This Week's DVD Releases

Yes, awards season is finally over--blah blah blah boringest Oscars ever, blah blah blah.  But all in all, the films nominated this year weren't so bad (even if the wrong film won Best Picture), so now's your chance to catch up with some of the recent Oscar losers. Let's take a look at recent DVD releases, care of our good friends at Scarecrow Video. In terms of the big releases of late, 127 Hours is out this week, and if ninety minutes in a cramped space with James Franco isn't enough for you, Danny Boyle's film is also bundled with the Oscar winner for Best Live Action Short (and probably the best Oscar speech of the night), Luke Matheny's God of Love. 

Also out now is Love and Other Drugs, which didn't get Anne Hathaway a Best Actress Oscar nomination, even though she was naked and dying (which usually does the trick). Same goes for Get Low, starring Bill Murray as Bill Murray and Robert Duvall as a crotchety old hermit who wants to throw his funeral party before he's dead. Sorry Duvall, any other year you'd get an Oscar nom, but this year his slot (Old Dude) went to Jeff Bridges instead, not that anyone had a shot at beating Colin Firth. From the creators of The Triplets of Belleville, very French full-length cartoon The Illusionist lost Best Animated Feature to Toy Story 3. You'd think that the Christina Aguilera/Cher musical Burlesque would've at least gotten a Best Song nomination, since that category was so weak this year.

Last Friday marked the release of the one- and two-disc version of Megamind, a computer-animated hero/villain story with the voices of Will Ferrell, Brad Pitt, and Tina Fey. The other big release from last week was Due Date, aka Planes, Trains, and Automobiles 2. The odd couple buddy road trip is uneven and overly long, but it has its moments, and if you like Robert Downey Jr. and Zach Galifianakis, then you'll like the movie well enough too. No comment on The Rock and Billy Bob Thorton in Faster.

In foreign films, there's Vincent Cassel in Gallic gangster biopic Mesrine: Killer Instinct, Part 1 and Kristen Scott Thomas once again being sexy and speaking French in Leaving. Fellini takes the docu-comedy approach to send in The Clowns. And while it's not exactly a foreign film, Les Miserables: The 25th Anniversary Concert (with--SQUEEE--Nick Jonas) was shot in London. Speaking of anniversaries, it's been ten years since Christopher Nolan wowed audiences with Memento, hence the new Blu-ray. 48 Hours, Out of Sight, and The Cable Guy are also new to Blu-ray, there's a fancy Stieg Larsson trilogy box set, and Bambi is now out in special Diamond Edition. Meanwhile, Criterion has just released their new editions of British coming-of-age drama Fish Tank, Italian technicolor romance tragedy Senso, and Tony Curtis and Burt Lancaster's cynical gossip rag classic The Sweet Smell of Success.

There's a surprising number of new documentaries out on DVD. Last Train Home follows Chinese workers as they commute from the cities where they're employed back to their hometowns for holiday. Kings of Pastry covers a chef competition, and See What I'm Saying examines deaf entertainment culture. Two in the Wave looks at the tumultuous relationship between French filmmakers Godard and Truffaut, and Black Rodeo captures a 1972 cowboy show in Harlem with real live black cowboys. If you love SIFF's annual Noir City series, then definitely check out the man himself in The Czar of Noir: Eddie Muller Steps from the Shadows. It was just at Northwest Film Forum, but Motorhed frontman doc Lemmy is now out on DVD, as is Genius Within: The Inner Life of Glenn Gould, both of which serve as fair warning about the rock star lifestyle.

In TV on DVD, Showtime series come in pairs, with Weeds season 6 and Nurse Jackie season 2 now available. You've got your pick of cartoons with All-Star Superman (featuring the voices of Christina Hendricks, Anthony LaPaglia, and Ed Asner) and anime FLCL, the complete series. The complete series of fat camp dramedy Huge is also out on DVD, as are three seasons of reality shows, Survivor 20: Heroes and Villains, Cake Boss season 3, and Ice Road Truckers season 4. Catch up with the non-stop bickering between Michael Showalter and Michael Ian Black in Michael and Michael Have Issues. And Leave it to Beaver! Season 6 is available on DVD now.

In the grab bag, the title Alien vs. Ninja tells you everything you need to know about the Japanese sci-fi comedy. Take one part Mickey Rourke, add one part Elmore Leonard, and mix in some Diane Lane, Thomas Jane, Rosario Dawson, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and just a smidgen of Hal Holbrook, and you've got Killshot. The most interesting title of the week is definitely Alive! Is Michael Jackson Really Dead? And I would be remiss if I failed to mention awesomely (intentionally?) bad horror flick Birdemic: Shock and Terror, which was recently featured on The Soup (for the video below, use password "birdemic").