Man, last week's DVD release list was pretty spartan, so it's weird to see no fewer than four big films come out this week. I guess it's not quite as important to space out DVD releases as it is to space out a theatrical release, but still, it couldn't hurt? Get more prominent display space in Best Buy?
Anyway, four big films and a bunch of smaller ones this week. One has to wonder if The Asylum is a little miffed at Roger Corman taking on their "two big crazy animals" fighting genre with Dinocroc vs. Supergator, but then, The Asylum is basically Roger Corman 2.0, so I guess it's all symbiotic at this point.
 | 1. Rango One of the year's bigger surprises, this has done almost $250 million worldwide based on little more than Johnny Depp's name. It was a pretty bold move for Gore Verbinski, et al, to make a talking animal movie about animals that aren't quite as cute and cuddly as you might find in, say, Ice Age, but it paid off, and it looks like we'll be seeing more Rango in the future if Paramount goes through with making their own animation division. |
 | 2. Arthur Even if Greta Gerwig is adorable, even she couldn't save this not-so-funny remake. "Ha ha, you're all losing your jobs, let's watch a movie about the troubles of a billionaire!" Not sure who thought that was a good idea. |
 | 3. Insidious This creepy little movie lost points with me for a hopelessly cheap-looking ending, but it wound up being one of the most profitable films of the year when you relate the grosses to the budget. I thought the $1.5 million budget was a typo when I first heard about it, but apparently it's correct. Too bad they couldn't spend a few more bucks on the sets. |
 | 4. The Lincoln Lawyer Another one of those movies that I seemed to like less than almost anyone else. It's still a solid adult drama with adult actors, which is becoming a bit of a rarity, and luckily it did pretty well. I wouldn't mind seeing a sequel, and god knows I'll probably get the chance. |
 | 5. Miral Ah, the Palestinian drama. You know, I'm consistently enough enraged by the state of American politics that I don't really need to get all worked up about stuff half the world away. |
 | 6. Waking Madison When did Elizabeth Shue become a bad sign for a movie? Was it the movie after Leaving Las Vegas or sometime after that? |
 | 7. [REC] 2 I'm looking forward to seeing this one. I suppose I can walk into this having just seen Quarantine, right? I've heard it's almost a shot-for-shot remake of Rec, so maybe I'll try it and see how the experience fares. |
 | 8. Brother's Justice Dax Shepard's one of those actors where I get a little wary when I see his name in a prominent part of the credits, let alone above the title. He was great in Idiocracy, but apart from that, not one of my favorites. So I'll judge this film sight unseen, how about that? |
 | 9. White Irish Drinkers Weird title for a film, but I guess you roll with whatever gets butts in seats. |
 | 10. Robot Chicken Among television shows coming to DVD, we have Robot Chicken: Star Wars: Episode III, Damages: Season Three, Entourage: Season Seven, ER: Season Fifteen (!) |
 | 11. Damnation Alley HOLY BALLS THIS MOVIE IS AWESOME. Or, at least, I remember it being so when they reran it every weekend back when the Sci-Fi channel first launched. Post-apocalyptic monster trucks? Sign me up! Other older films getting new Blu-Rays this week include Brazil and Mike Leigh's Naked. |
 | 12. Dinocroc Vs. Supergator What's really the difference between a dinocroc and a supergator? I guess I don't really know the difference between crocodiles and alligators, anyway. |
