New in Home Entertainment
July 19, 2011
Amelie
Rated R for sexual content
Available on Blu-ray
French with English Subtitles
The French are well-known for their fine food, epic museums and innovative cinema (I won’t get into their negatives). Among the best of their movies, especially when considering their more modern films, is this gem of a picture directed by the brilliant Jean-Pierre Jeunet and starring Audrey Hepburn doppelganger Audrey Tautou. The Oscar-nominated screenplay tells the tale of a young French girl who upon committing random acts of kindness to others is finally allowed to fall in love. Being ranked #46 in IMDB’s Top 250, I can honestly say that I’m not alone in thinking that this is one heck of a visionary film, and certainly one of my all-time favorites. The colors, music, and imagination all run wild in order to produce this beautiful fantasy which will have you smiling big for two straight hours. For me, this smile is due to the happiness I feel inside each and every time I watch it. Also being released for the first time on Blu-ray by Lionsgate are Chocolate, Bridget Jones’s Diary and The Boy in the Striped Pajamas. A+
Peep World
Not Rated
Available on DVD and Blu-ray
Personally, I am a big fan of The Office, Dexter, and The Sarah Silverman Program. That’s why I have a tough time understanding how the stars of each of these can get together and make such a lousy film. Rainn Wilson, Michael C. Hall and Sarah Silverman are fighting siblings who are all bitter due to a book their brother, Ben Schwartz, has written about their lives. The basic premise isn’t horrible, but the screenplay is dreadful and the energy is non-existent. It’s like being distracted by a boring, uneventful, meaningless family fight while you’re trying to enjoy the movie you thought you were going to watch. D
National Lampoon’s Animal House
Rated R
Available on Blu-ray
Setting the stage for the modern day raunch-com is this classic fraternity tale starring John Belushi in his most famous role. It’s hard to imagine my college days without Animal House as I recall we used to memorize the dialog over beer and pizza on almost a weekly basis. Does the movie need a blu-ray edition? Not really, but if you are into updating your collection, this isn’t a bad one to put in there. The one new feature that I love is the popular Scene It? Animal House Edition game. Also being re-released on blu-ray this week is The Blues Brothers, another hilarious Belushi film that proves that while he has been gone for almost 30 years, he is still one of the greatest comedians to grace the screen. A-