April 27th, 2010
After Avatar dominated last week's list, the selection of releases this week is not any better. There are only two first run releases of note, It's Complicated on DVD and The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus on Blu-ray, while there are a few smaller releases that are also worth picking up. To find the Pick of the Week, however, we have to travel back in time as a couple of late releases finally found their way to my desk this week. Those late releases are Defendor (Buy from Amazon: DVD or Buy from Amazon.ca: Blu-ray) and Yesterday Was A Lie (DVD) and they share the Pick of the Week honors.
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April 23rd, 2010
Pressure Cooker is a documentary about a teacher who is clearly nuts, but in a good way. Wilma Stephenson is the Culinary Arts teacher at the Frankford High School in Philadelphia. It's a real life inspirational teacher story. When Hollywood gets a hold of one of these, they usually turn them into a mess of cliches. Will the filmmakers here have more success by sticking with the facts?
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April 20th, 2010
Paradoxically, this is arguably the biggest week of the year on the home market, as well as one of the slowest. It is the biggest because it marks the release of Avatar on DVD and Blu-ray. However, it is also one of the slowest, because Avatar scared away a lot of other releases. Looking down the list of top sellers and it isn't long before you find busted Oscar bait, TV movies, Direct-to-DVD releases, etc. I expect records could be broken this week, but it is a top-heavy list. As for Pick of the Week contenders, Avatar is obviously a contender, but I'm holding off until the screener arrives.
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