Ninja Assasin (Blu-ray/DVD Combo + Digital Copy) – As cartoonishly violent and rock-n-roll fun as the trailer suggests, Rain (Korean pop superstar) was the perfect man to star in this movie.

Vengeance Trilogy (Sympathy for Mr. Vegeance/Oldboy/Lady Vengeance) – If you just can’t wait until June 15th for the Blu-ray version, or if you only have a DVD player, then this is a perfect violent Korean art-house counterbalance to the American-made Korean-starring Ninja Assassin.

The Princess and The Frog (Three Disc Blu-ray/DVD Combo with Digital Copy) – I’ve heard so many mixed reviews for Disney’s first traditionally cel-animated movie in decades that I couldn’t bring myself to watch it.

The Twilight Saga: New Moon [Blu-ray] – On top of all the things you can say are stupid about the Twilight series, add that they decided to release their movie on Saturday instead of Tuesday. This reeks of the worst (and most pointless) marketing ideas that exist.

Twilight in Forks-Saga of the Real Town – The leeches trying to make money from the Twilight series are perfectly on schedule. (Maybe I’m being unfair. Maybe someone with a good heart really felt strongly about the real town behind the fictional story.)

Bandslam – My wife LOVES any movie that ends in a dance-off or similar situation, and this teen flick does have a freshness rating of !!! 80% !!!, so I bet I get to see it soon.

Billy: The Early Years Of Billy Graham – I was raised in an evangelical church in the `80’s, so this biopic starring Martin Landau, directed by 70/80`s Teen Beat cover boy Robby Benson is a must see.

Smash Cut – I avoided this at Fantastic Fest last year (despite being the Adam Green short lead-in) and the reviews verify that it’s a stinker.

Up in the Air [Blu-ray] – There’s a reason both women were nominated for Best Supporting Actress, the movie was nominated for Best Film and Jason Reitman is no longer a phenom, but an expert director.

Precious: Based on the Novel – I haven’t seen this yet, but sources I trust assure me there is more under the hood than the after-school-special trailer leads you to believe.

The Stoning of Soraya M. [Blu-ray] – I missed this in theaters, but the (based on a true) story of a journalist in a middle east village where a brave woman is willing to tell the truth intrigues me. (This is also available on Netflix’s watch-it-now.)

The Brothers Warner – I love to hear stories about the actual people behind film (or film behemoths) so I’m excited to got to see this.

Gigante A festival film with a 92% freshness rating…and I haven’t seen it. Good thing it’s on Netflix’s watch-it-now.

Scarecrow and Mrs. King: The Complete First Season – I have a friend who is probably waiting at the Best Buy right now so she can rush in and snatch up a copy before they’re sold out.

Where the Wild Things Are [Blu-ray] – Spike Jonze and Dave Eggers really did a number to this classic children’s book. It is not the playful romp, read before bed. It is a deeply beautiful treatise on strongly bonded friendships: making them, keeping them, losing them. It isn’t so much a departure from the book as it is a mature facet of a story that could lie beneath the surface.

We Live In Public – There are so many layers of narcissism in this documentary (about a man who could be credited with inventing the concepts of content for online streaming video) that you may mistakenly accept the underlying conceit that technology will be responsible for the end of privacy. Don’t believe the technophobes and their conspiracy theories.

Law Abiding Citizen – Disclaimer: I love revenge movies like I love no other genre. Somewhere in the ignored sections of my reasoning, I recognize the plot has flaws and the story is over the top, but THIS MOVIE IS AWESOME.

Coco Before Chanel – With a modest 65% freshness rating, one of my favorite actresses, Audrey Tautou, and a best costume Oscar nomination, there’s a good chance I’ll be seeing this soon.

Did Cabin Fever: Unrated Director’s Cut need a Blu-Ray upgrade? Maybe. It’s a good quality, honest horror film, which is rare these days. However, Cabin Fever 2: Spring Fever is so bad, it should never get released on any format.

The Ladykillers – I’ve never seen it, but I love the cast and the premise.

Black Dynamite – I have a t-shirt for this movie that I feel self-conscious about wearing in public. Did it even get a theatrical release?

Ran – Should I sell my Criterion DVD and pick up this HD upgrade of Kurosawa’s #3 rated movie? I’m just not sure.

Revanche (Criterion Collection) – What’s up with so many Foreign Film nominees being unknowns to even the festival goers like myself? This Austrian movie with a 95% freshness rating was completely under my radar, and I still haven’t seen it. If it’s getting a Criterion release I should probably check it out.

Contempt – Godard’s meta-movie about the sacrifices needed to get your purest vision to the screen, starring Bigitte Bardot. I should probably see this.

GoodFellas – I detest gangster movies. Was this really worthy of an HD upgrade?

