DVD Review - Tropic Thunder (2 Disc Director's Cut) 2008

           The 2008 summer comedy blockbuster that is Tropic Thunder has now become two discs of an amazing movie and great features.  Disc one has the feature with two separate commentary tracks with the director (Ben Stiller) the writer and a few of the lead crew including the editor, production designer, and the director of photography.  On another commentary track there is the actors Ben Stiller, Robert Downey Jr. and Jack Black.  If you missed this movie in the theaters last year, by any means that you can, see this movie on DVD.

            This is an incredibly smart love letter to making movies by actors that really enjoy their craft.  Building the characters as previously acclaimed movie stars in the beginning with faux trailers and advertisements, this sets up the main comedic plotline of actors being stuck in a remote part of Vietnam.  Their movie takes a turn for the worse and the crew including the actors has to fight their way back to the states.   The acting by the cast was amazing and having Ben Stiller as the director was a double pleasure from him.

            On the second disc there are hours of extras that include hilarious outtakes and deleted scenes with introductions by Ben Stiller and the editor for the movie.  There is also a faux documentary for the making of the movie about the failed movie in the film.  This documentary was “directed” by the writer of Tropic Thunder, Justin Theroux.

 For more information, check out the trailer from IMDb and check out their website: 

www.imdb.com/video/screenplay/vi2677539609/

DVD/Videos Reviewed - The Matador

As a fan of the TV show, Remington Steel when I was a kid, I never once thought that Pierce Brosnan could ever play the role of being Broken, Sleazy or Desperate. He plays all of these roles almost a little too well, in a watched-it-through-my-fingers kinda way.

Brosnan plays an assassin who's on the brink of disaster as his cold-hearted nature for his job is coming to an end. He freezes at the moment he’s supposed to take out one of his last marks before his "retirement". Meanwhile, there is a relatable character who Greg Kinnear plays. He is a husband who is worried about his life's future with his wife (Hope Davis), being that he sees his entire career balancing on a business deal where he's not favored.

Brosnan's broken-natured spy & Kinnear's broken-natured business man/husband meet at a bar (no bad jokes inserted here) and their meeting benefits the other in their business and personal lives.In the end, the mild-mannered Kinnear helps empower Brosnan, in an amusing out of character way, with the killing of his final mark. Brosnan helps Kinnear mend his teetering relationship with his wife by assisting in "taking out the competition" of his business dealings.

The two are an unlikely pair who find that their individual business needs bring them together and on accident, they become unlikely friends.I would suggest renting this, especially for the painful moments when Brosnan is either strutting through the hotel lobby in nothing but a speedo and cowboy boots, or him dressed in a cheerleader uniform with pop pops in a slow-mo cheer!