Release of the Week - New
Green Zone
I feel it's safe to say that Paul Greengrass and Matt Damon's latest collaboration is one of the most unfortunate victims of "project coding" thus far this year. Calling it "Jason Bourne Goes to Iraq" is lazy, ignorant, and above all, inaccurate. Alleged "critics" who used this language should be brought up in front of a Film Critics' Society Tribunal and stripped of their titles and advertisers. If you've actually seen the movie and stick to that line, then you're just as accurate in saying that State of Play was "Daredevil Goes to Washington".
I watched Green Zone recently with my father, and we both had a great time with it. It's one of the more solid, engaging movies of the year thus far. Before I'm accused of that being damning praise in a rather desolate year, I would say the same had it been released in any of the past few years. I'm eager to get into the Blu-ray-only Picture-in-Picture featurettes and video commentary now that I've seen the movie a couple of times. The deleted scenes and other featurettes that can also be found on the DVD I'll get around to at some point or another.
Release of the Week - Catalog Movie New to Disc
Close-Up (The Criterion Collection)
It's been touted for years and years, and Criterion's handsome set has finally afforded me the ability to see it. This has been one of my Great Personal Discoveries of 2010.
Release of the Week - Catalog New to Blu
Red Desert (The Criterion Collection)
A haunting, fascinating first color work from Antonioni. Worth a first, second, and third look.
Movie New Releases
She's Out of My League
This one had a lot of admirable components here and there, but it never quite fired on all cylinders for me. More troubling for me is the inference that everyone who doesn't fit in a Ralph Lauren ad (like the very disarming and sharp Jay Baruchel) requires romantic pity to get matched up with someone attractive or sane. English Alice Eve plays American reasonably well, with accent slips only here and there. It was nice to see Kyle Bornheimer, the star of the now-defunct Worst Week, getting some more work. He plays the douchebag brother of Baruchel's character. Extras include some deleted scenes, an extended ending, a blooper reel (that's light on laughs), a director's commentary, and an in-character featurette. In it, Nate Torrance (of the also-cancelled Studio 60) plays his nice-guy best pal trying to confer dating tips alongside Bornheimer's douchebag dummy character. Contrary to the marketing quote, it has nothing in common with The Hangover, and it sets unfair and unrealistic expectations to say that it does.
The Good Guy (DVD only)
I'll give The Good Guy this: it's more inspired and realistic than the controlled flood of romantic comedies released each year. Alexis Bledel (Gilmore Girls, Sin City) plays "young woman trying to find herself and her future". Scott Porter (Friday Night Lights, Speed Racer) plays "tomcat Wall Street asshole boyfriend", and Bryan Greenberg (Prime) plays "ex-military nerd IT worker who becomes the titular 'good guy' eventually". The most notable part of the movie is that the "best friend" characters actually have distinguishable, albeit over-the-top, personalities. Anna Chlumsky plays one of said friends. Andrew McCarthy answers the question of "what is Andrew McCarthy up to these days?" by turning in an incongruously goofy performance as "the evil, misogynist boss".
There's a twist that pops up that inspires more of an "oh, fuck this" reaction than an "oh, I see what you did there". That said, I think I liked the movie more before I listened to the commentary, where the director makes a bizarre thematic tie from this movie to American Psycho. If you feel drawn to (for whatever reason) rent Valentine's Day or some other mass-market "chick flick, rent this one first. It isn't particularly good, but it's better than most of the "romantic comedies" that play on 3,000 screens.
Bluebeard (DVD only)
Catherine Breillat's newest. Either you think she's nuts or you think she's also brilliant.
Remember Me
SPOILER ALERT: Is it too soon for a 9/11 gimmick movie? Yes. It will always be "too soon". Look at Pearl Harbor and the event of the same name.
The Last Station
Fuel (DVD only)
3D New Releases
Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs (Blu-ray only)
For this 3-D Blu-ray to work, you need both a 3-D HDTV and a 3-D Blu-ray player. Oh, and on top of that, you need $100+ 3D glasses.
Concert/Music New Releases
Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band: London Calling: Live in Hyde Park
Stones in Exile
U2 - 360 at the Rose Bowl (Super Deluxe Edition)
Dire Straits Alchemy (20th Anniversary Edition)
This week turned out to be the one to throw concert docs out into the marketplace.
Direct to Video
Rock Slyde Private Eye
I like Patrick Warburton. I watched Flicka 2 mostly because he was in it. I hadn't even heard about this thing until I started checking releases to put together this installment. I'm curious, but it's way low on my "to watch/to find" list.
Catalog Movies New to Disc
Le Combat Dans L'ile (Fire and Ice)
Catalog Movies New to Blu
A Star is Born
A phenomenal transfer of a movie that I probably wouldn't have thought to revisit, had this release not come along. Review coming later.
Death Race 2000 (new DVD as well)
Shout!Factory's still newish Roger Corman Collection is keeping up its fantastic reputation. These releases have all been overflowing with not merely a high quantity of extras, but some especially well-researched and curated substance. I hope this overall deal means that they have some of the real gems, like Big Bad Mama (co-starring William Shatner and Angie Dickinson.
Tromeo & Juliet
Is this the eleven millionth version of this to hit disc, or am I imagining that? Haven't gotten my hands on the disc, so I have no idea how it looks.
Reissue/Repackaging
Best of Animation Block Party
TV New Releases
Entourage Season 6
Hung Season 1
Riverworld
Fireball (DVD only)
Fair warning: this is not the whacked-out (but interesting) Asian martial arts and basketball movie from last year.
Catalog TV New to Blu
Guyver The Complete Series
I remember watching ultra-expensive tapes of this as a kid that a neighbor friend had. He had something like three episodes of it that we watched about 100 times, if memory serves.
Afro Samurai The Complete Murder Sessions
I always wanted to dig into this show, but I never had the time. Onto the "Someday" list it goes.
Catalog TV
Avatar The Last Airbender: The Complete Book 1 (Collector's Edition)
I've heard nothing but poisonous things about the live action movie to the point that I assume it's worse than Dragonball, of all things. I haven't watched a single episode of this show, but I gather that it has joined the tradition of "horrendously wasted opportunity to make gazillions more dollars".