DVD Review - Monk series box set

When Creative Loafing's own Joe Bardi asked me to review all 5,480 minutes of acclaimed USA Network's TV show Monk, I jumped at the opportunity, but when I heard it came out on October 5th, well, I got a little worried, canceled all my plans and picked up a case of Red Bull and hand sanitizer (to get into the mood). Sure, I've seen the occasional episode of Monk, what USA Network fan hasn't, but, how do you review an entire series without watching every single episode? The answer is you couldn't, which meant, clearly, I had my work cut out for me as I pressed play on season one, knowing I had an additional 7 seasons and plenty of bonus features to go.

The British have Sherlock Holmes, and we have Adrien Monk, an ex detective who has many issues, including Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, and a phobia of just about everything. Despite his near lack of ability to have a normal life, he has exceptional observational skills that are way beyond normal. Monk used to have his compulsions under control until the murder of his wife Trudy when he became catatonic for three years. Now, as the series starts, Monk is getting back on his feet with the help of an assistant, and taking cases for the San Fransisco Police Department in an attempt to get his badge back. And, as each episode begins, we see the crime, and Monk's incredible observational gifts attempt to solve the crime, and ultimately solve the most important crime; his wife's death.

As a fan of any other show on USA, like Psych, Burn Notice, or any other detective show, you can see Monk creating the template for nearly every detective show since. The creation of this template is quite exciting, and the dynamic between Monk and his assistant, either Sharona (Bitty Schram) or Natalie (Traylor Howard) is also incredibly original and very similar to Sherlock Holmes and his Watson, or even a bit of Doctor Who and his companion.

First off, the box set is very well designed, and looks good. It's not quite as original looking as, say the Lost box set, which looks really amazing, and has some cool crap inside, but it's something that will look good on your book shelf. On top of the 32 discs, it includes a book with cute tidbits of information on Monk, along with trivia and a list of 38 of Monks phobias, including number 22, "Touching," and number one, "germs."

Some of the special features are quite good, as they interview the actors, show the process of creating and writing Monk, and the basis for Monk's OCD. There is also a special feature about why Monk won an Emmy, what happened before the series started, and what kind of obsessive compulsories the cast have. They are all relatively short, but seeing these master actors perfecting their craft is very entertaining. There is also a great episode commentary for the two-part series finale that is a must see for any Monk fan.

So, here are some of the episodes on the list that you must see. Whether you are someone like me, who has never gotten into the show, or someone who saw every episode and wants to catch up with the best parts of Monk.

Mr. Monk and the Candidate: the two hour pilot episode that started it all off sees Monk and Sharona solving the murder of a senate candidates body guard. This episode was really well written and starts things off perfectly.

Mr. Monk Goes to the Asylum: Monk is losing it and is confined to an insane asylum, but it doesn't stop him from solving a murder. The episode was great because it focuses on the dramatic and sad truth regarding his loss of his wife, but at the same time is incredibly funny.

Mr. Monk Takes his Medicine: My favorite episode that sees Monk take some medicine that essentially turns off his OCD, but at the cost of his incredible deductive skills. The line "you're bringing The Monk down, man" says it all.

Mr. Monk and the Red Herring: The first episode of Natalie, and an unfitting sendoff for Sharona, the episode is a fun mystery that has Monk realize he can't live without an assistant.

Mr. Monk Gets Drunk: This episode is another great way of showing that our hero is flawed, and questions the sanity of Monk. I always feel sad for him as we often wonders if he is completely crazy, and you are never quite sure.

Mr. Monk and the Leper: An episode shot totally in black and white, and the DVD also has the color version, the episode is shot quite uniquely, and offers a great mystery involving a leper, which Monk easily identifies with.

There are another six or seven more that are truly worth mentioning, but I'm going to skip to the end of the series, Mr. Monk and the End, Part 1 & 2. The finale sees the conclusion to Monk's wife, Trudy's murder, as Monk is poisoned and dyeing. It's a great two-parter, as you see an incredibly dramatic conclusion where you aren't certain of anyones future until the end as we get a really good send off to a great group of actors.

There are also some great episodes involving some wonderful guest stars, starting with my favorite, John Turturo (Monk's brother); Tim Daly (playing himself, and great for anyone who saw Wings), Sarah Silverman (an obsessive Monk fan), Andrew McCarthy, Craig T. Nelson (the guy from Coach plays a judge), Alfred Molina, Snoop Dogg, James Brolin, Brooke Adams, and Tim Curry, amongst others.

