Another week and it’s another DISCussion, and we have some big releases to report, including two superhero adventures, a trio of comedies, with crime, period dramas, horror and a documentary in the mix. On the re-release front we can happily report about a duo of World War Two films and a classic monster film.
First Release
- Iron Man 2 (DVD and Blu-ray)
- Get Him to the Greek (DVD and Blu-ray)
- The Killer Inside Me (DVD and Blu-ray)
- Babies (DVD and Blu-ray)
- Coco Chanel & Igor Stravinsky (DVD and Blu-ray)
- Frozen (DVD and Blu-ray)
- Good (DVD and Blu-ray)
- Suck (DVD and Blu-ray)
- Superman/Batman Apocalypse (DVD and Blu-ray)
- Perrier’s Bounty (DVD)
Re-Release
- The Thin Red Line (Blu-ray)
- King Kong (Blu-ray)
- Merry Christmas, Mr Lawerence (Blu-ray)
- Prey(Blu-ray)
Iron Man 2 (DVD and Blu-ray)
What's the Deal?
After the almost surprise critical and commercial success of one of Marvel’s lesser known heroes, Iron Man 2 was one of the most anticipated films of 2010. Director Jon Favreau and actors Robert Downey Jr. and Gwyneth Paltrow return to the action, with Don Cheadle (Hotel Rwanda) replacing Terrence Howard as James Rhodes. Mickey Rourke, Scarlett Johannson and Sam Rockwell join the cast in this all action fest.
Set six months after the action of Iron Man, a new threat has emerged, Ivan Vanko (Rourke), who creates his own Iron Man suit. With Vanko out for revenge against Tony Stark (Downey) and his family, he is recruited by industrialist Justin Hammer (Rockwell) to create an army. All this is going whilst Stark’s blood stream is being poisoned and slowly dying.
Critics Rating (Rotten Tomatoes): 74% (good)
Player Affinity Score: 7.2/10
DISC DETAILS
DVD Special Features: Closed Caption; Commentary by director Jon Favreau
2-Disc DVD Special Features: Disc 1: Feature Film; Commentary by Director Jon Favreau; ; Disc 2: Special Features + Digital Copy; Deleted Scenes; Behind-the-Scenes Featurettes including Creating Stark Expo
Additional Blu-ray Features: S.H.I.E.L.D. Data Vault: An In-Depth Look at The Marvel Cinematic Universe H
Blu-ray and DVD Combo Features: Disc 1: Blu-ray Feature Film + Special Features; S.H.I.E.L.D. Data Vault: An in-depth look at the Marvel Cinematic Universe HD; Commentary by Director Jon Favreau; ; Disc 2: Blu-ray Special Features; Ultimate Iron Man: 4-Part "Making-Of" Documentary HD; 6 Behind-the-Scenes Featurettes including Creating Stark Expo and the Origins of Black Widow and War Machine HD; 8 Deleted Scenes HD; ; Disc 3: DVD Feature Film + Digital Copy
Amazon Price: $16.99 (DVD), $22.99 (2-Disc DVD), $17.99 (1-Disc Blu-ray), $24.99 (Blu-ray and DVD Combo)
Score (DVDTalk.com): Content: 3.5 stars, Video 5 stars, Audio 5 stars, Extras 4.5 stars, Replay 4.5 stars (out of 5). Highly Recommended.
Get Him to the Greek (DVD and Blu-ray)
What's the Deal?
With a budget of $30 Million Forgetting Sarah Marshall grossed over $105 Million worldwide. This success encouraged director Nicholas Stoller to make a spin-off, with Russell Brand reprising his role as rock star Aldous Snow. The cast also includes Jonah Hill (Superbad), Rose Byrne (Damages) and rapper Sean Combs.
Snow’s career has nosedived after his single ‘African Child’ was described as ‘the worst thing to happen to Africa since apartheid’. To get his career back on track, an ambitious music record intern Aaron Green (Hill) suggests to his boss Sergio Roma (Combs) a comeback gig at the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles. But Hill has to get a depressed, drunken rock star from London to California.
