DVD Pick Of The Week: For Your Consideration

This week is not quite as interesting as the last, but still there is a pretty good selection of pictures to choose from. For a bac-o-bit of information that you neither asked for, nor need, nor has anything to do with this article, I’ve only just this week discovered Curb Your Enthusiasm. Love It. It’s a little early, but I’m even going to go as far as to say I Lyle Love-It. Larry David doing some very Seinfeld-esque bits with lots of dialogue, and for HBO audience rudeness. But it is brilliantly hilarious.

Enough about that (or at least until I write a separate article on it) and onto the pick of the week. This week I had to really choose between a very good picture I have already seen, and a not particularly well received comedy I haven’t yet watched. The haven’t yet watched won out and here it is, this week’s Pick of the Week:

For Your Consideration

I thoroughly enjoy Christopher Guest comedies, and his take on the movie industry seems like a great idea. In fact, it seems like a spectacular idea for I love movies about making movies, so that’s like a double whammy. If, by whammy I mean a really good thing. Unfortunately, a lot of critics didn’t think it was such a good thing, and I think this got the worst ratings of any of his films.

Course it makes me wonder if that’s not because he’s skewering the whole Oscar race.

Anyway, it ought to be good for a few laughs, and that’s good enough for me.

Other notable DVDs being released this week:

The Prestige

This is the film I have already seen. A lovely and interesting look at magic tricks in early days London that morphs into a less interesting science fiction film. I’ve enjoyed all of Christopher Nolan’s films (well except his first, Following, which I haven’t seen, but sits on my shelf ready to be watched) and this was no exception. I didn’t even mind the last act as much as others did, though I wouldn’t say it made the film any better.

I kept reading how the film was designed like a magic trick, in three parts, and that kind of screwed up my viewing. I kept trying to figure out when we were moving into the next section which made me not pay as much attention to what was actually going on. Still a very decent film with some very good performances.

Babel
There’s lots of critical acclaim for this one, but honestly I know little about it and I haven’t seen any of the other films by Alejandro González Iñárritu (31 grams, Amores Perros) but I’m sure to check it out at some point.

Flushed Away

Pretty much forgotten about animated flick from the folks who did the Wallace and Gromit series. Its digitally animated, but it looks like the classic claymation stuff. I’m a sucker for that, so this one is on my list.

Family Ties – The Complete First Season

I hate to admit this, but I had a very big crush on Tina Youthers, even if she became quite the joke on shows like South Park. This show has not held up well at all, but it wins lots of nostalgia points.

Gandhi (Widescreen Two-Disc Special Edition)

Hugely lauded and praised film that I’ve never seen. Maybe this big special edition will change that.

A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints

For some reason I always think of the film Millions when I see this title. It has nothing to do with that film, but it does have Robert Downey Jr, and that’s good enough for me.

Jane Eyre (Masterpiece Theatre)

I missed this when it aired on PBS earlier this year, but I love the book, and my wife loves PBS versions of classic Brit Lit, so we’re sure to see it sometime.

Neil Young:Under Review 1966-1975
U2:Achtung Baby Classic Album

Don’t know anything about these documentaries, but love both bands, so it should be at least mildly interesting.