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This article was published 20/12/2012 (5018 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Pitch Perfect

THIS a cappella comedy is one part Bring It On, two parts of last year’s rude-girl comedy Bridesmaids, and four parts harmony.

There’s a stumbling romantic relationship somewhere in here, but as in Bridesmaids, the true emphasis is on a tangly group of women who must put aside their differences if they are going to achieve success. And in keeping with the refreshingly impolite tone of Kristen Wiig’s comedy, there are also jokes about vomit, promiscuity and large nipples.

Beca (Anna Kendrick) is a would-be music producer obliged to join a college a cappella group The Bellas after team lieutenant Chloe (Brittany Snow) subjects her to an embarrassing vocal audition in the college’s shower room.

Beca joins other outcast girls, including one who calls herself Fat Amy (Bridesmaids’ Rebel Wilson) “so twiggy bitches like you don’t do it behind my back,” as well as a nearly silent Asian songstress (Hana Mae Lee) given to whispering disturbing confessions: “I set fires to feel joy.”

All are stifled by Aubrey (Anna Camp), the imperious leader of the pack who insists on a set list of sugary pop songs and a wardrobe suggesting sexy ’60s stewardesses.

While Kendrick happens to be an excellent singer, she doesn’t display much in the way of comic chops, acting as straight-woman to pretty much everyone else in the cast. She’s not terribly sympathetic compared to, say, Fat Amy, who actually wins loyalty with her displays of courage and humour. (It’s reminiscent of how Melissa McCarthy almost stole Bridesmaids from Wiig, come to think of it.)

The musical performances are well-produced and fun, giving Pitch Perfect the added kick of any Hollywood musical — albeit one with jokes about vomit, promiscuity and large nipples.

The Blu-ray doesn’t have much in the way of serious behind-the-scenes docs (one extra is titled Burrito Drive By!, a series of burrito test explosions), but it does have audio commentaries, including one with director Jason Moore and producer Elizabeth Banks. ‘Ö’Ö’Ö

Total Recall

THIS remake actually enjoys some advantages over Paul Verhoeven’s 1990 sci-fi classic. Visual effects have come a long way since the cartoony early ’90s. And Colin Farrell is an actual honest-to-goodness actor, unlike Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Farrell is Quaid, a blue-collar Joe who works at a robot factory on Earth. (Mars was written out of this particular adaptation.) He has a beautiful wife (Kate Beckinsale) and a demanding career, but he is haunted by dreams of a different, violent life and a different woman.

To escape the drudgery of his existence, Quaid signs on to Rekall, a company that implants memories into the brains of its customers. Quaid fancies a spy adventure, but when the facility is raided by government stormtroopers, Quaid discovers his wife actually hates him, the woman of his dreams (Jessica Biel) is a flesh-and-blood anti-government rebel, and his whole life has been an implanted illusion.

Director Len Wiseman (Underworld) actually makes some improvements on the original. Quaid’s wife Lori is conjoined with the Michael Ironside character from the original, and Beckinsale has considerable fun unleashing this super-bad hybrid.

Wiseman pays homage intermittently to Verhoeven’s film. For example, Quaid encounters a triple-breasted hooker on his travels, as Schwarzenegger did before him, despite the fact that Martian mutations don’t enter into the premise. But Wiseman can’t match the entertainment value of the original with slick action movie tropes; Verhoeven’s penchant for going over the top is sorely missed.

Like the middle mammary of a triple-breasted mutant Mars dweller, Total Recall 2012 is ultimately extraneous.

The Blu-ray dvd includes extras such as a gag reel and an inclusive seven-part doc titled Total Action. ‘Ö’Ö1/2

Arbitrage

AS an actor, Richard Gere has always been more interesting playing a heel as opposed to a hero.

That makes Arbitrage an interesting movie. His character, wealthy hedge fund manager Robert Miller, is the picture of respectability in the high finance realm in which he strides so confidently. But in a few well-staged scenes, writer-director Nicholas Jarecki elegantly exposes Miller’s less-than-respectable qualities, as he excuses himself from his loving family’s celebration of his 60th birthday to hook up with his high-maintenance mistress Julie (Laetitia Casta).

On the business side of things, Miller is attempting to sell his company while covering up a badly invested $400-million gap in the company bottom line by deceptive means. Suddenly, Miller faces an even sleazier scandal when an attempted getaway with Julia results in a fatal accident. Mysteriously, he turns to Jimmy (Nate Parker), a young black man from Harlem, to drive him from the scene. The move not only inflames the suspicions of a class-conscious New York detective (Tim Roth), it threatens Jimmy’s immediate future in the bargain.

While functioning as a moral critique of the amoral world of high finance, Arbitrage actually feels like a companion piece to Gere’s 1980 movie American Gigolo, in which he likewise played a well-dressed smooth operator whose meticulously constructed environment threatens to come crashing down around him.

But Gere’s hustler here is even less likable. It’s a problem. The only time Robert Miller ever registers joy in his life is when he is finally obliged to engage with a banker in a good old-fashioned business negotiation over lunch. Will Miller prevail, or succumb to the forces cumulated against him?

It’s difficult to care because, ultimately, watching Arbitrage is like watching Jaws from the perspective of the shark, a figure who only demonstrates personality when chowing down on his designated victim.

DVD extras include deleted scenes and a couple of doc featurettes. ‘Ö’Ö’Ö

Premium Rush

THIS may look like a stupid action movie — a rebel bike courier is pursued by a venal bad cop — but it has some smarts. The busy Joseph Gordon-Levitt (Looper) is Wilee, a demon on two wheels accustomed to bombing down New York streets with little regard for the rules of the road — and no brakes.

When he is given an envelope bound for Chinatown, he finds himself pursued by Michael Shannon’s bad detective, intent on purloining the letter to settle some life-threatening gambling debts.

Gordon-Levitt is an affable enough action man, but it’s Shannon who really gets to add a different dimension to what could have been just another heavy, adding a little wit and pathos to the role. Not afraid to tinker with the usual action movie dynamics, writer-director David Koepp dares to make Shannon’s character his own worst nemesis. ‘Ö’Ö’Ö out of five

randall.king@freepress.mb.ca