Joey’s DVD Picks of the Week (9/25/2012)

• Tweet
• Pin It

This week, the highest grossing non James Cameron film of all time (along with now being the highest grossing superhero movie of all time, plus obviously the #1 grossing film of 2012 so far) comes to Blu-Ray/DVD, alongside a group of decidedly smaller works. Overall, there aren’t a ton of films coming out today, but there are a few to recommend, so it’s quality over quantity here in the column (something I have no problem with). I don’t think it’s going to be hard to guess my top pick, but don’t take that to mean that the other recommended titles aren’t good, since they are. That being said, they’re not AS good. For my PICK OF THE WEEK I’m going with the culmination of what Marvel started a few years back with the first Iron Man film. This superhero flick was looked at with both anticipation and fear, but the vast majority of people were more than satisfied. You must know what movie I’m talking about, but in case you don’t, I won’t bury the lead. The film I’m picking is:

The Avengers

Joss Whedon deserves tons of credit for going above and beyond in crafting this amazing and supremely entertaining flick. From balancing all of the Marvel heroes to getting the feel of a comic book movie just right to finally doing justice to the Hulk, Whedon had the golden touch with this blockbuster. I may very slightly prefer The Dark Knight Rises, but this is easily the best Marvel film and it’s arguable that this is the more surprising and impressive work, all things considered. This is tailor made for Blu-Ray (maybe even Blu-Ray 3D if you do that sort of thing), so I highly recommend picking it up, though you’re all probably one step ahead of me already!

-Also getting the seal of approval from me today is the trio of the raunchy comedy Klown, the action flick Sleepless Night, and the comedy Damsel in Distress. I’d actually put them in that order as well, with the first film mentioned a deranged delight, the second a claustrophobic thriller, and the third a small scale success, mainly due to Greta Gerwig (and the first two being among my favorite foreign films of the year so far). None are amazing, but they’re all entertaining and worth checking out in my eyes…

-The rest of the films this week include the horror film The Tall Man and the Samuel L. Jackson suspense flick The Samaritan. I haven’t seen either, but have heard mixed things about the former and almost totally bad things about the latter. You’ll have to be the judge in terms of if one or both of them are worth your time, but I wouldn’t encourage you to spend too much time thinking about it. There are better things to be seen.

-My Vintage pick, in honor of the release of Looper (which I loved and am raving about in a review right after I finish this column), is a trio of my favorite time travel films. I was actually asked to list my #1 pick in the most recent Critics Survey over at Criticwire (found here), but I’ll be expanding on that here. My choices are the following, in alphabetical order: Back to the Future, Primer, and Source Code. There are other great ones as well, and I’d actually now rank Looper in the top 5 overall, but these are a nice assortment and represent a solid grouping. The first is my clear favorite, but the middle choice is the most realistic (if such a thing can be said), while the final selection is the most recent example of a job well done, at least before Rian Johnson got his hands on the genre. I can’t wait for you all to see the film on Friday, but until then these choices should hold you over. For an added bonus, watch the entire Back to the Future trilogy! I may be the only one, but I love the sequels almost as much as the original…

-What will you be watching on Blu-Ray/DVD this week? Discuss in the comments!

• Tweet
• Pin It