New in Home Entertainment
April 24, 2012
Contraband
Rated R for violence, pervasive language and brief drug use
Available on DVD and Blu-ray
In order to protect his brother-in-law from a ruthless drug-dealer, a former smuggler (Mark Wahlberg), is forced to commit to a smuggling operation bringing in a large amount of counterfeit bills into America from Panama. I’ll warn you right off – Contraband is a B-movie all the way. The plot is silly, the characters are predictable, and the writing isn’t top-notch. What sets the film apart though is the both the quality of the talented cast and terrific production values. You actually get a sense that you understand both the shipping and the smuggling business after watching this film. There is an organic quality about it that allows you be taken in and entertained. So while its not a good movie, it is at times a very fun and interesting one. B-
Pariah
Rated R for sexual content and language
Available on DVD and Blu-ray
An inner-city teenager struggles with her identity as her friends and family begin to discover that she is gay. This highly praised film from relatively new writer/director Dee Rees is a challenging yet rewarding picture about a subject that is completely foreign to most of its audience. It is hard to imagine what a character such as this has to go through in this scenario, and even harder to imagine a member of the audience not being touched. Rees does an excellent job of bringing empathy on not just the heroine, but to the people around her as well. Its as if the villain isn’t really a person, but rather the misunderstandings and misinterpretations of the situation pertaining to the main character. B
Shogun Assassin
Rated R for violence, nudity and rivers of blood
Available on Blu-ray
I thought I was a big martial arts fan, and that I was familiar with most of the classics, but this cult title somehow slipped under my radar until now. Following the saga of Lone Wolf and Cub (billed here as the greatest team in the history of mass slaughter), a father and young child travel Japan on a quest of vengeance for the brutal murder of their respective wife and mother. This new set includes all five films in the series, all in beautiful HD, which makes the blood that much more red boy does it flow. Just like many of the Asian films from this time period, it is extremely gory, but moreover, it is a blast to watch. It’s truly corny at times, but in a good way. B+