New in Home Entertainment
September 11, 2012
Titanic
Rated PG-13 for disaster related peril and violence, nudity, sensuality and brief language
Available on DVD, Blu-ray and Blu-ray 3D
When Titanic first hit theaters, many were predicting the three-plus-hour over-budgeted mega-movie would sink faster than the ship it was based on. And then it hit number one at the box for more weeks than even the most optimistic fanboy could have predicted. Having been beaten out by director James Cameron’s latest spectacle, Avatar, as the all-time box office champ, Titanic is still holding on to the number two spot and has managed to reach a new generation of theatergoers with its new 3D transfer. Now on blu-ray for the first time, this new set contains a stunning hi-def transfer as well as new featurettes. And for those fans of Cameron and the mighty ship itself, Disney is releasing this week Ghosts of the Abyss 3D, the documentary about Titanic which introduced the world to Cameron’s 3D technology which has now managed to change the way we watch movies theatrically. A
Snow White & the Huntsman
Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of violence and action, and brief sensuality
Available on DVD and Blu-ray
Last year there were many discussing the Snow White wars and guessing who would win the battle: Mirror Mirror or Snow White and the Huntsman. Both had famous queens, beautiful princesses, handsome leading men and a group of dwarves. If box-office and critical acclaim are the deciding votes, then its safe to say that the easy winner is Snow White and the Huntsman. The film itself is a well-crafted fantasy with familiar elements and fantastic performances. I can’t imagine a more perfect evil queen than Charlize Theron and for the first time I wasn’t completely annoyed by Kristen Stewart (and that’s a compliment). The only disappointment was the way the story handled the dwarves. If you’re going to get some big names like Ian McShane, Bob Hoskins, Ray Winstone, Eddie Marsan and Toby Jones, you need to give them better parts. Here they felt like afterthoughts. B+
What to Expect When You’re Expecting
Rated PG-13 for crude and sexual content, thematic elements and language
Available on DVD and Blu-ray
Once again trying to capture the magic of Love Actually, Hollywood attempts to throw a star-studded cast performing many separate stories around a central theme (having babies in this case). Cameron Diaz, Jennifer Lopez, Elizabeth Banks, Anna Kendrick, Brooklyn Decker and many others are all thrown into parenthood in one unfunny moment after another. And when the movie attempts to be touching, it comes off as fake. It’s pretty awful from start to finish and I’m pretty certain it’ll come away with some razzie noms later this year. D