I’m a day late, but I’m sure you all don’t mind. These DVD and Blu-rays are still sitting on the shelves. Check out what I recommend below.
Grab Em’ Right Away:
Un Prophete/A Prophet
Directed by: Jacques Audiard
Written by: Thomas Bidegain & Jacques Audiard
Starring: Tahar Rahim & Niels Arestrup
Why should you buy this film? It’s the best French film I’ve seen from last year. It somehow didn’t win the Best Foreign Film award last year; and as much as I’d like to say it deserved it more than the film that did win the award I can’t – since I haven’t actually seen the film that did win it, The Secret in Their Eyes. This film is the mob film of this generation. When we talk about mobster movies everyone likes to jump immediately to The Godfather but that movie has always been set in its time and A Prophet is the film of this time. I did find myself having trouble following the story at times due to the numerous languages spoken in the film. The characters in this film will seamlessly change languages with a blink of an eye. Since some characters in the scene will not be fluent in that language you’ll realise the disorientation on their faces long before you yourself realise that there’s been a shift in dialect, since so much time is spent reading the subtitles. This is just one of the many reasons this film rewards you on multiple viewings. It’s the film that every self proclaimed film geek must own and everyone else will therein be educated on over the next few decades by the film geeks. Check out me and my friend talk about the movie here.
Kick-Ass
Directed by: Matthew Vaughn
Written by: Jane Goldman & Matthew Vaughn
Starring: Aaron Johnson, Chloe Moretz, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Nicolas Cage & Mark Strong
Why should you buy this movie now? Because this is for every time you watched Christopher Nolan’s Batman films and wanted it to be real. This movie will ground that reality and take it so over-the -top at the same time, that you won’t know what a comic book movie really is anymore. When a regular everyday comic book geek decides to buy himself a couple of batons and a wetsuit and give himself a name to go fight crime he learns that fighting crime really hurts. However, along the way he inspires a handful of honest-to-god badasses to fight crime and he learns the true meaning of what all those comic books were trying to teach him. The film revels in the blood and violence that it asks of itself and is never afraid to show you what we already knew was coming. Check out my full review here.
Bull Durham Blu-ray
Directed by: Ron Shelton
Written by: Ron Shelton
Starring: Tim Robbins, Kevin Costner, Susan Sarandon & Robert Wuhl
Why should you buy this movie? Because there’s never been a better romantic comedy baseball film ever made. This is the film that made me love baseball movies and more. I’ve never been a huge fan of the sport itself, but somehow whenever it’s put on screen it lends itself to being second best to the story and the fun of playing the game itself. I don’t care about the score or whether the main character wins or loses the game; but somehow due to the way the game is structured – the stop and go nature of it all – I get to spend so much time with these eleven men on the field that I end up wanting to be their best friend. The film is filled with characters to love and romance and comedy to keep you laughing every minute. Buy it and buy it now.
Avoid Like the Plague:
Heroes: Season Four
Creator: Tim Cring
Starring: Jack Coleman, Hayden Panettiere, Milo Ventimiglia, Masi Oka, Sendhil Ramamurthy & Adrian Pasdar
Why should you avoid this at all costs? I was once a massive fan of the show but with its last two seasons it’s run the good science fiction/comic book feeling into the ground. The show has actually been officially canceled and will not be returning to TV which means I won’t have to flicking around bored on a Monday night and see this rubbish decimating what is generally a great evening of home entertainment. The show basically killed itself off when it decided to do things like: 1. Refuse to let characters die by constantly reviving them (i.e. Nathan Petrelli); 2. Give us some of the most annoying villains you can find (i.e. Samuel Sullivan); 3. Introduce some of the lamest powers you could think of (i.e. Emma Coolidge and her seeing sounds); 4. Introducing too many new characters (i.e. everyone since Season One); and 5. Making their real villain laughable stupid all the time (i.e. Sylar and his constant flip-flopping to eventually being bad). I know I’m flogging a dead horse at this point but it had to be said.
Jordan’s Blu-ray Deal of the Week
The Crazies (2010) [$12.99]
The Rest
Diary of a Wimpy Kid
The Ghost Writer
After.Life
Blu-ray
Escape from New York
The Breakfast Club (25th Anniversary Edition)
James and the Giant Peach
Road to Perdition
Blood Simple
Piranha
Charlie’s Angles
Fargo
What are you picking up or renting this week?