Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Punch Drunk DVDs

3. Captain America: The First Avenger
Other than Thor, there's no more difficult Marvel superhero to make "cool" than Captain America. A good start was by getting the buff Chris Evans to star as the WWII hero turned future leader of The Avengers. The second was in setting the film firmly in the middle of the 1940s, where Cap's jingoistic rhetoric would be right at home. My only beef is that there were so many characters that Hugo Weaving's scene chewing turn as the villainous Red Skull sorta got lost in the shuffle.

2. Winnie the Pooh
A.A. Milen's beloved, roly poly, honey-obsessed Pooh Bear holds a strong grip on my heart and those of millions of people. But when it comes to theatrical interpretations, Disney has had a rough go of making Pooh relevant until now. Using some gorgeous hand drawn, storybook animation, Winnie the Pooh and his gaggle of friends in the Hundred Acre Wood have never looked better. Clocking in at just over 68 minutes, the humorous and efficient story involves Pooh trying to save his friends from a terrible creature known as the "Backson". Oh, and then there's the little issue of Pooh's tummy, which is in desperate need of honey.
1. Attack the Block
Combine the awe and childhood wonder of Steven Spielberg movies(or JJ Abrams' Super 8) with the urban grit of Walter Hill(The Warriors) and you'll get Attack the Block, the most inventive alien invasion film in recent memory. Bristling with energy and led by a fresh faced cast of newcomers, the film features a gang of South London street toughs who inadvertently turn their neighborhood into target #1 for a horde of inky black alien creatures. Written and directed by Joe Cornish(The Adventures of Tintin).

Other Notable Releases
Jurassic Park Ultimate Trilogy (Blu-Ray)
Island of Lost Souls (Criterion Collection), starring Charles Laughton
The Conversation (Blu-Ray), starring Gene Hackman and Harrison Ford
Wrong Turn 4: Bloody Beginnings, starring Terra Vnesa and Dean Armstrong
Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale, starring Peeter Jakobi
Dazed and Confused (Criterion Collection), starring Jason London and Wiley Wiggins
Shaolin, starring Andy Lau and Jackie Chan
A Little Help, starring Jenna Fischer and Chris O'Donnell

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