Evolution is Wrong: Darwinism Exposed – This part of the listing from Amazon says all I need to know: This product is manufactured on demand using DVD-R recordable media.

Bronson – This was received well-enough at Fantastic Fest and it is a fun movie, but I was unimpressed with Tom Hardy’s ability to deliver Shakespeare, which is essential to pull off the grandiose heights the filmmakers were aiming for.

A Serious Man – Even this goy loved this incredibly Jewish movie. Artistically, this is the Coen Brothers’ best movie (though certainly not the funniest.)

Midgets vs. Mascots (Unrated) – I’m not sure how I missed this arthouse gem highlighted be a fistfight between Gary Coleman and Scottie Pippen. It also stars Jason Mewes (who is always funny), that guy from In Bruges who we all thought was Peter Dinklage, and Little Richard.

Zombieland [Blu-ray] – This was the one of the best movies of 2009. It’s funny, well-shot, well-acted. It’s nearly perfect.

Walk the Line [Blu-ray] – Reese Witherspoon delivers one of the best female performances of all time. Is it a reflection of the force of June Carter Cash’s role in Johnny Cash’s life? This is an upgrade I have no trouble making.

Spiral [Blu-ray] – I love Amber Tamblyn, and I think this is Joel David Moore and Adam Green at the top of their game. This goes on the creepy shelf right next to Psycho.

The House of the Devil [Blu-ray] – I made the mistake of seeing Cabin Fever 2: Spring Fever the same week I had The House of the Devil on my schedule. After the stinky mess of CF2:SF I couldn’t imaging that THofD was worth seeing, but all the 80’s horror fans love it. I’ll probably catch it streaming online.

Ong-Bak: The Thai Warrior [Blu-ray] and Ong Bak 2: The Beginning [Blu-ray] – I hear Ong Bak 2 is pretty bad, and I’m not sure I’m ready to buy Ong Bak a fourth time, even if it’s better quality.

Universal Soldier: Regeneration [Blu-ray] – After the phenomenal JCVD my hopes were up that this reunion of Van Damme and Dolph Lundgren would be at least tolerable, but this movie sucks hard.

Jack Ketchum’s The Girl Next Door [Blu-ray] is nothing like that other The Girl Next Door movie. The latter is a cheap comedy about an empowered porn star and her underage peeping-tom neighbor. The former is a master-crafted (based on a true) story about a girl who is abused and tortured. This is one of those films that draws the line for how a really well made movie can be almost unwatchable due to the nature of the story.

The Music Man [Blu-ray] – I loves me a good musical, and this is one of my top five favorites.

The Oscar winner release season continues with several movies that don’t really interest me:

The Godfather – The Coppola Restoration Giftset (The Godfather / The Godfather Part II / The Godfather Part III) [Blu-ray] (also available individually as The Godfather (Coppola Restoration) [Blu-ray] and The Godfather Part II (Coppola Restoration) [Blu-ray]) – I’ve never been a fan of the gangster genre, but I’d be remiss to not mention the best of them all is coming out this week. There were three Oscar wins for the original (Best Actor: Marlon Brando; Best Picture; Best Writing) with eight additional nominations, and six wins (Best Actor: De Niro; Best Art Direction; Best Director; Best Original Score; Best Picture; Best Writing) for the sequel plus five additional nominations.

Mystic River [Blu-ray] – This won two Oscars (Best Actor: Sean Penn; Best Supporting Actor: Tim Robbins) and four additional nominations.

Gangs of New York (Remastered) [Blu-ray] – It didn’t win any awards, but it had an impressive ten nominations.

Atonement [Blu-ray] Being nominated in 2008 — the year of No Country for Old Men and There Will be Blood — was a harsh buzz kill to many films. Saoirse Ronan was nominated for Best Supporting Actress (and she’ll be nominated for best actress this year for The Lovely Bones, no doubt.) The screenplay, art direction and costumes were nominated. It had amazing cinematography in a year that every nominee deserved to win a cinematography award. I will be cross-grading my HD-DVD to Blu-Ray for this.

Whip It [Blu-ray] – I was disappointed in the lack of rock-n-roll girl power in this movie, but the quiet things it says about girls finding empowerment at the same time they’re meeting boys is worth telling. (Boo on Barrymore for filming this Austin-based story in Detroit.)

Michael Jackson: This Is It [Blu-ray] – Is the 80% freshness rating for this doc on the 80’s icon’s last show prep worth it? or is it a sympathy rating? I’ll rent it to find out.

Paris, Texas [Blu-ray] – Criterion is really pulling at my purse-strings releasing a Sam Shepard storied, Texas based, Harry Dean Stanton starring, Ry Cooder music’d movie. I think I’m required by several regulations to buy this.

Pride & Prejudice [Blu-ray] – Nominated for four Academy Awards, including then-new-comer Keira Knightley for Best Actress, this is another must-own.

