Last week saw the release of Kevin Macdonald’s acclaimed documentary, Marley, alongside Peter Berg’s mammoth blockbuster, Battleship, and this week brings with it a handful of new films and, most importantly in my books, the long-anticipated release of The Walking Dead Season 2. Today is a good day.
It’s a fairly light week with new releases, so without further ado,
My pick of the week:
The Walking Dead – Season 2.
The Walking Dead – Season 2
DVD and Blu-ray
(also available: The Walking Dead – Seasons 1 and 2 Box Set)
Ordinarily, I focus on television programmes after the week’s new film releases, but The Walking Dead deserves to be the exception to that rule.
The show is one of the finest currently on TV, and if you haven’t started, now is definitely the time to pick up the first two seasons. It’s not often we get a horror/action programme of such high calibre, and I can’t wait to see what they have in store for us with this new season.
And if you’re reading this before midnight tonight, 27th August, you can click here to enter our competition to win a copy of the new season on Blu-ray.
“The end of civilization was just the beginning for Rick Grimes and the other survivors. As the fight to stay alive intensifies and personal rivalries continue to fuel, the group struggles to hold on to their humanity in a time where slim chances are all that is left.”
The Lucky One
DVD and Blu-ray Triple Play (inc. UltraViolet Copy)
Zac Efron continues to move in directions beyond his breakthrough image in High School Musical, starring in this romance-drama opposite Taylor Schilling (the upcoming Argo).
The film, as you’ll no doubt know, is an adaptation of Nicholas Sparks’ original novel, marking yet another of his novels to have been transformed for the big screen, following the likes of the eternally-popular, The Notebook.
“Zac Efron stars with Taylor Schilling and Blythe Danner in the romantic drama The Lucky One, directed by Academy Award-nominated writer/director Scott Hicks (“Shine”), based on Nicholas Sparks’ bestseller The Lucky One.
U.S. Marine Sergeant Logan Thibault (Efron) returns from his third tour of duty in Iraq, with the one thing he credits with keeping him alive-a photograph he found of a woman he doesn’t even know. Discovering her name is Beth (Schilling) and where she lives, he shows up at her door, and ends up taking a job at her family-run local kennel. Despite her initial mistrust and the complications in her life, a romance develops between them, giving Logan hope that Beth could be much more than his good luck charm.”
Wrong Turn 4: Bloody Beginnings
DVD and Blu-ray
(also available: Wrong Turn 1 – 4 DVD Box Set)
The fourth instalment in the popular Wrong Turn horror franchise is coming straight to DVD/Blu-ray in the UK. The film marks Declan O’Brien’s first feature behind the camera, and with Wrong Turn 5 in the bag under his direction as well, we should have more in store for us soon.
And if you’re reading this on or before 3rd September, you can click here to enter our competition to win a copy of the film on Blu-ray.
“This new chapter of Wrong Turn takes you to the most terrifying place of all – The Bloody Beginnings! An isolated sanatorium deep in the West Virginia wilderness is deserted after an inbred family of hillbilly cannibals escape and take revenge on their captors. Decades later, a group of college students seek refuge in the now-abandoned hospital after a blizzard derails their plans for a weekend winter break. But when the students encounter the medical ward’s most frightening former patients, their only choice is to fight back… or die trying!”
Interview with a Hitman
DVD and Blu-ray
Released earlier this summer in cinemas, this British action-thriller is heading to the shelves this week, and will hopefully find a nice audience on the home entertainment market.
Luke Goss (Blade II, Hellboy II) stars alongside French actress Caroline Tillette (Plus belle la vie) and Stephen Marcus (Lark Rise to Candleford).
“Trust No one. Feel nothing. Never lose: this is the mantra that has helped a ruthless Eastern European assassin rise to the pinnacle of his profession. Raised in the harsh slums of Romania, Victor knows the value of life more than most, which makes him the perfect killer. But after being betrayed by the very men who made him, he must fake his own death and escape to London. Here he joins a new gangster family and finds his rules are again put to the test in the midst of a vicious underworld power struggle.
Viktor is now better, faster and more ruthless than ever before. With the secrets of his past refusing to fade away, an encounter with a dark beauty turns his world on its head and offers him the chance for a new life. But can he ever escape the existence he was born into? It is not long before a deadly threat from a past he thought long buried surfaces and he is forced to change his path. It is time to face that which cannot be forgotten.”
The Dinosaur Project
DVD and Blu-ray
Given a limited release in cinemas earlier this month, this British adventure-thriller is making its way to our shelves where it should find a wider audience. Co-written by Jay Basu (Fast Girls, the upcoming Monsters: Dark Continent), The Dinosaur Project is a found-footage dinosaur film – and how often does one of those come along?
“And the world thought that dinosaurs were extinct…
Brace yourself for a chilling ride into the heart of the Congo jungle, as an expedition accompanied by a film crew discovers that creatures thought to have been extinct for 65 million years are very much alive.
The Dinosaur Project is a stunning live action adventure thriller with breathtaking visual effects.”
Starship Troopers: Invasion
DVD and Blu-ray
Acclaimed Japanese director, Shinji Aramaki (Halo Legends, Appleseed), takes the helm of the fourth instalment in the Starship Trooper franchise, this time in full-blown computer animation.
I admit that I haven’t seen the second and third films in the series, but would be interested to see what a Japanese take on the franchise looks like, especially with someone as experienced as Aramaki in the director’s chair.
“The troopers of two starships have joined forces to terminate a massive bug attack at a federation outpost. Before the mission can be completed and the survivors evacuated, one ship abruptly departs and goes inexplicably dark. The remaining battle-hardened troopers race to the rescue, only to discover that the threat from the bugs is about to hit home.”
Blu-ray Re-Releases
At the top of this week’s films getting the HD treatment has to be the Diamond Edition release of Cinderella. Also available on Blu-ray (and DVD) as part of a collection of Cinderella 1, 2, and 3, this marks the first time the classic, family-favourite film has been available in the UK on Blu-ray. Disney, as you’re no doubt aware, have a tendency to put a halt to the production of some of their re-releases every now and then, so if this is a must-see in HD on your list, then I’d naturally recommend buying it as soon as you get the chance.
Also getting the HD treatment this week is George A. Romero’s Day of the Dead, the 1985 horror classic, in a three-disc, Blu-ray and DVD edition courtesy of Arrow Video; the 1963 collection of four short films, RoGoPaG, directed by Roberto Rossellini, Jean-Luc Godard, Pier Paolo Pasolini, and Ugo Gregoretti; and Francis Ford Coppola’s 1983 drama, Rumble Fish, starring Matt Dillon, Mickey Rourke, Diane Lane, Dennis Hopper, and Nicolas Cage.
