Last week was one hell of  a week for content. I had so many things going on that I had no chance to do my HW for this weekly gem. So here I am again, slightly under prepared I may add, but here none the less.

Check out the last two weeks’ offerings of DVD pickings…

Buy It:

Shallow Grave (The Criterion Collection)

Directed by: Danny Boyle

Written by: John Hodge

Starring: Christopher Eccleston, Kerry Fox & Ewan McGregor

Why should you buy it? Because it’s another one of the flawed masterpieces from Danny Boyle. My favourite films from him include Sunshine and 127 Hours, two films I know a lot of people to have issues with, I consider this film to be the third in that list of films worth always holding near and dear to your heart.

With a story of three best friends who happen to come upon a small fortune after a roommate who just moved in dies under mysterious circumstances and leaves a suitcase filled with money. They decide to keep the money and bury the body themselves and not talk about the mysterious roommate. This money eventually leads to rifts between these best friends and an eventual dark ending that I feel is emblematic of a lot of Boyle‘s movies.

Jeff, Who Lives At Home

Directed by: Jay & Mark Duplass

Written by: Jay & Mark Duplass

Starring: Ed Helms, Jason Segel, Judy Greer & Susan Sarandon

Why should you buy it? Because it’s the unseen film of 2012 that I feel is one of the Duplass’ best films yet. They masterfully put forward and emotional portrait of this wayward brother and how he manages to affect those around him, even if the effect on him is somewhat lost at times. He’s that guy who looks for meaning in the most trivial things to try and see if it’s a sign to push him in direction or the other, and you dismiss it as him being a marijuana smoker, but at the end of it all the effect he has on you is so wonderful that you love him for being him.

Rent It:

Wanderlust

Directed by: David Wain

Written by: David Wain & Ken Marino

Starring: Paul Rudd, Jennifer Aniston, Ken Marino & Malin Akerman

Why should you rent it? Because it’s a great ensemble comedy that has just enough laughs for you to enjoy yourself but I feel just enough problems to make sure you don’t want to own it. Many comedies are a constant barrage of setups and punch lines, the problem with that is that not every combination ends up working so while so many parts of this film are amazingly great if we were to take a percentage of jokes that work to jokes that don’t work I’m pretty sure this film would be hitting a good .600 by the end of the night’s game, which is respectable.

Read my full review here.

The FP

Directed by: Brandon Trost & Jason Trost

Written by: Brandon Trost & Jason Trost

Starring: Jason Trost, Lee Valmassy & Art Hsu

Why should you rent this? Before we get to why you must first qualify. If you’re the kind of person who finds 90s martial arts tournament films – like Mortal Kombat – hilarious and enjoy watching them parodied, if you enjoy seeing a weird DDR-esque battle scene, which isn’t exactly exciting, and if you enjoy seeing some of the worst acting ever in existence, then you qualify to want to rent this movie.

The FP, is one of those movies which I’m sure comes around every month or so, but we only find out about it every few years. It’s a film that’s so bad it turns the good bracket just so slightly, and at the same time comes with it’s own equal sense of irony and earnestness in it’s moments that allows it to offer something interesting. We see the irony in the fact that we’re replacing actual fighting scenes with DDR, and we see the earnestness in the fact that all of these characters buy into this world. It’s almost like an anime brought to life, but the worst kind.

It’s not a film for many, but not a film that you would pass up if you consider yourself not to be one of the many.

The Rest

Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows
Entourage: The Complete Eigth and Final Season
Tyler Perry’s Good Deeds
Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance
Superman vs. The Elite
Missing: The Complete First Season
Scandal: The Complete First Season
Too Big to Fail
GCB: The Complete First Season
A Little Bit of Heaven
Thin Ice
Episodes: The First Season
Project X
Big Miracle
Seeking Justice
Cat Run
Louie: Season 2
Wilfred
Keyhole
And Everything is Going Fine (The Criterion Collection)
Gray’s Anatomy (The Criterion Collection)

Blu Ray

Harold and Maude (The Criterion Collection)
The Gold Rush (The Criterion Collection)
Meatballs
Red Scorpion
Evita: 15th Anniversary Edition
Newsies: 20th Anniversary Edition
Sister Act: 20th Anniversary Edition

What’re You Getting This Week?

