CliqueClack

Rush, Last Vegas and Bad Grandpa come to home video

With the Oscar nominees being announced recently, it’s surprising that not many of the honored films are coming to home video this week. Even with Daniel Brühl’s acclaimed performance, Ron Howard’s Rush failed to score a single nomination. Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 2 also failed to secure a Best Animated Feature nomination (but we all know Frozen is gonna win, right?), and there was also no Oscar love for Last Vegas or Ender’s Game. The one movie hitting home video this week that did score a nomination is the most unlikely nominee of all: Bad Grandpa, which scored a nom for hair and makeup! But just because none of the bigger movies got nominations doesn’t mean they were undeserving, so now you can give them a chance with the home video versions. There are many past Oscar nominees hitting home video (again) as Universal unleashes many titles including E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, Jaws, Spartacus, Les Misérables, and Bridesmaids to tie in with the hoopla. These titles are more are coming January 28th, so have a look at our handy shopper’s guide and click on a link to get more information or to make a purchase!

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Win passes to see That Awkward Moment in Baltimore

All passes have been claimed. Please follow @CliqueClack on Twitter for contest alerts, news and reviews.

CliqueClack has partnered with Focus Features and Allied Integrated Marketing to offer readers in the Baltimore area an opportunity to attend an advance screening of the new film That Awkward Moment. Zac Efron, Miles Teller and Michael B. Jordan star in the R-rated comedy about three best friends who find themselves where we’ve all been — at that confusing “moment” in every dating relationship when you have to decide “So … where is this going?”

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What was 2013 in Movies? It was great and not great.

Now that I’ve seen one new movie released in 2014, plus a few more on disk or streaming to catch up on ones I missed, I think I’m finally ready to make broad, sweeping claims about movies in general and their impact on the world viewed through the sociocultural lens of the nonsense we got last year. In 2013 we had more than a few comic book movies, of varying degrees of quality and popularity. Only a few properties utterly bombed, which means that the genre ain’t dead yet. I have my typical list of personal awards and thoughts on why some things worked and other things … didn’t.

Worst Die Hard Movie: A Good Day to Die Hard, with strong runners up White House Down and Olympus Has Fallen.

I was absurdly disappointed by the utter dullness and lack of substance in the fifth “official” Die Hard movie, especially after rewatching the others this year. The truth is, hard as it might to be imagine, but White House Down is better because it has an earnestness behind its dark spectacle and characters who seem to actually get injured, not to mention care about the events of the movie. As for Olympus Has Fallen, it’s a lot more cynical and lot less fun, but if taken as a low quality movie with overwhelming jingoistic nonsense, it’s okay. Die Hard 5, or “From Russia with Mediocrity,” utilized a lack of chemistry and a lack of care from the principal actors — especially Bruce Willis — who barely seemed to be trying. Continue reading 'What was 2013 in Movies? It was great and not great.' »

The Heidi Chronicles: Sometimes tedious, sometimes insightful

The things guys will do for their girlfriends …

In this case? It’s what I did for Jamie Lee Curtis.

Willy-nilly and throwing caution to the wind, I dove into The Heidi Chronicles knowing only Curtis, Tom Hulce and Kim Cattrall starred in it and that it had contracted a bevy of awards in its wake as a play before being adapted to film. Rather daring … wouldn’t you say? (Hokay … stupid, maybe. Get off me …)

Little did I know the story was going to be chock-full of feminism throughout, something I will never, ever be able to wrap my head around completely. Why? Well … I’m male for one thing. (Thanks for noticing.) That right there discludes me from fully understanding the feminist state of mind. Yeah … I admit it: I’m far from the sharpest tool in the shed when it comes to the ideologies of feminism. And I’ll tell you something else, too — this film didn’t help educate me in the least with regard to what little I do know.

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Cate Blanchett owns Blue Jasmine

It’s been ages since I’ve seen a Woody Allen movie. Last one I saw was Match Point in 2005 and before that it was 1994’s Bullets Over Broadway. I guess I like the “early, funny films” over his more dramatic output later in his career. But with all the acclaim Cate Blanchett has been getting for her performance in Blue Jasmine — not to mention the Golden Globe and SAG awards and Oscar nomination — and the release of the Blu-ray on January 21, I decided it was high time I gave this one a shot.

If you’re unfamiliar with the story, it seems pretty simple on the surface. Jasmine Francis has it all. A super wealthy husband, a lavish home, a son in law school, fancy clothes, an abundance of friends, and pretty much everything else she could want. But that all comes crashing down when she learns of her husband’s affairs and that his wheeling and dealing was more stealing and cheating, including “investing” $200,000 of her sister’s finace’s money into a bogus real estate venture. With nothing left to her name, Jasmine has to leave New York to live with her sister in San Francisco until she can get back on her feet but that seems to be a greater task than anyone could have ever imagined.

