DVD/Blu-ray DISCussion (New for 8.10.10)

By: Justin Moody | Movie News | August 10, 2010

It is slim picking this week with no real standout DVD or Blu-ray release. There are 5 comedy releases, a Jet Li martial arts film from Hong Kong, a war drama and a documentary film for anyone who is interested in NASA and missions to the Moon.

First Release
- Date Night (DVD and Blu-ray)
- Death at a Funeral (DVD and Blu-ray)
- The Joneses (DVD and Blu-ray)
- Triage (DVD and Blu-ray)

Re-Release
- National Lampoon’s Vacation (DVD and Blu-ray)
- National Lampoon’s European Vacation (Blu-ray)
- In the Shadow of the Moon (Blu-ray)
- The Legend of Fong Sai Yuk (Blu-ray)

Date Night (DVD and Blu-ray)

What's the Deal?
Steve Carell and Tina Fey are two of the biggest names in television comedy at the moment with the staring roles in The Office and 30 Rock. Their natural comic abilities should make the two be a comedy dream team. The pair were directed by Shawn Levy (Night at the Museum) and he was able to assemble a big name cast including Mark Wahlberg, Ray Liotta, Mark Ruffalo and James Franco.
Carell and Fey play Phil and Claire Foster, a suburban couple from New Jersey whom marriage has entered into a rut. On a date night they decide to do something different and go to one of the fanciest restaurants in New York where they pretend to be another couple. But they end up getting chased by gangsters and have more adventure then they bargained for.

Critics Rating (Rotten Tomatoes): 68% (good)

Player Affinity Score: 5.6/10

DISC DETAILS

DVD Special Features: N/A

Amazon Price: $16.99 (DVD), $24.99

Score (DVDTalk.com): Content: 3 stars, Video 0 stars, Audio 0 stars, Extras 0 stars, Replay 3 stars (out of 5). Recommended

Death at a Funeral (DVD and Blu-ray)

What's the Deal?
3 years ago the British original of Death at a Funeral was released. Even thought it had middling reviews and made in a language most Americans can understand, it was seen as ripe material for a remake. Neil LaBute (Lakeview Terrace) helms his second remake of a British film and this time he assembles a primarily African American cast including Chris Rock, Martin Lawrence, Zoe Saldana, Danny Glover and James Marsden.
When the father of Aaron (Rock) and Ryan (Lawrence) dies they arrange his funeral and bring the whole family together. But everything that can go wrong does go wrong in this comedy farce.

Critics Rating (Rotten Tomatoes): 38% (bad)

Player Affinity Score: 3.5/10

DISC DETAILS

DVD Special Features: Commentary with Director Neil LaBute and Chris Rock, Deleted Scenes, Family Album, Death For Real, Death at a Funeral: Last Rites, Dark Secrets

Amazon Price: $16.99, $22.99 (Blu-ray)

Score (DVDTalk.com): Content: 2 stars, Video 4.5 stars, Audio 3.5 stars, Extras 3 stars, Replay 3 stars (out of 5). Rent it

The Joneses (DVD and Blu-ray)

What's the Deal?
The Joneses serves as directional debut for Derrick Borte, making a comedy drama that satirizes consumerism and American sub-urban life. He casts David Duchovny (The X-Files) and Demi Moore (A Few Good Men) in the lead roles in a film playing on the phase ‘keeping up with the Joneses’.
Steve and Kate Jones (Duchovny and Moore) move into a wealthy American suburb with their teenage children Jenn (Amber Heard) and Mick (Ben Hollingsworth). They seem like a perfect family, but they are really a plant by a marketing company to introduce luxury goods, like laptops, to show their virtues.

Critics Rating (Rotten Tomatoes): 63% (good)

Player Affinity Score: N/A

DISC DETAILS

DVD Special Features: Deleted Scenes

Amazon Price: $19.99 (DVD), $21.99 (Blu-ray)

Score (DVDTalk.com): Content: 3.5 stars, Video 0 stars, Audio 0 stars, Extras 0.5 stars, Replay 2.5 stars (out of 5). Recommended

Triage (DVD and Blu-ray)

What's the Deal?
Danis Tanovic is best known for directing No Man’s Land, a film about the Bosnian war which won an Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film. Tanovic returns with Triage in this tale of a photographer returning from Iraqi Kurdistan where genocide is committed against the people.
Mark Walsh (Colin Farrell) returns home without his friend and colleague Colin and tries to recover what he saw in the conflict and his own dark secrets.
Christopher Lee and Paz Vega also star in this film.

