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I’ve been going through a wrist flare up the last few days, so I’m not bothering with commentary this week. Just check the list below to see what new releases are out this week.

Theatre - Wide Releases

From Paris With Love
Dear John

Theatre - Limited Releases

District B13
Frozen
Jackie Chan in Shinjuku Incident
The Korean
Red Riding Trilogy Part 1 <– My pick
Red Riding Trilogy Part 2 <– My pick
Red Riding Trilogy Part 3 <– My pick
Terribly Happy
Tony
The Most Dangerous Man in America

Theatre - Expanding

Crazy Heart

DVD/Blu-ray releases

Zombieland (DVD/Blu) <– My pick
Amelia (DVD/Blu)
The Time Traveler’s Wife (DVD/Blu)
New York, I Love You (DVD/Blu)
Love Happens (DVD/Blu)
House of the Devil (DVD/Blu)
Universal Soldier: Regeneration (DVD/Blu)
The Wolf Man (DVD)
Ong Bak 2 (DVD)
Mystic River (Blu)
The Godfather (Blu)
The Godfather Part II (Blu)
Gangs of New York (Blu)
Walk the Line (Blu)
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (Blu)
The Last King of Scotland (Blu)
Mona Lisa Smile (Blu)
Maid in Manhattan (Blu)
The Music Man (Blu)
Million Dollar Baby (Blu)
Unforgiven (Blu)
Gigi (Blu)
An American in Paris (Blu)
To Live and Die in LA (Blu)
Beverly Hills 90210 S9 (DVD)
Dr. Who The Complete Specials (DVD)
The Mary Tyler Moore Show S6 (DVD)
Mister Ed S2 (DVD)
Dragon Ball S3 (DVD)

It’s another slow release week. Avatar just reached $550 million at the box office and was #1 for the 6th week in a row. With nothing to challenge it any time soon it’ll easily pass Titanic’s record by next week. For this week there are only two new releases: The Mel Gibson thriller Edge of Darkness and a comedy starring Kristen Bell called When in Rome.

Relevant DVD releases for the week include Saw VI, Whip It!, Michael Jackson’s This Is It, Surrogates, Give ‘Em Hell Malone, and The Boys Are Back. There is also a pair of Keira Knightley films getting Blu-ray releases: Pride & Prejudice and Atonement.

Theatre - Wide Releases

Edge of Darkness <– My pick
When In Rome


Theatre - Limited Releases

Falling Awake
Off and Running
Saint John of Las Vegas
The Weathered Underground

DVD/Blu-ray

Saw VI (DVD/Blu)
Surrogates (DVD/Blu)
Michael Jackson’s This Is It (DVD/Blu)
Whip It! (DVD/Blu) <– My pick
Soul Power (DVD/Blu)
I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell (DVD)
Paris, Texas (Blu)
Robert Rossellini’s War Trilogy (DVD)
Little Ashes (DVD)
Pride & Prejudice (Blu)
Atonement (Blu)
The Toolbox Murders (Blu)
The Boys Are Back (DVD)
You’re A Good Man, Charlie Brown (DVD)
WWII in HD (DVD/Blu)
Give Em Hell Malone (DVD/Blu)
King Lear (DVD)
Alone in the Dark 2 (DVD)
Southland S1 (DVD)
The Universe S4 (DVD)
Pawn Stars S1 (DVD)

I apologize for the severe lateness of this post. I’ve had a difficult time getting back into school mode after getting all soft and lazy over Christmas break. Add in a crazy weekend road trip and it was easy to find excuses for not updating. To make up for lost time, I’m including two weeks of releases in one post. Basically all of these movies are now in stores or already playing in/coming soon to theatres. There have been so many good DVD releases the last two weeks that I decided to bold the ones that I consider to be must buys.

