New in Home Entertainment
January 12, 2016
Irrational Man
Rated R for some language and sexual content
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 42%
Available on DVD and Blu-ray
Woody Allen’s latest stars Joaquin Phoenix as a burnt out writer who becomes a professor at a small college only to get a new lease on life when he toys with the idea of killing a local judge to help out a random stranger. The film starts out as a potentially sweet rom com, but turns too dark once the professor takes his eyes off of a desiring love interest (Emma Stone) and onto murder in the first degree. There are some pretty entertaining moments on occasion, but much of the plot seems too forced and the overall result is blah. C
The Look of Silence
Rated PG-13 for thematic material involving disturbing graphic descriptions of atrocities and inhumanity
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 96%
Indonesian with English Subtitles
Available on DVD and Blu-ray
From The Act of Killing director Joshua Oppenheimer comes this sobering foreign documentary that follows a young man who interviews several men who were responsible for brutally killing his brother (and many more civilians) during the genocide that took place decades ago in Indonesia. The perpetrators were not only left unpunished for their atrocities but they were considered heroes by many and to this day hold positions of power within the country. The film shows a sick side of humanity while at the same time examining extreme bravery as the man confronts his very neighbors who describe with a smile on their face the violent ways they killed indiscriminately. Being a subject that not many Americans know about, it brings to the forefront a desperate cry for respect for our fellow man and an empathy for those who have undergone such horrible tragedies without any way of ever exacting justice. The knowledge is only slightly helpful given the level of helplessness seen by the movie’s characters. A-