Critics Rating (Rotten Tomatoes): 73% (good)
Player Affinity Score: 5.6/10
DISC DETAILS
DVD Special Features: Deleted & Extended Scenes; Gag Reel Line-o-Rama; Blind Medicine - See More From Sarah Marshall's new show; Feature Commentary With Filmmakers and Cast;
2-Disc DVD Special Features: Alternate intro: the castle; Alternate ending; Behind-the-scenes documentaries; Full music videos & concert performances;
Additional Blu-ray Features: More Exclusives!; More Extended and Alternate Scenes!; More Music Performances; Sing Karoake on 15 Songs from the Film!; Cast Auditions
Amazon Price: $17.99 (DVD), $22.99 (2-Disc DVD), $25.99 (Blu-ray)
Score (DVDTalk.com): Content: 4 stars, Video 4 stars, Audio 4 stars, Extras 5 stars, Replay 5 stars (out of 5). Highly Recommended
The Killer Inside Me (DVD and Blu-ray)
What's the Deal?
Director Michael Winterbottom is a renowned genre hopper, making films like Welcome to Sarajevo, 24 Hour Party People and 9 Songs. He now turns to a modern film-noir tale with the second adaptation of Jim Thompson’s novel The Killer Inside Me. Casey Affleck takes the lead role as Lou Ford, with Kate Hudson and Jessica Alba as his girlfriend and a prostitute.
Lou Ford is a young, hansom Deputy Sheriff in a small West Texas. But he life slowly unravels as he suffers woman problems, law enforcement problems and reveals himself as violence sociopath.
The Killer Inside Me was a very controversial because of the scenes of violence against woman.
Critics Rating (Rotten Tomatoes): 54% (average)
Player Affinity Score: 2.0/10
DISC DETAILS
DVD Special Features: Trailer; Making of with Casey Affleck; Making of with Kate Hudson; Making of with Jessica Alba
Amazon Price: $13.99 (DVD), $19.99 (Blu-ray)
Score (DVDTalk.com):
Content: 2 stars, Video 3.5 stars, Audio 4 stars, Extras 1.5 stars, Replay 0 stars (out of 5). Rent it.
Babies (DVD and Blu-ray)
What's the Deal?
To prove that not all documentaries have to be miserable affairs, French director Thomas Balmes had made an upbeat little film. It was number 10 in the US box-office and made over $1 Million, not bad for a documentary.
Balmes focuses on four infants from around the world, Ponijao, Bayer, Mari and Hattie, from being newborns to their first birthday. It is a documentary that shows how the environment and different social policies affect parenting and how childhood is interpreted in different parts of the world.
Critics Rating (Rotten Tomatoes): 68% (good)
Player Affinity Score: N/A
DISC DETAILS
DVD Special Features: The babies - three years later; Everybody loves...your babies sweepstakes winners
Amazon Price: $18.99 (DVD), $29.99 (Blu-ray)
Score (DVDTalk.com): Content: 4 stars, Video 3.5 stars, Audio 3 stars, Extras 1 stars, Replay 3.5 stars (out of 5). Rent it.
Coco Chanel & Igor Stravinsky (DVD and Blu-ray)
What's the Deal?
Coca Chanel & Igor Stravinsky is the second film about Coco Chanel to be released in a short space of time, the other being the French film Coco before Chanel. Coco Chanel & Igor Stravinsky is directed by veteran filmmaker Jan Kounen, with Anna Mouglais (Romanzo Criminale) and Mads Mikkelsen (Casino Royale) as the title characters.
Based on a novel by Chris Greenhalgh, Coco Chanel & Igor Stravinsky tells of the rumoured affair between the French fashion designer and the Russian composer as they drawn to each other emotionally and creatively.
Critics Rating (Rotten Tomatoes): 52% (average)
Player Affinity Score: $19.99 (DVD), $23.99 (Blu-ray)
DISC DETAILS
DVD Special Features: The Making of Coco Chanel & Igor Stravinsky Featurette
Amazon Price: $19.99 (DVD), $23.99 (Blu-ray)
Score (DVDTalk.com): Content: 4.5 stars, Video 3.5 stars, Audio 4 stars, Extras 1.5 stars, Replay 3.5 stars (out of 5). Highly Recommended.
