Welcome back to another jammed to the gills edition of This Week In DVD! Once again there’s a lot to love hitting shelves today including new movies like Bridesmaids and Bride Flight, TV on DVD releases like Modern Family, Castle, and Happy Endings, a new Bruce Willis movie that never saw the inside of a theater, and even a few re-issues of older movies you may never have heard of before… like the one starring a young Charlie Sheen as a mass murdering punk from the Midwest. As always, if you see something you like, click on the image to buy it. HitRECord Recollection Volume 1 Joseph Gordon-Levitt is well known and well liked as an actor from TV and films like Third Rock From the Sun and 500 Days of Summer, but he’s interested in more than just a life in front of the camera. HitRECord.org is his web-centered creation that sees projects small and smaller develop from the ground up as collaborative efforts with friends and strangers alike. Everything submitted is up for remix and recreation. One person’s short story can see pictures, animation, voice-overs, a score, and more added by any number of people. It’s an intriguing concept, and while some of the end results have premiered at Sundance and SXSW, this collection is the first retail release. The book itself is very McSweeney’s-ish, which is awesome, and includes a wraparound half-sleeve, creative text and artwork, a CD, and a DVD of short films, videos, and more. [Due to Content Scraping and Theft, we have been forced to try abbreviated feeds. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and woud very much appreciate you clicking through to view the full article on FilmSchoolRejects.com]

Welcome back to our weekly look at new DVD releases! Last week’s trend of TV on DVD continues as we’re heading into the Fall TV season and studios want to remind you just how great some of their shows are. As you’ll find out below though not all of those shows were actually all that great. The summer’s first comic book superhero movie hits shelves today too alongside a handful of horror flicks, a martial arts movie, and this week’s surprising pick of the week. As always, if you see something you like, click on the image to buy it. Meek’s Cutoff A small group of pioneers hire an adventurer named Meek (Bruce Greenwood) to lead their three wagon train west to California, but it quickly becomes clear that he may not be as capable as they believed. Tension escalates as they run low on food, water, and patience, but it’s the arrival of a lone Native American that may fracture the group for good. Kelly Reichardt’s film is an oddly attractive creation that lumbers slowly towards an uncertain fate, and while I’m still unsure of my thoughts on the ending the film as a whole refuses to leave my mind. There’s a haunted quality about it that works its way inside like so much dust and warm air and it keeps you mesmerized even as deceptively little is happening onscreen. Of course, Michelle Williams in a saucy bonnet doesn’t hurt either.

This is a pretty big week for DVD releases with plenty of titles worth buying and renting as well as a couple worth skipping completely. There’s no real common thread here aside from almost half of titles featured below being TV shows on DVD. The best of the bunch include the second and third seasons, respectively, of Community and Parks & Recreation, but other TV releases include the classic seventies series Police Story, the trippy Sigmund & the Sea Monsters, the piss poor Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior, and more. But there are some great releases for film fans too including Hanna and X-Men First Class. As always, if you see something you like, click on the image to buy it. Rebirth The events of 9/11 affected all Americans in one way or another, but for many people the nightmare struck very close to home. Jim Whitaker’s documentary was almost a decade in the making and follows five of those people as they deal with the events across the years. Each year we revisit with a son who lost his mother, a woman who lost the love of her life, a man who lost his brother, another who lost his best friends, and a woman who suffered massive burns across her head and body. We see them descend into depression, struggle with survivor’s guilt, and hopefully emerge whole again. Everyone grieves differently, and this ultimately triumphant and redemptive film shows it as a necessary step when coping with tragedy. Time lapse [Due to Content Scraping and Theft, we have been forced to try abbreviated feeds. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and woud very much appreciate you clicking through to view the full article on FilmSchoolRejects.com]

