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DVD New Releases – 7/28/2009

Every week I make a list of notable discs being released so I can figure out what I “need” to buy. ;)

There’s a real variety of movies being released this week. It looks like the industry is trying to make up for the past couple months.

• Dollhouse: Season One – Joss Whedon does it again. The pilot episode was a little weak but, once he had a chance to really put pen to paper, episodes two and three are incredibly compelling.
• Acolytes – This genre festival film was very well received. Here’s what I said when I saw it last September: “It is hard to cover the plot of this movie without giving away the many surprising turns it delivers. Three teenagers take on the mystery of a local missing girl, and their former bully who is on parole, and it is pulled off very well. At one point I even was reminded of Heavenly Creatures because of the accents, the forest scenery, and the brutal nature of the confrontations.”
• Bart Got a Room – This is another festival film, of the more mainstream variety. Here’s my review from October of last year: “Imagine if William H Macy did a Florida Jewish American Pie. Less ribald (but still occasionally inappropriate) and more heartwarming. This is going to be a classic “getting a prom date” movie. It had so many amazing touches and was well-acted, directed and edited…and it had William H Macy with a jew-fro.”
• Big Man Japan – At Fantastic Fest 2007 I wasn’t thrilled to watch this movie after midnight and a lot of hype, but I still think it’s a good film. My review from that night: “Not for your average round eye, Dai Nipponjin is a spot-on Japanese take on the “mockumentary”, with Hitoshi Matsumoto performing like an Asian Christopher Guest. As a man whose job is to fight the mega-monsters that attack Japan — after he’s electrocuted and grows to a humongous size — Matsumoto is sympathetically pathetic and hilarious. Fans of Guest’s work, and men in rubber suits stomping on model Tokyo skylines will unite in laughter.”
• 12 Monkeys – Already a classic, Brad Pitt personifies “just because I’m paranoid doesn’t mean they’re not out to get me”. I hope the Blu-Ray transfer is an beautiful as I’m expecting.
• Battlestar Galactica: Season 4.5 and Battlestar Galactica: The Complete Series – The final season was great even if you didn’t like the last five minutes. The question is, will you fall for the cyborg head Blu-Ray special edition complete series box set?
• The Inglorious Bastards – See Bo Svenson — who I met at the Drafthouse several years ago and is a really friendly guy — in the original movie before Quentin Tarantino steers Brad Pitt and Eli Roth (looking like Sylar) through his own crazy bloody version.

• A River Runs Through It – Boring as dirt, but gorgeous so the Blu-Ray should be stunning.

Blu-ray:

DVD:

Next Week Preview: