Joey's DVD Picks of the Week (5/31/2011)

This week, the DVD releases are better than the absolute dregs that were last week's selections, but we're still not where we'd ideally like to be. Don't get me wrong now, there are some interesting titles to sift through, but none jump out at me as being incredibly memorable. It's not the end of the world, and compared to last week, it's a goldmine, but I obviously still prefer the weeks where there's something to truly get exited over. That being said, there's enough here to make it an acceptable week overall. For my PICK OF THE WEEK, I went with the most purely fun selection available, if not the most classy. It's essentially little more than Nicholas Cage being...well, the crazy Nic Cage we all know and (sometimes) love, but what more do you need? It's:

Drive Angry

A Grindhouse type B movie gleefully embracing the silly side of 3D, this feature from the team that brought you the surprisingly good My Bloody Valentine 3D isn't quite on that level, but it still is a good time. It's ridiculous and never quite finds the right balance to make it completely successful, but it does more things right than it does wrong. In a better week it wouldn't be the top choice, but during this week, it's a solid enough selection. If you like a bit of wacky fun with your action, you can do a lot worse than this movie.

-Also out this week that I've seen is the latest film by Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, the Oscar nominated drama Biutiful. I've never really been sold by an Inarritu film, and this is no exception. He's not a particularly strong screenwriter, and while he continues to get excellent performances from his actors, he can't tie it together effectively. It's worth checking out to see Javier Bardem's lead performance, but that's really it in my opinion.

-The other two films out this week I haven't seen but am very curious about. There's the latest film by Gregg Araki, the sexual suspense/comedy Kaboom, which received mixed reviews, and the drama Passion Play, which received awful reviews ever since its festival premiere last year. I'm interested in seeing both, and will be definitely chiming in with a review of the latter in the coming weeks, so be on the lookout for that. If you're a brave soul, check one or both of them out and report back with what you thought!

-My Vintage pick, in honor of this week's release of Submarine, is a collection of other "coming of age" type films. They are, in alphabetical order, American Pie, Bickford Schmeckler's Cool Ideas, Finding Forrester, The Girl Next Door, Saved!, and Slums of Beverly Hills. It's an eclectic mix, no doubt, so there's something here for everyone. Check whichever out you feel like and enjoy!

-What will you be watching on DVD this week?