03/01/11 Recommended New Releases

127 Hours (Danny Boyle, 2010) - The latest from a truly magnificent director, 127 Hours is the true story of Aron Ralston (James Franco), an American mountain climber who becomes trapped in a Utah canyon by a falling boulder, and over the course of the next five days struggles to survive. It received six Oscar nominations, including Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Director for Boyle, Best Actor for Franco, and Best Picture.

Format: Blu-ray - Along with a feature commentary, an assortment of deleted scenes (including a 22-minute alternate ending), and a digital copy, the Blu-ray version has a few exclusives: a short documentary about Aron Ralston, a making-of featurette, and the Academy Award-Winning short film, God of Love, directed by Luke Maheny. I should note, too, that while I was unable to find any mention of Maheny's short film on the Blu-ray packaging, it is indeed on the disc. Furthermore, the disc is BD Live-enabled, which provides access to a few other exclusive features.

If Tomorrow Comes (Jerry London, 1986) - a television mini-series based on the novel of the same name by Sidney Sheldon, starring Madolyn Smith, Tom Berenger, David Keith, and Liam Neeson. Tracy Whitney (Smith), in love and pregnant, is sent to prison for a crime she did not commit. Upon her release, she sets out to seek revenge on those who framed her.

Format: DVD - only available on DVD.






Also worth noting is that the "Diamond Edition," of the 1942 Disney classic, Bambi, was released today. Both versions of the release are identical (even in price), except for the packaging - one is in a DVD case, one is in a Blu-ray case; they include both the DVD and Blu-ray versions of the film as well as the same special features.