New in Home Entertainment – October 28, 2014

Begin-Again

 

New in Home Entertainment

 

October 28, 2014

 

Begin Again
Rated R for language
Available on DVD and Blu-ray
In John Carney’s American follow-up to his hit indie musical (and Oscar-winner) Once, Mark Ruffalo is a washed up record producer who discovers a potential gold mine in young folk singer Keira Knightly who just broke up with rock star boyfriend Adam Levine. Just like Once, you get a more authentic movie musical with great songs and superb acting. While the concept doesn’t feel new any longer, this is a very well done effort by all and a risky venture as well. And while I might not have been tremendously moved, I was at least well-entertained. A-

Wish I Was Here
Rated R for language and sexual content
Available on DVD and Blu-ray
Zach Braff’s newest theatrical release and beneficiary of a strong Kickstarter crowd sourcing campaign stars Zach as a married father of two who can’t seem to get his acting career off of the ground. While I thought the performances were good enough and the relationships were compelling, much of the storytelling was just too whiny and frankly hard to comprehend. I was especially lost at the more expensive sci-fi dream sequences that seemed to distract from the project more than enhance. That being said, I love Zach, Mandy Patinkin, Josh Gad and the great soundtracks Zach puts together for his projects. B-

WKRP in Cincinnati: The Complete Series
Available on DVD
This is one of my favorite childhood shows that you don’t really see much in syndication any more. I still have fond memories of Johnny Fever, Venus Flytrap and the gang as they weave their way through the late seventies and early eighties with a great sense of humor and an even better music selection. B+

New in Home Entertainment – October 21, 2014

mad men

New in Home Entertainment

 

October 21, 2014

 

Mad Men: The Final Season Part 1
Available on DVD and Blu-ray
I still don’t know why Mad Men doesn’t just claim that this as two separate seasons or maybe release the entire final season together rather than giving us this shortened 7 episode package, but regardless, this second to last edition of the hit AMC show hits like a whopper and is full of great surprises. As advertising moves through the progressive part of the 60’s, Don Draper (Jon Hamm) and his crew of marketeers throw themselves right in with it without trying to get swallowed. The old guard is dying off and the new is pushing forward. It’s a fun-filled set of episodes and every bit as good as any of the other seasons we’ve seen previously. The groovy thing is that just like the era they are living in, the show is constantly changing. A-

 

The Last Sentence
Unrated
Available on DVD
In Swedish with English Subtitles
This 2014 black and white Swedish export tells the tale of a WWII-era Swedish journalist who takes on Hitler’s Germany in his newspaper while fighting his own demons at home. Beautifully shot and wonderfully acted, the movie is nice to look at and at times engaging, but it does move along much too slowly throughout. I wish the focus could have been more on Sweden’s struggle with Germany rather than on his personal issues as I feel the filmmakers selected the wrong A-story for this narrative. But for a different sort of WWII film that gives an interesting point of view, Jan Troell’s saga is an intriguing watch. B-

 

Mobilize
Unrated
Available on DVD
Blissful ignorance could be a good excuse not to watch this documentary about cell phones and the radiation they omit causing cancers from head to toe (or at least waist). While its not a very well-made film (it feels like a movie made by people who don’t know how to make movies), the information is scary and potentially life changing. I say potentially, because try living without a cell phone now that you are almost physically connected to one. Are the cellular companies hiding something? Most likely. Would it change anything if exposed? Not sure. C+

 

La Dolce Vita: Criterion Collection
Unrated
Available on DVD and Blu-ray
This nearly three hour Fellini masterpiece that follows a journalist in his fruitless quest for “the sweet life” through the streets of Rome is one of the most celebrated Italian films of all time and is getting the extreme Criterion treatment here with a new 4K restoration on blu-ray and a host of new features. It goes without saying that the film has never looked or sounded better and is an extreme pleasure for the senses. A

 