Welcome back to our weekly look at new DVD releases coming to a virtual shelf near you! Lots of good stuff this week worth a rental at least and possibly a buy depending on your tastes. My own interests have marked five titles as Buys including two TV shows. Merrill Barr may suspect I’m doing so strictly to spite his recent bout of ridiculousness where he claimed TV shows on DVD are pointless, but I’m not. They’re just damn good shows. This week’s releases include In a Better World, Wrecked, Norwegian Ninja, True Adolescents, The Perfect Host, and more. As always, if you see something you like, click on the image to buy it. If a Tree Falls: The Story of the Earth Liberation Front In 2005 federal and state law enforcement agents across the country conducted simultaneous arrests of past and current members of the Earth Liberation Front. The men and women were charged with a series of arsons that had occurred throughout the Pacific Northwest over the previous decade. This insightful and balanced documentary explores the case from both sides with a focus on one of the defendants, Daniel McGowan. There’s no question of guilt or innocence, but instead it’s the charge of terrorism they face that fuels the debate. Should these fires (in which not a single person was killed or injured) be comparable to 9/11 or the Oklahoma City federal building bombing? It’s thought provoking and challenging, and proves that there aren’t always easy answers when [Due to Content Scraping and Theft, we have been forced to try abbreviated feeds. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and woud very much appreciate you clicking through to view the full article on FilmSchoolRejects.com]

After some lackluster weeks in the DVD department today sees a pretty solid selection of titles. Even better for viewers is the fact that some of this week’s best releases are movies you probably missed in theaters… if they even hit theaters. Our pick of the week for example never had a theatrical run in the States, but it’s an absolutely brilliant film from actor/director Peter Mullan. The two other titles with Buy recommendations saw a limited release and deserve better than the small number of viewers they received. As always, if you see something you like, click on the image to buy it. NEDS (Non Educated Delinquents) Peter Mullan directs this drama about growing up in the rough and tumble world of 1970s Glasgow Scotland. We first meet young John McGill around the age of thirteen, and while he’s the head of his class in smarts every other aspect of his life seems stacked against him. His father is an abusive drunk, his older brother is an infamous thug, and the choice between being bullied by a gang or joining one is really no choice at all. Mullan, who wrote and co-stars as well, has crafted a fantastic film highlighting one boy’s early life, and while these kinds of movies can often feel too bleak and oppressive he manages to accentuate the drama with heart, humor, and honest suspense. And the final shot is wild.

Welcome back to FSR’s weekly look at new DVD releases hitting shelves both real and virtual! It’s a relatively slow release week with nothing worth buying, but there’s still a minor theme involving three historically solid directors whose latest work shows them to be in major slumps. Luc Besson, John Carpenter and Robert Redford, I’m looking at you. Other releases this week aside from The Extraordinary Adventures of Adele Blanc-Sec, The Ward, and The Conspirator include Cary Fukunaga’s pretty but bland Jane Eyre, the hilarious clergy molestation comedy Priest, and the latest season of Showtime’s Dexter series. As always, if you see something you like, click on the image to buy it. The Bang Bang Club Four photographers in South Africa become fast friends as they cover the bloodshed and warfare accompanying the end of apartheid. The film, based on a memoir by two of them, highlights the daily dangers and moral struggles faced by photographers in a war zone. Of the many questions the film asks the one about helping your subjects instead of simply taking their picture and moving on is handled with tragic honesty. Ryan Phillippe and Taylor Kitsch both deliver strong, grounded performances, and the narrative never bores as it moves between drama and action.

