Archive for the ‘DVD Triage’ Category

  • 15 May

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    DVD Triage: 15 May, 2012

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    Last week I was complaining because there were hardly any releases worth glancing at; this week I opted to put in a second row of highlighted covers because there are a LOT of releases, including a bunch of last year’s festival circuit films that I didn’t want to get lost in the shuffle. Still a slow week on the Instant Watch front, for both new additions and expirations, but there are a few gems in there you won’t want to miss.

    New Release Pick of the Week

    Chronicle
    A nice surprise in the midst of February doldrums to find this small but satisfying take on what would happen if a group of high-schoolers got the power of telekinesis. Both the “ordinary people get superpowers” and found footage genres are getting stale, but Chronicle uses both to good advantage, chiefly by being spot on in how teenagers would react to their new-found powers.
    2012 USA. Director: Josh Trank. Starring: Dane DeHaan, Alex Russell, Michael B. Jordan.

    Other New Releases

    Afghan Luke (2011 USA, dir Mike Clattenburg, stars Nick Stahl)
    Agent Vinod (2012 India, dir Sriram Raghavan, stars Kareena Kapoor)
    Chained: Code 207 (2012 USA, dir Tino Struckmann, stars John Greer)
    The Devil Inside (2012 USA, dir William Brent Bell, stars Fernanda Andrade)
    Dragonslayer (2011 USA, dir Tristan Patterson, stars Josh ‘Skreech’ Sandoval)
    eCupid (2011 USA, dir J.C. Calciano, stars Andy Anderson)
    Flashpoint: Season 4 (2011 USA, stars Amy Jo Johnson, Hugh Dillon)
    Golf in the Kingdom (2010 USA, dir Susan Streitfeld, stars David O’Hara)
    Hell on Wheels: Season 1 (2011 USA, stars Anson Mount, Colm Meaney)
    Mortuary (2005 USA, dir Tobe Hooper, stars Dan Byrd)
    My Perestroika (1010 USA/UK/Russia, dir Robin Hessman)
    My Piece of the Pie (2011 France, dir Cédric Klapisch, stars Karin Viard)
    The Tenants (2009 Brazil, dir Sergio Bianchi, stars Fernando Alves Pinto)
    The Universe: Season 6 (2007 USA)
    Victorious: Season 2 (2011 USA, stars Victoria Justice)
    We Were Here (2011 USA, dir David Weissman, Bill Weber)
    Windfall (2011 USA, dir Laura Israel)
    The Woman Knight of Mirror Lake (2011 Hong Kong, dir Herman Yau, stars Rose Chan)

    » Read the rest of the entry..

  • 08 May

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    DVD Triage: 8 May 2012

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    This is a pretty dismal week for new releases, I gotta say. So much so that I eschewed picking one to feature. I might be convinced to watch Underworld: Awakening because I like vampires and tight leather, but I can’t in good faith recommend it, especially sight unseen. Better news on the Instant Watch front – the highly acclaimed Tyrannosaur hit streaming this week, and I’m certainly hoping to find time to see it before too long.

    New Releases

    Amador (2010 Spain, dir Fernando Leon De Aranoa, stars Magaly Solier)
    Beautiful Wave (2011 USA, dir David Mueller, stars Aimee Teegarden)
    The Big C: Season 2 (2011 USA, stars Laura Linney)
    Bobcat Goldthwait: You Don’t Look the Same Either (2011 USA, stars Bobcat Goldthwait)
    Dark Blue: Season 2 (2010 USA, creator Jerry Bruckheimer, stars Dylan McDermott)
    The Front Line (2011 South Korea, dir Hun Jang, stars Shin Ha-Kyun)
    The Genesis Code (2010 USA, dir Patrick Read Johnson, stars Kelsey Sanders)
    Kawa (2012 New Zealand, dir Katie Wolfe, stars Calvin Tuteao)
    Love’s Everlasting Courage (2011 USA, dir Bradford May, stars Wes Brown)
    The Looney Tunes Show (2011 USA, stars Jeff Bergman)
    Madison County (2011 USA, dir Eric England, stars Katie Stegeman)
    Mother’s Day (2010 USA, dir Darren Lynn Bousman, stars Rebecca De Mornay)
    Playback (2012 USA, dir Michael A. Nickles, stars Christian Slater)
    Reykjavik to Rotterdam (2008 Iceland, dir Oskar Jonasson, stars Baltasar Kormakur)
    Shock Labyrinth 3D (2009 Japan, dir Takashi Shimizu, stars Ai Maeda)
    The Shrine (2010 USA, dir Jon Knautz, stars Aaron Ashmore)
    This is What Love in Action Looks Like (2012 USA, dir Morgan Jon Fox, stars Zach Stark)

