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What to Netflix: New DVD Tuesday

BuzzSugar — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 07:30:19 -0700

All of the new DVD releases hit stores (and Netflix) on Tuesdays. So each week in What to Netflix: New DVD Tuesday, I sort through the best of the batch and tell you what to add to your queue. In addition to the titles below you can also now find the third season of TNT's The Closer on DVD, along with the brutal but stunning Brazilian film City of Men.

Mad Men: Season 1
I'm excited for the release of Mad Men's first season because I've been running around town, preaching to anyone who will listen that they should hurry up and watch it before the second season starts Sunday July 27! The series initially flew under the radar, as it was AMC's first venture into original programming, but it much-deserved attention and credibility by winning multiple Golden Globes.

The series is set in 1960s Manhattan, in the heart and soul of the advertising industry. It follows the trials and tribulations of one Madison Avenue firm's employees who (true fact) named themselves "Mad Men." The attention to detail in this show is impeccable, right down to the coned-bras and smoking in the work place. The series is as wonderful to look at as it is dark, and it doesn't flinch from the politically incorrect behavior of the era, including uncomfortable scenes rife with sexual harassment, racism, and anti-semitism. It may leave your soul a bit shattered and battered at its portrayal of America during this time, but it's so well-executed you'll probably recover fast. Plus, Don Draper is among the dreamiest characters to come along in a while (despite the fact that his behavior is often repugnant).

Special features include cast and crew interviews, a photo gallery, Mad Men music, and commentaries on every episode.

Two more great choices up next so read more.

My Blueberry Nights
My Blueberry Nights has a great-looking cast that includes Natalie Portman, Norah Jones, Rachel Weisz and Jude Law. It's the first English-speaking film by Chinese director Wong Kar Wai and while it got an average response from the critics, I'm curious to check it out for myself.

Here's how Netflix describes the plot: "Elizabeth (Norah Jones), a restless young woman, travels cross-country working a variety of waitressing jobs and connecting with an odd assortment of characters along the way, including policeman Arnie (David Strathairn), his unfaithful wife, Sue Lynne (Rachel Weisz), and a flighty young gambler (Natalie Portman). But she realizes that her touchstone is Jeremy (Jude Law), the owner of a café she haunted back home in New York."

Special features include a making of My Blueberry Nights featurette, and a Q&A with director Wong Kar Wai.

Vantage Point
I saw Vantage Point and thinking back on it, it strikes me more and more as a fabulous home movie-watching choice. It's a good thriller-mystery with a decent amount of action, and while it feels gimmicky and familiar at points, those weaknesses probably won't matter with an at-home crowd just looking for a fun escape.

The cast is top-notch and includes Dennis Quaid, Matthew Fox, Sigourney Weaver and Forest Whitaker playing characters whose destinies collide when the US president is shot in Spain. Special features include titles like "Surveillance Tapes: Outtake," and "An Inside Perspective: Interviews With the Cast & Crew."

First Look: My Blueberry Nights

BuzzSugar — Thu, 04 Oct 2007 11:15:44 -0700

Not only does France have a definite release date for My Blueberry Nights, but there's also a full-length trailer for the film with French subtitles. So far, there's no U.S. release date scheduled. What's up with that?

My Blueberry Nights stars Jude Law, Rachel Weisz, Natalie Portman and Norah Jones in Jones' first big feature-film role. The film screened at Cannes to mixed reviews. Most critics said director Wong Kar Wai did a stunningly beautiful job visually with his first English-language project, but that otherwise the movie lags. Jones plays a young woman who "takes a soul-searching journey across America to resolve her questions about love while encountering a series of offbeat characters along the way." If nothing else, the trailer features Cat Power's lovely voice crooning in the background, so to check it out, read more

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Cannes Reviews: My Blueberry Nights

BuzzSugar — Mon, 21 May 2007 16:25:10 -0700

Since I'm not able to attend the Cannes Film Festival this year, I'm scouring the Web for reviews of movies that look the most interesting. First on my list: My Blueberry Nights, the first English-language film by director Wong Kar Wai which stars Norah Jones, Jude Law, Natalie Portman and Rachel Weisz.

Overwhelmingly, the critics' message is this: Wong Kar Wai is masterful at creating a visually evocative film, though the dialogue is lacking, thus making the performances feel empty and pointless. Some say the script's shortcomings are a result of language issues, but that in the end none of it matters because the film is so beautiful. Check out these excerpts from various reviews:

Hollywood Reporter:
"Nothing truly profound gets discovered... The director is chasing a mood here - a mood, an atmosphere and feelings... The glue here is Jones, who holds a wispy, wistful film together with a deeply felt, unself-conscious performance that strikes the right notes without ever falling into repetition or banality. She brings her singer's talent of knowing when to go for emotions and when to hold back to her acting. It's a remarkably assured work; one hopes she will further explore acting in other movies."

Variety:
"Jones proves agreeable but bland company in the role; she's attractive, but lacks mystery, emotional vitality and that something special behind the eyes... Visual beauty is a given in Wong's films, as is the use of pop songs and old standards, and nothing has changed on those counts here."

Cannes Kicks Off With My Blueberry Nights

BuzzSugar — Wed, 16 May 2007 04:32:38 -0700

Today the Cannes Film Festival kicks off in France, and starting things off is Hong Kong director Wong Kar Wai's first English-language film, My Blueberry Nights. The movie is about a lovelorn road trip and stars Jude Law, Rachel Weisz, Natalie Portman and... Norah Jones?

Yup, Norah Jones. Apparently, Kar Wai specifically sought out the musician for the starring role. More details if you read more

Variety has the scoop:

She admits she knew little about the director's work when she first met Wong over lunch in New York.

"I thought maybe he wanted music," she says. "And he asked if I wanted to act! I knew his reputation as a director was very unconventional and very different, and I knew what his movies looked like, and it just seemed like a really good time to say yes and try something different with somebody I trusted."

In "My Blueberry Nights," Jones is the central character, a young woman working her way across the country in the wake of a romantic breakup.

Jones goes on to gush that her costars were extra-supportive, knowing she was nervous, and treated her like their "little sister." I found these richly colorful stills from the film on RopeofSilicon and I must say this movie intrigues me, so I'll be scouring the Web for reviews as soon as Nights is screened. Oh, to be at Cannes!

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