Theatre - Wide Releases

Extraordinary Measures
Legion
The Tooth Fairy
Book of Eli
The Spy Next Door
The Lovely Bones <– My pick
The Last Station

Theatre - Limited Releases

Creation
The Paranoids
To Save a Life
Fish Tank <– My pick
44 Inch Chest


DVD/Blu-ray Releases

The Hurt Locker (DVD/Blu) <– My pick
Moon (DVD/Blu)
In the Loop (DVD/Blu)
Gamer (DVD/Blu)
Pandorum (DVD/Blu)
The Invention of Lying (DVD/Blu)
Che (DVD/Blu)
Bright Star (DVD/Blu)
Halloween II (DVD/Blu)
Fame (DVD/Blu)
The Brothers Bloom (DVD/Blu)
Smoking Aces II (DVD/Blu)
Tyler Perry’s I Can Do Bad All By Myself (DVD/Blu)
Post Grad (DVD/Blu)
8 1/2 (Blu)
Departures (DVD)
Amreeka (DVD)
The House on Sorority Row (DVD)
Ghost in the Shell 2.0 (DVD)
Big Fan (DVD)
Cliffhanger (Blu)
Last Action Hero (Blu)
The Burning Plain (DVD/Blu)
Whiteout (DVD/Blu)
According to Greta (DVD/Blu)
Death in Love (DVD)
The Bourne Identity (Blu)
The Bourne Supremacy (Blu)
The Bourne Ultimatum (Blu)
Magnolia (Blu)
Weeds S5 (DVD/Blu)
The Simpsons S20 (DVD/Blu)
Damages S2 (DVD)
ER S12 (DVD)
Becker S3 (DVD)
Jon and Kate Plus 8 S5 (DVD)
10 Things I Hate About You S1 (DVD)
Transformers S2,V2 (DVD)
Make It or Break It S1 (DVD)
Dallas S12 (DVD)
Thirtysomething S2 (DVD)
21 Jump Street (DVD)
Fraggle Rock (series) DVD

We’re officially into a new year. January is usually the worst month of the year for movies, as studios dump films that aren’t expected to make money into theatres. This week’s three wide releases, which include a screwball comedy, a horror film, and an R-rated comedy, all look intriguing at best. I’m personally interested in all three, but I don’t trust anything that comes out in January until reviews come out. Of the three I am most interested in Leap Year, if only because I have a deep love for Amy Adams and will watch anything she makes no matter how good or bad it turns out.

As far as limited releases go there is nothing noteworthy. Just indie films that got lost amongst last years awards hopefuls.

The week’s big home video releases are The Final Destination (an abomination imo), Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs, and a variety of old films making their Blu-ray debuts. My pick of the week goes to the second season of Chuck, which is a great season for one of the most under-appreciated Television shows.

Theatre - Wide Releases

Leap Year <– My pick
Daybreakers
Youth in Revolt

Theatre - Limited Releases

Bitch Slap
Crazy on the Outside
Waiting for Armageddon
Wonderful World
Sweetgrass

DVD/Blu-ray Releases

Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs (DVD/Blu)
The Final Destination (DVD/Blu)
Lorna’s Silence (DVD)
Trucker (DVD)
10 Things I Hate About You SE (DVD/Blu)
Doom (Blu)
Cheaper by the Dozen 2 (Blu)
Dogtown and Z Boys (Blu)
Dawn of the Dead - 2004 (Blu)
Jarhead (Blu)
The Last Starfighter (Blu)
Chuck S2 (DVD/Blu) <– My pick
Battlestar Galactica S1 (Blu)
Big Love S3 (DVD)
Superfriends S1,V1 (DVD)
Mighty Mouse: The New Adventures series (DVD)
Iron Man: Armored Adventures V2 (DVD)

The busiest week of the year for movie releases is followed by the slowest week. The only new theatrical release is the German film The White Ribbon. It’s a very methodically paced foreign language film that examines the human nature tendency to do evil things. It’s an art film to say the least, so most people will probably be more interested in catching up on the ton of quality films in wide release right now. Avatar, Sherlock Holmes, It’s Complicated, Princess and the Frog, Up in the Air, and Nine are all playing in theatres everywhere right now, so it’s not like there’s nothing good to choose from.

