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DVD Reviews: Week of 8/21
Tuesday, August 21, 2012    
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The Hunger Games, The Dictator & more!


Freelancers (DVD & Blu-ray)

The son of a slain NYPD officer (Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson) joins the force, where he falls in with his father's former partner and a team of rogue cops. His new boss, Sarcone (Robert Deniro), will see if he has what it takes to be rogue through many trials and tribulations of loyalty, trust and respect. When the truth about his father's death is revealed, revenge takes over him and he won't stop until justice has been truly served.

Interview with 50 Cent (Freelancers / Music / Movies)

Rating: R

Special Features:

- Audio commentary with Director Jessy Terrero and Actor Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson

- Behind-the-Scenes Interviews with Director Jessy Terrero, Producer Randall Emmett, Writer L. Philippe Casseus and Actors Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson, Forest Whitaker, Beau Garrett, Malcolm Goodwin, Ryan O’Nan and Anabelle Acosta

- Extended Interviews with Director Jessy Terrero, Producer Randall Emmett, Writer L. Philippe Casseus and Actors Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson, Forest Whitaker, Beau Garrett, Malcolm Goodwin, Ryan O’Nan and Anabelle Acosta

Clip: Joining the Club w/ Robert Deniro & 50 Cent

Clip: Taking charge w/ Forest Whitaker & 50 Cent


The Hunger Games (DVD & Blu-ray)

In a not-too-distant future, North America has collapsed, weakened by drought, fire, famine, and war to be replaced by Panem, a country divided into the Capitol and 12 districts. Each year two young representatives from each district are selected by lottery to participate in The Hunger Games. Part entertainment, part brutal intimidation of the subjugated districts, the televised games are broadcast throughout Panem. The 24 participants are forced to eliminate their competitors, literally, with all citizens required to watch. When 16-year-old Katniss' young sister, Prim, is selected as the mining district's female representative, Katniss volunteers to take her place. She and her male counterpart Peeta, will be pitted against bigger, stronger representatives who have trained for this their whole lives.

Special Features:

- Metabeam Smart Remote is a little promo urging you to download this app to your smartphone for such awesome capabilities as "Fannotating Commentaries".

- BD Touch is text based explanation of this second screen technology which works in conjunction with BD Live and Metabeam.

- DTS-HD Master Audio Sound Check is actually a useful tool to help you calibrate your home theater system.

A second BD contians nothing but Special Features:

The World is Watching: Making The Hunger Gamesis a feature length, eight part documentary that covers everything from pre-production to adapting the source novel to casting to shooting to post and marketing. This is an amazing in-depth piece and it's notable how many women were involved int his production, from several Lionsgate executive to novelist Suzanne Collins herself.

The Hunger Games Trailer

 

The Dictator (Banned and unrated)

If it's a Sacha Baron Cohen movie, there's going to be a fair amount of low-brow and potentially insulting humor, but also a good deal of genuine character-driven fun. The actor's latest Comedy is The Dictator, an ofttimes brilliant story of a strong-armed but out-of-touch North African dictator who travels to America to avert disaster but instead discovers all the glorious things that have been missing from his life, like masturbation, a real girlfriend, and the benefits of going green. But it's not all fun and games and executions of anyone who stands in his way, questions his authority, or dares make him perform an honest day's work. The movie sometimes sinks fairly low and loses track of what makes it tick -- brilliant political satire, chiefly -- a little more than it should, but the genuine gut-busting humor and Cohen's rhythmic portrayal of a madman gone comically insane saves the movie from falling flat. In fact, Cohen's character is so over-the-top that The Dictator extends well beyond the mere political Comedy/Parody and into something else altogether, something so outrageous but at the same time absurdly honest that it practically forms its own genre. This is gross humor at its finest and satire at its best, meshed together quite unlike any movie has done before. All hail The Dictator.

In his own genre, Sacha Baron Cohen delivers what fans expect with terroristic humor aimed at any group that can spare a pain filled laugh. Fan will love the absurdity and special features!

Special Features:

- Deleted and Extended Scenes (1080p, 33:43): Newsnight Interview, Nuclear Diary, Deathbed Flashback, Assemble the Generals, Meet Clayton, Aladeen Steals Food, Apple Store, Death to Aladeen Restaurant, Manhattan Zoo, Funeral Parlor, A Gift For Zoey, The Birthing, The Rooftop, and A Final Word.

- Music Video: Best Love Song "Your Money is on the Dresser" featuring Aladeen.

- Larry King Interview : More of the Larry King interview as seen briefly in the movie.

Grade: B-
Rating: Unrated

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