond its limits. Tom Hiddleston and Tilda Swinton are both great in their respective roles, and the pitch black humor delivers some unexpected laughs, but while “Only Lovers Left Alive” presents a unique and interesting take on the vampire genre, much like its immortal protagonists, the movie outlives its welcome.

EXTRAS: In addition to a 50-minute video production diary focusing on director Jim Jarmusch, there’s some deleted and extended scenes and a music video.

FINAL VERDICT: RENT

“Rosemary’s Baby”

WHAT: When Rosemary (Zoe Saldana) and her husband Guy (Patrick J. Adams) move to Paris for an incredible job opportunity, they’re befriended by a wealthy couple who present them with an offer they can’t refuse: an apartment at the most prestigious address in the city. But as Rosemary learns more about its haunted past, she begins to suspect her new friends are Satan worshippers hell bent on taking the baby she’s carrying.

WHY: Setting aside the popularity of Roman Polanski’s 1968 cult classic, this TV version of “Rosemary’s Baby” isn’t just a bad adaptation or remake, but a bad film period. Though presented as a two-part miniseries in an attempt to make it feel like more of an “event,” the bloated 170-minute runtime is completely unwarranted, as none of the new material adds anything to the story. The acting is also pretty dreadful for the talent involved, particularly Zoe Saldana, whose wooden performance only adds to the fact that her character is incredibly annoying. Rosemary’s constant mood swings (from hysterical in one scene, to abnormally calm in the next) occur without any explanation, and her decision-making skills are so terrible that she’s extremely difficult to root for. The rest of the cast doesn’t fare much better, save for Carole Bouquet, who delivers an enjoyably creepy turn as the maternal coven leader. Unfortunately, Bouquet is about the only good thing that this version of “Rosemary’s Baby” has going for it, which makes me wonder why anyone thought it would be a good idea to remake such a famous movie in the first place, especially one entirely lacking any sort of suspense.

EXTRAS: There’s a making-of featurette and a look at the film’s production design.

FINAL VERDICT: SKIP

  

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Movie Review: “The Amazing Spider-Man 2”

Starring
Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, Dane DeHaan, Jamie Foxx, Sally Field, Campbell Scott, Paul Giamatti
Director
Marc Webb

You wouldn’t think that it’d be possible to overpromote a movie, but Sony has done just that with “The Amazing Spider-Man 2,” spoiling virtually every major moment during the course of its marketing campaign, including the appearance of several characters that would have been a far better treat were they kept a secret. But while the knowledge that there would be multiple villains in the film left some fans dreading another “Spider-Man 3” fiasco, that’s only part of the bigger problem, because the movie is bursting at the seams with so much material that it borders on excess at times. “The Amazing Spider-Man 2” is the rare comic book movie where the action is the least interesting element, but for all the things that the film gets wrong, it does just enough right to keep you entertained, even if it fails to capitalize on the promise of its predecessor.

Peter Parker (Andrew Garfield) has officially graduated from high school, but he has much bigger things on his mind than worrying about college, like how to ensure the safety of his girlfriend, Gwen Stacy (Emma Stone), when he spends his days fighting crime as Spider-Man. After growing tired of Peter’s indecisiveness about their relationship (due in part to the vow he made to her dead father), Gwen takes the initiative and dumps him for good, leading Peter to fill that void by diving back into the mystery of his father’s disappearance. But he’s soon distracted by the arrival of his childhood friend, Harry Osborn (Dane DeHaan), who returns home to assume control of Oscorp after his father’s death, only to learn that he’s dying from the same disease, which he believes can be cured by the spider venom that gave Peter his amazing powers.

Read the rest of this entry »

  

Coming Soon: A Moviegoer’s Guide to May

may

The summer movie season has officially begun, and this May promises to be one of the biggest yet, with two massive superhero sequels, the return of Godzilla, and the latest comedies from Seth Rogen, Seth MacFarlane and Adam Sandler. And just to make things interesting, there are also a couple of smaller indie films that you’ll want to squeeze into your schedule to help prevent blockbuster overload. After all, there are still three more months of this to go.

“THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 2”

Who: Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, Jamie Foxx, Dane DeHaan and Sally Field
What: Spider-Man’s biggest battle has always been the struggle between power and responsibility, but Peter Parker is about to discover that a greater conflict lies ahead.
When: May 2nd
Why: The first “Amazing Spider-Man” improved upon Sam Raimi’s original in just about every way, but the one thing it lacked was a memorable villain. Director Marc Webb may have taken the criticisms a little too harshly, however, because the sequel already has fans groaning for making the same mistake that some believe ruined “Spider-Man 3”: too many villains. But instead of playing down these rumors, the studio has embraced them by not only revealing the several villains that appear in this movie, but teasing future one as well. It was actually a pretty smart move, because in the post-“Avengers” landscape, fanboys appreciate this kind of forward thinking. The fact that Webb has managed to cast some great actors in the villain roles is just the icing on top, provided he can strike the necessary balance that Raimi was unable to achieve with his last entry in the franchise.

“NEIGHBORS”

Who: Seth Rogen, Rose Byrne, Zac Efron, Dave Franco and Lisa Kudrow
What: A couple with a newborn baby face unexpected difficulties after they are forced to live next to a fraternity house.
When: May 9th
Why: Nicholas Stoller’s last two films were a bit disappointing compared to his 2008 directorial debut, “Forgetting Sarah Marshall,” but he may have finally stopped the rot with this new frat comedy, which played like gangbusters at SXSW earlier this year. Though Seth Rogen runs really hot and cold with me, the actor appears to be in top form here, while Zac Efron has been begging for a role like this to show people that he’s more than just that dude from “High School Musical.” It’s also nice to see Rose Byrne returning to comedy after scene-stealing turns in “Bridesmaids” and “Get Him to the Greek,” because she’s done some of her best work in the genre. Of course, none of that matters if all the funny material has already been spoiled in the trailers, but judging by the early buzz on this one, it’s safe to say that won’t be an issue.

“CHEF”

Who: Jon Favreau, Sofia Vergara, John Leguizamo and Scarlett Johansson
What: A chef who loses his restaurant job starts up a food truck in an effort to reclaim his creative promise, while piecing back together his estranged family.
When: May 9th
Why: After helping launch the Marvel Cinematic Universe with 2008’s “Iron Man,” it was only natural that Jon Favreau would continue making big Hollywood blockbusters. But following the box office blunder of “Cowboys & Aliens,” nothing pleases me more than to see the “Swingers” scribe returning to his roots with a smaller, more personal film like “Chef.” Though he’s drafted in a couple Avengers friends (Scarlett Johansson and Robert Downey Jr.) for some cameos, his newest movie is a refreshingly CGI-free affair. The only special effects you’ll see here are the copious amounts of food porn teased in the trailer, and that’s all done in service of the story, which Favreau has smartly centered around the red-hot food truck trend, making “Chef” incredibly timely as well. If it’s any bit as good as “Swingers” and “Made,” Favreau could have another cult classic on his hands.

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