While the movie theaters are showing leftovers from movie studios that the studio executives felt could not compete with the big movies out during the holidays, the DVD racks are the place where you can catch up one some of the acclaimed films that came out towards the end of 2012. That includes this week as a number of movies that came and went rather quietly at the theaters, but garnered some critical praise, come out on DVD.
Here are the movies coming to DVD on January 8, 2013:
Hit and Run - Dax Shepard, Kristen Bell, Bradley Cooper. Shepard actually helped create this film and stars as a man named Charles Bronson, who happens to be a former bank robbery getaway car driver. He ended up receiving protection from the government, and a new life in a new city, by turning in the rest of his crew. Now, however, he is returning to Los Angeles, the city of his crimes, to help his new girlfriend, where he soon runs into his old criminal friends. Of course, they are soon pulled into a new scheme for one final score. A very raunchy comedy that receives lukewarm reviews last summer. Rated R.
The House at the End of the Street - Jennifer Lawrence, Max Thieriot, Elisabeth Shue. A young woman and her mother come to a new home in a rural area looking to start a new life. The young daughter soon befriends a young man who lives just down the road and appears to live alone. As a romance begins to develop between the girl and the young man, some disturbing information about what happened to the young man’s family emerge. This is Lawrence’s entry into the horror genre, but the film has been on several worst-of lists. Rated PG-13.
Dredd - Karl Urban, Olivia Thirlby, Lena Headey. The second attempt to bring the popular comic book character of Judge Dredd to the big screen. This time, the movie follows more closely to the character in the comics and this movie received some strong acclaim from fanboys and from some critics, but did not do particularly well at the box office. Dredd has to enter into one of the mammoth apartment block buildings to take down a gang and the drug dealers who are now selling a dangerous and addictive new drug to the masses in this dystopian future. Rated R.
Frankenweenie - Winona Ryder, Martin Landau, Martin Short. One of the first things that made director Tim Burton famous was a short film he made at the start of his career called Frankenweenie. That short film has been greatly expanded and is now stop-motion animated in this adaptation. A young Victor Frankenstein’s beloved dog gets killed, but he decides that he can bring the beloved pooch back to life using his scientific brilliance. He succeeds, but when his accomplishment gets around, others decide that they want to bring their beloved pets back to life, with disastrous results. Rated PG.
Compliance - Dreama Walker, Ann Dowd, Pat Healy. Based on a true story, this film was released in a limited capacity to great critical acclaim, but critics warn that it is very disturbing and, at times, hard to watch. A perverted man calls a fast food store claiming to be a police officer. He states that one of the employees stole money and forces the manager to bring an employee who matches the description into the office. What follows is hours of humiliation and psychological torture for the employee who is forced to strip and undergo other things before the fraud is discovered. Dreama Walker turns in a very brave performance as the employee undergoing the torture. Rated R.
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