Another week, another Tuesday filled with DVD goodness. We’ve got four titles worth owning, and they come in two distinct pairs. First up is a one-two punch of nostalgia from the fine folks at Shout! Factory as they release Hey Arnold! and M.A.S.K. unto the world. And then on the more adult front we have two awesomely violent (in completely different ways) movies from Asia including the action romp Clash and the gory but thoughtful thriller Dream Home. Other releases this week include Paul, Camp Hell, Super, Your Highness, and more. As always, if you see something you like, click on the image to buy it. M.A.S.K.: The Complete Series With a name like Matt Trakker you can’t help become the leader of an international team of good guys fighting terror and evil wherever you can find it. M.A.S.K., or Mobile Armored Strike Kommand, is Trakker’s team of do-gooders who lead normal everyday lives as chefs, rockers, and billionaires, but when their Casio watches beep they head out to save the world. Sure Miles Mayhem and his nefarious VENOM organization can get a bit silly, but it follows a similar structure to GI Joe in its acronyms, code names, and constant use of explosions that continually toss everyone to safety. Still, it’s a fun hybrid of Joe and vehicular shifting shows like Transformers. All sixty five episodes are spread across twelve discs (in two cases, both held within a sleeve) alongside a handful of featurettes on the show.

Last week saw a record 634 DVDs get released unto the world, and we managed to cover half of them in our little column here. Thankfully this week’s schedule features a far more manageable number of titles. Many of them are smaller films that you probably missed during their brief theatrical windows (if they got one at all) including the sweet Dear Lemon Lima, the bloody Stake Land, the unstoppable pimp filled Streetwalkin’, and this week’s Pick, The Music Never Stopped. As always, if you see something you like, click on the image to buy it. The Music Never Stopped Fifteen years after a teenager (Lou Taylor Pucci) leaves home following an argument with his father (JK Simmons), his parents receive word that their son is in the hospital. He was struck down by a brain tumor shortly after leaving home, but while the tumor was surgically removed he’s been uncommunicative and unable to make new memories ever since. Now a father and son will attempt to reconcile across that fifteen year divide through the only language the young man can understand… music. This true story from the writings of Oliver Sacks is a small film with a huge heart. Pucci and Simmons are both fantastic, the soundtrack is a who’s who of seventies hits, and the film as a whole is a heartwarming reminder of the importance of loved ones. (See? I’m not a cynical bastard all of the time.)

Sweet Jesus there are a lot of new releases this week. If there’s one common theme among them it’s that (with only a couple wide release exceptions) all of this week’s titles are smaller films, older films, or foreign films. I’m as much a fan of blockbusters as the next guy, but there’s something to be said for the small joy of discovering a movie that never had a chance at your local multiplex. Unfortunately, there’s a second theme in this week’s releases… specifically in the Avoid section. I love horror films, but most of the ones releasing on DVD today are simply not worth your time. Skip the three in the Avoid section below and instead check out some of the many titles worth Renting or Buying including Live Like A Cop Die Like A Man, Bodyguards and Assassins, Source Code, We Are What We Are, and more. As always, if you see something you like, click on the image to buy it. Trust A young high school student forms an online relationship with someone she believes to be a fellow teenager but who turns out to be a thirty five year old pervert. She quickly becomes the victim of sexual assault, but that’s just the beginning of her family’s nightmare as they all struggle with the truth of what happened. Director David Schwimmer does a fine and non-sensationalist job with a topic that could so easily have become exploitative, and he’s aided by two fantastic performances from Liana [Due to Content Scraping and Theft, we have been forced to try abbreviated feeds. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and woud very much appreciate you clicking through to view the full article on FilmSchoolRejects.com]

I just returned from vacation this afternoon, and yes, I did have a great time. Thanks for asking. I spent most of my days (and some of my nights) outside but still found time to check out this week’s DVD releases to help you determine which ones are worth owning, watching, and avoiding. This weeks titles include Limitless, Peep World, Take Me Home Tonight, Small Town Murder Songs, two TV series from the UK, and more! As always, if you see something you like, click on the image to buy it. Torchwood: The Complete Original UK Series A ragtag group of Brits and their American leader collect and use alien technology to stem the tide of intergalactic ne’re-do-wells. This UK series is a spirited blend of X-Files and Primeval in more ways than one, and as a sucker for both of those series I quickly became a fan of this one. It’s kind of a spinoff from Dr. Who, but that knowledge isn’t necessary to enjoy the action, stories, and fun exuding from many of these episodes. I only discovered the connection after watching the show and then reading up on the Captain Jack character via Wikipedia… something I don’t recommend until you finish the series for fear of spoilers.

