Wednesday, April 3, 2013

This Week in DVD and Instant Watching

It's another slow DVD stretch after last week's epic slate, a release list that was headlined, of course, by "Lincoln" and "Sexsquatch: The Legend of Blood Stool Creek." So don't get your hopes up.

The Sweeney: Ray Winstone and Damian Lewis star in an updating of the 1970s UK cop show. To me this movie is a complete failure no matter its artistic merits unless its release gets Netflix to start streaming the 1970s UK cop show.

The Baytown Outlaws: I don't know anything about this movie, but it stars Billy Bob Thornton. I feel like I say that exact sentence at least 2 or 3 times a year.

John Dies at the End: I was really hoping this was an alternate title of that last "Die Hard" movie, but no such luck.

Hemingway and Gellhorn: It's not TV. It's HBO. It's Clive Owen and Nicole Kidman in a film about literary--hey, look, I feel like I have to assure that I really do read and stuff when I write what I'm about to, but, yeah, this one looks boring as all get out.

And in streaming...

Hulu added My Living Doll, absolutely worth a look for Julie Newmar if nothing else. This kind of thing usually happens after I buy the DVD, not after I actually finish watching the DVD. So I'm good with this! I'd love to see more short-lived vintage sitcoms on Hulu, particularly ones I don't own on video.

Netflix added a ton of Cartoon Network and Adult Swim content, including Venture Brothers, Justice League, Children's Hospital, and many more, but be forewarned that it ain't whole series runs, at least not yet, but mostly selected seasons. Like "Venture" is a whopping one season so far.

Also, the James Bond movies are back. They pop up and every now and then, often with little or no advance notice, then disappear quickly. Kind of like those people that...uh, what do you call them? Those people that, you know, do sneaky stuff and, like, do things with gadgets and...Yeah, electricians.

Hunger Games just arrived this week. Expect to see the poster art in a lot of Netflix advertising over the next few months as this becomes the token, "Hey, we can deliver the big blockbusters, too!" flick of the moment.

2 comments:

Don't Feed The Pixies said...

The Sweeney was set in the 70s, the film is set in present day - so aside from characters called Regan and Carter and a disregard for playing by the rules i don't think you need to have seen the TV series to watch - not that i would watch it, the clips looked terrible

Rick Brooks said...

Ah, many thanks. I either didn't realize or hadn't ever known that the movie version wasn't a period piece. That it wasn't kind of makes you wonder, "What's the point?" But I guess we could say that most film adaptations of TV shows.

I've read mixed things about the TV Sweeney, but I get the impression it's very Seventies-ness would be a big part of the appeal of it today. I'll probably skip the movie and continue to keep an eye out for the original.