Relocating aliens and redirecting attitudes
It’s as if someone had been listening when “Monsters vs. Aliens’’ smartly quipped that “once again, a UFO has landed in America - the only country UFOs ever seem to land in.’’ Next thing you know, rookie South African director Neill Blomkamp and producer Peter Jackson are offloading stranded extraterrestrials in Johannesburg in the surprise-hit apartheid allegory “District 9’’ (2009). Newcomer Sharlto Copley plays Wikus Van De Merwe, a government wonk helping to forcibly relocate the aliens - disparagingly dubbed “prawns’’ - from their sprawling shantytown to a new camp out of sight and out of mind. When Wikus is hit with a dose of metamorphic alien DNA, his perspective quickly changes, as does the film’s, from faux documentary to gritty urban-skirmish video. The genre elements are especially intense - a jarring throwback to the gonzo gore of early Jackson fare like “Dead-Alive,’’ with a dash of Cronenberg’s “The Fly’’ to really churn the stomach. Extras: Jackson understandably led the film’s theatrical promo blitz, but Blomkamp finally gets a chance to be heard at length in commentary. While the filmmaker grew up during apartheid, he’s clearly more about pyrotechnics than politics, as the movie’s straightforward subtext attests. Still, he makes a provocative point about Wikus’s redemption: Maybe, Blomkamp suggests, the character simply grows “this more insect-alien-like fractal brain, and he’s actually just looking out for his own because that’s what . . . genetics are dictating.’’ Featurettes recap how the project grew out of Jackson and Blomkamp’s failed bid to adapt “Halo.’’ (
DOCUMENTARY
IT MIGHT GET LOUD (2009)
Guitar connoisseurs and “Guitar Hero’’ pretenders alike will dig seeing Jimmy Page, the Edge, and Jack White gather to talk shop, jam, and reminisce in the new event doc from director Davis Guggenheim (“An Inconvenient Truth’’). Regardless of your reference point, you’ll chuckle at the black-and-white clip of then-schoolboy “James’’ Page telling a local TV host about his biological research aspirations, or the Edge’s good-natured willingness to reveal what “Elevation’’ really sounds like stripped of all his whammy-pedal effects. (
COMEDY
EXTRACT (2009)
What is it about Mike Judge and live action that never quite clicks? Judge’s “Office Space’’ had to wait until it hit cable to find the fan base it rightly deserved, and his goofy, underrated “Idiocracy’’ didn’t even get a theatrical release. His latest directing effort casts Jason Bateman as the chronically non-confrontational, sexually frustrated owner of a flavor extract plant - and proves to be the first time Judge has genuinely disappointed. Ben Affleck grabs the most laughs as a shaggy bartender/bad advice guru who leads Bateman down the path to near ruin. (Miramax, $29.99; Blu-ray, $39.99)
MYSTERY
SHERLOCK HOLMES DOUBLE FEATURES (1942-45)
With Robert Downey Jr.’s Sherlock X-treme on the case this week, Basil Rathbone’s adventures are coming out of the vault. “The House of Fear’’ and “The Pearl of Death’’ are paired on one disc, with “The Spider Woman’’ and “The Voice of Terror’’ on another. A&E remembers Peter Cushing’s interpretation in “The Sherlock Holmes Collection,’’ showcasing the ’60s BBC adaptation. What can we expect from the new movie’s director, Guy Ritchie? Take a look back at his “Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels’’ and “Snatch,’’ both newly available on Blu-ray. (“Double Features,’’ MPI Home Video, $19.98; available now)
(500) DAYS OF SUMMER (2009)
Bounce around with the chronologically jumbled account of greeting card writer Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s relationship with hip chick Zooey Deschanel (and don’t be embarrassed if the retro Hall & Oates soundtrack gets you bouncing a little, too). Extras: commentary by Gordon-Levitt, director Marc Webb, and the writers; deleted scenes. (Fox, $29.98; Blu-ray, $39.99)
BLIND DATE (2009)
Stanley Tucci directs an adaptation of Theo van Gogh’s import about grieving parents (Tucci and Patricia Clarkson) engaging in elaborate role-playing scenarios to express all the things they can’t find a way to say to each other anymore. Extras: commentary by Tucci and Clarkson. (E1 Entertainment, $26.98)
BEYOND A REASONABLE DOUBT (2009)
Reporter Jesse Metcalfe (“Desperate Housewives’’) incriminates himself for murder in a bid to expose DA Michael Douglas’s corruption in a generic update of the ’50s noir entry. With Amber Tamblyn. Extras: commentary by Metcalfe and director Peter Hyams. (Anchor Bay, $29.98; Blu-ray, $34.98)
ALL ABOUT STEVE (2009)
It’s been a big year for Sandra Bullock, and for Bradley Cooper (“The Hangover’’), too -just not when they got together for this painful comedy, in which she plays a grating wack job stalking his generic studly guy. Extras: cast and crew commentary and general foolishness. (Fox, $29.98; Blu-ray, $39.99)
TAXI: THE FINAL SEASON (1982-83)
As far as ABC was concerned, ’81-’82 was actually the show’s final season, but NBC decided to pick up a few more fares, helping to net Emmys for Judd Hirsch, Christopher Lloyd, and Carol Kane. (Paramount, $42.99)
Titles are in stores Tuesday unless specified.