Fame [Blu-ray] – The classic 80’s musical comes to Blu-Ray. It was nominated for six Academy Awards, and it won two.

Soul Power [Blu-ray] – I haven’t seen it, but I hear great things about one of the greatest soul concerts in history.

Bright Star – I’m down with costume period dramas, particularly when they have an 83% freshness rating. I didn’t know this movie existed, but I’m adding it to my NetFlix queue.

The Boys Are Back – Another movie I haven’t heard about, and it only has a 73% freshness rating, but I’ll add it to my NetFlix queue and let it sit at the bottom for a rainy day.

The Donner Party – Crispin Glover starred in a movie based on the classic true American cannibalism story?!? and I missed it at Austin Film Festival?!?

Hard Revenge Milly: Hyper Violence Collection (two Hard Revenge Milly movies) – I saw this double feature at Fantastic Fest. If you like the hyper-violent crazy-weapon style of Japanese chop-socky exploitation then you’ll like this movie. I felt it would have made a better pair of short films, since I don’t need to really feel the character’s motivation.

Pontypool – This was shown during the Fantastic Fest sponsored midnight shows for SXSW, and it is highly reviewed. Fans of independent zombie films should be excited.

LOST Unraveling the Mystery – I’m not so much of a Lost fan that I’d watch this and play the included “mystery game”, but sometimes I wish I was.

Pawn Stars: The Complete Season 1 – There’s not much replay-ability in this tv show, but watch for the NetFlix release and add it to your Instant Queue. This show, about a family in Las Vegas that runs a pawn shop, is surprisingly educational while it entertains.

Unquestionably, this is one of the best movies I saw last year. Due to the juggling of release dates and distribution points, I don’t know if it would qualify for any Academy Awards, but it is phenomenal and deserves numerous awards.

This is probably the most beautiful film made last year. Any war time film is painful, and like most good war movies this one is not always about physical violence. It will be nominated for several Academy Awards, and it’s currently my favorite for cinematography and sound editing and design.

It’s Fellini’s greatest film. It’s hard to step back from this, and decide if non-cinephiles would like it.

I love this movie. It’s not perfect, but in the vein of romantic long-con films it is wonderful.

If you didn’t order the UK region-free release, now you can get a copy here in the U.S. Another great film with Oscar written all over it in invisible ink. Will Sam Rockwell be nominated for best actor, or will he be up for best supporting actor with Kevin Spacey taking an actor nom?

There was a lot of critical love for this — 95% freshness rating on RT — but I’m not a fan of the frenetic story, nor what I see as the unfunny parts of British comedy. Still, it was great to see Anna Chlumsky in a big movie, and I can’t stop using the line “difficult, difficult, lemon, difficult”.

Patton Oswalt is, stand-alone, one of the funniest people I’ve seen, and this movie has an 88% freshness rating, so I can only blame it’s very short theatrical release for my not seeing it.

I still haven’t seen last year’s Academy Award winner for Foreign Film. I guess now I have no excuse (other than the potential depressing story line.)

After being so well-received at a number of festivals, and being nominated for several awards, and having an 87% freshness rating, I should have seen this too before it came out on DVD. Now, I’ll get my chance.

I’m only listing this because it seems so bizarre: a 1980 film, made in Italy, set in the USA, about prostitutes who help a man open a truck stop. Has this ever shown at Weird Wednesday? It seems like exactly the kind of thing they’d enjoy showing.

Starring Austin’s own Wiley Wiggins (who is a regular at Weird Wednesday) and directed by the Zellner brothers (childhood friends of my wife) this is another movie that I’ve taken too long to find a copy. If Best Buy carries it, this will be in my shopping cart tomorrow.

This is one of my favorite teen comedies of all time. It probably isn’t worth the upgrade to Blu-Ray, but I’m a sucker.

I probably should have bought the series box set that came out in July. I’ll probably line Universal’s pockets by upgrading all my individual seasons one at a time like this.

I didn’t see this is in the theater, and I’ll probably not buy it until circular polarization 3D is available in the home, but I may rent it before then.

This was not good unless all you wanted was the incredulous chain-reaction death scenes, and (again) without being able to do circular polarization 3D at home it will lose the minuscule amount of theatrical magic it might have had to begin with.

A documentary about the science and art of origami? Yes, I’m dorky enough that I’m dying to rent this.

I have never heard of this movie. It has no ratings on Rotten Tomatoes. I’ve never heard of the male star, and the female star has done such blockbusters as Disturbia, The Grudge 2, and Wristcutters: A Love Story. …but it has a supporting cast with the likes of Snoop Dog, Rachael Leigh Cook, Joe Pantoliano, Mimi Rogers, Annette O’Toole and Ajay “Nagheenanajar, Nag-hee-na-na-jar, it’s pronounced like it’s spelled” Naidu. …and I’m pretty sure I can pick it up real cheap.