It’s Tuesday, which means it’s time to take a look at what hits DVD/Blu Ray.

Buy It:

Breaking Bad: The Complete Fourth Season

Created by: Vince Gilligan

Starring: Bryan Cranston, Aaron Paul, Dean Norris, Bob Odenkirk, Jonathan Banks & Giancario Esposito

Why should you buy it? Because it’s pretty much one of the best shows on TV today and we’re about to begin the first half of the last season of the show. If you’ve yet to see an episode I urge you to watch it, either by buying the DVDs, renting them, or even watching them on Netflix Instant (I believe there’re all there). This show is so fantastically brilliant. It manages to create pulp goodness that I doubt even Tarantino could manage to sustain over this long a period of time and I can’t wait to see what the showrunner has in store for us with his finale.

Just remember guys, “no half measures”.

Rent It:

Burn Notice: The Complete Fifth Season

Created by: Matt Nix

Starring: Jeffrey Donovan, Gabrielle Anwar, Bruce Campbell & Sharon Gless

Why should you rent it? I feel this is a show that I’m plugging for the same reason year in year out. It’s a great fun procedural of an ex-CIA agent being all sorts of badass and having some of the worst acting skills ever all under a less than cable station budget. It’s not going to be winning any Emmy’s, but it’s the kind of show that gets you through the summer season drought of truly great prime time television. You definitely don’t need to see every episode for maximum satisfaction. Season six starts soon.

John Carter

Directed by: Andrew Stanton

Written by: Andrew Stanton & Mark Andrews

Starring: Taylor Kitsch, Lynn Collins, Willem Dafoe & Mark Strong

Why should you rent it? I feel this is a film which truly got a bad hand dealt to it. Somehow when it was being released no one could find anything to talk about other than the budget behind it, and when the people decided that wasn’t a good enough reason to go (it isn’t) then all they could talk about was how much money it lost Disney. It’s sad. Movies aren’t all about the economics, they’re about the story, and I don’t think this movie is a bad movie or even a bad story. Yes there are a few moments of highly questionable logic, but I don’t see this movie as any better/worse than Avatar, the film that broke every record in the planet, got an Academy Award and we only now (in very slight whispers) start to take the film’s plot structure apart, but still praising it’s good parts. This movie has just as much good and bad to it and I hope people get a chance to see that now on Blu Ray.

Read my full review here.

Skip It:

Safe House

Directed by: Daniel Espinosa

Written by: David Guggenheim

Starring: Ryan Reynolds & Denzel Washington

Why should you skip this? It’s a mindless action movie with very little action to it. It actually is better classified as a horrible thriller about a CIA house keeper who happens upon a special house guest and happens to lead him onto some corruption going on within the CIA. It’s all cat an mouse with the action/chase sequence sprinkled in here and there, but none of it is either interesting or appealing. It’s rather an exercise in how long I can stay awake while Denzel does the least work possible to act Reynolds under the table in every scene.

Read my full review here.

The Rest

Act of Valor
White Collar: Season Three
Journey 2: The Mysterious Island
Curb Your Enthusiasm: The Complete Eight Season
Workaholics: Seasons 1 & 2
Pretty Little Liars: The Complete Second Season
In Plain Sight: Season Four
Falling Skies: The Complete First Season
Machine Gun Preacher

Blu Ray

Yellow Submarine
The Sting
Hondo
Smokey And the Bandit
The Color of Money
U.S. Marshals

What’re You Getting This Week?

Another week and another opportunity to not save for that rainy day that I pretend isn’t very important in life. Check out this week’s DVD selections:

Buy It:

We Need to Talk About Kevin

Directed by: Lynne Ramsey

Written by: Lynne Ramsey & Rory Kinnear

Starring: Tilda Swinton, Ezra Miller & John C. Reilly

Why should you buy it? It’s one of the best horror films that doesn’t have just blood and guts spilling out of it for ninety minutes the have been released in the last two decades.

I’m going to go ahead and assume you’ve met a few assholes in your life. Well did you ever wonder, “how did your mum put up with you?” well this movie is exactly that, with a bit of the answer you weren’t looking for. We like to try and blame the parents for how the child turned out but every so often the child just turns out to be a through and through shit and nothing can stop it from happening. This is a film about a mother having to cope with the fact that she birthed the spawn of the devil and doesn’t know how to move on.