Universal Classic Monsters
Available on DVD
This thirty film collection comprises all of Universal’s classic monster movies from 1931-1956 in one very large box set. Dracula, Frankenstein, The Wolf Man, The Mummy, The Creature from the Black Lagoon, The Invisible Man and The Phantom of the Opera are all represented here in all of their fantastic campiness. While there isn’t a lot to be scared of here, it is a fine collection of where we got our modern day monster films from and what used to scare our grandparents. I really loved that they threw in most of the Abbott and Costello monster parodies in the collection. B+

 

Steven Spielberg Director’s Collection
Available on Blu-ray
If the nice folks at Universal hadn’t sent me this collection already, I can tell you what would be at the top of my Christmas list this year. This collection holds 8 movies on blu-ray from the master as well as a 58-page book and tons of special features. What I like most about it is that it has such a wide range of his films including some of his earliest from before he was who he is, such as Duel, The Sugarland Express and 1941. Also included are Jaws, ET, Always, Jurassic Park (and I’ll conveniently try to forget about The Lost World. Seven of eight aren’t bad. This is a must have for those of us who idolize the director. I think its also great for any budding filmmaker to experience how the greatest got his start and what he constantly did to reinvent himself. A+

Million Dollar Arm

 

New in Home Entertainment

 

October 7, 2014

 

Million Dollar Arm
Rated PG for mild language and some suggestive content
Available on DVD and Blu-ray
Based on a true story, Jon Hamm is a sports agent who travels to India to find cricket players who might be potential MLB pitchers. Honestly, the trailers for this one didn’t excite me and I skipped it in theaters. I now regret that decision. I thoroughly enjoyed this Disney family sports pic from start to finish. Sure its predictable and maybe a bit too long, but it is very lovable. Hamm is completely believable as the agent and the whole project had an authentic feel about it that I didn’t expect. For family-oriented live action features, it doesn’t get much better than this. A-

Live. Die. Repeat./ Edge of Tomorrow
Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of sci-fi action and violence, language and brief suggestive material
Available on DVD, Blu-ray and Blu-ray 3D
What a conundrum Warner Brothers has had with this latest Tom Cruise sci-fi adventure. First it was called All You Need Is Kill, then in theaters it went by Edge of Tomorrow and now finally it is being called Live.Die.Repeat for its home entertainment release. I’m not sure if it was Warner Brother’s lousy marketing or simply the fact that America is tired of Cruise, but the film was a bust at the box in spite of its stellar reviews. The pic follows Cruise in the middle of an alien attack where he relives the same day over and over again after he is killed. It’s like Ground Hogs Day meets Independence Day, except for that its not named after a holiday (or at least not yet – they may change the name again). It is a blast to watch if you like action sci-fi and truly one of the better films made this year. So if you can stomach its egomaniac star, you might just have a fun and unexpected adventure. A-

A Million Ways to Die in the West
Rated R for strong crude and sexual content, language throughout, some violence and drug material
Available on DVD and Blu-ray
Yet another release this week that got slaughtered at the box office is this long-titled western comedy by writer/director/star Seth MacFarlane about a sheep farmer that wants to win back his love (Amanda Seyfried) with the help of a beautiful stranger (Charlize Theron). The difference between this title and the other two previously discussed is that this one really stinks. The comedy is stale and the performances flat, as if everyone knows the material is lame but they really want to help out their friend Seth with his project. Overall its a pretty miserable experience. D

The Wonder Years: The Complete Series
Available on DVD exclusively from Time Warner
The only thing more awesome than this eighties/nineties drama is the packaging for the box set itself. From 1988 to 1993, I didn’t have time to watch many shows, but I always found room for the Wonder Years, which followed the trials and tribulations of Kevin Arnold (Fred Savage) as he survives his teenage years. Its like Harry Potter with a different kind of magic. Amazingly written and as funny as it is warm, the show is one of the greatest to grace the boob tube and Time Warner’s new release gives it the honor it deserves. A

Sleeping Beauty: Diamond Edition
Rated G
Available on DVD and Blu-ray
To prepare the way for its November 4 DVD release of Angelina Jolie starrer Maleficent, Disney is finally releasing its classic animated film Sleeping Beauty in high def. This new transfer is absolutely stunning and comes with some great new features including scenes originally conceived for the film but dropped in the process. A