My dvd pick for this week is Batman: Gotham Knight, the animated movie that connects the dots between Batman Begins and The Dark Knight. It’s sorta like what they did with the Animatrix, where different anime directors collaborate. David Goyer, one of the TDK screenwriters, also worked with various writers.

There is a no frills single disc and a 2-disc version, which contains extras about “Batman: The Animated Series”. I’m a big fan of the cartoon, so I’m definitely gonna go for the special edition.

Not like we need more hype, but I really do think these anime setup movies are a really cool idea. I know there are graphic novels and comics that I can look to for extra info. But I’m lazy and prefer to have everything summed up in a nice cartoon movie bow.

See a preview of the Batman:Gothic Knight here.

My dvd pick for this week is In Bruges.

It stars Colin Farrell as a hit man on the lam in (you guessed it) Bruges. Brendan Gleeson plays his partner in crime and all around mentor. And Ralph Fiennes plays the boss who has quite the twisted sense of morality. The tag line says it all: “Shoot First, Sight see later”. I would akin it to a darker toned After Hours crossed with Grosse Pointe Blank. It’s sorta the action-comedy for the existentialist.

Other notable dvds (which are already in the netflix queue) out today are The Spiderwick Chronicles, Charlie Bartlett, and Persepolis.

I had the luck (or was it misfortune) to see Jumper last week on my airplane ride home. It wasn’t terrible by any means. The plot fascinated me for the first 45 minutes as the movie exposes how Hayden Christensen’s character discovers his spatial defying power.

But then came Rachel Bilson riding up with that mediocre love story in her pocket. And that’s right about the time I fell asleep. She gets kidnapped yadda yadda by evil, so he must save the day. I woke up just in time for Samuel L. to receive his comeuppance.

It was a short and sweet story that didn’t really blow anyone’s minds. They didn’t really explain where his power came. But the effects helped the director (Doug Liman) build a moderate amount of suspense. At the very least, I was rooting for the main character to come out on top.

A nice airplane or trapped in a confined spaced action movie to rock you to sleep. Overall, grade B-, strictly rental. If your a Hayden completist, buy it for no more than $5.99.

A Short Circuit special edition dvd was released today.

It stars the loveable Jonny 5, Ally Sheedy, Steve Guttenberg, and Fisher Stevens.

Ah, how I love Fisher Stevens character in that movie (remember him playing an quasi-Indian guy?). Why did they kill you off on “Lost” so quickly? Clearly, they must have forgotten that you do accents.

I guarantee that if you watch this clip, you’ll understand why the world desperately needs a special edition tribute to Jonny #5.

(source: Pop Candy)

DVD Beaver is a great resource on dvd releases. They know about releases for all countries and formats way before these dvds are released.

And in typical fashion, they told me first that Criterion is finally releasing some titles this fall on Blu-Ray.
Here’s a list of the films:
The Third Man
Bottle Rocket
Chungking Express
The Man Who Fell to Earth
The Last Emperor
El Norte
The 400 Blows
Gimme Shelter
The Complete Monterey Pop
Contempt
Walkabout
For All Mankind
The Wages of Fear

I’m most excited about The Man Who Fell to Earth, which I think will benefit greatly from the Blu-Ray enhanced features.

This might be the final straw for my old dvd player, cos Criterion dvds in HD is definitely a good reason to upgrade to Blu-Ray.