The Good, the Bad and the Blu-rays

There's only one major release this week that won't be to everyone's taste, so why not check out one of the smaller titles or documentaries that have been released this week too?

By far the biggest release of the week is Tom Hooper's Les Miserables. A big hit in the cinemas and at the Oscars, I still haven't been too bothered about watching it yet due to general indifference. I will give it a go on blu-ray due to the talent involved, and to see if Russell Crowe's singing is as bad as everyone says it is.

Under normal circumstances a film like Bringing Up Bobby wouldn't land on my radar; but then it does feature two of the central cast of Dazed and Confused in lead roles (and is in fact directed by Milla Jovovich), so my interest has increased 1000 fold. It's just a shame that the trailer makes the film look vomit inducingly shit.

Now, bear with me when I say this but, this Asylum produced, Danny Trejo starring zombie film doesn't look half bad. It may have borrowed the prison location idea from the most recent season of The Walking Dead, but "zombies on Alcatraz" is a pretty good idea, and an easy sell. Even the trailer makes the film look pretty good for a straight to DVD action/horror, with some well done effects on show. I'd say that this one's worth a try.

If you'd have told me that a Keanu Reeves fronted documentary about the rise of digital filmmaking would end up being one of the most educational and entertaining documentaries of the year, I would have got a very confused look on my face. But, Side by Side is just that; an exhaustive question and answer session with some of the world's most iconic directors and filmmakers to discover whether film is dead now that digital filmmaking has become so prevalent. Perhaps the greatest part of the argument is that the future is still undecided, but it's great to see Martin Scorsese and David Lynch give their opinions on the matter.

I've never had a problem with the Hitchcock DVD boxset I invested in a few years ago until now. Yes, I'm sure the picture and sound have been given a nice high definition refresh that will breathe new life into Hitchcock's 1963 film, but it's that incredible packaging that has me (figuratively) drooling.

Slice and Dice: The Slasher Film Forever may not be tackling the most original of subjects, but it looks to offer a few interesting insights into the thought process behind those who choose to make those movies. It's kind of charming that they haven't managed to interview the usual suspects of the slasher genre (Carpenter, Craven, etc), instead getting the views of lower level genre stars such as Corey Feldman and Emily Booth. That may well give this documentary its edge.