The Film:

A date night was exactly what I had in mind when I popped this disc into the player. I wasn’t expecting a spectacular movie, but I figured I’d get to cuddle on the couch  with my better-half and munch some popcorn. Fortunately, both my wife and I found ourselves laughing out loud at the array of jokes that resonated well on our home theater. The new romantic action-comedy, Date Night staring Steve Carell and Tina Fey is the perfect date move. It’s not a tear jerker, it has enough action to keep most guys interested, it’s funny, and it has just enough romance to keep the ladies in their seats.

The story is pretty simple, but maybe that’s why it works so well. Phil and Claire Foster (Steve and Tina) are a married couple that are going through the motions. They work hard, spend time with their kids, and love each other, but their lives have become routine. Sensing that they need to inject something new into their lives, they decide to drive into the city and have dinner at fancy restaurant. Only when they get there they can’t get a table, so they do the only sensible thing. They pose as the Tripplehornes, a couple that didn’t show and fill their shoes for that night so that they can enjoy their time together. Phil and Clair aren’t even finished their meal when a couple of goons (Jimmi Simpson and Common) show up, mistaking them for the Tripplehornes. It quickly becomes obvious that Phil and Clair are in deep trouble, so they break free from the goons and spend their Date Night doing their best to get out of the mess they’ve found themselves in.

The chemistry between Steve Carell and Tina Fey is undeniable. They are the type of onscreen couple I could watch again and again. Their portrayal of the Fosters reminded me of the onscreen pairing of Chevy Chase and Goldie Hawn. Also, the supporting cast was stellar as well. When we are introduced to the real Tripplehornes, played by James Franco and Mila Kunis, their performance makes their short time on screen extremely memorable. Ray Liotta is also great as the gangster that’s after the Fosters. But it’s Mark Wahlberg who is the scene stealer. He plays a security specialist that doesn’t like to wear a shirt, and because he plays it straight it works.

Director Shawn Levy wasn’t a director that would make it into any top 10 list of mine, but if he continues to make flicks like this one that will definitely change. Date Night is positively a killer film.

The DVD:

Audio/Video: Fox releases a solid standard DVD release. I’m sure the Blu-ray would highlight more of the colors and details, but I didn’t find much fault with this. The audio is really good for a comedy as well, again all for standard def.

Directing 301: This 20 minute featurette covers some of the shooting of the scenes with Levy and the cast, a little ‘how-they-did-it’ type of thing. It’s really nothing too deep, but it’s average and the lengthiest extra here.

Directing Off Camera: This agains has Levy chatting for 4 minutes on directing, which isn’t all that interesting.

Gag Reel: Okay, here’s the best extra. Light, funny, and actually worth the 6 minutes, only because of the cast, yet the extras aren’t riveting on this release.

Alt City is another gag reel of flubs (eh) and PSAs are a promo attempt to sell the movie to you.

The Film: Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

The DVD: Rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars

Date Night

Steve Carrell overload? Maybe. But adding Tina Fey should make it worth a watch with the lady/guy. (Formats: Blu-ray/DVD)  Jon says: Rent   Donny says: Buy

Death at a Funeral

While this does have Zoe Saldana (pauses) I couldn’t get by how identical it was to the UK version, something that was made like three years prior, even with the nice cast this film got. (Formats: Blu-ray/DVD)   Jon says: Rent   Donny says: Rent

The Good, the Bad, the Weird

This Korean import was a splattering of crazy antics and Sergio Leone, making for those interested, a good time. (Formats: Blu-ray/DVD)   Jon says: Rent   Donny says: Rent

Crumb: Criterion Collection

Bad Santa’s director crafted a super documentary on the oddball, controversial comic book artist, that gets the lovely Criterion treatment. (Formats: Blu-ray/DVD)   Jon says: Buy   Donny says: Buy

New to Blu

National Lampoon’s Vacation

That does it for this week, but keep it here for more news and reviews only on Killer Film!

21 Laps has been attached to several recent films which include The Rocker, What Happens in Vegas and Date Night. Levy is busy with pre-production on the Hugh Jackman starring film Real Steel. The story centers on a struggling promoter (Jackman) who thinks he’s found a champion in a discarded robot. During his hopeful rise to the top, he also discovers he has an 11-year-old son who wants to know his father. Real Steel comes out in theaters on November 18th, 2011.

Fox is distributing several summer films this year, including The A-Team, Marmaduke, Knight and Day and Predators.

