Days of Thunder
Paramount

I’ve always considered this the Top Gun of racing films. For Days of Thunder, director Tony Scott could’ve called it “Top Driver,” as he again worked with Tom Cruise and again as a headstrong rebel-type, only this time as a racecar driver.  It’s a different “need for speed.”  The film co-starred his future wife (and now long ex-wife) Nicole Kidman, along with some fine turns by the ever-dependable Robert Duvall, plus Cary Elwes and Randy Quaid. The race scenes are well-done, capturing the thrill and rising energy of one of the most famous driving competitions in the world. The new Blu-ray edition is terrific for those with a home theater set-up — the visual transfer superb, and sound…well yes, thundering at times, when those cars rev up for the laps.

Ghost
Paramount

Ah, this was a big date movie in its days, wasn’t it? Patrick Swayze, Demi Moore, and hoodoo-lady Whoopi Goldberg.  In a botched murder — Swayze’s character dies but will not go to rest, coming back as a spirit to watch over his true love played by Moore, but only Goldberg’s mystical medium can be his voice in the world of the living.  Then there’s Vincent Schiavelli as a veteran ghost mentor of sorts, teaching Swayze how to use his spirit powers. As a romantic drama with slices of action and supernatural overtones, it’s heat-tugging sappy, mildly funny, and may still work for many.  Now it’s settle-in-for-the-night kind of movie watching, so the Blu-ray is no big deal really, except for the fact that this is the main form in our near-future, with DVDs on the way out. So if you always wanted a copy of Ghost, might as well go for this one now, because if you don’t have that Blu-ray player, you will in the next couple of years.

Event Horizon
Paramount

The Blu-ray format is often best for eye-opening action/adventure films and science fiction/fantasy. Again, that’s the case of Event Horizon – not a “B” movie but a B-movie space-tale starring the always both-good-to-watch Laurence Fishburne and Sam Neill leading an uneasy rescue mission to find out what happened to an experimental spacecraft.  Sci-fi turns to horror quickly — and a hellish one of that, as it’s haunted spaceship time.  It’s all engaging enough, but full of things that go bump and jolt in not the night but an other-worldy part of the universe.  Cultists will be thrilled at this new version, while others may just want to look at future rental. 

Heartbreak Kid
Paramount

Remaking the 1972 Charles Grodin/Cybill Shepherd movie directed by Elaine May (the one to get, sorry), this 2007 version of The Heartbreak Kid sinks from its non-funniness. Not one of Ben Stiller’s best at all. The Farrelly Brothers, who’ve been known to correctly tickle a funny bone, just stumble all over the place here with their bag of generally crass tricks. As Eddie Cantrow, Stiller can’t handle a relationship but is pushed into a marriage anyway by his family and friends and, despite his wife being beautiful and seemingly perfect, things go wrong and quite astray.  Stiller tries to make Cantrow layered with some heart, but it just doesn’t come across. You may want to pass on this and, instead, head straight to that ‘72 release with a screenplay by Neil Simon that hits all the beats with a similar though more adult storyline. 

The Truman Show
Paramount

Before reality TV boomed in this decade, 1998’s The Truman Show took on the premise of a man whose life was watched by the entire world — only he had no idea, unlike the people on Survivor or Big Brother et al (who you know sometimes go over-the-top for camera). Some people love Jim Carrey, but others find him grating and, more often than not, I have to side with the latter camp.  Still, there is a sentimental, Capra-feel to part of it, and Carrey does stir up some compassion for Truman Burbank when he learns his life is a lie and his family and friends are all actors.  Some find this a classic already.  I don’t see it, but maybe you will. 

Dexter
Complete First Season
Showtime
(January 6th)

If you already have the first season of Showtime’s clever and absorbing Dexter on DVD, you don’t have to rush out and get this Blu-ray editon, but if you’re just coming on board for the show, this is where to start. Michael C. Hall’s Dexter Morgan is a serial killer who has focused his murdering instincts on doing away with societal dregs while hiding out in plain sight as a blood splatter analyst for the Miami Police Department. Neat, huh?  Imagine the old Quincy as a far more disturbed fellow who also gets off on killing. The supporting cast grows with each unfolding episode and the building of story arcs, including Jennifer Carter as Dexter’s foster sister and Julie Benz (Darla from Buffy/Angel) as Dex’s girlfriend. Though he seems himself as empty, there’s far more to him and his motivations than the initial premise suggests, which makes Dexter a fascinating show.