It’s my birthday this week, and it therefore seems only fitting that the BUY section is overflowing with fantastic and fun titles worth picking up and enjoying with your friends, families, and parole officers. They even represent a pretty good blend of genres with horror (Insidious, [Rec]2), animated kid fare (Rango), and some classics from the silent era (Buster Keaton). Other titles out this week include The Lincoln Lawyer, Arthur, Battle Beyond the Stars and more. As always, if you see something you like, click on the image to buy it. Buster Keaton: The Short Films 1920-1923 Charlie Chaplin may be the most famous name of the silent film era, but equally beloved and far less controversial is the man behind Cole Abaius’s favorite film, The General. Buster Keaton had a long career both before and after that Civil War-themed classic, and this newly remastered set includes all nineteen of his solo shorts along with a roaring freight train full of extras. The shorts are filled with sharp comedy and incredible physical stunts with some of the best being One Week, The Goat, and Cops. The extras include visual essays, deleted scenes, two additional shorts that see Keaton sharing the screen with the likes of Chaplin, Harold Lloyd, and Fatty Arbuckle, and newly recorded audio commentary with Keaton himself. Okay, that last one isn’t true, but this is still a brilliant collection.

Happy day after the Fourth of July! I hope you got plenty of patriotic presents under the flagpole this year, but if you received gift-cards like I did you’re in luck as there are a couple DVDs worth picking up this week. Sure one’s Japanese and the other is Canadian, but that doesn’t mean they’re not pro-democracy, pro-freedom, and all kinds of awesome. As always, if you see something you like, click on the image to buy it (and help out FSR in the process). 13 Assassins A group of samurai choose honor over duty and make a stand against an evil lord who murders, rapes, and maims with impunity. Takashi Miike crafts one of his rare straight-forward films that eschews zaniness and offensive visuals for plot, character, and sincere action. Short fight scenes dot the opening hour, but most of that time is given over to the samurai coming together and planning their attack. The final hour is where it all comes together as the baker’s dozen go up against a few hundred of the lord’s soldiers with bows and arrows, swords, and trap-filled architecture. It’s an exciting and thrilling adventure filled with heroism, integrity, and bloodshed, and it’s not to be missed.

Who’s ready to import some DVDs? Hopefully the answer is “you” because there are two fantastic releases hitting the UK this week available for quick and easy import from AmazonUK. But even if overseas purchases aren’t your bag this is a pretty solid DVD release week on the domestic front as well. Of course some of them are still in a foreign language… As always, if you see something you like, click on the image to buy it. Cold Fish (UK) A mild-mannered pet shop owner leads an uneventful life with his detached 2nd wife and rebellious teen daughter, but when they’re forcibly befriended by a successful competitor they find themselves drawn into a world of corruption, murder, and perversion. Murder, sex, and salt-water aquariums… we’ve all been there haven’t we? This is the latest film from Sion Sono (Suicide Club) and while it shares many themes with his other films it has the distinction of being the first of his to be based on a true story. The film is a slowburn, unless you compare it to the director’s other films, but builds to a gloriously over the top and bloody finale. Check out Cole Abaius’s full review here. *NOTE – This is a UK region 2 release so you’ll need to play it in a region-free player or your computer.*

