While there are no blockbuster movie releases this week there are plenty of interesting genre movies including the Farrelly Brothers homage to The Three Stooges, a sort of Escape From New York in outer space, two of the most original romcoms in years, and a trio of sci-fi TV series, and an excellent British adaptation of one of the best occult/horror short stories of all time.

 

 

There are some very interesting films out this week including the Farrelly brothers tribute to The Three Stooges (Fox, “PG,” $29.98, BD/Combo $39.99). The critics didn’t like it much—it only earned a 50% split on Rotten Tomatoes—but the critics never liked The Three Stooges anyway. In fact most critics missed the point—of course the movie’s narrative is frenetic and confused, it’s a Three Stooges movie, and I think the evidence is clear that the Farrelly’s understand the Stooges a hell of a lot better than the average movie critic does. Bottom line: if you don’t like the original Larry, Moe, and Curley shorts, you won’t like this film, but it is a “must see” for those who enjoy the Stooges’ anarchic antics. Sean Hayes (Larry), Will Sasso (Curly) and Chris Diamantopoulos (Moe) all do a good job with the slapstick and with the physical comedy, which really is a lot harder than it looks. 

 

Another, very different sort of genre film worth a look is Lockout (Sony, “PG-13” $29.99, BD $35.99). Guy Pearce stars in this sometimes absurd, but often compelling B-movie set in a dystopian future in an outer space prison, where the President’s daughter is kidnapped by rioting inmates. Lockout is a heck of a lot more Escape From New York in space than it is Bladerunner, but it’s good enough that those who liked the Escape movies will enjoy this solid genre effort.

 

For those who enjoy quirky romcoms there is Salmon Fishing in the Yemen (Sony, “PG-13,” $30.99, BD $35.99), a character-driven comedy that features excellent performances from Ewan McGregor and Emily Blunt. Directed by Lasse Hallestrom (Chocolat), Salmon Fishing in the Yemen is one of the best romantic comedies of the past two years in large part because it hearkens back to the classic screwball comedies of the 1930s. It earned a 68% positive rating on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, which is a good showing for a film from a genre that is pretty much universally despised by critics, who are sick and tired of seeing elaborate variations on just a few themes.

 

Another romcom that manages to avoid a lot of the genre’s clichés is Friends With Kids (Lionsgate, “R,” $27.98, BD $39.99), but there as much drama here (especially at the end) as comedy along with some very discernable influences ranging from the Seinfeld TV series to the films of Woody Allen. At first it seems like the film is another comedy of manners about what happens when some members of a tightly-knit group of thirty-something friends get married and have kids, but the focus soon shifts to two longtime friends, Jason played by Adam Scott, and Julie, played by Jennifer Westfeldt, who decide to have a child and split custody without getting married or having anything like a romantic relationship. Their “progressive” experiment is clearly doomed and jealously soon rears its head when they get involved with other people. The narrative arc of the film is a little too predictable, but the cast, which also includes John Hamm, Chris O’Dowd, Kristen Wiig, and Maya Rudolph, is strong throughout, and like Woody Allen, Westfeldt, who wrote and directed the film, manages to make New York City a major presence in the film, showing the city and its neighborhoods in a variety of seasons and giving the movie a very strong sense of place.

 

Hardcore Will Farrell fans will want to check out Casa de Mi Padre (Lionsgate, “R,” $19.99, BD $24.99), which finds the Saturday Night Live alum deadpanning his way through an often hilarious parody of the overwrought Latin American telenovelas (soap operas). Farrell’s Spanish may be as stiff as his carriage, and those who don’t like reading subtitles should be forewarned that this is definitely not the Will Ferrell movie for them. But there is a lot of humor here in the satire of the conventions of some of the earliest and most poorly produced telenovelas. There are continuity errors galore as characters suddenly appear from one shot to the next with different drinks in their hands.  Ferrell has a cigarette in his mouth in one shot and then not in the next. He stops to help a calf, picks it up and in the next shot he is carrying a black sheep. Riding scenes are filmed on fake bobbling stuffed horses, phony in-studio “exteriors” are bathed in cheesy golden light and the miniature work would have been laughed at in theaters a hundred years ago. The dialogue is all deadpan and overly dramatic, but that is sort of the point. Casa de Mi Padre is so bad, it’s good.

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Three science fiction series are this week’s top American offerings. Alphas: Season 1 (Universal, 440 min., $44.98) includes the first season of the Syfy series created by Zak Penn (X-Men: The Last Stand). Alphas follows the adventures of five people with super abilities (known as “Alphas”), who work as a team for the Defense Department investigating crimes committed by other Alphas. The series premiered in 2011 and took awhile to catch on, but it has been renewed for a second 13-episode season that will debut on July 23rd.

