This Week In DVD: February 7th

Welcome back to This Week in DVD! Some great, good and sadly deficient releases await you including The Sunset Limited, Knuckle, season two of Rocko’s Modern Life, the second to last Twilight film and more!

As always, if you see something you like, click on the image to buy it.

Project NIM

In the early 1970s a douchey professor at Columbia University set out on an experiment involving cross species communication by taking a young chimpanzee from its mother shortly after birth and placing it with a human family to be raised as one of their children. This documentary from director James Marsh is ostensibly about that chimp named Nim, but the people who pass in and out of his life are just as much the subjects here. Their motivations, actions and attitudes offer a smorgasbord of typical human behaviors that none of us should be proud of regardless of where you land on the issue of animal ethics, and the result is an oddly fascinating glimpse at the human psyche as interpreted by our closest living relative.

Rocko’s Modern Life: Season Two

Pitch: “I’m nauseous. I’m nauseous…”

Why Buy? Rocko is a wallaby with a handful of friends, a loyal dog and a proclivity for wacky adventures. This mid-nineties series from Nickelodeon’s heyday is a mix of crude and stylish animation that brings to life some truly hilarious and witty dialogue and happenings. This is one of those rare kids shows that offers just as much laughter and joy for adults, and it should come as no surprise that two of the main writers went on to create the equally awesome Phineas and Ferb for Disney. And am I the only one who thinks of Shout! Factory as the Criterion Collection for people who like fun? They continue to impress with their ability to pluck otherwise unavailable classics from the past and return them to life on DVD.

The Sunset Limited

Pitch: “Who would want this nightmare but for fear of the next…”

Why Buy? Samuel L Jackson and Tommy Lee Jones give brilliantly nuanced and heartfelt performances in what is essentially one ninety-minute conversation (and battle of wills) about whether or not life is something worth living. It’s been a while since I’ve truly enjoyed either actor in a movie, but this adaptation of Cormac McCarthy’s play has renewed both of them in my eyes. No matter your opinion on faith, god, humanity and mankind the final result will leave you thinking, wondering and admiring these two actors at the top of their game. And thanks to dialogue snippets like “the lingering scent of divinity” it may also be my favorite of McCarthy’s works too.

3

Pitch: “Who ordered the German threesome?” – overheard during Cole Abaius’ trip to Berlinale…

Why Rent? A couple find themselves in the doldrums of their relationship and both begin affairs, but unbeknownst to anyone involved both of them are sleeping with the same man. Tom Twyker’s latest film is an interesting, humorous, and often sad drama about love lost and found, life and death, and what it means to be whole both inside and out. The topic and presentation are both of a very adult nature as the sex is frequent and fairly explicit, but the core lessons here are universal in regard to how we relate to each other. The second act has a bit of a slowdown, but the film overall is a refreshing and engaging look at modern love.

5 Star Day

Pitch: “Convincing chemistry between its attractive leads and fine thesping” – Variety…

Why Rent? A college student (Cam Gigandet) loses his job, girlfriend and apartment on his birthday and decides to test the theory of astrology by finding and interviewing the three people born at the exact same time and place as he was. Life lessons galore ensue! This really should have been a terrible movie. That plot, the lead actor and that terrible DVD cover art made me predict that all signs pointed to crap. And yet, the story surprises by never quite going where you expect. And Gigandet doesn’t necessarily display “fine thesping” but he’s surprisingly charming and subdued.

Knuckle

Pitch: Makes up for TLC’s obnoxious My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding show…

Why Rent? Ian Palmer didn’t plan on spending more than a decade documenting the ongoing feud between two rival families of Irish “travelers” but that’s exactly what ended up happening. This documentary follows various family members through the years as the meet, brawl and move on to nurse their wounds and pride. Or in some cases ice their bloody and raw knuckles. These aren’t the kind of people you really find yourself drawn to, but they’re an engaging and charismatic lot all the same. What drives real people to basically become living, breathing Hatfield & McCoys? Not even they know apparently.

