November 30, 2011 THE VILLADOM TIMES I, II & III • Page 23 Man’s life takes wild turn in ’30 Minutes or Less’ by Dennis Seuling “30 Minutes or Less” (Sony Home Entertainment) is a broad comedy focusing on Nick (Jesse Eisenberg), a small-town pizza delivery guy who leads a dull life until he is kidnapped by wannabe criminals Dwayne (Danny McBride) and Travis (Nick Swardson). Dwayne wants to hire a Detroit hitman (Michael Pena) to murder his millionaire father (Fred Ward), but the hit will cost $100,000. Awakening with a bomb strapped to his chest, Nick is told he has 10 hours to rob a bank and bring back $100,000 or Dwayne will detonate the bomb. At a mere 83 minutes, the movie flies by at a frenetic pace. Director Ruben Fleischer (“Zombieland”) is adept at crafting comic action sequences. Aziz Ansari as Chet -Nick’s former best friend who tries to help him out of a tough predicament -- steals the show with his wide-eyed expressions, manic behavior, and hysterical babbling. Eisenberg plays a variation of his likable nerd, but seems a bit adrift and never fully inhabits his character. There is a sense of ad-libbing throughout that comes off flat, unfunny, and desperate, suggesting director Fleischer didn’t have a lot of faith in the script. The film is rated R due to crude language, nudity, and violence. Blu-ray extras include a making-of featurette, picture-inpicture video commentary with actors and director, deleted scenes, and outtakes. “5 Days of War” (Anchor Bay), directed by Renny Harlin (“Cliffhanger”), is a drama about the five-day 2008 RussianGeorgian war. An American journalist (Rupert Friend) and his cameraman (Richard Coyle) are caught in the combat zone during Russian airstrikes against Georgia. Rescuing young Georgian schoolteacher (Emmanuelle Chriqui) from the attack, the two agree to help reunite her with her family in exchange for serving as their interpreter. As the three attempt to escape to safety, they witness and document the devastation and cold-blooded murder of innocent civilians. Despite a limited budget, Harlin manages to create some effective action sequences and shows the suffering of innocents caught up in the horror of war. As a political statement, however, it’s history-lite. The cast includes an unusual assemblage of secondtier actors: Heather Graham, Jonathan Schaech, Andy Garcia, Dean Cain, and Val Kilmer. Though there is a dedication to the 500 journalists killed while covering wars over the last decade and a postscript features testimonials of survivors of the Russian-Georgian conflict, the film isn’t a proper tribute. The plot draws upon clichés and shallow characters. The reporter and cameraman are portrayed as action heroes more than investigative journalists -- a role no less heroic since they were the ones who exposed the story to the world. Blu-ray and DVD extras include audio commentary by Harlin and deleted scenes. “Give a Girl a Break” (Warner Archive) is one of the lesser-known M-G-M musicals of the Golden Age, the era that produced such acknowledged classics as “The Band Wagon,” “An American in Paris,” “On the Town,” and “Kiss Me Kate.” M-G-M had an enormous number of musical performers under contract and wanted to keep them working, so smaller-budgeted musicals were turned out regularly in the ‘40s and ‘50s. “Give a Girl a Break” is about three young women who aspire to a role in a big Broadway musical when the temperamental star walks out. Each offers something different: Suzy (Debbie Reynolds) has enthusiastic exuberance; Joanna (Helen Wood) offers sophistication; and Madelyn (Marge Champion), the director’s former dance partner, has the most professional experience. The film combines the talents of three legendary directors of musicals: Stanley Donen (“Singin’ in the Rain”) directing, and Gower Champion and Bob Fosse (future directors of, respectively, Broadway’s “Hello, Dolly!” and “Chicago”) performing. Director Donen, known for his fondness for cinematic trickery, has fun with a number in which Fosse and Reynolds defy gravity by sliding up long ramps backward, balloons magically appear, and confetti “falls” upward. A romantic highlight is a lush, elegant dance duet with Marge and Gower Champion reminiscent of the best performances of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. There are no extras on this DVD release. “The Future” (Lionsgate), an independent film that has made the rounds of film festivals from Sundance to Berlin, concerns Los Angeles couple Sophie (Miranda July) and Jason Hamish Linklater), who live in a cramped apartment, have jobs they detest and, though they are in their 30s, are just Chet (Aziz Ansari, right) helps his friend Nick (Jesse Eisenberg) get out of a tough predicament in ‘30 Minutes or Less.’ learning what it means to be an adult. When they adopt an injured cat, they are hit headon with a panicked sense of responsibility. The movie is unconventional in that it features a talking cat, talking moon, a T-shirt that moves by itself, and Jason’s sudden discovery that he can stop time. These quirky embellishments are couched in the personal story -- both funny and sad -- about love losing its way as Sophie happens into an affair with suburban dad Marshall (David Warshofsky), who is apparently okay with accepting eccentricity. July, who also wrote the screenplay and directs, uses these two basically likable though passive souls as ingredients in a metaphorical look at life, relationships, ambition, and social expectations. It has great charm, and the title is perfect, since it can refer to an abstract, unspecified time, or something far more concrete. Bonuses on the DVD release include audio commentary with July, a making-of behind-the-scenes featurette, and a deleted scene. “Tucker & Dale vs. Evil” (Magnolia Home Entertainment) is a comic tribute to suspense and slasher classics. Best friends Tucker (Alan Tudyk) and Dale (Tyler Labine) are looking forward to a relaxing weekend of fishing at their secluded cabin when a group of unwelcome college kids arrives. The kids become convinced that Tucker and Dale are inbred cannibal killers. When the kids initiate a preemptive strike, the bodies start piling up. Most of the deaths are accidental, but gruesome as people get axed, impaled, burned, sliced in half, or wood-chipped. In this extremely violent black comedy, the college kids are little more than life-size cardboard cutouts (with acting to match) and are just on hand to bite the dust in over-the-top fashion. In the style of “Evil Dead II” or “Shaun of the Dead,” “Tucker & Dale vs. Evil” is an affectionate spoof. With the genre turned on its head, there are shocks, surprises, and no shortage of carnage. In his first feature-length film, director Eli Craig has mastered gallows humor by following the fundamentals of slasher flicks and tossing in comic reversals along the way. Toward the end, however, the movie becomes too similar to the kind of picture it is spoofing as the humor takes back seat to a traditional resolution. Special features on the Blu-ray edition include a making-of featurette, outtakes, storyboards, and audio commentary with Craig, Tudyk, and Labine.