New in Home Entertainment
January 5, 2016
Infinitely Polar Bear
Rated R for language
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 79%
Available on DVD and Blu-ray
Mark Ruffalo plays a man suffering from bipolar disorder who attempts to rebuild his family as he gets the opportunity to take care of his two young daughters while their mother, played by Zoe Saldana, goes to business school. With almost any other actor this would be considered movie-of-the-week material at best, but with Ruffalo as the lead, the movie is upgraded to so much more. His performance goes beyond quirky. You actually feel like you know the character and while annoying, you can even stand to be around him by the end. Honestly, I’m not sure I would have watched the film had Mark not been nominated for a Golden Globe for the role, but I’m glad I did as the movie is entertaining and a great showcase for a true talent. B
Experimenter
Rated PG-13 for thematic material and brief strong language
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 88%
Available on DVD and Blu-ray
In 1961, Yale professor Stanley Milgram (Peter Sarsgaard) conducted a controversial experiment that showed how obedient ordinary people could be, even when they think they could be harming a fellow subject in the experiment. This movie explores that case and its long-term ramifications. When the film is showing us Milgram’s life and his contributions the film is fascinating. When the fourth wall is completely disassembled and it gets too artsy, the film loses focus. In spite of its occasional distractions, the film is entertaining, informative and at the same time very frightening when you think of how it explains modern-day headlines. B-
The Visit
Rated PG-13 for disturbing thematic material including terror, violence and some nudity, and for brief language
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 64%
Available on DVD and Blu-ray
Writer/Director M. Night Shyamalan was in great need of a hit after his run of failures including The Last Airbender, The Happening and After Earth. Instead of keeping at the big-budget thriller game, he went with the low-budget, found footage approach with this film about a young girl who records she and her brother’s trip to visit the grandparents they have never met. While there, they discover that grandma and grandpa carry a dark and disturbing secret. While not the scariest film of the year, the story ends up being effective and refreshingly funny due to a twisted sense of humor and some great acting from the mostly unknown cast. And since the film cost relatively nothing to make, it ended up being Shyamalan’s first hit in over a decade. B