Seinfeld still entertains

In theaters Friday: Leatherheads, Nim’s Island, The Ruins, Shine a Light
New on DVD: Alvin and the Chipmunks, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

Being a filmmaker and a live music enthusiast might put me in the minority here, but I believe that a well-executed concert documentary can add a whole new dimension and energy that being present at a live show can’t ever afford. But it must be done well. Martin Scorsese riffs on The Rolling Stones and his new concert documentary Shine a Light with Pop Matters here. Scorsese doesn’t have a flawless body of work, but the guy has created some true masterpieces of cinema, balancing thrills with heady subject matter, and the more interviews I watch of him, the more I like the director on a personal level. I’m sure Shine a Light can’t compare to Gimme Shelter, which shows the band at its absolute prime in late 1969, but I’ve never seen a concert film on a large screen and Shine a Light looks like a great time at the movies. Speaking of ol’ Marty, his pals Robert DeNiro and Al Pacino have finally teamed up again for what looks like an enticing crime thriller called Righteous Kill. The Oscar winners star as NYPD detectives investigating the murder of a pimp who has ties to a case they thought they had solved years back. The plot sounds routine-enough, but this trailer really has me jazzed to see it. DeNiro gets some great one liners in this clip, and he and Pacino look like they are really giving it their all after coasting and overacting for the last several years. The film opens Sept. 12, and also stars Carla Gugino, John Leguizamo and Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson.

I finally rented Bee Movie last weekend. I’m the kind of Seinfeld fan that owns every season of his TV series on DVD — all nine. I paid $55 in 2002 to see him live at the Saenger Theatre in New Orleans. So you can imagine my expectations were pretty high for this animated film going in. Now, I’m not a film snob who turns his nose up at animation or even kids movies in general. I actually enjoy the escapism and creativity they offer from time to time. Some of the best comedies of the last decade have been animated. What I liked about Bee Movie was that every scene really was imbued with a Seinfeldian wit. This is obviously his baby and every aspect of the story and dialogue has the comedian’s stamp on it. While only 10 or so of the jokes provide real laugh-out-loud moments, the dialogue and characters are consistently amusing. Patrick Warburton — Seinfeld’s mechanic “Putty” — is particularly good here as the boyfriend of the woman Seinfeld’s bee crushes on. Chris Rock also puts in a hilarious cameo as a mosquito. His rant about a mosquito’s lot in life and the desires of mosquito women is a highlight of the movie. The film could have used a little more of a Larry David acidity to it, but maybe that would have turned it into more of a picture for grown-ups. Regardless, I wish Seinfeld’s old writing partner had appeared as a character somewhere in the film. As it is, it’s a solid family comedy that mom and dad can enjoy with their kids. Check it out now on DVD.