    » Read the rest of the entry..

  • 02 May

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    DVD Triage: May 1, 2012

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    New Release Pick of the Week

    Haywire
    So far, Haywire is still sitting at the top of my Best of 2012 list; granted, I’ve only seen five or six 2012 films so far, but still. Steven Soderbergh’s old-school take on the action genre doesn’t waste any time getting to the point, and lets Gina Carano loose to do her thing, and her thing is pretty awesome.
    2012 USA. Director: Steven Soderbergh. Starring: Gina Carano, Ewan McGregor, Channing Tatum, Michael Fassbender, Bill Paxton, Antonio Banderas.

    Other New Releases

    Suits Season 1 (2011 USA, creator Aaron Korsh, stars Gabriel Macht)
    W.E. (2011 UK, dir Madonna, stars Abbie Cornish, James D’Arcy)

    » Read the rest of the entry..

  • 26 Apr

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    DVD Triage: April 24, 2012

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    New Release Pick of the Week

    The Innkeepers
    Easily one of my favorite films of last year (it even made my top ten list), Ti West’s take on the haunted house is equal parts well-played comedy and atmospheric horror, and both parts work perfectly. I loved every second of this film, and I’m looking forward to revisiting the Yankee Pedlar soon.
    2011 USA. Director: Ti West. Starring: Sara Paxton, Pat Healy, Kelly McGillis.

    Other New Releases

    11-11-11 (2011 USA, dir Darren Lynn Bousman, stars Timothy Gibbs)
    Albatross (2011 UK, dir Niall MacCormick, stars Felicity Jones)
    Cinema Verite (2011 USA, dir Shari Springer Berman, stars Diane Lane)
    Dark Tide (2012 USA, dir John Stockwell, stars Halle Berry)
    The Fields (2011 USA, dir Tom Mattera/David Mazzoni, stars Tara Reid)
    Let the Bullets Fly (2010 Hong Kong, dir Wen Jiang, stars Chow Yun-Fat)
    Night Wolf (2012 USA, dir Jonathan Glendening, stars Gemma Atkinson)
    Return (2011 USA, dir Liza Johnson, stars Linda Cardinelli)
    Some Days are Better than Others (2010 USA, dir Matt McCormick, stars Carrie Brownstein)
    The Theatre Bizarre (2011 USA, dir various, stars Udo Kier)
    Titanic (2012 USA, stars Peter McDonald)
    Young Goethe in Love (2010 Germany, dir Philipp Stölzl, stars Alexander Fehling)

    » Read the rest of the entry..

  • 18 Apr

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    DVD Triage: April 17

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    New Release Picks of the Week

    Mission: Impossible Ghost Protocol
    This film got much better reviews than I ever expected it to, and that’s after I was already interested due to Brad Bird and Jeremy Renner (sorry, Tom). Busy holidays kept me from it, though, so I’ll have to catch it on DVD…which is sadly not IMAX-sized.
    2011 USA. Director: Brad Bird. Starring: Tom Cruise, Jeremy Renner.

    Shame
    A divisive film in many ways, with some praising Fassbender and the film’s style, while other were put off by its lack of depth. I didn’t manage to get out to see it in theatres, but I definitely want to catch up with it before too long.
    2011 UK. Director: Steve McQueen. Starring: Michael Fassbender, Carey Mulligan.

