New at BOP: Review: Matrix Resurrections Movie Review: Moonfall Movie Reviews: Scream The #1 Movie in America November Forecast The Many Saints of Newark October Forecast New Trivia Question All site updates Share & Save   Tweet Print this column

If you like Alias and miss Alias and want to watch a show that desperately hopes to remind you of Alias: Covert Affairs: Season One (Not Rated)

Out of the new releases this week, this is the oddest for me to state an opinion. I was excited about the idea of an Alias clone on USA Network, the best run cable channel these days. I also love the lead actors in the cast. Piper Perabo, Christopher Gorham, Anne Dudek and Kate Matchett are all people whose works I have enjoyed over the years whether they be the heralded (Dudek as Cutthroat Bitch on House), the unheralded (Gorham was a better version of Chuck on Jake 2.0), the brief (Matchett was sublime in a handful of appearances on Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip) or the unknown (Perabo is so winning in Imagine Me & You). I was excited to watch the pilot and while there were clunky elements in it that distracted me, I felt that there were enough positives there to make for a great show. Then, I found out that Mohinder, the worst part of a terrible show in Heroes, had joined the cast. Even though I had a season pass on Amazon Streaming and am continuing to purchase the digital rights for Covert Affairs, I haven't gone back yet. I own all of season one on DVD and I keep meaning to give it another shot but...Monhinder. From Heroes. If you were braver than me and decided to keep watching in spite of his presence, drop me a note and let me know if he ruins Covert Affairs every bit as much as I suspect.

Pick of the Week
For people who have a fetish for bald Brits: The Mechanic

Several years ago on this site, I postulated that The One and later The Transporter could open the door for a truly gifted action hero, Jason Statham, to work indefinitely in low rent thuggery films. I am unsure which of us is more surprised by how true this statement has proven to be, him or me. The Statham name brand guarantees a certain level of box office; this is not something most lead actors working in the industry today can state with any honesty. No, his flicks are not blockbusters. They have a baseline in the $10 million opening/$30 million final domestic result range. But he does sell tickets.

Keeping this in mind, The Mechanic is largely a known commodity. Based on a Charles Bronson film from 1972, this is a perfect project for Statham, the Charles Bronson of our era. In the original, Jan-Michael Vincent (yes, the dude from Airwolf) portrayed a young assassin tutored by seasoned pro wetworks specialist Bronson. In the 2011 version, 3:10 to Yuma scene stealer Ben Foster takes on the role of a would-be assassin attempting to avenge his father's murder. Statham's character takes the grieving son under his wing and helps him learn how to kill for a living. No, this isn't Shakespeare but we live in a world where the finest Shakespearean actor in recent memory directs Thor. If you want to see Jason Statham be cool yet again, this is a moderately well reviewed action film that fits brilliantly in his film library.

DVD:

The Roommate (PG-13)
The Rite (PG-13)
The Mechanic (R)
I Want Your Money (PG)
Broken Hill (PG)
2011 NCAA Mens Basketball National Champions (Not Rated)
30 For 30 Volume 2 (Not Rated)
30 For 30 Volumes 1 & 2 (Not Rated)
Alabama Moon (PG)
All in the Family: The Complete Ninth Season (Not Rated)
Allison & Lillia Generation 1 (Not Rated)
Amanda Knox: Murder on Trial in Italy (Not Rated)
American Experience: Freedom Riders (Not Rated)
American Experience: George Washington (Not Rated)
Ancient Astronauts: Gods from Planet X (Not Rated)
Araya (Not Rated)
Avril Lavigne: The Whole Picture (Not Rated)
Ballistica (Not Rated)
Barney: I Can Do It (Not Rated)
Bettle Queen Conquers Tokyo (Not Rated)
Beyonce: Life on Stage (Not Rated)
Beyond the Game (Not Rated)
Biebermania! (Not Rated)
The Bionic Woman: Season 2 (Not Rated)
Black Eyed Peas: United We Stand (Not Rated)
Blood Shed (Not Rated)
Braille (Not Rated)
Brian Eno: 1971-1977 The Man Who Fell to Earth (Not Rated)
British Rail Journeys: East Anglia (Not Rated)
British Royal Weddings of the 20th Century (Not Rated)
Brotherhood (R)
Can Go Through Skin (Not Rated)
Chicago Cubs: The Heart & Soul of Chicago (Not Rated)
Chocolate Sundaes Presents Live on Sunset Strip 2 (Not Rated)
Circles of Deceit (Not Rated)
Classic U.S. Aircraft of WWII: P-38 Lightning (Not Rated)
Coldplay: Longevity (Not Rated)
Corporate Cut Throat Massacre (Not Rated)
Covert Affairs: Season One (Not Rated)
Daydream Nation (R)
Dead Or Alive: Daring Exercise Of UltraViolent Ext (Not Rated)
Deadly Shooter (R)
Degrassi the Next Generation: Season 10 (Not Rated)
Detention (Not Rated)
Die & Let Live / Raising The Stakes (Not Rated)
Elephant White (R)
Emerging Past Motion Picture (Not Rated)
An Erotic Vampire in Paris Collection
Exploited (Not Rated)
The Feathered Serpent: Complete Series (Not Rated)
The Fergusons (Not Rated)
Flashpoint: 3 Season Pack (Not Rated)
Flashpoint: The Third Season (Not Rated)
Forget Me Not (Not Rated)
Fourth World War (Not Rated)
Franklin: Franklin & The Gloomy Day (Not Rated)
Freedom Archives: Cointelpro 101 (Not Rated)
Getting Smart: Dealing with Bullies (Not Rated)
Glenn Tilbrook: Live in New York City (Not Rated)
Gospel & R&B Drumming (Not Rated)
Green Paradise: The Complete Collection (Not Rated)
Guitar Kings (Not Rated)
He (Not Rated)
Histories of the Holocaust: Buchenwald 1937-1945 (Not Rated)
I Heart Doomsday (Not Rated)
Jay Z: True Story (Not Rated)
Ju-on: White Ghost, Black Ghost (Not Rated)
Kanye West: Evolution (Not Rated)
Katie Melua With The Stuttard (Not Rated)
Keith Richards: Human Riff (Not Rated)
Kesha: Her Life, Her Story (Not Rated)
Kickstart Your Health with Dr. Neal Barnard (Not Rated)
La Belle Personne
Les Paul: Live In New York (Not Rated)
Louis Prima: In Person (Not Rated)
Memoirs of a Lady Ninja (Not Rated)
Midnight is a Place (Not Rated)
Mob Rules (R)
My Bloody Wedding (Not Rated)
Nature's Power Revealed (Not Rated)
Nick Jr. Favorites: Food with Friends! (Not Rated)
Nik Kershaw: Live in Germany 1984 (Not Rated)
Noel Redding: Redding Experience (Not Rated)
NOVA: Venom - Nature's Killer (Not Rated)
Orgasm Diaries (Not Rated)
The Other Woman (R)
Project A-KO (Not Rated)
Radical Truth: Knowledge & Revolution (Not Rated)Red, White & Blue (Not Rated)
Revenge (Not Rated)
Rihanna: The Rise & Rise of Rihanna (Not Rated)
Rio Freaks: Volume 6 (Not Rated)
Rivers of a Lost Coast (Not Rated)
Royal Pains: Season Two (Not Rated)
Schoolgirls In Chains / Terror Circus (Not Rated)
Secrets of the Divine: The Altarpiece of Ciudad (Not Rated)
Shutterbug (Not Rated)
Skin Eating Jungle Vampires (Not Rated)
Slim to None (Not Rated)
Smokin': Classic Cigarette Commercials (Not Rated)
Sons of the City: New York (Not Rated)
Sophia Loren: Award Collection (Not Rated)
South Riding (Not Rated)
Stripperland! (Not Rated)
Such Good Friends (Not Rated)
Takedown (R)
That's What I Am (PG)
Thomas & Friends: Birthday Express (Not Rated)
Thor: Tales of Asgard (Not Rated)
Tim & Eric Awesome Show, Great Job: Season 5 (Not Rated)
Tom Waits: One Star Shining (Not Rated)
Twisted Desires: Three Pink Masterpieces (Not Rated)
UFOs & Extraterrestrial Threat: Battlefield Earth (Not Rated)
Untold Secrets: Civil War Collection (Not Rated)
Vampire Knight Guilty Volume 2 (Not Rated)
Vanishing on 7th Street (R)
Wartorn 1861-2010 (Not Rated)
Who?Mag TV: Season One (Not Rated)
The Wild Thornberrys: Season 1 (Not Rated)
Witchcraft: Magick Rituals of the Coven (Not Rated)
WWE: Greatest Superstars of Wrestlemania (Not Rated)

Blu Ray:

American Experience: Freedom Riders
Best of Europe Collection
Best of Europe: Beautiful France
Best of Europe: Beautiful Germany
Best of Europe: Beautiful Greece
Beverly Hills Cop
Children of the Corn V / Children of the Corn 666
The Comancheros
Daydream Nation
Deep Red
Diabolique
Elephant White
Five Deadly Venoms
Green Paradise: Africa
Green Paradise: The Americas
Green Paradise: The Pacific
Halloween: Curse of Michael Myers / Halloween: H20
Heaven & Hell: Radio City Music Hall Live
Hellraiser: Bloodline / Hellraiser V: Inferno
The Hustler
I Want Your Money
IMAX: Greatest Places
IMAX: Search For The Great Sharks
Jagged Edge
Ju-on: White Ghost, Black Ghost
The Karate Kid / The Karate Kid Part II
Les Paul: Live In New York
Lockdown
Marriage Italian Style
The Mechanic
Money Train
My Boss's Daughter / Duplex
The Other Woman
Pale Flower
Pokemon Heroes / Pokemon: Destiny Deoxys
The Rite
The Roommate
Scenic National Park Collection
Scenic National Parks: Alaska & Hawaii
Scenic National Parks: Best of the National Parks
Scenic National Parks: Glacier Banff & Jasper
Scenic National Parks: Grand Canyon
Scenic National Parks: Great Train Rides
Scenic National Parks: Yellowstone
Scenic National Parks: Yosemite
Scenic National Parks: Zion & Bryce
Sons of the City: New York
Sunflower
Thor: Tales of Asgard
Twilight Zone: Season 4
Vanishing on 7th Street
Yesterday, Today And Tomorrow
The Big Bang

Continued:       1       2