DVD selection is a little better, with Paranormal Activity, 9 (the animated film), Jennifer’s Body and The Perfect Getaway to choose from for movies and Glee and United States of Tara for TV shows. The release calendar is pretty quiet right now, but things will pick up again in a couple of weeks.

Theatre Releases - Limited

The White Ribbon <– My pick

DVD/Blu-ray Releases

Paranormal Activity (DVD/Blu)
9 (DVD/Blu) <– My pick
Jennifer’s Body (DVD/Blu)
The Perfect Getaway (DVD/Blu)
The Marine 2 (DVD/Blu)
Facing Ali (DVD)
Weather Girl (DVD)
Glee S1,V1 (DVD)
The United States of Tara S1 (DVD)

The last two days have involved 12+ hours of driving and two viewings of Avatar, so please forgive my lateness. This is Christmas week, and as usual there are a ton of wide theatrical releases. The widest release of the week is the new Alvin and the Chipmunks movie. I think it looks horrid, but children will probably love it. For those who crave action and adventure there is Sherlock Holmes, which looks more like a mainstream blockbuster than a traditional detective movie. For older audiences and/or couples there is the latest Nancy Meyers rom-com It’s Complicated. Early reviews are slightly mixed but it looks like might be worth seeing just for the cast. Finally, Nine and Up in the Air (two Awards contenders) are expanding to wide release.

In limited release this week are three smaller films trying to get noticed for awards. The first is Terry Gilliam’s The Imaginerium of Dr. Parnassus, which is a fantasy film that just happens to be Heath Ledger’s final film. The Last Station is a Leo Tolstoy biopic filled with great actors, and Police Adjective is a critically acclaimed Romanian film.

The Lovely Bones, A Single Man and The Young Victoria are slightly expanding, but are still just limited releases.

District 9 and (500) Days of Summer are the highlights of this week’s DVD releases. Both films are among the best of the year. Also of interest is the music documentary It Might Get Loud and Mike Judge comedy, Extract. The critical bomb All About Steve is also seeing release this week. Sandra Bullock fans are likely better off seeing The Proposal or The Blind Side instead.

Theatre - Wide Releases

Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel
It’s Complicated
Sherlock Holmes <– My pick
Nine
Up in the Air

Theatre - Limited Releases

The Imaginerium of Dr. Parnassus <– My pick
The Last Station
Police, Adjective

Expanding

A Single Man
The Lovely Bones
The Young Victoria

DVD/Blu-ray

District 9 (DVD/Blu)
(500) Days of Summer (DVD/Blu) <– My pick
All About Steve (DVD/Blu)
It Might Get Loud (DVD/Blu)
Extract (DVD/Blu)
Family Guy: Something Something Something Darkside (DVD)
Beyond a Reasonable Doubt (DVD)
American Pie: The Book of Love (DVD/Blu)
Taxi series (DVD)
The Secret Life of the American Teenager S3 (DVD)
Kyle XY S3,S4 (DVD)

With Christmas season in full bloom we are finally seeing the heavy hitters being released to cinemas. Obviously this week is all about Avatar, James Cameron’s hyped to oblivion 3D action-fest. Will it live up to the hype? According to the critics, yes. In his review, Roger Ebert compared it to seeing Star Wars for the first time, so I’m definitely interested in seeing how it plays on the big screen. The only other wide release is a traditional romantic comedy called Did You Hear About the Morgans. I think it looks like a bore, but I suppose it’ll play well for the people who don’t believe the Avatar hype.

