New in Home Entertainment
June 27, 2017
T2 Trainspotting
Rated R for drug use, language throughout, strong sexual content, graphic nudity and some violence
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 78%
Being that 1996’s Trainspotting is one of my all-time favorite movies, I was extremely excited to see what director Danny Boyle (Trainspotting, Slumdog Millionaire) could do with this long-awaited sequel. Taking place 20 years later, the old team of Mark, Spud and Sick Boy, (Ewan McGergor, Ewen Bremner and Jonny Lee Miller) get together for another bit of illegal enterprise (dealing in sex instead of heroine like before), only to be haunted by their old teammate Begbie (Robert Carlyle) who has escaped from prison with the one goal of revenge alone in his priorities. While dark in tone, the film plays like a comedy and provides some of the biggest laughs I’ve seen at the movies this year. While not as impactful as its predecessor, I found the film to be immensely enjoyable and still surprisingly insightful. A
CHIPS
Rated R for crude sexual content, graphic nudity, pervasive language, some violence and drug use
Rotten Tomatoes 16%
With the moderately impressive successes of old TV throwbacks like 21 Jump Street, it makes sense that some studio would throw some money at the old hit CHIPS (California Highway Patrol) in the hopes of another retro-based hit. Here Dax Sheppard, who writes, directs and stars as Jon Baker, teams up with undercover agent Frank Poncherello (Michael Pena) to take down crime. Honestly, this film had me bored from the very start. I like Sheppard and Pena, but the script here is simply awful and unfunny and unfortunately a miserable theatrical experience. I have no doubt there were good intentions, but man is this comedy a true stinker, worthy of the bad reviews and insults it has received. F
The Pink Panther Collection
Blake Edwards’ classic 60s, 70s and 80’s Pink Panther films get the blu-ray touch here with this collection highlighting the talents of one of the greatest actors in Hollywood history, Peter Sellers, as his French inspector Jacques Clouseau chases down jewel thieves. While not all of the films are necessarily worth your attention, they make for a highly entertaining collection. This six-movie set includes The Pink Panther, A Shot in the Dark (my favorite), The Return of the Pink Panther, The Pink Panther Strikes Again, Revenge of the Pink Panther and Trail of the Pink Panther. And because it highlights Sellers rather than all of the other Panther films without him, there is a cohesiveness and pattern to the set that is best felt with these six pictures. B+