The Good, the Bad and the Blu-rays

A solid week of new releases this week, but without much Hollywood input. Instead, it's a chance to let the smaller guys have their moment.

PITCH PERFECT review

When alt-chick Beca (Anna Kendrick) arrives at college, her lecturer father makes a deal with her that if she joins one of the many clubs on campus, he will fund her move to New York to pursue her musical dreams. After joining the failing a capella group, The Barden Bellas, along with an array of collegiate misfits, Beca tries to bring a new eclectic style to their tired old routines.

The Good, the Bad and the Blu-rays

After a brief hiatus over Christmas when there was nothing released worth writing about, welcome to the first The Good, the Bad and the Blu-rays of 2013. It's not a bad start, with one of 2012's finest films hitting shelves this week. 

JACK REACHER review

Starring Tom Cruise, the Christopher McQuarrie directed Jack Reacher is now in cinemas.

The Good, the Bad and the Blu-rays

You wouldn't think there's only two weeks of Christmas shopping left, as this may be the sparsest week for new releases in recent memory.

The Good, the Bad and the Blu-rays

Gotham's finest makes his final (for now) Blu-ray appearance this week, and although not many other releases dare go up against him, there's a couple of worthy contenders in the ones that do.

Actually, Kevin Bacon, I Think You'll Find That...

...Ken Barlow has a Bacon Number of 3. Ignoring the nonsense that Kevin Bacon is spouting is the current TV commercial for the EE mobile network (where he proves that he either doesn't understand the Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon game, or that he's willing to be flexible on the rules for cold, hard cash), it doesn't matter that Ken Barlow drinks at the Rover's Return and Kevin Bacon has a dog bring a ball back to him; no matter which way you cut it Ken Barlow (let's just made the assumption he means actor William Roache) has at best a Bacon Number of three. Here's how I worked it out...

Whose face looks the most out of place on the poster for Movie 43?

Despite having a non-entity of a title, a trailer that makes it look like this generation's Burn, Hollywood, Burn and one of the most offensively garish posters I've ever seen, the upcoming Movie 43 has managed to secure itself an impressive cast of Hollywood A-Listers and respected comic actors. But which one of them looks the most out of place?

Could it be...

Richard Gere, who's looking right at us saying "look, I'm old, I'm miserable, and I'm in this film because I wanted something to do on the weekends".

Hugh Jackman, who is happy to remind everyone that although sometimes he looks like this, he's quite possibly the most theatrical man in Hollywood who likes to have a laugh and a joke too, and wear rather lovely knitted scarves.

Chloe Grace Moretz, who seems to be saying to herself "Naomi Watts' and Kate Winslet's names are on this poster somewhere, and I have to share a photo frame with McLovin? Wait a minute, didn't I mess you up big style in Kick Ass?"

Halle Berry, who at this point in her career is taking as many opportunities as she can to show off about how good looking she still is. She's 46 for chrissakes.

Emma Stone, who looks disappointed in her agent for getting her involved in this project. Her face seems to say "I'm better than this". Yes, Emma, you are. Also, your hair looks pretty.

And the winner is....

Johnny Knoxville, still plugging away at his acting career but not noticeably enough for the makers of this film to take a still photo of him whilst he was on set, instead putting this old candid photo of him through the photoshop mill so that he resembles Frankenstein's Monster's little brother.

The Good, the Bad and the Blu-rays

As we fast approach Christmas, some of the big hits from this summer are making their way onto Blu-ray and DVD. It's not all new releases this week though, and is a particularly good week for fans of Quentin Tarantino.

LOLA VERSUS DVD review

Waking up on her 29th birthday to be greeted by a marriage proposal from her long term boyfriend Luke (Joel Kinnaman), Lola (Greta Gerwig) starts to plan the wedding, only to have it all fall apart leaving her living the single life in the big city.