The story is pretty simple, but maybe that’s why it works so well. Phil and Claire Foster (Steve and Tina) are a married couple that are going through the motions. They work hard, spend time with their kids, and love each other, but their lives have become routine. Sensing that they need to inject something new into their lives, they decide to drive into the city and have dinner at fancy restaurant. Only when they get there they can’t get a table, so they do the only sensible thing. They pose as the Tripplehornes, a couple that didn’t show and fill their shoes for that night so that they can enjoy their time together. Phil and Clair aren’t even finished their meal when a couple of goons (Jimmi Simpson and Common) show up, mistaking them for the Tripplehornes. It quickly becomes obvious that Phil and Clair are in deep trouble, so they break free from the goons and spend their Date Night doing their best to get out of the mess they’ve found themselves in.

The chemistry between Steve Carell and Tina Fey is undeniable. They are the type of onscreen couple I could watch again and again. Their portrayal of the Fosters reminded me of the onscreen pairing of Chevy Chase and Goldie Hawn. Also, the supporting cast was stellar as well. When we are introduced to the real Tripplehornes, played by James Franco and Mila Kunis, their performance makes their short time on screen extremely memorable. Ray Liotta is also great as the gangster that’s after the Fosters. But it’s Mark Wahlberg who is the scene stealer. He plays a security specialist that doesn’t like to wear a shirt, and because he plays it straight it works.

Director Shawn Levy wasn’t a director that would make it into any top 10 list of mine, but if he continues to make flicks like this one that will definitely change. Date Night is positively a killer film.

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

DreamWorks Animation’s How to Train Your Dragon managed to stay strong with $25.3 Million, again not much of a surprise considering it’s the only real animated kids movie out there for families to still flock to. Speaking of family-friendly films, the novel adapted feature Diary of a Wimpy Kid is still holding out a little bit as it takes $4 Million, making it’s grand total domestically of $53.7 Million (in contrast to it’s mere $15 Million dollar budget).

The very positive word of mouth finally paid off for the MGM comedy Hot Tub Time Machine as it’s intake of $5.4 Million, managing to make the Steve Pink directed flick hit the $36 Million mark (which is the same cost as the budget). Check out the rest of the top ten box office below from Box Office Mojo.:

Weekend Box Office (April 9-11)

1. Date Night  ($27.1 M)
2. Clash of the Titans  ($26.8 M)
3. How to Train Your Dragon  ($25.3 M)
4. Tyler Perry’s Why Did I Get Married Too?  ($11 M)
5. The Last Song  ($10 M)
6. Alice in Wonderland  ($5.6 M)
7. Hot Tub Time Machine  ($5.4 M)
8. The Bounty Hunter  ($4.3 M)
9. Diary of a Wimpy Kid  ($4.1 M)
10. Letters to God  ($1.1 M)

April is stringing it’s way out of the dull winter months to bring us all sorts of mind-numbing action. Speaking of that, the biggest release of this upcoming weekend is the highly anticipated comic book adapted feature Kick-Ass. The other wide release this Friday is Death at a Funeral with limited releases of The Joneses, The City of Your Final Destination, Exit Through the Gift Shop, The Secret in Their Eyes and The Perfect Game.

Stone recently was seen in the horror comedy Zombieland and can next be seen lending her voice to the character Mazie in the family feature Marmaduke. Carell can next be seen co-starring alongside Tina Fey in the action comedy Date Night.

There are quite a few pictures that are under the distribution belt of Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corp, some of those include Machete, Date Night, Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps and Predators just to name a few. Chernin is latched onto a couple of high profile projects as well which are the Daredevil reboot along with Animal Rescue.

Wiig is definitely the in-demand comedic actress at this time. The Saturday Night Live actor is appearing in several comedies that include Date Night, Paul and MacGruber. The actress is also lending her voice for two animated features, those being How to Train Your Dragon and Despicable Me.

Four Brothers made a decent theatrical run, making about $92.3 Million worldwide, pretty good judging that they had a $45 Million dollar budget on their hands. Mark Walhberg can be seen in theaters right now in Peter Jackson’s The Lovely Bones and can next be seen in Date Night.

James Franco will play mountaineer Aron Ralston in Danny Boyle’s “127 Hours,” filming begins early March in Utah.

Franco can next be seen in several films including the Steve Carrell and Tina Fey movie Date Night and the fantasy comedy Your Highness.