    Other New Releases

    After the Banquet (2009 South Korea, dir Kim Yoon-cheol, stars Sin Seong-woo)
    American Dad!: Volume 7 (2011 USA, creator Seth MacFarlane)
    Bob’s Burgers: Season 1 (2011 USA, stars H. Jon Benjamin)
    The Divide (2012 USA, dir Xavier Gens, stars Lauren German, Michael Biehn)
    Garbo: The Spy (2009 UK, dir Edmon Roch, stars Nigel West)
    Girlfight (2011 USA, dir Stephen Gyllenhaal, stars Anne Heche)
    A Heavenly Vintage (2009 New Zealand, dir Niki Caro, stars Keisha Castle-Hughes)
    Hell’s Labyrinth (2011 USA, dir Drew Maxwell, stars Leah Rose)
    The Last Rites of Joe May (2010 USA, dir Joe Maggio, stars Dennis Farina)
    Man on the Train (2011 USA, dir Mary McGuickian, stars Donald Sutherland)
    7 Below (2012 USA, dir Kevin Carraway, stars Val Kilmer)
    Up from Slavery (2011 USA, dir Kevin R. Hershberger)

    » Read the rest of the entry..

  • 10 Apr

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    DVD Triage: April 10, 2012

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    New Release Pick of the Week

    Littlerock
    One of the subtler, quieter pleasant surprises of last year’s festival season, with tourist siblings Atsuko and Rintaro winding up stuck in a small California town. Despite their speaking no English and the Americans nearby speaking no Japanese, they become friends with a group of twentysomethings. A very beautiful and evocative work.
    2010 USA. Director: Mike Ott. Starring: Atsuko Okatsuka, Cory Zacharia, Rintaro Sawamoto, Roberto Sanchez, Markiss McFadden.

     

    Other New Releases

    Donald Glover: Weirdo (2011 USA, dir Michelle Captuo, stars Donald Glover)
    Justice League: Doom (2012 USA, dir Lauren Montgomery, stars Kevin Conroy)
    King of Devil’s Island (2011 Norway, dir Marius Holst, stars Stellan Skarsgard)
    Miss Representation (2012 USA, dir Jennifer Siebel)
    One Tree Hill: Season 9 (2012 USA, stars James Lafferty, Sophia Bush)
    The Seminarian (2010 USA, dir Joshua Lim, stars Mark Cirillo)
    Surviving Hitler: A Love Story (2012 UK, dir John Keith Wasson, stars Christopher Karl Johnson)
    The Veteran (2011 UK, dir Matthew Hope, stars Brian Cox)
    The Witches of Oz (2011 USA, dir Leigh Scott, stars Paulie Rojas, Billy Boyd)

    » Read the rest of the entry..

  • 04 Apr

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    DVD Triage: April 3

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    Not a great week for DVD releases, though there are definitely a few worth checking out. But wow did Netflix drop a bunch of stuff on Instant Watch this week. Most of it seems to be Warner Bros catalog releases, but there’s nothing wrong with that; some of the finest films ever made are among this group of films. And hardly any expirations, so that’s nice.

    New Release Pick of the Week

    Tyrannosaur
    I was sorry to have missed Considine’s directorial debut at the LA Film Festival, and judging from the reviews and comments I saw later, I really should’ve made more of an effort. Sounds like a difficult film to watch about some very broken people, but definitely worthwhile.
    2011 UK. Director: Paddy Considine. Starring: Peter Mullan, Olivia Colman, Eddie Marsan.

    Other New Releases

    The Afflicted (2010 USA, dir Jason Stoddard, stars Kane Hodder)
    Angels Crest (2011 USA, dir Gaby Dellal, stars Thomas Dekker, Jeremy Piven)
    The Double Hour (2011 Italy, dir Giuseppe Capatondi, stars Filippo Timi)
    Dysfunctional Friends (2011 USA, dir Corey Grant, stars Stacey Dash, Terrell Owens)
    Enter Nowhere (2011 USA, dir Jack Heller, stars Scott Eastwood, Sara Paxton)
    Redemption Road (2010 USA, dir Mario Van Peebles, stars Michael Clarke Duncan)
    Torchwood: Miracle Day (2011 USA/UK, stars John Barrowman, Bill Pullman)
    Truth About Kerry (2010 USA, dir Katherine Torpey, stars Stana Katic)

    » Read the rest of the entry..

