On DVD: 'The Girlfriend Experience'

'The Girlfriend Experience' (R) ***

Writers: David Levien and Brian Koppelman
Director: Steven Soderbergh
Starring: Sasha Grey, Chris Santos, Phillip Eyton

Steven Soderbergh has made a lot of movies in his career and he has built an impressive resume of a few blockbusters ("Ocean's Eleven"), some groundbreaking independent ones ("Sex, Lies and Videotape") and a few low budget experimental ones with non actors and strange subject matter. A few years back he made a strange and wonderful movie called "Bubble" with a budget below 2 million and first time actors. It was the first movie released simultaneously in theatres and On Demand on cable. Soderbergh strikes again with the unusual and experimental film "The Girlfriend Experience" that stars a real life porn star. Sasha Grey plays a high priced escort who has sex with a select group of clients and is always trying to promote herself more. Soderbergh follows her in improvised scenes where we see her with her clients and the film goes back and forth with fractured scenes that are pieces to a puzzle. We never see the actual sexual acts because this movie has more on it's mind. It is a very interesting exploration of an escort's lifestyle that makes it one of the best movies about that subject.

Sasha Grey is a real life porn star who here plays Chelsea and she is very beautiful and plays the role well as best as we can expect from her. I didn't know what I was getting into with this story but I was surprised that I found it fascinating and thought provoking. Chelsea has her many clients and she also tries to have a relationship with Chris who is a personal trainer. She also tries to go away with a married man for the weekend and she thinks maybe I can settle down with this guy which makes Chris jealous. Now the movie is making me think how is it possible that an escort can settle down with one man while having fractured sex relationships with other men. What kind of relationship can she have with Chris? Is she going to then quit being an escort? This movie won't provide pat answers to these questions but when we see Chris's reaction to her going away with the married man we can kind of figure it out. This is a movie that might surprise you. It is short and gets the job done and might bring up a good post movie conversation over coffee which is what most of the very good movies do. "The Girlfriend Experience" is now available on DVD.

On DVD: 'American Violet'

'American Violet' (PG-13) ***1/2

Writer and Producer: Bill Haney
Director: Tim Disney
Starring: Nicole Beharie, Alfre Woodard, Michael O'Keefe, Tim Blake Nelson, Will Patton, Charles Dutton, Xzibit, Paul Guilfoyle, Tim Ware

"American Violet" is a powerful and engrossing independent movie based on a true life landmark case. It also gave me a great new discovery of a great new actress in a beautiful performance. This is a good court room drama with all the trimmings including an interesting case, great villains and suspenseful testimonies. Nicole Beharie plays Violet who is a young black woman who is divorced with four kids, two of them from two other fathers. Her mother is great support and she is played well as usual by Alfre Woodard. After a drug raid conducted by a District Attorney (Michael O'Keefe) Violet is targeted as a drug dealer who supposedly is dealing in a school zone. She denies this and it turns out that a drug addict has singled out her as a drug dealer. She is offered a plea bargain to admit guilt but she refuses because she did not do this. An ACLU lawyer approaches her to sue the District Attorney for racism as the drug raids only single out black people. Nicole Beharie is a beautiful, talented actress who gives an impactful and natural performance. The movie also has one of the best supporting casts including the great character actors Will Patton and Tim Blake Nelson as the two lawyers helping her out. There is also a great villain turn by Michael O'Keefe who is an under rated actor who I grew up watching and I have always loved in every thing he has done. You might remember him from "The Great Santini" and the television show "Roseanne" and here he is smug and evil and a perfect bad guy to hate. When depositions are given the movie becomes suspenseful and there is a final scene that is very powerful and very well written. This is an important and very well done movie with a character and story you care about and great performances. "American Violet" is now available on DVD.

