After last week’s barrage of films I was glad for the sake of my fingers that there was less to type about this week. And for once I may get through a week only promising to buy one film. My wife and bank account will be pleased. I am however not at all pleased by a frightening trend that is starting to emerge in the land of DVDs this week.
Pick of the Week
My Name Is Bruce
I will buy anything starring Bruce Campbell and this is no exception. The premise of an actor being pulled into a situation that his alternate ego would be appropriate for has been done (Galaxy Quest) but I would love to see Bruce Campbell’s take, especially since he produced and directed the film. As for features the set comes with commentary, multiple short featurettes, a gag reel, and Easter Eggs. Remember when every DVD had hidden Easter eggs? I actually stopped looking for them about a year ago since they seemed to stop making them.
Nights in Rodanthe
This is the only romantic release the week of Valentine’s Day, which should really help its sales. Unfortunately, the excellence of Diane Lane cannot overcome the horror of Richard Gere for me. Also, please note that you will not get any features unless you buy the film on Blu-Ray, which is a trend that cannot continue. I am now openly rooting for the DVD to fail miserably.
Miracle at St Anna
Spike Lee rolls out his answer to Flags of Our Fathers with a black perspective on the Second World War. I haven’t heard much positive about the film, but you always have to check out Spike’s movies because they are very polarizing. I’ll was going to make this a rental until I saw this was another release where the Blu-Ray gets all the features. Now I am scared.
W.
Here comes Oliver Stone to dance on George W. Bush’s presidential grave. I will rent this film if only to see the performances while all the players are fresh in my mind. Although, this seems to be a watered down Oliver Stone. I wonder what the film would look like if he felt safe to bear his claws. Maybe he will tell me on his commentary. If not, I think the featurette “Dangerous Dynasty: The Bush Presidency” as recounted by political experts and historians will include some added bite.
Blindness
The premise didn’t grab me, let’s see if it grabs you. A wild epidemic of blindness sweeps a major city and all of the blind people are quarantined together with Julianne Moore who pretends to be blind to stay with her husband. Then a blind civil war erupts over the necessities of food and water. Cap all of that off with a DVD with no features.
Soul Men
As a memoriam to the late Bernie Mac (who was excellent in everything, especially Mr. 3000) and Isaac Hayes I promise to watch this film. It also helps to have Samuel L. Jackson as Bernie Mac’s partner as we follow the story of a famous soul group reuniting 20 years later to honor the death of one of their bandmates.
The Guitar
Saffron Burrows stars in this tale of a woman who was given two months to live and goes on a wildly expensive journey to finish out her life. If this sounds familiar (Last Holiday, The Bucket List, Life as a House) it should. However, this was a Sundance darling and may be greater than the cliché story might indicate.
TV and Reissues
Tales from the Darkside: The First Season
This series was very “hit and miss”, but I loved the freedom that the short isolated horror stories on this program could explore. I look forward to cherry picking through the series with Netflix to watch the better episodes.
Street Fighter Extreme Edition
I almost fell out of my seat when I saw they were releasing a special edition of Street Fighter. I know a new Street Fighter game is coming out which is supposed to be excellent, but I never thought they would dust off this clunker and dress it up. Be sure to check out the Blu-Ray edition to get Jean Claude Van Damme and Kylie Minogue’s acting in 1080p.
The Lodger
This is included in one of the Hitchcock collections I reviewed a few months ago, but now you can buy Hitchcock’s self-claimed first movie individually. It seems that many of the collections they released had problems playing certain titles and they are making many of the individual titles available to send to people who complain. And now we benefit from their poor DVD printing with more options.
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