Guess where you’ll find J. Edgar this week? Here, and only here. How about Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close? Here again, and no where else. The same goes for Jack and Jill. A Dangerous Method, too. Quite a spread of films, that, and all four of them exclusively available to rent from your good pals at blockbuster.co.uk.
The illuminating tale of an intolerant man who disapproved of anyone with a perceived weakness or peculiarity, even though no one was weirder than him, Clint Eastwood’s unfussy biopic J. Edgar hits the bullet points of a great, messed up American life.
Largely told in flashback from the distorted point of view of FBI founder, fantasist and occasional cross-dresser J. Edgar Hoover, this details the birth of criminal science via a socially peculiar law nerd who dreamed of fingerprints and forensics, of gun-toting G-Men and the questionable creation of a dirt database designed to strong-arm the wealthy, famous and influential.
Magnetic as J. Edgar, Leonardo DiCaprio diligently delivers the good, bad and downright ugly sides of a man who was equally a force of great good, a crusader for progress and justice, and an ugly, egotistical, invasive monster with all the people skills of Norman Bates.
As the immaculately tailored object of Hoover’s forbidden, barely perceivable affections, Armie Hammer holds his own (no pun intended) as J. Edgar’s right hand man and frustrated life companion, as does Naomi Watts as his inexplicably loyal secretary. Judi Dench, in particular, shines in a small but unusual role as Hoover’s domineering mother, with whom he lived until she died. Theirs was a peculiar relationship, to say the least.
Polished, pacy and involving, J. Edgar is available to rent on Blu-ray and DVD, in store and online, exclusively from blockbuster.co.uk.
Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close
The strange but touching tale of an odd boy’s unusual quest to reconnect with his late, lamented father, this is a tender, inspirational, 9/11-themed drama. After establishing how sweet, fun, smart and nurturing Thomas Schell (Tom Hanks) is to his young son Oskar (Thomas Horn), the movie promptly kills him off, with nothing left of him but a bunch of increasingly traumatic phone messages left from the tumbling World Trade Centre.
A thoughtful, smart and sensitive lad with borderline Asperger’s, Oskar is annoying, but in an extremely winning way, and plagued by a variety of irrational fears, of subways, bridges… Pretty much everything really, except for saying exactly what’s on his mind, both loudly and endlessly.
Desperate to keep the memory of his father from slipping away, after poking around in his dad’s belongings and unearthing a mysterious key in an envelope marked ‘Black’, Oskar embarks on a mission to discover what it unlocks, enlisting the level-headed help of an elderly mute (the incredibly awesome Max Von Sydow) who lodges with his gran. Oh yes, and Sandra Bullock’s in the movie too, as Oskar’s mum, who is equally devastated by her husband’s passing and additionally miserable because her son doesn’t seem to want to have anything to do with her.
Although this latest film from Billy Elliot director Stephen Daldry is manipulative to the nth degree, with a fair bit of flag-waving on top, I loved it. Involving and intriguing with a surprising but very welcome sense of humour, it’s a winning tearjerker you won’t want to miss. Rent it now on Blu-ray and DVD, in store and online, exclusively from blockbuster.co.uk.
Strap on your thinking caps for this brilliant biographical drama that explores the birth of psychoanalysis via the intense relationship that develops between head-shrinking brainiacs Carl Jung (Michael Fassbender) and Sigmund Freud (Viggo Mortensen). Director by David Cronenberg from a screenplay by Christopher Hampton, it’s weighty, earnest stuff, spiced up with lashings of sadomasochistic sex, between Jung and Sabina Spielrein (Keira Knightley), a bunny-boiling mentalist who discovers her own flair for head-shrinking. A fascinating, challenging drama, offering spicy food for thought, A Dangerous Method is available now to rent on Blu-ray and DVD, in store and online, exclusively from blockbuster.co.uk.
Adam Sandler takes duel roles as down-to-earth family guy Jack, and his own disruptive twin sister Jill, in this outrageous slapstick comedy from director Dennis Dugan. A funny, fart-fuelled, family film co-starring Katie Holmes and, playing a hilariously distorted version of himself, Al Pacino, Jack and Jill is available now to rent on Blu-ray and DVD, in store and online, exclusively from blockbuster.co.uk.
Finally this week, from Shark Tale director Bibo Bergeron comes an amusing, stylish fantasy, the animated tale of a charismatic creature at liberty in the City of Love some hundred years ago, misunderstood, mercilessly pursued and in dire need of a friend or two. A magical, mellifluous treat for all the family, A Monster in Paris is available now to buy or rent on Blu-ray and DVD, in store and online from blockbuster.co.uk.