The limited release films are made up of awards-bait typical of the season. I’m most interested in Crazy Heart, in which Jeff Bridges attempts to win a long over-due oscar by playing an alcoholic country singer. Musical director Rob Marshall has the star-studded Nine seeing limited release. It’ll be going wide on Christmas Day. The Young Victoria appears to be a baity biopic with Emily Blunt playing Queen Victoria. Finally, A Town Called Panic makes its way to North American shores as the final animated film of the year.

The big DVD/Blu-ray releases of the week are the summer hits Inglourious Basterds, The Hangover and G-Force. I liked the first two a lot, but avoided the last one like the plague. Other big releases include Ang Lee’s Taking Woodstock, a Mel Brooks Collection, and early seasons of Star Trek: The Original Series.

Theatre - Wide Releases

Avatar <– My pick
Did You Hear About the Morgans?

Theatre - Limited Releases

Crazy Heart <– My pick
Nine
The Young Victoria
A Town Called Panic
Hachiko: A Dog’s Story
NoBody’s Perfect
Ricky

DVD/Blu-ray

Inglourious Basterds (DVD/Blu) <– My pick
The Hangover (DVD/Blu)
G-Force (DVD/Blu)
Taking Woodstock (DVD/Blu)
The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard (DVD)
The Other Man (DVD/Blu)
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (DVD)
The Mel Brooks Collection (Blu)
Star Trek Original Series S3 (Blu)
Star Trek Original Series S1-3 (Blu)
Robot Chicken S4 (DVD)
The Tudors S3 (DVD)

The holiday rush is upon us! Not that there’s a ton of stuff like there was each week last month. Just that most of the releases are examples of quality entertainment. In theatres Princess and the Frog is expanding to a wide release. It seems like it’s been years since the last 2D Disney animation, and even though the story of Princess and the Frog doesn’t do much for me, I’m just excited to see a return to tradition. The other wide release is Clint Eastwood’s Nelson Mandela biopic Invictus. Looks like pure Oscar Bait to me, but I’m still interested in seeing it because of the talent involved.

In Limited Release there are two Oscar hopefuls in The Lovely Bones and A Single Man, and a new Werner Herzog film called My Son My Son, What Have Ye Done? I’ll see all three films on their buzz alone, but I haven’t been altogether impressed with the trailers or reviews that I’ve seen.

Previous limited releases Up in the Air and Me and Orson Welles are expanding slightly, but won’t see wide release for another couple of weeks.

This week’s DVD and Blu-ray releases are packed with movies that I enjoyed over the summer. Public Enemies got decidedly mixed reviews and word-of-mouth, but it ended up being one of my favorite films of the summer. It’s not what one would expect from a John Dillinger biopic, but I thought it was a well crafted drama with a few stellar action sequences thrown in. I’ll be picking it up once it hits the bargain bins.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is probably the highest profile release of the week. For me it was one of the best films in the series, coming close to the series best Prisoner of Azkaban. I’ll likely pick it up on Blu-ray so I can admire Bruno Delbonnel’s beautiful cinematography in hi-def.

Another big release is the Meryl Streep biopic/rom-com Julie & Julia. I loved it when I saw it, but I’m not sure how it will hold up to repeated viewings. I’ll have to rent it and see if it’s worth picking up used.

TV fans will be excited to see Season 5 of Lost. Despite the fact that I’m a hardcore Lost fan, I don’t see myself picking it up until I find it in a bargain bin. I hate spending $50+ on TV shows.

By far the most exciting release of the week for me is AK100, which is a Criterion box set of 25 Akira Kurosawa films. $350 may seem like a steep price, but considering most of these movies cost $50 individually it’s well worth the cost.

