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"LIMITLESS" Blu-ray Review by Kevin Carr MOVIE: **** (out of 5 stars) BLU-RAY EXPERIENCE: *** (out of 5 stars) Rated PG-13 Studio: Fox Back to DVD Review Home |  |
WHAT IT’S ABOUT
Bradley Cooper plays a down-and-out writer who discovers a miracle drug that unlocks his brain’s full potential. However, once he gets on the drug and improves his life 100 fold, he discovers there are side effects to the drug if you stop taking it. Soon, he finds himself in a problem he might not be able to think his way out of, with several people hunting him for different reasons.
WHAT I LIKED
When I first saw the ads for “Limitless” in the theaters, I was unimpressed. After all, it just seemed like a silly story to me, and one I’ve seen in different forms before. However, like any good film, the proof comes in the execution, and director Neil Burger executes the film incredibly well.
Cooper shines in this role, and I’m not just talking about his striking blue eyes. He shows that he can carry a film on his shoulders and not just play a supporting character to Owen Wilson in something like “Wedding Crashers” or as a leg in a tripods of unknowns a la “The Hangover.” He’s a good looking guy, so that works for the ladies, but there’s also a spark behind his pretty face that makes the average viewer not just relate to him but also root for him.
The spring of 2011 was a time of fantastic speculative fiction in the form of original movies, and “Limitless” was part of that run, with other films like “Source Code” and “The Adjustment Bureau” doing the same. Not quite science fiction, “Limitless” is presented as a neat “what if” story in the context of everyday living.
In addition to tight direction and a courage to explore the darker side of humanity, Burger tries out some edgy imagery. It starts with the opening continuous shot along New York’s streets, and it continues with the effective change in lighting, saturation and color once any character takes the drug. This makes “Limitless” not just a cool film to watch, but a cool film to see.
WHAT I DIDN’T LIKE
I’ll be honest... there’s not much I didn’t like about this movie. It leaves a couple loose ends here and there, but considering the character is a super genius not unlike Wile E. Coyote, I can imaging there are plenty of ways he could have tied those up off-screen.
BLU-RAY FEATURES
The Blu-ray comes with a digital copy disc for portable viewing. The main disc also includes two versions of the film: the theatrical cut and the extended cut. However, with no difference in running time, there’s not much of a difference that I saw.
Bonus features include audio commentary by director Neil Burger and an alternate ending to the film (which, when watched, demonstrates why it wasn’t chosen as the main ending). There are also two behind-the-scenes featurettes: “A Man Without Limits” and “Taking It To the Limit: The Making of Limitless.”
WHO’S GOING TO LIKE THIS MOVIE
Fans of speculative fiction, and any lady mesmerized by Bradley Cooper’s eyes.
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"TAKE ME HOME TONIGHT" Blu-ray Review by Kevin Carr MOVIE: **1/2 (out of 5 stars) BLU-RAY EXPERIENCE: ** (out of 5 stars) Rated R Studio: Rogue Back to DVD Review Home |  |
WHAT IT’S ABOUT
In this tribute to the late 80s, Topher Grace stars as a guy fresh out of college who doesn’t know what he wants to do with his life. When he runs into his high school crush, he tells her he’s a successful businessman, and they start to take interest in each other at an all-night party. However, the crazy antics of his friends make a mess of the evening, and the truth of his career path threatens to destroy his new possible love interest.
WHAT I LIKED
I grew up in the 80s, going to high school from 1987 through 1990. So as much as my pre-teen childhood was taken up in the 70s, I was a teenager during the decade of excess. This meant I was slathered in the pop culture of the day, from the music to the fashions. The designs and imagery that makes kids today chuckle makes me think fondly and nostalgically.
And that’s the greatest part about “Take Me Home Tonight.” All-night party movies tend to connect with a particular decade. “Dazed & Confused” locked in on the 70s. “Superbad” was for the 00s. And while “Take Me Home Tonight” hardly is the anthem movie for my generation (that probably belongs to “Revenge of the Nerds” more than anything else), it still pushed my buttons.
Overall, I liked the characters, even though some were real assholes. Topher Grace played an post-college 80s version of Eric Foreman, but he’s good at that sort of thing. And Dan Fogler as Grace’s off-kilter friend works to a degree, partly because his role as the go-to guy for comic relief burned out a couple years ago.
And the music. The music in this film is great. Like “That 70s Show,” this film doesn’t embody what it was like to be living in the 80s, but rather what it is like to remember the 80s, and the music is the key to that.
WHAT I DIDN’T LIKE
While this movie was fun to a degree, it felt too much like a rehashed independent film I’ve seen a dozen times. It’s nothing new to have the high school nerd crushing on the popular chick. And the side-story of the sister who’s in a loser relationship has been seen too many times.
Anna Faris is adorable, but she looks terrible in this film. Her lips are so scarred, presumably either in the early stages of or recovering from collagen injections for her role in “The House Bunny,” she looks like she’s been punched in the kisser a couple times. Sure, she’s cute, but she’s wasted in this film.
In the end, as enjoyable as the soundtrack and general nostalgia of this film is, it just doesn’t rise above wannabe status.
BLU-RAY FEATURES
Along with the Blu-ray disc, there’s a disc for Digital Copy. Additional features include the “Music Boom Box” which cycles through the key songs on the soundtrack, deleted scenes and a cast get-together reunion (which makes sense when you consider the fact that the film was shot more than three years ago). Finally, there’s a new music video of “Don’t You Want Me,” featuring the cast paying homage to a bevy of 80s flicks (well... a bevy of 80s flicks and “Ghost” from 1990). The reason I point this music video out is that as bad as Anna Faris looks in the film, she’s sizzling hot here. Yeah, that’s the kind of thing I notice.
WHO’S GOING TO LIKE THIS MOVIE
Someone looking for some 80s nostalgia.
