‘The Expendables 2,’ ‘ParaNorman,’ + More — 10 Things To Check Out This Week
Like a swift kick to the groin, this week in entertainment and pop culture is looking to leave you breathless with a storm of big, loud and violent action flicks, TV shows and videogames. From ‘The Expendables 2’ to IFC’s ‘Bullet in the Face’ and ‘Sleeping Dogs’ on consoles, we’ve got a heavy-hitting list of 10 things to check out this week.
The Expendables 2
Sylvester Stallone’s brawny dream team raids the big screen this weekend in this action packed sequel. ‘The Expendables 2’ goes bigger, louder and Van Damme-y-er with the addition of old school action icons Chuck Norris and “The Muscles from Brussels,” Jean Claude Van-Damme. Liam Hemsworth also joins Stallone’s beefy crew, and Jason Statham, Jet Li, Dolph Lundgren, Terry Crews, Randy Coutre, Bruce Willis and Arnold Schwarzenegger are back for another ride. Expect lots of explosions … and splits.
The Raid: Redemption on DVD and Blu-ray
Looking for awesome action this weekend but want to avoid movie theater lines? Or maybe you’ll be looking for a little hair of the dog after the old school carnage of ‘Expendables 2?’ Check out this Indonesian action thriller hitting DVD and Blu-ray on Tuesday. ‘The Raid: Redemption’ wowed action fans during its short U.S. theatrical run, and critics praised its aggressive pace and thrilling action scenes at the Toronto International Film Festival.
ParaNorman
A stop-motion animated 3D zombie movie from the brilliant nerds that gave us ‘Coraline?” Yes, please! ‘ParaNorman’ features the voices of Anna Kendrick, John Goodman, Casey Affleck and Christopher Mintz-Plasse. The undead animated insanity hits theaters on Friday.
Jaws on Blu-ray
Steven Spielberg’s suspenseful masterpiece gets a loaded new Blu-ray release as part of Universal Picture’s 100th Anniversary collection. The set features three versions of the film (HD, digital download and Ultraviolet) plus a documentary about the movie’s restoration process and never-before-seen footage and interviews Spielberg and stars Richard Dreyfuss and Roy Scheider.
Bullet in the Face
Max Williams, Eddie Izzard and Eric Roberts star in this wildly acerbic and carnage-filled action comedy from ‘Sledge Hammer!’ creator Alan Spencer. Some critics have wondered if ‘Bullet in the Face’ is “the most violent comedy in television history.” Find out for yourself this week. IFC is airing all six episodes over two nights, this Thursday and Friday at 10 p.m. ET. The trailer is a must-see:
Toy Hunter
The Travel Channel offers another geeky summer reality show and, hey, we’re not complainin’! ‘Toy Hunter,’ premièring Wednesday at 10 p.m. ET, follows Jordan Hembrough, the toy geek behind movie memorabilia giant Hollywood Heroes, as he searches for rare vintage collectibles that we all wish we had on our bookshelves.
Grimm
NBC premieres the second season of this dark and fun supernatural drama tonight at 10 p.m. ‘Grimm’ follows the adventures of a police detective who teams up with a werewolf-esque monster to hunt the dangerous mythological creatures that inspired Grimms’ Fairy Tales.
Boss
Watch Kelsey Grammer pop a vein, and try to outrun the ghost of Frasier Crane, as the morally compromised and mentally unstable mayor of Chicago in the season two premiere of this dark Starz drama, 10 p.m. ET on Friday.
Community – The Complete Third Season on DVD
We know you can catch up on ‘Community’ on Hulu, but we just had to remind you that the show’s third season, which is arguably its strangest and riskiest season to date, hits DVD on Tuesday. Annie’s Boobs compels you to buy it!
Sleeping Dogs
New for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 this Tuesday, ‘Sleeping Dogs’ is inspired by Hollywood and Asian action movies, which, of course means it’s violent, offensive, bloody and probably offers lots of old school shoot ‘em ups and ass kicking. Yeah’, we’re down for some of that.