Greetings to everyone from sunny Las Vegas! My apologies for not chiming in the last few days, but...you know...Vegas (also a refusal to pay for Wi-Fi on my part). I'll be leaving for a family wedding in North Carolina tomorrow (you may have seen my cousin on the news, she's the bride who was paralyzed before she was supposed to get married last year), and then a few days in Virginia, so Anna, Mike, and Robert will be continuing to hold the fort down until next week (as they've done so far to great effect), though I'll definitely be more likely to chime in from time to time down south in the coming days. I'm making time today to sit in a McDonald's with free internet to bring you this week's column, and on the DVD front, it's a decent yet unspectacular week. There's at least some variety and it's mostly made up of independent fare, so that's a bit of a plus. For my PICK OF THE WEEK, I went with a good natured flick from earlier this year that deserved a better fate than it received theatrically. It's:Take Me Home Tonight
This 80's set party comedy had an incredibly good natured attitude and its heart in the right place. It ultimately wasn't able to reach the quality levels of the films it loves and wants to emulate, but Topher Grace does a nice job in the lead role and it's hard to complain much about the flick. This is a movie that wouldn't normally get my top slot, but it's not bad at all and honestly could use the attention, as it absolutely bombed when it came out in theaters. Call me a softie, but I wish it had done better, so give it a shot on DVD and see what you think of it.
-Also out of note this week are the comedies Peep World and Potiche, along with the suspense flick Limitless and the drama Cracks. I've only seen Bradley Cooper's star vehicle among these releases, and didn't care too much for it, but I'm going to be seeing all of the other releases in the next week or two, and will try to review one or two of them in an upcoming site update (along with the Hobo with a Shotgun review I promised). If any of these appeal to you, pick them up and enjoy.
-My Vintage pick, in honor of this week's release of Captain America: The First Avenger, is the best of the Marvel Studios superhero flicks so far. It's Iron Man, and you can't go wrong with Robert Downey Jr.'s performance here. I found it awards worthy in an incredibly well made and entertaining film. I doubt anyone hasn't seen the movie yet, but with The Avengers coming next year, it can't hurt to re-watch it.
-What will you be watching on DVD this week?
Next week has some good offerings in store, so stay tuned!
ReplyDeleteIt bombed because it was shelved for four years.
ReplyDeleteYou thought Iron Man was awards worthy? Interesting...
ReplyDeleteJohn- That was a factor, but not the only one...look at Taken. Sat on the shelf for over a year, and still made over 100 million.
ReplyDeleteRobert- His performance, yes.
ReplyDelete