Week 1:
February 1st – 7th
February kicks off today with three major movie releases, the first of which – Stand Up Guys – has already been reviewed by yours truly. The film may sound promising, given that it teams up Al Pacino, Christopher Walken, and Alan Arkin, and while the acting is excellent, an absolutely terrible script makes this film one worth overlooking.
Walter Hill’s Bullet to the Head also stars a beloved older actor in Sylvester Stallone, and while the majority of reviews have not been kind to this eighties action throwback – and it was not screened for many critics – I may have to check it out myself just in case the film achieves something more than raw nostalgia.
Warm Bodies has been getting a fair amount of positive press, including a fresh review aggregate over at Rotten Tomatoes. The film, written and directed by Jonathan Levine, is a fresh spin on the popular zombie genre, wherein an undead boy falls in love with a human girl. Necrophiliacs everywhere rejoice!
On the home video front, Robert Zemeckis’ Flight arrives on DVD and Blu-Ray this Tuesday, February 5th, and is absolutely worth checking out if you missed it in theatres (you can read my original review here). Disney’s Peter Pan receives the Blu-Ray ‘Diamond Edition’ treatment the same day, a pleasing proposition to animation fans everywhere.
Gamers have some choice titles to look forward to this week as well. Fire Emblem Awakening arrives for the Nintendo 3DS this Monday, February 4th, bringing with it loads of anticipation and positive reception. The revered tactical RPG series has not had a new title see the light of day in the United States for some time, and word is that Awakening may be one of the best reasons to own Nintendo’s handheld.
The next day, Dead Space 3 arrives for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and Windows PC. One of year’s most anticipated releases, the third entry in the respected survival horror series arrives with high expectations, and is set to resolve major plot threads from throughout the series. We are definitely looking forward to this one, and you can look for our full review in the coming days.
If Dead Space is not your cup of tea, Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time arrives on the PlayStation 3 and PS Vita the same day, and is the latest of Sony’s ‘Cross-Buy’ titles. Buying the console edition will get you a digital copy of the Vita version for free, which is an enticing proposition for fans of the popular stealth platformer franchise.
Finally, I want to note that the beloved cult comedy Community returns to NBC on Thursday, February 7th. The verdict is still out on whether or not the show can recapture the magic without creator Dan Harmon, but I will at least be tuning in to give it a try. At its best, this is one of the greatest comedies on television.
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