This week: Brad Pitt gives tanks, two Roberts overrule The Judge, and your annual Downton Abbey marathon is here.
► The chaotic, claustrophobic FURY pieces together bits of battle lore for the tense tale of a five-man tank crew led by Brad Pitt in the waning days of World War II. As they push further into Germany the bodies and near-disasters pile up (including a terrific one-on-one duel with a German Tiger I) until they’re crippled at crossroad with an SS infantry heading their way. It culminates with one of the most visceral war movie battle scenes since the opener of ‘Saving Private Ryan.’ David Ayers, who’ll direct the upcoming ‘Suicide Squad,’ gets another gruff performance out of Pitt. The rest of the crew, including Shia LaBeouf and Jon Bernthal, are suitably battle-hardened. Some brutal stuff here, but a surprising sequence in the middle with two German women is what lingers most.
► Everything about THE JUDGE felt like Oscar bait, but it only reeled in one nomination: Robert Duvall for Best Supporting Actor. He’s a judge in a small Indiana town who is charged after a fatal hit and run. He’s represented by his son (Robert Downey Jr.), a big criminal defense attorney in Chicago with lingering resentment of his dad. The movie-of-the-week vibe is hard to shake, but Duvall and Downey, Jr. will hold your interest. Extras include commentary from director David Dobkin.
► Once again, the current season of DOWNTON ABBEY will be out on blu-ray before it finishes airing on PBS in North America. So if you can’t wait until it wraps up March 1, here’s your annual Yorkshire fix. After a mostly blah fourth season, the Grantham gang adjusts to the country’s first socialist government in 1924 and what it means to their privileged ilk. There’s more suspicion cast on Bates, another awkward wedding, and as Carson observes, “our household is breaking up.” And I won’t tell you who dies between Episodes 7 and 8, but not cool ‘Downton Abbey!’ Not cool at all!
► Nicole Kidman goes all ‘Memento’ in the thriller BEFORE I GO TO SLEEP, playing a woman who wakes up every morning with no memory of her life for the past 20 years. She’s told by the man (Colin Firth) in her bed every morning she suffered brain damage in a car accident, and that he’s her husband. A doctor (Mark Strong) has a different story for her. Middling mystery continues Kidman’s four-year slump since her last Oscar nomination.
► Of all the things you expect to see on Lifetime, Stephen King’s lurid revenge tale BIG DRIVER isn’t on the short list. Based on his novella from the 2010 collection ‘Full Dark, No Stars,’ it finds a mystery writer (Maria Bello) who is given directions for a short cut home after a speaking engagement. Instead, the car gets a flat and she’s raped by the trucker (Will Harris) who stops to help her. Of course, her flat was no accident, and there’s payback to dish out after she recovers. Olympia Dukakis and – hell yes – Joan Jett co-star. The two weakest stories from that book have now been made into movies, while the outstanding ‘1922’ and ‘Fair Extension’ are untapped.
► Look, not having kids, all of these CGI animated movies become a seizure-inducing blur after awhile. Unless the word ‘Pixar’ is above the title, I can barely remember them. But I do recall the buzz around THE BOOK OF LIFE as one of the coolest-looking movies of 2014. Mexican-flavored tale co-produced by Guillermo del Toro, with the voices of Zoe Saldana, Channing Tatum and Ron Perlman.
► Spain’s Ignacio Vigalondo, who did a segment in the last ‘V.H.S.’ movie, directs Elijah Wood in OPEN WINDOWS as a fan who has won a dinner date with his favorite star (Sasha Grey). But when she refuses to honor the contest, he’s approached by someone claming to be her campaign manager with a consolation prize: The ability to constantly view her via computer.
► For MISS MEADOWS, Katie Holmes plays a perky school teacher by day, ruthless vigilante by night. See, that’s what happens when you date Batman. Complicating matters, she’s sleeping with the cop investigating her dirty work. Everything about this feels like a John Waters movie, but alas, he’s nowhere in the credits.
Also out this week:
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SO WHAT DVD/BLU-RAYS ARE YOU GUYS STOKED ABOUT THIS WEEK?!