Category: DVD Review

New in Home Entertainment

April 29, 2014

Labor Day
Rated PG-13 for thematic material, brief violence and sexuality
Available on DVD and Blu-ray
Jason Reitman has brought us some big commercial and critical hits since he came on the scene with such films as Juno, Up in the Air and Young Adult, but his latest creation landed with a thud at both the box office and with reviewers. Labor Day casts Josh Brolin as an escaped convict who forces himself onto a divorced mother played by Kate Winslet, and her teenage son.  At first the relationship seems like a home invasion, but slowly the three manage to develop a symbiosis.  While not one of the best films of 2013, it certainly didn’t deserve the piling on it received by critics.  I can see why some see it as a little cheesy, but ultimately I think it comes off as a sweet little story with some terrific performances and a thought-provoking narrative.  B

New in Home Entertainment

April 22, 2014

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty
Rated PG for some crude comments, language and action violence
Available on DVD and Blu-ray
This story has been in the works for years with directors like Steven Spielberg, Ron Howard and Gore Verbinski attached to direct icons like Jim Carrey, Sacha Baron Cohen and Mike Myers.  But finally Ben Stiller got a hold of it to both helm and star.  For all of the hoopla, the film, which follows a photography lab rat who goes on a world-wide adventure to find a missing photograph, sure plays poorly.  It’s a beautifully produced picture that looks epic from the trailers but ends up being much smaller than it should be.  While Stiller is a good fit for the role of Mitty, many of the actors seem miscast.  The typically great Adam Scott is just annoying as the unbelievable bully and I sensed zero chemistry between Stiller and Kristen Wiig.  While Stiller is typically a great comedy director, this film doesn’t give a sense of that.  It is poorly paced throughout and brushes over some huge plot holes.  Sure it’s a fantasy, but it lacks the necessary authenticity needed to hold it together.  C

Earth Day Movies: Tapped and Greedy Lying Bastards
Available on DVD
You don’t have to be a hippie to appreciate the planet we live on and want to do what is possible to take care of it.  On Memorial Day weekend I love to watch old war movies.  In December I love to watch Christmas films.  And in late April I love to take in documentaries about what kind of damage we are doing to the planet.  This Earth Day I’d like to encourage you to check out a couple that have impressed me.  Tapped tells the story of big corporate water companies and what they are really up to.  It is shocking to think about the fact that bottled water costs more than oil in this country.  It is a challenging film that will make you think twice about how you are getting your fluids.  Even more frightening and angering is Greedy Lying Bastards which shows the length that corporations will go to cover up and make the public doubt the real causes of global warming.  While the narration by the director sounds a bit too much like Mr. Garrison from South Park, the message is clear and unfortunately very frustrating.  Tapped A-;  Greedy Lying Bastards B

Mr Magoo: The Theatrical Collection 1949-1959
Available on DVD
The Mr. Magoo I remember watching as a kid was a funny bumbling old man, but I kind of thought that the show would be a little stale by today’s standards.  These shorts that were made exclusively for movie theaters prove this theory false as the cartoons now could be considered extremely insensitive and remarkably funny.  It’s a show that could not be made today the way it was then.  This new DVD set from Shout Factory presents all 53 theatrical cartoons much of them in in their original Cinemascope aspect ratio, plus the feature film 1001 Arabian Nights.  While it will be a nice piece of nostalgia and humor for older audiences, due to its nature, it’s probably not the best cartoon to demonstrate to your kids what your childhood was like.  B+

New in Home Entertainment

April 15, 2014

The Nut Job
Rated PG for mild action and rude humor
Available on DVD, Blu-ray and Blu-ray 3D
The last several months have been filled with some very quality animated features such as Frozen, The Lego Movie and Mr. Peabody and Sherman but there have also been a lot of really terrible movies like this stinker from Universal about a group of city park animals who attempt to rob a nut store in order to feed themselves.  They got together some big names like Will Arnett, Brendan Frasier, Liam Neeson and Katherine Heigl, but the story is weak and the animation is embarrassingly bad given today’s accepted level of artistry.  This is the work of a group of studio hacks who are trying to capitalize on a lack of family entertainment and hoping that their pic can sneak in and sneak out of theaters in time to make a little money.  D

Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones
Rated R for pervasive language, some violence, graphic nudity and some drug use
Available on DVD and Blu-ray
This 5th chapter in the Pararnormal Activity franchise follows the “found footage” concept like the previous ones but this time a new set of characters in a Latino neighborhood in Southern California communicate with the demon from the other films and a new set of scary troubles ensue.  I’ll admit that I was scared senseless by the first two films in the franchise.  Even to this day the hair stands up on the back of my neck just thinking about them.  But with the last few additions my neck hair has remained dormant.  This newest pic has some good ideas and is a nice new direction, but the scares are few and it fails to deliver a good punch to the gut.  C+

The 400 Blows: The Criterion Edition
Available on Blu-ray/DVD Combo
French with English Subtitles
It’s hard to describe what makes Francois Truffaut’s first full-length feature film such a classic but simply put it is an exhilarating ride that is hard to take your eyes off of.  An early example of the French New Wave, The 400 Blows is a semi-biographical look at the director’s young life, telling the tale of a young pre-teen who just can’t seem to make home-life or school-life work for him but all the while has wonderful adventures playing hooky through the streets of Paris.  After watching this marvelous 1959 classic, you must take in the fantastic audio commentary featuring cinema professor Brian Stonehill as he discusses the real life events that formed this fictional work.  A

New in Home Entertainment

April 8, 2014

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
Rated PG-13 for extended sequences of intense fantasy action violence, and frightening images
Available on DVD, Blu-ray and Blu-ray 3D
Part two of Peter Jackson’s Hobbit saga follows Bilbo Baggins and his cohort of dwarves as they journey to the Lonely Mountain where they must face the dragon Smaug.  As with the first film, this is a solid piece of fantasy film-making, but so overly long.  Artistically it is an amazing achievement with beautiful cinematography, amazing special effects, good acting, and another terrific score by Howard Shore.  But at 161 minutes in length, by the end of this second movie you are five and a half hours in and there is still one more part to go.  To label as excessive is an understatement.  With The Lord of the Rings, time was respectable as there was a lot of story to tell.  But to give the same amount of time to what is essentially one short novel is fun in moments, but very boring at others.  I know he’s including additional story not found in the book The Hobbit in order to create a closer tie to The Lord of the Rings, but this is too much.  And that’s coming from a huge fan.  Still, I will line up to see number three, just like the rest of the world, and sit down and take my medicine.  And like it.   B

August: Osage County
Rated R for language including sexual references and for drug material
Available on DVD and Blu-ray
It is hard for a play to translate well to the screen, even when you pop out the best actors in America like Meryl Streep, Julia Roberts, Ewan McGregor, Chris Cooper and many, many others.  The proof of this is this Tony award winning play by Tracy Letts about a highly dysfunctional family that have all come back home to rural Oklahoma after a crisis.  On stage the story is a somewhat sad, but hysterical look at a family that you are more than thankful isn’t yours.  But on screen you get a bunch of legendary actors fighting it out with great performances that fall flat.  Perhaps if we didn’t recognize everyone so well the film could have been just as enjoyable as the stage production, but that connection I wanted to feel again just wasn’t there.  My advice is to skip the movie and catch the play as it is sure to make its rounds over and over again in both big and small play houses for years to come.  C+

King Kong vs. Godzilla
Available on Blu-ray
Making its blu-ray debut is this classic monster movie from 1962 which has the great King Kong facing the horrible Godzilla in a legendary brawl.  Okay, its not legendary, but it is fun to watch two dudes in really bad creature suits going at it over a cheaply built set.  Honestly, the movie works like a comedy better than it does a monster movie.  My family and I had a blast watching the silly battle and the irregular and awkward story.  This definitely falls into the “so bad its almost good” category.  B-