On DVD: 'Notorious'

'Notorius' (R) ***

Writers: Reggie Rock Bythewood and Cheo Hodari Coker
Director: George Tillman, Jr.
Starring: Jamal Woodard, Angela Basset, Derek Luke, Anthony Mackie, Antonique Smith, Naturi Naughton, Kevin Phillips, Marc John Jeffries, Christopher Jordan Wallace

"Notorious" is the real life story of Rap Icon Biggie Smalls and his rise and then fatal shooting due to a rap rivalry. Jamal Woodard gives a compelling and naturally engaging performance as Biggie as he goes from a life of drugs, to fame and then to a life of excess and danger. The movie is a little overlong and we have seen this story many times before but this has a slight edge because of it's subject. I Found Biggie as played by Woodard to be vulnerable, sweet sometimes and just a regular guy. Take away the rap career and the success and you have a normal and flawed man. He loves his mother and tries to be good to the women in his life but fails like others do. I found this movie interesting, well directed and acted and it kept my interest throughout. It covers Biggie's partnership with Sean Combs aka Puff Daddy, his romance with Lil Kim and Faith Evans and his at first friendly but then hostile relationship with Tupac Shakur that ends up in both of their deaths. The movie got me thinking about how sad that talented young black performers wind up getting killed just because of male bravado and poor communication. It kind of hit me as a parallel to what is happening in Chicago with teens getting killed for stupid reasons. Angela Basset is good as always as Biggie's mother, the actresses playing Kim and Evans are good and the story pulls us in and you don't even have to be a rap fan to enjoy it. "Notorious" is now available on DVD.

On DVD: 'Paul Blart: Mall Cop'

'Paul Blart: Mall Cop' (PG) ***

Writers: Nick Barkay and Kevin James
Director: Steve Carr
Starring: Kevin James, Jayma Mays, Keir O'Donnell, Bobby Cannavale, Peter Gerety, Adam Ferrara, Shirley Knight

Oh yes I am going to say it and I don't care. I liked Paul Blart: Mall Cop and this is not the first time I liked a movie that for many reasons I shouldn't have and that the critics ripped apart. I laughed quite a few times, enjoyed Kevin James's performance and appreciated it's slight parody of "Die Hard" I also love discovering new actresses that you instantly find infectious and who give a good comic performance. The actress is Jayma Mays and like her sweet performance in the instant classic television show "Glee" she just pulls you in. I also find Kevin James to be a very engaging and effective performer and he has that sweetness combined with a simple funny everyman approach that I find appealing. Mays and James are a good fit together and their little love story is touching and funny here. I don't say this much but I think this is a good movie for the family, not too crude and not too violent. It moves fast and entertained me most of the time. I like it's slight digs at "Die Hard" with variations on those characters. This movie is actually better than "Die Hard With a Vengeance". It also is better than a similar movie based on a mall security cop "Observe and Report" with Seth Rogen that had a lot of the same character types. That was more of an adult, black comedy version that I thought I would like better. I go for the dark, twisted vulgar approach most of the time but that failed because it didn't successfully do it's job. Paul Blart is more successful at it's goal. I felt a slight admiration for this because it reminded me of the guilty pleasures I saw as a kid like the Tim Conway, Don Knotts films of the late 70's and 80's and "Under the Rainbow" with Chevy Chase from 1981. Dumb movies for sure but I liked them as I do this movie because they tried, they could have been worse and they weren't afraid to be stupid. "Paul Blart: Mall Cop" is now available on DVD.

On DVD: 'Crossing Over'

'Crossing Over' (R) **

Writer and Director: Wayne Kramer
Starring: Harrison Ford, Ray Liotta, Ashley Judd, Jim Sturgess, Cliff Curtis, Alice Braga, Alice Eve, Summer Bishil, Jacqueline Obradors, Leonardo Nam

"Crossing Over" is in the form of Oscar winner "Crash" and the epics "Traffic" and "Amores Perros" interlocking multiple stories exploring one hot button topic. "Crossing Over" deals with immigration as it follows agents Harrison Ford and Cliff Curtis, an aspiring Australian actress trying to get a Green Card and two small stories about an Arab American teenager and a Korean teenager and some other side stories. The movie's intentions are good and there is great acting and compelling situations but some of the stories are very good and the others lackluster. The movie as a whole just doesn't come together as a complete powerful piece. My favorite deals with that Arab American girl who wears a Burka to class, lives with her family who is illegally working in the States and gets in trouble in school which leads to more problems with the parents. She reads an essay out to the class telling that she understands why 9/11 happened and that the perpetrators had the right ideal but went about it wrong. This leads to complications with her family and the result is heartbreaking and powerful and Summer Bishil is amazing as the girl! My other favorite deals with a beautiful Australian actress with similarities to Naomi Watts who gets tangled up with a creepy immigration officer played by Ray Liotta and blackmail. Alice Eve plays the actress and she gives a great memorable debut performance and being naked through most of the movie might help out her career.

