I took an unofficial sabbatical last week from TFS and I know you all missed me dearly. Now it’s time to catch up on the DVDs that I missed in the past two weeks. Check out the ones from the 20th and the 13th below.
Grab ‘Em Right Away:
The Slammin’ Salmon
Directed by: Kevin Heffernan
Written by: Jay Chandrasekhar & Kevin Heffernan
Starring: Jay Chandrasekhar, Kevin Heffernan, Carla Gallo, Paul Soter, Jeff Chase, Erik Stolhanske, April Bowlby, Steve Lemme, Cobie Smulders & Michael Clarke Duncan
Why should you buy this? Broken Lizard redeems themselves and returns to Beerfest form with this hilarious comedy about a group of waiters one one crazy night, trying to make their crazy former heavyweight boxer owner (Clarke Duncan) enough money to keep his business. If you like Beerfest you will love this. It’s outstanding how many cameos are used to execute a joke. Even though I wasn’t a huge fan of Super Troopers (another Broken Lizard film), I will admit that these guys are really funny and I can’t wait to see what they do next.
Give it a Chance:
Defendor
Directed by: Peter Stebbings
Written by: Peter Stebbings
Starring: Woody Harrelson, Kat Dennings & Elias Koteas
Why should you rent this? The film isn’t the greatest comedy around but there’s something truly special about Woody Harrelson and how he can so easily tap into these seriously intense characters that are caricatures of themselves without making you feel like he’s wasting your time. Watching Harrelson run around at night taking on bad guys (and usually failing) is something special to see. And with Kick-Ass having just hit theaters this might just be the perfect film to compliment it .
Pirate Radio (AKA The Boat that Rocked)
Directed by: Richard Curtis
Written by: Richard Curtis
Starring: Philip Seymour Hoffman, Nick Frost, Bill Nighy & Rhys Ifans
Why should you rent this? It’s nothing that will change your views on the big world issues but the movie has enough talent and great music to keep it afloat. There’s also a character who’s name is (and I kid you not) ‘TWAT‘. All the roles are played with more than enough charisma. The comedy is the kind that comes from dicking around with a bunch of friends. It’s fun for the time being but nothing very memorable goes on. If you ever thought you liked 60s British Pop music then this movie is a must rent for you, and if you’ve never heard any of that music then consider this film your crash course in the topic so that you don’t seem lame at the next get-together with a bunch of hipsters.
Avatar
Directed by: James Cameron
Written by: James Cameron
Starring: Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Sigourney Weaver & Stephen Lang
Why should you rent this? Because, despite all of the hype and hate surrounding this film, it is, in the end, a decent action romp. I remember seeing it in theaters and wondering how it would work as a 2D film since most of my awe came from how wonderful the 3D looked. Stephen Lang is definitely one of my now favourite quotable bad guys in sci-fi thanks to this thing. His character is so one note it’s comical. “It is my job to keep you alive. I will fail” I love it.
Crazy Heart
Directed by: Scott Cooper
Written by: Scott Cooper & Thomas Cobb
Starring: Jeff Bridges & Maggie Gyllenhaal
Why should you rent this? Because, even though it isn’t my favorite Oscar film from last year, it’s still a good one. It has some of the best performances from 2009 and really good country music to boot. I love music in films (if you haven’t picked this up yet) and I find it so easy to just close my eyes and enjoy the background music in a film rather than be annoyed by the dialogue ruining the moment. I was surprised to see Colin Farrell in this movie. I found it even more surprising to see how much I bought him as a country singer. And here I thought In Bruges was his only good film role in film.
Avoid Like the Plague:
The Lovely Bones
Directed by: Peter Jackson
Written by: Fran Walsh & Phillipa Boyens
Starring: Stanley Tucci, Mark Wahlberg, Rachel Wiesz, Saoirse Ronan, Susan Sarandon & Michael Imperioli
Why should you leave the creepy man across the road alone? Because as interesting as Stanley Tucci‘s performance is, I found myself less and less interested in the film as it went along. My diminishing interest for this movie began when Susie Salmon (Ronan) is killed half an hour in. When we eventually find out what he did with the body you can’t imagine how stupid this experienced killer really is. The direction and visuals of the movie stand out as the only real good points to latch onto while you’re watching it. Furthermore, the ending is so atrocious, I’m halfway surprised the editor didn’t “accidentally” burn the last 5 minutes of celluloid.
Jordan’s Blu-Ray Deals of the Week (the following are at Best Buy 4/18-4/24)
The Terminator [$12.99]
Robocop [$12.99]
Forgetting Sarah Marshall [$9.99]
Eyes Wide Shut [$9.99]
The Rest
The Great Mouse Detective
Dallas: The Complete 13th Season
Emergency: Season Six
Alias Smith and Jones: Seasons 2 & 3
Tenderness
Haunted (2010)
The Young Victoria
Merlin: The Complete Season
Xena: Warrior Princess – Season One
Vivre da vie (The Criterion Collection)
Peacock
Summer Hours (Criterion Collection)
Blu-ray
Apollo 13 (15th Anniversary Edition)
A Nightmare on Elm Street
Gone with the Wind (The Scarlett Edition)
Minority Report
Fist of Legend
Battleship Potemkin
Batman
Batman Returns
What are you picking up this week?