Listen to a podcast about it.

Rent It:

Rookie Blue: The Complete Second Season

Created by: Tassie Cameron, Morwyn Brebner & Ellen Vanstone

Starring: Missy Peregrym, Gregory Smith & Enuka Okuma

Why should you rent it? Ok, I don’t have that great a reason. But this is a show scheduled for a summer time slot and this is when all the regular shows are over and no matter how bad this show gets week to week I keep watching it. Filled with melodramatic storylines and high school level romances it’s easy to refuse this show the time of day, and they probably should, but I still watch it.

I still say I don’t know how this is in it’s third season and Chicago Code, Terriers and Awake all got cancelled after only one season each. There’s no justice in TV world.

Skip It:

Goon

Directed by: Micheal Dowse

Written by: Jay Baruchel & Evan Goldberg

Starring: Seann William Scott, Jay Baruchel & Alisson Pill

Why should you avoid this? It’s a film which uses violence as the crux of it’s emotional and comedy beats in a way that end up just making me question what these writers thought was really funny and heartwarming. I know I’m not the best to judge, as I’ve never watched one real game of hockey, but based on my film knowledge it’s just guys beating each other up over and over again while wearing ice skates. The acceptance of intentional violence in this sport just confounds me and I find it neither funny nor heartwarming watching these characters bleed over and over again.

True Blood: The Complete Fourth Season

Created by: Alan Ball

Starring: Anna Paquin, Stephen Moyer & Sam Trammell

Why should you avoid this? This show officially jumped the shark, or in this case got some witches (I want to copyright that phrase right now). I started watching this show with hope of not only enjoying some campy vampire intermingling/violent fun, but also to have some fun and smart social commentary on the outcasts of society. Slowly but surely since Season 1 the show has stepped away from that in order to service to HBO fanboys who just want more blood and nudity, I’m sure they can afford Cinemax, and decided to leave no stone unturned in the fantastical land of mystical beings and all it does is clutter the show in every which way.

The Rest

Maverick: The Complete First Season
Man on a Ledge
Coriolanus
Gone
Memorial Day

Blu Ray

Summer Interlude (The Criterion Collection)
Summer With Monika (Criterion Collection)
Outlaw Josey Wales
Strange Love of Martha Ivers

What’re You Getting This Week?

A relatively unneventful week at the DVD store means empty lines and lots of extra cash left over for the donut man around the corner. Take a look at this week’s pickings.

Buy It:

Castle in the Sky (Blu Ray)

Directed by: Hayao Miyazaki

Written by: Hayao Miyazaki

Why should you buy this? Well, let’s start with: it’s fantastic. Hayao Miyazaki is one of my favourite directors who when his name is called I say yes everytime. His imagination is unmatched in the world of animation, no, better yet, cinema.

The film deals with a young boy and girl who go in search of a castle in the sky, simple enough you’d think. Along the way there’re chase scenes, pirating, and government spies. It’s everything you’d want in a family film.

Rent It:

This Means War

Directed by: McG

Written by: Timothy Dowling & Simon Kinberg

Starring: Chris Pine, Tom Hardy & Reese Witherspoon

Why should you rent it? Because every so often you need to mix up the action and horror films with something she might like, and while this movie isn’t devoid of bad – I point at you Reese Witherspoon - it has enough fun moments to keep you entertained. Hardy and Pine have the charisma to make even the most ridiculous and boring romantic scenes fun with them constantly snooping and sabotaging each others’ ideas.

It’s fun and that’s all I can say to that.

Read full review here.

Skip It:

Perfect Sense

Directed by: David Mackenzie

Written by: Fim Fupz Aakeson

Starring: Eva Green & Ewan McGregor

Why should you skip it? It’s not very good. It’s sold as a romantic film, but in truth it’s a horror/apocalyptic movie. In this present day drama you mix in the bag of crazy the idea of people gradually losing their senses one at a time without knowing when or how it happens. The mere fright of that idea being a person’s reality is insane. So considering the fact that we’re to buy this romance happening while this is all going on is just too distracting away from one film or the other.

