Notable New Releases
21 Jump Street (Sony)
Release Date: Mar 16, 2012
Director: Phil Lord, Christopher Miller
Cast: Jonah Hill, Channing Tatum, Brie Larson, Dave Franco, Rob Riggle. Full cast + crew
Verdict: Buy Me
Available On: Blu-ray, DVD
Special Features: Commentary, Deleted Scenes (30 minutes worth!), Gag Reel, Cube-O-Rama, About 35-minutes worth of featurettes, though we won't list them here because some of the titles give away quality surprises
Additional Thoughts: If you'd written off 21 Jump Street as an unoriginal cash-in on a once-popular but vaguely-remembered TV show, no one could blame you because that's exactly what it sounds like on paper. Once you realize this is the live-action debut of the guys who made Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs, you should get a good feel for the overall tone and sense of humor here. Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum have great presence together, with the latter showing off a great sense of comic timing, and the film's just self-aware enough to know what the audience expects and in turn when to surprise them. Very funny stuff and a far cry better than you'd think.
Bullhead (Drafthouse Films)
Release Date: Feb 17, 2012
Director: Michael R. Roskam
Cast:Matthias Schoenaerts, Jeroen Perceval, Barbara Sarafian, Sam Louwyck, Frank Lammers. Full cast + crew
Verdict: Buy Me
Available On: Blu-ray, DVD
Special Features: A reversible cover featuring Mondo's poster for the film, Commentary, Making-Of, Interviews with the film's director and star, a short film directed by Roskham, 16-page booklet with intro by Michael Mann
Additional Thoughts: Earlier this year Bullhead was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film, and while the Oscars aren't always the gold seal of approval they purport to be, in this case they certainly got it right. This is a stunning, gut punch of a directorial debut featuring one of the most striking performances of the year and a script that makes great dramatic use of the seemingly mundane world of cattle farming.
Wrath of the Titans (Warner Bros.)
Release Date: Mar 30, 2012
Director: Jonathan Liebesman
Cast:Sam Worthington, Liam Neeson, Ralph Fiennes,Edgar Ramirez, Toby Kebbell. Full cast + crew
Verdict: Rent Me
Available On: 3D Blu-ray, BD, DVD
Special Features: Maxmium Movie Mode featuring storyboard comparisons, picture-in-picture commentary and focus points
Additional Thoughts: People often complain that Hollywood action movies are all spectacle and no heart. Wrath of the Titans is the utter embodiment of this. If all you're interested in are glossy, elaborately-rendered special effects, this sequel will do the trick. If you expect plot or character development or a consistently interesting, well, anything, you're not going to find it here. It's fine background material, mainly because it'll take a concerted effort to give a film this absent minded your full, undivided attention.
Other New Releases
Notable Catalog Releases
Deliverance (Warner Bros.)
Release Date: Jul 30, 1972
Director: John Boorman
Cast:Jon Voight, Burt Reynolds, Ned Beatty, Ronny Cox, Bill McKinney. Full cast + crew
Verdict: Buy Me
Available On: Blu-ray
Special Features: The Cast Looks Back (30 minutes) newly produced for this BD, plus the extras from past issues: A commentary, a 55-minute retrospective, a featurette from the film's original release, and the original trailer
Additional Thoughts: Deliverance has actually been on Blu-ray since 2007, and while this release of the film features the same video transfer from that initial release, the audio has undergone an upgrade here by way of a 5.1 DTS-HD MA track. On the extras front there's a new, 30-minute reflection on the film with its cast and crew, as well as the extras from the last Blu-ray release. So if you don't already own the film, this is absolutely the version to pick up. The Cast Looks Back feature is filled with worthwhile memories, the Digi-book packaging offers 42 pages of behind-the-scenes photos and anecdotes, plus this is just a damned good movie about a weekend gone wrong bringing out the best and worst in man.
Watch an exclusive clip with the cast discussing details of a particular scene with Jon Voight.
Make sure you don't miss Robert B. DeSalvo's great interview with the film's cast about this release and why the film still resonates all these decades later.
Everything Else
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