Experimenting With Straight-to-DVD

Back in 2001, Germen director Oliver Hirschbiegel* made an excellent thriller called Das Experiment starring Moritz Bleibtreu (Lola’s boyfriend in Run Lola Run).  Buzz about an American remake circulated for years and the result is coming straight to DVD and Blu-ray on September 21st.  The Experiment stars Adrien Brody and Forest Whitaker as participants in a psychological study where a group of people are arbitrarily split up to play the roles of guards and prisoners.  If you know anything about the Stanford prison experiment on which this is based, you’ll know that very bad things ensue.  The film is written and directed by Prison Break creator Paul Scheuring and also stars Maggie Grace, Clifton Collins Jr., and Fisher Stevens.

(*Hirschbiegel, by the by, went on to direct a little film called Downfall.)

Don’t be confused if another trailer plays before the Experiment trailer.  It’s an embed from MovieWeb and they have ads.  Just relish the irony of having to watch a trailer to watch a trailer.

Hurricane Season Debuts as Number Two Rental

Top Straight-to-DVD Rentals for Week Ending 12/13/09

(Source: IMDb)

1. Santa Buddies
2. Hurricane Season
3. The Accidental Husband
4. Staten Island
5. The Tournament
6. The Maiden Heist
7. Wrong Turn 3: Left For Dead
   
8. Hardwired

Hurricane Season debuts at number two on the chart.  The tale of a New Orleans high school basketball team dealing with the aftermath of Katrina stars Forest Whitaker, Taraji P. Henson, Courtney B. Vance, Isaiah Washington, Bow Wow, and Lil Wayne and was directed by Tim Story (Barbershop, Fantastic Four) and was written by Robert Eisele (The Great Debators).  With that kind of pedigree one might expect an awards season theatrical release, but apparently hard times at the Weinstein Co. took their toll.

Santa Buddies still tops of the sales charts.