Pick Of The Week: New
I Wish
In 2004, Japanese director Hirokazu Kore-eda made the devastating Nobody Knows, a fact-based docudrama about a 12-year-old who looks after his younger siblings when their mother abruptly abandons them. Kore-eda’s I Wish isn’t nearly so bleak, but it affirms his talent for getting naturalistic performances out of small children. The title refers to the hoped-for volcano eruption that would reunite a grade-school-age boy with his brother after years of separation following their parents’ divorce. The A.V. Club’s Noel Murray found it “full of life, heart, and funny little details about daily existence, as it meanders its way toward moments of real profundity.” (No special features.)
Pick Of The Week: Retro
They Live (Shout! Factory)
Jaws aside, this is the week that Blu-ray justifies itself as a format. As part of its invaluable “Scream Factory” series—previous releases include Halloween II and III, and The Funhouse—John Carpenter’s politically charged cult favorite They Live finally gets the deluxe treatment it richly deserves. A howl of protest at the end of the Reagan ’80s, with plenty of relevant haves-and-have-nots themes for the Occupy set, Carpenter’s clever mix of action and science fiction stars “Rowdy” Roddy Piper as a mullet-headed laborer who leads the resistance against a hidden alien race that controls the populace through subliminal messages. The DVD/BD includes a Carpenter/Piper commentary track, interviews with Carpenter and actors Keith David and Meg Foster, and a documentary about the film’s technical aspects.
Do Not Break The Seal
Entourage: The Complete Series (HBO)
The first season of HBO’s Entourage was a minor pleasure, following the low-stakes adventures of a bunch of pals who follow their actor friend to Hollywood. The guys got in and out of trouble, Jeremy Piven stole scenes as the agent, and the whole thing was palatable in half-hour nuggets. Then as Entourage kept going and going and going, with nothing ever changing except the increasing noxiousness of the characters and the howling vapidity of their lives. But for the low, low retail price of $300—deeply discounted to $140 on some sites—all eight seasons can be masochistically yours.