New Release Tuesday (3/15/11)!!!

Must Buy DVD of the Week!

BATMAN: THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD -- SEASON ONE PART TWO:  One of the more annoying trends of late is the splitting of single seasons into two volumes.  I think I first saw this with Battlestar Galactica Season 1.0 & 1.5.  And it's happening with Glee.  And it's happening with Batman: The Brave and The Bold.  I'm sure that they'll inevitably release it as one set, but if you're like me than you really just can't wait.  Gonzo Genius stuff.  If you're looking for Bruce Timm's animated masterpiece, well, this ain't that.  But what it is is all kinds of crazy.  Similar to what Grant Morrison is doing in the current comic book series, the Brave and The Bold cartoon reaches way back into the Bat (DC Universe) Cannon and pulls out some seriously demented gems.  With Volume Two you've got The Huntress, Solomon Grundy, Tweedledee & Tweedledum, OMACS, Crazy Quilt, and the Neil Patrick Harris Music Meister musical.  Bonkers.  Brilliant.  But Bonkers.

Rent!

Modern Clint Eastwood films...I loved Letters From Iwo Jima and Gran Torino, but was more than a little underwhelmed by Flags of Our Fathers, The Changeling, and Invictus.  And this film's plot doesn't really get me too excited.  It sounds a little too John Edwards hokum to me and even though I love me some Matt Damon (La Boeuf!!!!), I'm just not sure if this is gonna bowl me over.  We'll have to wait and see.

Avoid!

THE FIGHTER:  Yeah, that's right, The Fighter is nothing but glorified Oscar Bait.  Sure, I'll give you that Christian Bale turns in a pretty good performance as Junkie brother Dickie, but The Fighter offers the audience nothing that a million other underdog sports movies offer.  Hoosiers, Cinderella Man, Rudy, The Rookie, Seabiscuit, A League of Their Own, The Natural, Major League, Necessary Roughness.  All those films are better than this.

Gosh, that's it.  A pretty crummy week for film fans.  But don't worry, next week we've got Yogi Bear and Skyline...uh, you better dig out some classics to hold you through March.

--Brad