Jason Flemyng

CHICAGO – We’re back with another DVD Round-up of recently released titles that may catch your attention when you’re browsing the DVD store this week. (Do they still have DVD stores?) This time, read this entire piece aloud in a British accent.

CHICAGO – In many ways, “X-Men: First Class” is the most loyal film yet to the Marvel aesthetic in the way director Matthew Vaughn and the film’s multiple screenwriters capture the tone, spirit, and themes of one of the most legendary comic books of all time. It is a spectacular mix of great performances, well-choreographed action, and cleverly-revised history. It is crowd-pleasing to action fans and yet intellectually complex at the same time. It is what more producers of superhero movies should strive to accomplish and it deserves mention with the best of the genre (“Spider-Man 2,” “X-Men,” and even “The Dark Knight”).

CHICAGO – With a half dozen superhero movies every year that feel as if they were created by a Hollywood blockbuster machine, it’s so refreshing to see one with its own distinct, subversive personality like Matthew Vaughn’s “Kick-Ass”.

CHICAGO – The unjustified remake of the ’80s camp-fest “Clash of the Titans” may have been re-purposed for the trend of 3-D but its performances are still tragically 2-D and its plot practically see-through.

CHICAGO – “The Hunger” is one of the more unusual entries in the history of the TV anthology series, a personal favorite sub-genre of this writer raised on “The Twilight Zone,” “The Outer Limits,” “Tales From the Crypt,” and “Amazing Stories”. It has amazing star power, a loose relation to a great ’80s horror movie, and enough thrills to entertain, but has been largely forgotten by TV history.

CHICAGO – BBC America’s “Primeval” is a wonderful slice of B-movie thrills on the small screen, a great piece of escapism on Saturday nights that is yet another jewel in the crown of this fantastic cable network.

CHICAGO – Paramount/Criterion made a huge announcement today, revealing that David Fincher’s Oscar-winning “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” will be inducted into The Criterion Collection in its debut on DVD and Blu-Ray on May 5th, 2009. The Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett drama will arrive in a two-disc special edition DVD and two-disc Blu-Ray with over three hours of special features.

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Brad Pitt stars as Benjamin Button in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button Photo Credit: Digital Domain

CHICAGO – This 27-image slideshow contains official press images for Paramount’s “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” which stars Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett, Tilda Swinton, Jared Harris, Elle Fanning, Jason Flemyng, Julia Ormond, and Taraji P. Henson from writer Eric Roth and director David Fincher. The film opens on Dec. 25, 2008.