The Rest

Sherlock: Season Two
Red Tails
The Woman in Black
The Secret World of Arrietty
Rizzoli & Isles: The Complete Second Season

Blu Ray

Whispter of the Heart

What’re You Getting?

So last week I skipped out on this column, but after giving up 15 minutes into Tim & Eric’s Billion Dollar Movie I can honestly say that there isn’t anything from last week’s DVD releases worth discussing. So let’s just skip that and talk about the present:

Buy It:

Being John Malkovich (Criterion Collection)

Directed by: Spike Jonze

Written by: Charlie Kaufman

Starring: John Malkovich, John Cusack & Cameron Diaz

Why should you buy it? It’s my #2 film of 1999, and I don’t think you can find a weirder film about the human mind and how to mimick life in art than this one. Forgetting the scene of Malkovich entering the mind of Malkovich and taking the film at face value, what else would you want? We get a puppeteer, an art form that’s always been the most difficult to sell, who’s trying to find a life and ends up in a floor of an office building that sits between two real floors (hence the 1/2) filing. It’s insane, but worth every minute that you have to give.

Rent It:

Chronicle

Directed by: Josh Trank

Written by: Max Landis

Starring: Dane DeHaan, Alex Russell & Michael B. Jordan

Why should you rent it? Because calling it the found-footage, American retelling of Akira is an oversimplification of the whole thing. Yes it kind of straddles that line, but it also does a lot of things right. I like the character progression that Andrew, the bullied nerd anti-social child, goes through and the way that his powers evolve and skills increase over the span of the film. Especially with a lot of the camera explanations of the film. Yes it’s odd why the camera is even on, especially when he goes to hold up a convenience store, but I see it as no unlikely as the world’s youth is getting more and more obsessed with documenting their lives. It’s not a bad film, but definitely not a great one.

Skip It:

The Grey

Directed by: Joe Carnahan

Written by: Joe Carnahan & Ian Mackenzie Jeffers

Starring: Liam Neeson, Dermot Mulroney & Frank Grillo

Why should you skip it? While I’m all for Liam Neeson vs. wolves in the middle of nowhere, I’m just sad that the film wasn’t more engaging. It tried really hard but it felt like a movie that was stretched too far. It has a runtime of near two hours but began to run out of steam and having the set pieces and drama just too far apart for me to care by the end of the film.

Honestly a strong opening, but nothing else.

The Rest

One For the Money
Hell on Wheels – The Complete First Season
Albert Nobbs
The Devil Inside
Norwegian Wood

Blu Ray

The Odessa File
1900
Father of the Bride: 20th Anniversary Edition – Two Movie Collection
Walking Tall: The Trilogy

What’re You Getting This Week?

I will start with an apology. I delayed this article last week because I wanted to feature the latest Ti West film, The Innkeepers, which I’m still yet to see. So consider that a film to have your radar, go watch the trailer and rent the film… I will… soon. Anyways, on with the show:

Buy It:

Pariah

Directed by: Dee Rees

Written by: Dee Rees

Starring: Adepero Oduye, Kim Wayans & Aasha Davis

Why should you buy it? It’s a great coming of age story for a young adult living in New York trying to come to terms with her homosexuality and how to be around others. She has her safe place with her former school mate and best friend, but never quite knows how to express her feelings when she does have them for another person. Add to that a family environment where she can’t quite come out about her true self and you have the makings of a great drama. The clincher for me was the fact that the character of Alike (Adepero Oduye) is just so gentle and wonderful that you just want to cheer for her to figure it all out, even though you know there’re going to be a few hurdles before we reach the miniature rainbow at the end.

Rent It:

Haywire

Directed by: Steven Soderbergh

Written by: Lem Dobbs

Starring: Gina Carano, Ewan McGregor & Michael Fassbender

Why should you rent it? It’s a solid plot of how a girl you don’t mess with get messed with and fixed her problem. It’s a well put together film with a lot of wonderful scenes, but I feel the style of flair of Soderbergh happened to get in the way a lot during most of the action set pieces. I did enjoyt he cool mood that he manages to create with the film, very reminiscent of Ocean’s Eleven and such.

