The Men Who Stare at Goats DVD Review

Directed by Grant Heslov, inspired by Jon Ronson’s non-fiction bestseller, and featuring an all-star cast, The Men Who Stare at Goats is a quirky dark comedy movie, available on DVD March 23rd from Overture Films and Anchor Bay Entertainment.  Inspired by real life events that are hard to believe, this amazing story of a top secret US military branch comes to light when a reporter, Bob Wilton (Ewan McGregor) comes across an enigmatic Special Forces operator on a mind-boggling mission.

Lyn Cassady (Academy Award® winner George Clooney) is a shadowy figure who claims to be part of an experimental U.S. military unit. According to Cassady, the New Earth Army is changing the way wars are fought. A legion of “Warrior Monks” with unparalleled psychic powers can read the enemy’s thoughts, pass through solid walls, and even kill a goat simply by staring at it. The program’s founder, Bill Django (Oscar® winner Jeff Bridges), has gone missing and Cassady’s mission is to find him.

Intrigued by his new acquaintance’s far-fetched stories, Bob impulsively decides to accompany him on the search. When the pair tracks Django to a clandestine training camp run by renegade psychic Larry Hooper (two-time Oscar® winner Kevin Spacey), the reporter is trapped in the middle of a grudge match between the forces of Django’s New Earth Army and Hooper’s personal militia of super soldiers. In order to survive this wild adventure, Bob will have to outwit an enemy he never thought possible.

The promotional line for this DVD certainly captivates the essence of the movie in that it truly is hard to believe that what you experience in The Men Who Star at Goats could be based on things that really happen.

Undoubtedly, there is heightened drama and exaggeration in the script, but the story itself is still remarkable at its core.  As an entertainment product, The Men Who Stares at Goats is unique and likely to appeal to a very niche audience.  The film’s humor is subtle, witty, and requires a very sophisticated fan of dark comedies.

The cast is a ‘who’s who’ list of the elite men in Hollywood these days with Clooney, recent Academy Award winner Bridges (Crazy Heart), Spacey, McGregor and more.  None of these stars is going to be remember for their participation in this movie, but one could surmise that they appreciate the intelligence of the script and the peculiarities of the story.  Of course, the film is well acted and well-delivered.  It just is not a story that offers an identifiable beginning, middle and end, if that is necessary for your viewing enjoyment.  The movie is correctly rated R and is not for kids.

MPAA Rating: R
Running Time: 94 Minutes
DVD Release Date: March 23rd, 2010

Grade: B-

Director: Grant Heslov
Starring: George Clooney, Ewan McGregor, Kevin Spacey, Jeff Bridges

Visit the Website: http://www.themenwhostareatgoatsmovie.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/TheMenWhoStareAtGoats
Follow “Goat” himself on Twitter: http://twitter.com/MenWhoStareGoat

The Men Who Stare at Goats DVD Review by Neil of Movie Room Reviews

Gigante DVD Review

A supermarket on the outskirts of Montevideo, Uruguay is the setting for Gigante, released on DVD by Film Movement/CornerZ on March 9th. Jara, a security guard who works the night shift, spends all of his time there watching employees via video cameras, in the produce section, the meat market, having food fights in the back room or stocking shelves (a woman is told by management that if a hand towel display falls down again while she’s working, she’s fired, so it’s work in a strict environment). Jara takes the bus to work, changes into his security guard clothing, and then combs his hair at a mirror above which is written “This Is The Image Customers Have Of You”, even though he himself is almost never seen. It’s a boring and thankless job, and we see him noticing a worker taking a pastry off the shelf for herself, but he doesn’t report her.

Then Jara comes home and sleeps on the couch and later works again as a security guard at the Molotov Disco One, a dance club. There he deals with drunken and violent patrons directly and is often hit and kicked during the course of his evening.

Back at the supermarket Jara keeps watching Julia (Leonor Svarcas), the worker, as she continues to steal – this time lip balm, looking down and applying it to her lips stealthily. One morning, after she leaves the supermarket just a bit before Jara does, he follows her around the city as she shops and runs errands, staying far behind so that she won’t see him.

Jara’s obsession with the female worker is both sweet and disturbing. We sense that he’s not a stalker or a serial killer, but we wonder why he doesn’t just walk up and introduce himself to her (since she’s never seen him viewing the cameras in his small room). He seems like a hard worker and an all-around average guy (except for his “largeness” – perhaps he feels too large for her, as security guards often are!). We also realize that he’s showing Julia favoritism, because he tells another woman worker to put back something she’s taken (“Pasta or rice, but not this”), yet we know he has a kind heart, because he doesn’t report her.

