New in Home Entertainment
July 9, 2013
Admission
Rated PG-13 for language and some sexual material
Available on DVD and Blu-ray
If you watched the ads for this latest flick from Tina Fey and Paul Rudd, you would think you were getting a silly slapstick romcom. But then you get into the meat of the pic and realize that is neither very romantic or comedic, but rather a thoughtful and witty look at parent/child relationships with a valuable lesson on how to get into a good college. I was as entertained as I was surprised. What I was most shocked about was the luke-warm reception by other writers. It’s hard for me to believe that they saw the same film I did. A-
The Host
Rated PG-13 for some sensuality and violence
Available on DVD and Blu-ray
Filmmakers might have struck gold with Stephanie Meyer’s Twilight series but their efforts were an ultimate fail with this story about a race of aliens who have taken over the world and the small group of human resistors. In the story the aliens capture the bodies of the humans and much of the film is spent in an internal dialog between the alien Wanderer and her host Melanie Strange, both played by the typically great young actress Saoirse Ronan. This teeny bopper version of Body Snatchers is just lame throughout and filled with way too many eye-rolling moments. In my opinion the film isn’t any worse than any of the films from the Twilight saga, but the big difference is that it wasn’t based on a book with a cult following. D+
Spring Breakers
Rated R for strong sexual content, language, nudity, drug use and violence throughout
Available on DVD and Blu-ray
When a group of young, scantily clad teenage girls go on spring break, they find themselves lured into a criminal underworld by a drug-dealing arms dealer played by James Franco. I found this film to be extremely uncomfortable and rather sick. Franco was interesting, but the behavior displayed here by all is pretty disgusting and only made worse by the exploitive nature of the project. I’m not sure who the audience is for a film like this but you get the feeling that they might be going for the same crowd that likes to buy Girls Gone Wild DVDs. C