02/01/11 Recommended New Releases

Today is a huge day for DVD/Blu-Ray releases, and I am here to provide my recommendations:

 Let Me In (Matt Reeves, 2010) - an impressive remake (from the director of Cloverfield) of the Swedish hit, Let the Right One In (which was based on a novel by John Ajvide Lindqvist). Chloe Moretz, in particular, gives an extraordinary performance as Abby, and Elias Koteas (in a supporting role as a policeman) is always a welcome presence on the screen.

Format: Blu-ray - this version includes an exclusive special feature titled "Dissecting Let Me In," as well as a Digital Copy of the film.

Monsters (Gareth Edwards, 2010) - a critically acclaimed flick from the UK. The film takes place six years after an alien invasion in a quarantined area of Mexico, where a U.S. journalist agrees to help an American tourist make it through the quarantined zone to reach the U.S. border.

Format: Blu-ray - Includes all of the special features of the 2-disc DVD edition (which is actually more expensive) and is BD-Live enabled. Like the 2-disc DVD, the Blu-ray also includes a Digital Copy of the film.

Secretariat (Randall Wallace, 2010) - based on the true story of the racehorse Secretariat, who won the Triple Crown in 1973.

Format: Blu-ray - Includes the DVD version of the film as well as a slew of special features exclusive to the Blu-ray version (take from the Amazon.com listing):
• Heart of a Champion
• Choreographing the Races
• A Director's Inspiration: A Conversation with The Real Penny Chenery
• Audio commentary by director Randall Wallace
• 7 Deleted Scenes with optional audio commentary by director Randall Wallace • Secretariat multi-angle simulation
• Music video - AJ Michalka "It's Who You Are" 

                                           

Hatchet II (Adam Green, 2010) - the sequel to the 2006 cult hit, picking up right the original film ended, with Marybeth (Danielle Harris) narrowly escaping the clutches of the vicious maniac Victor Crowley. While I was not too fond of the original film due to its emphasis more on self-reflexive humor than actual thrills, the sequel is supposedly more the latter this time around. Plus, Tony Todd is in it, which is all a film really needs to at least pique my interest.

Format: Blu-ray - includes two exclusive features: "Hatchet II: First Look," and "Meet the FX Team." The sale price of $14.99 this week, specifically at Best Buy and on Amazon.com, makes the Blu-ray only an extra dollar or two investment. 

Conviction (Tony Goldwyn, 2010) - based on a true story and starring Hilary Swank as Betty Anne Waters, a woman who puts herself through law school in order to represent her brother (Sam Rockwell), who has been wrongfully convicted of murder and can no longer appeal through public defenders.

Format: DVD - the release is bare-bones with only a single special feature to speak of ("A Conversation with Tony Goldwyn and Betty Anne Waters"), and the Blu-ray sports nothing extra. Furthermore, the DVD version is on sale for $13.99 at Best Buy this week, and comes with a coupon to save $5 instantly when purchased with Never Let Me Go.

Never Let Me Go (Mark Romanek, 2010) - an adaptation of the Kazuo Ishiguro novel from the director of One Hour Photo.

Format: DVD - there are not extra features for the Blu-ray release, and the DVD version is on sale for $13.99 at Best Buy this week. Also, as previously mentioned, one can save $5 when purchasing this film with Conviction.