Dan's DVD Picks for March 20th
Posted: Mon Mar 19, 2012 11:30 am
Dan's DVD Picks for March 20, 2012
_______________________________
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011)
dir. David Fincher
Typically I donגt usually see American remakes if Iגve seen the original foreign language film. I made an exception for this because of David Fincher being attached to it. I thought this was a very good adaption, even though it was almost scene for scene identical to the original, though the ending is different and completely threw me since I wasnגt expecting it.
Product Description:
Hoping to distance himself from the fallout of a libel conviction, journalist Mikael Blomkvist retreats to a remote island in Sweden's far north where the unsolved murder of a young girl haunts her industrialist uncle forty years later. Ensconced in a cottage on the island where the killer may still roam, Blomkvist's investigation drawn him into the secrets and lies of the rich and powerful. And throws him together with one unlikely ally - tattooed, punk hacker, Lisbeth Salander.
_______________________________
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011)
dir. Tomas Alfedson
I saw this in the theater, thought it was great, even though it left me really confused. This is one of those films that would take at least 2 viewings to fully grasp. I look forward to it.
Product Description:
Gary Oldman leads a stunning all-star cast in this masterful adaptation of John le Carre's bestselling novel that redefined the spy thriller. At the height of the Cold War, a precarious operation goes deadly wrong, and the head of British Intelligence wonders if a double agent is leaking vital secrets. Brought out of retirement to expose the potential mole, master spy George Smiley (Oldman) is the only one who can be trusted to expose one of their own. Or can he? As the emotional and physical tolls mount on the high-ranking suspects, Smiley will be forced into the ultimate international spy game where everyone's motives are in question. Filled with stunning performances by Academy Award(R) winner Colin Firth, Tom Hardy, John Hurt, Toby Jones, Mark Strong, Benedict Cumberbatch and Ciaran Hinds, it's the powerful and deeply resonant spy tale that Ebert Presents at the Movies hails as "hands down the best new thriller this year".
_______________________________
Carnage (2011)
dir. Roman Polanski
Product Description:
"Carnage" is a razor sharp, biting comedy centered on parental differences. After two boys duke it out on a playground, the parents of the "victim" invite the parents of the "bully" over to work out their issues. A polite discussion of childrearing soon escalates into verbal warfare, with all four parents revealing their true colors. None of them will escape the carnage. Directed by Roman Polanski ("The Pianist"), "Carnage" stars Academy Award(R)-winner Kate Winslet (Best Actress, "The Reader", 2008) and Academy Award(R)-winner Christoph Waltz (Best Supporting Actor, "Inglourious Basterds", 2009) as husband and wife Nancy and Alan Cowan, opposite Academy Award(R)-winner Jodie Foster (Best Actress, "The Silence of the Lambs", 1991; Best Actress, "The Accused", 1988) and Academy Award(R)-nominee John C. Reilly (Best Supporting Actor, "Chicago", 2002) as Penelope and Michael Longstreet.
_______________________________
The Sitter (2011)
dir. David Gordon Green
Product Description:
Jonah Hill rides out one outrageously wild night in this hilarious comedy from the director of "Pineapple Express". Suburban slacker Noah (Hill) is watching a neighbor's kids when he gets a booty call from his horny girlfriend in the city. To hook up with her, Noah takes to the streets, but his urban adventure spins out of control as he finds himself on the run from a maniacal druglord. Raunchy laughs and insane action - it's all in a night's work for "The Sitter".
_______________________________
The Muppets (2011)
dir. James Bobin
Product Description:
On vacation in Los Angeles, Walter, the world's biggest Muppet fan, his brother Gary (Jason Segel) and Gary's girldfriend Mary (Amy Adams) from Smalltown, USA, discover the nefarious plan of oilman Tex Richman (Chris Cooper) to raze the Muppet Theater and frill for the oil recently discovered beneath the Muppets' former stomping grounds. To stage The Greatest Muppet Telethon Ever and raise the 10 million dollars needed to save the theater, Walter, Mary and Gary help Kermit reunite the Muppets, who have all gone their separate ways: Fozzie now performs with a Reno casino tribute band called the Moopets, Miss Piggy is a plus-size fashion editor at Vogue Paris, Animal is in a Santa Barbara clinic for anger management, and Gonzo is a high-powered plumbing magnate.
