Home Theatre Tuesday (Feb. 21)

Each week, we bring you a quick run-down of what's out on DVD so you don't miss the hits and you can skip the misses.

Don't rent: J. Edgar

For a film about a man that tightly controlled his message, J. Edgar doesn’t really know what it’s trying to say.

Clint Eastwood’s latest directorial effort has us travelling back and forth through the life of J. Edgar Hoover (Leonardo DiCaprio), the controversial and mysterious former director of the FBI. The film spans 50 years, following his rise from a twenty-something Justice Department employee obsessed with Bolsheviks and bomb-loving radicals to his fastidious creation and dictatorship of the Bureau.

Read the rest of Jelena's review.

Don't even rent: Tower Heist

Despite an all-star cast of Eddie Murphy, Ben Stiller, Matthew Broderick, Casey Affleck, Alan Alda, Téa Leoni, Michael Peña and Gabourey Sidibe, this "comedy" (if you can call it that) completely failed to deliver. It came with way too much hype that it couldn't live up to, flaunting its big names and promising to be hilarious. (Sound familiar? Cough--Rush Hour 3--cough. Sorry, Ratner.)

The Fille Files (October 29 - November 4)

Each week, the Filles bring you some of our favourite films finds of the week—news, reviews, features, interviews, tweets, new releases, etc.—just in case you missed them.

REEL GREAT READS

• Friday the 13th: A Retrospective (IGN) - It's probably evident that we're big Halloween fans. But we also love Friday the 13th. IGN reminds of why the slasher series was (and still is) so great, with ratings, gore level and body counts.
• Gonzo gone wrong: Why heroic drinking doesn't make for heroic characters (The Grid TO) - Despite Hunter S. Thompson's adoration, Jason Anderson explains why characters in films of his semi-autobiographical works don't yield the same response.
• Scores that Scare: The 8 Most Frightening Movie Soundtracks (Video Word Made Flesh) - The impact of sound in horror cannot be understated. Here's a list of some of the films that did it best.
• Here's how to get a walk on role in Joss Whedon's next movie (The Mary Sue) - The geek lord (creator of Buffy, Angel, Firefly and the new Avengers movie) is offering up a guest spot in his movie, In Your Eyes, to the highest bidder on eBay. WHY DON'T WE HAVE MONEY?!
• I gave 'A Very Harold and Kumar 3D Christmas' an A. And yes, the movie deserves it! But no, that doesn't mean it's 'The Hurt Locker' or 'Citizen Kane' (EW) - This is why we love Owen Gleiberman. He's not afraid to rate his films on actual enjoyment as well as quality. This quote alone pretty much sums up our feelings about film too: "If we can't ever say that our lowbrow popcorn really does taste great, truly great - maybe, in some cases, as great as awards season haute cuisine - then we're just being dishonest about what draws us to movies in the first place."

WEEKEND WATCHES

• Surviving Progress - A doc comparing our obsession with progress to the defeat of civilizations past, featuring the perspectives of Stephen Hawking, Jane Goodall, David Suzuki and Margaret Atwood, among others.
• Tower Heist - The movie proclaiming that the old Eddie Murphy is back, alongside Ben Stiller, Matthew Broderick, Téa Leoni, Casey Affleck and Gabourey Sidibe.
• A Very Harold and Kumar 3D Christmas - Doesn't it just  look like a perpetually fried festive miracle?

TRAILER OF THE WEEK: American Reunion

Stifler's mom and Jim's dad? Okay, now you've sold us.