The weak links in this movie are stories about a British singer played by Jim Sturgess trying to pass himself off as a Rabbi to get a Green card and surprisingly the Harrison Ford story. Ford is good again as always and Cliff Curtis has become an effective actor but the story lets them down. It deals with a family murder and Ford taking care of a child whose mother can't be found after Ford busts her as an illegal immigrant and she escapes. There is also the murder mystery involving the partner played by Curtis that has a laughable and preposterous ending. The movie slightly fails but the acting is good and Alice Eve and Summer Bishil give amazing performances and have announced their arrival. "Crossing Over" is now available on DVD.

On DVD-'X Men Origins: Wolverine'

'X Men Origins: Wolverine' {PG-13) **

Writers: David Benioff and Skip Woods
Director: Gavin Hood
Starring: Hugh Jackman, Lynn Collins, Liev Schreiber, Danny Huston, Taylor Kitsch, Danny Huston, Ryan Reynolds, Dominic Monaghan, Will i. am

"X Men Origins: Wolverine" is the fourth movie in the X Men franchise this time focusing on one character who is probably the most memorable character in the group. This focuses on Wolverine before he joined the X Men and it is a solid but forgettable movie full of some great fight scenes but no momentum. Hugh Jackman is fine as Wolverine, Danny Huston is great as the villain and Taylor Kitsch and Lynn Collins look good but it takes too long to set up the story It also has a weak villain in Liev Schreiber who goes back and forth between evil and maybe good? This is a better movie than the third X Men but I wish they would make a fourth of the original series because how many of these origin movies can they make before we "Cry Uncle!" "X Men Origins: Wolverine" is available now on DVD.

'The Box'

'The Box' (PG-13) **

Writer: Richard Kelly based on the short story "Button, Button" by Richard Mattheson
Director: Richard Kelly
Starring: Cameron Diaz, James Marsden, Frank Langella, James Rebhorn, Holmes Osborne

Richard Kelly's first movie "Donnie Darko" was a box office bomb that became a cult classic thanks to a group of devoted fans and I was not one of them. I admire Richard Kelly's dark, original vision and that he tried to do something different. I just don't get why people love that movie? I am a big fan of cult films that are dark, confusing and different but not that one. Be careful what you wish for Kelly fans because since "Donnie Darko" had become successful on DVD you were then given "Southland Tales" which is Kelly's second film and it is horrible and insufferable. That second movie joined my short list of movies I wanted to walk out of in the middle and I rarely do that. Well "The Box" I can pretty much guarantee will not become a cult hit and I actually think it is his best movie so far. I always give an actor and a director another chance. Heck I even gave Tyler Perry 12 tries before I liked a movie of his.

I think "The Box" is the most coherent and entertaining story Kelly has given us up until a certain point. That is thanks to it being based on a short story by the great writer Richard Matheson who writes suspenseful and out there stories. This is the same short story "Button, Button" that was a basis for a "Twilight Zone" episode. The film is set in 1976 and a couple played by Cameron Diaz (lame Southern accent) and James Marsden (no Southern accent?)are given a box by a disfigured and mysterious stranger played well and solemnly by Frank Langella. The box has a button and if the couple pushes it someone they don't know will die and they will receive a million dollars. There are some rules to this though and this movie is off to a good start. It makes you think if you would push the button if given the chance and with my situation now in real life I would probably do it. We know of course that if they push it something brown will hit the fan. So the movie has you going and then something happens that grinds the film to a halt. The movie becomes hazy, confusing and boring. Kelly throws in NASA experiments, aliens, the ideal of heaven or purgatory I think and the movie then lost me as did his first movie not because it was confusing but because it became sloppy and dull. Then the last half hour turns out to be fun and suspenseful as twists and turns start to develop but by then I lost interest. "The Box" is not a bad movie it just doesn't move smoothly or make an impact after the bravura first half hour. I still won't give up on Kelly though.