YEAR IN REVIEW
Weekend
($35.99 BluRay, $29.99 DVD, Criterion Collection)
British writer-director Andrew Haigh’s artful drama charts the unexpected and profound connection forged between a pair of shaggy gay lads over the course of 48 hours. Sequel, please!
The Avengers
($49.99 3D Blu-Ray, $39.99 Blu-Ray, $29.99 DVD; Walt Disney Video)
Marvel’s master plan to bring its A-team superheroes to the screen finally came together in this action packed 3-D hit from nerd deity Joss Whedon. It stands up to repeat viewings, especially the climactic alien-invasion finale.
Leave It on the Floor
($24.95 DVD, Wolfe)
Set in the world of L.A. drag balls, this electrifying musical got a boost of star power from Beyonce composer Kim Burse and choreographer Frank Gatson Jr. Though not seen much beyond the festival circuit, it is required viewing on DVD.
BearCity 2
($29.99 Blu-ray, $24.99 DVD; Sharp Left Productions)
The sequel to the 2010 bear rom-com brings more belly laughs, romance and flying fur as the pack heads to Provincetown for a big gay wedding.
Gayby
($24.95 DVD, Wolfe)
The tale of a thirtysomething gay and his best female friend trying to make a baby together could have been cliche, but rising-star writer/director Jonathan Liseckis imbued it a modern sensibility, memorable characters and razor-sharp humor.
Hugo
($54.99 3D Blu-ray, $44.99 Blu-ray, $29.99 DVD,; Paramount Studios)
Martin Scorsese’s love letter to French film pioneer George Melies set a new bar for 3D. Magical and moving.
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
($40.99 Blu-ray, $30.99 DVD, Sony Pictures)
Peter Fincher’s films always look great on DVD and Blu-Ray, and his take on Stieg Larsson’s international best-seller is no different. Daniel Craig burns up the screen as an investigative journalist digging into a murder, and Rooney Mara is Oscar-caliber as the mysterious, haunted and driven Lisbeth Salandar.
We Were Here
($29.99 DVD, New Video)
The Cockettes directors David Wiessman and Bill Weber take a must-see looks back at AIDS’ arrival and the epidemic’s profound impact on San Francisco’s LGBT community.
Drive
($30.99 Blu-Ray, $26.99 DVD, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment)
An homage to 1980s Michael Mann films—complete with neon fuschia titles and Giorgio Moroder-inspired synthpop realness,—Drive may be short on actual car chases but is still a full-throttle hit.
http://youtu.be/gWnLjMHBOG0
Tiny Furniture
($39.95 Blu-ray, $29.95 DVD, The Criterion Collection)
Revisit Lena Dunham’s pre-Girls breakthrough, as she plays Aura, a flaky, self-entitled college graduate who moves back in with her artist mom and insufferable younger sister.
The Last Days of Disco
($39.95 Blu-ray, Criterion Collection)
Pair this Criterion release of Whit Stillman’s end-of-an-era comedy with his latest film, Damsels in Distress, for a hysterical night of underminers, whimsy and romance.
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boring
Criterion discs are always 100% on point.
I wouldn’t say that the Drive disc was one of the best this year – it was a bit too light on the bonus features (I heard Criterion’s going to get their hands on it at a later date, but that just might be a rumor), but goddamn if it wasn’t my favorite movie of last year.
Lefty
Weekend was the best of the lot, for me (I don’t want a sequel, though, as the ending was perfect and one of the reasons it was both so poignant and also lingered forever in the memory. No, PLEASE, no sequel).
We Were Here was the most moving and inspirational.
The Avengers was the most entertaining, by far.
Drive I adored on first viewing, then I watched it another four times in the next two weeks and eventually couldn’t shake the suspicion that beyond looking great and having a beautiful kind of melancholy throughout, it was pretty empty and really amounted to nothing much at all, sadly.