Best to Worst DVDs of the Month

 

1. Dante 01 – See review below. Rating: 8.5/10

2. Wendy and Lucy – A human drama that tells a focused story with heart and realism. Michele Williams is great. Rating: 8/10

3. Outlander – One helluva entertaining sci-fi/dragon/Viking pic that makes you wonder how the Weinsteins dropped the ball on making $$ on it in the theaters. Even Ron Perlman has a sick role. Rating: 8/10

4. What Doesn’t Kill You – Wonderful Boston crime drama with great performances by Mark Ruffalo and Ethan Hawke. Based on a true story. Rating: 7.5

5. Just Another Love Story – Superb Danish psychological thriller with unpredictable twists and style to burn. Rating: 7.5

6. Detective Story – A solid Takashi Miike detective horror comedy that just misses being essential. There’s some laugh-out loud moments (happy showers!), sadistic killings, and wonderfully expressive and goofy actors. Miike mostly plays it straight, and the shock factor is nowhere near Ichi, Gozu, or Visitor Q. The movie fizzles out at the end, perhaps due to Miike’s prolific schedule. My advice for him: less movies, more quality! Rating: 7/10

  —— OK

7. My Bloody Valentine – The only reason to watch this is for the 3-D effects (and some other eye-candy). So you’ll need to go find some glasses at a rental store. It’s a mediocre film otherwise. Make sure you watch it at night on a somewhat big screen to maximize the 3-D experience. It’s the same old 3-D, but it makes for an original and fun evening until your migraine sets in. Rating: 6.5

8. Eden Log – A frustratingly enigmatic industrial sci-fi film with a low budget, minimal dialogue, and not much light. It basically has a similar message as Dante 01 but with an environmental twist. Martyrs composers Seppuku Paradigm return to give this movie an eerie vibe. You’ll be confused until the final ten minutes and most will probably still be confused by the time the credits roll.     Rating: 6/10

    ———WORST

9. Powder Blue – Noteworthy for Jessica Biel and her bare-it-all performance (hot wax has never looked so appealing). But really, when you have a recent Best Actor winner alongside a noteworthy cast, and it goes straight to DVD; that’s a bad sign. Every character in this movie is either: a.) dying b.) wanting to die c.) already dead or d.) a mortician. So it’s basically the feel-bad movie of the year. And Patrick Swayze and Lisa Kudrow seal the insta-depression deal. Rating:  Ooohh, Blah

10. S. Darko – This sequel to Donnie Darko looks and sounds great, but is as hollow and insignificant as a fortune cookie. It goes back in time to go forward to go nowhere. I think S stands for sorry. Rating: Blecch