Posting hasn’t been as frequent as I intended the past week or so, and I’ve got several things sitting on the back burner, but this time I have a fairly decent excuse. My site got hacked sometime last week, with some bad code inserted into a bunch of php files. I *think* I’ve gotten everything on this site cleared up, though I’m still working on a few of my other sites (thankfully most of them aren’t really in use right now – abandoned test sites and whatnot). If you clicked a link here and ended up redirected to a weird URL, I deeply apologize. Hopefully that doesn’t happen anymore. If you do notice anything weird going on, please let me know. In the meantime, here’s what’s out on DVD and Netflix Instant this week. As always, click through to Row Three for more detailed lists.
New Release Pick of the Week
The Myth of the American Sleepover
Of course Hugo is the obvious pick of the week, an excellent film to be sure, but why be obvious? You all know about that one already. I saw The Myth of the American Sleepover on a whim at a festival over a year ago, and it crept its little way right into my heart. An unassuming coming of age drama that utilizes its ensemble cast perfectly, the film has been on Instant Watch for a few months now, but if you don’t have Netflix or want a hard copy, here it is. Give it a chance.
2010 USA. Director: David Robert Mitchell. Starring: Claire Sloma, Marlon Morton, Amanda Bauer, Brett Jacobsen.
Other New Releases
Catalog Pick of the Week
Scarlet Street Blu-ray
After the success of 1944’s film noir The Woman in the Window, Lang reunited with the cast from that film to make Scarlet Street, which I actually like a little bit better, if you force me to choose. Robinson is always solid, never more so than here, as a henpecked husband who sees Joan Bennett as a way to rejuvenate himself a bit, but she’s only playing him for the money she thinks he has.
1945 USA. Director: Fritz Lang. Starring: Edward G. Robinson, Joan Bennett, Dan Duryea.
Instant Watch Pick of the Week
OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies
Now an Academy Award-winning actor-director team, Michel Hazanavicius, Jean Dujardin, and Bérénice Bejo are no strangers to each other – they’re best known in France for their collaboration on a pair of spy parodies, of which this is the first. I haven’t seen these, but after the success of The Artist, I’m sure I’m not the only one curious to check them out. OSS 117: Lost in Rio is due to expire from Instant on 3/15, so for a couple of weeks, you can see them both.
2006 France. Director: Michel Hazanavicius. Starring: François Damiens, Jean Dujardin and Bérénice Bejo.
Expiring Picks of the Week
Pictured films all expire on 3/1. Which is tomorrow.
Categories: DVD Triage, Featured, Film