I Want My DVD: Tuesday, July 19, 2011

by Ethan Alter July 19, 2011 6:00 AM
I Want My DVD: Tuesday, July 19, 2011

In this week's DVD round-up, Bradley Cooper graduates to movie star, Topher Grace leaves the '70s behind for the '80s and the Blues Brothers once again hit the road on their mission from God.

Limitless
I guess we can officially start calling Bradley Cooper a movie star now. This past March, Limitless, his first major solo outing, topped the box office its opening weekend and went onto gross almost $80 million. The film's clever premise understandably hooked audiences: a frustrated aspiring novelist willingly acts as a guinea pig for a new drug that will supposedly increase his brainpower and goes from broke zero to big-money making hero. Robert De Niro co-stars as a businessman that gets wise to Cooper's secret and Abbie Cornish plays his on-again, off-again girlfriend.
Extras: A commentary track with the film's director Neil Burger, two featurettes and an alternate ending.

Take Me Home Tonight
Originally filmed in 2007, this '80s-set comedy stars Topher Grace and Anna Faris as a brother and sister who make some major life decisions over the course of one wild night. With those two expert comic actors in the foreground and a supporting cast that includes Chris Pratt, Lucy Punch and Demetri Martin, you might wonder why this movie sat on the shelf for so long before getting a release. Short answer: it's not all that good. But there are enough amusing moments to make it worth a Redbox rental at least. And Grace remains a naturally charismatic leading man -- when is he going to get his Bradley Cooper breakout moment?
Extras: A music video featuring the cast that's funnier than the movie itself, deleted scenes and 12 vintage '80s tracks, including "Safety Dance" and "Straight Outta Compton."

National Lampoon's Animal House and The Blues Brothers
Two of the most-loved and most-influential contemporary comedies ever made finally appear on Blu-ray for the first time. Without Animal House there would likely be no Revenge of the Nerds, American Pie or Old School. The Blues Brothers, meanwhile, remains the Holy Grail of Saturday Night Live-inspired features and features some of the best car chases ever committed to celluloid.
Extras: The surviving Delta House brothers (R.I.P., John Belushi) reunite for an in-depth documentary, while viewers get to catch up with their characters' post-collegiate lives via a mockumentary. Meanwhile, The Blues Brothers disc offers three featurettes, including one devoted to the movie's impact on pop culture.

Also on DVD:
If you're a fan of To Kill a Mockingbird -- and really, who isn't? -- the enjoyable retrospective documentary Hey Boo: Harper Lee and To Kill a Mockingbird will make you want to revisit the book (and the film) again. Decidedly less cheery is the Marc Singer doc Dark Days, which celebrates its 10th anniversary with a new DVD edition. A chronicle of some of the homeless men and women that live in the subway tunnels beneath New York City's bustling streets, the movie has lost none of its power a decade later. If laughter (and romance) is what you're after, check out the new-to-Blu-ray versions of the Gallic rom-com Amelie and the popular film version of Bridget Jones's Diary, starring Renee Zellweger as the unlucky-in-love diarykeeper and Hugh Grant and Colin Firth as the men that duel for her affections. Finally, the direct-to-DVD action movie Tekken proves once again that video games just don't make very good movies. So please Hollywood...keep Grand Theft Auto and God of War on home consoles where they belong.

It's Tubey time! Make sure that your favorite shows, actors, reality stars and characters get the recognition they deserve by voting in our annual Tubey awards. It's where fans have total control over what rates as the best and worst of the past year in a variety of categories. Vote now!

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