One of the best aspects of DVD/Blu-ray is the ability to catch up on movies and shows that you may have otherwise missed when they first hit theaters. The best of this week’s releases fall into that category as small films that never quite got the exposure they deserved. Movies like Ceremony and Happythankyoumoreplease are fantastic celebrations of love, laughs, and life and should not be missed on DVD like they were in theaters. And while this week’s Pick is well known to its fans and others who grew up in the nineties it’s new to me on DVD and one of my favorite releases of the week. As always, if you see something you like, click on the image to buy it. Rocko’s Modern Life: Season One Rocko is a wallaby who’s moved from Australia to the United States and along with an oddball group of friends, acquaintances, and strangers struggles to make it through life’s absurdities. This is one of Nickelodeon’s most beloved shows from the 1990s and it’s finally hitting DVD in an official, complete season format. I had never seen the show prior to this DVD release and seeing as I never understood the love for Ren & Stimpy or Spongebob Squarepants I expected a similar reaction here… but this show is hilarious. The writing is sharp, effortlessly moves between parody and scatology, and most impressively, it walks the fine line between writing for kids and writing for adults. Children will find much to love in [Due to Content Scraping and Theft, we have been forced to try abbreviated feeds. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and woud very much appreciate you clicking through to view the full article on FilmSchoolRejects.com]

This is the second week in a row featuring a metric ton of new releases, and as usual there’s more worth a rental than there are worth buying and avoiding combined. Some of the more recognizable titles this week include the fun Donnie Yen action pic Legend Of the Fist, the alien action movie Battle: Los Angeles, and the Owen Wilson-led gross-out comedy Hall Pass. Two of this week’s better releases though come completely out of left field (for me anyway). One is a cool and casual cop show from A&E and the other is a relationship drama starring the always lovely Rashida Jones. As always, if you see something you like, click on the image to buy it. Monogamy Theo (Chris Messina) and Nat (Rashida Jones) are young, engaged, and in love… but that may not be enough to save their relationship. Theo’s side job sees people hiring him to photograph them out in public without their precise knowledge, but when a woman hires him to watch her in the park things take a dark turn. He becomes obsessed with her sex-filled evenings and begins to question his own allegiance to monogamy. Both leads give strong performances, but Messina is fantastic as he descends into an emotional spiral. Character study, love story, and a dash of romantic thriller with a strong ending. This is not a happy, feel-good movie, but it is a pretty powerful one.

Three good to great films we first enjoyed at last year’s Fantastic Fest are making their DVD debut this week, and they’re all worth a rental or a purchase. Rubber and The Housemaid are both automatic purchases in my book, but there are plenty of other releases this week worth a look including the Coen Brothers’ very funny True Grit, Adam Sandler’s ever so slightly better than usual Just Go With It, the James Cameron-produced disaster Sanctum, the LARP filled thriller (?) The Wild Hunt, the Le Tigre concert film Who Took the Bomp?, and many more. As always, if you see something you like, click on the image to buy it. Rubber A discarded tire gains sentience and discovers a taste for murder when it rolls into a small desert town and begins using telekinesis to blow up peoples’ heads. And then the movie gets weird. Normally when people dislike films I love I know it’s because they’re most likely utter tools, but with Rubber? Well, I completely understand it. It’s an absolutely absurd comedy that goes the meta route to comment on films and audiences alike. It’s laugh out loud funny and very smart, has a great score, and features some of the best remote controlled tire work you’ve ever seen. Check out my full review here.

Not every week can be a winner when it comes to DVD purchases, but that’s a good thing right? Gives us time to save more cash for the releases that truly matter… like the upcoming Warner Archive release of The Herculoids: The Complete Series. Hell yes. But that doesn’t mean there’s nothing to watch this week. As is often the case there are plenty of titles worth renting and avoiding, and they run the gamut from old to new, big to small, good to bad. The highest profile title is probably Nicolas Cage’s Drive Angry, and by “high profile” I of course mean it stars recognizable faces and not that it made any money at the box office. Other releases this week include True Blood‘s third season, Brian Austin Green’s sad attempt at a comic book movie (Cross), Javier Bardem’s Oscar-nominated Biutiful, the Megan Fox/Mickey Rourke (apparent) train wreck Passion Play, and many more. As always, if you see something you like, click on the image to buy it. Rookie Blue: The Complete First Season Andy McNally (Missy Peregrym) is a recent police academy graduate just beginning her career as a cop. She’s joined by four other rookie recruits for thirteen episodes of drama, action, and fairly solid character work. Sure McNally sees more gunplay in her first year than most cops see in their entire lifetime, but this is Canada and everything’s exaggerated up there. This first season is lightweight fun, but the actors (both the rookies and their [Due to Content Scraping and Theft, we have been forced to try abbreviated feeds. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and woud very much appreciate you clicking through to view the full article on FilmSchoolRejects.com]