  • 27 Mar

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    DVD Triage: March 27, 2012

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    New Release Pick of the Week

    A Dangerous Method
    David Cronenberg’s latest got some disappointing reviews and I never made it out to see it, but it’s still Cronenberg with a killer cast, and I’d be happy to catch up with it on DVD while waiting for Cosmopolis to make its way to theatres.
    2011 UK/Canada. Director: David Cronenberg. Starring: Michael Fassbender, Keira Knightley, Viggo Mortensen.

    Other New Releases

    Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked (2012 USA, dir Mike Mitchell, stars Jason Lee)
    The Broken Tower DVD (2011 USA, dir James Franco, stars Michael Shannon)
    Confucius (2010 China, dir Mei Hu, stars Chow Yun-Fat)
    Dog Sweat DVD (2010 Iran, dir Hossein Keshavarz, stars Ahmad Akbarzadeh)
    In the Land of Blood and Honey (2011 USA, dir Angelina Jolie, stars Goran Kostic)
    The Kate Logan Affair DVD (2010 USA, dir Noel Mitrani, stars Alexis Bledel)
    Soda Springs DVD (2012 USA, dir Michael Feifer, stars Tom Skerritt)
    Eureka: Season 4.5 DVD (2012 USA, stars Joe Morton, Colin Ferguson)

    » Read the rest of the entry..

  • 21 Mar

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    DVD Triage: March 20

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    New Release Pick of the Week

    The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
    This may have been an unnecessary remake, and it may have been something Fincher could do in his sleep, but regardless, this still came out as one of the most satisfying thrillers of the year, even improving on the original film in subtle ways and more than earning its right to existence.
    2011 USA. Director: David Fincher. Starring: Rooney Mara, Daniel Craig.

    Other New Releases

    From Time to Time (2009 UK, dir Julian Fellowes, stars Timothy Spall, Maggie Smith)
    Gainsbourg: A Heroic Life (2011 France, dir Joann Sfar, stars Eric Elmosnino)
    Hop (2011 USA, dir Tim Hill, stars James Marsden)
    In the Garden of Sounds (2009 Switzerland, dir Nicola Bellucci, stars Wolfgang Fasser)
    Private Eye (2009 South Korea, dir Dae-Min Park, stars Jeong-min Hwang, Dal-su Oh)
    Sidewalls (2011 Argentina, dir Gustavo Taretto, stars Javier Drolas)
    The Sitter (2011 USA, dir David Gordon Green, stars Jonah hill, Sam Rockwell)
    This is Not a Movie (2011 USA, dir Olallo Rubio, stars Edward Furlong, Peter Coyote)

    » Read the rest of the entry..

  • 13 Mar

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    DVD Triage: March 13, 2012

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    New Release Picks of the Week

    Melancholia
    Lars von Trier’s newest film is a masterful and artful (self-consciously so) exploration of depression in terms of the end of the world. It’s beautiful, and terrible, and overwhelming, and magnificent, with a near-career best performance from Kirsten Dunst. It’s also one of von Trier’s most accessible films, though I guess that’s not saying a lot.
    2011 Denmark. Director: Lars von Trier. Starring: Kirsten Dunst, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Kiefer Sutherland, Alexander Skarsgard.

    The Adventures of Tintin
    I had plenty of skepticism going into a 3D motion capture film, but The Adventures of Tintin won me over immediately, giving me a breathlessly whiz-bang adventure story that feels just like a 1930s serial updated to use modern technology, and quite well, too.
    2011 USA. Director: Steven Spielberg. Starring: Jamie Bell, Andy Serkis, Daniel Craig, Simon Pegg, Nick Frost.