Frozen (DVD and Blu-ray)
What's the Deal?
The Horror director of Hatchet, Adam Green, has returned with his new film Frozen. With a plot that is described as Open Water in the mountains, Green recruits Emma Bell (Gracie), Kevin Zegers (Transamerica) and Shawn Ashmore (X-Men Trilogy). The film premiered at Sundance this year.
Frozen tells how three college students, Dan (Zegers), Joe (Ashmore) and Bell (Parker) end up stuck on a ski lift with no sign of help. They are faced with difficult choices to survive or else they would freeze to death.
Critics Rating (Rotten Tomatoes): 57% (average)
Player Affinity Score: N/A
DISC DETAILS
DVD Special Features: Audio commentary with Writer/Director Adam Green and Actors Shawn Ashmore, Kevin Zegers and Emma Bell; Audio Commentary with Writer/Director Adam Green, Cinematographer Will Barratt and Editor Ed Marx; Catching Frostbite: The Origins of Frozen; Featurettes: ; Three Below Zero, Shooting Through It; Beating the Mountain: Surviving Frozen; Deleted Scenes; Theatrical trailer
Amazon Price: $10.99 (DVD), $31.49 (Blu-ray)
Score (DVDTalk.com): Content: 4.5 stars, Video 4 stars, Audio 4 stars, Extras 4 stars, Replay 4 stars (out of 5). Highly Recommended.
Good (DVD and Blu-ray)
What's the Deal?
Films that are based on plays tend to offer a sense of prestige for actors and directors, like Frost/Nixon, Alfie (1966) and The Madness of King George. Good follows that trend, casting Viggo Mortensen, Jason Isaacs (Lucius Malfoy from Harry Potter) and Mark Strong in leading roles. Good is directed by Austrian filmmaker Vicente Amorim, with John Wrathall on writing duties.
Based on a play by C.P. Taylor, Good tells how literature professor John Halder (Mortensen) reluctantly joins the Nazi Party. But when anti-Semitism grows in Germany he has to choose between his career and his Jewish friend Maurice (Isaacs).
Critics Rating (Rotten Tomatoes): 34% (bad)
Player Affinity Score: N/A
DISC DETAILS
DVD Special Features: Interviews with Viggo Mortensen, Jason Isaacs, Jodie Whitaker, Mark Strong and more behind-the-scenes footage
Amazon Price: $17.49 (DVD), $15.99 (Blu-ray)
Score (DVDTalk.com): N/A
Suck (DVD and Blu-ray)
What's the Deal?
The Vampire comedy Suck should not be confused with the Friedberg/Seltzer "parody" Vampires Suck. Suck is written and directed by Canadian comedian Rob Stefaniuk, who also stars. The film also stars Jessica Pare (Hot Tub Time Machine), Malcom MacDowell (A Clockwork Orange) and Dave Foley (A Bug’s Life) and features cameos from Alice Cooper, Iggy Pop and Moby.
Rock band The Winners will do anything to get ahead in the music industry. When their bassist Jennifer (Pare) becomes a sexually charged vampire the band becomes a hit and thrust into the limelight.
Critics Rating (Rotten Tomatoes): 50% (average)
Player Affinity Score: N/A
DISC DETAILS
DVD Special Features: Making-of documentary "Down to the Crossroads Or: How to Make a Movie Suck" including cast & crew interviews; Audio commentary with writer/director Rob Stefaniuk and cinematographer Gregor Hagey; Burning brides "Flesh and Bone" music video
Amazon Price: $13.99 (DVD), $14.99 (Blu-ray)
Score (DVDTalk.com): N/A
Superman/Batman: Apocalypse (DVD and Blu-ray)
What's the Deal?
