Tuesday, May 10, 2011 at 1:35PM 5/10 New DVD Releases: Justin Bieber: Never Say Never, Blue Valentine and much more.
There seems to be something for every kind of movie fan this week. There's the teeny-bopper flick with Justin Bieber on one hand. There's the rom-com with Ashton & Natalie on the other hand. And if you have an extra set of hands laying around - like Goro from Mortal Kombat! - there's the movie with all the Oscar buzz and a couple of foreign films to whet your appetite if that's what you are in to. So without further ado:
Justin Bieber: Never Say Never
If you are into this little guy then you are probably REALLY into him. You are also probably already aware of how he got his start on Youtube, performed the shopping mall circuit for a few months, was introduced to Usher, and then exploded onto the pop culture scene. Love him or hate him he's a pop culture phenomenon. I have a feeling that no matter what is written here will sway you one way or the other to purchase the DVD. And since I have never heard a single song of his, I will bow out and move on to the next DVD out this week.
As far as rom-coms go this film doesn't appear to be that bad on the surface. Natalie Portman and Ashton Kutcher starring as besties who decide to have a sexual relationship without any attachments? Sounds intriguing. Ivan Reitman directing? Even better! In actuality the movie ended up getting lukewarm reviews (read ours here - see? Not bad.) . Now, that being said, it's not as though the genre is teeming with Oscar winners. If you are a fan of the two leads and are in the mood for some easy laughs and some romance then I recommend giving this one a shot.
This one has all the Oscar fodder. Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams play a couple at the beginning and end of their relationship. The film flip flops between the glorious early days and the horrifyingly realistic end days. Williams earned her first Academy Award nomination for her portrayal and Gosling is always stellar. There are scenes in this movie that are tough to watch, lending to some of the negative reviews, but overall critics loved this one. If you are a fan of either Gosling or Williams it would behoove you to watch this, simply for their talents on display alone.
(read our review here)
The Illusionist (L'illusionniste)
To be quite honest (and I hate being honest, let alone "quite" honest) I didn't know much about this movie until I was researching for this article. Upon reading the synopsis and some of the back story behind the making of the film I am now truly intrigued. The story was originally written in 1956 by French writer Jacques Tati as a letter to his estranged daughter. The director (Sylvain Chomet) felt compelled to turn the story into an animated feature. L'illusionniste follows a stage performer who is loosing his audience to rock bands and the like. He is forced to take his act on the road where he meets a young woman that changes his life forever. As a fan of animation I am looking forward to checking this one out.
This is another foreign film that has piqued my interest. It is from South Korea and is directed by Kim Ji-Woon (A Tale of Two Sisters, The Good, the Bad, the Weird). Ji-Woon is known for being able to tackle multiple genres while putting his own stylized stamp on the product. I'm interested to see what he does the revenge thriller in this case. I Saw the Devil has been described by rottentomatoes.com as a gritty, gory game of cat-and-mouse between a sadistic criminal (Oldboy's Choi Min-Sik) and the special agent fiancé (The Good, the Bad, the Weird's Lee Byung-Hun) of one of his most recent victims. Critics have compared it to torture porn, but according to RT the story raises interesting questions about the nature of morality. Consider me sold.!
Here are some other DVDs releasing today:
Home Improvement 20th Anniversary Complete Collection (has it been 20 YEARS?!)
Something Wild
From Dusk Til Dawn / From Dusk Til Dawn 2
Halloween: The Curse of Michael Meyers / Halloween H20: Twenty Years Later (has it been 20 YEARS?!)
Supernatural: Seasons 1-5
Doctor Who: Planet of the Spiders
Webster Season 2
Some Like it Hot
The Sign of the Cross
Christmas in July
Reader Comments (4)
make no mistake, the Sony awards do not give any recognltion to quality; they have been created solely for
the purpose of Sony exposure - the awards tend to be given to those shows with most audience pull.
So that the stations can "Sony Award winning blah, blah, blah" - a mere plug for Sony.
For any aesthetic or production values, you may as award a show a dog turd.
-quality fake Audemars Piguet
If only you could combine Justin Bieber with I Saw the Devil... hmmm seeing pop stars getting tortured. I think I have the greatest idea for a movie ever. Guess I'll shop around and see if it ends up on http://www.filmcrave.com/dvd_new.php
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