I learned a lot about Monk, including liking Sharona more than Natalie as Monk's assistant; Lt. Disher (Jason Gray-Stanford) doesn't really have a purpose; seasons five and six show a bit of bitterness for Monk; Tony Shalhoub is amazingly talented; every episode makes me feel kinda sorry for Monk and finally, that I should invest in more disinfectant wipes.

The DVD picture quality came across as kind of grainy, which I thought would end in season one, but continued throughout all 8 seasons, which was noticeable on my HD TV, but the sound quality was quite good, as was the special features and the presentation. However, at $190.99 on Amazon.com, I think the price needs to drop a bit before I can recommend this set. Once it hits around $150, which I'm sure it will be by Christmas time, it will be a must-have for everyone.

This review also appeared on Creative Loafing's website. You can see the wonderful page by clicking HERE.

DVD Review - Repo Men

The Jude Law and Forest Whitaker action gore-fest Repo Men comes to DVD this week. And, while the movie hardly turned heads in theaters, find out if it should end up in your collection.

Creative Loafing sent The Rabid One out to see the movie awhile back, and he had some interesting things to say in his review about how the characters were truly lacking, and the gore was trying to make up for it. As I generally agree with the Rabid One, this is no exception. With a hero, you have to give the audience a reason to root for him, and director Miguel Sapochnik and star Jude Law simply didn’t do that. As a result, the action, and impending doom, and gallons upon gallons of blood shed simply don’t have the impact they should have. Forrest Whitaker was great in the movie, sure, and Liev Schrieber is always decent, and the action was well done, if a bit over the top, but in the end, the movie was simply ok, and the ending, left me unfulfilled.

The Special Features on the disc, although feeling extremely rushed, were enjoyable. They had “The Union Commercials” which were commercials the company in the movie used to talk suckers into buying their organs. I thought there were really good, and often parodied commercials we would see on TV.

There was also a look into the special effects, which was kind of funny, in that the director kept asking the writer to “ask him a question” about the scene, instead of explaining what is going on, but when he did explain it, you could feel the sense of pride he had in his film.

There were also a few deleted scenes, which felt like they were thrown in there, because they would show you a scene from the movie, and somewhere there would be a small snippet of film that wasn’t in the film, with no explanation as to why. Finally, there was directors commentary, which again was a bit awkward listening to the director and the writer talk back and fourth, and there wasn’t much insight, but the few snippets there were quite entertaining.

Overall, if the gory action sounds like your thing, give it a rent, or maybe look for it on HBO, but since there weren’t many special features, and the movie was only ok, I would say pass on this one.

DVD Review - Greenberg

Greenberg is the little French movie with American accents, directed by Noah Baumbach, and starring Ben Stiller. CL Contributor Anthony Nicholas reviewed the movie when it came out, and now that it comes out on DVD, it's time to take another look.

In Nicholas's review, he pointed out how wonderful the performances of Stiller and especially Greta Gerwig. He was right in gushing, as the performances were truly incredible. Stiller truly nails the really screwed up titular character, and has plenty of really akward moments, and the most akward sex scene ever with the equally talented Gerwig.

The performances, however, are where the goodness stopped for me. While the movie was very querky, it was a character piece that focused on Greenberg for a period of time. It was quite slow, and if you aren't able to identify with Stiller's many social issues, and dilemas , then you are not going to like this movie. The comedy was more situational, and quite sparse for a movie that describes itself as a dark comedy.

The special features were equally disappointing for me. I was hoping for a look into the inspiration, and maybe how Stiller and Gerwig got their inspiration, but, instead, we get the movie's trailer, which I never understand why they do that, I mean, why sell the movie on the DVD of the same movie? Anyway, there is also a five minute featurette with a quick writer interview, along with a quick interview with why Ben Stiller wanted to do the movie.

Sadly, the special features were incredibly lacking. I would have loved a director commentary, or even an interview with Greta Gerwig, explaining her inspiration. I would have loved the actors interpretation of the movie, but sadly, with none of that, I can't recommend you even renting this movie.

So, overall, with very little special features, and an unidentifiable story for me, I would say, stay clear of this movie, unless you really want to see Ben Stiller act well for a change.

EDITORS NOTE: This appeared in the lovely pages of Creative Loafing. You can see it HERE.

