I think it is fair to say that too many horror films have used the ‘mirror scare’ cliché.
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DVD & BLU-RAY PICKS
Adventureland (Walt Disney): Director Greg Mottola followed up Superbad (2007) with this marvellous coming-of-age comedy set in the summer of 1987 about a recent college grad (Jesse Eisenberg) who takes a nowhere job at a local amusement park, where he falls in love and learns a few life lessons.
Superbly made and acted it features some terrific performances from Eisenberg, Kristen Stewart, Ryan Reynolds (seriously) and Bill Hader. Although it didn’t make a huge amount of money at cinemas, it was one of the best films of last year and will almost certainly become a cult favourite in the future.
Plus, it has a memorable use of Falco’s ‘Amadeus‘ and the line “status obsessed witch” is one of the killer movie phrases in recent memory.
Extras include:
- Deleted Scenes
- Just My Life: The Making Of Adventureland
- Feature Commentary — With Writer/Director Greg Mottola And Actor Jesse Eisenberg
- A Satiric “How To” On Inflicting Unexpected Pain
* Buy Adventureland on DVD or Blu-ray from Amazon UK *
Mystic River (Warner): A release on Blu-ray for Clint Eastwood’s 2003 adaptation of the Dennis Lehane novel, which is set in Boston and deals with three childhood friends (Sean Penn, Tim Robbins and Kevin Bacon) who are reunited after one of their daughters gets killed.
A powerful and well acted drama, it features fine supporting performances from Laura Linney, Marcia Gay Harden and Laurence Fishburne. Tastefully shot (by Tom Stern) and edited (by Joel Cox), it bears all the hallmarks of Eastwood’s classy dramas over the last decade and won Sean Penn and Tim Robbins Oscars for their performances.
Gary Tooze of DVD Beaver has posted some screen shots of the Blu-ray and is impressed with the transfer and the overall package, saying:
“…contrast and colors leap ahead. …this looks very good and occasionally even impressive with some desirable depth. Dependant on your system – the superiority is moderate to heavy over the previous SD-DVDs”
This includes all the extras from the R1 DVD release that were never included on the UK R2 DVD.
- Commentary by Tim Robbins and Kevin Bacon
- Dennis Lehane Tours the Boston Neighborhood Setting of His Novel in Mystic River: Beneath the Surface
- Featurette Mystic River: From Page to Screen
- The Charlie Rose Show Interviews with Clint Eastwood, Tim Robbins and Kevin Bacon
- Theatrical Trailers
* Buy Mystic River on Blu-ray from Amazon UK *
Paper Heart (Anchor Bay): A new film starring Charlyne Yi and Michael Cera as fictionalized versions of themselves in a “hybrid documentary” about love. Directed by Nicholas Jasenovec, it also features Yi travelling across America asking various people about their experiences of love.
Extras include:
- Paper Heart Uncut
- “The Making of Paper Heart”
- Live musical performances by Charlyne Yi
- “Heaven” music video by Charlyne Yi and Michael Cera
- Love interviews with the comedians
- Deleted scenes
- Trailer
* Buy Paper Heart on DVD or Blu-ray from Amazon UK *
ALSO OUT
Blue Dragon Complete Series 1 (Manga) [Buy it on DVD]
Couples Retreat (Universal) [Buy it on DVD | Buy it on Blu-ray]
Death Note Relight: Visions of a God (Manga) [Buy it on DVD]
I Love You, Beth Cooper (Fox) [Buy it on DVD]
In the Electric Mist (High Fliers) [Buy it on DVD | Buy it on Blu-ray]
Kamikaze Girls (Special Edition) (Third Window Films) [Buy it on DVD | Buy it on Blu-ray]
Lala Pipo (Third Window Films) [Buy it on DVD]
Long Weekend (2008) (Showbox) [Buy it on DVD]
The Time Traveler’s Wife (EIV) [Buy it on DVD | Buy it on Blu-ray]
The Ugly Truth (Sony) [Buy it on DVD | Buy it on Blu-ray]
The Unit Season 4 (Fox) [Buy it on DVD]
> The Best DVD and Blu-ray releases of 2009
> UK cinema releases for Friday 5th February including Invictus and Astro Boy
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Charlie Rose recently had a discussion about the Apple iPad on his show recently with Walt Mossberg of the WSJ, David Carr of the NYT and Michael Arrington of TechCrunch.