Two “big” movies are hitting DVD today, but I’m not recommending either for a RENT or BUY. Why? Because I’ve only seen one of them, and it’s pretty terrible. Luckily there are some smaller films worth checking out this week as well as a few re-issues and television shows that may be worth your time. One of the lower profile titles (that just missed being my Pick Of the Week) is a somewhat original little horror film called Forget Me Not. The premise is generic at first, but it makes up for it with a fresh take and some fairly creepy visuals. Horror fans should give it a chance. As always, if you see something you like, click on the image to buy it. The Kids In the Hall: The Complete Series Comedy is the most subjective genre, so I won’t claim The Kids In the Hall is for everyone, but folks who enjoy solidly creative sketch comedy should definitely take a look at an episode or two. And for those of us who already love the show, A&E Entertainment has released this complete series megaset of all five seasons plus their recent IFC miniseries, Death Comes To Town. The “kids” are five Canadian guys unafraid to dress up as women on a regular basis, and while as with any sketch show the series is hit and miss, the bits garner laughs more often than not. Each season comes in its own snapcase with an insert listing each and every [Due to Content Scraping and Theft, we have been forced to try abbreviated feeds. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and woud very much appreciate you clicking through to view the full article on FilmSchoolRejects.com]

One of the best things about writing for a movie website like Film School Rejects is access to the “hookers and blow” combo deals at film festivals. That probably counts as two best things, but the takeaway to remember here is that there are the occasional perks to the gig. The actual best thing though (aside from meeting some great and fun fellow movie lovers) is exposure to films I may never have seen otherwise. One such example is this week’s Pick, an American indie that I only caught via screener when it hit theaters… in the UK. Other releases this week include a re-release of Dario Argento’s fantastic Deep Red, a vengeful Djimon Hounsou in Elephant White, the gorgeous Minka Kelly in The Roommate, Jason Statham stretching as an assassin for hire in The Mechanic, Anthony Hopkins drinking Chianti with Satan in The Rite, and more. As always, if you see something you like, click on the image to buy it. Brotherhood A group of hopeful fraternity pledges find themselves in a real pickle when the initiation process results in several serious crimes and one pledge bleeding to death on the couch. This is a fantastic thriller that rarely takes a minute to breathe once the action and suspense starts. It’s also filled with strong performances including what deserved to be a star-making turn by Trevor Morgan. From my my full review… “[This] is a rare and unexpected success in that it takes a relatively well worn plot, jettisons [Due to Content Scraping and Theft, we have been forced to try abbreviated feeds. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and woud very much appreciate you clicking through to view the full article on FilmSchoolRejects.com]

This week doesn’t feature much in the way of high profile releases, but there are two genre titles hitting shelves that are worth a blind buy for fans of quality international cinema. And violence. Lots and lots of fantastically gruesome and bloody violence. One’s even in English for those of you unwilling (or unable) to read. I Saw the Devil and Black Death may be the best titles hitting shelves today, but they’re not alone. Other new releases include Blue Valentine, No Strings Attached, Dahmer vs Gacy, and more. As always, if you see something you like, click on the image to buy it. Black Death The black plague works its way across Europe, but when word comes of a village that has rescinded God’s favors and is free of death the bishop sends his best men to bring back the lead heretic for punishment. Sean Bean heads up the mission and recruits a young monk to help guide their way, and the group is soon waist-deep in mystery, madness, and dead bodies. Director Christopher Smith has delivered a dark exploration of faith, both what it means to retain it as well as what it takes to let it go. The action is a well-choreographed mix of metal on metal when it’s not slicing its way through flesh, and the ending packs a solid punch as well.