Theatre - Wide Releases

The Princess and the Frog
Invictus <– My pick

Theatre - Limited Releases

The Lovely Bones <– My pick
A Single Man
My Son, My Son, What Have Ye Done?
Slammin’ Salmon
Sincerely Yours

Expanding

Up in the Air
Me and Orson Welles

DVD/Blu-ray Releases

Public Enemies (DVD/Blu)
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (DVD/Blu)
Julie & Julia (DVD/Blu)
World’s Greatest Dad (DVD/Blu)
The Cove (DVD)
Humble Pie (DVD)
AK100 (DVD) <– My pick
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (DVD/Blu)
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (DVD/Blu)
Lost S5 (DVD/Blu)
Rescue Me S5,V2 (DVD)
Spongebob Squarepants S6,V1 (DVD)
Get Smart S5

December is kicking off with a nice variety of theatrical releases. Armored looks like an action-packed heist flick, Everybody’s Fine is a dramedy with a lead performance from Robert DeNiro, and Brothers is an oscar-baity drama. All three of these releases look like they COULD be good, but early word has been pretty mixed. I’m a big fan of Brothers director Jim Sheridan. Three of his previous films (My Left Foot, In the Name of the Father, In America) are masterpieces in my opinion, so I’ll be giving the film a shot no matter what the reviews say.

The only limited release that I’m interested in is Up in the Air, a George Clooney dramedy directed by Jason Reitman (Thank You for Smoking, Juno). It will be slowly expanding until Christmas Day, when it goes wide.

This week has little to offer for DVD releases. Oddly enough the entire month of December looks slow for DVD/Blu-ray. I suppose November has become the big month for movie sales. The big releases of the week are Terminator Salvation (a film I absolutely loathed) and Night at the Museum 2. For people who are tired of sequels, there is the foreign language film A Christmas Tale and the Michael Cera comedy Paper Heart.

Theatre - Wide Releases

Armored
Everybody’s Fine
Brothers <– My pick
Transylmania

Theatre - Limited Releases

Up in the Air <– My pick
Serious Moonlight
Before Tomorrow
Loot

Theatre - Expanding

Me and Orson Welles

DVD/Blu-ray Releases

Terminator Salvation (DVD/Blu)
Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian (DVD/Blu)
Paper Heart (DVD/Blu) <– My pick
A Christmas Tale (DVD/Blu)
Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (Blu)
Gimme Shelter (Blu)
Saturday Night Live S5 (DVD)

With this female focused weekend passing by us (New Moon and Blind Side owned the box office), we can look forward to some variety this coming weekend. There’s literally something for every audience. Old Dogs for families, Ninja Assassin for fans of…well…ninjas, The Road for lovers of popular fiction, Fantastic Mr. Fox and Princess and the Frog for animation buffs and/or kids, and The Private Lives of Pippa Lee for the women. I am hoping to take in The Road, Fantastic Mr. Fox and Precious all in one day. Things are starting to heat up now that the holidays are closing in.

As for DVD, it’s a relatively quiet week. At least in terms of quantity. The fact that two of the releases (Four Christmases and Gamorrah) are from last year only reinforces that feeling. There are a few big films to choose, even if they got mixed reviews. I enjoyed Funny People quite a bit (just keep in mind it isn’t really a comedy), and some people have told me that they enjoyed Angels & Demons, if only slightly more than its predecessor The DaVinci Code.

Just a small note on Princess and the Frog. It’s only playing in 2 theatres this weekend. Look for it in wide release Dec. 11.

Theatre - Wide Releases

Old Dogs
Ninja Assassin
The Road <– My pick
The Fantastic Mr. Fox

Theatre - Limited Releases

Me and Orson Welles
The Princess and the Frog <– My pick
The Private Lives of Pippa Lee

DVD/Blu-ray Releases

Angels & Demons (DVD/Blu)
Funny People (DVD/Blu)
Four Christmases (DVD/Blu)
Shorts (DVD/Blu)
Gomorrah (DVD/Blu) <– My pick
Santa Buddies (DVD/Blu)
Kobe Doin Work (DVD)
The Maiden Heist (DVD)
The Vengeance Trilogy (DVD)
Superman Complete Animated Series (DVD)
Taking Chances (DVD)
My Bloody Valentine (Blu)
Cujo (Blu)