New in Home Entertainment – April 1, 2014

New in Home Entertainment

April 1, 2014

Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues
3 Versions:  PG-13, R and Unrated
Available on DVD and Blu-ray

The iconic Ron Burgundy (Will Ferrell) is back as he and his cohorts (Paul Rudd, Steve Carell and David Koechner) try to take over the brand new 24 cable news phenomenon by reporting fluff rather than real news in order to get ratings.  While the jokes aren’t as fresh or funny in this new installment, there is an excellent social commentary to be found here.  Until three weeks ago, I actually defended CNN but with the recent plane coverage, CNN scarily resembles what we see in this movie trying to make fun of it.  My biggest problem with the film is how many old jokes it clings to such as the anchor gang fight and the sequence where Burgundy goes blind which too closely resembles a similar sequence in Talladega Nights.  Its safe to say that I did laugh and I did think, but I didn’t do too much of either.  While I didn’t care for the movie as much as I wanted to, I must admit that the Ron Burgundy-themed Ben & Jerry’s Scotchy Scotch Scotch ice cream was a joy to eat while taking in the mindless entertainment.  C+

Delivery Man
Rated PG-13 for thematic elements, sexual content, some drug material, brief violence and language
Available on DVD and Blu-ray

This remake of the French-Canadian comedy Starbuck about a man whose sperm bank efforts fathered 533 children is basically the same movie, written and directed by the same writer/director.  While the foreign import did pretty well in the U.S., we all know that when it comes to movies, most Americans don’t read, so I guess its inevitable that a remake should come along.  In this case Vince Vaughn is the aloof meat delivery man whose hundreds of children all are suing to discover the identity of their father, and he does an admirable job with the material given him.  Unfortunately, just as in its predecessor, the movie is all heart and no brain.  Like a Hallmark commercial, the movie is meant to make you ahhhh and shed a few tears, but when you start to think about it, there’s not much about the movie that isn’t just plain stupid and disingenuous.  C-

The Pirate Fairy
Available on DVD and Blu-ray

From the world of Tinkerbell and Peter Pan comes this new straight-to-DVD Disney adventure about an outcast fairy who becomes a swashbuckling pirate.  While not nearly the quality of its recent films such as Frozen, Tangled and Wreck-It Ralph, it is a far better picture than some of the other recent trash being slung at kids of late such as Planes, Turbo and Free Bird.  At least the story is polished and the animation is gorgeous.  And there even happens to be a very singable pirate song included in the mix.  B