New in Home Entertainment
October 13, 2015
Tomorrowland
Rated PG for sequences of sci-fi action violence and peril, thematic elements, and language
Available on DVD and Blu-ray
In the hopes of giving life to a theme park attraction, Disney created the huge tentpole Tomorrowland and threw one of Hollywood’s biggest stars, George Clooney, into the mix with a story about a young girl on a mysterious journey to find the future. While full of lush and beautiful special effects, the film’s plot, or lack thereof, kills any chance of keeping its audience engaged during the adventure. It’s not horrible but it is a mess. C
San Andreas
Rated PG-13 for intense disaster action and mayhem throughout, and brief strong language
Available on DVD, Blu-ray and Blu-ray 3D
Dwayne Johnson stars in this new disaster pic that asks “what would a huge earthquake along the San Andreas fault would actually look like?” While visually interesting, the story is quite insane. Where most disaster films will follow many storylines, San Andreas essentially has two. The first is Paul Giamatti plays the scientist who discovers the earthquake will occur as it occurs, which makes him quite useless. And then The Rock plays a determined copter pilot who attempts to fly from L.A. to San Francisco to rescue his daughter, who he assumes will be the only human to escape the disaster. So if you are going to watch, turn off your brain, multitask with a game on your iPhone, and you might be able to pull off a little enjoyment. C-
Mad Men: The Final Season, Part 2
Available on DVD and Blu-ray
Rather than letting Mad Men ride into the 1970s and beyond, AMC decided to do a very brave thing with one of America’s most loved shows: kill it before it dies. The last season doesn’t tie up all of the loose ends but it does give us a reprieve from watching Don Draper (Jon Hamm) crash and burn, and you get to leave knowing that almost everyone will be just fine without you watching. When you compare the last episode to that of AMC’s other hit drama which recently ended, Breaking Bad, it is clear to see that the network has put an emphasis on going out on a true high note. A
Dexter: The Complete Series
Rated TV-MA
Available on DVD and Blu-ray
Dexter is just your mild-mannered forensic expert for the Miami police department by day who by night transforms into a serial killer who only kills the bad guys who escape justice. While the show started out great, it unfortunately lasted two seasons too long. That being said, the first six seasons here are really worth watching and believe me – they are easy to burn through. B