New Release Tuesday (4/19/11)!!!

So this might be the lamest New Release Tuesday we've had all year.  I could stretch the truth a little and pick a DVD for my Must Buy DVD of the Week or I could just be honest and say that this week is really only filled with soft Buys and Renters.  Why don't I just be honest...

Buy!

MORTAL KOMBAT (BLU):  Okay, so this is not the greatest movie or even a decent video game adaptation.  That being said, in 1995 when young Brad was an impressionable High Schooler, I totally got swept up in the publicity machine madness of this Summer release.  And that crazy ass techno theme was all over the place.  Test Your Might!

MORTAL KOMBAT ANNIHILATION (BLU):  And most sane people would throw this on their Avoid! list, but with the new video game on its way, the new Michael Jai White webseries stirring up reboot heat, and all that High School nostalgia stewing inside me--well, I just kinda want to have both movies, okay!?!?  But MK II is a terrible, terrible, terrible movie.  It makes the first film look like (prepare yourself for cliche) Shakespeare.  

MIRAMAX HELLRAISER SERIES (HELLRAISER III, HELLRAISER IV, HELLRAISER V, HELLRAISER VI):  I'm a huge fan of the original, Clive Barker directed Hellraiser film.  Definitely one of my favorite horror films of the 80s.  The second film had its moments and most of them skeeved me out.  But when Miramax got their grubby little hands on the series they took it into the cheap scares territory.  That being said, I have quite a bit of fondness for the Pinhead origin bits of III (and for DS9s Terry Farrell) and the time jumping silliness of Bloodline is loads of fun.  The Direct-to-Dvders V & VI are curiosities, but not much else.  Another reason you might want to snag this set up is that the now OOP Hellraiser III dvd from a few years back can only be yours for a quick $80 visit to ebay.

THE PROPHECY TRIPLE FEATURE:  I am a big supporter of the original film in this series.  Starring Christopher Walken, Elias Koteas (Casey Jones!!!), Eric Stoltz, Virginia Madsen, Amanda Plummer, and Vigo Mortensen (as The Devil!!!).  A great B-movie cast in probably the best Religious Horror film of the last twenty-five years.  Snatch up this Miramax combo-pack so you can watch the sub-par sequels as well!  Too bad they didn't throw in the other Direct-to-DVDers starring Sliders favorite Kari Wuhrer.

SHORT CIRCUIT 2 (BLU):  Well, I've gotta buy it to go with my original Short Circuit blu ray.  No Steve Gutenberg here, but Michael McKean is a welcome addition and I love that Fischer Stevens is given the front and center role this time out.  These films were a huge part of childhood and I'm still waiting for Johnny 5 to be delivered to my doorstep.  

Rent!

THE KING'S SPEECH:  This was a fantastic movie and I would agree that it totally deserved the Best Picture award...over The Social Network, but not True Grit, Inception, Winter's Bone, or 127 Hours.  And as much as I enjoyed The King's Speech it's not one of those movies I'm going to watch over and over and over again.  The next time I watch this will probably be when I'm starting to fancy another WWII movie-month-a-thon, it would be a great starter.

RABBIT HOLE:  Have you seen that depressing ass trailer?  Watching it makes me want to stick my head in the oven!  That being said, I like the hipstery direction of Jon Cameron Mitchell and I have a need to watch anything containing Aaron Eckhart.  Plus, ever since I got married, the loss of a child is something that keeps creeping its horrible way into my head.  How does one possibly deal with such a tragedy?  How can a relationship survive it?

IP MAN 2:  I still haven't seen the original film, but my buddy Darren says it kicks some serious butt and how can you not get excited to watch the Iron Monkey do his chopsocky.  FYI, IP Man numero uno is on Netflix Instant so there's really no excuse.

SOMEWHERE:  The trailer for Sophia Coppola's latest doesn't really get me too excited but I do love seeing The Gate's Stephen Dorff in the lead and I really did enjoy The Virgin Suicides, Lost in Translation, and even Marie Antoinette.  So I'll give this a go.

Avoid!

STREET KINGS 2:  The first film, based ever-so-loosely on a James Ellroy short story, was complete and utter rubbish and to think that anyone would want to see a sequel is ridiculous.  Switch out Keanu Reeves for a desperate Ray Liotta and you got yourself a boorish (and bore-ish) concoction.  

Gulliver's Travels:  No, no, no, no, no, no.  We do not need this movie in our life.

--Brad