Skip It:

Contraband

Directed by: Baltasar Kormakur

Written by: Aaron Guzikowski &  Arnaldur Indridason

Starring: Mark Wahlberg, Giovanni Ribisi & Ben Foster

Why should you skip it? Do you really want to ask me that? This is one of those movies I feel Hollywood makes because they need to keep producing. It’s generic everything. They swap out the generic idea of a guy doing a bad thing for the right reasons and just window dress it with the fact that they’re smuggling things in on ships. I kind of felt like the filmmakers were winking at the fact that Wahlberg was in the The Italian Job remake, but then I figured out they were just bad filmmakers.

Read my review here.

Rampart

Directed by: Oren Moverman

Written by: James Elroy & Oren Moverman

Starring: Woody Harrelson, Ben Foster & Sigourney Weaver

Why should you skip it? Because it’s a bad movie. It tries really hard to ignore the plot of Officer Brown and his constant cases of assault as a police officer, and rather be a character piece which exists for us to glorify how great an actor Harrelson is — and he is — but I feel it fails on the most part. While characters are essential to films, and most times the part of the film that I dig the most, sometimes it’s not enough. A story is what keeps me engaged. Not every film can have a Daniel Plainview or Rooster Cogburn, some films need to reside within a much grander story which keeps us going, and this is neither that film where we get a Daniel Plainview nor the story that keeps us interested. Instead it feels like a paint by numbers movie which reminds of us all the news from the late 90s with the LAPD being constantly discovered to be bad.

The Rest

The Innkeepers
Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood: The Sacred Star of Milos Movie
Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood: Complete Collection One
Marvel Anime: X-Men – Complete Series
I’m Dickens…He’s Fenster
Marvel Anime: Iron Men – Complete Series
Let the Bullets Fly
Dark Tide
The Wicker Tree
Joyful Noise
George Harrison: Living In The World Material World
New Year’s Eve
Suits: Season One
W.E.
Cinema Verite

Blu Ray

Camelot
The Red House
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (1979)
A Hollis Frampton Odyssey (Criterion Collection)
The Organizer (Criterion Collection)
Shogun Assassin (5-Film Collector’s Edition)
Men in Black
Men in Black II
Jeremiah Johnson
Clueless
Meet Joe Black
About A Boy

What’re you getting this week?

It’s another Tuesday, so let’s stop pretending you care what’s happening in the world and just check out this week’s DVD releases…. junkies….

Buy It:

Shame

Directed by: Steve McQueen

Written by: Abi Morgan & Steve McQueen

Starring: Michael Fassbender & Carey Mulligan

Why should you buy it? Sometimes you can never know a person until you enter their inner circle of trust, and times you may be frightened by what you find. When we see that charming guy at the bar, or at his desk at work able to always get the female’s attention and compliance we always secretly wish we had his “swagger” (for want of a better word), but those things come with a cost and while I don’t claim this to be the true cost of that ability it is definitely a possible balance on the cheque of life that this character is cashing. Fassbender and Mulligan are two of the best actors working today and they prove brilliant in their roles as brother and sister digging up deep dark truths about one another in the short time we spend with them.

Read my full review here.

Rent It:

Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol

Directed by: Brad Bird

Written by: Josh Applebaum & Andre Nemec

Starring: Tom Cruise, Jeremy Renner, Paula Patton & Simon Pegg

Why should you rent it? Because while I remain a massive fan of the Mission Impossible franchise I do see this as a lesser film. I don’t pretend to think of the franchise as the deepest plot driven film series, but somehow the latest installment felt like an all too familiar blockbuster formula where if you keep the action scenes coming quickly enough then you won’t give me enough time to realize how boring or non-sensical the story is. Which in truth I don’t have that much of a problem with sometimes, but I took issue with it in this case.

There are a lot of action sequences worthy of adoration in this movie, I just don’t think (now no longer to be enjoyed in it’s full IMAX glory) that the love will dwindle as time goes by. I may be tempted to buy it though, to complete my MI collection.

Read my full review here.

