Ed. Note: Please welcome Hunter Duesing to the BH family. For a while now he’s put together a terrific weekly review of new DVD releases for our friends over at Parcbench. My thanks to both for allowing us to syndicate the column here. — J.N.
I have plenty of nostalgia for Tron, it was a neato movie that seemed to interpret computer and video game culture in a manner that was cutting-edge for the time. In anticipation of the sequel, I revisited the original, and I was very surprised to find it didn’t quite hold up. I’m not saying it’s bad movie, but rather, it hasn’t exactly aged well. The tech jargon that once seemed hip now seems rather quaint. Technology never slows down, but it seems that movies that dwell in the day’s latest tech culture are always riding a wave that eventually breaks and turns to muck when it washes up on the shore. Still, when looked at as a tech time capsule, Tron is pretty neat, but my disappointment in revisiting it killed my enthusiasm for catching Tron: Legacy in the theater. Despite the lukewarm critical reaction, people I trust actually had great things to say about, and given I’ve already taken to Daft Punk’s excellent score, I plan to give it a shot on Blu-ray. This week, Disney is releasing not only Tron: Legacy on Blu-ray and DVD, but its predecessor as well. The original film’s lack of availability prior to and during the theatrical run of the sequel was baffling, however the entire Tron experience will be available for all in hi-def, so you can now take a trip down memory lane with the original and enjoy the new film back-to-back at your leisure.
Tron is available on Blu-ray/DVD combo
Tron: Legacy is available on 3D/Blu-ray/DVD combo
Both are available together in a collector’s package
If you’re a super-hardcore Tron fan, then this monstrosity is probably what you’re looking for…
Little Fockers comes out on Blu-ray and DVD this week, but instead of watching Robert De Niro go to the bank and deposit the dump truck full of money Hollywood backed into his driveway, just watch the film that made Tinseltown pay him the big bucks and pop in Taxi Driver again. Martin Scorsese’s classic comes to Blu-ray for the first time this week, and with Taxi Driver you are witnessing a group of brilliant artists coming together to create one of the greatest films to come out of the American new wave. Paul Schrader’s dark script made his name as one of the great young screenwriters of the day. Scorsese’s direction built upon the foundation he laid with Mean Streets, putting him alongside Woody Allen as one of the great New York filmmakers. And of course, Robert De Niro’s performance is his greatest, and that’s saying a lot given the number of amazing performances he’s given under Scorsese’s direction. This Blu-ray comes with a plentiful bounty of extras, including the rare commentary recorded by Criterion for their laser disc release of the film in 1986, which will no doubt be an exciting and informative listen. Other extras include a new commentary with Paul Schrader, a tribute to Scorsese, a guide to the New York locations, and more. If Taxi Driver is as important to you as it is to me, it is easily this week’s must-have release for any movie lover’s Blu-ray collection. Seeing it in HD alone will be a treat, but the sheer wealth of extras coming with it makes it more than worth upgrading from your DVD copy.
Available on Blu-ray.
Other Noteworthy Releases
A.I.: Artificial Intelligence: Steven Spielberg famously took the reigns of this incomplete Stanley Kubrick project, and the results were controversial. A.I. is one of the saddest movies Spielberg has made, but it’s also one of his more interesting recent works. Plus, it gets points from the metal head in me for having the band Ministry in it, so rock on.
Available on Blu-ray, previously available on DVD
I Love You, Phillip Morris: I’m gonna take the easy way out on this one, I refer you to Parcbench editor and Big Hollywood contributor Chris Yogerst’s review.
Little Fockers: Not that I needed convincing, but it became crystal clear this movie was going to be an even bigger disgrace than its predecessor when De Niro uttered “Can you be, the Godfocker?” in the trailer. It’s not funny anymore, fellas. The fact that Taxi Driver comes out on Blu-ray this week seems like God reminding everyone that Bobby used to actually give a damn.
Casino Jack: I haven’t seen Casino Jack, but it’s pretty clear that Kevin Spacey has nothing but contempt for Jack Abramhoff, the titular disgraced lobbyist he plays in it. Not that Abramhoff deserves anything but contempt, but this is the kiss of death for any performance. An actor must inhabit the character they play, and that means identifying with their worldview, not playing them with a smug distance. File this under the same category as Fair Game.
Jawbreaker: A second-rate rip-off of Heathers starring the always-dreadful Rose McGowan. This one has a cult following for some reason, me, I’ll just watch Heathers or Mean Girls again instead, thanks.
Available on Blu-ray, previously available on DVD
Sarah Palin’s Alaska: I haven’t seen Sarah Palin’s show, where she apparently acts as the female equivalent to Grizzly Adams in her native Alaska, but I bet it’s really high on cokehead scribe Aaron Sorkin’s Amazon wish list. Maybe send him a copy for his birthday, no?
Available on DVD
A version of this article originally appeared on Parcbench.com