new on DVD: ‘Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End,’ ‘Arctic Tale,’ ‘The Nanny Diaries,’ ‘Superbad’
See it:
• Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End [buy it]. From my review:
So the supposed bad guys -- the pirates -- have become the good guys, fighting for their right to exist, for their sovereignty from corporate piracy that cloaks itself in respectability; and the supposed good guys -- the fine corporations who rule us, er, rule the 18th century -- become the bad guys, trying to eliminate the independent contractors who are their fiercest competitors. Oo, and earthy gods are angry, too, Nature showing her displeasure at the way humankind is behaving, and it’s impossible not to see something of an inconvenient truth here in the sea goddess Calypso -- who makes a spectacular appearance -- and her mighty wrath. And impossible not to snicker and shake your head with wonder to realize that The Walt Disney Company, defender of corporate rights to the exclusion of all else, is one of the East India Companies of today, and yet here is comfortable enough to cast itself as villain, and cast everyone who will download illegal copies of this movie off some anonymous Russian server as the champions of liberty.
more below the ad... scroll down...
See it:
• Arctic Tale [buy it]. An adorable baby polar bear and a cute baby walrus struggle to survive among the melting ice of the North Pole. And it’s all our fault. Waaaa!
See it now that it’s on DVD, if you really, really like Scarlett Johansson:
• The Nanny Diaries [buy it]. The superrich of Park Avenue are bad people, but Scarlett is here to save them. Preposterous, but her charm is undeniable, plus: Laura Linney is a goddess.
Skip it:
• Superbad [buy it]. From my review:
[I]t’s all just a skeleton upon which to hang pointlessly filthy dialogue like Seth’s “I am truly jealous you got to suck on those tits when you were a baby” (about Evan’s mother) and “She looks like she can take a dick.” That’s Seth again, and yes, I know that boys trash-talk like this, cluelessly pondering those great mysteries of women’s bodies, and of adult life in general. What is disturbing in the extreme about this -- about the entirety of Superbad, particularly in the fact that is being marketed to adults -- is that it suggests that these mysteries have yet to be solved, or even broached, by anyone involved in making this movie, and must be unbroached by the audience, as well, for maximum enjoyment. Or, indeed, at enjoyment at all.