New in Home Entertainment

March 18, 2014

Frozen
Rated PG for some action and mild rude humor
Available on DVD, Blu-ray and Blu-ray 3D
I would have never thought that Disney’s latest princess flick would be the avalanche that it has become, but it has turned out to be the mouse house’s biggest animated hit in years.  Now it enters homes hot off its two Oscar wins (best song and best animated feature) and will most likely fly off of the shelves to become a record-breaking dvd/blu-ray release.  The music is extremely catchy and the story, about a princess with the power to freeze her surroundings and her sister who longs to have a relationship with her, is as touching as it is entertaining.  It is highly aware of itself as it tries to debunk the old-fashioned notion of love at first sight and the power of true love’s kiss, but this does not distract from the enjoyment in the least.  A-

Saving Mr. Banks
Rated PG-13 for thematic elements including some unsettling images. 
Available on DVD and Blu-ray
While I was surprised that Frozen has become such a hit, I was even more surprised that Saving Mr. Banks was such a miss.  After all, it has Tom Hanks as Walt Disney trying to woo Emma Thompson as P.L. Travers into allowing him to make one of his all-time classics, Mary Poppins.  It’s a fantastic story with amazing performances by a very talented cast including Hanks, Thompson, Paul Giamatti, Jason Schwartzman, Collin Farrell and others.  I hope that on DVD this one gets the crowd it should have gotten in theaters.  A

Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom
Rated PG-13 for disturbing images, brief strong language, intense sequences of violence and sexual content
Based on Nelson Mandela’s very thick autobiography, Long Walk tells the story of the man who has been given the credit for ending apartheid in South Africa.  The performance by Idris Elba as Mandela is really fantastic, but as with many biopics, the movie suffers under its own weight.  I finished watching feeling educated about some of the major events of his time, but the story and script were less than impressive.  C+

Monsters: The Complete Series
Available on DVD
From 1988-91, the Sci-Fi channel brought us 72 half-hour episodes of this cult classic show which revolved around all sorts of monsters starring all sorts of stars like Steve Buscemi, David Spade and Lili Taylor.  While it could be extremely cheesy at times, it has surprisingly good creature effects for its time.  While I didn’t get to see all of the 26 hours contained within, what I did see proved to be a gloriously campy way to spend a night eating pizza and popcorn.  B

New in Home Entertainment

March 11, 2014

Out of the Furnace
Rated R for strong violence, language and drug content
Available on DVD and Blu-ray
Christian Bale plays a struggling blue-collar worker who is forced to take the law into his own hands when his brother (Casey Affleck) turns up missing and the law won’t do anything about it.  This indie is quite ambitious for a quiet little rust bowl picture.  The story isn’t that unique but the performances stand out, especially from Woody Harrelson who plays one heck of a mean villain.  All of the characters are more complex than they let on, though, making for an interesting watch.  But while the film is a decent enough drama, it is ultimately pretty forgettable and really only worth a rent and not a buy.  B-

The Book Thief
Rated PG-13 for some violence and intense depiction of thematic material
Available on DVD and Blu-ray
Based on the book by Markus Zusak, The Book Thief tells the story of a young girl who is adopted by a German family during WWII who is hiding a Jewish refugee.  After she learns to read, she begins stealing books from a local home in order to entertain herself and keep her illegal guest company.  While the film has good intentions, it just isn’t interesting enough to hold your attention.  Sophie Nelisse, who plays the young girl, isn’t a particularly great actress, and the script by Michael Petroni even makes the performances of Geoffrey Rush and Emily Watson look stale.  The one saving grace the film has is a magnificent score by the infamous John Williams, who hasn’t done a non-Spielberg film since 2005’s Memoirs of a Geisha.  While the music doesn’t make the film worth watching, it certainly is a soundtrack worth owning.  C

