Hit & Run (Blu-ray + DVD + Digital Copy + UltraViolet) (2012)

Charles (Dax Shepard), not his real name, is in the Witness Protection Program (WPP) in the sleepy little town of Milton. Randy (Tom Arnold) who is a fallen from grace, inept federal marshal is assigned to watch over him. Annie (Kristen Bell) is Charles' girlfriend. She knows he is in the Program, but not the details. Gil (Michael Rosenbaum) is Annie's ex-bf who is still in love with her.

When Annie gets offered a job in LA, Charles insists she go take it, and he opts to drive her himself in his 700 HP "suicide doors" Lincoln. They are chased by Gil, Randy, Gil's brother Terry (Jess Rowland) who is a gay policeman, and bad guy Alex (Bradley Cooper), the reason why Charles is in the WPP to begin with.

The film turns into "Smokey and the Bandit" with gun fire. The unorthodox relationship of the two stars is the heart of the film. Annie is an expert in solving non-violent conflict solutions and Charles is...well let's say he is trying.

The second half of the film digresses. I won't say it falls off a cliff, but it could have been done better in this romantic action/comedy.

Parental Guide: F-bombs, some really ugly nudity, male nudity.

Charlie is in a Witness Protection program, after he ratted out his gang members, who are all bank-robbers. His location is in California as he tries to keep a low profile. But then, he meets Annie, who is a professor and on the verge of losing her job. Charlie falls in love with Annie, and he follows her to L.A., where she seeks a new job. The drama begins as Charlie steps out of his Protective boundary,and all hell breaks loose as the chase begins. A former friend, also a marshal, and a member of his bank-robber gang go after Charlie at full-speed. Most of the scenes are very funny, and some laugh-out-loud entertainment, combined with romance. Superb acting performance, and just enough action. A great summer movie to enjoy. Highly recommended to all comedy lovers!

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This movie is one of the best movies of the summer I have watched 3 times in 8 days very well made movie I think the the ending could have been better but other then that I will buy it when it comes out

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Not too many movies around that have this kind of exuberance. This moves like a freight train but you might not want to get out of the way.

Here's the scoop. Yul Perkins (writer/director Dax Shepard) is in the witness protection program with Tom Arnold as his protector. His girlfriend Annie Bean (Kristen Bell) has received a once in a lifetime job offer in Los Angeles. Does Yul break cover for the girl he loves, and if he does, what are the consequences?

I found this entirely engaging. The set up is pretty basic, but, as in any good plot, the details are doled out slowly so the picture becomes more subtle and involved as things progress. Yul is a cool character. He is truly trying to turn his life around and his girl Annie is a big part of that. They have some very witty, Tarantino-esque conversations. They feel good together. The other characters are written well also. Brad Cooper, as Alex Dimitri, is a real card. Too many movies write their villains as shallow, and/or stupid tough guys. He's anything but. His dog food scene alone is worth the price of admission. About the weakest link here is Tom Arnold. I like Tom Arnold. He plays a good second banana, but he is simply too inept to be a Federal Marshall. This is a crazy bunch of people with their own back stories, but the way all the factions come together is really cool and unexpected. Yes there's tension but these folks aren't just shooting at each other and threatening each other. They're having these really great conversations. The car chase scenes are directed really well. Car chases are such old news, it's always good to see some that rise above the fray.

This is a way fun movie. It's tense, funny, clever, well acted and well directed. Is it great art? No. But it delivers, in spades, what it sets out to deliver.

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Billed as an action film and it certainly has that element it's at its core a touchy-feely romance comedy, with a very sweet, pro-human attitude. If you can, watch the first two minutes; if you like them, you'll like the movie as a whole. I'm in line for whatever Dax Shepard writes next.

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The Telephone Book (Blu-ray + DVD Combo) (1971)

"The Telephone Book" is about a girl who falls in love with the world's greatest obscene phone caller. Because of horrors in distribution this movie from 1971 has never received it's due as a great comedy. The movie features Barry Morse (Space:1999), Roger C. Carmel (Harry Mudd on Star Trek) and William Hickey (Prizzi's Honor) in supporting roles. But the major star is announcer Norman Rose as the obscene phone caller. At the time of the shooting, Rose was the voice of Ma Bell. Sara Kennedy is perfect as Alice, the girl hunting around Manhattan for the voice of her erotic dreams. Nelson Lyon was the father of Judd Apatow and Todd Phillips.

Vinegar Syndrome truly surprised me this time. They're getting well known for releasing Blu-ray / DVD combo packs that are filled to the brim with bonus material for hard to find films. They're becoming the standard for releasing these films in widescreen looking better than any of them should have a right to, but they surprised me by releasing a film that could be considered to have underground cult status, and had me laughing all the way through. "The Telephone Book" is their best release yet, and a film you need to own.

The comedy stars Sarah Kennedy as Alice who looks and sounds like a blonde Betty Boop. Alice has fallen in love with the world's best obscene phone caller "John Smith" (played brilliantly by Norman Rose). John has dared Alice to try and find him by giving her two clues; his name and that his number is in the Manhattan telephone book. You should see how many John Smiths there are in the Manhattan telephone book! Not to be dissuaded, Alice agrees.

As she starts her search, she heads to a studio where she was told to go by one of the Smiths in the phone book. She finds herself in the middle of an audition with "Har-Poon", an out of work stag movie actor whose real name just happens to be John Smith as well. He is having an orgy audition so that he can star and direct his own comeback. As Alice gets ready to settle in to the audition, the real John Smith calls and tells her that she is not at the right place. This is where rational thinking would tell you to wonder how he knew she was there. Well, rational thought doesn't really have a place in this movie, so just go with the flow and enjoy the laughs. And speaking of laughs, there is so much sexual innuendo going on throughout the film that you really have to pay attention, or you'll miss some of the jokes.

Now, some of the funniest parts of the movie come between Alice's adventures. They are pseudo documentary style confessions of three or four men who used to be obscene phone callers. They have since changed their ways, and are now leading normal lives. The problem is that in every case, their normal lives are more screwed up than they ever were when they were simply making obscene phone calls. You'd think this would play out as padding for the running time, but that isn't the case at all, and I found myself wishing they had found a way to fit one or two more guys in there to share their "normal" lives.

When Alice is taking the subway home, she meets a pervert who decides he will give her pay phone money to try and find John in exchange for her telling him her most exciting sexual escapade. Hilarity ensues as she tells him a story involving a minister, soap and water, and a week long erection. Needless to say, she gets more money than even she was hoping to get. After being robbed, and then seduced by a lesbian, John's call comes to the rescue telling her to go home. Does she meet her John Smith? How do they relate? What will they discuss? Will there be amazing sex? I will give you one hint. The last ten minutes of this movie are absolutely amazing! This is a very under-appreciated art house film that deserves a much wider audience.

Of course Vinegar Syndrome has spared no expense in putting out the highest quality package possible. Widescreen black and white presentation. Only a couple of drop outs in the first few minutes of the movie take away from the overall excellent sound. For the extras, we have an audio commentary with producer Merv Bloch, a reissue trailer, the original trailer, a still gallery and radio spots. There is no reason to wait. Buy this now, and enjoy the laughs.

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