Author: crunchonthis

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New in Home Entertainment – August 20, 2013

New in Home Entertainment

August 20, 2013

Epic
Rated PG for mild action, some scary images and brief rude language
Available on DVD, Blu-ray and Blu-ray 3D
When a teenage girl is forced to live with her eclectic scientist father, she accidentally finds herself miniaturized and forced into a battle between good and evil in the natural world.  On first hearing about this new animated film I was very excited and had the highest hopes.  While the movie didn’t live up to my expectations, it did deliver an action-packed  adventure that felt geared almost more to adults than children.  I also fully expected a preachy environmental film and refreshingly, that was far from the case here.  Instead of a message, you simply get a story that is fun enough to keep you entertained for about a hundred minutes.  B-

Boardwalk Empire: The Complete Third Season
Rated TV-MA
Available on DVD and Blu-ray
Nucky Thompson (Steve Buscemi) is back in HBO’s hit series about Atlantic City during the prohibition era.  It’s hard to build on a season like number two with its shocking conclusion, but the third takes it up a notch, largely due to the introduction of the absolutely insane  and unpredictable Bobby Cannavale.  While Michael Shannon’s side story seems a little far-fetched, the rest of the show keeps you biting your fingernails for twelve thrilling episodes, just in time to set you up for season four starting on September 8th.  A-

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Jobs

Jobs
Starring Ashton Kutcher, Josh Gad and Dermot Mulroney
Directed by Joshua Michael Stern (Swing Vote)
Rated PG-13 for some drug content and brief strong language

    Apple founder Steve Jobs is easily considered to be one of the most important people in modern history and telling his life’s story on film had to be a daunting challenge.  In this new biopic Ashton Kutcher takes on the iconic role telling the tale of the infamous Apple founder and what brought him to greatness.  

    I’m sure many will predict that Kutcher will be the reason for the film’s failure without even seeing it.  After all, he’s not exactly known as being one of the greatest actors in Hollywood.  Surprisingly, his performance here is good enough.  And that’s saying a lot.  He looks and talks the part just fine and doesn’t distract from the story.  Mind you, he’s not as good as the excellent Josh Gad who plays Jobs’ partner Steve Wozniak, but my level of respect for Kutcher has risen.  

    Where the film suffers greatly is in the story, or better yet, the parts of the story they decided to tell.  If you’re one of the millions who read the biography by Walter Isaacson, there are some obviously vital parts of his life that are simply brushed over here.  I agree that Steve’s college and Atari years, as well as his garage days building computers, was essential, but probably the most crucial part of his life was when he was fired from Apple and what he did next.  This part of the story is basically glossed over.          This is when he was responsible for the success of Pixar, the seeds of the modern Mac computer and the ideas that brought us what we think of when we hear the word Apple.  The humbling experience of getting kicked out of the company he created changed him in a way that sent repercussions throughout the world.  In this movie, the period is simply a title card telling us that years had passed.  Maybe the filmmakers thought that they didn’t have the time if they wanted to keep the movie to two hours, but without representing this period in his life, they really didn’t represent the part of his life that made him the man we know today.   

    Also, the film has a definite made for TV quality that seems a little out of place in a movie theater.  It suffers from having a fairly inexperienced director and a first-time screenwriter.  Under more experienced hands and with a better script, the movie would have been more impressive.  

    I still think the film has some merit and is slightly memorable, but I don’t think it’s the proper representation of the legendary figure.  C+

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New in Home Entertainment – August 13, 2013

New in Home Entertainment

August 13, 2013

Emperor
Rated PG-13 for violent content, brief strong language and smoking (historical)
Available on DVD and Blu-ray
During the U.S. occupation of Japan directly after their surrender during WWII, a young general (Matthew Fox) is assigned by General MacArthur (Tommy Lee Jones) to investigate war crimes and the possible involvement of the Japanese Emperor in the decision to attack Pearl Harbor.  The project feels like they really thought this was going to be a great, awards-worthy motion picture, but unfortunately everything plays flat and frankly a little boring.  Maybe they all lost their passion once they got on set or possibly in the editing room, or maybe they were just trying to be too cautiously sensitive with the material, but as a whole, the movie doesn’t really work all too well.  C+