Skip It:

Treme: Season Two

Created by: David Simon

Starring: Clarke Peters, Wendell Pierce, Rob Brown, Melissa Leo, Steve Zhan & John Seda

Why should you skip it? Because, while I enjoy a lot of the interconnected New Orleans storylines, I feel like this is a show destined to go nowhere. I remember reading that HBO had agreed to grant a third season to David Simon (creator of The Wire) on good faith, even with the show’s dwindling ratings, but I just don’t believe it’ll end up paying off in a way that will satisfy anyone who’s looking down the barrel of catching up on two whole seasons at this point.

I do still enjoy a lot of the musical excerpts of the show and I do enjoy being able to enjoy my time with the characters of the show that I love (like Baptiste and Davis McAlary), but it’s not enough at this point I feel. I also hate Jon Seda (a new character to season 2) with a passion in this show.

The Rest

Eight is Enought: The Complete First Season
High Road to China
The Divide
The Legend of the Legendary Heroes: Part One
The Legend of the Legendary Heroes: Part Two
Bob’s Burgers: Season 1
Starman: Complete Series
7 Below
American Translation

Blu Ray

Late Spring (Criterion Collection)
Alambrista! (Criterion Collection)

What’re You Getting?

Another week of DVD releases and I can tell you looking at the pickings they are slim for the week. I do have a high level of interest in the Herzog documentary, Into the Abyss, but I sadly found no time to catch up with it before writing this post, maybe I can make that into a review of it’s own for later this week. However, on with the celebrations:

Buy It:

N/A

Rent It:

Sleeping Beauty

Directed by:Julia Leigh

Written by: Julia Leigh

Starring: Emily Browning, Rachael Blake & Ewen Leslie

Why should you rent it? For those art house fans out there, such as myself, who were sold on the trailer from last year I’m here to report that this film is interesting, but I don’t think it translates that interesting into something worthy of more than a rental.

The biggest problem I had with the film when I saw it a while back was that it left me wanting more in a bad way. The film ended at a point (for me) that felt almost like it was the end of the second act and lacking a real conclusion. Now many may claim that if the film had created this mythical third act for me I would’ve complained about it being too obvious, but that doesn’t stop me from wanting it.

The Iron Lady

Directed by: Phyllida Lloyd

Written by: Abi Morgan

Starring: Meryl Streep, Jim Broadbent & Richard E. Grant

Why should you rent it? I’m not quite sure. I had a lot of problems with this movie, mainly plot related, but at the end of the day I guess it is another good (not great) Meryl Streep performance.

The film follows the descent of Margaret Thatcher into madness as she continues to mourn her husbands death. Intercut with that are moments of her recalling her life and political career as the first female Prime Minister of England. Streep is kind of great (forget what I said already) as Thatcher, I just wish the film decided what it was about and stick to that rather than pretending to be about one thing or the other.

Read my full review here.

Skip It:

The Darkest Hour

Directed by: Chris Gorak

Written by: Jon Spaihts & Leslie Bohem

Starring: Emile Hirsch, Olivia Thirlby & Max Minghella

Why should you skip this? Actually… don’t. Go and rent it and make sure to have the exact amount of vodka that you can guestimate that Russia has in its entire nation right now, and drink all of that while watching the movie. That’s the only way to somewhat enjoy this ridiculously stupid bland film.

It begins as a walking advertisement for Moscow as a tourist attraction, continues throughout making sure not to destroy the iconic buildings, and then has us follow a few of the dumbest cliched characters as the walk in circles hoping that what they’re doing will lead them to some form of safety.

Just don’t do it.

The Rest

One Tree Hill: The Complete Ninth Season
Night Gallery: Season Three
Dark Shadows: The Complete Original Series
Logan’s Run: Complete Series
Adam 12:Season Seven
Doctor Who: The Daemons
Into the Abyss

Blu Ray

A Trip to the Moon Restored (Limited Edition, Steelbook)
A Streetcar Named Desire

What’re You Getting?

Another week and more blu rays stacking up to discuss. See below for all such chatter:

Buy It:

War Horse

Directed by: Steven Spielberg

Written by: Lee Hall & Richard Curtis

Starring: Jeremy Irvine, Peter Mullan, Emily Watson, Benedict Cumberbatch & Tom Hiddleston

Why should you buy it? Because it’s the most heartfelt smile induced film of 2011 that didn’t win any awards. Spielberg uses sentimentality in a way that many filmmakers has done before, and he does it so well. It takes a piece of old Hollywood – the old Hollywood that used to give us stories that were just too cheesy but were loved regardless – and feeds it to us and it just works.

