The DVD/Blu-ray picks for the third weekend of June don’t get too deep, but there’s plenty to rent at Redbox, Netflix and OnDemand. Betty White, the Farrelly brothers, Owen Wilson, Jason Sudeikis, Amanda Seyfried, Gary Oldman, Virginia Madsen, Martin Lawrence, Johnny Knoxville, Donald Sutherland and Dave Grohl are coming home!
The movies currently ruling the DVD rental battle are recent releases True Grit, Just Go With It, Drive Angry 3D, I Am Number Four, No Strings Attached, Gnomeo & Juliet, The Dilemma, The Mechanic, The Green Hornet and Little Fockers.
A new slate of DVD/Blu-ray June 14, 2011 releases hopes to shake up this top 10 list. Here are highlights for the weekend of June 17:
Red Riding Hood: Amanda Seyfried is a brooding teen caught between two hunks in this horror revamp of the classic tale. She’s in love with woodcutter Peter (Shiloh Fernandez), but promised by her parents (Billy Burke, Virginia Madsen) to the blacksmith’s son Henry (Max Irons). Things become more complicated when she realizes one of her guys is a werewolf. With Twilight director Catherine Hardwicke at the helm, the film is visually stunning with lots of soapy love triangles and red herrings. It’s gotten raves for imagery, but not story.
Hall Pass: The Farrelly brothers take on marriage in this comedy about two couples that get a week-long free pass from their vows to have affairs and just go wild. Best pals Rick (Owen Wilson) and Fred (Jason Sudeikis) wild out with the guys, while the missus, Maggie (Jenna Fischer) and Grace (Christina Applegate), go for their own adventure. Stephen Merchant, J.B. Smoove, Larry Joe Campbell and Tyler Hoechlin also star.
Battle: Los Angeles: After Earth is attacked by unknown forces; the land of sunshine and bikinis becomes ground zero for mankind’s last stand against an alien invasion. Jonathan Liebesman’s uber-high action, sci-fi war film stars Aaron Eckhart, Michelle Rodriguez, Michael Peña, Ne-Yo, Ramon Rodriguez and Bridget Moynahan.
Big Mommas: Like Father, Like Son: In his second follow-up to 2000’s Big Momma’s House, Martin Lawrence is back as FBI Agent Malcolm Turner and this time, his rapping stepson Trent (Brandon T. Jackson) is along for the ride. After Trent witnesses a murder, the guys go undercover at an all-girls performing arts school, which means solving a crime — and perhaps falling in love — in drag.
Jackass 3.5: The Unrated Movie: In this straight to video follow-up to Jackass 3D, Johnny Knoxville and his crew pull off more stunts, gags and fart jokes involving an alligator-snapping turtle, a dildo rocket, enemas, fat suits and various hits to the face, head and genitalia.
The Con Artist: A notorious car thief (Rossif Sutherland) is paroled from prison and becomes a passionate artist. His sculptures manage to catch the eye of sophisticated art dealer Belinda (Rebecca Romijn). Unfortunately, his former handler (Donald Sutherland) will do anything to see him back in the game.
Foo Fighters: Back and Forth: The Foo Fighters rockumentary tracks the band’s 16-year history, starting with Nirvana and Kurt Cobain’s suicide in the ’90s and featuring Nirvana drummer turned Foo frontman Dave Grohl.
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Ultimate Edition): the rerelease includes over one hour of never-before-seen bonus content.
Fabulous Betty White Collection: This four-DVD set is a 40-episode collection of black and white Betty White classics.
Other releases this week include the Irish-American gangster drama Kill the Irishman (Ray Stevenson, Val Kilmer, Christopher Walken); director Nicolas Roeg’s 1985 drama Insignificance, about four characters reminiscent of Albert Einstein, Joe DiMaggio, Marilyn Monroe and Joseph McCarthy (Gary Busey, Tony Curtis, Michael Emil, Theresa Russell); Shot in the Dark, the HBO documentary about Adrian Grenier’s (Entourage) search for his biological father and When They Were Young, a look back at the high school and youth basketball days of NBA greats.
TV series hitting the market include Supernatural: The Complete Second Season (Jared Padalecki, Jensen Ackles); the Stephen King inspired supernatural TV series Haven (Eric Balfour, Lucas Bryant, Nicholas Campbell); The Glades: Season One (Matt Passmore); Tyler Perry’s House of Payne, Vol. 8; Yo Gabba Gabba!: Circus; and The Best of the Dean Martin Variety Show: Collector’s Edition.
Not Renting? What’s in theaters this weekend:
Green Lantern movie review
Blake Lively: Green Lantern’s heroine dishes
Mr. Popper’s Penguins movie review
Jim Carrey chats Penguins and more
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