DVDs In Brief: July 8, 2009

By AV Club Staff  |  July 8, 2009 | 5:00am
Aux Features DVD

Only a Revelations quote away from a genuine Christian apocalypse movie in Left Behind mold, Knowing (Summit) evolves from a reasonably intriguing Twilight Zone scenario about a time capsule containing visions of future disasters to the sort of full-on end-of-the-world scenario cooked up by a street-corner derelict. All of which leaves Nicolas Cage to crank up the bug-eyed theatrics once again as the Chicken Little who tries to convince humanity that the sky is falling—or, this case, consuming the Earth in a massive fireball. The last 10 minutes aren’t easily forgotten…

Critics blasted the arthouse-meets-Heroes science-fiction actioner Push (Summit), and it made a pretty tame showing at the box-office, probably ending what was clearly intended as a media-spanning franchise. Which is too bad; the film isn’t spectacular, but director Paul McGuigan tries to give his overly talky, expository Jumper clone some texture and a sense of place that seems cribbed from Wong Kar-wai. The results are inconsistent, but Push has its modest charms, more in the depiction of a grubby, superpowers-filled Hong Kong than in so-so acting from the likes of Chris Evans and Djimon Hounsou…

Jewish folklore, a blustery Gary Oldman, and a terrible lead performance from Cloverfield’s Odette Yustman do not combine to create thrills and chills in The Unborn (Universal), a weak horror movie from The Dark Knight screenwriter David S. Goyer. Only frightening when no one is talking, the film argues persuasively for the return of silent movies.

 
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