DVD Pick of the Week: Stuck

Welcome back! Well, to some of you, anyway. To the rest of you, glad you decided to stop by and I hope that this humble column helps you navigate the stacks of new releases each week. My goal is to point you toward titles of interest and warn you away from those films that seek to do nothing but leech away your time and give you nothing in return.

Full disclosure: I have not seen many of these titles and what follows is not necessarily a review. It is my opinion based upon what I know of the titles I pluck from the new release lists that I peruse. The opinions i give based on the new releases are my own, and my recommendations upon them are based on my personal interest. In any case, I hope you enjoy and perhaps find something you like or a title to point me towards.

Stuck. This is a film based on an actual event (like many before it) that is almost too crazy to believe,I even remember the incident. It is about a woman who has an accident, she hits a pedestrian who crashes through her window and instead of stopping, she drives home and puts the car in the garage, complete with the man wedged in the windshield. I am sure this film takes some license with the actual event, but I am quite interested in seeing it. It stars Mena Suvari and is directed by horror icon Stuart Gordon (Reanimator, From Beyond). It may not be good, but I am interested. (BUY, RENT, SKIP)

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Here is a movie that I liked it, not nearly as much as I had hoped, but it was far from a disappointment. It fit like an old glove, and that may be part of the problem. In any case, I will own this film, adding it to my Indy collective. (BUY, RENT, SKIP)

Icons of Horror: Hammer Films (2-disc) (The Curse of the Mummy's Tomb / The Two Faces of Dr. Jekyll / Scream of Fear / The Gorgon). With Hammer Films back in business, not to mention the approach of Halloween, this seems like the perfect time to put out a Hammer collection. They are a bit of an acquired taste, but are definitely worth taking the time. I have only seen one film in this collection, so this would appear to be a good one for me! (BUY, RENT, SKIP)

Mongol: The Rise of Genghis Khan. This film was nominated for the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar at the 2008 ceremonies. It did not win, but it was the one I was most interested in. Unfortunately, when it came through my local theaters, I was unable to attend. Now would be a good time to play catch up. (BUY, RENT, SKIP)

War, Inc. This one is interesting, it did not fare well at the box office, only playing at 33 theaters (yes, you read that right). It does look rather odd, and the war themes probably would not play well at the box office, but I suspect it will do well on DVD. It is about a country that is occupied by an American corporation in the Middle East, and in an effort to secure its futures a hit man (John Cusack) is hired to assassinate an oil man from a neighboring country. It also stars Dan Akroyd, Marisa Tomei, and Hillary Duff. (BUY, RENT, SKIP)

Long Way Down. This series chronicled Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman's journey from the North of Scotland to Cape Town, South Africa on their motorcycles. Sounds like an interesting journey to me. (BUY, RENT, SKIP)

Alfred Hitchcock Premiere Collection (Lifeboat / Spellbound / Notorious / The Paradine Case / Sabotage / Young and Innocent / Rebecca / The Lodger). Never quite realized just how prolific Hitchcock was. Most of my viewing has been limited to classics like Psycho, Rear Window, Vertigo, and North by Northwest; although my favorite is Rope. This looks like a strong collection of films that I need to acquaint myself with. These are also being released individually. (BUY, RENT, SKIP)

Chaplin: 15th Anniversary Edition. Yet another film I have never seen, and it seems appropriate to revisit on DVD, what with the resurgence of Robert Downey Jr. as a Hollywood powerhouse. Downey plays the silent comedian in this biopic. Here's hoping I like it! (BUY, RENT, SKIP)

Ghost House Underground (Dance of the Dead, No Man’s Land: The Rise of the Reeker, The Substitute, Dark Floors, Trackman, Room 205, Last House in the Woods and Brotherhood of Blood). It looks like Sam Raimi and Rob Tapert have taken a page from After Dark's playbook in releasing a number of low budget horror films. Of course, the films have been hand picked by the duo, hopefully ensuring worthiness of being seen. All of the films are also being released individually. So, any inside line on the good ones? (BUY, RENT, SKIP) (a little bit of a cop out, but I suspect all three will come into play)

4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days. Here is a movie that has received some fantastic reviews. It is set in 1980's Romania and tells the story of a woman who helps her friend obtain an illegal abortion. I cannot believe it will be an upbeat film, but based on all the good word seems to need to be seen. (BUY, RENT, SKIP)

Standard Operating Procedure. Errol Morris' latest documentary takes a look at the treatment of prisoners at the hands of US forces at Abu Ghraib. Based on his past output, this deserves to be seen, although the subject matter is sure to be difficult. (BUY, RENT, SKIP)

Halloween: 30th Anniversary Box Set. Yet another release of Myers films from Anchor Bay. Not sure if this is worth it as fans likely already have all of the contents. I guess it would be worth it for those of you who don't have any of them. It includes Halloween, Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers, Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers, and the 25th anniversary documentary. (BUY, RENT, SKIP)

The Rocky Horror Tribute Show. Creator Richard O'Brien staged a theatrical return for the cult classic featuring many of the past performers. This was recorded in 2006 and would look to make a great compliment to your DVD of the film. (BUY, RENT, SKIP)

Revenge of a Kabuki Actor. Never heard of this 1960's film before, but it looks interesting. It concerns a man in a traveling Kabuki theater who comes across the three men that drove his parents to suicide decades earlier. He plans his revenge. Sounds good to me. (BUY, RENT, SKIP)

Shogun Assassin: 5 Film Collector's Set. This box set contains the five films in the Shogun Assassin series, which are re-edited versions of the Lone Wolf and Cub films. I have seen a couple of the original versions, I just need to get he last couple. It would be interesting to see these versions. (BUY, RENT, SKIP)