DVD Picks: Goats, Riverboats and Rock Stars

Raleigh News & Observer
March 26, 2010

The Men Who Stare at Goats
PICK OF THE WEEK

Comedy; rated R for language, some drug content and brief nudity; also available on Blu-ray

The Gist: Greenhorn reporter Bob Wilton (Ewan McGregor) stumbles across a top secret government psi ops program in Iraq, learning “the way of the Jedi” from the likes of George Clooney, Jeff Bridges and Kevin Spacey.

The Lowdown: This very funny and slyly satirical comedy from director Grant Heslov is a real pleasure, and drew all that top-shelf acting talent for a reason. Intriguingly, the film is based on actual events. As the fascinating DVD extras reveal, the “New Earth Army” – an experiment exploring possible military applications of New Age psychic phenomena – really did exist. “Goats” can be enjoyed on one level as a dextrous madcap comedy, and on another as a kind of gonzo satire of military culture and the madness of war.

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Eurotrash Swirl

Sequel to the 2004 original, “District 13: Ultimatum” is the latest from the prolific writer and producer Luc Besson, who cranks out high-gloss Eurotrash action pictures with admirable efficiency. Set in the near-future slums of Paris, the film concerns the infamous District 13, a slum so dangerous the cops have walled it off and surrendered authority to the locals.

Things get complicated when corrupt officials decide D-13 should be leveled entirely. And so honorable cop Damien Tomaso (Cyril Raffaelli) and local roughneck Leito (David Belle) must once again team up to save D-13, fight the cops and the drug lords, and basically run like crazy in highly choreographed chase scenes.