Remember Robin Hood (Warner Bros.)? No? Came out in May, starred Russell Crowe, cost $200 million to make… still not ringing any bells? In the long, noisy summer of ’10, Ridley Scott’s attempt to re-imagine the Robin Hood franchise with a firmer grounding in history got lost in the shuffle, failing both as spectacle and creditable period piece. It also makes the fatal mistake of doing a Robin Hood origin story, presuming that sequels were a foregone conclusion. No dice…
Neil Jordan’s Ondine (Magnolia) barely made it into theaters earlier this year before disappearing. That’s too bad, for a number of reasons. It’s a sweet, moody film that contrasts the depressed circumstances of an Irish fishing town with the ethereal presence of a woman who may be a creature from Irish folklore. A fine Colin Farrell performance and remarkable Christopher Doyle photography help create a mysterious atmosphere that remains even after Jordan reveals what’s going on…
Winner of last year’s Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film over formidable opponents like A Prophet and The White Ribbon, The Secret In Their Eyes (Sony) is exactly the type of movie the Academy traditionally honors—intelligent but conventional, an actor’s showcase with polished production values. But those same qualities will likely make it play better on DVD than it did on the big screen: The story of a retired criminal-court employee who digs into a scandalous past fits comfortably in the mold of a good TV procedural…
The uncharitable way of looking at Modern Family: The Complete First Season (Fox) was that it won Emmys and a massive viewership off the back of more innovative shows like The Office and Arrested Development. The kinder view? It’s still really funny, a slickly packaged laugh-delivery system that’s impeccably cast and produces a nice balance of material. The show also hit the ground running with a pilot that set the table as well as any in recent memory…
Though it’s one of the best new comedies since 30 Rock, Community has struggled a bit to find viewers on NBC’s Thursday-night schedule. Some time spent with the Community: The Complete First Season (Universal) set ought to correct that. Creator Dan Harmon and a cast headed by Joel McHale and staffed with comic talents both new (Donald Glover, Danny Pudi) and old (Chevy Chase) make the show’s fictional community college look like a fun place to hang out, and the gag-a-minute pace still finds room for plenty of heart. What's more, it’s the rare comedy that isn’t afraid to let its female cast members (Alison Brie, Gillian Jacobs, and Yvette Nicole Brown) be as funny and as ridiculous as the men.