This is what we like to see!! The top five new releases on DVD progressively get less popular as they get worse. That is, the films with the best scores are also the ones which most people saw, and the two top films were even nominated for Oscars. But this week, Clooney beats Mo’nique (a brawl we’d pay to see in real life, bare-knuckles) and Up in the Air is the film to watch. Buy, I mean buy. Using this link.
Criticker Pick! Up in the Air – Average Tier 7.26 Ryan Bingham is a corporate downsizing expert whose cherished life on the road is threatened just as he is on the cusp of reaching ten million frequent flyer miles and just after he’s met the frequent-traveler woman of his dreams. Up in the Air @ Amazon
Precious – Average Tier 6.59 In Harlem, an overweight, illiterate teen who is pregnant with her second child is invited to enroll in an alternative school in hopes that her life can head in a new direction. Precious @ Amazon
Capitalism: A Love Story – Average Tier 5.75 What is the price that America pays for its love of capitalism? Moore takes us into the homes of ordinary people whose lives have been turned upside down and looks for explanations. Capitalism: A Love Story @ Amazon
Planet 51 – Average Tier 3.75 The inhabitants of Planet 51 live in fear of alien invasion. Their paranoia is realized when an astronaut arrives from Earth. Befriended by a young resident, he has to avoid capture in order to recover his spaceship and try to return home. Planet 51 @ Amazon
It’s a great week for new DVDs if you’re a kid or just appreciate well-made movies for the younger set. Spike Jonze and Hayao Miyazaki step up to the plate, and smash two awesome films that all ages can enjoy: Where the Wild Things Are and Ponyo. If you’re still suffering wintry weather, you now have two great reasons to stay on the couch a little longer.
2012 – Average Tier 3.45 An epic adventure about a global cataclysm that brings an end to the world and tells of the heroic struggle of the survivors. 2012 @ Amazon
Where the Wild Things Are – Average Tier 6.99 Max, a rambunctious and sensitive boy feels misunderstood at home and escapes to where the Wild Things are. He lands on an island where he meets mysterious and strange creatures whose emotions are as wild and unpredictable as their actions. Where the Wild Things Are @ Amazon
Criticker Pick! Ponyo – Average Tier 7.12 An animated adventure centered on a 5-year-old boy and his relationship with a goldfish princess who longs to become human. Ponyo @ Amazon
Gentlemen Broncos – Average Tier 3.40 A teenager attends a fantasy writers’ convention where he discovers his idea has been stolen by an established novelist. Gentlemen Broncos @ Amazon
One of the more surprising films in Criticker’s Top 20 of 2009 was The Damned United, an adaptation of real life coach Brian Clough’s travails at Leeds United. Strangely, it’s not the week’s only highly praised and amusing ‘true-story’ flick. Steven Soderbergh’s The Informant!, starring Matt Damon, also mostly won love at Criticker.
The Informant! – Average Tier 5.95 The U.S. government decides to go after an agri-business giant with a price-fixing accusation, based on the evidence submitted by their star witness, vice president turned informant Mark Whitacre. The Informant! @ Amazon
The Box – Average Tier 4.12 An unhappily married couple receive a small box on their doorstep. At the push of a button, the box brings its bearer instant wealth but also instantly kills someone the bearer doesn’t know. The Box @ Amazon
Criticker Pick!The Damned United – Average Tier 7.36 Brian Clough (Sheen) takes over as manager of Leeds United following the departure of club hero Don Revie (Meaney) for the England job and for the first time has to work without his partner, Peter Taylor (Spall). Adaptation of the popular book. The Damned United @ Amazon
Paris – Average Tier 5.65 Pierre, a professional dancer, suffers from a serious heart disease. While he is waiting for a transplant which may (or may not) save his life, he has nothing better to do than look at the people around him, from the balcony of his Paris apartment. When Elise, his sister with three kids and no husband, moves in to his place to care for him, Pierre does not change his new habits. And instead of dancing himself, it is Paris and the Parisians who dance before his eyes. Paris @ Amazon
Gerard Butler’s incessant assault on Hollywood continues in the marginally-approved Law Abiding Citizen, but the love of the Criticker community this week goes to Black Dynamite, a clever homage to (and mockery of) 70s blaxploitation flicks.
