This Week on DVD & Blu-ray (05-29-12)

Since I see more movies than I can possibly review, there will always be some that I haven’t gotten around to reviewing. Two of them show up on today’s release list and both are recommended literary adaptations. One of those films is “Coriolanus” which is the directorial debut of actor Ralph Fiennes, who also stars in this modern-day adaptation of a Shakespeare tragedy. The other  is director Lynne Ramsey’s fascinating, troubling, and divisive film “We Need to Talk About Kevin” based on Lionel Shriver’s novel, which is a challenging look at a mother (tremendously played by Tilda Swinton) who has to deal with a tragic event involving her son. Look for my reviews on those two in the near future. Also out this week are two thrillers that came and went earlier this year, “Gone” starring Amanda Seyfried and “Man on a Ledge” starring Sam Worthington. It’s highly doubtful I’ll be rushing to see those two any time soon.

 “Henning Mankell’s Wallander”, the Swedish television series is finally out now, at the same time, there’s also a film currently out now by Music Box Films. I’ll admit – I am both confused and curious by those two facts. I know this has nothing to do with the British television series starring Kenneth Branagh, also based on the best-selling Kurt Wallander books by Swedish writer, Henning Mankell, but I intend to get to the bottom of how in which to watch them – since I hear they are fantastic. Speaking of Swedes, Criterion is releasing two Ingmar Bergman films today on Blu-ray, “Summer Interlude”, a creative turning point for the director and “Summer with Monika” often considered as Bergman’s Romeo and Juliet – neither of which I have seen, so I’ll have to add them to my summer viewing on one of these hot summer nights. Ironically, Mankell is married to Bergman’s daughter, Eva, a director in her own right.

Also new to Blu-ray this week is “The Secret Love of Martha Ivers” a film noir from 1946 directed by Lewis Milestone (“All Quiet on the Western Front”) which starred Barbara Stanwyck, Van Heflin, Lizabeth Scott, and (in his film debut) Kirk Douglas. IMDb summarizes it as “A ruthless, domineering woman is married to an alcoholic D.A., her childhood companion who is the only living witness to her murder of her rich aunt seventeen years earlier.” Sounds good to me. I guess if I want to watch a lousy copy of it, I can catch in youtube apparently (see below)

There we have it for this week! Enjoy the Rundown!