Yes, I know today is going to be pretty much dominated by the Oscar nominations and their odd choices (though honestly, is it ever not this way?) with this morning’s announcement, but there’s a place for this column as well (and perhaps you can distract yourself from wondering what the Academy was thinking by watching one or two of my selections), so here it is.  This week, one of the best films of 2011 hits shelves, along with some other high quality selections. In fact, this is one of the most stacked release weeks in a long time. 2 of my top 30 films of last year are out, plus a host of other titles I can easily recommend. This is an embarrassment of riches…a superlative DVD/Blu-Ray release week and the Oscar nods. How lucky are we? Anyway, there are two flicks that rose to the top today, and one of them is an easy choice for my PICK OF THE WEEK overall. It was one of my very favorite movies of 2011, an Oscar player all winter long (though sadly completely ignored this morning…a real shame), and a shockingly good piece of cinema. It’s:

50/50

There were a whole host of ways that this dramedy about a young man struggling with a cancer diagnosis could have gone wrong. It’s a real testament to those involved that it not only does everything right, but in an exceptional way as well. Directed with a really deft hand by Jonathan Levine, based on a real life event in scribe Will Reiser’s life, and starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt in the lead role, the flick is an incredible achievement. Factor in great supporting turns by Anna Kendrick, Bryce Dallas Howard, Phillip Baker Hall, and Anjelica Huston, along with a career best performance by Seth Rogen, and you have easily one of the best films of 2011. It came in at #7 on my Top Ten list, and now that it’s available to own I urge all of you to pick it up. It’s going to be a classic one day, even if the Academy didn’t see fit to honor it with a nomination.  It’s just that great!

-The silver medal this week goes to Sam Levinson’s impressive debut feature Another Happy Day. Featuring an excellent performance by Ellen Barkin and more than enough touches to make Levinson someone to watch, this is a great little indie that deserved a better theatrical fate than it received. Now that it’s on DVD, you’d do well to grab it and give it a shot. In a lesser week this would have been my top choice, so you know you’re getting quality…

-Also meriting recommendations from today is the romantic drama Restless, the horror threequel Paranormal Activity 3, the documentary Revenge of the Electric Car, and the fright flick The Woman. None are perfect movies, but all are solid selections and contribute to this being a special week for DVD. These are all worth getting and trying out.

-The rest of the releases this week include some potentially good flicks I didn’t see (Hell and Back Again, The Lie, Happy Happy, and Limelight), and two mediocre movies that I did see. One is the well acted but forgettable drama The Whistleblower, and the other is the sci-fi sports film Real Steel. Neither are terrible, but in a week as strong as this one, they just don’t stack up.

-My Vintage pick, in honor of this week’s release of The Grey, is a similarly themed flick. It’s a survival flick as well, for those who can’t wait one sentence. Ready for what it is? Well, it’s Into the Wild, one of the best films of the last 15 years. Emile Hirsch deserved an Oscar nomination, and so did the flick as well. I’ve written plenty about it in the past years, so I won’t harp on it long, except to say how much I love it one last time. Just watch it again this week…like you need a reason to.  It was joined today by a number of other great films not nominated for Best Picture, so it’s at least in good company.

-What will you be watching on DVD this week? Discuss on the Forum!

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