DVD Roundup

ComicCon ’09 is this week, which means it’s a great week for comic book movies…

Coraline – Henry Selick’s(The Nightmare Before Christmas) adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s novel is perhaps the first movie to make real, memorable use of the new 3-D technology.   It looks great on a flat screen, too, and is a great story to boot.

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Watchmen – Zack Snyder’s adaptation of the Greatest Comic Book (er, graphic novel) Of All Time is slavishly devoted to every plot detail while completely changing the tone of the thing.   Make sure you read the comic before you judge the movie.    Jon Soweidy’s review —  My additional thoughts

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The Great Buck Howard – John Malkovich’s greatest achievement here is to convince me he’s not a serial killer or government assassin.   Colin Hanks co-stars, and is less convincing.

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Anita O’Day: Life of a Jazz Singer – Documentary about, well, a jazz singer named Anita O’Day.  I’m going to guess that it’s interesting if you already know who she is and boring if you don’t.

Echelon Conspiracy -”Mysterious cell phone messages promise a young American engineer untold wealth — then make him the target of a deadly international plot.”  Wait… wasn’t Shia LeBouf in a movie just like this?   Like, three months ago?

Sherman’s Way - Uptight Ivy Leaguer learns life lessons from happy-go-lucky hitchiker.  Stop me if you’ve heard this one before…

Unknown Woman – Looks like an Italian version of “The Hand That Rocks the Cradle.”