Punch Drunk DVDs! 4/20/10

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Far be it from me to tell anyone what not to buy, especially when it's the highest grossing film of all-time, but don't buy this one unless you are an ultimate completist or don't care about extra footage. The reason is that an extended version director's cut will be released in just a couple of months, so save yourself a few bucks now. Then I couldn't blame you if you simply can't resist diving into the lush world of Pandora yet again. Lord knows I'm itchin' to be able to revisit that world myself.







Crazy Heart
Jeff Bridges' gives a tour de force, Oscar winning performance as a down 'n out country singer who's hard road life might just make a pretty darn good song. He gets a chance to turn things around for the better when he meets beautiful journalist who lets him into her life, albeit reluctantly. I might have some quibbles with the film, but Bridges is at the top of his game an deserving of every accolade he received. Don't sleep on the music, either. I'm no country fan, but anybody who doesn't have The Weary Kind plastered on their brain after this film must be dead inside.






The Young Victoria
Period pieces such as this aren't normally my cup of tea, but something about The Young Victoria stuck with me. Maybe it was the story of this precocious, energetic girl suddenly burdened with the weight of an entire country on her shoulders, pulled in every direction by people who don't all have her best interests at heart. The love story between Victoria and her future husband, Prince Albert, is a bit stilted but eventually finds it's passionate core. No, the reason I was attracted to this is Emily Blunt, who had a phenomenal 2009 capped off by a dominating performance here as the young queen.





The Lovely Bones
Let's call this what it was: a disaster. Once counted upon to be a frontrunner at the Academy Awards, Peter Jackson's adaptation of the hit Alice Sebold novel crapped the bed with a lazy go nowhere story drowned out by an abundance of special effects. The only positives were Saoirse Ronan as the murdered Susie Salmon, and Oscar nominated Stanley Tucci as the mysterious neighbor who killed her.








Fist of Legend
It's Jet Li in his prime, teaming up with legendary martial arts choreographer Yuen Wo-Ping, who did the fight sequences for The Matrix. Simply awesome, and a must own on Blu-Ray. Especially for only $12!










Summer Hours

One of last year's most critically acclaimed films stars Juliet Binoche and Jeremy Renier as heirs to a wealthy patrons remarkable art collection, forced to decide what to do with the precious artifacts. A subtle, contemporary film from Olivier Assayas, director of the criminally overlooked rehab drama, Clean.









Peacock
Here's all I need to know about Peacock: It stars Cilian Murphy(28 Days Later), Ellen Page(Juno), and Susan Sarandon(Bull Durham). It could be about toilet bowl cleaner for all I care. The fact that it's something of a thriller involving a quiet man living a double life as both a man and a woman is another reason it's now at the top of my Netflix queue.








Batman
Tim Burton's colorful vision for the Dark Knight has been released on Blu-Ray before, so I don't know why it's coming out again now. Nor do I care. With the success of the darker, gloomier Christopher Nolan films it's easy to forget just how good Burton's take was now that it's been over 20 years since it's release(guh!!).