BYT Empire

Brightest Young Things


So, you guys--since we know how important at-home-entertainment is for all of us (especially in winter) - every Tuesday we're going to do a little "what's getting released on DVD/on demand/Netflix this week" round up for you, with nice little excerpts of our past reviews and more. You'll love it. Trust us. Now--all you need is someone to watch these movies with.

OUT THIS WEEK & (MOSTLY) RECOMMENDED:

  • 50/50 - what we said in our original review: Midway through a classic episode of Seinfeld, Jerry intentionally bombs a stand-up routine by asking the crowd, “What’s the deal with cancer?” His tasteless bit is a reminder that comedy and fatal disease are uneasy bedfellows. Jonathan Levine’s 50/50, a comedy about a young man with cancer, understands this tension well. It never makes light of cancer, instead using warmth to consider how humor is critical to how the man copes. There are moments where laughter offers needed relief, and others where it is outright courageous. With seemingly effortless power, this is the rare dramedy that earns every chuckle and tear it strives for.
  • Restless - what we said in our original review: Gus Van Sant's latest movie can best be described as a cross between "Harold and Maude" (only younger and cuter) and the movie Miranda July is probably going to make next (only a little less self-conscious). It is also, Beginners aside, the only movie that has made me cry this year (and I see a lot of movies). Sure, in many ways it is phenomenally derivative but the feelings still ring truly true.
  • Revenge of the Electric Car - what we said in our Tribeca Film Fest review: Instead of focusing on the politics and environmental impact of the cars, Paine creates a personality-driven documentary, one where business leaders strive to dominate the a share of the car market with increasingly feverish demand.

OUT THIS WEEK & PROCEED WITH CAUTION:

  • Real Steel - what we said in our original review: The most interesting thing about Real Steel is how it doesn't actually need its robots. The basic story and themes here -- a father reconnecting with the son he's never known while trying to reinvent himself in a sport that has left him behind -- hardly requires 10-foot robots beating each other in order to get its point across. And yet there they are, pummeling away. The result is a mostly interesting take on a tried-and-true formula, but not without some missed opportunities.
  • Paranormal Activity 3 - what we said in our original review:  Run backwards, Memento style, Paranormal Activity 3 would have had a small shot at being an interesting film. A suburban couple is murdered and a child is forced to marry an invisible, malevolent force under the watchful eye of a lunatic grandmother. Then the memory-wiped child discovers the whole thing on tape, two decades later. But this? The only things in life that are inevitable are death and reality television. And that's not even a new idea.

RECENTLY OUT AND  WORTH YOUR TIME:

  • Circumstance - what we said in our original review: Feminist art frequently concludes in tragedy. Novels like Kate Chopin's The Awakening conclude with poetic horror; the final scene of Jane Campion's film The Piano, which up until that point felt rather triumphant, ends on a deep blue note. The examples and illustrations are countless. With Circumstance, Persian-American director Maryam Keshavarz makes a feature film debut that is not only feminist and rooted in LGBT culture, but in a broader sense is a rallying cry for all human rights in a modern Iranian culture shackled by theocracy. At the expense of a few rushed characterizations, Circumstance is often quite moving, and yields an understatedly positive conclusion.

INSTANT NETFLIX VIEWING OF THE WEEK:

  • Tucker & Dale vs. Evil- what we said in our original review: Misgivings aside, I mostly found myself enjoying the shaggy charms of Tucker & Dale vs. Evil. In its first act, the two factions face gentle mockery and I found myself curious who would become capitol E-evil. To my surprise, Craig kept me guessing until the mid-point, where the real monster reveals itself and the movie gets bloodier. When the inevitable rusty chainsaw makes an appearance, Craig eschews plot in favor of familiar gore.
  • SENNA - what we said in our original review: Like any good work of non-fiction, Senna succeeds by taking a subject somewhat peripheral to its audience and yields an entertaining, interesting human portrait wherein a gamut of emotions are excavated. There are several moments of unscripted humor from Senna, and his eccentricities (e.g. paradoxically performing better in the rain, his experiences with religious phenomena) color the map of his personal history. If you're a fan of ESPN's 30 For 30 series, Senna will be a treat. It unearths the psychology, culture, and causality of one of autoracing's finest performers. At best, you may even end up appreciating Formula 1 racing, and that makes Senna a measured success.

Now-tell us what you've been watching at home lately:

Previously in HOME ENTERTAINMENT:

God loves a cheerful giver.

COMMENTS (1)

  • So Sweet
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4 months ago Farrah S. said

I think Netflix has just added David Bowie/Spiders From Mars: Interviews. It's definitely worth watching.

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