To the Wonder
Rated R for some sexuality/nudity
Available on DVD and Blu-ray
Terrence Malick’s Tree of Life was one of my favorite films in recent memory, so I was excited to see how he would follow it up with his latest project about love and loss that takes place in my home state of Oklahoma.  In the picture, Ben Affleck falls for and brings back to Oklahoma a young European girl, played by Olga Kurylenko, but upon her exit he falls for a girl from town played by Rachel McAdams.  All the while a priest struggling with his faith, played by Javier Bardem, tries to help his community.  Unfortunately, Malick’s writing and directing style just doesn’t work well with this kind of movie.  For much of the film you get the sense that the characters only communicate through telepathy.  What should have been a beautiful and artistic film turns into an annoying and aggravating experience with lovely scenery.  Normally I would advise that this is a film for fans of the director only, but in this case I would advise against it since it could taint your image of him.  C

Girls: The Complete Second Season
Available on DVD and Blu-ray
This anti-Sex and the City from HBO continues in its second season as the four entitled and annoying young girls from New York flounder around trying to find themselves.  While I really can’t stand the characters, I also can’t take my eyes off them.  Their escapades and adventures are more entertaining than anything you might find on Duck Dynasty and the show will, probably for the first time, make you wish they’d put some clothes on.  And yet I can’t seem to stop watching.  Watching Girls is like sticking to a bad habit that you just put up with even though you could easily stop it at any time.  B

The Muppet Movie: The Nearly 35th Anniversary Edition
Rated G
Available on DVD and Blu-ray
Kermit, Ms. Piggy and the gang’s first adventure is finally getting the blu-ray touch up from Disney.  One of the first films I ever saw in theaters, the movie holds up surprisingly well and serves as not just a fun trip down memory lane but can also capture the attention and the imagination of the kiddos as well.  A-

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New in Home Entertainment – August 6, 2013



New in Home Entertainment

August 6, 2013   

Mud
Rated PG-13 for some violence, sexual references, language, thematic elements and smoking
Available on DVD and Blu-ray
Two young boys wandering the rivers of Arkansas befriend a man named Mud (Matthew McConaughey) who is hiding out from the law as he awaits the love of his life (Reese Witherspoon) to come to him.  This is simply a fascinating and surprising adventure full of great acting and superb writing.  McConaughey is on a roll with so many great films in the last two years and this one could finally get him a much-deserved Oscar nomination.  The story, revolving around three generations suffering from the disillusionment of love, is heartbreaking if not the slightest bit sexist.  But it is their story and it is so well-told you hardly care.  I love when a quiet little film like this makes such a huge impact.  A

The Place Beyond the Pines
Rated R for language throughout, some violence, teen drug and alcohol use, and a sexual reference
Available on DVD and Blu-ray
This highly unusual film tells the story of a young man (Ryan Gosling) who is convinced to rob banks in order to provide for his child and the cop that gets in the way (Bradley Cooper).  Telling three very distinct stories, the movie is far more ambitious than you would imagine and leaves you wondering if you just saw something great or just pretentious.  Don’t get me wrong – the performances by all are strong and the screenplay is solid, and it is out of the box filmmaking but honestly, my mind is still figuring out the verdict.  B

West of Memphis
Rated R for disturbing violent content and some language
Available on DVD and Blu-ray
In 1993, the bodies of three young boys were discovered in West Memphis, Arkansas, and subsequently, three teens were ramrodded through the court system and found guilty of the crime.  When technology was able to prove the innocence of the three men convicted, they were finally able to be released but not completely exonerated of their supposed crime.  This doc explores the complete failure of the American justice system, not only in regards to locking up and ruining the lives of the wrong people, but also not getting the proper justice the murdered children deserve.  The pic is completely sobering and extremely angering.  More than anything, it is just simply hard to believe that something like this is allowed to happen in America.  A-

Disney’s Robin Hood
Rated G
Available on Blu-ray
I’m very fond of this 1973 Disney classic about the adventures of Robin Hood as he and his Merry Men steal from the rich to give back to the poor.  While the very thought of this is bound to get a Republican all riled up, this movie not only will serve to entertain the kids but will teach them a valuable lesson as well about what can happen when greed is allowed to run unfettered by law.  This new HD transfer is gorgeous, making the film look truly better than ever.  And in no time at all you’ll be singing along to the wonderful Roger Miller soundtrack.  Also being released this week from the Disney vault are the mediocre Oliver and Company and The Sword in the Stone.  B+

