Home Screening Room - The Descendants meet Tin Tin as a Young Adult

What a great week on DVD/BluRay -- Some of 2011's best come home for you to add.

This Week’s Big Releases 

The Adventures of Tin Tin – Rated PG (Jamie Bell, Daniel Craig) 

What fun! This animated film from director Steven Spielberg brings the classic Belgian character to America. A good time adventure film for the whole family. Watch My daughter and I talk about the film in our video review that was posted when it came to theaters – below!

The Descendants – Rated R (George Clooney, Shailene Woodley) 

My favorite film of 2012 – It tells the story of a man struggling to hold it all together. His wife is in a coma, he finds out she cheated on him, his daughter is a wild child…oh and by the way, he’s trying to put together the biggest land deal in the history of the Hawaiian Islands. Clooney is spot on and deserved to win best actor for his role here – while Woodley delivers a breakout performance that won her a Spirit Award (and should’ve been recognized more).

Happy Feet Two – Rated PG (Elijah Wood, P!nk) 

The second one, more like the first. Less heavy handed than the first; with singer P!nk in one of the lead roles, you can imagine this will have you tapping your toes. 

READ THE THEATRICAL RELEASE REVIEW 

My Week With Marilyn – Rated R (Michelle Williams, Kenneth Branagh) 

One of the best performances of 2011 – Michelle Williams becomes Marilyn Monroe. This story of an infamous period while she shot with the Sir Laurence Olivier is less Olivier and more of Marilyn and the bond she forms with an associate on the set. 

Melancholia – Rated R (Kirsten Dunst, Alexander Skarsgard) 

It’s a Lars von Trier film, and it won’t be everyone’s cup of tea. 

The Three Musketeers– Rated PG-13 (Logan Lerman, Luke Evans) 

Another movie about the famous trio. 

Young Adult – Rated R (Charlize Theron, Patton Oswalt)

I loved this little movie about a woman who struggles to move forward after her high school boyfriend sends her an announcement about his newborn child. She comes home with one thing in mind; she believes he wants her back! Oh the spiral that ensues. 

READ THE THEATRICAL RELEASE REVIEW

Also new this week… 

Dirty Driving: The Thundercars of Indiana – Rated NR

Cool documentary about short track racing in a town hit hard by the recession – and a guy who doesn’t have a trophy – but won’t quit on his quest (even if the other competitors want to kill him). 

Bag It – Rated NR

Documentary focusing on our overabundance of plastic bags. This is one of those that while it preaches it’s world view to you – it does it with such humor and fun that even the least interested in the environment can’t help but enjoy themselves (and learn something).

Stuck Between Stations – Rated R – (Sam Rosen, Zoe Lister-Jones) 

When a soldier is home on leave her runs into an old friend and has a great night on the town that will always be remembered despite the fact that he is soon to return to the military.

And Finally 

Loosies – Rated PG-13 (Peter Facinelli, Jamie Alexander) 

A pickpocket, the law and a girl – sounds good to me. This trailer makes the IFC films release look to be a very interesting story…but will it be? Watch the trailer and judge for yourself if this will be playing in YOUR Home Screening Room.

Check out the trailer below.

Pick of the Week 

You can’t go wrong adding my favorite film of 2011 to your home collection – The Descendants is a MUST – also like Young Adult, The Adventures of Tin Tin and most everything this week. 

Thanks! Pop Popcorn, Do the Dew, and Bust out the Blu and remember to Save Me A Seat!

Review - Young Adult

Young Adult is Grown Up

Thirty seven year old Mavis Gary (Charlize Theron) is stuck. She’s an author of young adult fiction, only it’s not under her name that the books are published. When her high school boyfriend Buddy Slade (Patrick Wilson) and his wife send an announcement for their new child, Mavis becomes stuck on rekindling the old flame and heads to her hometown.

Upon arriving in the small Minnesota town, she finds the happily married Buddy a challenge that she wants to take on. As she’s ingesting liquid courage at the local watering hole, another of the guys that went to high school with Mavis says hi. Matt Freehauf (Patton Oswalt) is one of those guys that people like Mavis ignored in high school. Mavis as a popular girl would not have given Matt the time of day, but this is 20 years after high school and times have changed.

Mavis wanders through her “return to glory” and even though Matt can see she might not be able to swing things the way she once did, it is hard for Mavis to come to the same realization. But it is Matt, the man who she once wouldn’t give the time of day to, that shows her a friendship that a girl could only imagine.

Sometimes, coming to grips with who you really are is harder than the situation you are in. Mavis is broken, but believes she is meant to be with Buddy Slade. But can she regain his affections despite his marriage and the new baby. Or will reality give her the wakeup call that is long overdue?

Written by Diablo Cody, Young Adultis fresh, witty and snappy all while smacking the viewer with a dose of reality. Charlize Theron gets a chance to show her chops in this tale that will be relatable to anyone who has ever tried to hold on to their youth. She is wonderfully quick with her lines and is able to turn it on at a moment’s notice, all while struggling with life and where it has taken her.

Starring with Theron, Patton Oswalt delivers another solid performance. He makes you feel the pain that he experiencing both inside and out. Oswalt shows you how much emotion exists inside the other kids as they grew up.

Couple two actors at the top of their game with a witty script and solid direction from the amazing Jason Reitman and you are bound for success. Young Adult will teach you that everyone needs to grow up sometimes, no matter how painful it may be.

A-

 
Young Adult
Paramount Pictures
 
Director: Jason Reitman
Cast: Charlize Theron, Patton Oswalt, Patrick Wilson

Rating: R for language and some sexual content.

Runtime: 1 hour 34 minutes