This is the perfect week to respond to those Oscar nomination complaints by catching a few films that had awards buzz before crapping out at the gate. Woody Allen’s “Vicky Cristina Barcelona” was the Golden Globe winner for Best Picture Musical Or Comedy and netted an Oscar nod for Penelope Cruz, but was shut out of all the major categories, which was a bit of a shocker. Under-the-radar flicks “Pride And Glory” and “The Lucky Ones” also hit disc- “Glory” is a relatively painless crooked-cops flick with Edward Norton and Colin Farrell, while “Lucky Ones,” from “Illusionist” director Neil Burger, places war vets Rachel McAdams, Tim Robbins and Michael Pena in a banged-up van making a cross-country trip in a lightweight, unpretentious drama that didn’t deserve to be ignored. Also hitting DVD are the documentaries “Roman Polanski: Wanted And Desired” and “Sharks In Venice”-one of these surely asks the tough questions. Awful-looking Christian surprise hit “Fireproof” hits DVD, but as one of the most profitable independent films of all time, it does have a special feature detailing how they pulled the production together, reportedly using a lot of volunteer cast members, which could be helpful for wannabe filmmakers, so, you know, every cloud… Also hitting DVD is Samuel L. Jackson’s “Lakeview Terrace,” Rainn Wilson’s “The Rocker” and the Guy Ritchie gangster pic “Rocknrolla.”
On Blu-Ray, the long-awaited release of “Chungking Express” has finally come to fruition. From Wong Kar-Wai, it’s one of the films one must watch in order to learn to speak the language of cinema. One of the best looking love stories of all time has never looked this good, and its a sin to be a Blu-Ray collector and to not have that in your collection. Also recommended for Blu-Ray viewers is the loaded three disc “Zodiac Director’s Cut,” the Bill Murray classic “Groundhog Day,” and for foreign film lovers, there’s the detail-oriented Hitler drama “Downfall” or the magical/wonky Chinese epic “The Promise.” Horror fans are in for a treat with the Blu-Ray debut of the until-now-always-shitty-looking “Dead And Buried,” a wonderfully gothic horror story from writer Dan O’Bannon (“Alien”) that features three commentaries, while action fans will be glad to know that the most souped-up “Bourne Trilogy” release yet provides the optimal viewing experience for the three film series.
