Month: March 2014

New in Home Entertainment

March 18, 2014

Frozen
Rated PG for some action and mild rude humor
Available on DVD, Blu-ray and Blu-ray 3D
I would have never thought that Disney’s latest princess flick would be the avalanche that it has become, but it has turned out to be the mouse house’s biggest animated hit in years.  Now it enters homes hot off its two Oscar wins (best song and best animated feature) and will most likely fly off of the shelves to become a record-breaking dvd/blu-ray release.  The music is extremely catchy and the story, about a princess with the power to freeze her surroundings and her sister who longs to have a relationship with her, is as touching as it is entertaining.  It is highly aware of itself as it tries to debunk the old-fashioned notion of love at first sight and the power of true love’s kiss, but this does not distract from the enjoyment in the least.  A-

Saving Mr. Banks
Rated PG-13 for thematic elements including some unsettling images. 
Available on DVD and Blu-ray
While I was surprised that Frozen has become such a hit, I was even more surprised that Saving Mr. Banks was such a miss.  After all, it has Tom Hanks as Walt Disney trying to woo Emma Thompson as P.L. Travers into allowing him to make one of his all-time classics, Mary Poppins.  It’s a fantastic story with amazing performances by a very talented cast including Hanks, Thompson, Paul Giamatti, Jason Schwartzman, Collin Farrell and others.  I hope that on DVD this one gets the crowd it should have gotten in theaters.  A

Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom
Rated PG-13 for disturbing images, brief strong language, intense sequences of violence and sexual content
Based on Nelson Mandela’s very thick autobiography, Long Walk tells the story of the man who has been given the credit for ending apartheid in South Africa.  The performance by Idris Elba as Mandela is really fantastic, but as with many biopics, the movie suffers under its own weight.  I finished watching feeling educated about some of the major events of his time, but the story and script were less than impressive.  C+

Monsters: The Complete Series
Available on DVD
From 1988-91, the Sci-Fi channel brought us 72 half-hour episodes of this cult classic show which revolved around all sorts of monsters starring all sorts of stars like Steve Buscemi, David Spade and Lili Taylor.  While it could be extremely cheesy at times, it has surprisingly good creature effects for its time.  While I didn’t get to see all of the 26 hours contained within, what I did see proved to be a gloriously campy way to spend a night eating pizza and popcorn.  B

New in Home Entertainment

March 11, 2014

Out of the Furnace
Rated R for strong violence, language and drug content
Available on DVD and Blu-ray
Christian Bale plays a struggling blue-collar worker who is forced to take the law into his own hands when his brother (Casey Affleck) turns up missing and the law won’t do anything about it.  This indie is quite ambitious for a quiet little rust bowl picture.  The story isn’t that unique but the performances stand out, especially from Woody Harrelson who plays one heck of a mean villain.  All of the characters are more complex than they let on, though, making for an interesting watch.  But while the film is a decent enough drama, it is ultimately pretty forgettable and really only worth a rent and not a buy.  B-

The Book Thief
Rated PG-13 for some violence and intense depiction of thematic material
Available on DVD and Blu-ray
Based on the book by Markus Zusak, The Book Thief tells the story of a young girl who is adopted by a German family during WWII who is hiding a Jewish refugee.  After she learns to read, she begins stealing books from a local home in order to entertain herself and keep her illegal guest company.  While the film has good intentions, it just isn’t interesting enough to hold your attention.  Sophie Nelisse, who plays the young girl, isn’t a particularly great actress, and the script by Michael Petroni even makes the performances of Geoffrey Rush and Emily Watson look stale.  The one saving grace the film has is a magnificent score by the infamous John Williams, who hasn’t done a non-Spielberg film since 2005’s Memoirs of a Geisha.  While the music doesn’t make the film worth watching, it certainly is a soundtrack worth owning.  C

New in Home Entertainment

March 4, 2014

12 Years a Slave
Rated R for violence/cruelty, some nudity and brief sexuality
Available on DVD and Blu-ray
12 years follows the life of Solomon Northrup (Chiwetel Ejiofor), a free black man from the north who is kidnapped and sold to an oppressive slave owner (Michael Fassbender) in Louisiana.  This newly discovered true story is remarkable and possibly the most accurate portrayal of slavery in the United States.  While incredibly harsh and at times difficult to watch, the film ends being overwhelmingly rewarding.  You start to cheer on Solomon and his companions, hoping that things might turn out okay, even though the odds are horribly against them.  And talk about great performances.  The cast here is tremendously talented, stirring up the kinds of emotions that bring its audience past such notions as white guilt or black pride and into the world of empathy and love for fellow humans.  Worthy of every award it has won, including this year’s Oscar for best picture and Lupita Nyong’o for best supporting actress, 12 Years a Slave is an modern classic that will be impactful for decades to come.  A+

The Grandmaster
Rated PG-13 for violence, some smoking, brief drug use and language
Available on DVD and Blu-ray
Ip Man, Bruce Lee’s legendary martial arts instructor, has been a major subject of asian cinema over the last few years.  Once again his story is being told, only this time with iconic director Wong Kar-wei (In the Mood for Love), big stars like Tony Leung (Lust, Caution) and Ziyi Zhang (Memoirs of a Geisha), and action choreographer Yuen Wo Ping (Kill Bill).  The production is very good and deserving of the two Oscar noms for cinematography and costume design, but the story is difficult to follow and frankly quite annoying.  I really wanted to like the movie but I was just too distracted by the lousy writing and narcissistic excess.  I’m sure there is something lost in translation here, but I love martial arts films and I couldn’t enjoy this one at all.  C