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The Fellowship of the Ring: ***1/2
The Two Towers: ***
The Return of the King: ***1/2
Extras: ****
SUCKER PUNCH (2011). It wouldn't be quite accurate to call Sucker Punch the ultimate fan-boy film, but it's a designation that nevertheless offers a near-perfect fit. It's a (wet) dream come true, an orgy full of Dolby sound and CGI fury. To finish the paraphrase by stating that it signifies nothing would be to drag Shakespeare into a world — and a conversation — that would baffle him. Front and center for most of the picture is Baby Doll (Emily Browning), who's thrown into an insane asylum by her despicable stepdad and prepped for a lobotomy. She mentally escapes that reality by imagining herself in a bordello, where she's verbally and physically abused. To escape from that scenario, she performs hypnotic dances that allow her to visualize herself and her sisters-in-arms — Sweet Pea (Abbie Cornish), Rocket (Jena Malone), Blondie (Vanessa Hudgens) and Amber (Jamie Chung) — battling formidable opponents in fantasy worlds in an effort to secure certain items that will allow them to break out of the asylum way back on the first level. Just call this Inception for Dummies. While writer-director Zack Snyder offers a story that's ambitious enough to allow for multiple interpretations (a plus in this age of lobotomized entertainment), he sacrifices any real desire for discussion by tricking this project up with every fetishist and/or pop-geek card up his sleeve. Even more than Battle: Los Angeles, it's an all-out assault on our senses — not in the fun, roller coaster ride sort of way but in a manner that's exhausting rather than exhilarating.
The Blu-ray includes both the theatrical PG-13 version as well an R-rated extended cut that adds 17 minutes of new footage. The latter version can be watched in the Maximum Movie Mode, an interactive viewing experience that includes picture-in-picture commentary, in-depth scene analysis by Snyder, and more. Other extras in this pack include four animated shorts inspired by the film and a 3-minute featurette about the film's soundtrack.
Movie: *1/2
Extras: **1/2
TRAILERS FROM HELL! VOLUME TWO (2011). A spawn of the popular Trailers from Hell! website manned by filmmaker Joe Dante (The Howling) and fellow enthusiasts — you can check out the 6,000-plus sneak peeks yourself at www.trailersfromhell.com — this DVD follow-up to last year's Volume One contains 20 vintage trailers not yet available on the site. Viewers as always have the option of watching the trailers with or without commentary, and the selection of plugged films run from the fantastic (Jaws) to the forgotten (Ski Troop Attack). For starters, Pan's Labyrinth auteur Guillermo del Toro does double duty in examining Dario Argento's Deep Red (in English and Spanish), The Stand helmer Mick Garris notes the number of future FX greats who worked on the softcore spoof Flesh Gordon, and BMX Bandits director Brian Tranchard-Smith discusses the UK edits that greeted The Stranglers of Bombay (filmed in "Strangloscope"). You also get Dante discussing Donovan's Brain (look for Nancy Davis, aka Nancy Reagan, in the clip), John Landis (An American Werewolf in London) looking back at Gorgo, director-producer Roger Corman commenting on his own films The Premature Burial and Ski Troop Attack, and much more.
Unlike other DVDs, wherein the trailers are supplements to the feature film, here's a rare case where the trailers are the main attraction and the feature film is the extra. So while Volume One included the complete version of 1933's The Vampire Bat (starring Fay Wray), this disc contains 1960's The Little Shop of Horrors, Corman's classic cult flick about a nerd (Jonathan Haze) and his man-eating plant. Legendary as the film that Corman shot in a mere two days, this endearing yarn (presented for the first time in anamorphic widescreen) also features a 14th-billed Jack Nicholson earning early attention for his uproarious turn as a masochistic dental patient.
Collection: ***
The Little Shop of Horrors: ***
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