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New DVD Releases: Dear John, The Road, True Blood

Andrew Payne — Tue, 25 May 2010 15:25:51 +0000

A slowish week in DVD-land as we only get two feature films (Dear John and The Road) to keep us company why we avoid The Prince of Persia at all costs.

Luckily, there’s one titan of a TV on DVD set hitting shelves to quench our entertainment thirst in the midst of a movie drought as True Blood unleashes its second season in all its silver-disced glory. Just in time to catch up before the second season starts in mid-June.

Check it out below…

FEATURE FILMS

Dear John

Didn’t this movie just come out in the theater? I could’ve sworn when I went to see MacGruber on Friday (big mistake) this movie was playing in another theater.

Seriously, it had Amanda Seyfried in it, the movie was something about mail, and it certainly had a romantic look to the poster. I swear this movie is out right now! What a revolution to release a movie on DVD the same week in opens in theaters!

Oh. Wait. You mean that movie is called Letters to Juliet and is completely different? Coulda fooled me.

So I guess if you go see that one, you should still check out this completely different movie on DVD.

The Road

It’s time to be that guy. That guy you all hate. The guy who says the book is better than the movie. But I’ll do it with a caveat. “The Road” is not actually that much better a book than it is a movie. The problem is that if you’ve read the book the movie is entirely ruined for you.

This is because The Road is simply a straight plot adaptation of the book. So faithful that it pulls out absolutely no new tricks to fans of the McCarthy work – it just moves along in the exact same way as the book.

Because of this, the movie becomes incredibly boring if you’ve read the book. There’s just nothing new on the screen that wasn’t on the page. So it isn’t a bad movie, just bad for those who’ve read the source material.

So check it out on DVD if you haven’t read the book. Though you’d probably be better off with the original.

TV ON DVD

“True Blood”: Complete Second Season

“Lost” is gone. Yes, it’s over. A tear, a whimper, whatever you’d like to mourn its passing. But I’m more interested in what’s going to take its place. What show is going to inspire such insane loyalty?

Why not this series? Why not a series densely populated with memorable characters and a story that moves rather than languishing around the same center like so many other dramas.

While this doesn’t have as many big questions to discuss as “Lost”, it does deliver buzzworthy moments with every episode in much the same way as that island-dwelling series.

Don’t believe me? Check out Season 2 on DVD. It may help you move on.

Also:

“Flashpoint”: Season 2 – Buy Now
“Leverage”: Season 2 – Buy Now
“Royal Pains”: Season 1 – Buy Now
“The Virginian”: Season 1 – Buy Now

SPECIAL EDITION OF THE WEEK

Stagecoach – Criterion Collection

Hard to believe this one hasn’t gotten the Criterion treatment yet, as this is really the quintessential Western film. More so than The Searchers. More so than High Noon as those were sort of the beginnings of the post-modern Western. This is your grandfather’s Western, in all its John Fordian glory. And now we finally get it in a two-disc set loaded with extras. Including:

New, restored high-definition digital transfer, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray edition
Audio commentary by western authority Jim Kitses (Horizons West)
Bucking Broadway, a 1917 silent feature by John Ford, with new music composed and performed by Donald Sosin
Journalist and television presenter Philip Jenkinson’s extensive 1968 video interview with Ford
New video appreciation of Stagecoach, with director and Ford biographer Peter Bogdanovich
New video interview with Ford’s grandson, Dan Ford about the director and his home movies
New video piece, featuring journalist Buzz Bissinger, about trader Harry Goulding’s key role in bringing Monument Valley to Hollywood
New video homage to legendary stuntman Yakima Canutt, with celebrated stunt coordinator Vic Armstrong
Video essay by writer Tag Gallagher analyzing Ford’s visual style in Stagecoach
Screen Director’s Playhouse 1949 radio dramatization of Stagecoach, with John Wayne, Claire Trevor, and Ford, downloadable as an MP3 file
Theatrical trailer
PLUS: A booklet featuring an essay by David Cairns and Ernest Haycox’s “Stage to Lordsburg,” the short story that inspired the film

What DVD will you be picking up this week?

