Couch Time with Sheldon

Welcome to COUCH TIME WITH SHELDON, a brand new feature on Black Sheep Reviews. Well, it's mostly brand new. Essentially, this feature will replace BLU-TUESDAY. Rather than simply focus on the releases of the day, Black Sheep will take a look at a handful of titles each week, ranging from brand new releases to catalog titles, based on what Sheldon has actually watched recently. In case you don't know it, Sheldon is that little sheep you see everywhere on the site. He would also be my alter-ego I guess but that's not something I'm ready to deal with just yet.

We will continue to highlight what has come out on DVD and Blu-ray each week, as well as continue to look at what has been announced but the focus will be more on what Sheldon has seen rather than what he intends to.

Speaking of announcements, check these out ... Warner Bros. brings out two 1970's classics, ALL THE PRESIDENT'S MEN and NETWORK on February 15, 2011. Alliance will release the George Clooney film, THE AMERICAN, on December 28th of this year. 20th Century Fox has THE A-TEAM cashing in on the holidays on December 14th and the indie comedy, CYRUS (click for review) hits the week before. And here's the exciting news ... Disney will be releasing their superhero hit, THE INCREDIBLES, in the spring of 2011.

And now, I invite you to spend a little couch time with Sheldon ... Here's what everybody's favorite sheep saw in the last little bit.

FROZEN

I love indie films like this one, that get picked up (in this case by Anchor Bay Films) and manage to find an audience they would never have found, and actually deserve it. Horror director, Adam Green, has created a truly horrifying experience with FROZEN. Three college-aged skiers decide that they need to get one last run in before the end of their day. There is a lesson to be learned about being greedy though because the chair lift stops on their way up and before it gets going again, all the lights go out and everyone else goes home. There are no scary monsters or psycho killers with hooks for hands here. No, the only enemy here is nature itself and that level of reality is what had me freaking out for about a good hour straight. If you're looking for something offbeat to both scare and impress your Halloween guests, check out FROZEN. Be warned though, you might not go skiing for a little while afterward.

PLEASE GIVE

Don't let this atrocious cover art fool you. PLEASE GIVE is an excellent indie comedy that Sony Pictures is now just trying to push to as wide an audience as possible by capitalizing on the film's stars. This Nicole Holofcener film features Catherine Keener and Oliver Platt as a married New York City couple who run a trendy Soho furniture store. Keener's character has some issues with how they run their show though, as the majority of their pieces come from the misfortune of others. They buy pieces from people who have recently passed away and then resell them for exorbitant prices. They are also waiting for the elderly lady next door to pass away so they can take over her place and expand on their own. This fascinating exploration of white upper-class guilt is refreshingly honest and surprisingly funny. With the cast rounded out by Amanda Peet and Rebecca Hall, you can't go wrong.

LES AMOURS IMAGINAIRES (HEARTBEATS)

There has been a lot of talk recently on Black Sheep for Xavier Dolan's second feature, LES AMOURS IMAGINAIRES. After having the chance to interview him at TIFF (click here for interview), I feel like I have an all new approach to his work. Just from sitting across from him for 20 minutes, you can tell that Dolan is an insightful person who feels a great deal. Those personality traits are abundant in LES AMOURS IMAGINAIRES, now available to rent or own on DVD only from Alliance Films (with English subtitles). Fans of the French new wave and Wong Kar-Wai will love Dolan's latest work. Two great friends, Marie and Francis (Monia Chokri and Dolan) both fall for the same guy (Niels Schneider) and Dolan the director explores the highs and lows of falling in love, or more specifically, of falling in love with the idea of being in love. The results are honest, enlightening and will be understood by anyone who has ever chased after someone without really knowing why. (Click title in body for original review.)

Thank you for checking out the first COUCH TIME WITH SHELDON feature. The feature will run regularly on Tuesday's from here on in. In the meantime, here is a list of other titles available this week to rent or own ...

BACK TO THE FUTURE TRILOGY (Blu-ray)

ALIEN ANTHOLOGY (Blu-ray)

SEX AND THE CITY 2

(click title for review)

THE GIRL WHO PLAYED WITH FIRE

(click title for review)

WINTER'S BONE

(click title for review)

Source: blu-ray.com