This Week on DVD & Blu-ray (07-30-13)

 

 

Having reinvigorated the “Fast and Furious” series last year, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson showed us this past Spring that he can also give fans of those Real American Heroes the movie they’ve been longing for.  John Chu’s “G.I. Joe: Retaliation” was a hit when it came out (I’m probably the only one who missed the unintentional silliness of “Rise of the Cobra”), even though it had a troubled journey to the big-screen. While Johnson turned out to be the best part of the 3D action movie, a sleep-walking Bruce Willis barely boosted the sequel. On the flip side, “Black Rock”, an indie  which premiered at Sundance in 2012, is an estrogen-filled taut survival thriller that made its way to VOD this past May. It showcases some solid performances from a couple of the actresses involved, but it’s a bit too short and could’ve benefitted from more developed characterization. Also out this week…..Fans of filmmaker Guillermo del Toro (the “Hellboy” movies and this summer’s “Pacific Rim”) would do well to check out Criterion’s treatment of his 2001 Spanish horror film, “The Devil’s Backbone”. I caught up to this film after “Pan’s Labyrinth” and was really impressed by del Toro’s story (co-written with Antonio Trashorras and David Munoz), direction and the cast he works with. It’s basically a ghost story that takes place in a desolate orphanage after the Spanish Civil War, where secrets are uncovered as a mystery unfolds. Even if you’ve seen it before, I’m certain the Criterion bells and whistles will be exemplary – and if you haven’t, check it out!

 

There’s also a new DC Animated movie out this week. It seems like there’s one every other month now. Usually these are good, but I’m not sure about “Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox”, a story that has popular DC superheroes (primarily The Flash, voiced by Justin Chambers) affected by an alteration in time, causing requisite sci-fi action. The recent mini-series this is based on (a prologue to DC’s New 52) was kind of disjointed and uninteresting after a while, so it remains to be seen if this adaptation will be more interesting.  Kevin Conroy and Tim Daly return as Batman (interestingly, Kevin McKidd plays Flashpoint Batman) and Superman, respectively, with Dana Delaney also returning as Lois Lane. Other major parts go to Cary Elwes as Aquaman, Vanessa Marshall as Wonder Woman, Michael B. Jordan as Cyborg as well as Nathan Fillion and Ron Perlman revisiting characters Green Lantern and Deathstroke.

 

Two notable New-to-Blu-ray titles out this week are John Carpenter’s “The Fog” starring Jamie Lee Curtis and Francis Ford Coppola’s “Peggy Sure Got Married” starring Kathleen Turner.

 

 

That’s it for this week! Previous reviews are highlighted below. Enjoy the Rundown!