November 19, 2014 THE VILLADOM TIMES I • Page 17 Buddy film sequel ‘22 Jump Street’ has broad laughs by Dennis Seuling In “22 Jump Street” (Sony), directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller (“21 Jump Street,” “The Lego Movie”) continue the adventures of cops Schmidt (Jonah Hill) and Jenko (Channing Tatum). Captain Dickson (Ice Cube) has a new assignment for them: They must go undercover at a local college where a new designer drug caused the death of a student, find the distributor, and make an arrest. The script is filled with goofiness, plays on words, improvisation, action sequences, and even a surreal dream sequence. The directors toy with gender relationships with- out sacrificing laughs. When an unpleasant epithet is used to refer to gay men, Jenko shifts gears from dim-bulb goofball to rights activist as he gives a speech about the inappropriateness of such terms in the modern world. Viewers laugh because it is so out of character for Jenko, but the mes- sage is genuinely felt. The easy camaraderie between Schmidt and Jenko is threatened when Jenko devel- ops a man crush on quarterback Zook (Wyatt Russell) and Jenko suggests that he and Schmidt separate in their investigation. While Jenko hangs out with Zook, Schmidt cozies up to undergrad Maya (Amber Ste- vens), who knew the deceased student. Finding the drug dealer is secondary to the hijinks until the final third of the film, when the drug dealer is revealed and lots of mayhem ensues. Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum in ‘22 Jump Street.’ The team of Hill and Tatum is movie magic. They work together effortlessly and look as if they are having a grand time. Hill is more into improvisation than Tatum, who knows to just go with the flow. His dumb- founded look is as much a comic trademark as Chaplin’s derby and cane. Hill and Tatum come off as a modern Abbott and Costello. Bonuses on the Blu-ray/DVD combo pack include five deleted and extended scenes, director and actor commentary, digital HD copy, and several behind-the- scenes featurettes, one of which addresses the art of improvisation on the set. “Sin City: A Dame to Kill For” (Anchor Bay) is a follow-up to “Sin City,” the 2005 picture based on the graphic novel by Frank Miller. The script blends several overlap- ping stories and characters. Returning from the previous film are Marv (Mickey Rourke), Hartigan (Bruce Willis) as a ghost, sadistic crime boss Senator Roark (Powers Boothe), and stripper Nancy (Jessica Alba). New characters are cocky gambler Johnny (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) and Dwight (Josh Brolin), a sort of unofficial private detec- tive who takes compromising photos for his clients. Johnny gets into a high-stakes poker game with Roark and wins big. Showing up Roark in front of his associates is an offense that will cost Johnny dearly. As Johnny and Marcie, a woman he has picked up, walk down the dark streets of Sin City, they are attacked by two of Roark’s thugs. Johnny beats the assailants senseless, but Roark’s enmity does not end there. Nancy, a good girl gone wrong, is still a stripper, but no longer just for the joy of stripping. She bides her time, waiting to exact revenge on a horrible person from her past. Eva Lord (Eva Green) is the ultimate femme fatale, using her body and sensual- ity to lure men to their doom. She dumped Dwight years ago, but now wants him back in a plot to kill her rich husband. She seems to enjoy flaunting her inherent evil. Green is seen seducing one guy after another. She is the dame worth killing for. Director Robert Rodriguez concentrates on the visceral. His film has a cold, unemo- tional feel. It contains stock noir types: prostitutes, detectives, chiselers, crooked cops, lethal women, and hard-boiled thugs. The environment has hardened and jaded its inhabitants. There are no ordinary folks (continued on Crossword page)