DVD/Blu-Ray Picks Of The Week - 12/6/11

Large William's Pick: POINT BLANK (Region 1 Blu-Ray & DVD; Magnolia)
Apologies for the long hiatus in getting a dvd/blu pick of the week out, I've been absolutely swamped, but my fellow Gentlemen have been holding it down proper in the meanwhile. This week, there were a decent amount of rock solid under the radar releases that one could choose from. Although I've never seen it(or my pick of the week, for that matter), I almost went with Lamberto Bava's Late Cycle Giallo, Body Puzzle. Raro is putting it out, and they always do a great job picking films and providing some good content to back up the feature film itself. But I digress, my pick this week has a Gallic flavor to it, I decided to go with a French thriller entitled A Bout Portant(a.k.a Point Blank), to be clear, it's not a remake of the fantastic Boorman/Marvin joint, but what it is, is a breakneck paced, absolutely frantic 86 minute film about a man in over his head, desperately trying to get his Wife back from criminals. He's not an ex-special Ops guy, he's not a former police officer, he's a nurse. An everyman, who's going to need to pull out all the stops to get his Wife back. From what I've seen from the director, Cavayé, he's a more than capable helmer. His 2008 film Pour Elle, was remade here in the U.S with Russell Crowe and Elizabeth Banks, a few years ago. I bring this up, as like a lot of modern French directors, he brings an American adrenaline and sensibility with French flair and technical prowess. Check it out gang!

baisers,
Le Grande William

Links:
Amazon Blu-Ray and DVD

Aaron's Pick: CAPTAIN POWER AND THE SOLDIERS OF THE FUTURE - The Complete Series (Region 1 DVD; Video Service Corp.)
Children of the 80's unite! A group of soldiers, led by Captain Power, attempt to put an end to a robot uprising that has led to the enslavement of the human race. Ring a bell? To tell you the truth, this show was completely erased from my memory until I hit the internet in search of new DVD releases, and I'm recommending it right now purely on a nostalgia high. For those of you who aren't familiar with the show, CAPTAIN POWER, which combined live action with animation, only lasted one season because it was deemed too dark for children and also because it was a bit too costly to produce, which is understandable considering its ambitious nature. (to be exact, the show nearly cost one million dollars per episode to produce - and that's 1987 money we're talking about!) And now, thanks to the fine folks at Video Service Corp., it's been dug out of obscurity and given a DVD release with loads of special features, including a documentary on the making of the show.

Links:
Amazon