The Phantom of the Opera At the Royal Albert Hall

Pitch: Anyone else remember Phantom of the Mall? No? Just me? Okay, moving on…

Why Rent? Andrew Lloyd Webber’s most famous (arguably) stage production received a special 25th anniversary presentation at London’s Royal Albert Hall, but in honor of the occasion producer Cameron Mackintosh made a few tweaks. I’m not a big musical fan, but this is easily one of my three favorites (along with Wicked and Les Miserables), and while watching a disc cannot really compare to the live experience this is still a sumptuously beautiful production. Crank the volume up andyou can’t help but get swept into the emotion of the story and songs. Yes, I’m serious.

The Rebound

Pitch: It’s Michael Douglas’ wife and the fourth guy from The Hangover movies! You should give it a chance anyway…

Why Rent? A middle aged woman (Catherine Zeta-Jones) leaves her cheating husband and moves to the big city where she discovers self worth and a nice guy almost half her age (Justin Bartha). As middling romantic comedies go this one is not too shabby. Glowing endorsement! Zeta-Jones and Bartha do good, relaxed work here and manage solid charisma and chemistry. They both manage to earn some laughs too with their delivery of writer/director Bart FreundLich’s script. Recommended for fans of either actor or the thrill of decent direct to DVD releases.

Yakuza Weapon

Pitch: The most powerful and visually appealing weapon in the movie is a very sexy, naked and comatose Japanese woman…

Why Rent? The son of a Yakuza boss returns home to claim his seat at the head of the crime family, but not everyone welcomes him back. From my full review: “It’s not quite interested enough to seriously dissect the manly action hero dynamic, but it pokes more than a few jabs at it including the ex-girlfriend character, Nayoko, who throws a boat at him out of feminine rage. Yes, a boat. She’s the only one able to beat his ass, which makes it a romantic gesture when Shozo has to save her from the bad guy who kidnaps her, dresses her up like schoolgirl, and then threatens her with a motorized dildo. So if nothing else I’ve described has quite sold you on the movie…”

Stormhouse

Pitch: More of a light sprinkle really…

Why Avoid? A female ghost mumblerer heads to a military base to study the supernatural entity they have incarcerated there. Surprise! It gets out. The idea here is pretty sound, but the execution is frustratingly bad. I realize there’s a global recession going on, but if you’re going to maintain a base containing a dangerous creature you might want to turn on some goddamn lights. Not only is the incessant darkness dangerous to your soldiers, but it’s also a bland and annoying watch for viewers. Of course, the creature effects consisting of lights and sound effects don’t help either. Not scary, not interesting, and not worth your time. Skip it and watch Storm Warning instead.

The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1

Pitch: Cruel of me to tease you with this I know. It doesn’t actually release until Friday night at midnight…

Why Avoid? The penultimate film in the Twilight Saga sees the pale Edward (Robert Pattinson) and the weak-willed Bella (Kristen Stewart) wed, screw and welcome their toothy spawn into the world. There’s also a puppy dog following them around. It may be difficult to tell, but I’m no fan of the Twilight series. Even if it wasn’t insulting to girls, which it is at every opportunity, the story alternates between two modes… boring and stupid. The teen angst is overly melodramatic, the lessons and morality are ignorant, and the action is dull. And good god how does a billion dollar franchise end up with such amateur-looking CGI effects? Skip it and watch Breaking Away instead.

A Very Harold & Kumar Christmas

Pitch: It’s a sad state of affairs when not even a shower scene with hot, naked nuns can make a movie worth recommending…

Why Avoid? The third (and probably final) film in the Harold & Kumar franchise sees the two best friends as virtual strangers. Harold has grown up and become an adult while Kumar is still an immature and unfunny asshole. Then stuff happens and they reunite. I’m a fan of the first two movies, but aside from the nude nun-filled shower scene and Neil Patrick Harris this one is mostly a laugh and thrill free dud. Sadly, even Harris’ “character” jumps the shark in a scene where attempts to sexually assault a woman in a fairly rough manner. It crosses a line from funny to simply crude, and that pretty much sums up the film as a whole. Skip it and watch one of the first two instead.

Also out this week, but I haven’t seen the movie/TV show and review material was unavailable:

Anonymous
Fireflies In the Garden
Machete Joe
Poolboy: Drowning Out the Fury
The Reunion
Supershark

Read More: This Week in DVD

What are you buying on DVD this week?