This was detested by genre fans at Fantastic Fest 2008. I skipped seeing it that year (which seems like a good thing), but I’m sure the boobies look great in HD.

Lastly, the quirky movie Adam isn’t out on retail DVD until 2/2, but you can rent it starting tomorrow. I haven’t seen it but I was intrigued by the trailers, and it has a 65% freshness rating.

It wasn’t even close to the magic of the short film that gained director Shane Acker an Oscar nomination, but it’s still a gorgeous film with heart.

There was a lot of ill will for this movie, but it felt like misdirected backlash for the overexposure of Megan Fox (the “star” of the movie) and Diablo Cody (the screenwriter, who also wrote Juno.) I thought it was a lot of fun, and even came off like a budget “snappy patter” horror movie should. (What is “snappy patter”? Think Juno or “Gilmore Girls”.)

After I saw it in theaters I swore this was too scary to have in my house, but I’m rethinking that since it’s the perfect movie for small crowd viewing at home. (DO NOT see this at home by yourself.)

I wouldn’t buy this…because it’s a cheap money making gimmick from Fox. Wait until late spring when they’ll release the full season on Blu-Ray.

I’ve heard several good reviews, and it has a 71% freshness rating…but I’ll probably just rent this one.

I haven’t heard of this film before now, but Koreans have been making some phenomenal films lately, so I will buy it if I can pick it up cheap.

I love Zooey Deschanel and big musical numbers, but this movie left me feeling empty-hearted.

I will agree that it looked great, and I didn’t have anything I hated about it…except the not-so-thinly-veiled critique of immigration that made it look like Blomkamp was calling immigrants filthy disgusting (terrorist) bugs.

With a freshness rating of 69%, and a lot of ties to the Austin movie scene you would think I’d have seen this. I must have held a grudge for not getting into the premiere screening. /jk

Did this show on TV, even? I loved the Family Guy Star Wars spoof, so I’ll probably grab this.

A freshness rating of 79% with three musicians I revere, yet I haven’t seen it yet.

Undoubtedly, this is the big comedy release of the holiday season. I laughed through tears several times during this movie.

…and this is the big action movie of the season. I’ve had my qualms with Tarantino’s work before but I love this film.

The big news of the week is Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. We’re still trying to figure out if there’s a way to celebrate Becky’s birthday where we can watch the entire series, but this movie pushes the marathon HP watching to 18 hours, which is hard to sell. Maybe we’ll break it up into two nights?

If you happen to have an extra $339 laying around, buy me that French box-set of the miniature Hogwarts with drawers to hold the movies.

This is one of my favorite movies of the year, probably because it feeds into my foodie nature. I was so inspired I even made Pâté de Canard en Croûte. Also, there are probably nominations in the wings for both actresses so this is a no-brainer to buy.

“Lost” had its low points, but it’s still one of the most compelling narratives ever on TV. Season 5 has really brought things around and I can’t wait until Season 6 starts next year. I hope “Lost” becomes the hallmark of shows that are planned for limited runs. I would like to see more shows do small story arcs across 1-3 episodes, large arcs across a season, and one huge arc across the series.

From Fantastic Fest 2008, the only high point of this popcorn genre film is the prominent use of practical effects. It’s a fun little romp, but it’s not memorable.

This is one of the best reviewed movies of the year — 85% at Rotten Tomatoes — that I haven’t seen yet, but if the price is right I’ll be picking it up tomorrow.

The hot girlfriend from “Everwood”, the new Captain Kirk, and the star of Coyote Ugly are the marquee names in this obscure genre movie that has a precarious 67% freshness rating at Rotten Tomatoes (including Fantastic Fest’s Scott Weinberg). The star of the film also lead in the pointless boring movie, The Go-Getter, with Zooey Deschanel, Jena Malone, Judy Greer and Mara Tierney. If he keeps this up, all his movies will be watchable…even if they suck.

A gun safety film starring John Wayne?!? I’m there.

Did anyone else know the movie (series) Friday was made into a cartoon? Is it funny?

This is one of my favorite movies of the year. It’s not the best movie of the year but Yi is infectious in her character, songs and animation, plus the story she’s woven draws me in. I’ll be adding this to my rainy-day list of standards.

Somehow, after seeing nearly 30 minutes of this before it was released, I never saw it in theaters. Maybe I’ll give it a chance on disc.

These Guy Ritchie instant classics are probably worth the HD upgrade.

The 80’s were a good time for fun films.

It’s sensationalist media pablum…but I may be base enough to buy it.

How did a horror movie with Brittany Murphy and Thora Birch make it to disc without a single review on Rotten Tomatoes? That scares me.