This week in new releases
We all like the word 'new,' adds a promotional sheen to stand your product out from the rest. But where can you identify all the new media to cross your path? Sure there's 'new game releases' and 'new film releases' pieces; but where's the convergence? That's where we come into it, introducing This week in new releases.
The Inbetweeners Movie (DVD, Blu-Ray) Out 12 December
Though it went on to gross £13.22 million over its opening weekend (the biggest for a UK comedy ever, and besting that seen by The Hangover: Part 2), the success of the very-British, coming-of-age E4 sitcom was far from a dead-cert. Amazingly, it became the second-highest grossing film of 2011 behind Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part II and in front of Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides and Transformers: Dark Of The Moon. Not bad for a comedy driven by knob gags and the awkwardness of teenage life following briefcase mong Will, lady's man Jay, infatuated-in-love Simon and loveable moron Neil. The movie sees all four jet-set to the beaches of Malia, home to “sun, sea, sand, booze and sex”. It might not hit all the comedic marks of the series, but it's a decent send-off for the boys.
Rise of the Planet of the Apes (DVD, Blu-Ray) Out 12 December
As an origin story to the Planet of the Apes mythology, Rise of the Planet of the Apes is not only a fulfilling prequel to the main event, but with it's central relationship between James Franco's genetic scientist and primate, Caesar, it's also one of the most touching and genuinely emotional blockbusters we've seen in some time. Without question, there are a fair few niggling discrepancies to the high quality set by Weta Digital's superb visual effects and the excellent central performances – GenSys boss (played by David Oyelowo) is an over-the-top 'boo-hiss' villain, while numerous homages to POTA past stick out like a sore thumb.
Still, the Blu Ray is well worth buying for the final Golden Gate Bridge stand-off alone, a thrilling battle between defiant apes and human soldiers, their evolutionary-advanced counter-parts.
Puss In Boots 3D (In Cinemas Now)
How much you can tolerate the shenanigans of Shrek will likely go some way towards measuring your feelings toward Puss In Boots 3D. A spin-off prequel to Shrek, Puss In Boots' solo 3D outing tells the story of Antonio Banderas' Puss before he stumbled upon the loveable green ogre and Donkey in 2005's Shrek 2. Puss is on a mission to clear his name as a wanted fugitive and, helped along by ex-friend-turned-enemy-turned-accomplice Humpty Dumpty (voiced by Zach Galifianakis), is on a quest to steal three magic beans from 'master criminals' Jack and Jill. As the tag-line goes, this is 'an adventure nine life-times in the making'.
