New in Home Entertainment
November 11, 2014
Jersey Boys
Rated R for language throughout
Available on DVD and Blu-ray
Since Rob Marshall took home the Oscar for Chicago a decade ago, we’ve seen many of our favorite Broadway musicals hit the big screen. Continuing with that trend is this Tony-winning musical about Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons and their rise to stardom in the ‘60s. Directed by the iconic Clint Eastwood, you would think that this was a home run waiting to happen, but unfortunately something just feels flat throughout. On stage this musical is pure dynamite, not at all similar to many of the juke box musicals we’ve seen staged recently. But that magic proves difficult to bottle here as the movie lacks energy and power and ultimately bogs down under its own weight. Perhaps Eastwood was the wrong choice for such a high profile project or maybe it is just entirely miscast, but something just doesn’t feel right when watching. C
Tammy
Rated R for language including sexual references
Available on DVD and Blu-ray
Melissa McCarthy headlines this wannabe comedy about a loser who goes on a road trip with her grandma, played by Susan Sarandon. Directed by McCarthy’s husband Ben Falcone, the movie sells itself as a comedy but there is little laughter to be had. The characters are so desperate and sad that the film actually comes off as more pathetic than anything. Tammy is like a SNL character that might be interesting in a five-minute sketch, but this ninety-six minute movie is a miserable experience. D
True Blood: The Complete Seventh Season
Rated TV-MA
Available on DVD and Blu-ray
For the first five seasons of this naughty Lousiana vampire saga, I was quite taken. Then came the less than stellar season six and now the deplorable seventh and final season. Packing 4 episodes worth of material into 10 episodes was such a bad idea for HBO as each hour passed in misery. First a major character would die, then we would spend the next episode talking about it. I almost stopped watching but I wanted to see how painful it would get, and boy did it hurt. If you are new to true blood, stop with season five and you’ll be in much better shape. F
UHF: 25th Anniversary Edition
Rated PG-13
Available on Blu-ray
Now that “Weird Al” Yankovic has finally scored his first number one album, its time to celebrate his storied career as a master of parody. This movie from 1989 tells the story of a weirdly creative and lovable loser who takes over a small UHF station in town. Creating original and whacky programming, he quickly becomes a target for the big networks. While extremely dated, I still laugh at the same jokes I laughed out when I was watching back in High School. And for you Seinfeld fans out there, this film practically launched the career of Michael “Kramer” Richards who turns in an absolutely brilliant physical comedy performance here as the lovable janitor Stanley Spadowski. A-
The Bruce Lee Premiere Collection
Rated R
Available on Blu-ray
While this collection of martial arts masterpieces starring the legendary Bruce Lee is getting a blu-ray release here, there is a lot to be desired. Containing The Big Boss, Fist of Fury, The Way of the Dragon and Game of Death, the set is a nice cross-section of Lee’s work, but the films are in desperate need of remastering. They don’t look much different from their DVD counterparts and the language tracks need some extreme re-working. If you’ve never seen, it might be good enough, but if you are a big fan, get ready to be disappointed. C+