Law Abiding Citizen – Average Tier 5.43 An everyday guy decides to take justice into his own hands after a plea bargain sets his family’s killers free. His target: The district attorney who orchestrated the deal. Law Abiding Citizen @ Amazon
Criticker PickBlack Dynamite – Average Tier 7.01 This is the story of 1970s African-American action legend Black Dynamite. The Man killed his brother, pumped heroin into local orphanages, and flooded the ghetto with adulterated malt liquor. Black Dynamite was the one hero willing to fight The Man all the way from the blood-soaked city streets to the hallowed halls of the Honky House. Black Dynamite @ Amazon
The great reviews for this week’s best new film on DVD, A Serious Man, aren’t all that surprising — the Coen Brothers’ work is always appreciated around here. And I can’t say that the dismal scores for The Stepfather come as too much of a surprise, either. But, I was kind of hoping for this one to be a sleeper hit. The original, starring none other than John Locke, was one of my favorite creepy films growing up, and I was looking forward to the modern re-treatment. No longer.
Criticker Pick!A Serious Man – Average Tier 7.76 A black comedy set in 1967 and centered on Larry Gopnik, a professor who watches his life unravel when his wife prepares to leave him because his inept brother won’t move out of the house. A Serious Man @ Amazon
The Time Traveler’s Wife – Average Tier 5.26 A romantic drama about a Chicago librarian (Bana) with a gene that causes him to involuntarily time travel, and the complications it creates for his marriage. The Time Traveler’s Wife @ Amazon
Couples Retreat – Average Tier 2.82 A comedy centered around four couples who settle into a tropical-island resort for a vacation. While one of the couples is there to work on the marriage, the others fail to realize that participation in the resort’s therapy sessions is not optional. Couples Retreat @ Amazon
The Stepfather – Average Tier 1.92 Michael returns home from military school to find his mother happily in love and living with her new boyfriend. As the two men get to know each other, he becomes more and more suspicious of the man who is always there with a helpful hand. The Stepfather @ Amazon
My One and Only – Average Tier 5.65 A 1950s-set comedy in which the glamorous Anne Deveraux (Zellweger) embarks on a drive down the Eastern Seaboard in a quixotic search for a wealthy man to fund a new life for her and her sons. My One and Only @ Amazon
The strongest film of the week was perhaps the most surprising entry in Criticker’s year-end list of 2009’s Top 20: Zombieland. Honestly, I just saw this myself and was left completely unimpressed. It started out funny, but got worse and worse, and by the time they expected us to laugh just because of Bill Murray’s presence, I threw my hands up and stopped paying much attention. But hey, decide for yourselves… I’m definitely in the minority on this one.
Zombieland – Average Tier 6.88 After America is ravaged by a zombie plague, a band of survivors fights the living dead while they cross the nation. Zombieland @ Amazon
Love Happens – Average Tier 2.67 About a widower whose book about coping with loss turns him into a best-selling self-help guru. On a business trip to Seattle, he falls for a woman who attends one of his seminars, only to learn that he hasn’t yet truly confronted his wife’s passing. Love Happens @ Amazon
Amelia – Average Tier 2.48 A look at the life of legendary American pilot Amelia Earhart, who disappeared while flying over the Pacific Ocean in 1937 in an attempt to make a flight around the world. Amelia @ Amazon
Guess what? No one likes Saw VI. Did I surprise you? No? Hm.
Shhh… come here, let me whisper you a secret. Jane Campion’s new film is a well-received period piece about love and poetry! SURPRISE!! … Still unmoved? Hm.
How about this. Most people really enjoyed Drew Barrymore’s directing debut, which is about female roller derby. Now that’s a shock. Admit it.
Surrogates – Average Tier 4.16 Set in a futuristic world where humans live in isolation and interact through surrogate robots, a cop (Willis) is forced to leave his home for the first time in years in order to investigate the murders of others’ surrogates. Surrogates @ Amazon
This Is It – Average Tier 6.50 Interviews, rehearsals and backstage footage of Michael Jackson as he prepared for his series of sold-out shows in London. This Is It @ Amazon
Saw VI – Average Tier 3.27 Special Agent Strahm is dead, and Detective Hoffman has emerged as the unchallenged successor to Jigsaw’s legacy. However, when the FBI draws closer to Hoffman, he is forced to set a game into motion, and Jigsaw’s grand scheme is finally understood. Saw VI @ Amazon
Whip It – Average Tier 5.69 In Bodeen, Texas, an indie-rock loving misfit finds a way of dealing with her small-town misery after she discovers a roller derby league in nearby Austin. Whip It @ Amazon
Bright Star – Average Tier 6.71 The drama based on the three-year romance between 19th century poet John Keats and Fanny Brawne, which was cut short by Keats’ untimely death at age 25. Bright Star @ Amazon
Recent Comments