DVD Tuesday: Into the Wild, 12 Angry Men, Things We Lost in the Fire

Its Tuesday! For movie buffs and DVD collectors, Tuesday is even better than Friday. Today, like every Tuesday, we’ll share with GearCrave readers the releases that we’ll be adding to our growing DVD collection. What has us excited this week? Three films are debuting on consumer media this week: 1) Sean Penn’s “Into the Wild“, 2) A classic re-issue of “12 Angry Men“, and 3) Halle Berry and Benicio Del Toro in “Things We Lost in the Fire“. Let’s take a closer look at these films, and why they deserve a spot in your personal film collection.

Into the Wild

You likely recognize “Into the Wild” from our book coverage in last week’s BookCrave on pre-Oscar novels. “Into the Wild” is the story of Chris McCandless, a gifted student and athlete who left everything behind, including his life savings, to journey into the wild in search of a life that civilization forgot. McCandless’s story was originally told by the adventurous author Jon Krakeaur, until catching the eye of Hollywood mainstay Sean Penn. The film version of McCandless’s story is adapted and directed by Penn, and embodied in the work of the up-and-coming talent Emile Hirsch. Check out the trailer here. If you’ve read the book, seen the film or want to do so, pick up a copy from Amazon.

Buy: $16.99. Download: $14.99.

12 Angry Men

Filmmaker Sydney Lumet spent a career making films about corruption, conspiracy, and prejudice. A career that included film gems like “Serpico” and “Q&A” started right here with “12 Angry Men”, a film the Hollywood Reporter calls “one of the best films ever made”. The story in this film involves the trial of a teenager who is accused of the murder of his father. Without ever seeing the trial, the viewer is plunged into the perspective of a 12 man jury. 11 of these men are ready to convict, but one man stands on his gut that the child is innocent. Against prejudice, against corruption, the hero in this film must convince his peers that true justice should be withheld, yet the cards are stacked against him.

Buy: $14.99.

Things We Lost in the Fire

When you put together two Academy Award winners and the amazing Danish director Susanne Bier, you’ll get nothing less than a powerful film that is human at its deepest core. “Things We Lost in the Fire” is just such a film. “Fire” tells the story of a wife (Berry) whose husband was murdered in an act or heroism, the weight of the loss on a young family, and the husband’s childhood friend (Del Toro) who helps them all put things back together. While this film tackles a difficult, painful topic, it is a positive, hopeful story that is nothing short of uplifting. Here’s the trailer.

Buy: $16.99.