Warner Premiere and Warner Brothers Animation are continuing with their direct-to-DVD series of DC adaptations. With previous entries such as Superman/Batman: Public Enemies having a positive reception, Lauren Montgomery (Wonder Woman, Green Lantern: First Flight) directs a new Superman and Batman adventure. Tim Daly and Kevin Conroy respire their roles as the Man of Steel and the Caped Crusader and they are joined by the likes of Summer Glau (Serenity) and Edward Asner (Up).
Based on a popular story arc by Jeph Loeb, Superman/Batman Apocalypse is a sequel to Superman/Batman: Public Enemies. A spaceship crashes into Gotham Harbor and our heroes encounter a mysterious Kryptonian, with powers that very much like Superman’s. But when Darkseid (Andre Braugher) finds out about this he captures and tries to bring them under Apokolips’ control.
Critics Rating (Rotten Tomatoes): N/A
Player Affinity Score: N/A
DISC DETAILS
DVD Special Features: Snake Peek: All-star Superman - preview DC Unvierse's next animated original movie; Explore 3 other DC Universe animated original movies
2-Disc DVD Special Features: Disc 1 With Movie; Sneak Peek: All-Star Superman - Preview DC Universe's Next Animated Original Movie; ; Explore 3 Other DC Universe Animated Original Movies ; ; Disc 2; Supergirl: The Last Daughter of Krypton; Bruce Timm Presents 2 Bonus Cartoons Featuring Darkseid
Amazon Price: $13.99 (DVD), $16.99 (2-Disc DVD), $19.99 (Blu-ray)
Score (DVDTalk.com): Content: 3.5 stars, Video 4 stars, Audio 3.5 stars, Extras 3.5 stars, Replay 4 stars (out of 5). Recommended.
Perrier's Bounty (DVD)
What's the Deal?
Irish cinema is an interesting beast because the nation has produced excellent talent like Michael Fassbender, Saoirse Ronan and Neil Jordan, and films like Hunger and Once have gained an audience outside the country. But Irish films are often overshadowed by British and American ones, with Irish actors and filmmakers leaving to find work abroad. Director Ian Fitzgibbon and screenwriter Mark O’Dowd (Boy A) have made a crime comedy thriller with some top actors from Ireland and England starring, including Cillian Murphy (28 Days Later), Brendan Gleeson (In Bruges) and Jim Broadbent (Hot Fuzz).
Michael McCrea (Murphy) is a man who has to borrow money from loan shark Perrier (Gleeson). But when Perrier wants his money back he places a price on Michael’s head, forcing the young man into the Dublin underworld.
Critics Rating (Rotten Tomatoes): 55% (average)
Player Affinity Score: N/A
DISC DETAILS
DVD Special Features: Trailer; Making of
Amazon Price: $22.49 (DVD)
Score (DVDTalk.com): N/A
The Thin Red Line (Blu-ray)
What's the Deal?
In 1998 Saving Private Ryan gained a lot of critical and media attention, winning five Academy Awards. But Saving Private Ryan was not the only respected film about World War Two from that year. Terrence Malick (Badlands, Days of Heaven) adaptation of James Jones was nominated for seven Academy Awards, won the Golden Bear at the Berlin Film Festival and one of Martin Scorsese’s favourite films of second film of the 1990s. There is an ensemble cast for this film, including Jim Caviezel (The Passion of the Christ), Sean Penn, Adrien Brody, Woody Harrelson, et al.
Set during the battle of Guadalcanal Island, the film looks at a wide range of characters as they examine life and death in the background of war. The characters include a career-minded colonel (Nick Nolte), a spiritual captain (Elias Koteas) the discussion of a sergeant (Penn) and a new, AWOL private (Caviezel). The Thin Red Line is a more artistic film then Saving Private Ryan, but there are still fun battle scenes.
