New Release Tuesday!!! (3/20/12)

Yes, yes, yes.  Now here's a good week's worth of releases.  No real classics, but some fine cinema from 2011 along with one of my favorite (seemingly) under appreciated modern Bat cartoons.  That's right The Brave and the Bold gets the--

Must Buy DVD of the Week!

BATMAN THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD SEASON 2 PART 2:  I've been catching up on these shows via the slow DVD trickle and I've enjoyed each and every whacky disc.  Unfortunately, after this one, there is only one season left to the show; so we gotta enjoy it while it lasts.  I know I've stated my love for this show on this blog before, but it's worth repeating.  Forget Bruce Timm's untouchable animated series from the 90s.  This doesn't touch that.  But it doesn't try to either.  The Brave and The Bold celebrates the insanity of the 40s-70s Bat comics.  Tales in which Bats battles talking gorillas and falls into dinosaur riddled alternate dimensions.  It's all kinds of crazy fun.  Take a taste below.

Buy!

TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY:  My fifth favorite film from last year, Tinker Tailor came very close to making my Must Buy DVD of the Week.  Gary Oldman disolves into MI5er Smiley and its one of the single best performances of the last ten years.  Mean, angry, but calculating and quiet.  And the film just looks utterly amazing.  Let The Right One In was a solid enough venture, but Tomas Alfredson knocks it outta the park with this deliberate spy thriller.  You can't just leave it on in the background, you have to give yourself to the story but if you invest your time you'll be rewarded with some pretty damn intense Cold War espionage.

THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO:  Yeah, I was definitely disappointed in this flick but there's enough interesting bits from an acting and directing standpoint to be worth the purchase.  And David Fincher DVDs are usually well worth the price tag.  But I don't want to see another Salander flick, especially one helmed by Fincher.  Time to move on.  Get yer butt on 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea or something seriously genre.  I want your art doing pulp now.

THE MUPPETS:  Just finished watching this with the wife minutes ago.  She eats it up and I'm right there with her.  The best Muppet film since the original for sure, but I don't think it succeeds strictly on nostalgia.  Jason Segal nearly drowns the film with love, but its downright intoxicating.  And Bret McKenzie's songs are adorable and addictive, impossible to get outta my head after the credits roll.


Rent!

THE SITTER:  An R Rated & male centric take on one of my favorite 80s classics, Adventures in Babysitting, I was pretty much uninterested in this flick until I saw 21 Jump Street earlier this afternoon.  That film was so ridiculously funny I think I'm gonna give this grossout fest a try.

ROADRACERS:  Robert Rodriguez filmed this TV movie after El Mariachi, but it didn't see a release till after Desperado.  And it's the only Rodriguez effort I've never seen before.  Curious, but not overjoyed due to the David Arquette involvement.  Gotta say I love how this cover tries to ape that Sin City look--by all accounts, those expecting Frank Miller should look elsewhere.  But it's got William Sadler...so, that's cool.

Avoid!

THE HILLS HAVE EYES PART 2:  I love Wes Craven's original film, but this is just an uncreative mess.  Granted, it's been at least ten years since I've seen this and it was only the one time, but I remember hating it with a rather intense passion.  Just watch the original again.

--Brad