Joey's DVD Picks of the week (8/9/2011)

This week, we have a respectable collection of films to choose from on DVD, with a few being more noteworthy than the last week or so has featured. We still don't have any amazing releases (that changes in 2 weeks though, so stay tuned), but film lovers won't have trouble finding things to watch right now. For my PICK OF THE WEEK, I went with a rather odd little film, but one with a good sense of humor and charm to spare. It's one of the more underrated releases of 2011 (and one that received an Honorary Mention in my Best of the First Half of the Year article). It's:

Super

James Gunn's super hero satire isn't quite as incendiary as it thinks it is (nor did I fall in love with it like I did with last year's Kick-Ass), but it's a bit on the unique side and has some strong acting from Rainn Wilson (slightly surprising to me) and Ellen Page (not surprising at all, but her role is a big change of pace for her). This is an action comedy with a much larger focus on the comedy than on the action (or on the satire, for that matter), but it's got some loveably weird characters and should charm a smile on to your face. I recommend picking this up now that it's available on DVD. It got a small-ish theatrical release, and it's another indie that deserved a better fate than it received.

-Also out this week getting a thumbs up from me is the comedy Paul. Seth Rogen does some amusing voice work as a stoner type extra-terrestrial, and it's just always fun to see Simon Pegg and Nick Frost in a movie together. It isn't on the level of their Edgar Wright collaborations, but I chuckled a lot during this flick and director Greg Mottola knows how to make a quality movie. It's worth grabbing on home video and checking out if you haven't already.

-The rest of the releases this week include the decent but disappointing stoner comedy Your Highness (which isn't nearly as bad as most made it out to be, but it's not nearly as funny as it should have been. I expect more from a filmmaker as good as David Gordon Green), the average motion capture family movie Mars Needs Moms, and the romantic comedy Jumping the Broom, which I haven't seen. I can't recommend any of these to you, but I'm sure they have their supporters...

-My Vintage pick, in honor of this week's release of 30 Minutes of Less, is a collection of Jesse Eisenberg's finest works. They are, in alphabetical order: Adventureland, The Emperor's Club, Roger Dodger, The Social Network, Solitary Man, The Squid and the Whale, and Zombieland. He's good to great in each of them, and I happen to dig all of these films as well. Take this opportunity to catch up with the ones you like/haven't seen before his latest comedy comes out this Friday.

-What will you be watching on DVD this week?