New On DVD: January 4, 2011

A scene from 'Mother and Child'. Courtesy Universal Home Video

Mother and Child Criticize This! Pick of the Week – With great performances from Annette Bening, Naomi Watts, and Kerry Washington, as well as Jimmy Smits and Samuel L. Jackson, Rodrigo García’s Mother and Child is a solid drama that tells the story of three women as they deal with different aspects of adoption and motherhood. It’s sometimes hard to watch, and will no doubt depress the heck out of you, but it is a gem and deserves an audience.

Special features on the DVD are slim and include deleted scenes and a couple of featurettes. Film **** DVD ** (out of 5 stars).

The Last Exorcism – Cotton Marcus (Patrick Fabian) is a smooth-talking Reverend who performs fake exorcisms. When he decides to get out of the business, he arranges to document what will be his last one and finds Nell (Ashley Bell), a young woman from a deeply religious family in Louisiana. After he does his “smoke and mirrors” show on her, Nell’s problems become seriously apparent and Cotton worries that her father (played by Louis Herthum) is going to harm her instead of getting her the help she needs.

Produced by Eli Roth and directed by Daniel Stamm (A Necessary Death), The Last Exorcism is more of a comedy than a freaky horror movie. That doesn’t mean it doesn’t have a few excellent scary moments though, because it does, just don’t expect to see something close to the The Exorcist or you will end up hating it.

Special features on the DVD include audio commentary with director Daniel Stamm and cast members Ashley Bell, Patrick Fabian, and Louis Herthum, audio commentary with producers Eli Roth, Eric Newman, and Tom Bliss, a making-featurette, and more. Also available on Blu-ray. Film *** DVD *** (out of 5 stars).

Catfish – It’s another documentary that makes you question if it’s real or not. But unlike Exit Through the Gift Shop and I’m Still Here, Catfish is quite boring after the initial viewing. And if it is real it’s made by the stupidest people on the planet who probably send money to Nigeria when they get an email telling them to do so.

Ariel Schulman and Henry Joost watched as Ariel’s brother Nev met a girl on Facebook and began to fall in love. The two decided to document Nev’s romance up to the point where Nev is to meet her and live happily ever after. Marketed as a “reality thriller”, Catfish does have eerie moments and the foreseeable twist is unsettling. It also speaks to the “Facebook generation” and could be used as a warning video of how easy it is to dupe someone.

The only special feature on the DVD is an interview with the filmmakers. Also available on Blu-ray. Film ** DVD * (out of 5 stars).

Case 39 (Blu-ray) – Case 39 was made about 10 million years ago. Since no one cared for it in the slightest, it got dumped into the theatre last year with no marketing effort from the studio or promotion from the actors. The unfortunate thing is that it’s not that bad a movie, especially on a cold rainy January night.

The film stars Renée Zellweger as a social worker who gets too involved with the case of young girl (played by Jodelle Ferland) being abused by her parents. When she tries to help the girl things get increasingly dangerous and weird, and people close to her begin to die. Director Christian Alvart also made the sci-fi horror Pandorum last year so if you dig his dark style you will probably enjoy Case 39 more than the average person. Bradley Cooper and Ian McShane also star.

The Blu-ray release has a decent 1080p transfer and 5.1 DTS-HD sound mix. Special features include deleted scenes and making-of featurettes. Film *** Blu-ray ** (out of 5 stars).

Dinner For Schmucks (Blu-ray) – I had such high expectations for Dinner for Schmucks I didn’t think it was possible for it to be a dud. Boy was I wrong. It’s terrible. It’s so terrible it makes Step Up 3 look like an Oscar contender. Even with Paul Rudd, Steve Carell, and Zach Galifianakis it still wasn’t funny, charming, or anything but annoying. And as for the “dinner” — it’s an afterthought that only takes up a couple of painful minutes in the entire movie.

Since the movie is so downright bad if you actually buy or rent the Blu-ray release you are a schmuck yourself. It doesn’t matter if you see this in 1080p high-def with 5.1 DTS-HD sound — the movie still sucks hard. Special features include deleted scenes, a gag reel, and a handful of featurettes easily found on the Internet. Film * Blu-ray ** (out of 5 stars).

Also available on DVD/Blu-ray this week:

Machete (DVD/Blu-ray)
My Dog Skip (Blu-ray)
Desperado/El Mariachi (Blu-ray)
Once Upon a Time in Mexico (Blu-ray)
Backdraft (Blu-ray)
Casino Jack and the United States of Money (DVD)
Big Love: Season 4 (DVD)