New Releases - July 21st, 2009

A well-rounded week of releases kicks off today with the slightly-less-terrifying adaptation of Neil Gaiman's terrifying children's story 'Coraline,' which does divert from the book somewhat, but it's an excellent stand-alone piece in its own right and I'd recommend it without hesitation. It's a great reminder of everything that's wonderful about stop-motion animation, and why it will always have a place alongside CGI. We also have the long-anticipated director's cut of 'Watchmen,' and while I'll refrain from giving my unsolicited opinion on the movie here, I will say it's a great package that raises the bar on 'bonus features' in general. Then there's 'Pontypool,' the latest by local-boy-made-good Bruce McDonald. I'm a big fan of McDonald, and of his most recent offering I can only say this: It's six pounds of crazy in a nine pound bag. By that I mean the bag is sufficiently deep and sturdy to contain its share of crazy, and then some, but at the end of the day you've still got six pounds of crazy to deal with. This is an art-house horror movie in the strictest terms, and it presents a situation that's at the very least challenging, perhaps even incomprehensible, in a genre (the zombie film) that's used to a reliance on convention and formula. It's weird. But sometimes I like it when a movie gives me something completely and utterly original, and I really enjoyed it, and so might you.

New this week:

Cadavres



Coraline



Echelon Conspiracy



G.I. Joe Season 1.1



Inconceivable



Messengers 2



Pontypool



Stargate SG-1: Children of the Gods Final Cut



Watchmen