I know that a lot of people don’t (and won’t) take kindly to this film due to it’s sentiment, but for me it was just perfect.

Read my full review here.

We Bought a Zoo

Directed by: Cameron Crowe

Written by: Cameron Crowe & Aline Brosh McKenna

Starring: Matt Damon, Scarlett Johansson & Thomas Haden Church

Why should you buy it? Because you want something to watch with the whole family that won’t rot your brain or make your little daughter cry. It’s a great family drama which finds a way to mix the silly with the real that only Cameron Crowe can do. It at times goes too far, but thanks to a great performance by Damon, and a few cooky characters at the zoo, the movie works so well.

Read my full review here.

Rent it:

Tyrannosaur

Directed by: Paddy Constantine

Written by: Paddy Constantine

Starring: Peter Mullan, Olivia Colman & Eddie Marsan

Why should you rent it? This is a movie that I feel I need to revisit because it says so much about redemption and the true meaning of this sometimes overblown act, but at the same time I found it clouded by all the acting talent that put it forward. I spent so much time admiring all the brilliant acting that the film gives me that I started to lose track of the characters and their emphasis on thematic resolution.

It’s worthy of a mention among some of the best of 2011, but didn’t resonate with me immediately. However, definitely worth seeing if it’ll work with you.

The Rest

Being Elmo: A Puppeteer’s Journey
Eagleheart: Season One
Double Hour
Chasing Madoff

Blu Ray

Chinatown
Howl’s Moving Castle

What’re You Getting?

Another week, another dollar, and not much to spend it on to be honest. I guess after last week’s amazing releases Hollywood is giving us a break from debt. Anyways here’s what’s noteworthy from today’s releases.

Buy It:

N/A

Rent It:

A Dangerous Method

Directed by: David Cronenberg

Written by: Christopher Hampton & John Kerr

Starring: Keira Knightley, Michael Fassbender & Viggo Mortensen

Why should you rent it? Because while it’s the most showy it is possibly Knightley‘s best performance to date. I expect a lot of people to take issue with her “out there” showing the mentally ill Russian patient turned psycho analyst herself, but it’s kind of brilliant in that sense. She acts as the conduit for the continued relationship between Jung (Fassbender) and Freud (Mortensen) and having two actors of that caliber in scenes together is just fascinating.

Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close

Directed by: Stephen Daldry

Written by: Eric Roth & Jonathan Safran Foer

Starring: Thomas Horn, Tom Hanks, Sandra Bullock & Max Von Sydow

Why should you rent it? Because if you haven’t seen it yet I’d recommend just to complete the best picture nominee list of films. It’s not a fantastic movie, but it has a lot of great visual flourishes, including the opening credits. While it hinges on the events of 9/11 and a journey that I believe is almost wasted throughout the film I can’t deny the films ability to hand up characters that can help you believe that there might just be good left in the world (and I’m always happy to see that in movies).

Yes I do question these people’s parenting skills throughout the film.

Read my full review here.

Skip It:

South Park: The Complete Fifteenth Season

Created by: Trey Parker & Matt Stone

Why should you skip it? Well, I’m pretty sure that anyone reading this knows from the get go how they feel about this show now that it’s 15 seasons in (took you that long?). While I am a big fan of the show and what it’s done for television in it’s longstanding run I feel like this season is when it’s finally gone further than it could. Whether it’s network intervention or the writers just not knowing what else to do with the show I can’t tell you, all I can say is it’s rarely funny anymore.

In a season which dealt with: (1) Apple, (2) The Royal Wedding, (3) Cynicism (you can look at yourselves with that one Parker & Stone), (4) Border Patrol & Racism, (5) The Occupy Movement & (6) Class Warfare; I couldn’t find much that truly spoke out as comedic satire and worked. I guess the funny is just harder to find.

The Rest:

Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked
Eureka: Season 4.5
In The Land of Blood and Honey
Corman’s World

Blu Ray

The Bodyguard
Confucius
A Night to Remember (Criterion Collection) 

 What’re You Getting This Week?