DVD REVIEWS
PROMETHEUS
K (out of four)
Prometheus valiantly asks the big questions — Who are we? How did we get here? — but then settles for banal answers. Director Ridley Scott diverts from a standard Alien prequel to muse about the spark of humanity, positing godlike activity in places far from heaven that his curious earthlings choose to visit. Their chariot is the trillion-dollar spaceship Prometheus, named for a reckless god. Scott’s high motives take the low road when he gets to the yuck factor expected of all Alien movies, which now total five if you include Prometheus — and you should. A cool Michael Fassbender and warm Noomi Rapace make for inspired hires, saving the movie from its own excesses.
Prometheus underachieves the awe but over-delivers the ick. A lot more was promised, but pass the popcorn anyway. In space, no one can hear you whine. Extras are mostly Blu-ray, and depending on the package (there are three), they include a commentary by Ridley Scott, another by screenwriter Jon Spaihts and Damon Lindelof, plus deleted and alternate scenes (including alternate opening/ending).
ROCK OF AGES
(out of 4) Yes kids, there really was a time in the 1980s, just before the necessary corrective of grunge, when bands like Journey, Foreigner, Poison and Def Leppard were taken seriously. It was a decade when conjugating the verb “to rock,” while dancing in leopard-skin pants and singing about small-town girls livin’ in lonely worlds, was considered the height of cool, if not lyrical brilliance. So it’s hard to be too hard on what director Adam Shankman has done with this screen adaptation of Rock of Ages, the Broadway hit musical that proved no material is too vapid for Broadway. He and his willing co-conspirators, including a cocky Tom Cruise, a castrating Catherine Zeta-Jones and a conniving Alec Baldwin and Paul Giamatti, gleefully go over the top together, trying to see who can out-camp the other in recreating rock’s most embarrassing era. Don’t stop believin’ just how far they’re willing to send up and celebrate both themselves and the music. Extras include extended cut of the film (Blu-ray only), music videos and making-of featurettes.