A lot of movies, but not so much TV shows this week got released on DVD & Blu-Ray. There’s quite a few interesting picks this week.
The Woman in Black- This was supposed to be Daniel Radcliffe’s first major starring role post-Harry Potter. And…it’s not so good from what I heard. I haven’t seen it. It’s supposed to be Gothic Horror story in the vein of M.R. James (although it’s actually based on a book by Susan Hill). Considering it was also produced by the newly-resurgent Hammer Films, this from all counts came off as a disappointment.
Red Tails- On the other hand, this movie is great. It’s based off of the exploits of the legendary Tuskegee Airmen; the first all African American fighter squadron in World War II. It was a dream project that George Lucas had been wanting to get off the ground since the '90s, and he finally got around to doing it. And while, yes, there was an HBO-produced movie that had beaten it to the punch by over a decade, I think this is the better movie. The dogfight scenes (said to have been directed by Lucas himself) are the best I’ve seen in any movie in the last ten years, and even gave me flashbacks of Lucasarts games like Secret Weapons of the Luftwaffe at some points. The climactic battle between the Red Tails in their new P-51 Mustangs and a squadron of German Me-262s to me was the highlight of the movie. Oh, and the screenplay was co-written by Aaron McGruder of The Boondocks fame. Don’t miss this one.
The Secret World of Arrietty- Hayao Miyazaki decided to go out of his comfort zone this time and made a movie that for once was not based on an original idea of his. Considering that by now most of his movies were starting to feel the same and running together in my head (transmogrification of the protagonists, amorphous black blobs, wizened old people), this was a refreshing change of pace. In this case, the story in question was based on a classic western children’s book, The Borrowers, about a race of little people who have built their society off of the cast-off possessions that the we larger folks would no longer need or miss. When one of them, the title character Arrietty, is discovered by a human child, the two strike up an unlikely friendship. But said discovery could put the rest of the Borrowers in jeopardy. The American dub features the voices of Amy Poehler, Will Arnett and Carol Burnett.
The River- This was a TV series that aired on ABC produced by Steven Spielberg and created by Oren Peli, who gave us the Paranormal Activity movies as well as the upcoming Chernobyl Diaries. The idea was to try and replicate the found footage approach of the PA movies and apply it to a weekly TV show. But apparently it didn’t work, as it was recently announced the show had been cancelled. I never got a chance to get into it, but since it’s out now on DVD, here’s a chance for you to see for yourself.
Sherlock: Season 2- I’ve been hearing great things about this BBC-produced show, which from what I understand is a modern-day version of the adventures of Sherlock Holmes. Hopefully one day I’ll find an opportunity to get into it and see it from the beginning, but the second season is out now on DVD and Blu-Ray.
Teen Wolf: The Series- About the only thing I know about this MTV-produced show is that the only thing it has in common with the Michael J. Fox 1980’s comedy that inspired it is the title. It’s much darker and serious by contrast. More like The Vampire Diaries from what I understand. It’s not bad I hear, but I’ve never seen it. Still, the first season is out now.