New in Home Entertainment

March 4, 2014

12 Years a Slave
Rated R for violence/cruelty, some nudity and brief sexuality
Available on DVD and Blu-ray
12 years follows the life of Solomon Northrup (Chiwetel Ejiofor), a free black man from the north who is kidnapped and sold to an oppressive slave owner (Michael Fassbender) in Louisiana.  This newly discovered true story is remarkable and possibly the most accurate portrayal of slavery in the United States.  While incredibly harsh and at times difficult to watch, the film ends being overwhelmingly rewarding.  You start to cheer on Solomon and his companions, hoping that things might turn out okay, even though the odds are horribly against them.  And talk about great performances.  The cast here is tremendously talented, stirring up the kinds of emotions that bring its audience past such notions as white guilt or black pride and into the world of empathy and love for fellow humans.  Worthy of every award it has won, including this year’s Oscar for best picture and Lupita Nyong’o for best supporting actress, 12 Years a Slave is an modern classic that will be impactful for decades to come.  A+

The Grandmaster
Rated PG-13 for violence, some smoking, brief drug use and language
Available on DVD and Blu-ray
Ip Man, Bruce Lee’s legendary martial arts instructor, has been a major subject of asian cinema over the last few years.  Once again his story is being told, only this time with iconic director Wong Kar-wei (In the Mood for Love), big stars like Tony Leung (Lust, Caution) and Ziyi Zhang (Memoirs of a Geisha), and action choreographer Yuen Wo Ping (Kill Bill).  The production is very good and deserving of the two Oscar noms for cinematography and costume design, but the story is difficult to follow and frankly quite annoying.  I really wanted to like the movie but I was just too distracted by the lousy writing and narcissistic excess.  I’m sure there is something lost in translation here, but I love martial arts films and I couldn’t enjoy this one at all.  C   

New in Home Entertainment

February 25, 2014

Gravity
Rated PG-13 for intense perilous sequences, some disturbing images and brief strong language
Available on DVD, Blu-ray and Blu-ray 3D
Just in time for the Oscars is what I will now predict to be the biggest Oscar-winning film for 2013.  While it might not win the big prize (my ballot will be predicting 12 Years a Slave for that trophy), it is safe to say that it will win for director and many of the other technical awards.  For roughly an hour and a half you are alongside Sandra Bullock and George Clooney as they try to stay alive in space after their shuttle is destroyed by an exploded Russian satellite.  Thrilling doesn’t begin to describe it.  I was literally on the edge of my seat for the entire picture, chewing my nails to the nub.  The biggest critique you will probably hear about this film is that it plays better on a big screen, especially a big screen  with 3D.  While this might be true, its still great on a small screen, and there is a 3D version for those of you with the right sets.  Unlike most movies released today, I will say this is definitely one to splurge for the 3D copy if you have the right theater setup.  A+

Thor: The Dark World
Rated PG-13 for sequences of intense sci-fi action and violence, and some suggestive content
Available on DVD, Blu-ray and Blu-ray 3D
Being that the first outing for the Norse god was quite bad, my hopes weren’t too high for this sequel, but thankfully the film turned out to be a vast improvement.  Game of Thrones director Alan Taylor took over the reigns from Kenneth Branagh and the result is a good enough super hero movie that will keep fans happy until the upcoming Captain America sequel.  Just don’t ask me to describe the plot.  It is absolutely nuts and secondary to the action, special effects and interesting character interactions.  It would have been nice to have a serviceable story, but at least most will be kept distracted enough to be entertained.  B-

Nebraska
Rated R for some language
Available on DVD and Blu-ray
I hardly ever love Alexander Payne movies much the first time I see them, but knowing this I always sit through them a couple of more viewings to see if they will grow on me and they always have.  After watching this black and white comedy about a delusional older man (Bruce Dern) who is accompanied by his son (Will Forte) on a road trip to Nebraska when he thinks he has won a million dollars from a Publishers Clearinghouse-like operation I felt thoroughly entertained but not overly impressed.  Then I watched it again, and again.  Just like with Election, About Schmidt, Sideways and The Descendants, I found myself really taken by the film.  It is a wonderful comedy with amazing performances and a heart-warming story of familial love.  I don’t really understand why it needed to be in black and white, but its not distracting in the least.  A-

