This Week in DVD & Blu-ray: A Serious Man, Couples Retreat, Bronson, and More

Posted on Tuesday, February 9th, 2010 by Adam Quigley

This Week in DVD & Blu-ray is a column that compiles all the latest info regarding new DVD and Blu-ray releases, sales, and exclusive deals from stores including Target, Best Buy and Fry’s.

A SERIOUS MAN
Some films rely on your willingness to invest a great deal of time and energy to analyze their themes and explore what they’re trying to say in order to appreciate them. Better films allow you the privilege of having no idea what the point is without detracting from the overall enjoyment of the experience. A Serious Man is the latter. Between the thematic mirroring of the otherwise unrelated opening Yiddish folktale, the lingering question of a greater power, and the endless perplexing mysteries that plague the character’s lives, it’s a movie with a lot going on under the surface, and one that interested parties will find themselves greatly rewarded by if they decide to dissect it further. Casual viewers, meanwhile, will find just as much to love, with the Coens yet again injecting in every scene their wonderful idiosyncratic touches (see: dialogue, visual style, character mannerisms, etc.), transforming what easily could’ve been a simplistic, ponderous story and turning it into one that’s at once compelling, puzzling and hilarious.
Available on Blu-ray? Yes.
Notable Extras: DVD & Blu-ray – 3 featurettes (”Becoming Serious”, “Creating 1967″, “Hebrew and Yiddish for Goys”).

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This Week in DVD & Blu-ray: Zombieland, The House of the Devil, Ong Bak 2, and More

Posted on Tuesday, February 2nd, 2010 by Adam Quigley

This Week in DVD & Blu-ray is a column that compiles all the latest info regarding new DVD and Blu-ray releases, sales, and exclusive deals from stores including Target, Best Buy and Fry’s.

ZOMBIELAND
The zombie film’s usual affixation to the horror genre has been broken. Even Shaun of the Dead acknowledged the unfortunate realities of a zombie outbreak, and in turn, its latter half yielded numerous intense and teary scenes. Zombieland is the first zombie film to not concern itself with such issues, exclusively embracing the fun side of the apocalypse. There’s an element of wish fulfillment to it, as the young, awkward protagonist finds himself—for the first time ever, and as a direct result of the aforementioned “atrocities”—in a position to lock down some hot poon. And you know, build a meaningful relationship and stuff. Moreover, the characters engage in frequent acts of gift store destruction, mansion plundering, and undead obliteration–all things that, putting aside the likelihood of your whole family being dead and all, would make living in a zombie-infested world pretty damn enjoyable. We may not get to experience the thrill of those experiences for ourselves, but coupled with the film’s energetic and stylish directional flair, it’s a joy to watch.
Available on Blu-ray? Yes.
Notable Extras: DVD – Audio commentary with actors Woody Harrelson & Jesse Eisenberg, director Ruben Fleischer, and writers Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick, featurettes (”In Search of Zombieland”, “Zombieland is Your Land”), deleted scenes, Visual Effects Progression Scenes, and a Woke Up Dead Episode (”Up and At ‘Em”). Blu-ray – Includes everything on the DVD, as well as a “Beyond the Graveyard” Behind the Scenes Picture-in-Picture Track, and a digital copy of the film.

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This Week in DVD & Blu-ray: Surrogates, Whip It, Saw VI, This Is It, and More

Posted on Tuesday, January 26th, 2010 by Adam Quigley

This Week in DVD & Blu-ray is a column that compiles all the latest info regarding new DVD and Blu-ray releases, sales, and exclusive deals from stores including Target, Best Buy and Fry’s.

