This Week On DVD and Blu-ray: March 10, 2009

By Brad Brevet

The DVD gods decided three weeks in a row of limited releases would be too much as this week we have plenty of new titles to talk about as well as some notable new release dates listed at the bottom of the article. Let’s dig in…

Pinocchio (2-Disc 70th Anniversary Platinum Edition)
What a fantastic release. Disney classic animated films on Blu-ray is a must buy if you ask me and with Pinocchio they have followed up on last year’s debut release of Sleeping Beauty with another wonderful transfer. Get in now while there are only two titles to buy and add Snow White to your collection once it hits stores later this year. You can read my full review of the Pinocchio Blu-ray right here.
Buy Pinocchio (2-Disc 70th Anniversary Platinum Edition)
Primal Fear (Special Edition)
I reviewed the Blu-ray edition of the new Primal Fear two weeks ago and for those that have already read it you know I love this movie and was very pleased with this new release which includes all new features and commentary.
Buy Primal Fear (Special Edition)
Role Models
Role Models is up there as one of the better comedies of 2008 as it made a pretty big splash last November and earned $67 million at the box-office. I gave the film a “B” in my theatrical review and have yet to watch the Unrated Blu-ray, but hope to this week and suggest that you, at the very least, give this one a rent. It is quite funny.
Buy Role Models
Let the Right One In
Here’s the film that finally gave fanboys the chance to watch a film with subtitles. Not only were they getting a vampire film, but they also felt they were getting a bit of culture at the same time. Let the Right One In is a pretty good film, but it is hardly worth the fanfare it has received from so many corners. I received the Blu-ray only a couple of days ago and haven’t had a chance to give it a peek just yet, but with only a few deleted scenes and a behind-the-scenes featurette it doesn’t look like it holds a lot to be reviewed.
Buy Let the Right One In
Happy-Go-Lucky
Here is a very good film, but I can’t say I would recommend it as a buy as much as it is more of a “must rent once” kind of a film. Sally Hawkins should have been nominated for an Oscar for her portrayal of Poppy and Mike Leigh’s script was nominated. I did a big write up on it back in September 2008, if you are interested click here.
Buy Happy-Go-Lucky
South Park – The Complete Twelfth Season
I was hoping to have this reviewed by today, but it just didn’t work out. The twelfth season of “South Park” is the first to be released on both Blu-ray and DVD and this season ranges from having George Lucas and Steven Spielberg rape Indiana Jones to a spoof of handheld camera horror films all the way up to Barack Obama’s presidential win. It covers the lot and I can’t wait to dig in.
Buy South Park - The Complete Twelfth Season
Battle in Seattle
This is surprisingly a very good film. The title could have been a little better and there is a shaky storyline involving Charlize Theron as a pregnant woman, but the film which centers on the WTO conference held in Seattle, Washington in November 1999 is definitely worth a one time viewing. You can read my theatrical review right here.
Buy Battle in Seattle
Rachel Getting Married
Personally I don’t really like this film. People seem to praise the reality of it, but it is a reality I don’t necessarily want to dwell in and on top of that I couldn’t help but feel the film had anout of control ego as I referred to it in my theatrical review saying I felt I was watching “a pretentious piece of filmmaking designed to make me feel something just because it was something to feel… [the film is] redundant and overly morose and not deserving of its own ego.” It just wasn’t for me.
Buy Rachel Getting Married
Synecdoche, New York
I was arguing with Laremy, the RopeofSilicon Box-Office Oracle, about this movie prior to our screening of Watchmen. I didn’t like this movie much at all and am not afraid to say I don’t really get it. However, I have seen many others that have said they did like it, but I don’t see them jumping at the opportunity to explain the film or make an attempt to help other people like it. The impression I get from a lot of people is they like it because it’s weird, and since writer/director Charlie Kaufman is known for weird and eccentric scripts they just accept he meant something by the film and concede they don’t know what it is. The problem with this is that if this were any other film or any other director the film would be ripped to shreds for the exact same reason. This wouldn’t be such a problem if some of these people would make a straightforward effort at explaining the film, giving the rest of us dummies in on the big secret. But even some people I have talked to have told me while they don’t get it they aren’t even interested in trying to figure it out. How interesting or good can a film be if it challenges you, yet your are unwilling to accept that challenge? Sorry, that just doesn’t make sense to me and I am not buying it.
Buy Synecdoche, New York
Milk
You can read my review of the Universal Blu-ray edition of Milk right here, but I can tell you right now a special edition is coming down the pike as the initial release is obviously coming out now only to benefit from Oscar buzz as the special features are extremely weak giving consumers hardly a reason to buy the film because I just don’t see it as one people will want to watch over and over again no matter how good Penn’s performance is.
Buy Milk
Cadillac Records
I never saw this film and never really had a desire to. It just didn’t seem like it was going to be all that good, but people that saw it seemed to enjoy it so I may need to give it a shot one of these days.
Buy Cadillac Records
Transporter 3
I am a mild fan of the first two Transporter films as stupid as they may be, but this third installment was downright terrible. You can read my theatrical review if you want any further comments on this one, but I think you have a good idea of where that review will end up.
Buy Transporter 3
Batman: The Motion Picture Anthology (Blu-ray)
I received the Blu-ray collection of the first four Batman films just prior to this past weekend and haven’t watched any of them yet, however, it appears it is simply the 2005 DVD Anthology release in high-definition. I know the picture is something you all want to know about in order to see if it is worth the upgrade, but as for features I did an extensive review of the original set back in 2005 should you be interested while you wait for my review of the set.
Buy Batman: The Motion Picture Anthology 1989-1997
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