Weekend Box Office: Sappy Romance Dear John for the Win!

Mali Elfman — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 17:45:28 +0000

Although it brings a tear (of joy) to my eye to see the box office king, Avatar be beaten by a chick-flick… I wish it was by something a bit more substantial. Sadly it had it’s ass whooped by Dear John, the not as great remake to The Notebook aka a sappy romance for 13 year-olds (why do all the adolescents get the love stories nowadays?).

Despite all of Lion’s Gates best efforts, From Paris with Love only managed to come in at #3 and make back about 15% on what they cost to make it… ouch. Apparently people don’t want to see John Travolta as another crazy terrorist with a shaved head.

Dear John | New | SGem | Weekend Gross $32,400,000 | Average Per Theater $10,913 | Total Gross $32,400,000 | Cost $25 | Week 1
Avatar | LW 1 | Fox | Weekend Gross $23,600,000 | Average Per Theater $7,867 | Total Gross $630,093,000 | Week 8
From Paris with Love | New | LGF | Weekend Gross $8,120,000 | Average Per Theater $2,983 | Total Gross $8,120,000 | Cost $52 | Week 1
Edge of Darkness | LW 2 | WB | Weekend Gross $7,005,000 | Average Per Theater $2,285 | Total Gross $29,097,000 | Cost $80 | Week 2
Tooth Fairy | LW 4 | Fox | Weekend Gross $6,500,000 | Average Per Theater $2,020 | Total Gross $34,333,000 | Cost $48 | Week 3
When in Rome | LW 3 | BV | Weekend Gross $5,504,000 | Average Per Theater $2,241 | Total Gross $20,899,000 | Week 2
The Book of Eli | LW 5 | WB | Weekend Gross $4,835,000 | Average Per Theater $1,715 | Total Gross $82,163,000 | Cost $80 | Week 4
Crazy Heart | LW 8 | FoxS | Weekend Gross $3,650,000 | Average Per Theater $4,457 | Total Gross $11,188,000 | Cost $7 | Week 8
Legion | LW 6 | SGem | Weekend Gross $3,400,000 | Average Per Theater $1,454 | Total Gross $34,678,000 | Cost $26 | Week 3
Sherlock Holmes | LW 8 | WB | Weekend Gross $2,630,000 | Average Per Theater $1,457 | Total Gross $201,579,000 | Cost $90 | Week 7

What can we predict for next week? When in Rome will have a resurgence and Dear John will continue it’s reign despite what anyone says about it because it’s…sigh… Valentine’s Day and people want to cry at something.

Movie Releases: Dear John, From Paris With Love, Terribly Happy

Anet Hovhanesian — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 19:13:33 +0000

The two standout movies coming out this week are both love stories. The first is director Lasse Hallstrom’s adaptation of Nicholas Sparks‘ newest bestseller, Dear John. The man who wrote The Notebook, brings us the story a young soldier named John Tyree (Channing Tatum) and his one true love Savannah (Amanda Seyfried). The pair have good on screen chemistry and are not bad to look at. I definitely think this movie will be number 1 this week.

The other movie worth watching is Pierre Morel‘s film From Paris With Love. This isn’t a love story in the traditional sense, although it is about the love one man has for action. It stars John Travolta as a bad ass Agent and Jonathan Rhys Meyers.

Complete list of movie reviews and trailers for this week after the jump…

Dear John | Reviews | Tickets and Showtimes
From Paris With Love | Screencrave Review | Reviews | Tickets and Showtimes
Terribly Happy | ScreenCrave Review | Reviews | Tickets and Showtimes
Frozen | Reviews | Tickets and Showtimes
District 13: Ultimatum | Reviews | Tickets and Showtimes

Watch the trailers…

Dear John:

From Paris With Love

from_paris_with_love_2.mp4

Terribly Happy

[youtube.com qsslA308XV8 570 420]

Frozen

District 13: Ultimatum

Do you think Dear John is going to be as big a hit as Sparks’ last novel-made-to-movie epic, The Notebook?

