haven Tagged Articles at Cinematical

The Black Dahlia -- I'm a huge De Palma fan, but I somehow managed to miss this one during its theatrical run. Colleagues who've seen the film assure me to take my time catching up with it. And that makes me sad, kinda. Extras include three featurettes and ... that's it.

The Descent -- The best horror flick of the year finally hits R1 DVD ... even though I've owned the British DVD for about a year now. The good news is that there seems to be all-new goodies on the Lionsgate DVD, which means I'll be dropping another 17 bucks the day after Christmas. Extras include the "unrated" version (which offers the original UK ending), two commentaries, a 45-minute making-of doco, featurettes, outtakes, deleted scenes, etc. If you're a horror fan and you skipped The Descent during its theatrical run, you're forgiven. But buy/rent/borrow this DVD some time soon!

Factotum -- The always-good Matt Dillon goes extra-good in this sobering yet colorful piece of Bukowski-inspired storytelling. Excellent supporting cast boasts strong work from Lili Taylor, Fisher Stevens and Marisa Tomei. Extras include and making-of piece and the theatrical trailer.

Haven -- A bizarrely unsatisfying ensemble piece in which Bill Paxton, Agnes Bruckner, Orlando Bloom, Sarah Carter, Zoe Saldana and Stephen Dillane bounce around the Bahamas, occasionally stopping to pay attention to some stray plot thread. There's one featurette that might help to decipher the confused mess of a movie, but why bother? Oh yeah, Orlando Bloom....

Jackass: Number Two -- More of the same. Some love it, some hate it. The DVD comes with lots of extra footage: unrated stuff, deleted scenes, outtakes, bloopers, commentaries, random craziness, flatulence, etc.

The Last Kiss -- Zach Braff stars in a romantic drama that''s also a remake of an Italian film that's not even five years old. Co-stars include Jacinda Barrett, Rachel Bilson, Marley Shelton and Casey Affleck. Extras include two audio commentaries, four featurettes, deleted scenes, outtakes, and a music video.

About forty-five minutes into Haven, I glanced down at my trusty notebook (which is almost impossible to make out in a pitch-black theater) and scribbled the words, "What the heck is this movie about?" With a number of characters and storylines to follow, it's fairly easy to compare Haven to a messy plate of delicious-looking pasta. While you know the food is probably scrumptious, there's a good chance you'll pass it up because, frankly, there's too much to consume and you don't feel like dirtying your hands, as well as that groovy shirt and pants combo.

In order to simplify things for you (and for me), Haven is basically split up into two separate stories, with multiple sub-plots linked to each one. With the exception of one or two scenes, the entire film is set in the Cayman Islands. However, the island's lush, picturesque landscape -- the one you remember from that vacation where you may have spent a little too much time lounging by the pool -- is replaced by a gritty, seedy underground world, complete with shady, white-collar Americans, drugs, sex, guns and murder.