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Something for Everyone

A quartet of movies that should please just about everybody - we've got award winning, hard hitting
drama, fabu-lush disaster porn, smart, brittle comedy and The Box which has every genre and then
some - all in this edition of DVD Recommendations.
Precious  (Lionsgate)  I agree with producer-director Lee Daniel's assessment that we're ALL
precious and maybe now that the film has won major awards it will scare up some nervous audience
members into seeing it now that it's on DVD.  This
searing, tremendous movie is heartbreaking, filled
with hope and is a rewarding experience not to be missex.  Fascinating behind the scenes features as
well.

2012  (Sony Pictures)  The best thrill ride of 2009 was this supreme example of disaster porn.  I
loved it unabashedly when it was in theatres and this DVD edition - with the usual assortment of
special features - is going to be heating up my player for months to come.  I brought along the
Blu-Ray edition for a viewing party (I don't usually watch Blu-Ray as I haven't upgraded and don't
plan to but that's what the publicist offered and hey...).  Needless to say, this is one title that
certainly showed off the eye popping reason for the new format in the first place.

The Invention of Lying  (Warner Bros.)  Another witting, thought provoking, smart comedy from
writer-star Ricky Gervais that starts high and then takes its time.  Far from the frat boy, dumbed
down comedies that have held audiences sway at the box office, Gervais finds humor in the oddest
places.  His powers of observation are spot on and he's lined up an enviable list of all star cameos
that spice up the movie.  This isn't going to be for everyone but those who "get it" will really do so.

The Box  (Warner Bros.)  A man with a hideously scarred face (Frank Langella) leaves a package
with a box inside it on the doorstep of financially strapped Cameron Diaz and James Marsden.  Push
the button inside the box and the couple will get one million tax free.  But the catch is that if they
accept the offer someone will die.  If this plot sounds like it's straight out of the moral dilemmas at
the center of Rod Serling's "The Twilight Zone," its because it almost is.  Playing like an extended,
big budget episode of the show (albeit, set in the 1970s for unexplained reasons), this is a movie
that combines horror, sci-fi, drama, and oh yeah, camp.  The result is an oddity that was if nothing
else, a very entertaining little waste of time.  My fellow critics were deeply divided over this strange
little movie and having missed it in theatres, now I see why.  I'm weighing on the positive side - but I
quickly add that I can understand the critical brickbats the film received.  That's meant to pique your
interest and see it for yourself.
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