    Other New Releases

    Bag of Bones (2011 USA, dir Mick Garris, stars Pierce Brosnan)
    Fresh: New Thinking About What We’re Eating (2011 USA, dir Ana Joanes)
    The Guild: Season 5 (2011 USA, dir Sean Becker, stars Felicia Day)
    Happy Feet Two (2011 USA, dir George Miller, stars Elijah Wood)
    The Killing: Season 1 (2011 USA, stars Mireille Enos, Joel Kinnaman)
    Loosies (2012 USA, dir Michael Corrente, stars Peter Facinelli)
    My Joy (2011 Ukraine, dir Sergei Loznitsa, stars Vladimir Golovin)
    Neverland (2011 USA, dir Nick Willing, stars Rhys Ifans, Anna Friel)
    A Second Knock at the Door (2011 USA, dir Christopher E. Grimes)
    The Swell Season (2011 USA/Ireland, stars Glen Hansard, Marketa Irglova)
    The Three Musketeers (2011 USA, dir Paul W.S. Anderson, stars Milla Jovovich)
    Wallace & Gromit: World of Invention (2011 UK, dir Merlin Crossingham)

    » Read the rest of the entry..

  • 07 Mar

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    DVD Triage for March 6

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    New Release Pick of the Week

    Game of Thrones: Season 1
    Yep, I’m featuring a TV show this week. Game of Thrones quickly sped to the top of my list of must-see shows last year, and rewatching some of it this week has only solidified that. Both in terms of an adaptation from the books and taken on its own, this show is fantastic, a perfect combination of medieval-style court intrigue and menacing fantasy.
    2011 USA. Starring: Sean Bean, Lena Headey, Peter Dinklage, Michelle Fairley.

    Other New Releases

    Footloose (2012 USA, dir Craig Brewer, stars Kenny Wormald, Julianne Hough)
    High Road (2011 USA, dir Matt Walsh, stars Ed Helms, Lizzy Kaplan)
    Jack and Jill (2012 USA, dir Dennis Dugan, stars Adam Sandler, Katie Holmes)
    Jeremy Fink and the Meaning of Life (2012 USA, dir Tamar Halpern, stars Mira Sorvino)
    London River (2009 UK, dir Rachid Bouchareb, stars Brenda Blethyn, Sotigui Kouyate)
    MI: 5 Vol. 10 (2011 UK, stars Peter Firth, Hugh Simon)
    Recoil (2012 USA, dir Terry Miles, stars Steve Austin, Danny Trejo)
    Wyatt Earp’s Revenge (2012 USA, dir Michael Feifer, stars Val Kilmer, Shawn Roberts)

    » Read the rest of the entry..

  • 29 Feb

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    DVD Triage: Feb 28, 2012

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    New Release Pick of the Week

    The Myth of the American Sleepover
    Of course Hugo is the obvious pick of the week, an excellent film to be sure, but why be obvious? You all know about that one already. I saw The Myth of the American Sleepover on a whim at a festival over a year ago, and it crept its little way right into my heart. An unassuming coming of age drama that utilizes its ensemble cast perfectly, the film has been on Instant Watch for a few months now, but if you don’t have Netflix or want a hard copy, here it is. Give it a chance.
    2010 USA. Director: David Robert Mitchell. Starring: Claire Sloma, Marlon Morton, Amanda Bauer, Brett Jacobsen.

    Other New Releases

    Answers to Nothing (2011 USA, dir Matthew Leutwyler, stars Dane Cook, Julie Benz)
    Beneath the Darkness (2011 USA, dir Martin Guigui, stars Dennis Quaid)
    I Melt With You (2012 USA, dir Mark Pellington, stars Rob Lowe, Thomas Jane)
    Johnny English Reborn (2012 UK, dir Oliver Parker, stars Rowan Atkinson)
    Justice League: Doom (2012 USA, dir Lauren Montgomery, stars Kevin Conroy)
    Tomorrow When the War Began (2012 Australia, dir Stuart Beattie, stars Caitlin Stasey)

    » Read the rest of the entry..

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