New this Week: 'Happy Feet Two,' 'The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1' and 'Evil Dead 2: 25th Anniversary Edition (BD)'
Hitting movie theaters this weekend:
Happy Feet Two - Elijah Wood, Robin Williams, Pink The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1 - Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, Taylor Lautner
Movie of the Week
The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1
The Stars: Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, Taylor Lautner The Plot: The Quileute and the Volturi close in on expecting parents Edward and Bella, whose unborn child poses different threats to the wolf pack and vampire coven. The Buzz: The only drawback to having to choose a movie of the week becomes apparent on weeks such as this one, wherein I have absolutely zero interest in any of the new releases. First of all, I hated what I saw of the first Happy Feet, and the trailer for Happy Feet Two advertises a film which looks to be about as bearable as swallowing a glass full of shards of glass. And so, the latest Twilight installment wins 'Movie of the Week' this week, and easily. Though, I've never even seen a single frame of a Twilight film, nor do I desire to. Well, OK, I just lied, 'cause I have seen the Twilight trailers, and they look truly awful. Not Happy Feet awful, but still, pretty awful -- you call that CGI?? I do like Kristen Stewart though (especially in The Runaways) and Robert Pattinson is palatable, bordering on man-crush land. Taylor Lautner though, really? Teen heart-throb? Hmm. That's just baffling to the Nth degree. I'll be happy when all this Twilight action is over.
Every Friday we'll have new reviews of the latest films. TSR's complete Film Review Database
New Blu-ray and DVDs released this week:
Beginners (BD/DVD) - Ewan McGregor, Christopher Plummer, Mélanie Laurent Bellflower (BD/DVD) - Evan Glodell, Tyler Dawson, Jessie Wiseman Evil Dead 2: 25th Anniversary Edition (BD) - Bruce Campbell, Sarah Berry, Dan Hicks Flypaper (BD/DVD) - Patrick Dempsey, Ashley Judd, Pruitt Taylor Vince Giorgio Moroder Presents Metropolis: Special Edition (BD/DVD) - Brigitte Helm, Alfred Abel, Gustav Fröhlich Humongous (DVD) - Janet Julian, David Wallace, John Wildman Infernal Affairs (BD) - Andy Lau, Tony Leung Chiu Wai, Anthony Wong Chau-Sang Larry Crowne (BD/DVD) - Tom Hanks, Julia Roberts, Sarah Mahoney The Lion King (DVD) - Matthew Broderick, Jeremy Irons, James Earl Jones My Fair Lady (BD) - Audrey Hepburn, Rex Harrison, Stanley Holloway Main Street (BD/DVD) - Colin Firth, Ellen Burstyn, Patricia Clarkson Neverwhere (DVD) - Gary Bakewell, Laura Fraser, Hywel Bennett Rules of the Game [Criterion] (BD/DVD) - Marcel Dalio, Nora Gregor, Paulette Dubost Spy Kids Triple Feature (BD/DVD) - Alexa Vega, Daryl Sabara, Antonio Banderas Three Colors: Blue, White, Red [Criterion] (BD) - Irène Jacob, Jean-Louis Trintignant, Frédérique Feder West Side Story: 50th Anniversary Edition (BD) - Natalie Wood, George Chakiris, Richard Beymer
Blu-ray/DVD of the Week
Evil Dead 2: 25th Anniversary Edition
The Stars: Bruce Campbell, Sarah Berry, Dan Hicks The Plot: The lone survivor of an onslaught of flesh-possessing spirits holds up in a cabin with a group of strangers while the demons continue their attack. The Buzz: So as to continue a trend of rampant re-releases, the Evil Dead franchise gets its second version (on Blu-ray) of the amazingly awesome classic Evil Dead 2. Sure, it's the 25th anniversary, and as good as a reason as any for another re-release, but what's truly at the bottom of this? The answer: it's simply Lions Gate Entertainment's desire to exploit the many rabid/loyal fans that this extremely unique and enjoyable franchise has collected over the years.
If you're bored, just type in Evil Dead or Army of Darkness on Amazon.com -- there are more versions of these films released than any other franchise (or at least, I'd argue such). That's not to say I'm upset or annoyed by the prospect, I just think it's a little shameless of the suits to rake the fans across the coals like this, year after year. And, yes, Sam Raimi is a suit nowadays, so the stars are truly aligned here.
I probably should have spent more time here writing about my love of this, the quirkiest trilogy of all time (and one of the best), but what more can be said about these films, that hasn't already been said? I finally saw Evil Dead on the big screen, just a couple of weeks back -- in glorious 35mm. The print was good, though the audio was a bit sketch. Still it was fun to see on the big screen. I saw Army of Darkness in the theater, back in 1993, upon its initial release, and it changed my life. Well, effectively all it did was infuse me with a particularly virulent strain of Bruce Campbell addiction. From that day forward, I made it a goal to see everything he was ever in. As a side: to this day, I don't think there's been a better TV show than The Adventures of Brisco County Jr. If you've never seen it, I'd say it should most certainly sky-rocket to the forefront of your queue, and immediately. Seriously.