_______________________________
Hop (2011)
dir. Tim Hill
Product Description:
From the makers of Despicable Me comes an all-new comedy about candy, chicks and rock n roll! He was destined to be the Easter Bunny, but all he wanted to do was rock! When teenage E.B. (voiced by Russell Brand) leaves for Hollywood in pursuit of his dream to become a rockstar drummer, he meets Fred (James Marsden), an out-of-work slacker with his own lofty goals. Together the two encounter a series of hilarious mishaps and misadventures and in the end help each other recognize the importance of family.
_______________________________
Battle Royale: The Complete Collection (2000)
dir. Kinji Fukasaku
Never saw this, but have always wanted to. A single disc version is also available this week.
Product Description:
One Of The Most Controversial Film Series Of All Time.
Now Available For The First Time In America.
In 2000, director Kinji Fukasaku unleashed BATTLE ROYALE, his violently poetic epic about an innocent group of Junior High students forced by the government to hunt and kill their classmates for sport. It was nominated for 10 Japanese Academy Awards, launched a global phenomenon, and banned from screens by frightened civic groups and distributors across America. Three years later, the equally disturbing sequel -- featuring a new class, new rules, and a brutal terrorist plot by the first film's young survivors -- triggered its own tragic firestorm around the world. Now for the first time ever, you can see it all: Experience the entire BATTLE ROYALE saga on 4 discs -- including more than 3 hours of definitive Special Features -- that forever blasts open one of the most potent, shocking and savagely influential sagas in motion picture history.
_______________________________
Letter Never Sent (The Criterion Collection) (1959)
dir. Mikhail Kalatozov
Product Description:
The great Soviet director Mikhail Kalatozov ("The Cranes Are Flying"), known for his virtuosic, emotionally gripping films, perhaps never directed one more visually astonishing than "Letter Never Sent". This absorbing tale of exploration and survival concerns four members of a geological expedition who are stranded in the bleak and unforgiving Siberian wilderness while on a mission to find diamonds. Luxuriating in wide-angle beauty and featuring one daring shot after another (the brilliant cinematography is by Kalatozov's frequent collaborator Sergei Urusevsky), "Letter Never Sent" is a fascinating piece of cinematic history and a universal adventure of the highest order.
_______________________________
The War Room (The Criterion Collection) (1993)
dirs. D.A. Pennebaker, Chris Hegedus
Product Description:
The 1992 presidential election was a triumph not only for Bill Clinton but also for the new breed of strategists who guided him to the White House and changed the face of politics in the process. For this thrilling, behind-closed-doors account of that campaign, renowned cinema verit
_______________________________
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011)
dir. David Fincher
Typically I donגt usually see American remakes if Iגve seen the original foreign language film. I made an exception for this because of David Fincher being attached to it. I thought this was a very good adaption, even though it was almost scene for scene identical to the original, though the ending is different and completely threw me since I wasnגt expecting it.
Product Description:
Hoping to distance himself from the fallout of a libel conviction, journalist Mikael Blomkvist retreats to a remote island in Sweden's far north where the unsolved murder of a young girl haunts her industrialist uncle forty years later. Ensconced in a cottage on the island where the killer may still roam, Blomkvist's investigation drawn him into the secrets and lies of the rich and powerful. And throws him together with one unlikely ally - tattooed, punk hacker, Lisbeth Salander.
_______________________________
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011)
dir. Tomas Alfedson
I saw this in the theater, thought it was great, even though it left me really confused. This is one of those films that would take at least 2 viewings to fully grasp. I look forward to it.
Product Description:
Gary Oldman leads a stunning all-star cast in this masterful adaptation of John le Carre's bestselling novel that redefined the spy thriller. At the height of the Cold War, a precarious operation goes deadly wrong, and the head of British Intelligence wonders if a double agent is leaking vital secrets. Brought out of retirement to expose the potential mole, master spy George Smiley (Oldman) is the only one who can be trusted to expose one of their own. Or can he? As the emotional and physical tolls mount on the high-ranking suspects, Smiley will be forced into the ultimate international spy game where everyone's motives are in question. Filled with stunning performances by Academy Award(R) winner Colin Firth, Tom Hardy, John Hurt, Toby Jones, Mark Strong, Benedict Cumberbatch and Ciaran Hinds, it's the powerful and deeply resonant spy tale that Ebert Presents at the Movies hails as "hands down the best new thriller this year".