SURROGATES
It’s bad, no question. But bad doesn’t necessarily mean unwatchable. At a scant 88 minutes, Surrogates doesn’t linger on a single idea long enough to be boring. Swap out “boring” with “interesting”, and the same point stands. There was undeniably potential here for a vastly better film, one which more creatively explores this world and more thoughtfully examines the many questions that Surrogates only touches on before rushing to hit the next derivative action movie beat. If you’re willing to accept that the movie isn’t going to do that, it should suffice as cheesily enjoyable formula trash. Hopefully you liked I, Robot, because it’s pretty much the same movie.
Available on Blu-ray? Yes.
Notable Extras: DVD – A commentary with director Jonathan Mostow. Blu-ray – Includes everything on the DVD, as well as 2 featurettes (”A More Perfect You: The Science of Surrogates”, “Breaking the Frame: A Graphic Novel Comes to Life”), and 4 deleted scenes.

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This Week in DVD & Blu-ray: Gamer, The Invention of Lying, Pandorum, Weeds (Season 5), and More…

Posted on Tuesday, January 19th, 2010 by Adam Quigley

This Week in DVD & Blu-ray is a column that compiles all the latest info regarding new DVD and Blu-ray releases, sales, and exclusive deals from stores including Target, Best Buy and Fry’s.

GAMER
The ADD-infused style that suited writers/directors Neveldine/Taylor so well on the Crank films doesn’t quite work to their benefit in Gamer, a futuristic sci-fi action flick which exposes their shortcomings as filmmakers. The film is a mess, blundering through one set piece to the next, with little sense of what the film as a whole is trying to achieve. There’s something to be said for energy and enthusiasm though, of which they clearly have plenty. The movie remains watchable even when you’re not exactly sure what it is that you’re watching. The mindlessness of the action is balanced against a scathing, cynical depiction of what the world has become, and that angle provides the film with just enough to help separate it from the hordes of other futuristic sci-fi actioners that it so clearly evokes. Also, it has Rocky Balboa’s son playing a character named Rick Rape, and a musical number featuring Michael C. Hall. So, yeah… it has that going for it.
Available on Blu-ray? Yes.
Notable Extras: DVD – An audio commentary with writers/directors Neveldine/Taylor and actors Amber Valletta, Alison Lohman, and Terry Crews, an Inside the Game multi-part making-of documentary, a First Person Shooter: The Evolution of Red featurette, and a never-before-seen theatrical trailer cut by the filmmakers. Blu-ray – Includes everything on the DVD, as well as an I-Con Mode interactive feature, Gamer Cheat Codes (interactive specialized scene-specific audio and video commentary accessible throughout the film), and a digital copy of the film.

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This Week in DVD & Blu-ray: The Hurt Locker, In the Loop, Moon, The Brothers Bloom, Halloween II, and More

Posted on Tuesday, January 12th, 2010 by Adam Quigley

This Week in DVD & Blu-ray is a column that compiles all the latest info regarding new DVD and Blu-ray releases, sales, and exclusive deals from stores including Target, Best Buy and Fry’s.

THE HURT LOCKER
There’s a compelling character moment toward the end of The Hurt Locker that takes place in a supermarket, which is startlingly effective in its contrast to prior events. Much of that, I suppose, is due to it being one of the few scenes in the film where somebody’s limbs aren’t as risk of being blown off their torso. This film isn’t attempting to offer any political insights into the Iraq War, or even realistically examine what it is that soldiers stationed out in Iraq go through every day (if that’s what you’re after, I recommend checking out The Wire-creator David Simon’s most recent televised opus, Generation Kill). This film, like District 9, is an action film. It’s less an intricately structured narrative than it is a series of loosely-fitted action set pieces, directed with such precise pacing and weight that the intensity of them literally left me with a migraine upon my initial viewing. Given the predictability of movies nowadays, I found this forgoing of traditional plotting to be a refreshing change of pace. People don’t see war-based action movies to be lectured; they see them because the subject matter lends itself to terrifyingly believable life-or-death scenarios. The Hurt Locker knows that this is the case, and embraces it. It is easily one of the most thrilling movie-going experiences I’ve ever had, and a definite highlight of ‘09.
Available on Blu-ray? Yes.
Notable Extras: DVD & Blu-ray – An audio commentary by director Kathryn Bigelow and writer Mark Boal, and a “Hurt Locker: Behind the Scenes” featurette.