You would think this movie would be dull, but it isn’t! We become personally involved as supervisors walk the aisles, getting ready to fire any errant employees, and we watch Jara following Julia to parks and beaches (is he shy?), never being caught because she hasn’t seen him before! There are lovely touches, as when Jara finds half of an action figure, a child’s toy, in the sand, and as he’s perusing it a child’s soccer ball hits him in the face and makes his nose bleed (symbolizing his retained “childhood” innocence in a world of violence).

Gigante is the winner of fifteen international awards, well-deserved because of its very human qualities. Whoever we are, we identify with Jara on his quest for love and a lifestyle encompassing more than he already has (which is mostly work, work, work at low-paying jobs usually given to the uneducated). Don’t we all pine for more, no matter where we are in life? Haven’t we all, at one point or another in our lives, had idealized images of someone we’d seen but not yet met who could become a very important addition to our lives? And Julia is very mysterious, going everywhere alone and usually speaking only to shopkeepers and teachers. Will Jara ever meet Julia, and will they even like each other? At work Jara leaves Julia a little present with her name on it and watches as she’s bewildered at its possible origin.

Gigante is an excellent film, written, shot and acted with a high level of sensitivity and sensibility not often seen in post-modern movies, and making use of silence very eloquently! I highly recommend it (as I do most of the Film Movement movies) for serious viewers of foreign cinema.

MPAA Rating: Not Rated
Running Time: 88 minutes
DVD Release Date: March 9th

Grade: A

Writer/Director: Adrien Biniez
Starring: Horacio Camandulle, Leonor Svarcas, Fernando Alonov, and Diego Artucio

This Film Movement disc also includes an 18-minute short, Dennis, directed by Mads Matthiesen

Gigante DVD Review by Christina of Movie Room Reviews

The Blind Side DVD Review

The Blind Side is a much anticipated sports biopic movie release on DVD March 23rd from Warner Home Video. The film is based on the true story of current NFL football player Michael Oher and his unique high school experience as a homeless African-American teen who is taken in by a well-to-do white family in Memphis, Mississippi.

Sandra Bullock delivers her Golden Globe-winning and Academy Award-nominated (presentations March 7th) performance as Leigh Anne Tuohy, known as “Mama” to Michael and her other two kids. Tim McGraw plays husband Sean Tuohy, the owner of a lot of fast food restaurants and the ‘figure head’ leader of the Tuohy family.

Quinten Aaron plays the role of Michael Oher. The Michael Oher story became famous a few years ago when he was developing into an All-American at Mississippi and eventually became a first-round draft pick by the Baltimore Ravens of the NFL.

The film tells the back story of Michael’s troubled youth until he is given an opportunity at Wingate Christian School to go to school and play football. Michael’s grades are a big concern early in his school career. As his legend grows among college football coaches and recruiters, he most hit the books in order to have grades that allow him to accept a college football scholarship.

Having been familiar with the Michael Oher story during its countless retellings in his senior football season, it is interesting to see the fictional depiction of the behind the scenes story of his initial involvement with the Tuohy family and the eventual establishment of a legal relationship between he and the Tuohy’s.

Sandra Bullock definitely delivers an award-worthy performance and one of her best to date. One could argue that her role is not serious enough to compare to other top Best Actress performances. However, Leigh Anne Tuohy has a very take charge personality and her conviction during tough circumstances obviously helped shape Michael Oher, the young man. Bullock does an amazing job presenting these very assertive qualities.

You cannot help but be touched by this story of a wealthy, but unfulfilled woman who learns a great deal while helping out a young man who might otherwise have struggled to overcome life on the streets of Memphis. The relationship between Leigh Anne and Michael is at the center of The Blide Side and it is very touching. The Blind Side is rated PG-13 mostly because of some language and a modest sensual scene between Leigh Anne and Sean.

It is interesting to see the real life college coaches in the movie that actually recruited Michael in relief. One of the more interesting stories is that of current Alabama coach Nick Saban, who plays his previous role as coach of LSU in the film.

MPAA Rating: PG-13
Running Time: 128 minutes
DVD Release Date: March 23, 2010

Grade: A-

Director: John Lee Hancock
Starring: Sandra Bullock, Quinten Jackson, Tim McGraw

The Blind Side DVD Review by Neil of Movie Room Reviews

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