This column mainly focuses on Blu-ray new releases, hence the title. However I'm torn this week because the best new film arriving for home consumption isn't coming out on Blu-ray. So I have two picks of the week this week — one for Blu-ray and one for DVD. There is some great stuff on both formats coming available. And particularly a "so bad it's good" title that I have to share.
Blu-ray Pick of the Week
Saving Private Ryan
Arriving for the first time on Blu-ray comes Steven Spielberg's remarkable World War II saga. The gritty and bloody war movie stands as one of the most influential films since its release. Every war movie that has come after has been influenced by the stark visuals of this film. Tom Hanks stars as Capt. John Miller whose job it is to lead a group of men on a difficult mission to bring home one man named Ryan, played by Matt Damon. The film captures the randomness of war. Who lives and who dies is sometimes up to luck. Spielberg precisely balances between honoring soldiers and questioning the motives that send them into harm's way. It's a modern masterpiece and I bet it looks amazing in HD.
Buy "Saving Private Ryan" on Blu-ray Here!
DVD Pick of the Week
Boogie Man: The Lee Atwater Story
Forget about LEAP YEAR and TOOTH FAIRY this week, the best new release is BOOGIE MAN: THE LEE ATWATER STORY. From director Stefan Forbes comes this in-depth look at the political rise and fall of Lee Atwater, the man who taught Karl Rove how to be Karl Rove. Atwater wasn't particularly interested in Republican ideals, he just wanted to win and gain power. He is the architect of dirty politics as we know it today. Ask Michael Dukakis about him. The film is a great historical document of one's man's dark influence over American politics.
Buy "Boogie Man: The Lee Atwater Story" Here!
Queue Qualified
Doctor Zhivago
I struggled between picking this or RYAN as my Blu-ray pick of the week. David Lean's Russian epic is one of the most gorgeously filmed motion pictures ever made. My father introduced me to the film when I was in high school for it is one of his favorites. I haven't forgotten it since. Omar Sharif as the poet sweats passion and anyone can see why even though he was married why he'd fall for Julie Christie's Lara. She is gorgeous in this classic. Co-stars include Geraldine Chaplin, Rod Steiger and Alec Guinness. A must see for any serious movie fan.
Buy "Doctor Zhivago"on DVD Here!
Buy "Doctor Zhivago" on Blu-ray Here!
Evil Toons
This is the "it's so bad it's good" title I was hinting at. Its 20th anniversary edition is coming out in 2010 when it was released in 1992. I guess they're getting a two-year jumpstart on the demand. Four hot girls are given the task of cleaning up a spooky house. David Carradine shows up with a bootleg version of the Necronomicon from the EVIL DEAD series, which lets loose an evil cartoon that rapes and murders. The T&A horror flick is awful in every way possible. Which of course makes it hilarious and thoroughly enjoyable.
Nine
Rob Marshall's musical take on Federico Fellini's 8 1/2 was unduly lambasted by critics upon its release in December. But expectations are going to be enormously high when you're redoing one of the greatest films ever made. Marshall isn't a master of the craft like Fellini, but he does do a good job of capturing the Italian psyche of the 1970s. And what a cast — Daniel Day-Lewis, Marion Cotillard, Penelope Cruz, Judi Dench, Nicole Kidman, Kate Hudson, Sophia Loren and Fergie, who gives the show-stopping musical performance of the film. Flawed, but entertaining.
The Notebook
Now I believe Nicolas Sparks is to literature what Thomas Kinkade is to painting. Take that analogy as you will. Nonetheless, I have to admit this melodrama romance works quite well. Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams emerged from this sudsy love story as stars. James Garner and Gena Rowlands return to the screen with dignity. Garner and Rowlands have the broadest moments but they make them feel real. Goes to show you what a good cast can do.
Buy "The Notebook" on Blu-ray Here!
Buzzed About
The Chosen
I've heard this little known film called the best film about Judaism ever made. Robby Benson, the voice of the Beast in Disney's BEAUTY AND THE BEAST, plays the son of an Orthodox rabbi, played by Rod Steiger. He becomes friends with a reformed Jew named Reuven (Barry Miller), who excels at mathematics. Set in 1940s Brooklyn, the film deals with the clash between old world ideals and the modern world.
P-Star Rising
When the trailer for this PBS-produced doc came out it made an impression on me. In the '80s, Jesse Diaz was a rising hip-hop star, but circumstances led him to become a single father of two who for a time was on food stamps. Now he pushes his talented nine-year-old daughter Priscilla, aka P-Star, to make it further in the music business than he did. P-Star's rap skills are impressive and the doc looks moving.
Buy "P-Star Rising" on DVD Here!
Tetro
Francois Ford Coppola is investing his winemaking money into making art films now. Critics ripped into his first effort YOUTH WITHOUT YOUTH, but were kinder to his second, TETRO. Story deals with a brother who goes to Buenos Aires to find his once-promising-writer brother, who has become s shell of his former self. It's Coppola so there is always the potential for greatest. But it's hard to shake the taste of pretension when you cast Vincent Gallo as one of your leads. But I'm willing to give it a sample.
Tokyo Sonata
This Japanese drama was well received when it came out at the beginning of 2009. It follows a family that begins to fall apart when the head loses his job at a top company. Seems like a fitting tale for our current economic times. Roger Ebert said you might think you know where the film is going but you are wrong. When it works that's the best thing anyone can say about a movie.
Buy "Tokyo Sonata" on DVD Here!
Rick DeMott
Animation World Network
Creator of Rick's Flicks Picks