Critics Rating (Rotten Tomatoes): N/A

Player Affinity Score: N/A

DISC DETAILS

DVD Special Features: N/A

Amazon Price: $22.49 (DVD), $12.99 (Blu-ray)

Score (DVDTalk.com): N/A

National Lampoon's Vacation (Blu-ray)

What's the Deal?
Harold Ramis is considered a comedy legend, writing Ghostbusters and directing Groundhog Day. With John Hughes writing the screenplay and Chevy Chase staring, National Lampoon’s Vacation is to some people their idea of comedy gold.
National Lampoon’s Vacation is a comedy of errors as Clark Griswold (Chase) tries to get his family to close and takes them on a vacation together. But even the simplest plans can go awry.

Critics Rating (Rotten Tomatoes): 94% (excellent)

Player Affinity Score: 8.0/10

DISC DETAILS

DVD Special Features: N/A

Amazon Price: $18.99 (Blu-ray)

Score (DVDTalk.com): Content: 4 stars, Video 3 stars, Audio 3.5 stars, Extras 2.5 stars, Replay 4 stars (out of 5). Recommended

National Lampoon's European Vacation (Blu-ray)

What's the Deal?
National Lampoon's Vacation was a critical and commercial success and since the 80s was a period of sequels, a sequel was commissioned. Chevy Chase stays on in the lead role but a new director, Amy Heckerling (Clueless) was recruited and writer Robert Klane (Weekend at Bernie’s) co-wrote the script with John Hughes.
The Griswald family win a tour package on a game show and get to travel around Europe. But continuing where they left off there causes mayhem and destruction in England, France, Germany and Italy, upsetting the locals and a group gangsters.
This sequel was criticized, particularly compared to the original.

Critics Rating (Rotten Tomatoes): 42% (poor)

Player Affinity Score: 4.7/10

DISC DETAILS

DVD Special Features: N/A

Amazon Price: $19.49 (Blu-ray)

Score (DVDTalk.com): N/A

In the Shadow of the Moon (Blu-ray)

What's the Deal?
Ron Howard, the director of Apollo 13 present this documentary film about NASA’s missions to the moon. Winning the World Cinema Audience Award at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival In the Shadow of the Moon uses archive footage, unreleased footage from NASA and interviews with many surviving astronauts, including Buzz Aldrin and Jim Lovell to boldly show all the Apollo missions that orbited, looped around and landed on the Moon.

Critics Rating (Rotten Tomatoes): 94% (excellent)

Player Affinity Score: N/A

DISC DETAILS

DVD Special Features: Feature Commentary with David Sington, David Fairhead and Chris Riley, Ron Howard Film Intro, Scoring Apollo: A Short Feature with Composer Philip Sheppard Bonus Interviews And Stories, Ron Howard: Inspired By Apollo, Theatrical Trailer

Amazon Price: $12.99 (Blu-ray)

Score (DVDTalk.com): N/A

The Legend of Fong Sai Yuk (Blu-ray)

What's the Deal?
Jet Li is one of the greatest master arts stars and an important figure in Hong Kong cinema. He has starred in a number of major Hong Kong productions including the Once Upon a Time in China trilogy and Fist of Legend. Under the direction of Corey Yuen (The Transporter) the two men tackle the story of Fong Sai-Yuk, a Cantonese patriot who is thrown into the mix of martial arts tournaments, plots to overthrow an evil emperor and falls in love with a merchant.

Critics Rating (Rotten Tomatoes): 88% (excellent)

Player Affinity Score: N/A

DISC DETAILS

DVD Special Features: N/A

Amazon Price: $18.49 (Blu-ray)

Score (DVDTalk.com): N/A

DVD/Blu-ray DISCussion (New for 8.10.10)

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