Punch Drunk DVDs 1/19/10

The Invention of Lying
Gervais spent a good part of the Golden Globes pimping his latest film, which he both wrote and co-directed. The ingenious premise posits a world where lying has never been invented. Gervais plays a screenwriter of exceptionally boring films(without lying, exaggeration is also unheard of), who falls in love with a woman way out of his league. That is until he is suddenly struck with the ability to fib. The cast is exceptional, and parts of the film are brilliant, but I never felt it formed a cohesive story. Gervais fans, though, will love it because the funnyman is again at the top of his game.







Gamer
Those guys who brought you the Crank films turn their penchant for loud, uber violent video game-esque films towards...well, a film about video games. A video game with real people, but a video game nonetheless. Gerard Butler is a convict forced to play in live death matches against other prisoners for sport, but turns vigilante when he discovers a deeper, nefarious scheme at work.









Whiteout
Who here loves Kate Beckinsale? Yeah, me too. She's a goddess amongst hotties. Who here likes action thrillers? Yeah, me too. Put the two together and result should be golden, but instead Whiteout is arguably the worst film of 2009 in my humble opinion. It's slow, formulaic to a fault, and visually stifling thanks to the absurd overuse of the snow machine. I do like to see what's going on every now and then. In it's favor, there's one decent Beckinsale shower scene, but little else to look forward to.








Pandorum
Space thrillers are few and far between it seems, but 2009 graced us with two of them. Duncan Jones' Moon, which came out last week on DVD was by far the best. But Pandorum, which comes from the Event Horizon school of interstellar mystery, has it's merits. Namely Ben Foster and Dennis Quaid as the beleagured and bewildered crew of a ship stranded in space, and infested by weird mutant creatures. A little glacial on the pacing, but worth checking out for sci-fi junkies.








Angus Thongs & Perfect Snogging
I know nothing about this film other than that it stars Aaron Johnson, who'll be bangin' heads in Kick-Ass in just a couple months. Otherwise, this looks like just another teen film, albeit with generally good reviews.











Smokin' Aces 2: Assassin's Ball
It's no secret that I loathe Smokin' Aces with the heat of a thousand white hot suns, and the idea of a direct to DVD prequel leaves me with an uneasy rumble in my gut. The lack of any direct connection to the big screen film might, and it's a pretty big might, be a gift horse. The additions of Ernie Hudson and Tom Berenger don't exactly fill me with confidence, but I can watch Vinnie Jones bash heads through gritted teeth all day, and he appears to be the film's focus. So for that reason, this one leaps to the top of my Netflix queue.







Outrage
Oh, the firestorm this film created when it was released, and for good reason. Outrage is a documentary focusing on closeted, gay politicians who lead anti-homosexual political agendas(*cough*LarryCraig*cough). It features interviews with people who make claims about a number of high profile leaders in this country, most prominently the exceedingly neat and tan Florida governor, Charlie Crist.