DVD & Blu-ray Round Up - Green Zone

Top of the pile this week is Green Zone which reunites Matt Damon and director Paul Greengrass, who worked together on The Bourne Supremacy and The Bourne Ultimatum. Set in 2003 against the backdrop of the early days of the Iraqi war, Green Zone follows Chief Warrant Officer Roy Miller in his quest to uncover evidence that Saddam Hussein’s regime has been stockpiling weapons of mass destruction. As history would suggest, Miller is on something of a wild goose chase and Damon’s character finds himself at the centre of a web of deception, shoddy intelligence and political spin.

Comparisons with the Bourne movies are inevitable, but not particularly useful here. Green Zone is more of a political thriller than all out action movie. Roy Miller is not the indestructible super-spy/killing machine that Jason Bourne became; rather he is just an ordinary soldier trying to make sense of some extraordinary events.

Rom-com fans are well served too with DVD and Blu-ray releases for Valentine's Day and Leap Year. Both films were panned by the critics, but then rom-coms usually are, unless they star Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan. Not having seen either I will have to reserve judgment, but for a girly night in, I’m sure you could do worse.

Much worse in fact. You could have a double bill of Cheryl Cole - On The Record, followed by Susan Boyle - From Pain To Fame, but why anyone would is beyond me. These are two “independent” documentaries, or in other words, shameless attempts to cash in on the tabloid success of these two reality TV stars. For the love of god don’t encourage them, or where will it end? Rik Waller – Singing for My Supper? Murs Attacks – The Olly Murs Story? Diana Vickers – Princess of Wails? Okay, I might buy that last one but you get the idea.


Honorable mentions too go to Kevin Smith's cult classics Chasing Amy and Clerks, which get Blu-ray releases this week. Great movies no doubt, but Clerks was shot in black and white for less than $30,000 so I’m not sure how much it could gain from hi-def pictures and surround sound, etc.