This Week In DVD & Blu-Ray: Salt, Easy A, Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps, Devil, And More
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.
SALT
Salt barrels forward at a relentless pace, and stops only for the most perfunctory of emotional beats. You know they're emotional beats because somber music plays in the background while characters gaze longingly at each other. 30 seconds of that, and it's back to more running, car hopping and violently-inflicted bodily injury. None of the action is especially impressive or inspired, but what it lacks in polish it makes up for in sheer volume. The mystery of Evelyn Salt is meant to keep the audience on their toes as the action unfolds, but it's all so ludicrous and predictable; if there is a compelling mystery at the core of Salt, it's learning just how much casual ass-kickery it can fit into a 100 minute package.
Available on Blu-ray? Yes.Notable Extras: DVD – A filmmakers' commentary, an unrated filmmakers' commentary, an unrated extended filmmakers' commentary, 2 featurettes ("The Ultimate Female Action Hero", "Spy Disguise: The Looks of Evelyn Salt"), and "The Treatment" Radio Interview with Phillip Noyce. Blu-ray – Includes everything on the DVD, as well as a Spy Cam: Picture-in-Picture function, and additional featurettes ("The Real Agents", "The Modern Master of the Political Thriller: Phillip Noyce", "False Identity: Creating A New Reality").
EXCLUSIVE DEAL:What? Steelbook packaging on Blu-ray.Where? Best Buy.EXCLUSIVE DEAL:What? Free $5 Target Giftcard when you buy both Salt and Easy A on DVD or Blu-ray.Where? Target.
EASY A
Easy A is funny and smart and perceptive and charming—all things not generally associated with teen comedies, save for the work of John Hughes. That's probably why the film is so eager to pay tribute to the beloved '80s movie icon, name-checking him as a benchmark for the genre, and slyly acknowledging, subverting and embracing the formulas that have since become so pronounced in it. It's yet another film that demonstrates the growing trend of self-awareness in cinema, and yet another example of why, for the time being, that's not such a bad thing. It does have its downside, however; there are times when the film's snarky self-awareness feels a little too calculated, turning what should be spontaneous bouts of dialogue into annoying exchanges of smarmy, self-satisfied quips. But those are occasional missteps in an otherwise surprisingly adept high school comedy, lead by Emma Stone in a star-turning role. When the movie works, it really works.
Available on Blu-ray? Yes.Notable Extras: DVD – Commentary with director Will Gluck and Emma Stone, Emma Stone Audition Footage, and a gag reel. Blu-ray – Includes everything on the DVD, as well as 3 featurettes ("The Making of Easy A", "The School of Pop Culture: Movies of the Eighties", "Vocabulary of Hilarity"), and a trivia track.
EXCLUSIVE DEAL:What? Free $5 Target Giftcard when you buy both Salt and Easy A on DVD or Blu-ray.Where? Target.
DEVIL
Despite the laughs and ridicule bestowed upon theatrical screenings of trailers for Devil whenever M. Night Shyamalan's name popped up midway through it, the film itself—which is neither written nor directed by M. Night—is a modestly engaging horror/thriller that's not nearly as bad as many might have expected. I wouldn't call it a good film by any means, as much of my enjoyment watching it didn't extend beyond the occasional "Oh shit!" moment, but it isn't without redeeming qualities. Most impressive is the way the film manages to use its restrictive PG-13 rating to its benefit, playing with sound and darkness to conjure up violent, fantastical imagery that real gore would have a hard time simulating. Less satisfying, meanwhile, are the film's thin characterizations and reliance on 'fate' and 'religion' to explain away every narrative coincidence. Honestly, how many times can "the devil did it" be used as an excuse before it's considered lazy screenwriting?
Available on Blu-ray? Yes.Notable Extras: DVD – 3 featurettes ("The Story", "The Devil's Meeting", "The Night Chronicles"). Blu-ray – Includes everything on the DVD, as well as a digital copy of the film.