Dear John: Movie Review

JC — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 18:16:47 +0000

Teenage girls worldwide can stock up on Kleenex and Godiva, because Nicholas Sparks is back to shred hearts and skew reality. Three time Oscar nominee Lasse Hallstrom (The Cider House Rules, My Life As A Dog) directs an adaptation of Sparks’ award-winning novel, Dear John. The film will mark Sparks’ 7th adaptation to date, The Last Song is set for a summer release.

The Players:

Director: Lasse Hallstrom
Writer: Nicholas Sparks
Producers: Marty Bowen, Wyick Godfrey, Ryan Kavanaugh
Cast: Amanda Seyfried, Channing Tatum, Richard Jenkins

The Plot:

John Tyree (Tatum), a Special Forces officer, is visiting his father (Jenkins) in South Carolina while on leave. He meets Savannah Curtis, a bright, conservative college student who’s home for spring break. In predictable Nicholas Sparks fashion, they share a whirlwind two-week romance before John is deployed and Savannah returns to school. Through an amass of love letters, their relationship evolves into a fit of love, turbulence, and reality. Shock.

The Bad:

The Notebook Sequel?: The Notebook is Sparks’ largest literary/cinematic success to date. Perhaps this 2005 box office hit marks the extent of his creative juice, because Dear John is palpably reminiscent of The Notebook. Fans of the latter will most likely interpret the similarities as disappointingly obvious. Lovers from different socioeconomic backgrounds, the “other man,” separation by war, a collection of letters, the list goes on.
Love?: There’s a notable imbalance in the story-line. Here’s why: In order for the romantic turbulence to “devastate” an audience affectively, we have to believe the relationship. Savannah’s purse falls in a bay, John retrieves it, and suddenly they’re in love? Questionable. They suffocate the story with dramatics but forget to remind the audience that these people FELL in love. Show some flying sparks! Make us gag! Sure, every chick flick feeds on a substantial dosage of melodrama – but if there’s no genuine sentiment or back story behind the perfectly calculated tears, no one cares.

The Good:

Richard Jenkins: Jenkins never fails to impress. He plays John’s mildly autistic father, and his scenes were by far the most poignant in the film. In fact, their relationship was the ONLY honest one.
Seyfried/Channing: No, their relationship wasn’t entirely believable, but that was a result of bad writing, not acting. They both gave solid performances considering the poor structure of the story.
NO Happy Ending: Dear John doesn’t end with roses and rainbows. This is both shocking and refreshing. It’s about time a chic-flick didn’t pollute everyone’s relationship logic.

Overall:

This is not a good film. It’s that simple. If you’re a fan, you’ll be highly let down. And if you’re looking for a Valentine’s Day fix, just rent The Notebook.

Rating: 2/10

In theaters February 5th!

Review Round Up: Dear John

Krystal Clark — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 16:25:21 +0000

Once the first trailer was released for the latest Nicholas Sparks adaptation, Dear John, you could tell we had another sap-fest on our hands. The film stars Channing Tatum as a young soldier who falls in love with a girl (Amanda Seyfried) he meets while on leave. A lot of the early reviews for the film have been scathing, and they promptly ask Dear John to “Return to Sender”…

Just go back to our review for The Note… I mean Dear John, it seems that everyone sees it as the lesser of the same two movies…

This isn’t The Notebook:

What we don’t really have is an actual film but a very long music video with lots of montages of John and Savannah “moments” as they read their letters in absentia, which means neither the fans nor the foes of The Notebook are likely to be satisfied. [LATimes]

The Target Audience:

I can’t imagine many men who could witness its goopy trailer without rearing back in horror. And one woman I know who saw the film insists that it is not a chick flick. (She was put off by the scene in which John determines Savannah’s suitability as a girlfriend by making sure she doesn’t smoke, drink or “sleep around.”) But if it’s not a movie for women, and certainly not for men, that leaves, what, jaded projectionists? Developmentally challenged children? Horses? [MTV]

