It's a slow week, packed mainly with television box sets, but there are a few little-known films you might want to check out.

Please Vote for Me
This was a film that I was dying to see at TIFF last year, but scheduling conflicts kept me from it. Luckily, the highly praised Please Vote for Me is now hitting DVD shelves.

Imagine a group of third-grade students putting Tracy Flick to shame as they hold a democratic election for school monitor. In my day (man, that phrase makes me feel old...), school elections boiled down to some crappy posters and speeches, all resulting in a popularity contest. These Chinese students, however, have taken a cue from the political bigwigs. We're talking political consultants, polling, and exploitation -- basically a real election full of tiny tots.

Unfortunately, the only extra on this release is a theatrical trailer, but considering the reviews and how purely awesome this film sounds, I bet it's still worth it.

Check Out Ryan Stewart's Review | Buy the DVD

Brand Upon the Brain!
If you ever loved the artistry of David Lynch, but thought his films were too dark and incomprehensible, there's Guy Maddin to ride in on a sea of comedic absurdity. With his silent film Brand Upon the Brain! he did something entirely different -- he created the ultimate live theater experience, one that can never be replicated at home unless you're ridiculously rich with a live orchestra, group of foley artists, a celebrity narrator, and a castrato at your disposal. But even still, this Criterion release does a fine job of coming close.

But first, the plot. The film focuses on a young Guy Maddin as he lives on a remote island that holds a lonely orphanage. His mother reigns with an iron fist and peeping watchtower while trying to reverse the weariness of age with her strange, scientist husband. Meanwhile, one of the orphans dies, strange holes are found on some of the kids, and some teen detectives come to investigate, all in the pulsing throb of teenage rebellion and sexuality.

While you can't create the live experience at home, Criterion has done everything possible to make this disc like the live experience. Each screening across Canada and the states had a celebrity narrator, and this disc allows you to choose between the seven narrators, which essentially gives you seven different ways to view the film -- from Maddin himself to Isabella Rossellini, John Ashbery, and Crispin Glover. There's also a documentary with interviews, two new short films, deleted scenes, a trailer, and an essay by Dennis Lim.

Check out James Rocchi's Review | Buy the DVD

The movie DVD choices from this week's release schedule are quite scarce, but there is Abigail Breslin swinging in to save the day.

Nim's Island
In the vein of classic family adventure scenarios, Breslin stars as Nim, a young girl who lives with her scientist father on a far-off tropical island. Life is idyllic until Nim's dad (Gerard Butler) is stranded far away leaving Nim to not only survive on her own, but also fight off the tour companies that threaten her island home. But she needs help and unknowingly turns to the worst person for the job -- the agoraphobic author (Jodie Foster) of her favorite literary adventure character, Alex Rover.

The DVD has a healthy amount of features for those looking to dip behind the scenes. You can choose between two commentaries -- one with Jodie Foster and Abigail Breslin, and the other with directors/writers Mark Levin and Jennifer Flackett. There's also 3 featurettes, a piece called "Abigail's Journey and Working on Water," and finally, deleted scenes.

Read Jeffrey M. Anderson's Review | Buy the DVD

Other New DVD Releases (August 5)

Starship Troopers 3: Marauder
Heavy Metal
Miss Conception
Wasted

Be sure to visit Peter's Indies on DVD for more new releases this week.

This is a pretty slow week for DVDs, but there are two more TV-themed releases just perfect for the movie world with slices of celebs and Star Wars content.

Spaced
Tim and Daisy are two strangers who meet while trying to find a new place to live. When they find the perfect apartment, one that requests a couple, they fake it and move in together. The pair try to keep this from the alcoholic landlady while dealing with their dysfunctional romantic lives and spending time with downstairs neighbor Brian, Tim's best friend Mike, and Daisy's best friend, Twist. It sounds fun enough, but add in a ton of geeky cultural references, and names like Jessica Hynes, Simon Pegg, and Nick Frost, and then the rabid fandom starts to make sense.

While it's a number of years old, Spaced has created a whirlwind in the last year -- one that has stretched well beyond its UK borders. And now, finally, we've got the saucy new DVD. You've probably heard about this release over the last few months, because it's not your everyday DVD release. It's a star-studded event.

The packed disc offers not only commentary from people like Pegg, Hynes, and Frost, but also commentaries from Diablo Cody, Matt Stone, Quentin Tarantino, and Kevin Smith, plus Pegg teaming up with a few others -- Patton Oswalt and Bill Hader. There's also biographies, homage-o-meter, teasers, outtakes, featurettes, alternate endings... and even more.

Buy the DVD

The Bank Job
It sounds like your run of the mill caper movie. It stars Jason Statham, which means that it could go either way. Yet this flick fell safely on the positive scale -- nabbing itself a 78% fresh rating. Our Jeffrey M. Anderson said of the film: "The Bank Job doesn't add anything new to the genre, but it delivers everything we loved about it in the first place."

Statham plays a hustler in debt named Terry who is trying to even the playing field and go on with life in 1971. One day, an old friend and model (Saffron Burrows) pops by with a tasty, albeit illegal, proposition -- there's a bank that is getting its alarms changed, leaving it open for a nice case of robbery. However, instead of taking the monetary goods, they'll hit the safe deposit boxes. Terry does it, but ends up coming across a lot of dirty secrets that reach from the mob to the British government. Oh yes, and it's a true-ish story.

