Saturday Night Movie Recommendations with Abe

Welcome to a weekly feature here at Movies With Abe. I'm going to be providing a handy guide to a few choice movies currently playing in NYC as well as several films newly released on DVD. I’ll also aim to comment on those films I have not yet had the chance to see, and I invite you to add in your thoughts on any films I haven’t seen in the comments below. Understandably, some weeks will have considerably fewer releases to address than others.

Now Playing in NYC

I’m too busy catching up on spillover from last year, and I’m not going to have the chance to see the newly released Bullhead, Belgium’s nominee for Best Foreign Film, or Best Documentary nominee Undefeated, before the Oscars.


New to DVD

Take Shelter (highly recommended): This dramatic thriller – my #7 film of 2011 – and my features a spectacular lead performance from Michael Shannon as a man warring with his own sanity as he hallucinates visions of terrible storms. Both the script and the visual representations of his imagination are equally strong, and the film is unsettling, highly stressful, and extremely effective.

Catching up for the Oscars next week? See these Oscar nominees available on DVD:
Anonymous
Beginners
Bridesmaids
Drive
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2
Hell and Back Again
The Help
The Ides of March
If a Tree Falls
Jane Eyre
Kung Fu Panda 2
Moneyball
Midnight in Paris
Rango
Real Steel
Rio
Rise of the Planet of the Apes
Transformers: Dark of the Moon
The Tree of Life
Warrior

Now on Netflix Instant Streaming

The Bang Bang Club (mixed bag): This Tribeca 2011 entry isn’t as strong as last year’s “5 Days of War,” but it does present a thought-provoking examination of the responsibilities and ethics of war photography.