New DVD releases for the week include 'All Is Lost'

This week’s slate of new releases looks really great, particularly if you like dramas. From the Robert Redford lost-at-sea drama All Is Lost to the Ridley Scott thriller The Counselor, I’m about to have yet another mini movie festival at my house. At the end of each year, I always think, “Wow, I spend entirely too much time at the movies.” Yet this year, so far, I’ve realized that for every film I do see in theaters (nearly weekly through the summer), I miss three or four others that I wind up loving.

All Is Lost is without question the biggest new DVD movie release of the week as far as I’m concerned. Robert Redford rarely disappoints, and his role as a man trying desperately to survive on a crippled ship in the middle of the Indian Ocean earned him a great deal of Oscar buzz. Ultimately, Redford did not get a Best Actor nomination, but I could really care less. After decades of excellent on screen performances, I’m pretty much willing to see any Redford film, regardless. Couple that with the fact that J.C. Chandor wrote and directed All Is Lost and well, I’m sold. Chandor’s Margin Call was one of my favorite movies of 2011. I felt it was really overlooked, and vastly underrated. If you haven’t seen Margin Call, take some time to check it out.

As for the other new DVD releases, I also can’t wait to see The Counselor, if for no other reason than I’d like to decide for myself whether this Ridley Scott-directed drama, which features an incredible all-star cast (Michael Fassbender, Brad Pitt, Javier Bardem, Penelope Cruz and Cameron Diaz), delivers. Friends who did see The Counselor in theaters seemed really split: Some told me it was the worst and most disappointing movie they’d seen all year, and others raved about the performances. We shall see (finally).

I didn’t see Ender’s Game in theaters, but I’ll probably check it out now that it’s available on DVD. Reviews for this big screen adaptation of Orson Scott Card’s sci-fi novel weren’t that great, and I will admit to being furious about Card’s ridiculous, horrible, anti-gay comments. I’ll probably spend $1 to see this once it’s available on Redbox, but that’s it. Anyway, that’s that. If you’re itching to see Ender’s Game, now you can.

Have any of you seen any of these films already? If so, I’d love to hear your recommendations.

Photo courtesy of The Portland Mercury