The DVD/Blu Ray Shed: Nov. 9

The best of the week, raw and uncut. Much love Dirt

Submitted by mike, 11/11/09 7:05 PM

Every week, Mike takes a trip out back to the DVD/Blu Ray Shed with the best yeah that's right the best DVD's and Blu Ray Discs coming out that week. Come on with Mike on a journey to adventure and a shed.

THE PICKS OF THE WEEK FOR THE WEEK THAT HAS NOVEMBER 9TH IN IT:

 #1: Up (2009, dirs. Docter, Peterson)

The surprising thing at this point isn't that Pixar is regularly and with 100% reliability creating incredible animated films, it's that they're able to do it without having given their enourmous audience a case of sugar-shock diabetes. Up in less adept hands would likely have been saccharine, to put it mildly: the animated story of a fatherless boy scout adventuring with a lonely old man, trying to rescue a baby bird, helped by a faithful dog, each learning lessons about friendship, love and family....

We can take it for granted at this point that the animation will be top notch, as will the editing and the score, but what's remarkable is Pixar's ability to moderate the tone of the film, to desaturate the pathos slightly and undercut it. Young Wilderness Explorer Russel is no apple-cheeked gap-toothed all-american, he's a chubby, gormless Asian, completely unprepared. Ed Asner as the cranky Carl is meaner than you'd think, darker and more sarcastic, and much much funnier, as is the film. Rajo's review is here, and I agree with most of it, if not with the same feverish intensity that is also a little weird. Speaking of which:

#2: Dirty: One Word That Changed The World (2009, dir. Raison Allah)

This bio of legendary late Wu-Tang weirdo Ol' Dirty Bastard (aka Osiris, Big Baby Jesus, Dirt McGirt, etc) is directed by his cousin,  Raison Allah (aka the Zookeeper, I think) and is also really hard to get ahold of. Ostensibly released today, I know MTV's seen it, and I desperately want to.

ODB was as far as I'm concerned the best thing about the 90's Wu Tang, making even a Mariah Carey video worth watching, and he died too soon, after a life filled with weirdness, a legitimate if truly odd talent.

#3:Disciples of Shaolin (1975, dir. Chang Cheh)

In honour of Dirt McGirt, a little classic Shaw Bros. Kung Fu Shaolin style. Rajo liked this one a lot, and a reissue is well worth checking out while bumping Return to the 36 Chambers: The Dirty Version.

I'm a 31 year old white dude and I just said "bumping" but you can phone my butt and ask it if it cares. (It will say it doesn't).