By Chris Kavan - 01/17/12 at 11:07 AM CT
This week runs the gamut from new films that deserved to be watched to new films that deserved to be buried and never, ever spoken of again - I'll list them and somehow I think you fine folks will be able to figure out what I mean.
1) If anyone can tell me that there's a better match up then Ryan Gosling and George Clooney, I'm all ears. You have amazing up-and-comer paired with the always-welcome veteran. Now, The Ides of March
may not be getting as many awards as it should, but political dramas are often a tougher sell. Still, the cast is amazing - you also have Philip Seymour Hoffman, Paul Giamatti, Evan Rachel Wood and Marisa Tomei along for the ride, amongst others, and dirty politics is can always be considered a compelling, and timely, subject.
2) Joining Fireproof and Facing the Giants in the Christian drama market, Courageous
follows four police officers and how they deal with faith and family when tragedy strikes. Now, I've never watched any of these faith-based dramas, but I have to say that compared to heavy-handed tactics, these at least deliver a story to go with their message. That I can respect.
3) In the drama/mystery lite department, Taylor Lautner tries his best in Abduction
. From the moment I saw the first trailer I was captivated... by how inane the movie looked. I swear, Lautner has one expression whether he's happy, scared, angry - it all looks the same! And the plot has something to do with being a part of a shady government experiment or something - all I know is he does a lot of running and drags some poor girl along for the ride. And Sigourney Weaver shows up. I might watch this just so I can make fun of it.
4) However bad Lautner might be, he's got nothing on Bucky Larson: Born to Be a Star
. This is the kind of film you show enemies of the state on a loop non-stop to torture them. I still think the ad campaign for this movie was one of the worst, most obnoxious, and unfunny, marketing I have ever seen for a so-called "comedy". Just back away slowly and pretend it never existed.
On the Blu-Ray front you have some great reasons to upgrade. Robin Williams makes teaching history, in a film often cited as personal favorite, in Dead Poets Society
. Williams' films run the gamut - but I would argue this is one of his better films, and it's even a dramatic role. Makes you almost forgive him for Patch Adams... almost. But I'm not done with Williams yet! One of my dad's favorite films (and I admit, I kind of like it too), Good Morning, Vietnam
is also getting upgraded with a 25th Anniversary edition. The film is equal parts humor and horrific reality of war - the second half turns into kind of a downer after the free-wheeling first half - and like Full Metal Jacket, I don't know if that's necessarily a good thing. Still, another win for Williams who is excellent as the DJ who like rock music and rapid-fire jokes. In non-William's related releases you have can relive the 80s with Corey's Haim and Feldman in License to Drive
. Is this the best 80s comedy? No. But you can't argue it isn't a lot of fun. Criterion continues to update their collection to Blu-Ray as well with Steven Soderbergh's Traffic
benefiting this time around. Featuring a huge ensemble cast and taking a unique look into the real war on drugs, this rightfully deserves the praise (and awards) it has received.
There are plenty of other films to discover this week. Simply head on over to the FilmCrave New DVD Releases and FilmCrave New Blu-Ray Releases pages today to see them all.
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