The Story:

Dear Nicholas Sparks, There’s no easy way to say this. But with Dear John, the latest of the five films made so far from your sentimental, best-selling novels, I think our relationship is in trouble. [NJ.com]

Dear John does center on a Dear John letter, but it takes a few unexpected paths. That’s the good news. The not-so-good news is that the film, while heartfelt and directed by multiple-Oscar nominee Lasse Hallstrom, is dramatically stillborn. The mad passion at the center of the movie raises the temperature not one degree, and all the sentimentality that surrounds the movie — an autistic child, a shy, emotionally stunted father, a wounded vet and later a character with a stroke and another with cancer — feels like so many tugs on the heartstrings. [THR]

The Acting:

Still, the leads do have a strong chemistry, and Seyfried brings a spunky confidence to her role. The small supporting cast is equally appealing, with Richard Jenkins and Henry Thomas doing fine work as John’s father and Savannah’s neighbor, respectively. [NYDailynews]

But the most convincing performance comes from veteran character actor Richard Jenkins (The Visitor). As Tatum’s mentally disabled dad, Jenkins never falters — giving a rich and tender portrayal that doesn’t hit a false note. Be prepared to have those hankies ready for one particular father-son exchange certain to make you well up. [Mercury News]

Are you still interested in seeing the film? What did you think of the movie?

Official Dear John Trailer

Krystal Clark — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 22:19:26 +0000

The other day we brought you the first theatrical poster for the romantic coming of age drama, Dear John. The film stars Channing Tatum and Amanda Seyfried as a love lorn couple torn by war and responsibility. The film is directed by Lasse Hallström, and is based on the book by Nicholas Sparks.

Check out the first trailer for Dear John…

This is depressing on so many levels. This is exactly why I stopped giving in to Nicholas Sparks after A Walk to Remember. I don’t have time to have all these over the top displays of love and loss thrown in my face. For those of you who are interested in the film, but haven’t read the book here’s a brief synopsis.

The story focuses on a soldier home on leave (Tatum), and the “idealistic college student” he falls for during her Spring vacation (Seyfried). Over the course of seven years, they must face his increasingly dangerous deployments, seeing each other face-to-face rarely, but keeping the affair alive through overseas love letters that “eventually triggers fateful consequences.”

What do you think of the first trailer for Dear John? Do you plan on seeing it?

Channing Tatum, Amanda Seyfried’s Dear John Poster

Krystal Clark — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 20:54:01 +0000

Here comes another overly sentimental Nicholas Sparks film that will scar you for the rest of your life. Over at Cinematical they’ve debuted a poster from the upcoming romance-drama, Dear John. The film stars Channing Tatum and Amanda Seyfried as a love lorn couple torn by war and responsibility. The film will be directed by Lasse Hallström the same person who helmed The Cider House Rules, so you’ll need to keep the tissues close.

Take a look at the full poster for Dear John…

Here’s the film synopses:

The story focuses on a soldier home on leave (Tatum), and the “idealistic college student” he falls for during her Spring vacation (Seyfried). Over the course of seven years, they must face his increasingly dangerous deployments, seeing each other face-to-face rarely, but keeping the affair alive through overseas love letters that “eventually triggers fateful consequences.”

Will Sparks ever stop pushing these grandiose tales of love in our faces? Dear John is scheduled to hit theaters just in time for Valentine’s Day on February 5th.

What do you think of the poster for Dear John?

ScreenCrave.com » dear john

New DVD Releases: Dear John, The Road, True Blood

FEATURE FILMS

TV ON DVD

SPECIAL EDITION OF THE WEEK

Related Posts

Weekend Box Office: Sappy Romance Dear John for the Win!

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Movie Releases: Dear John, From Paris With Love, Terribly Happy

Related Posts

Dear John: Movie Review

The Players:

The Plot:

The Bad:

The Good:

Overall:

Rating: 2/10

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Review Round Up: Dear John

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Official Dear John Trailer

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Channing Tatum, Amanda Seyfried’s Dear John Poster

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