Buying movies is almost a dangerous obession with me. I love it, and probably have spent more money on movies in my lifetime than any sane person. At least I’m not spending money on heroine. New Movie Tuesday is my favorite day of the week. Here are this week’s releases as well as my recommendations. Being the film snob I am, I will recommend the Blu Ray versions of these flicks if available.

BUY IT

Splice

If you’re a fan of creature flicks and original stories, Splice is a must-own.  Directed by Vincenzo Natali (Cube), movies like Splice don’t come around too often.  I still haven’t seen it, but this is a total blind buy for me based on the creature design, the actors, the director and what I’ve heard of the score.  The only special feature listed is A Director’s Playground: Vicenzo Natali on the Set of Splice and I’m hoping there’s some great stuff on there.  Either way, I’m excited to own this and am happy to support Vincenzo Natali as a filmmaker.

RENT IT

A Nightmare on Elm Street

I have never seen more “geek hate” directed at anyone more than Michael Bay and Platinum Dunes.  I guess that’s to be expected when you’re tasked with re-making horror classics such as Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Friday the 13th, and now A Nightmare on Elm Street.  The weekend this newest remake was in theaters, my Twitter feed was full of venom from fans of the original.  However, there were a handful of un-biased people that did enjoy the film.  I’d recommend a rent if you haven’t seen it and are curious, and I look forward to at least seeing Jackie Earl Haley as Freddy Krueger.

Human Centipede

“100% Medically Accurate” is a stretch.  Clever marketing, though.  The set-up of Human Centipede is far more interesting to some people compared to the actual execution of the narrative.  However, enough people have recommended this to me soley on the performance of Dieter Laser (yes, that’s the actor’s actual name).  I’m expecting this to be a “one-timer” but am looking forward to seeing this.

The Karate Kid

They should have called this The Kung Fu Kid, since Karate is not featured or discussed in this film at all.  But, us Americans don’t know the difference, right? And how else would we know this is a remake of one of my favorite 80s films of all time? All that bias aside, I’m told that this is a solid film.  I’m going to watch this and pretend it’s called The Kung Fu Kid and leave all my love of the original film at the door. 

Holy Rollers

Jesse Eisenburg stars in a crime-drama about drug trafficking rabbi’s.  Enough said.

Oxford Murders

Reading the plot synopsis, Oxford Murders seems like a generic murder mystery:

A woman is murdered in Oxford. Her body is discovered by two men, Arthur Seldom (John Hurt), a prestigious professor of logic, and Martin (Elijah Wood), a young graduate student who has just arrived at the university hoping to study with Seldom. It quickly becomes clear that this is the fi rst in a series of murders, all of which are announced by the murderer with strange mathematical symbols. Professor and student join forces to try and crack the code, and thus begins an elaborate puzzle, in which nothing is as it seems and the truth is elusive.

But I’ll give Elijah Wood and John Hurt a chance on this one.

SKIP IT

30  Days of Night: Dark Days

This played at FantasticFest 2010 and I haven’t heard anyone talking about it.  So, I’m assuming that means it’s not horrible, but that also means it’s not too memorable.  Judging by the trailer, they’ve given this the Aliens plot treatment.  A handful of well-armed mercenaries must go into vampire territory and kill the “queen” or whatever.  I wasn’t a huge fan of the original, and I’m ignoring this direct-to-video sequel.

NEW TV ON DVD/BLU-RAY

Caprica Season 1.0
SGU: Stargate Universe Season 1

NEW TO BLU-RAY/DVD

Beauty and the Beast
Grindhouse
The Exorcist
Slumber Party Massacre Collection
The Evil/Twice Dead
Mad Max
Last of the Mohicans
Maltese Falcon
The Mission
High Tension
Hard Candy
Bad Lieutenant
Robocop Trilogy
Secretary
Troll 2
Delgo
The Blair Witch Project
Open Water/Open Water 2