Michael Jackson’s This Is It – This is about the making of what would have been Michael Jackson’s final tour, and it incorporates a lot of behind-the-scenes rehearsal footage of Michael and his crew preparing dance routines, and working on different arrangements of songs. The theatrical release was very successful as This Is It is the most successful concert film of all-time, and Michael Jackson fans will definitely want to add this to their collection.
Whip It – This film stars Ellen Page and is directed by Drew Barrymore (her feature film directorial debut). It is about an outcast who finds her true calling in the sport of roller derby. The cast is pretty decent, as Kristen Wiig, Marcia Gay Harden, Daniel Stern, Jimmy Fallon, Juliette Lewis, Eve, and Zoe Bell. This film never took off in theatres, but I think it will find a life on DVD.
Surrogates – This is a science-fiction film starring Bruce Willis. The basic premise is that humans live at home and have robotic surrogates live their lives. This idyllic world is shattered when some surrogates and their human hosts die. Willis’s character is forced to leave home for the first time in years, and do some detective work. He ends up uncovering a conspiracy about the whole surrogate life. This film did not seem to get noticed when it was in theatres, so we’ll see how well it does on DVD.
Saw VI – The makers of the franchise were extremely disappointed with how the latest installment did at the box office (it got beaten badly by Paranormal Activity this past Halloween). I’ll try to keep this as spoiler-free as possible, as a character becomes the unchallenged leader in continuing Jigsaw’s legacy. The new leader finds that the FBI are closing in on him, and a new series of traps are set in motion.
Little Ashes – This is the story of Salvador Dali, Federico Garcia Lorca and Luis Bunel and how they met in Madrid in 1922. This film went virtually unnoticed in theatres, which is surprising only because of the fact that Robert Pattinson was the lead, and his rabid Twilight fan base ignored him. Maybe they only like him in the Twilight franchise. Critics say you should pass on this film, as it tries to hard to be taken seriously, which leads it to being an unintentionally funny film.
Bright Star – This film received glowing reviews when it was released, but never really found an audience. The film is about the relationship between John Keats and Fanny Brawne. It is a classic story of two opposites who do not get along at first, and eventually grow closer together. Their three year romance is the driving force of the film, which ended with Keats death at an early age.
The Boys Are Back – Another film that is based on a true story. This film stars Clive Owen and is directed by Scott Hicks (Shine), and is about a sports journalist who has to cope with being a single parent after his wife’s sudden death. The transition at home is not an easy one, but after a rough start, the family finds their own way of functioning, when Owen’s character comes up a philosophy for the family to live by. This film has a Made-For-TV feel to me (that was my impression after I saw the trailer), but Clive Owen picks strong material, and critics gave solid reviews to the film. This might be one of those hidden gems that you can impress your friends with by saying you saw it first, and passing it along to them.
I Hope They Serve Beer In Hell – This film is basically a bad version of The Hangover. Not in the sense of getting drunk and not forgetting what happened the next morning, but the premise of doing something crazy for a bachelor party. The film centres on some friends who decide to take their best friend, who is about to get married, to a famous strip club three and a half hours away from where they live. Then Murphy’s Law sets in, and they try to get things sorted out. Critics and audiences ignored this movie on its release, and they saw that this should apply for the DVD release as well.
Alone In The Dark II – I don’t know much about this Direct-To-DVD offering, but I can tell you this: None of the original cast are in the sequel, and it is not directed by Uwe Boll. I don’t know if this means it will be better or worse than Boll’s original, but for the brave ones who find out, please let Biff Bam Pop know.
TV on DVD
Southland: The Complete First Season – This is a TV show about the lives of LAPD officers. This first season is only seven episodes long, but the behind-the-scenes story of this TV show could make for its own TV show. Southland had good, but not great ratings, in its first season. NBC said it that it had been picked up for a second season. A few months later, it got bumped to a later start date as NBC wanted to promote it more, and then out of nowhere NBC cancelled the show. TNT bought the series, and it is airing season one, plus the six completed episodes of season two. Whether or not it continues after that is based on how TNT thinks the thirteen episodes do in the ratings.
Until Next Tuesday!
