Saturday, March 31, 2012

This week's new DVD & Blu-ray

Hugo

A children's movie directed by Martin Scorsese is an interesting proposition. Rather than try to get down with the youth of today or give us a Goodkiddies or Raging Calf, Scorsese has instead made a rather sweet and fantastical movie loosely about the childhood version of himself: a lonely child who loves movies.

Hugo is an orphan secretly living in a Parisian train station, where he tends the clocks while trying to repair an automaton his father left him. His friendship with a fellow orphan and her toy kiosk-owning guardian reveals many life-changing secrets. While the script seems a little undercooked, the same cannot be said for the visuals. It's great to see a master such as Scorsese take full advantage of CGI and 3D; it never looks anything less than stunning. The 1930s setting means no product placement and the film feels less like an advert for toys and junk food than most kids' films. Instead it references things like Robin Hood, Jules Verne and Harold Lloyd, tells of the joys of creating and delivers a crash course in the history of early cinema. You get the feeling that only Scorsese has the clout to make a film that doesn't bow to the focus group opinion of what a family movie should be. An inquisitive mind will find much to stimulate it here. If it's trying to sell kids anything it's culture, imagination and the arts, which is an uncommonly noble sentiment for any film.

DVD/Blu-ray, Entertainment In Video

Four Horsemen

Another documentary about the current financial crisis that does a good job of explaining the mess.

DVD, Guerilla Films

Murder By Decree

Christopher Plummer and James Mason in a cracking period thriller that answers the question: who would win if Sherlock Holmes and Jack The Ripper had a fight?

DVD/Blu-ray, StudioCanal

The Yellow Sea

Sprawling, brutal Korean thriller. Action packed, tense and unpredictable. An instant classic.

DVD/Blu-ray, Eureka

The Deep Blue Sea

Terence Davies directs Rachel Weisz in a winningly sombre take on Terrence Rattigan's 1950s play.

DVD/Blu-ray, Artificial Eye


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Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2012/mar/31/this-weeks-new-dvd-blu-ray

Alessandro Blasetti Aletta Ocean Alex Cox Alex De La Iglesia

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