Micah’s May DVD Picks
1. Dogtown & Z-Boys: Deluxe Edition 2. Spaceballs: Collector's Edition 3. Alone in the Dark 4. Assault on Precinct 13 5. In Good Company 6. Scrubs: The Complete First Season 7. Team America: World Police - UNRATED Special Collector's Edition 8. The AviatorHey, and welcome to my picks for May. Not a whole lot of good DVDs coming out this month, but I did find a few worth mentioning... let's get to it.
Dogtown & Z-Boys: Deluxe Edition
Release Date: 5/3/05
This is a documentary that I really enjoyed, even though I know next to nothing about surfing or skateboarding. It's about a group of kids who grew up surfing, then transitioned to skateboarding. Except when they started, skateboarding was nothing like it is now. These guys literally redefined what you could do on a board. Before them, no one was getting air, doing jumps, skating half-pipes... the stuff these Z-Boys did was truly revolutionary. The documentary is directed by Pro-skater Stacy Peralta and narrated by Sean Penn. Although it has been out on DVD for a while, but if you haven't seen it, you might as well pick up this special edition. The only thing that is different from the original release is the box art and a trailer for Lords of Dogtown, a non-documentary version of this movie that's coming out this summer.Spaceballs: Collector's Edition
Release Date: 5/3/05
I'm assuming that you've already seen (and probably own) Spaceballs, but I'm including it here on the off chance that you haven't. This is a movie that you absolutely have to own if you are at all into comedy or sci-fi. It doesn't look like they really added that many extras here... a Spaceballs Documentary, some art galleries, a John Candy featurette... but who needs special features when the movie is this great? This edition features new cover artwork in the style of the recent Star Wars posters.Alone in the Dark
Release Date: 5/10/05
This movie is notable because it is quite possibly the worst big-budget Hollywood movie of all time. It is a video game adaptation by director Uwe Boll, a director who has the distinction of being responsible for two movies on IMDB's Bottom 100 list (Alone in the Dark, ranked #25, and House of the Dead, ranked #32). You may be thinking 'Hey, I like bad movies... they make me laugh.' That's what I thought too... until I saw this movie. Nothing I can say will express how unwatchable this movie is. It's not scary, funny, or interesting (unless you count Tara Reid's astonishingly bad performance, which is both scary and funny). It's just something you have to experience for yourself to understand. Unfortunately since Boll has snagged the rights to several other videogame adaptions (Bloodrayne, Hunter: The Reckoning, Far Cry) and is somehow able to keep convincing studio execs to fund him, don't expect this to be his last monstrosity.Assault on Precinct 13
Release Date: 5/10/05
Another in the neverending parade of remakes of movies from the 70's. Surprisingly, this one is pretty good. The basic story is the same as the original... someone takes refuge in a police building the night before it closes its doors, an outside force wants this person dead & thus lays seige to the building to get to him... Some of the details have been tweaked to make it seem more current (they got rid of the retarded interracial gang storyline and instead went with corrupt cops). John Leguizamo was the standout in this movie to me, but all of the cast does fine. This is a good no-brainer action movie.In Good Company
Release Date: 5/10/05
My wife loves Topher Grace... and I have to admit, he’s pretty cool in this movie. Topher plays a hotshot young executive who becomes Dennis Quaid’s boss. All Topher has going for him is his job, until he meets Quaid’s daughter, Scarlett Johansson. They start to date, which predictably causes trouble between Quaid and Topher at work. Although this setup sounds kinda lame, it really isn't a chick flick. Really. Definitely a good date movie.Scrubs: The Complete First Season
Release Date: 5/17/05
Scrubs is one of the only American sitcoms I watch anymore. It's set in a hospital and follows a bunch of residents trying to become doctors. The show is consistently funny and has a large cast of unique recurring characters. The fact that the show’s star Zach Braff narrates each episode gives it a Wonder-Yearsesque quality which comes across well. This is definitely worth checking out if you think the US sitcom is dead.Team America: World Police - UNRATED Special Collector's Edition
Release Date: 5/17/05
Team America is the South Park guys’ attempt to revive the lost art of marionette. However, since it turned out to be much harder than they expected, don’t hold your breath for a sequel. This movie is hit and miss, but any movie that contains graphic puppet sex and viciously humiliates Matt Damon, Sean Penn and Tim Robbins is OK by me.The Aviator
Release Date: 5/24/05
Another good movie from old Leo. He plays eccentric millionaire Howard Hughes. Hughes’ life is pretty well known: he inherits boat-loads of money, makes obscenely expensive movies outside the Hollywood system, dates Katharine Hepburn, buys TWA, revolutionizes the aviation industry, and eventually becomes a crazy recluse. Some may consider the 170 minute runtime to be a bit long, but I was never bored while watching it. Be sure to look for Alec Baldwin in a great role as the slimy owner of Pan-Am.That's it for me... hope you find something you like this month. See you in June!