DVD Review "Greenzone" starring Matt Damon

EDITORS NOTE: This post appeared on Creative Loafing. You can see the awesomeness by clicking HERE.

Green Zone, a Paul Greengrass film starring Matt Damon hits DVD shelves June 22nd. So, you are wondering, should you pick it up, and if watching a movie about a guy looking for Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD's) can be interesting. The answers might surprise you, I know it did for me.

CL's own Joe Bardi saw it in theaters and had some excellent things to say about it, saying that, although the movie takes a very sensitive issue and plays with it, it delivers the greatest hits of the war, and if you saw the war from your TV, then you can easily recognize now infamous shots. I agreed with Bardi, that the movie was pretty entertaining, and I especially agreed with the notion that Matt Damon was in top form. Damon, who is everywhere in this movie looks like he put the time in to getting the movie, and his character right, from the way he holds his gun, to how he walks and talks, Damon echoes the movies sentiments of placing a popcorn flick into a very real situation of finding WMD's in a very volatile Iraq.

The special features easily make the DVD, and for me, were more enjoyable than the movie. While the all the features left me wanting more, the substance to them was well thought out. The Deleted Scenes had director Greengrass and Damon commentating, explaining what was going on in the scene and why the scene wasn't used, which was really interesting.

"Matt Damon: Ready for action" was my favorite, because it showed how all of Damon's team were real soldiers in the Iraq war and showed not only the effort to get every detail right, but the respect and admiration both Damon and the real soldiers had for each other and the project. Several times, it showed a very humble Damon asking what the real soldiers would be doing in the scene, and making sure every detail was well done.

"Inside the Green Zone" is a typical special feature production on how the movie was made, centering on the director letting the characters and real soldiers do what they would do in an attempt to get the most authentic response possible. The process was quite interesting, and the attention to detail earned a lot of respect in the movie.

Finally, the feature commentary with the director and Matt Damon was very good, as you could easily see the enthusiasm they had for the project, and the respect they had for the soldiers in the real life war. I truly felt, by the end, they gave everything they had to make a very real, respectful movie that delves into a very shameful subject for Americans.

Overall, it's a movie about a very sore subject that tries to squeeze action out of the situation. The movie was good, and the special features were enjoyable, leaving me to highly recommend the rent, especially since no one went to the theaters to see it anyway. Don't worry about too much political commentary, as the movie is more about the location of the WMD's than why they aren't there.

DVD Review - Ninja Assassin

EDITORS NOTE: This review is now up on Creative Loafing, so please check it out there. It looks prettier there, anyway!

Ninja Assassin is a Wachowski produced movie that has amazing amounts of style, and hides any substance underneath the crazy amounts of blood in this fun movie, inspired by the classic ninja movies from back in the day. The difference, however, is this movie looks much, much better than those movies.

The movie is about Raizo, (Rain… no seriously, that’s his name) a ninja who was trained from a kid to be an assassin. After he watches as his childhood friend is killed, he realizes he can no longer be part of the group of assassins and vows to kill his old master. After meeting up with a detective, (Naomi Harris) Raizo battles wave after wave of ruthless assassins that were once his brothers in an attempt to stop the ruthless killing once and for all.

There is nothing about this movie’s story that is new, and everything is ridiculously predictable, but while the plot is easily put together, there is still a sense of fun and amazement at the stylized action sequences and gallons upon gallons of digital blood spilled. At first, the blood seems over the top and silly, especially since it is really clearly digital blood, but after awhile, it’s obvious the edgy effects are part of the charm.

The package comes with a DVD/Blue-Ray combo which is great if you have a Blue Ray, but not worth it for the DVD fans, as there are no special features on the DVD. The Blue Ray includes a 15 minute look at the myth of ninjas in cinema in The Myth and Legend of Ninjas. The best feature, however, is the Extreme Sport of a Ninja, which shows some of the people behind the movie, and their crazy agility and talents. The final special feature is Training Rain, a documentary about the ridiculous amount of training that went into turning Rain from a singer and entertainer into a convincing ninja. This feature really gives you a bit of appreciation for the movie and especially the actor when they invest this kind of time and effort into the role.

The combo also includes a digital copy of the movie, just in case you want to view this movie on an incredibly small screen like an IPod. This idea just seems kind of silly to me, especially for a special effects laden movie like this one, but I guess the option is cool.

Overall, the movie was fun, and really worth the rent, but unless you’re really into ninja movies, it won’t be worth your hard earned coin.