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Win passes to see Labor Day in Baltimore or DC

All passes have been claimed for this event. Please follow @CliqueClack on Twitter for updates on contests, news and reviews.

CliqueClack has partnered with Paramount Pictures and Allied Integrated Marketing to offer readers in the Baltimore and DC areas an opportunity to attend an advance screening of the new drama Labor Day starring Kate Winslet and Josh Brolin. Labor Day centers on 13-year-old Henry Wheeler, who struggles to be the man of his house and care for his reclusive mother Adele while confronting all the pangs of adolescence. On a back-to-school shopping trip, Henry and his mother encounter Frank Chambers, a man both intimidating and clearly in need of help, who convinces them to take him into their home and later is revealed to be an escaped convict. The events of this long Labor Day weekend will shape them for the rest of their lives.

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Win passes to see At Middleton in Baltimore

This offer has expired. Please follow @CliqueClack on Twitter for alerts on contests, news and reviews.

CliqueClack has partnered with Anchor Bay Entertainment and Allied Integrated Marketing to offer readers in the Baltimore area an opportunity to attend an advance screening of the new film At Middleton, starring Andy Garcia, Vera Farmiga, Taissa Farmiga, Spencer Lofranco, Peter Riegert and Tom Skerritt. Academy Award nominees Garcia and Farmiga star as straight-laced George and eccentric Edith, two strangers who meet on their children’s campus tour at the idyllic Middleton College. Failing comically to connect with their kids, George and Edith play hooky together, ditching the official tour for a carefree adventure reminiscent of their own college years. But what begins as an afternoon of fun soon becomes a revealing and enlightening experience that will change their lives forever. A light-hearted romance for adults on the surface, At Middleton is a deeply moving portrait of roads not taken and the timelessness of youth.

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JLA Adventures: Trapped in Time is reuniting the Green Lantern: The Animated Series cast

This was not something I expected from this week!

Through his twitter account, Green Lantern: The Animated Series producer Giancarlo Volpe has been teasing for a while about a special super-secret project, including letting people know he was working again with Green Lantern composer Freddie Wiedman and posting pictures with some of the cast of GLTAS in the recording booth. Because he was quick to explain that the project was not Green Lantern related, and because I know he’s been working on some video game projects since GLTAS ended last March, I didn’t even think the project was going to be a cartoon.

Welp, turns out I was wrong. Announced on Wednesday, JLA Adventures: Trapped in Time is the actual secret project that Volpe directed. It’s a DC cartoon. And it has a ton of my favorite voice actors in it. And Jason Spisak is voicing the Flash.

And this was around the point where I started flailing at my desk like the nerd that I am. Continue reading 'JLA Adventures: Trapped in Time is reuniting the Green Lantern: The Animated Series cast' »

Right now, American Idol is all about the judges

(Not So Much Of A) News Flash: Whether the American Idol faithful want to hear it or not (and many do not) the show, right now, IS about the judges.

Let’s face facts: After the debacles aplenty the powerhouse duo Nicki Minaj/Mariah Carey foisted on us last season, there’s a lot of damage control that needs to be attended to by the current panel.

(Wait … wait … wait … did I really just toss a “powerhouse” reference in there with regard to Mariah Carey?!? I’m sorry. She might be a powerhouse on the music scene, but she was anything but that during her Idol stint. What I meant to state was that she rode the coattail wave of lunacy Minaj forged. There. All better.)

You know the tales of Minaj and Carey, the complaints up the wazoo about them. Their antics turned viewers off. They took away from the focus of the show which should always be on the contestants. Season 12 was often a circus freakshow. And that’s precisely why the season 13 trio of officiants are being scrutinized so closely.

Or, rather, I should state that’s why all eyes are on Harry Connick, Jr. That shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone. To many the dude is easy on the eyes (so I’ve been told), has an engaging personality and is mixing things up with not only some pretty pointed critiquing but with (sometimes) razor-sharp wit and sarcasm. So, great … he’s “all that” right now. Continue reading 'Right now, American Idol is all about the judges' »

Comedy, cartoons and classics come to home video January 21

New TV shows coming to home video this week are slim. Comedy fans can check out the first season of Comedy Bang Bang, reality fans who love cars can join in Counting Cars, and space fans can find out How the Universe Works. IFC will also be releasing the mini-series Bullet in the Face. There’s also a new DC Universe movie, Justice League War, My Little Pony movies, and re-releases of classic shows Wings, Dilbert, Bewitched, Good Times and The Cosby Show. All this and a TV movie starring Leonard Nimoy, Baffled! Both the US and UK versions! You can see all of the new releases by taking a look at our shopper’s guide and you can make a purchase or get more information by clicking on a link. Any purchase made through a link supports our efforts here at CliqueClack.

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