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Fruitvale Station

Fruitvale Station
Starring Michael B Jordan, Melonie Diaz and Octavia Spencer
Directed by Ryan Coogler
Rated R for some violence, language throughout and some drug use
I have to admit that I’m tired of hearing about Trayvon Martin and George Zimmerman.  I’m convinced it was a tragedy but I’m not sold on injustice.  What surprises me is how much coverage the Trayvon Martin case is getting and how little coverage this true story that took place in 2008 in Oakland got.  Telling the story of the last day of Oscar Grant’s life before a true injustice befell him at the Fruitvale BART Station in Oakland, the movie is a beautiful, poignant and horrific punch to the gut.  The screenplay is absolutely amazing and the directing by relative newcomer Ryan Coogler is sure to garner attention come awards season.  I was completely blown away and I have a feeling this one will be rattling around in my head for some time.  A

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The Wolverine



The Wolverine
Starring Hugh Jackman, Tao Okamoto and Rila Fukushima
Directed by James Mangold (Knight and Day)
Rated PG-13 for sequences of intense sci-fi action and violence, some sexuality and language
The first Wolverine solo outing proved to be a huge disappointment but this new adventure looked like it had all of the ingredients for a great comeback.  In this latest journey, Logan makes a trip to Japan to visit a dying friend only to find himself losing his abilities while attempting to save the man’s granddaughter.  For the first two acts the movie proves to be very enjoyable.  The set piece on the bullet train is especially thrilling.  Unfortunately, once the third act hits the movie runs out of steam and becomes incredibly inconsistent in regards to Wolverine’s powers.  The third act had so many problems that I had a tough time focusing on the story and basically become over-distracted by the bad filmmaking.  In addition, at the beginning of the third act Wolverine throws out a huge F-bomb that I’m sure parents will love.  I’m not a prude, but I don’t think this kind of language belongs in our super hero films targeting pre-teens.  C

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The Conjuring

The Conjuring
Starring Vera Farmiga, Patrick Wilson, Ron Livingston and Lili Taylor
Directed by James Wan (Saw)
Rated R for sequences of disturbing violence and terror
Real life paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren (Wilson and Farmiga) have searched for evil activity in hundreds of homes but apparently this case of a demon haunting a family in Rhode Island is the one that they found to the most disturbing.  Personally, I was very scared watching it.  Easily Wan’s best film, this is a masterpiece of horror that relies on a credible and authentic look and feel rather than the torture porn normally passed off as horror nowadays.  The film is so well produced, written, directed and acted that there is no surprise that it is doing so well at the box-office.  So if you are like me and love it when the hair stands up on your neck, and you haven’t had that feeling in a while, you gotta check this one out.  A-

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New in Home Entertainment -July 30, 2013



New in Home Entertainment

July 30, 2013

G.I. Joe: Retaliation
Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of combat violence and martial acts action throughout, and for brief sensuality and language
Available on DVD, Blu-ray and Blu-ray 3D
Cobra is back and this time they have kidnapped the president and put an operative in disguise in the White House.  So, it’s once again up to the Joes to step in and rescue the world.  Insane plot doesn’t begin to describe this mess.  If you are in it for wall to wall action and zero in the brains department – by all means check this out.  Personally, it hurt my head trying to piece this one together.  It’s nothing more than a ludicrous story filled with tons of bloodless violence and muscle.  I’m sure if I were 13 again that might be just enough to keep me tuned in.  D+

Trance
Rated R for sexual content, graphic nudity, violence, some grisly images and language
Available on DVD and Blu-ray
Slumdog Millionaire director Danny Boyle tackles this story about a UK art auctioneer who foils an art heist only to be taken prisoner by the thieves until they can figure out how to clear up his amnesia and find where he hid the painting.  Part of the movie is deeply fascinating, such as the concept of stolen art and the fact that many stunning pieces have been taken and aregone forever.  Unfortunately, the story is so confounding that a good head scratch won’t come close to help you piece it together in time and by the moment you do, if you’re like me, you won’t care any longer.  Boyle has such a unique and seductive style to his filmmaking and its a shame it had to be wasted on this project.  C+

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Pacific Rim

Pacific Rim
Starring Charlie Hunnam, Idris Elba and Rinko Kikuchi
Directed by Guillermo del Toro (Pan’s Labyrinth)
Rated PG-13 for sequences of intense sci-fi action and violence throughout, and brief language

    In the near future, a rift opens up at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean allowing alien monsters to invade Earth, destroying everything in their sight.  In order to stop them, humankind has banded together to create giant robots roughly their size, capable of defeating the enormous beasts.  But as more and more of the creatures attack the planet, mankind must find a way to stop them before they are eradicated. 