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This Week in DVD & Blu-ray: Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, The Final Destination, and More

Posted on Tuesday, January 5th, 2010 by Adam Quigley

This Week in DVD & Blu-ray is a column that compiles all the latest info regarding new DVD and Blu-ray releases, sales, and exclusive deals from stores including Target, Best Buy and Fry’s.

CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF MEATBALLS
(DVD available as single-disc and 2-Disc Super-Sized Edition)
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs is one of the best movies of 2009. And in response to all the double-takes that I suspect I’m getting right now, I say: No, seriously. Let’s forgo the whole “fun for the whole family” spiel for a moment, because that could just as easily refer to any kid’s film that succeeds in not making the parents want to gouge their eyes out. This movie though, is something else. This movie is something special. While Pixar has the market cornered on heartfelt, story-driven entertainment, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs dominates with its gags, delivering 90 minutes of non-stop, brilliantly funny lunacy. It’s a film destined to become a favorite amongst geeks, with most of its humor seemingly being geared specifically toward that crowd (which makes sense, given that the film is written & directed by two of the creators of Clone High, a hilarious but short-lived animated TV series with similarly geeky sensibilities). Some viewers may even be taken aback by just how outright weird it can often be, but it’s those very additions that make the film so oddly wonderful. From the minute the title blasts onto the screen in all its glitzy, retro glory, the movie is like one big sugar high. Before you even have a chance to be worn down by its whimsical, hyperactive nature, it expands into a cunning yet playful parody of the disaster movie genre in all of its forms, delivering a number of genuinely thrilling action sequences in the process. You’re not likely to confuse the film as anything other than insubstantial fluff entertainment, but who cares? It’s easily some of the most fun I’ve had watching a movie in a long while, and is deserving of all the praise it can get.
Available on Blu-ray? Yes.
Notable Extras: Single-disc DVD – Director’s commentary. 2-disc DVD – Includes everything on the single-disc DVD, as well as extended scenes, early development scenes, a making of featurette, another featurette on the voice talent, a “Raining Sunshine” music video with an additional behind the scenes feature and sing-along function, and Flint’s Food Fight Game. Blu-ray – Includes everything on both DVDs, as well as a digital copy of the film.

*Does not include 2-Disc Edition, which costs $20.77 at Fry’s, and $22.99 at each of the other listed stores (including Amazon).

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This Week in DVD & Blu-ray: Paranormal Activity, 9, Jennifer’s Body, A Perfect Getaway, and More

Posted on Tuesday, December 29th, 2009 by Adam Quigley

This Week in DVD & Blu-ray is a column that compiles all the latest info regarding new DVD and Blu-ray releases, sales, and exclusive deals from stores including Target, Best Buy and Fry’s.

PARANORMAL ACTIVITY
Costing only $15,000 to make, Paranormal Activity makes up for what it lacks in budget with pure ingenuity. The most obvious comparison is naturally The Blair Witch Project, with both films being presented as if they were genuine footage that’s been discovered after-the-fact. Where Paranormal Activity shines though, is its setting: a house. Not a forest, not an isolated mansion—a normal, everyday house. When it comes to fearing a supernatural presence, there’s no place people feel more vulnerable than their own home. Paranormal Activity takes advantage of this, and uses subtle filmmaking tricks to slowly ratchet up the tension as night after night goes by. I can fully understand why somebody would find the experience terrifying. I, however, did not. Though I certainly appreciate the film, and admire it for the incredible success that it’s found, Paranormal Activity might just be one of the least scary horror films I have ever seen, and that’s an issue that no amount of admiration or appreciation can cure. I get the distinct impression that those who found the movie frightening are people who went into it with a built-in apprehension of ghosts, which would certainly explain why it did nothing for me. I consider myself a total pansy when it comes to most forms of horror–I nearly pissed myself in terror when I saw The Grudge in theaters—but any movie that relies on my real life fear of the supernatural isn’t likely to garner much of a response. If you don’t share that problem, then you should only see Paranormal Activity if you’re prepared to stay awake every night for the next two weeks.
Blu-ray? Yes.
Notable Extras: DVD – An alternate ending. Blu-ray – Includes everything on the DVD, as well as a digital copy.

