New in Home Entertainment
May 9, 2017
A Dog’s Purpose
Rated PG for thematic elements and some peril
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 31%
Like a two-hour-long Hallmark commercial, A Dog’s Purpose attempts to force its audience to cry for pretty much the entire time by showing us multiple stories about a dog going from life to life, attempting to keep its humans happy in spite of their abilities to be good owners or not. While I doubt there are many who will love this film, I think most dog lovers (myself included) will appreciate it and its attempt to capture what it is to be a dog in search of love and acceptance from the world around it. Some of the stories are especially manipulative, such as the police dog storyline, but the truth hurts sometimes, which in its own cheesy way, this film attempts to portray. Yes it is sometimes cruel, but it nonetheless honest in its portrayal of our four-legged friends and what drives them to make us humans love them. C+
Heat
Rated R for adult situations/language, sex and violence
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 86%
In 1995 Michael Mann brought together Robert De Niro as a bank robber facing Al Pacino as a cop trying to bring him down, in one of the greatest crime dramas of the modern era. This new edition does offer an hour of decent new features, but it would have been nice to instead have a 4k restoration for us cinephiles who truly love this epic drama. So if you already own it on 1080p, this might not have enough to offer in order to purchase again, but if you don’t, or better yet if you haven’t seen it yet, this is one movie you must check out. A
Inside Amy Schumer: Season Four
Comedy Central’s hit sketch comedy show, featuring one of America’s hottest comics, takes a slight stumble after its amazing season 3 (The 12 Angry Men episode had me in stitches) but still provides a tremendous amount of laughter, although it is certainly hit and miss. The season starts off strong as she tries to perform for Hamilton’s Lin Manuel Miranda in a Hamilton knock off, but tends to bore in many of its later season sketches. Still, there is no doubt that this is one insanely funny and talented woman who is willing to take a chance to make us both laugh and think while she explores comedy’s edges. B-