'Rango' and 'The Lincoln Lawyer' on DVD

                                                                      New on DVD/Blu-ray: Rango
One of the year’s biggest surprises for me so far has been that an animated kid’s movie starring a Johnny Depp-voiced lizard was actually pretty good and not a mess. Depp has been degenerating more and more into a cartoon character with his live action performances lately, relying more on fright wigs and funny voices than actual acting, so it’s ironic that by doing an actual cartoon he’s produced the thing I’ve liked most from him in quite a while.

His performance in Rango is a deranged amalgamation of Hunter S. Thompson and Don Knotts that turns out to be magnetic and fun, and the marriage of his performance with the Ralph Steadman inspired visuals of the films puts this one towards the top of my mid-year list. A bevy of amazing supporting talent including Isla Fischer, Ned Beatty, Ray Winstone, Bill Nighy and Stephen Root backs up Depp to boot. Also, it’s nice to see director Gore Verbinski do something light and fun like the firstPirates of the Caribbean movie rather than something bloated and stupid like his last two Piratesmovies.

New in Redbox: The Lincoln Lawyer
Renting a movie from a Redbox is like buying one of the candy bars they put right next to the cash register in stores. If it didn’t happen to be sitting right there, you’d never think to get it. But hey, why not? The Lincoln Lawyer works perfectly for these purposes. It’s not a great movie or the kind you necessarily want your friends to know you’re watching, but it’s slick, fun, macho and really there are a lot of worse ways to spend an evening.

When it’s right there, and it’s only a buck, why wouldn’t you pick up The Lincoln Lawyer and avoid whatever reality show nonsense is on TV tonight? Especially if you worship at the Church of McConaughey like I do. This is the guy that every man should be seeing when he looks in the mirror in the morning. If it’s not, I suggest you get out on the beach and start doing some prison workouts ASAP. It’s what McConaughey would want. And if you don’t watch this for McConaughey’s testosterone-fueled posturing, then at least check it out for the sweet hip-hop soundtrack his driver plays throughout the film. The Lincoln Lawyer is at least trying its best to impress you.