New in Home Entertainment
July 29, 2014
Noah
Rated PG-13 for violence, disturbing images and brief suggestive content
Available on DVD and Blu-ray
I love a good biblical epic and there have been relatively few in my lifetime. So when I heard that one of my favorite directors, Darren Aronofsky (Black Swan) was tackling the story of Noah, I got rather excited. I was even more excited after seeing it. The movie is wildly creative, extremely well-acted by its talented cast including Russell Crowe, Anthony Hopkins, Jennifer Connelly, Ray Winstone and Logan Lerman, and it even manages to stick to the bible, for the most part, while still adding many unthought of dimensions. It is rich and inventive storytelling that is sensitive to its source material. One warning though. The actual story of Noah isn’t about a happy man on a boat with animals. It is a dark tale and one of the most violent moments in history or literature. That being said, this is probably not the best film for young children to be watching, regardless of being PG-13. A
GMO OMG
Unrated
Available on DVD
While many recent documentaries have attempted to tackle the issue of food corporations and their Genetically Modified Organisms, this film holds GMOs as its central focus as it discusses their impact on farmers and food crops world-wide. The film is most successful at showing that by living in America, it will be hard to avoid GMOs and the problems associated with them. The movie stirs up a lot of questions but gives little in the way of answers. I do think it gives a good argument for eating organic and the need for product labeling, but it fails as a battle cry, simply because we are limited to what we can do about it. It’s more of a take notice movie rather than a take action one. B
The Big Chill: Criterion Edition
Rated R
Available on DVD and Blu-ray
Lawrence Kasdan’s hugely influential 1983 film about a group of yuppies that gather together for a weekend to remember the passing of a friend is getting the Criterion treatment with this new release. It’s nice to have the large collection of features associated with Criterion, but I was a bit disappointed in the digital film transfer as it doesn’t give off that crisp look we are used to. Also, while I understand the importance of the film, I’m still not the biggest fan of it. It’s much more about character than story and watching a bunch of now big actors “find themselves” is tedious. Still, the film has influenced many, many movies and filmmakers since and included is an essay by Girls creator Lena Dunham to discuss the film’s impact on her and its actual relationship to the real world. B