New on DVD: Three Oscar nominees

Three amazing movies come out on DVD this week. It's a fun week when I can recommend all three whole-heartedly.

Crazy Heart

Drama

The Gist: Ain't no broke down like country musician broke down. Bad Blake (Jeff Bridges) has been low for so long, he's forgotten what normal feels like. His life is a series of long drinks, disheartening gigs at run-down honky tonks, and depressing flops with sad sack women. He meets a young single mother music reporter (Maggie Gyllenhaal) and finds something worth straightening up for. But not before it costs them both.

The Buzz: Jeff Bridges won an Academy Award for Best Actor for this role. Gyllenhaal was also nominated for Best Supporting Actress.

The Ups: An incredibly human portrayal of a man who has given up on life makes this movie one of the best of 2009. Sometimes love is a painful and hurtful thing. Also, the film sports a great soundtrack of country tunes. Read our review here.

The Downs: No downs. This is a wonderful film.

The Verdict: Rent it. If you like superb acting and drama that feels very lifelike, this film has it. It will leave you a bit wiser about the human condition.

Be Aware: Rated R for language and brief sexuality. This film portrays a sexual romance between the lead characters, but also is honest in showing their brokenness and the cost of loving the wrong person.

The Young Victoria

Costume Drama

The Gist: Victoria, the future Queen of England, is a high-spirited girl just stepping into her fate as future ruler of an empire. She must navagate unimaginable political and personal currents as she steps into her monarchy and seeks a husband. Fortunately, her heart leads her well.

The Buzz: A sparkling performance by Emily Blunt earned her a Best Actress nomination for an Academy Award.

The Ups: This would be a good, if slightly dull, movie without Blunt, but her winning acting elevates it to something sublime. The film makes profound statements about the benefits of marriage, even for powerful, intelligent women. Read our full review here.

The Downs: Stiff collars.

The Verdict: Rent it. This is a sweet and insightful film you may have missed. Plus, the clothes are pretty.

Be Aware: Rated PG for some mild sensuality, a scene of violence, and brief incidental language and smoking. The mild sensuality is post-marriage and delightful.

Avatar

Special effects spectacular - releasing April 22

The Gist: Giant blue beings, called the Na'vi, live on a different planet, a planet which is rich in a mineral Earthlings desire. The nefarious Earthlings have figured out a way to control "avatars," biological copies of Na'vi, and walk among them. Jake Sully falls in love with the planet, the people, and one Na'vi girl in particular. Where will his loyalties lead him?

The Buzz: Unless you were under a rock, you know that this film has become the top grossing movie of all time, reigning the box office for weeks and still raking in money. It also was highly favored to win the Best Picture Academy Award, but lost to "The Hurt Locker."

The Ups: Breathtaking special effects, a moving story, and moments that transport you out of yourself. Read our full review.

The Downs: A thin plot, flat characters, anti-military flavor, and silly pantheistic world-view, but these negatives are swept away by the epic scale of what's good about the film. Read David French's exploration of religious themes in Avatar. However, it's hard to imagine how the grandeur of "Avatar" will translate to the small screen. Watching it on even a 52 inch screen just seems like settling.

The Verdict: This is a movie to see in the theater. If you haven't seen it yet, you can probably still catch it.

Be Aware: Rated PG-13 for intense epic battle sequences and warfare, sensuality, language and some smoking.

At SixSeeds, we talk about the stories that surround modern life.  We love movies -- in fact, we even have a “brick and mortar” called SixSeeds Video in Winchester, Massachusetts! We know that good films have an amazing power to move, inspire, and sometimes even transform life.  Bad ones make you regret plunking down the $10 for the privilege of listening to the guy next to you chew milk duds for two hours.

That’s why we want to keep you informed of the latest offerings on DVD and Blu-Ray.  Listing the new releases below doesn't mean you should rush out and watch them with your pre-schoolers.  In fact, over the course of the next few months, we’ll list many we wouldn’t let our teenagers watch.  (Some, we regret watching!)  But somewhere in America, a teenager is going to come to their parent and say, “Hey, I’m supposed to bring the movie to the slumber party.  May I bring...?”

And right there in the aisle of the video store, a decision will be made. 

Come back next week to read “The RunDown,” America... and choose wisely!