DVD Releases for the Week of Oct. 21, 2008

This week is a depressing one. There are literally tens of straight-to-video action and horror movies starring second rate actors. So I’ve chosen to stop covering them in this feature. Unless some rare beast comes along that looks interesting or has been receiving some positive buzz, I refuse to cover straight-to-video releases. Unfortunately, that means the bulk of what I can cover this week is left to minor films. HULK MAD!

I have a predisposed bias to The Incredible Hulk. I admit to not being a fan of the 1970s series or the comic series, and therefore never bothered to watch Ang Lee’s interpretation of the big friendly green giant. Honestly, the whole Jeckyll and Hyde thing has been done before without radioactivity and Tarzan-like one-liners. Despite this, Louis Leterrier’s reboot of the franchise, starring Edward Norton as Bruce Banner has received some relatively positive press, and should be worth checking out for fans of the genre looking forward to the inevitable Avengers film (this would be the team that comprises of Hulk and other Marvel heroes such as Iron Man). Liv Tyler co-stars in this one, but she also stars in the horror thriller The Strangers, directed by Bryan Bertino. This rather simple story involves a family being terrorized by strangers in a cabin. Scary. Also scary is a new documentary starring Ben Stein. Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed is a Michael Moore-like documentary for those backing Intelligent Design. While this would make an interesting film, Nathan Frankowski’s “teems with contradictions, false dichotomies, and specious reasoning.” (source)

Prolific Chinese/Taiwanese director Hsiao-hsien Hou moves to France with a “winsome homage to Albert Lamorisse’s classic children’s fantasy short film of 1956 The Red Balloon” (source). Flight of the Red Balloon (Le voyage du ballon rouge) lends itself more to drama than fantasy, as a red balloon follows the wanderings of a little boy and his baby-sitter. Canadian theater director Ed Gass-Donnelly’s latest film was part of the Official Selection at TIFF2007 is an intensely sexually violent film about a cast of characters directly affected by one woman’s suicide. Set in Toronto’s westside, the film’s title This Beautiful City is in no way ironic. One documentary is set for release this week. In the same vein as Touching the Void, Pepe Danquart’s To the Limit (Am Limit) chronicles the grueling extremes endured by mountain climbers, whilst showcasing beautiful scenery at the same time.

One of the staple literary names in schools across English Canada has been Margaret Laurence, and her premiere novel has been adapted to the screen by Kari Skogland: The Stone Angel. Starring Ellen Burstyn, the film retells one woman’s life journey from the perspective of old age. Receiving largely mixed reviews, it has been dubbed by one critic as “the Notebook II” (source). Birds of America, directed by Craig Lucas and starring Friends‘ Matthew Perry, is a small independent film about a man who was burdened with having to raise two siblings. The press has not been too kind on this one. The last in a series of family life films this week is The Go-Getter. Martin Haynes’ movie is about a teenager who goes on a road trip to find a brother he has never known. As the tagline for the film states, “Life doesn’t come with a roadmap”, and he inevitably learns as much about his long-lost brother as he does about himself. Wholesome.

Only a few re-releases of note this week. Criterion Collection is releasing a set of three films by Kenji Mizoguchi, as well as the 1982 film Missing. Spanish film Mondays in the Sun (Los lunes al sol) is getting a new release, thanks to the fact that it stars Javier Bardem in his pre-stardom days. Thankfully, this film is supposed to be quite good. And lastly, for fans of classic sci-fi and horror genres, there are all new color versions of Devil Bat, Phantom from Space, and best of all: The Last Man on Earth.