New on video | 'The Avengers,' 'Delicacy,' 'Damsels in Distress,' 'She ...

?Marvel?s The Avengers?

What is it? Marvel Enterprises? comic-book movie ?The Avengers? has been executed with all the reverence the superfans demand. The performances are so well-pitched that it?s tempting to overpraise the good but not great movie that surrounds them. Director Joss Whedon seems to have tamped down his instincts to play up irony and camp. Instead, he focuses on simply making the characters legible and the story easy to follow. Whedon has positioned ?The Avengers? exactly where it needs to be to keep spinning out in perpetuity. Bidding goodbye to at least one beloved character and saying hello to another in a tantalizing closing-credits hint, he leaves us wanting more ? which, for now at least, is undoubtedly the right play. Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of sci-fi violence and action throughout and a mild drug reference Time: 2 hrs., 23 min. We gave the film: ???? Extras: ?Assembling the Ultimate Team? featurette and commentary by Whedon. Also, on Blu-ray formats: ?A Visual Journey? and several other featurettes, gag reel, alternate opening and ending, deleted scenes, Soundgarden music video ?Live to Rise.? Available in multiple formats, including 3D.?Delicacy? What is it? Audrey Tautou?s Nathalie is a widowed, workaholic businesswoman way out of the league of Markus (Francois Damiens), her balding, paunchy, duck-footed co-worker who?s given to wearing bad sweaters. Their sweet office friendship slowly, believably grows into something more and gives viewers plenty to smile about. Markus? wry, clear-eyed sense of humor is what Nathalie sees in him. That, and the way he doesn?t just look at her but listens to her. After hearing her tell a story about her favorite childhood candy, he surprises her with a gift that shows he has been paying attention. Odd couple love stories aren?t all that rare. But it isn?t Markus? self-deprecating sense of humor alone that sets him in good stead with Nathalie. His most endearing quality is the one that titles the film. He has a sensitivity to nuance and to the feelings of others that characterizes every step that he ? and this sure-footed if off-kilter film ? takes. Rated PG-13 for some obscenity. French with English subtitles. Time: 1 hr., 48 min. We gave the film: ???? Extras: Making-of featurette, interview with Tautou. Also, on Blu-ray: deleted scenes and a blooper reel.?Damsels in Distress? What is it? Greta Gerwig stars as Violet, a junior at an East Coast liberal arts college called Seven Oaks, where she and a florally named band of cohorts wage a genteel war against all that is rude, crude, coarse or otherwise aesthetically suspect. When a new girl arrives on campus, Violet and her friends pounce, scooping her up and bringing her along on their campaign to prevent student suicide, stamp out the whiny school newspaper and, in Violet?s case, aid in her ambition to start a national dance craze. It?s all very daffy and sweet-natured, as long as you can go along with writer/director Whit Stillman in making a joke of suicide. Still, as the Woody Allen-esque opening credits remind us, there?s a fine line between a fantastical comedy of manners and a comedy that?s merely mannered. ?Damsels? too often falls into the latter category. Rated PG-13 for mature thematic content including some sexual material Time: 1 hr., 39 min. We gave the film: ???? Extras: Commentary with Stillman and cast, deleted scenes, outtakes, a behind-the-scenes featurette and a Q&A interview with Stillman and the main cast.?She Wants Me? What is it? A neurotic New York writer (Josh Gad, of Broadway?s ?The Book of Mormon?) working on his new film gets into a tricky situation when an A-list Hollywood actress (Hillary Duff) shows interest in the role intended for his girlfriend. The indie film was directed by Rob Margolies and produced by Charlie Sheen, who cameos, along with Wayne Knight, better known as Newman on ?Seinfeld.? Not rated. Time: 1 hr., 25 min. Didn?t screen in Kansas City

Source: http://www.kansascity.com/2012/09/26/3833364/new-on-dvd-the-avengers-delicacy.html

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