WALL STREET: MONEY NEVER SLEEPS
Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps is a movie with big ideas on its mind, but it only knows how to communicate them in crayon. It's a seriously stupid film that seems to have gotten a half-hearted pass from critics simply for being timely. I hesitate to even call it a sequel to Wall Street, since it's relevant to that film in theme only; Gordon Gekko barely factors into the narrative, and on the rare occasion that he does, it only further exposes how dramatically inert the whole thing is. The rest of the runtime is spent on characters blathering buzzwords and financial jargon in an attempt to push an agenda so thoughtlessly constructed that it necessitates what's essentially a big budget PowerPoint presentation in order to drive it home. Oh and hey look at that, here's Susan Sarandon in a five minute role as Shia LaBeouf's real estate agent mom. See, now we're dealing with the housing market! God we're topical!
Available on Blu-ray? Yes.Notable Extras: DVD – A commentary by director Oliver Stone, and A Conversation with Oliver Stone and the Cast of Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps. Blu-ray – Includes everything on the DVD, as well as a 5-part look at the real Wall Street ("Unfinished Business: Oliver Stone & Cast Revisit Wall Street", "Gordon Gekko is Back: Character Study", "Lifestyles of the Wall Street Rich and Infamous", "A Tour of the streets of Wall Street", "Trends, Schemes, and Economic Collapse – How did it Happen?"), deleted and extended scenes, an In Character With feature, and a digital copy of the film.
EXCLUSIVE DEAL:What? Blu-ray available as Blu-ray + DVD + Digital Copy Combo Pack.Where? Best Buy.
STEP UP 3
What was Step Up 3D if not an excuse to show off crazy dance moves in 3D rain? How can one truly be expected to experience the full dimensionality of popping and locking now that the film has been stripped of its primary asset? The title change alone, from Step Up 3D to Step Up 3, has reduced the film to nothing more than a sad routine. Remember the second film? It had goals. It had dreams. What were they stepping up to? THE STREETS, that's what. But here? Now? I don't even know anymore. I once saw Step Up 3D as an opportunity to not just step up, but to step out—not just out of the screen, but into our hearts and into our lives. But as Step Up 3, the film is a mere echo of the original; without 3D, the film is lost. The film is lost, and so am I. God help us all.
Available on Blu-ray? Yes.Notable Extras: DVD – A music montage featuring the dancers with alternate angles and extra footage, 8 music videos ("Club Can't Handle Me" – Flo Rida Featuring David Guetta, "My Own Step (Theme from Step Up 3)" Roscoe Dash and T-Pain Featuring Fabo, "Already Taken" – Trey Songz, "This Girl" – Laza Morgan, "This Instant" – Sophia Fresh Featuring T-Pain, "No Te Quiero (Remix)" – Sophia Del Carmen Featuring Pitbull, "Irresistible" – Wisin y Yandel, "Spirit of the Radio" – Jrandall), and a feature on the making of the music videos. Blu-ray – Includes everything on the DVD, as well as a Born From A Boom Box: A Luke Katcher Film documentary, and 8 deleted scenes.
Other noteworthy DVD (and Blu-ray) releases this week...
Futurama (Vol. 5) [DVD / Blu-ray] – Family Guy: It's A Trap! [DVD / Blu-ray] – Caprica (Season 1.5)
NOTES: Some deals may vary by store. Some deals may be in-store only. All deals are for DVDs unless otherwise noted.
$12 – Blu-ray sale: Inglourious Basterds, The Last of the Mohicans, Couples Retreat, Green Zone, and more...$8.99 – Northern Exposure (Season 3)$12.99 – Arrested Development (Season 1 – 3), Scrubs (Season 7), That 70s Show (Season 2)$16.99 – Sons of Anarchy (Season 2), Burn Notice (Season 1 – 3), The Simpsons (Season 13), Smallville (Season 9)$24.99 – Chuck (Season 3), The Boondocks (Season 3), Supernatural (Season 5), Desperate Housewives (Season 6)
$9.99 – Blu-ray sale: The Lost Boys, Dark City, The Taking of Pelham 123$13.49 – Eastbound & Down (Season 1)$16.99 – Curb Your Enthusiasm (Season 7)$16.99 – Blu-ray sale: Entourage (Season 6)$19.99 – Flight of the Conchords (The Complete Collection)$22.49 – Rome (Season 2), Deadwood (Season 3)
$15.99 – 24 (Season 1 – 7)$12.99 – Blu-ray sale: Casino Royale, The Boondock Saints II$8.99 – Apocalypto, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, Hercules, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, James and the Giant Peach, Lilo & Stitch, Who Framed Roger Rabbit?