A Whole Bunch of Underrated DVD's out this week!

Indeed, many of the releases this week were regarded somewhat harsher than you'd think upon their theatrical debuts. Granted, none of these films are perfect, but two in particular were strangely given the shaft, at least in my eyes. One is my PICK OF THE WEEK, and it's a rather divisive film. It's:

W.

Oliver Stone's look at a life "misunderestimated" is definitely not what you'd expect from a George W. Bush biopic. At its heart it's more about a man with daddy issues and modest aspirations that seemed to fail upwards almost by accident in an ever ongoing attempt to please his father, who seemed to only have eyes for his brother. Even if you disagree with Stone's approach (either too soft for you liberals or too harsh for you right wingers), it's worth a view for Elizabeth Bank's very nice role as Laura Bush and Josh Brolin's fantastic work as the President himself. It's more than a mimic job, it's a true acting job.

-The other film that was not given its due among this week's releases is Blindness. Greeted harshly at Cannes, this film about an epidemic of, well...blindness, never recovered from the beating it took in France. It's a pity because it's actually a very interesting film about the breakdown in society. Its execution may not be perfect, but strong performances from Julianne Moore and Mark Ruffalo more than make up for it.

-Also out we have Spike Lee's World War II film Miracle at St. Anna, which is, like many WW2 films, too long and like many Lee films, somewhat unfocused. That being said, it's not a bad film by any stretch and worth a look if you think it's something you'd enjoy. There's Bruce Campbell's self referential My Name is Bruce, which is mildly amusing but ultimately less than you'd hope for, Soul Men, which isn't very good at all, but in respect for the late Bernie Mac, I'll pass up a chance at a scathing write-up of it, the romantic flick Nights in Rodanthe, which unfortunately feels like it lasts much more than a handful of nights, and last but not least, the small film Frozen River, which garnered two Oscar nominations. I didn't care much for the film or writer/director Courtney Hunt's script (which somehow got nominated), but Melissa Leo's nominated lead role is among the best work by any actor or actress this year. It's worth seeing if you're interested in seeing all the nominated works of 2008.

-My Vintage pick is a film with a typical Adam Sandler character in it. Thing is, it's not a typical Sandler movie. It's Paul Thomas Anderson's Punch-Drunk Love. Essentially a stock Sandler character doing stock Sandler things, just with the laugh track muted. What you end up with is a fascinating look at self destructive behavior, a new degree of appreciation for Sandler's acting skills (see Reign Over Me as well for further proof that one day you very well might hear "Academy Award Nominee" Adam Sandler in an ad), and a larger revelry for the talent that is P.T. Anderson. Definitely something to watch if you've never seen it or to revisit if you have.

-What will everyone be watching this week?