    I’ve been super excited to see this film ever since I heard they were making it.  Guillermo del Toro has been one of my favorite directors for years and I love a good monster movie.  I was also very happy when I saw how well the film works.  The robot/monster fights are an epic spectacle and an absolute blast to watch on a big screen.  My only wish is that some of the fights could have been during the day when everything might be easier to see, but even with the huge battles taking place at night or under the water, the immensity of the project is still truly impressive. 

    I will admit that for the plot, you better be prepared to listen.  The exposition is complicated and comes at you quickly.  Personally, I found the sound in the theater I was in to be a little off, making some of the dialog a little hard to understand at times.  Since I missed some of the important exposition I had to rely on the internet, which is fine, but I wish I could have had a better understanding of everything while sitting in the theater.  But story aside, I was there to see monsters tearing stuff up and this just might be the mother of all monster films. 

    Also of note is that once again, I don’t think the 3D was necessary.  In fact since many theaters don’t do a good 3D projection and leave their projections too dim, the almost sunglass-like shading of the 3D glasses might just really cause the film to get way too dark.  Since the fights are all a little hard to see with good projection, I have a feeling that many theatergoers will be deeply disappointed in the 3D offering.  A-

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New in Home Entertainment – July 16, 2013

New in Home Entertainment

July 16, 2013

42
Rated PG-13 for thematic elements including language
Available on DVD and Blu-ray
In 1946 Brooklyn Dodgers owner Branch Rickey (Harrison Ford) made a huge gamble by introducing a black player, Jackie Robinson (newcomer Chadwick Boseman) into the white league.  When the gamble paid off, Jackie was an early face of a sweeping change that became a pivotal moment in the civil rights movement.  This film tells the story of how Jackie came to play for the Dodgers and the success he had with them.  Director Brian Helgeland (A Knight’s Tale) does a superb job of recreating this tumultuous and triumphant period in American history.  The problem with most biopics is they don’t tell very good stories, but this is a tidy little package that gives you a very good sense of the big picture.  The movie has a bit of cheese, such as the young black kid they keep coming back to as he idolizes his hero, but that’s bound to happen in a pic like this when fillmmakers feel they need to add these kinds of characters in order to show the impact of their protagonist.  I wouldn’t be a bit surprised if this movie finally gives Harrison Ford an Academy Award.  Not only is he great as Rickey, but being a legend without the big trophy has Oscar bait written all over it.  A-

Evil Dead
Rated R for strong bloody violence and gore, some sexual content and language
Available on DVD and Blu-ray
When director Sam Raimi created The Evil Dead in 1981, it was a cheaply-made but inspired comedy/horror that to this day is a huge cult classic.  Now, over 30 years later, he is producing this new vision of that film about a group of teens stuck in a cabin that are subject to an evil curse when one of them reads from the Book of the Dead.  The style of the film is creepy and extremely gory, but the film doesn’t come off as either scary or funny.  If you simply need a few good gotchas and whole lotta blood, then you’ll probably like this film.  As for me, I just couldn’t get into it or appreciate it.  I was expecting a spine tingling nightmare with a sense of humor and it just didn’t deliver the goods.  C

Bullet to the Head
Rated R for strong violence, bloody images, language, some nudity and brief drug use
Available on DVD and Blu-ray
In the 1970s and 80s director Walter Hill (The Warriors) and Sylvester Stallone (Rambo) were huge.  Unfortunately neither of them could pull in any semblance of a box office in this ultra-violent action film about a hitman who teams up with a cop in order take down a crime lord.  While not nearly as bad I thought it would be, it still isn’t a great film by any stretch of the imagination.  The dialog, filled with horrid exposition and cliches, sounds like something that Max Fischer could have written for his school plays at Rushmore.  But at 90 minutes, the film is tight and not boring.  That at least is something.  Then again, does anyone really want to see super violent right now?  The violence that a film like this portrays might finally be becoming undesirable.  C