_______________________________
Carnage (2011)
dir. Roman Polanski
Product Description:
"Carnage" is a razor sharp, biting comedy centered on parental differences. After two boys duke it out on a playground, the parents of the "victim" invite the parents of the "bully" over to work out their issues. A polite discussion of childrearing soon escalates into verbal warfare, with all four parents revealing their true colors. None of them will escape the carnage. Directed by Roman Polanski ("The Pianist"), "Carnage" stars Academy Award(R)-winner Kate Winslet (Best Actress, "The Reader", 2008) and Academy Award(R)-winner Christoph Waltz (Best Supporting Actor, "Inglourious Basterds", 2009) as husband and wife Nancy and Alan Cowan, opposite Academy Award(R)-winner Jodie Foster (Best Actress, "The Silence of the Lambs", 1991; Best Actress, "The Accused", 1988) and Academy Award(R)-nominee John C. Reilly (Best Supporting Actor, "Chicago", 2002) as Penelope and Michael Longstreet.
_______________________________
The Sitter (2011)
dir. David Gordon Green
Product Description:
Jonah Hill rides out one outrageously wild night in this hilarious comedy from the director of "Pineapple Express". Suburban slacker Noah (Hill) is watching a neighbor's kids when he gets a booty call from his horny girlfriend in the city. To hook up with her, Noah takes to the streets, but his urban adventure spins out of control as he finds himself on the run from a maniacal druglord. Raunchy laughs and insane action - it's all in a night's work for "The Sitter".
_______________________________
The Muppets (2011)
dir. James Bobin
Product Description:
On vacation in Los Angeles, Walter, the world's biggest Muppet fan, his brother Gary (Jason Segel) and Gary's girldfriend Mary (Amy Adams) from Smalltown, USA, discover the nefarious plan of oilman Tex Richman (Chris Cooper) to raze the Muppet Theater and frill for the oil recently discovered beneath the Muppets' former stomping grounds. To stage The Greatest Muppet Telethon Ever and raise the 10 million dollars needed to save the theater, Walter, Mary and Gary help Kermit reunite the Muppets, who have all gone their separate ways: Fozzie now performs with a Reno casino tribute band called the Moopets, Miss Piggy is a plus-size fashion editor at Vogue Paris, Animal is in a Santa Barbara clinic for anger management, and Gonzo is a high-powered plumbing magnate.
_______________________________
Hop (2011)
dir. Tim Hill
Product Description:
From the makers of Despicable Me comes an all-new comedy about candy, chicks and rock n roll! He was destined to be the Easter Bunny, but all he wanted to do was rock! When teenage E.B. (voiced by Russell Brand) leaves for Hollywood in pursuit of his dream to become a rockstar drummer, he meets Fred (James Marsden), an out-of-work slacker with his own lofty goals. Together the two encounter a series of hilarious mishaps and misadventures and in the end help each other recognize the importance of family.
_______________________________
Battle Royale: The Complete Collection (2000)
dir. Kinji Fukasaku
Never saw this, but have always wanted to. A single disc version is also available this week.
Product Description:
One Of The Most Controversial Film Series Of All Time.
Now Available For The First Time In America.
In 2000, director Kinji Fukasaku unleashed BATTLE ROYALE, his violently poetic epic about an innocent group of Junior High students forced by the government to hunt and kill their classmates for sport. It was nominated for 10 Japanese Academy Awards, launched a global phenomenon, and banned from screens by frightened civic groups and distributors across America. Three years later, the equally disturbing sequel -- featuring a new class, new rules, and a brutal terrorist plot by the first film's young survivors -- triggered its own tragic firestorm around the world. Now for the first time ever, you can see it all: Experience the entire BATTLE ROYALE saga on 4 discs -- including more than 3 hours of definitive Special Features -- that forever blasts open one of the most potent, shocking and savagely influential sagas in motion picture history.
_______________________________
Letter Never Sent (The Criterion Collection) (1959)
dir. Mikhail Kalatozov
Product Description:
The great Soviet director Mikhail Kalatozov ("The Cranes Are Flying"), known for his virtuosic, emotionally gripping films, perhaps never directed one more visually astonishing than "Letter Never Sent". This absorbing tale of exploration and survival concerns four members of a geological expedition who are stranded in the bleak and unforgiving Siberian wilderness while on a mission to find diamonds. Luxuriating in wide-angle beauty and featuring one daring shot after another (the brilliant cinematography is by Kalatozov's frequent collaborator Sergei Urusevsky), "Letter Never Sent" is a fascinating piece of cinematic history and a universal adventure of the highest order.
_______________________________
The War Room (The Criterion Collection) (1993)
dirs. D.A. Pennebaker, Chris Hegedus
Product Description:
The 1992 presidential election was a triumph not only for Bill Clinton but also for the new breed of strategists who guided him to the White House and changed the face of politics in the process. For this thrilling, behind-closed-doors account of that campaign, renowned cinema verit