Here come the latest cinematic offerings on DVD. Speaking of DVD, have you ever heard of the “6 Degrees of Jesus” game on Wikipedia (Luke introduced it to me)? It’s where you attempt to get to the article on Jesus from another article in six or less clicks. Starting with the entry for DVD, I went to Star Trek: The Original Series –> Star Trek V: The Final Frontier –> God –> Bible –> Jesus. 5 clicks, however, is not that impressive. Major props in the comments section to anyone who can do it in 4 or less. The gauntlet has been thrown down!
Also, if you’re new to the MovieZeal, I rank these in order of interest, with ‘interest’ being defined as whatever my fickle little brain is into at the moment.
Batman - Gotham Knight
Ok, so I’m cheating a bit with this one. Not only is it not a theatrical release, it’s direct-to-video and animated to boot. However, seeing as I’m in full-on OCD Dark Knight mode and being forced to wait 2 weeks until it actually hits theaters (oh please oh please let there be a press screening I can go to), and seeing as this 6-part anime inspired tale of Bruce Wayne’s rise to the cowl was written by David Goyer (Batman Begins) and Josh Olson (A History of Violence) among others, I think I can be forgiven my lapse in propriety. This looks wicked cool and will provide a nice diversion until July 18th.
Recommended if you, like me, have been carving little Batman symbols in your arm to pass the time.
The Tracy Fragments
A fractured tale of a young girl finding herself, this Canadian film stars Ellen Page, who you might have seen in a little independent film last year called Juno. It employs a how-many-frames-can-we-get-on-the-screen-at-once aesthetic, revealing multiple angles of the same scene at the same time. It could be a revelation or it could be gimmick-overload. Regardless, I’m there for anything and everything that contains Ellen Page (except X-Men 3…shame on you, Ellen, shame on you).
Recommended if Juno meets 24 sounds interesting to you, and while that may be an accurate description (at least superficially), I’m also sure it’s completely misleading.
Chop Shop - 
I profess a detached, clinical admiration for this film. A cinéma vérité exploration of two orphaned siblings struggling to make ends meet amidst the grungy body shops of back alley Queens, the film is beautiful in its own, minimalist way. Although I was moved at times, and although director Ramin Bahrani is unquestionably talented, I have little to no desire ever to visit it again. An impressive work, but one that failed to leave a distinct impression.
Recommended if you liked Man Push Cart or 4 Months, 3 Weeks, and 2 Days
The Ruins - 
Even though Luke nailed this one to the wall with all the extreme prejudice of Dogg the Bounty Hunter on crack, I would still rather watch it than Stop-Loss. I’m not sure if that says more about me or…yeah, I’ll just be honest, it says more about me. So, there’s this ancient primordial evil that these kids find in a South American jungle and…get this, it hunts them down! Pretty original, no? Apparently there are some pretty nasty bits and also some unintentionally humorous ones. Hopefully for the movie’s sake the two don’t overlap too often.
Recommended if you liked Anaconda, Primeval, or Touristas.
Hit the jump for the rest of this weeks selection.
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