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This Week in DVD & Blu-ray: District 9, (500) Days of Summer, Extract, and More

Posted on Tuesday, December 22nd, 2009 by Adam Quigley

This Week in DVD & Blu-ray is a column that compiles all the latest info regarding new DVD and Blu-ray releases, sales, and exclusive deals from stores including Target, Best Buy and Fry’s.

DISTRICT 9
(DVD available as single-disc and 2-Disc Edition)
Socially conscious though it may be, District 9 is not the piercing, thought-provoking apartheid allegory and complex examination of race relations that so many people seem to want it to be. But that’s okay; it isn’t trying to be. District 9 is a straight-up action film, and it makes that fact very clear after about the twentieth soldier that is gruesomely exploded by the aliens’ seemingly lightning-infused weaponry. Its creative implementation of the mockumentary format is used foremost as a means of instilling a sense of reality to the proceedings, using socially relevant issues to set the stage for a much simpler, more cinematically spectacular transformation/aliens-vs-humans tale—not unlike last year’s Oscar-winning sleeper Slumdog Millionaire, with the end result in that case being a classic tale of love and destiny. Though the basic plot elements are familiar, borrowing from movies like The Fly and Alien Nation, it’s the way in which Neill Blomkamp tells this story that makes it so compelling. By playing with the archetypal protagonist introduction, and in doing so ditching the need for big name actors, Blomkamp provides the film with a sense of disorienting glee as the story unfolds and reveals its true intentions. At a certain point, he outright abandons the mockumentary set-up, and from that moment onward the movie propels itself through one dizzying, splatter-filled action sequence to the next. For some, this will be the point that the movie loses them. For me, it didn’t matter, because the movie already had me. My eyes were hooked to the screen, unable to be pried away for even a second. It’s by far one of the most exhilarating moviegoing experiences I’ve had this year, and a guaranteed contender for my Top 5 of ‘09.
Blu-ray? Yes.
Notable Extras: Single-disc DVD – A director’s commentary, a 3-part documentary (”The Alien Agenda: A Filmmaker’s Log”), and a Koobus Big Gun feature. 2-disc DVD & Blu-ray – Includes everything on the single-disc DVD, as well as additional featurettes (”Metamorphosis: The Transformation of Wikus”, “Innovation: Acting and Improvisation”, “Conception and Design: Creating the World of District 9″, “Alien Generation: Visual Effects”).

*Does not include 2-Disc Edition, which costs $20.77 at Fry’s, and $22.99 at each of the other listed stores (including Amazon).

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This Week in DVD & Blu-ray: Inglourious Basterds, The Hangover, and More

Posted on Tuesday, December 15th, 2009 by Adam Quigley

This Week in DVD & Blu-ray is a column that compiles all the latest info regarding new DVD and Blu-ray releases, sales, and exclusive deals from stores including Target, Best Buy and Fry’s.

INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS
(Available as single-disc DVD, 2-Disc Special Edition DVD, and 2-Disc Special Edition Blu-ray)
“You know somethin’? I think this might just be my masterpiece.” That’s a mighty audacious claim that Tarantino not-so-subtly injects in Inglourious Basterds, his self-proclaimed World War II spaghetti western, but he earns the hell out of it. The film plays like a masterfully calibrated collection of short films, with each lengthy, deliberately paced scene—usually featuring nothing more than a number of characters sitting around a table talking—building up with excruciating intensity until finally reaching a breaking point, resulting in a delirious climax that repeatedly left me an exhausted mess. Together, these sequences add up to an endlessly thrilling viewing experience, with the overall narrative providing one of the more fascinating tales from the past decade. Everything there is to love about Tarantino is on full display here, from his ruthlessly clever dialogue to his brilliantly realized characters to his eclectic soundtrack selection and so on. Even though the movie is undeniably an exploitation film, there’s also a brain behind the madness. Instead of merely reveling in the slaughtering of Nazis (although there’s plenty of that too), Tarantino presents an interesting moral balance between all of the characters, including the comedically shameless Basterds and several almost (almost) sympathetic Nazi victims. Acting as somewhat of an examination of good and evil—or more specifically, what it means to be an evil person—Inglourious Basterds constantly plays on audience expectations for what its characters are capable of, using Hans Landa as its reference point for the true face of evil. This aspect is thankfully not pronounced aggressively enough to detract from the film for those that hope to appreciate it on a purely superficial level, but like the film’s obscure, carefully placed movie references, it’s there to be observed for those interested in looking. Two more things: Christoph Waltz’s performance is astounding, and the film’s ending is a stroke of pure, unbridled genius. Rock on, Tarantino. You made the best damn movie of the year.
Blu-ray? Yes.
Notable Extras: Single-disc DVD – Extended and alternate scenes, and the Nation’s Pride film. 2-disc DVD & Blu-ray – Includes everything on the single-disc DVD, as well as a Roundtable Discussion with Quentin Tarantino, Brad Pitt and film historian/critic Elvis Mitchell, featurettes (”Making of Nation’s Pride”, “The Original Inglorious Bastards”, “Rod Taylor on Victoria Bitters - the Australian Beer”, “Quentin Tarantino’s Camera Angel”), a conversation with actor Rod Taylor, a gag reel, a Film Poster Gallery Tour with Elvis Mitch, and a digital copy.

*Does not include 2-Disc Edition, which costs $21.49 at Amazon, $22.99 at Best Buy, and $24.99 at Target (see below).

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This Week in DVD & Blu-ray: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Public Enemies, Lost (Season 5), and More

Posted on Tuesday, December 8th, 2009 by Adam Quigley

This Week in DVD & Blu-ray is a column that compiles all the latest info regarding new DVD and Blu-ray releases, sales, and exclusive deals from stores including Target, Best Buy and Fry’s.

HARRY POTTER AND THE HALF-BLOOD PRINCE
(DVD available as single-disc and 2-Disc Digital Copy Special Edition)
The Harry Potter franchise has marked a rare occasion in cinema, or perhaps even a first. To my knowledge, there is no other long-running, self-contained film series in history where the later entries have improved considerably on their predecessors. As the young Harry Potter has matured, so too have the films depicting his wizarding adventures, turning what initially began as a family friendly adaptation of, essentially, fluff wish-fulfillment silliness, into an artistically rendered journey of kids attempting to balance their growth into adults against the never-ending onslaught of horrors that plague their lives. Cuaron’s Prisoner of Azkaban may remain the champion when it comes to telling the best Potter story that stands on its own, but considering that The Half-Blood Prince is clearly an intermediate chapter that was designed to align the necessary pieces for the final chapter, director David Yates should be applauded for the masterful way he’s managed to sidestep that issue by maintaining a strong focus on progressing the emotional core of the story instead of becoming bogged down in the notably less compelling central plot conflict, as well as gratuitous CGI-heavy action set pieces and wand battles. It’s because of this that, against all odds, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince turned out to be my favorite entry in the series yet, delivering a strangely perfect blend of character-based melodrama, genuinely hilarious moments of comedy, and a palpable sense of dread in every frame. If I wasn’t quite convinced that Yates was capable of tying up the films in a satisfying way after Order of the Phoenix, this most recent effort has convinced me that there’s no other man more qualified for the job.
Blu-ray? Yes.
Notable Extras: 2-disc DVD – Featurettes on the cast and crew and the life of author J.K. Rowling, additional scenes, a sneak peek at the Universal Orlando Resort’s The Wizarding World of Harry Potter theme park, and a digital copy of the film. Blu-ray – Includes everything on the DVD, as well as a Maximum Movie Mode with the stars, director and producers.

*Does not include 2-Disc Edition, which costs $19.99 at Fry’s and Amazon, $22.99 at Best Buy, and $26.99 at Target (see below).

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