On demand picks

December 16, 2009

RUSH HOUR 3

(HBO on Comcast) Chris Tucker and Jackie Chan (above, from left) are back in another senseless plot -- Chinese triads, the streets and sewers of Paris, kick, bang, boom! These movies are the Cher of cartoonish action-comedies: hard to embarrass and probably biodegradable. This time, though, the love between our two stars feels more undeniable than ever. (PG-13; runs through Dec. 21) WESLEY MORRIS

MICKEY BLUE EYES

(Showtime on Comcast) Hugh Grant, of all people, mixes it up with the mob and makes it work. He plays a proper Brit art auctioneer naive enough to believe he’ll be able to handle marrying a mob princess (Jeanne Tripplehorn). The fun lies in seeing how he can’t, from the moment he meets his prospective father-in-law (James Caan), who leads him into a deeper, not to say bullet-riddled, understanding of the word trouble. (PG-13; runs through Dec. 22)

THE WAY OF THE GUN

(Showtime on Comcast) The best Tarantino spinoff yet, with Benicio Del Toro and Ryan Philippe compelling as a dangerous pair of fatalistic drifters who hatch a kidnap plot. What they don’t know is that their target, a pregnant surrogate mom (Juliette Lewis), is under the protection of a mob boss. James Caan has his moments, too, as the grizzled bagman who breaks the bad news to them. An ammo-happy finale knocks it down a notch. (R; runs through Dec. 22)