Several good points are made, which makes a change from the complaints about it being a big iPhone and having no Flash (the latter hasn’t affected sales of the iPhone and iPod touch has it?).
Whilst I don’t think it will change how people watch long form films or TV (there’s still cinemas and large TVs for that) my gut feeling is that that it will revolutionise how we casually browse and experience the web.
When it comes to newspapers, magazines and regular content that we read, like RSS feeds, blogs and shorter form media, I think advanced touch tablets are the future.
It could be the iPad, the Google’s upcoming device (which apparently launches this autumn), or succeeding versions, but after years of desktops and laptops sticking to the same keyboard and operating systems, this feels like a new era.
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NATIONAL RELEASES
Invictus (Warner Bros.): Clint Eastwood’s latest film is based on the true story of how Nelson Mandela (Morgan Freeman) used the 1995 Rugby World Cup to unite South Africa in a moment of sporting solidarity with the help of national team captain Francois Pienaar (Matt Damon).
Although this was touted as a likely awards season contender, the expected nominations (apart from two acting nods for Freeman and Damon) have failed to materialise, mainly because it isn’t quite up to the high standards of Eastwood’s best work behind the camera.
That said, the two leads are convincing and there is a pleasing directness to the material which gives it an undeniable punch. Although it can’t resist obligatory sporting clichés (slow motion being a major culprit), the central drama is well handled and the technical work behind the camera is what we’ve come to expect from latter day Eastwood films. [Nationwide / 12A]
Astro Boy (E1 Entertainment): A CGI animated film about a young robot (voiced by Freddie Highmore) with incredible powers created by a brilliant scientist in the image of the son he has lost.
Based on the long running Japanese series, it features a decent voice cast including Kristen Bell, Nathan Lane, Eugene Levy, Bill Nighy, Donald Sutherland and Nicolas Cage. The middling reviews in the US and poor box office performance suggest that it won’t set UK cinemas alight. [Empire Leicester Square & Nationwide (Previews 30/31st Jan)
Youth In Revolt (Paramount/Momentum): An adaptation of C.D. Payne's epistolary novel starring Michael Cera as a teenager who sets his sights on a local girl (Portia Doubleday) and creates an alter ego to win her over.
Directed by Miguel Arteta, it co-stars Jonathan B. Wright, Steve Buscemi, Zach Galifianakis and Ray Liotta. Positive reviews from the US would suggest that it's weak box office performance has more to do with the woes of The Weinstein Company than the quality of the film. Fans of Michael Cera and hip teen audiences may be the target audience. [Vues Fulham Broadway, Islington, West End & Nationwide / 15]
ALSO OUT
Malice In Wonderland (Kaleidoscope Entertainment): A modern take on the fairytale, set in the North East of England. [Key Cities / 15]
Tony (Revolver Entertainment): A low budget British film about a serial killer getting a limited theatrical release before being released on DVD this Monday. [London & Key Cities / 18]
The Island (Artificial Eye): A drama set in a small Russian Orthodox monastery about an unusual man who people believe has the power to heal, exorcise demons and foretell the future. [Curzon Renoir & Selected Key Cities from 19th Feb]
Holy Water (Kaleidoscope/Centurion ): British comedy about a once a thriving spa town that is livened up after a stash of Viagra is hidden down its famous Holy Well. [Key Cities / 18]
> DVD and Blu-ray Picks for Monday 1st February including Broken Embraces and Sin Nombre
> Get local cinema showtimes for your area via Google Movies
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