Month: September 2016

New in Home Entertainment

September 20, 2016

Neighbors 2
Rated R for crude sexual content including brief graphic nudity, language throughout, drug use and teen partying
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 62%
Available on DVD and Blu-ray
Following up on the events of Neighbors, where a young married couple (Seth Rogen and Rose Byrne) take on the fraternity house next door, it is now a couple of years later and they want to sell their home. With the fraternity gone this should be no problem, except now a group of rebellious girls wanting to start a sorority take over the old fraternity house. Where the first film was just a standard adult comedy, this new outing is so much more than its surface level. The girls, while making completely horrible neighbors, are also rebelling against the way girls are treated in sororities, college and life in general, making this an impactful feminist manifesto. Sure it’s raunchy, but its thoughtful at its heart which elevates it past other such films in the genre, including the original. B+

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows
Rated PG-13 for sci-fi action violence
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 38%
Available on DVD, Blu-ray, Blu-ray 3D and 4K Ultra HD
This second of the new Ninja Turtles movies finds the turtle brothers at war with a new foe while contemplating leaving their life of secrecy for a world of appreciated heroism. It’s cheesy and the plot is as ridiculous as any other Ninja Turtles movie, but if you are looking for non-stop action, this film does provide in spades. For adults, it’s not the best way I can think of to spend 97 minutes, but kids seem to like it and there are worse forms of mindless entertainment. C

Free State of Jones
Rated R for brutal battle scenes and disturbing graphic images
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 46%
Available on DVD and Blu-ray
You would think that when you mix famed writer/director Gary Ross (The Hunger Games) with Matthew McConaughey in a Civil War drama, you would be looking down the barrel of an Oscar. But instead, this drama about a defiant southern farmer fighting the Confederacy ends up to be a big mess. Its very downfall is its ambition, making the story more convoluted and complicated than it needs to be. Perhaps if they wanted to provide this much material, it would have been better suited as a television mini-series. The project has great potential but it falls under its own weight. C

Aliens: 30th Anniversary Edition
Rated R
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 98%
Available on Blu-ray
While 30 years old, this sequel to Ridley Scott’s masterpiece is still an amazing piece of filmmaking. It works on so many levels including sci-fi, horror, thriller and war drama. The question is, do you really need a new copy? Chances are, you probably already own a previous one. To entice you, the price point is low ($14.99 on Amazon) and it comes with both versions of the film and a terrific new interview with James Cameron about the making of the project. It also has a beautiful new collector’s book and a set of art cards. So if they hadn’t sent me a free one – I would have ordered without hesitation. A

New in Home Entertainment

September 13, 2016

Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping
Rated R for some graphic nudity, language throughout, sexual content and drug use
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 77% (Certified Fresh)
Available on DVD and Blu-ray
While Lonely Island is a popular entity on SNL, Universal created zero buzz around this comedy gem before suddenly dumping it in a few theaters over the summer. But this mocumentary, about a breakout pop star (Andy Samberg) who can’t keep his success alive on his second album, is pure comedy gold. The songs from Lonely Island are consistently funny and at 86 minutes, the joke doesn’t have the time to get stale. I laughed so hard I had to watch it again the next day in order to catch what I missed the first time. It is a very hard R so be careful about having the kids around or you may hear some catchy songs coming out of their mouths that could find them in the Breakfast Club. A

Captain America: Civil War
Rated PG-13 for extended sequences of violence, action and mayhem
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 90% (Certified Fresh)
Available on DVD, Blu-ray,and Blu-ray 3D
This third installment of Captain America is arguably the best yet and really should be considered an all-out Avengers film. As the Avengers take sides due to a United Nations mandate that they have accountability for their actions, a new foe sneaks in to take advantage of the split. It’s a fun super hero romp with lots of suits to excite lots of fans. The plot is strong, the action exciting and while a bit long at 147 minutes, it is a fully engaging piece of entertainment. A-

The Conjuring 2
Rated R for terror and horror violence
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 80% (Certified Fresh)
Available on DVD and Blu-ray
From the stories of real-life demon hunters Ed and Lorraine Warren, comes this sequel to the 2013 hit where the couple head this time to London to take on what Ed considers in his book, The Demonologist, to be their most frightening encounter of their career as they attempt to excise a demon-possessed little girl. What makes this one so scary is its authenticity. To make your experience that much more terrorizing they actually play the real recordings during the closing credits to give you extra special nightmares. Good stuff for the horror fans. A-

New in Home Entertainment

September 6, 2016

Money Monster
Rated R for language throughout, some sexuality and brief violence
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 58%
Available on DVD and Blu-ray
Jodi Foster directs this high intensity thriller about a Jim Cramer-like figure (played here by George Clooney) whose wacky investor TV show causes an unstable and angry man to take him hostage on live TV due to bad advice given on a previous segment. The movie is a relevant nail-biter with some very good performances, but Clooney is terribly miscast and the screenplay is a mess in regards to believability. It feels like the movie could have been so much more but they settled for way less than its potential. B-

The Ones Below
Rated R for language, some sexuality and some nudity
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 71%
Available on DVD and Blu-ray
This thriller focuses on two expecting married couples living in the same house on different floors. When the couple on the bottom floor loses their baby and blames the couple above, a strange and scary dynamic grows between them. While it’s sold as a horror film, it plays more like a Hitchcock thriller, full of suspense and discomfort. The performances are terrific, providing an authenticity you normally don’t get from a film such as this. It’s a very dark path to the end, but if you like this sort of genre, it will stick with you. B+

Road House
Rated R
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 39%
Available on Blu-ray
In this super cheesy 80’s action pic, Patrick Swayze stars as a bouncer hired to come in and clean up a local bar to make it more respectable. Once he gets into town, he is forced to deal with the local crime lord. While it really is a terrible movie, it still holds nostalgia with me so for that reason I can loosely recommend it. In addition, the new transfer looks and sounds great and there is a lot of new material in the two disc set in case you are a big fan. B-

South Park: The Complete Nineteenth Season
Available on DVD and Blu-ray
It’s hard to believe that Trey Parker and Matt Stone have kept this thing going for as long as they have. It’s even harder to believe that almost 20 years after its first season, they have created their best and most relevant season yet. Here in 19 the boys are still the same age and the town of South Park has been gentrified with a new Whole Foods and other suburban luxuries designed for a thriving middle class. In addition, there is a new frat boy principal (PC Principal) who helps to usher in social consciousness while slamming beers with his bra’s (bro’s in frat speak). It is a fabulous set of episodes, breathing new life into a very long-running series. A