Critic Rating (Rotten Tomatoes): 78% (good)
Player Affinity Score: 8.0/10
DISC DETAILS
DVD Special Features: New Audio Commentary by Toll, Production Designer Jack Fisk, and Producer Grant Hill; Interviews with several of the film's actors, including Kirk Acevedo, Jim Caviezel, Thomas Jane, Elias Koteas, Dash Mihok, and Sean Penn: Composer Hans Zimmer; Editors Billy Weber, Leslie Jones, and Saar Kelin; and Writer James Jones' Daughter Kaylie Jones; New Interview with Casting Director Dianne Crittenden, featuring archival audition footage; Fourteen Minutes of Outtakes from the Film; World War II newsreels from Guadalcanal and the Solomon Islands; Melansian Chants; Original Theatrical Trailer; ; Plus: A booklet featuring an Essay by Film Critic David Sterritt and a 1963 reprint by James Jones
Amazon Price: $29.49 (Blu-ray)
Score (DVDTalk.com): Content: 4.5 stars, Video 5 stars, Audio 5 stars, Extras 3.5 stars, Replay 4 stars (out of 5). Highly Recommended.
King Kong (1933) (Blu-ray)
What's the Deal?
King Kong may not be the
Commentary by Visual Effects Veterans Ray Harryhausen and Ken Ralston, with Interview Excerpts from Merian C. Cooper and Fay Wray; ; I'm King Kong! The Exploits of Merian C. Cooper Profiles the Original King Kong's Guiding Hand; ; 7-Part Documentary RKO Production 601: The Making of Kong, the Eighth Wonder of the World; ; Original Creation Test Footage with Ray Harryhausen Commentary (Hi-Def); ; The Lost Spider Pit Sequence (Hi-Def); ; Theatrical Trailer
Amazon Price: $24.99 (Blu-ray)
Score (DVDTalk.com): N/A
Merry Christmas, Mr Lawrence (Blu-ray)
What's the Deal?
Based on a novel by Laurens van der Post, Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence is Japanese director, Nagisa Oshima’s (Boy) first English language film. Singer David Bowie stars with Tom Conti, Ryuichi Sakamoto (The Last Emperor) and Takeshi Kitano (Battle Royale) in this film about POWs in the Second World War.
Bowie plays Major Celliers, a British Army Officer who offers silence resistance against the Japanese, earning the respect of POW camp commander Captain Yonoi (Sakamoto), whilst Colonel John Lawrence (Conti) offers more conventional resistance against the brutal camp sergeant (Kitano).
Critics Rating (Rotten Tomatoes): 75% (good)
Player Affinity Score: N/A
DISC DETAILS
DVD Special Features: The Oshima Gang, a 1983 Making-0f Featurette; New Video Interviews with Producer Jeremy Thomas, Screenwriter Paul Mayersberg, Actor Tom Conti, and Actor-Composer Ryuichi Sakamoto; Hasten Slowly, an hour-long 1996 Documentary about Author Laurens van der Post, whose Autobiographical novel was the basis for the film; Original Theatrical Trailer; New and Improved English subtitle translation; Plus: a Booklet featuring an essay by film writer Chuck Stephens and reprinted Interviews with Director Nagisa Oshima and Actor Takeshi Kitano
Amazon Price: $29.99 (Blu-ray)
Score (DVDTalk.com): Content: 3.5 stars, Video 4 stars, Audio 4 stars, Extras 4 stars, Replay 2.5 stars (out of 5). Recommended.
Prey (Blu-ray)
What's the Deal?
Director Daniel Roodt has an interest career. His films Sarafina! was played out of competition at Cannes in 1992 and Yesterday was nominated for a Academy Award for best foreign language film in 2004. But also directed horror films, like the Z-Movie Dracula 3000. Prey is an African Horror film starring Peter Weller (RoboCop), Carly Schroeder (Gracie) and Bridget Moynahan (I, Robot).
Tom Newman (Weller) is unable to join his family on a their first safari with his new wife Amy (Moyanhan) and his teenage children Jessica (Schroeder) and David (Conner Dowds). When the family’s guide takes them off road they are stuck in the middle of the African bush, surrounded by very hungry lions.
Critics Rating (Rotten Tomatoes): N/A
Player Affinity Score: N/A
DISC DETAILS
DVD Special Features: N/A
Amazon Price: $15.99 (Blu-ray)
Score (DVDTalk.com): N/A
