Reviews and More

Earlier this year, the United States Postal Service ran a marketing tie-in promotion with Star Wars. In order to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the film and to mark the release of Star Wars stamps, the USPS decided to “dress up” about 400 collection boxes around the country. The mailboxes were wrapped with an R2D2 theme, and were a big hit with movie fans.

I actually saw a couple of the boxes, as they one in Oak Park and several more downtown. They were pretty cool, and I think it would be neat of the USPS did this kind of thing more often.

If you missed seeing the R2D2 collection boxes, you’re probably out of luck by now. The USPS was supposed to start converting the boxes back to the regular blue theme on October 25, so there likely aren’t many dressed up ones still left around. Here’s a promotional photo you can look at to get an idea of what they were like:

I told you last week that MGM Home Entertainment will be releasing a special 20th Anniversary Edition of The Princess Bride on November 13, 2007. Well, I received a complimentary copy of the DVD so that I could preview it for you right here. After watching the film again, and perusing the special features, I can tell you that this is definitely a title that you’ll want to add to your collection.

(Hey, check out the DVD cover art to the left here. See how it would give you a different image if you flip it upside down? Awesome!)

First of all, the picture and sound quality of the film are virtually impeccable. It’s hard to believe that I was watching something that was produced two decades ago, as the crisp, vivid colors and stunning sound made me feel as though I was viewing a much more recent release. Obviously this new DVD is far superior to the old VHS tape that I have sitting in my closet!

The bonus features included with the DVD are pretty good as well. For example, there’s a Princess Bride DVD video game called “True Love and High Adventure” that begins on your television and continues on a website.

There’s also a nice featurette that shows interviews with cast members such as Robin Wright, Mandy Patinkin, Christopher Guest, Fred Savage, and Chris Sarandon. I’m kind of surprised that Carey Elwes wasn’t included in this section, but there was probably a good reason for that.

We also get a cool little clip called “The Art of Fencing” in which Mandy Patinkin, Christopher Guest, and a sword-fighting specialist talk about all the choreography and details that went into the different fight scenes in The Princess Bride.

The final featurette is called “Fairytales and Folklore,” and gives viewers some insight into fairytales in general, helping to explain why The Princess Bride has resonated with so many people over the years.

Overall, I simply can’t say enough about my copy of The Princess Bride 20th Anniversary Edition! What a cool way to commemorate the release of one of my favorite films of all time!

I was a big fan of the TV series Alias, mostly because I thought Jennifer Garner totally kicked ass as super spy Sydney Bristow. Now that the show is off the air, I find that I really miss seeing Garner’s work. So when I heard that she’s currently starring in a movie called The Kingdom with Jamie Foxx, Chris Cooper, and Jason Bateman, I decided that I’d try to see it while it was still in theaters. I was finally able to do so today, but the movie ended up not being quite the action-packed thriller I expected after viewing the trailers.

Plot summary (with possible spoilers): As the film opens, we see a bunch of Americans playing softball and just generally enjoying a sunny afternoon. They’re in some sort of civilian compound in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and we’re left to surmise that these people are temporary transplants who are in the country to make a few bucks through one of those mega-corporations doing business in the Middle East.

Things go to hell in a hurry when a jeep crashes through the gates and the passengers start shooting at the field. It turns out that this initial attack was little more than a ploy to get the compound’s emergency response team out in the open. Once everyone is running around trying to contain the damage, the terrorists strike a second time by sending a suicide bomber into the middle of the scene. That attack kills more than a hundred people, including an FBI agent.

The action then shifts to Washington, D.C. where we meet Special Agent Ronald Fleury (played by Foxx). He’s frustrated by the Saudis lack of progress in investigating the attacks, so he wants to take his own team to Riyadh to see what they can uncover. After pulling some strings, he gets the green light. A few hours later Fleury, along with demolitions expert Grant Sykes (Cooper), forensics specialist Janet Mayes (Garner), and intelligence analyst Adam Leavitt (Bateman), are on their way to Saudi Arabia.

Once there, they are greeted by a Saudi official named Col. Al Ghazi (Ashraf Barhom), who is apparently assigned to babysit the team. They can’t go anywhere without him, and he doesn’t let them investigate the way they want. Since Fleury’s team only has 5 days in Riyadh, having someone like Col. Al Ghazi around is going to be a problem.

Gradually, Fleury is able to convince Al Ghazi to let the team do what they came there to do. Unfortunately, as the investigation takes them outside the compound, Fleury’s team becomes the terrorists’ next target.

The rest of the film then deals with the continuing investigation, as well as the team’s response when one of its own members is taken hostage by the terrorists. There are plenty of action sequences along the way, but no real plot twists or surprises before the expected resolution plays out.

My Reaction: If you’ve seen any trailers for The Kingdom, then you’ve undoubtedly heard the buzz about the last 30 minutes of the movie being full of heart-pounding, unforgettable action (or whatever they say). I have to admit that I bought into that hype and was anxiously looking forward to the end of the film. So I was extremely disappointed when the ending turned out to be pretty much the same as all other action movies of this ilk.

The setup was promising, what with the terrorist attacks on the civilian compound and all. But the middle was very slow and boring, which I guess was supposed to reflect how Fleury’s team was being kept down by Col. Al Ghazi.

Still, this could have been handled in a way that didn’t bring the whole plot to a screeching halt and take the audience out of the story. Perhaps the filmmakers could have put the time to better use by working on character development so that when Leavitt was kidnapped in the end, the audience would actually care about him.

As for Garner, I felt like her character was hardly even there. She really didn’t do much in the film, and even though she did have one scene where she got to kick some ass, I was disappointed with her lack of screentime and screen presence.

Overall, I thought The Kingdom was a decent action flick, but it certainly doesn’t do anything different or stand out in the genre as the trailers would have you believe. I give the film 6.0 stars out of 10, and recommend that you just wait until it comes out on DVD.