Oscar History
Film Bitch History
Welcome

The Film Experience™ was created by Nathaniel R. All material herein is written by our team. (This site is not for profit but for an expression of love for cinema & adjacent artforms.)

Follow TFE on Substackd

Powered by Squarespace
Keep TFE Strong

We're looking for 500... no 390 SubscribersIf you read us daily, please be one.  

I ♥ The Film Experience

THANKS IN ADVANCE

What'cha Looking For?
Subscribe
« Curio: Alan Cumming Snaps | Main | Stripper of the Day: "Nancy Callahan" »
Tuesday
Jul102012

DVD. You Choose. I Watch. We Talk.

Last year or a bit further back (?) I tried to give you the choice of which DVDs I would review from the weekly crop released but we didn't get very far on account of Netflix's month-long delays with some studios and my policies of mandatory procrastination. So irritating! Given that the bulk of readers and, indeed, the bulk of everyone watches their movies at home now (sigh), let's try again! I'll figure it out on my end.  We'll skip the newish releases we've already discussed like 21 Jump Street (review) and Mirror Mirror (review) and the one's I have no interest in. 

Let's start simple with 2012 movies fairly fresh on DVD that I haven't seen. though perhaps I'll speak out if there's a great commentary. If there is I trust someone will let me know. 

 

  • THE FLOWERS OF WAR Zhang Yimou's historical epic starring Christian Bale that was submitted for foreign film last year but didn't make it.
  • THIS MEANS WAR Reese Witherspoon's terribly reviewed slutty* action comedy in which she can't choose between Chris Pine & Tom Hardy. Her friend suggests a sex off (*I'm guessing? hoping?)
  • JEFF WHO LIVES AT HOME An indie from the Duplass brothers co-starring the always welcome Judy Greer and Susan Sarandon.
  • THE PERFECT FAMILY Kathleen Turner returns to the screen as the mother of a dysfunctional Catholic family. 

 

 

You choose for me and I'll cover it somehow next week.
Make your case in the comments if you'd like other people to vote your way.

 

PrintView Printer Friendly Version

EmailEmail Article to Friend

Reader Comments (21)

Don't listen to that poll! Go with THIS MEANS WAR. It's good candy-colored garbage, and its stars are shot to look edible. You can't call yourself a Tom Hardy fan until you've seen the way McG brings out every shade of pink in his lips.

July 10, 2012 | Unregistered CommenterKurtis O

Id wager anything with kathleen turner is worth a shot!!

July 10, 2012 | Unregistered CommenterCeleste

"The perfect family" because, I mean, f'realz!
Pefect+family=good vibes, duh!
Kathleen, duh!
It might have some, you know, food for thought instead of hollow entertainment value.

Plus, I'll give sexual favors.

July 10, 2012 | Unregistered CommenterJames T

Come on people-this cannot even be close. Nathaniel writing about Kathleen is always a joy, and this is her first new film since 2008!

July 10, 2012 | Unregistered CommenterJohn T

Nat, I know this might be difficult, but try to look for Ann Hui's A Simple Life. In fact, as an actressexual, shouldn't you be all over Hui's work already? :)

July 10, 2012 | Unregistered Commenterkin

If you want to do a Chinese film, I vote for A Simple Life too. Or anything besides The Flowers of War, which is just too creaky and cardboard-y to even be interesting to write about, unfortunately.

July 10, 2012 | Unregistered CommenterBeRightBack

I voted for This Means War because I'm pretty sure you would loathe it, and I always enjoy it when you get rant-y.

I totally agree with BeRightBack in that there's virtually nothing worth discussing about The Flowers of War (even in a negative way), and I also don't think there's anything particularly interesting about Jeff Who Lives at Home, either.

July 10, 2012 | Unregistered CommenterLiz N.

Jeff, Who Lives at Home is my vote.

July 10, 2012 | Unregistered CommenterBrian Z

Rae Dawn Chong has an entire subplot with Susan Sarandon in Jeff, Who Lives At Home—then there's your unwavering love for Kathleen Turner—these are your options.

Spoon and Bale don't deserve your affections in lesser projects.

July 10, 2012 | Unregistered Commenter4rtful

This Means War is less funny than The Flowers of War...

July 10, 2012 | Unregistered CommenterNicholas Girling

Nathaniel, do NOT watch The Perfect Family. It's such a joke of a movie. K Turner deserves better (and your time deserves better).

July 10, 2012 | Unregistered CommenterBVR

Nicholas - ouch on both movies.

everyone -- i just realized i forgot to include MARGARET. lol.

July 10, 2012 | Unregistered CommenterNathaniel R

"This Means War"- Because people actually think Chris Pine is more attractive than Tom Hardy.

How is this possible?

July 10, 2012 | Unregistered CommenterKevin P.

You haven't seen Jeff, Who Lives at Home, Nathaniel? Oh, you must. It's pretty terrific. It's right there with Take This Waltz for my favorite movies of the year. And the scenes between Susan Sarandon and Rae Don Chong are really, really exceptional.

July 10, 2012 | Unregistered CommenterRJ

Margaret FTW.

P.S. Reese Witherspoon needs to fire her agent. (Oops, she's married to him.)

July 10, 2012 | Unregistered CommenterMareko

Nathaniel--

Just FYI, Margaret isn't available on Netflix until August 7 anyway. Or at least that's how it's showing up on my queue.

July 10, 2012 | Unregistered CommenterLiz N.

Voted for The Perfect Family just because I really miss Kathleen Turner and want you to talk about her. However, Jeff, Who Lives at Home, sounds pretty terrific (and I'm in love with Mark Duplass) , so it's my second choice. Plus, it has Susan Sarandon, who I also miss, but thankfully, she has a number of movies on the way according to IMDb.

July 10, 2012 | Unregistered CommenterPam

I voted for Jeff, since it's the only one of the four I've seen and I think you'd find it interesting.

July 10, 2012 | Unregistered CommenterBill_the_Bear

Ouch - if these are the four best options, you're better off reading a book!

July 10, 2012 | Unregistered CommenterRoark

I should have voted for This Means War just so you (and all of us) can point out its ridiculousness. And I mean that in a guilty pleasure kind of way.

July 10, 2012 | Unregistered CommenterPaolo

I wouldn't inflict "This Means War" on my worst enemy.

July 11, 2012 | Unregistered CommenterGlenn
Comments for this entry have been disabled. Additional comments may not be added to this entry at this time.