On the 2-disc DVD, you can sift through a commentary with director Roger Donaldson, Saffron Burrows, and composer J. Peter Robinson, plus deleted/extended scenes, and a few featurettes -- "Inside The Bank Job" and "The Baker Street Bank Raid." The first tackles details about the film, while the other tackles the real crime for those curiosu about historical particulars.

Check out Jeffrey's Review | Buy the DVD

When Kimberly Peirce gave us Boys Don't Cry, it was a critical explosion. She came, she moved us, and Hilary Swank came out of it with an Oscar. The film raised our expectations, and they rested there as Peirce moved out of the spotlight and worked behind the camera. The wait lasted almost a decade, but after nine years, she was finally back with Stop Loss -- another film in the cinematic, Iraq War whirlwind. While it was destined to fall under the weight of Iraq apathy, it was another example of Peirce's commitment to personal stories.

Stop Loss is the fictional account of a real problem: over a hundred thousand soldiers have been denied release when their time in Iraq is up. Instead of best wishes, they're sent back to Iraq, and life beyond the war's struggles becomes a distant, vague hope, rather than a present reality. Ryan Phillipe stars as Sgt. Brandon King, a man who is headed towards the end of his time in Iraq, or so he thinks. First, his unit is tricked and attacked. He loses some of his men, and struggles with the realities of warfare -- dead friends, and the fact that no matter how hard you try, innocent people will fall in the fight.

Batman: Gotham Knight
Like the Animatrix, Batman: Gotham Knight is a collection of filler stories. Created by the hands of different writers and animators, Gotham Knight was made to bridge the gap between Batman Begins and The Dark Knight. But it's not just a collection of adventure stories -- these blips into Gotham take the story from all sides -- the villains that wreak havoc, the police whose work is interfered with, the kids who spot him in action, and even Bruce Wayne working with Lucius Fox on gadgetry. Be prepared for the look to be different -- this isn't your ordinary looking Batman -- but there are also nods to the past. Kevin Conroy voices Batman in this collection, just like he has for many years now on the animated series.

Of course, no true special release can be free of features, and Gotham Knight is no exception for this 2-disc release. On the first, you get a disc-wide commentary with Kevin Conroy, Dennis O'Neil, and Gregory Noveck (it pours through each episode) and a good preview of the upcoming animated Wonder Woman. On the second, you also get a long documentary called "A Mirror for the Bat" that discusses the character and the villains he fights, another called "Batman and Me, a Devotion to Destiny: The Bob Kane Story," and some final extras that focus on Batman: The Animated Series.

Further information on this release can be found, in-depth, at DVDTalk.

Buy the DVD

Flakes is a neighborhood breakfast fantasy -- a funky, retro shop dedicated to cereal. You walk in, pick your crunch of choice, and are instantly served a bowl of cereal that you can enjoy with the quirky members of your community. But it's not all Corn Flakes and Cheerios -- there's a large wall of selections from the new to the old, discontinued, and hard-to-find varieties. It's history in a bowl, served without the capitalist cleanliness.

In a film, there's a number of ways this can play out that could make for a memorable and lovable indie experience. However, while Flakes mixes the worlds of High Fidelity, Reality Bites, Clerks, and Empire Records, it does so without the verve and life that made each of those lovable classics.

Sex and Death 101
Finally! I've been waiting eons for Sex and Death 101 to hit the shelves -- ever since there was news that writer Daniel Waters was not only taking another stab at directing, but that he would be reteaming with Winona Ryder. Sure, it wouldn't have her digging into her blue clothes for more Veronica Sawyer, but I take what I can get.

Simon Baker stars as an executive and ladies man whose world is thrown into upheaval by the appearance of an e-mail -- one that includes the names of all the women he's had sex with, plus all the women he will canoodle in the future. Ryder, meanwhile, is "Death Nell," a femme fatale who targets men guilty of sex crimes. Other faces that pop up include Leslie Bibb, Julie Bowen, Sophie Monk, Mindy Cohn (yes, that Cohn), Dash Mihok, Patton Oswalt, and Neil Flynn.

The release includes a commentary with Waters, plus a featurette called "101 Perversions."

Seeing that this is the 20th anniversary for Heathers as well, Anchor Bay is also releasing the 20th High School Reunion Edition today.

Check out Scott's review | Buy the DVD

With two of four Futurama movies now behind me, I think I have the formula figured out. If the first flick -- the very amusing Bender's Big Score! -- was a patchwork and episodic affair, then at least it was a choppy good time. It was great seeing the old Planet Express crew in their resurrected form, but since the film was made with perforations ... it was a little bit of a mess. (Basically, each of the four new Futurama flicks were made to be split into four television episodes apiece. And it really shows.)

So there's my biggest and most basic complaint about Bender's Big Score! and doubly so for Movie #2: The Beast With a Billion Backs. That the writers and producers were asked to create four modular-style movies when the fans were pretty much expecting "normal" movies. The kind with three cohesive acts and what-not. Such is definitely not the case with the first two Futurama flicks -- and I expect that it's a slight malady that will continue across Bender's Game and Into the Wild Green Yonder.

So with that obvious complaint out of the way, I can also say that Futurama Movie #2 is really funny, chock-full of unexpected surprises, stunningly animated, and an absolute treat for the old-school fans. If the movie feels more like four inter-connected mini-stories than one big "movie movie," then oh well. It's still great to see the Futurama gang back in action. Especially because they're still so damn funny.