 

Alphas exists in a “shared universe” with two other SyFy shows, Warehouse 13 and Eureka. Eureka: Season Five (Universal, 563 min., $34.98), the series’ swansong is also due out this week. Set in a small town populated by scientific geniuses and patrolled by a decidedly pre-information age sheriff, Eureka is one of the most fascinating of contemporary science fiction series with its mixture of eccentric characters, big secrets, and even bigger conspiracies. A special bonus for geek viewers of Season Five are appearances by pop culture mavens Will Wheaton and Felicia Day.

 

The other major sci-fi series due this week is Sanctuary: The Complete Fourth Season (eOne Entertainment, 572 min., $44.98, BD $49.98), a Canadian-produced green-screen science fiction fantasy series, which aired for four seasons on the SyFy channel, but was recently cancelled, and which like Eureka, will soon be off the air for good..

 

Animated offerings include Dan Vs.—The Complete First Season (Starz, $24.98), the flash animated series that appears on The Hub cable network. Created by Dan Mandel and Chris Pearson, this is a surprisingly funny show about a misanthropic curmudgeon who lives in Southern California, and basically feels, with some justification, that the whole world is arrayed against him. The only other animated offering is the two-disc Scooby’s All-Star Laff-A-Lympics: Spooky Games (Warner Bros. 250 min., $19.98), which ties in (Scooby-style) to this summer’s Olympic activities.

 

Also out this week is Leverage: The 4th Season (Fox, 792 min., $39.98), which collects 18 episodes of the crime drama series starring Timothy Hutton that airs on the TNT network.

 

Vintage TV series include Bonanza: The Official Third Season (Paramount, 1700 min., $74.99), which includes 34 episodes of the classic western, and the sitcoms Designing Women: The Final Season (Shout Factory, 507 min., $44.99) and Different Strokes: The Complete Third Season (Shout Factory, 507 min., $44.99).

 

The Inbetweeners: The Complete Series (eOne Enteretainment, 432 min., $39.98) is the controversial U.K. show about teens indulging in sex, drugs, and rock-and-roll that MTV is preparing to ape with an American version. Here’s a chance to view the original cringe-inducing teenage wasteland suburban saga before being subjected to an American copy.

 

Horror movie fans might want to check out Casting the Runes (Acorn Media, 50 min., $29.99), an adaptation of the classic Montague R. James short story that formed the basis for one of the best horror films of the 1950s, Curse of the Demon (aka Night of the Demon). This disk also contains a short 20-minute adaptation of another James short story, “A Pleasant Terror,” as well as an informative and entertaining 51-minute documentary about James’ life. Serious fans of old school horror movies will want to buy or rent this disc.

 

On the documentary side there is James May’s 20th Century: The Complete Series (Acorn Media, 174 min., $59.99), in which Top Gear’s James May explores the 20th Century to show how key inventors and their inventions have changed the way we live today.

 

 

It’s a good week for anime releases led by the Full Metal Alchemist Brotherhood Collection 2 (Funimation, “14+,” 775 min., $59.98, BD $69.98), which collects the second half (episodes 34 to 64) of the streamlined series that follows Hiromi Arakawa’s manga series much more closely than the original FMA anime. Yes this series has been released in 5 parts already with the BD of each 16-episode release carrying an MSRP of $54.98, so purchasing this excellent series, which has had a long run on Adult Swim, in the two-part format saves a lot of money—and Blu-ray is definitely the way to go to get the most out of this visually rich and narratively complex show.

 

The most interesting release of new material is Fractale (Funimation, “14+,” 275 min. $69.98), a fascinating 11-episode series from A-1 Pictures that aired in Japan in 2011. Set in the future in a country that physically resembles Ireland, Fractale examines a future in which humanity’s rough edges have been smoothed out by the Fractale System, which insures stability and prosperity—but at what cost? Fractale is the kind of “social” science fiction that makes for interesting viewing (and reading), but which is usually passed over in favor of more bombastic sci-fi themes such as alien invasions or massive planetary disasters.

 

Also new to North America this week is Psychic Squad Collection 2 (Sentai Filmworks, “14+,” 325 min., $49.98), which contains episodes 14 to 26 of the 52-episode series produced by Synergy SP that began airing on TV Tokyo in 2008. Based on a shonen manga by Takashi Shiina, the Psychic Squad anime is an action-filled harem comedy set in a future where many more people have developed ESP.

 

Even more interesting is The Book of Bantorra Collection 2 (Sentai Filmworks, “17+,” 350 min., $59.98), which collects the second half (episodes 14-27) of the anime series produced by David Productions that adapts the fantasy novel series by Ishio Yamagata that posits an alternate world where dead people turn into stone-like books that are stored in the Bantorra Library and guarded by armed librarians who battle with a psychotic cult known and the Shindeki Church. A totally implausible, but still fascinating fantasy set in well-developed fantasy world.

 

This week’s one heavily-discounted re-releases is the sexy Girls Bravo Complete Series (Funimation, “17+,” 600 min., $29.98).

--Tom Flinn

The opinions expressed in this column do not necessarily reflect those of the editors of ICv2.com.