(Blu-Ray)Just after I finished skewering John Singleton's seminal 1991 film, here it is in my top 3 of the week. The reason being that despite my feeling that Singleton presented us with what I think was the least authentic "hood" film of the era(go watch Straight Out of Brooklyn
or Menace II Society 
first), it opened the doors for a lot of African American actors and filmmakers looking to tell what was at the time a criminally untold story. 
2. Limitless
Think if Charlie from Flowers for Algernon was transported to modern times and had a self serving streak running a mile long. Bradley Cooper and his baby blues gives his most relentless performance to date as Eddie Mora, an average man trying desperately to prove he's better than that. He's a writer with no gift, and his smokin' hot girlfriend(Abbie Cornish) just kicked him to the curb. But when Eddie gets his hands on an experimental drug that amps his brain power to the Nth degree, he uses it to not only gain all the things he wanted out of life, but to also get back at those who would exploit his gift. Despite it's numerous flaws, mainly it's repetition and downright silliness at times, Limitless succeeds by going out of it's way not to be your typical morality tale.
A perfect example of the weakness of the latest crop of DVDs, Take Me Home Tonight is an average film that wastes the considerable talent at it's disposal. A nostalgia soaked ode to the 1980s, Topher Grace(who can't seem to get away from stuff like this) is that character we've seen far too often: the intellectual who spent far too much time studying and not enough partying. Even so he's wasting his MIT degree working at a video store while his friends are neck deep in Reagan era notions of self serving capitalism. When his high school crush walks into his store, he decides to fake being an investment banker to impress her, leading into a wild night of sex, drugs, and of course rock 'n roll. The comedy isn't particularly funny, and the lessons learned are ones that have been hammered home ad nauseum. So why is it number one on my list? The cast is fantastic, in particular Teresa Palmer and Dan Fogler. And the genuine love for the time period is there, with all the 80s rock jams you expect there and kickin'. If you can get past the fact that Take Me Home Tonight doesn't aspire to be much more than exactly what you think it's going to be, then you'll have a good time slipping back into the era of hot pink spandex and Alex P. Keaton.
Other Notable Releases:
Amelie(Blu-Ray)
The Reef
Tekken
Chocolat
(Blu-Ray)Nowhere to Run
Potiche
House of the Rising Sun
Peep World
