What to Watch: Jan. 7-13, 2014

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I’m So Excited
Photo credit: Sony Pictures Classics

“I’m So Excited”

I’ll be brief since I love Pedro Almodovar and am a little biased — “Minor Pedro” is still worth your time. Should you see “Talk to Her,” “All About my Mother,” “Volver,” and others first? Hell yes. But then get around to this fascinating misfire.

Synopsis:
A very varied group of people are in a precarious situation aboard a plane flying to Mexico City. A technical failure (a kind of justifiable negligence, even though it sounds contradictory, but that’s what human actions are) has endangered the lives of the passengers on Peninsula Flight 2549. The pilots, hardened, experienced professionals are striving, along with their colleagues in the Control Center, to find a solution. The flight attendants and the chief steward are atypical, baroque characters who, in the face of danger, try to forget their own personal problems and devote themselves body and soul to the task of making the flight as enjoyable as possible for the passengers, while they wait for a solution. Life in the clouds is as complicated as it is at ground level, and for the same reasons, which could be summarized in two: sex and death. The travelers in Business Class consist of a pair of newlyweds, partygoers, worn out by their wedding celebration; a financier and embezzler; unscrupulous in business but also a father afflicted by his daughter’s estrangement; an inveterate Don Juan with an uneasy conscience who is trying to say goodbye to one of his women (girlfriends); a rural psychic; a queen of the gossip magazines and a Mexican with an important secret. Each of them has a project in Mexico City, either to work or to escape. They all have some kind of secret, not just the Mexican. Their defenselessness in the face of danger provokes a general catharsis among the passengers and the crew, and this ends up becoming the best way to escape from the idea of death. This catharsis, developed in the tone of a riotous, moral comedy, fills the time with sensational confessions that help them forget the anguish of the moment.

Special Features:
o Presenting I’m So Excited!
o Making I’m So Excited!

Where to Watch: Blu-ray, DVD, Vudu, Amazon Instant Streaming, iTunes

Don Jon
Photo credit: Fox

“Don Jon”

I’m way in the minority on this film, a work that I didn’t think worked as a comedy and missed developing its interesting concept but the cast is uniformly great and it’s the kind of work that could easily work better at home than it did with high expectations at Sundance. Fox sure hopes so, putting its gorgeous stars on the cover, including an Ultraviolet copy, and loading it up with special features. JGL is definitely a talented guy, one of the smartest of his generation, and I can’t wait to see what he does next.

From my Sundance coverage: “Everyone here is good but “Addiction” spins its wheels for an hour with sitcom set-ups (it even resembles one at times with a really lackluster sense of design) and failure to ground its characters. When Moore gets an enhanced role in the final act, one can more clearly see the movie JGL was trying to make all along and she’s nearly reason to see the comedy on her own but not quite. JGL has made so many great films in his short career. He’s allowed a misstep like this every once in awhile.”

Synopsis:
Jon Martello (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) is a handsome, good old-fashioned guy known as Don Jon for his ability to bed beautiful women at will. But ironically, even the finest fling doesn’t compare to the bliss Jon finds alone-watching porn on his computer. Barbara Sugarman (Scarlett Johansson) is a gorgeous, good old-fashioned girl raised on romantic movies, and she’s determined to find her Prince Charming. Wrestling with expectations of the opposite sex, Jon and Barbara struggle against false fantasies to find true intimacy in this unexpected comedy written and directed by Joseph Gordon-Levitt.

Special Features:
o Making Of Don Jon
o Don Jon’s Origin
o Joe’s Hats
o Objectified
o Themes And Variations
o HitRECord Shorts

Where to Watch: Blu-ray, DVD, Vudu, Amazon Instant Streaming, iTunes

The Following: The Complete First Season
Photo credit: Warner Bros.

“The Following: The Complete First Season”

I keep trying to get into this FOX hit, a show that just pales in comparison to last year’s other dark drama, NBC’s “Hannibal.” Kevin Bacon rules. He has for decades. But the writing here always lets him down. I hope it turns around in season two. Until then, catch up on the saga of Joe Carroll and Ryan Hardy with a LOADED season set that includes Blu-ray, DVD, and UltraViolet copies of the show along with HOURS of special features. I may not be into the show but those who are will love this release.

From Patrick McDonald’s TV review: “There is an edge-of-the-seat quality to this justifiably thriller situation, as many things can go bump in the night when an army of serial killers is cut loose. The background of these followers is odd, meant more to shock – a tattooed woman, a red-headed prison guard/cop, a gay couple – than to be realistic. There is much disbelief to suspend in this series if it is to work, but it does deliver on the shocking (and gory) nature of sociopaths who kill in cold blood because a mastermind has seemingly brainwashed them from far away.”

Synopsis:
When notorious serial killer Joe Carroll (James Purefoy) escapes from Death Row and embarks on a new killing spree, the FBI recruits former agent Ryan Hardy (Golden Globe winner Kevin Bacon), the scarred veteran who captured Carroll nine years earlier. Working closely with FBI Specialist Debra Parker and sharp upstart Mike Weston, Hardy quickly discovers that Carroll has masterminded a network of devoted followers who might appear at any place or time to carry out their leader’s diabolical mission. As Carroll’s web tightens around his ex-wife, his son and Hardy himself, Hardy struggles to protect the innocent, thwart his nemesis and bring down the twisted cult of serial killers. This terrifying series from Kevin Williamson (Scream, The Vampire Diaries) includes 15 spellbinding Season One episodes. Don’t watch them alone!

Special Features:
o From A Dark Place: Maximum Episode Mode
o Executive Producers’ Audio Commentary On The Pilot With Focus Points
o The Thrill Of Horror: The Creator Behind The Following - An In-Depth Look At Creator Kevin Williamson’s Journey To Bring The Following To Television
o The Cult Of Joe Carroll: Inside The Followers - Cast And Producers Examine The Psychological Underpinnings Of The Followers
o The Following Production Chronicles
o The Followers Den
o The Poe Mask
o The Following: Free Megan
o Season Finale Commentary
o Deleted Scenes

Where to Watch: Blu-ray, DVD, Vudu, Amazon Instant Streaming, iTunes

By BRIAN TALLERICO Content Director HollywoodChicago.com [email protected]