New in Home Entertainment
August 16, 2016
Raiders!: The Story of the Greatest Fan Film Ever Made
Not Rated
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 88%
Available on DVD and Blu-ray
It is now mid August and I’ve only seen two films that I feel with almost certainty will land in my top 10 of the year: Hell or High Water (in theaters now) and Raiders! From Drafthouse Films comes this documentary which follows a group of friends who, during their summers as children and teenagers, attempted to remake, shot for shot, their favorite film in the world: Raiders of the Lost Ark. Now, decades later, they come together to finish their film with the last shot they couldn’t afford to film during their youths. For radical movie fans such as myself, this is a movie that is a pure joy to watch and there is a tinge of jealousy that I wasn’t one of their next door neighbors growing up. There are some that have said they wasted their childhood with such nonsense, but I would declare that they had the best of childhoods that will actually deliver them a fascinating legacy. A
The Angry Birds Movie
Rated PG for rude humor and action
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 43%
Available on DVD, Blu-ray and 4K/Blu-ray 3D Combo
I’ll admit that I was a fan of the game for a long while. After all, I’m of Finnish descent and supporting Finland’s number one export by throwing birds at pigs seemed appealing to me. But this movie about birds getting angry at invading pigs is just a huge stretch. The animation is pretty, as to be expected, but the story is as lame as the jokes that miss every time they are flung. Maybe the young ones will enjoy, but I doubt the parents will want to be in the room when they do. C-
Once Upon a Time: Season 5
Not Rated
Available on DVD and Blu-ray
I’m not a big fan of soap operas, but if I was, I would really love this novel prime time soap from ABC which casts all of our favorite Disney (and some non-Disney) fantasy characters as they move in and out of our current time in search for the missing Merlin, who will sort out their Season 5 woes. The show is creative and fun if you love the universe they are in, but the acting isn’t great and the writing is rather immature, almost like a bunch of grade-schoolers playing during recess. B-