Narco Cultura
Rated R for grisly graphic images of disturbing violent content, drug material , language and brief nudity
Available on DVD and Blu-ray
Very similar to the violent rap that penetrated the mainstream culture in the 90s, there is a subculture of Mexican music that has found a new popularity amongst Mexicans and Latinos both south and north of the border.  Glamorizing the lives of violent cartel members, the music sounds like positive tunes to those who don’t speak Spanish, but those who do understand are told stories of drugs, bazookas and beheadings to a friendly  rhythm.  This documentary chronicles this music and its relationship to the horrible violence seen in Mexico and has you scratching your head at why it has had such little effect on American violence.  It follows both a singer in the musical movement who worships the cartel leaders as well as a member of the CSI unit in Juarez who struggles to rid his country of the senseless violence.  In 2012, Juarez saw over 2000 homicides while across the border in El Paso the number was 14.  While these rates seem to be going down, the music heralds the very criminals at the source of the epidemic and has found its way into pop culture.  While there were many scary movies in 2013, this was by far the most horrifying to me.  A

New in Home Entertainment

February 18, 2014

Game of Thrones: The Complete Third Season
Rated TV-MA
Available on DVD and Blu-ray
There are many television dramas that I am really enjoying right now, including The Walking Dead and House of Cards, but I can’t think of a show I’ve ever loved or anticipated as much as Game of Thrones.  If you thought the first season was edgy for killing off main characters, then snap in your seatbelt because season three is an even bumpier ride.  Most studios would never have attempted an episode like the ninth one here: The Rains of Castamere (better known as Red Wedding), and although it shocked me to my core, I love that they were able to get away with such a groundbreaking hour.  I also loved watching the development of Queen Daenerys Targaryen as she grows in power along with her young dragons.  Her character has seen the most dramatic arc and now her very presence gives me goosebumps.  Of important note, HBO proved their commitment this season by issuing a grander budget in order to play out some of best battle sequences in television history.  For the big fans of the show, there are so many extras that I couldn’t even begin to make a dent.  If I keep hacking away at them I might be done by the time of the season four premier on April 6.  A+

Newhart: The Complete Second Season
Available on DVD
There aren’t a lot of titles being released on DVD this week, which might just give you the time to check out this little gem getting its DVD debut.  Possibly the funniest man to ever grace the boob tube, Bob Newhart’s popular sitcom about a New Yorker who runs a small B&B in Vermont is both sweet and satirical.  While its a little dated, the show really does prove to be a classic and there’s a lot to enjoy in this second season set.  B+

New in Home Entertainment

February 4, 2014

Dallas Buyers Club
Rated R for pervasive language, some strong sexual content, nudity and drug use
Available on DVD and Blu-ray
Texan Matthew McConaughey has completely reinvented himself over the last two years, going from bad rom coms to amazing dramatic performances and Dallas Buyers Club seems to be his crowning achievement thus far.  Playing wannabe rodeo star and hustler Ron Woodroof, he is given an HIV diagnosis and told he only has a very short time to live.  But when he discovers there are drugs available that might help him extend that time frame, he steals, smuggles and connives his way to living longer and making a lot of money by offering up his findings to a select group of Texans who are in the same predicament.  This true story is absolutely captivating and a testament to the desperate man’s intelligence and resourcefulness.  While McConaughey is worthy of every bit of praise he is receiving, I’m not that sold on Jared Leto’s performance as his transvestite partner.  He’s good but not Oscar shoo-in good.  A-

About Time
Rated R for language and some sexual content
Available on DVD and Blu-ray
This terrific little British romantic comedy by Love Actually writer/director  Richard Curtis did very well overseas but performed miserably here in the states.  Telling the story of a young man (Domhnall Gleeson) who discovers from his father (Bill Nighy) that he has the genetically gifted ability to travel back in time to fix things he wants to fix, the movie is a marvel of creativity and romance.  Using his newly found powers he finds a way to get Rachel McAdams to fall in love with him and make his life nearly perfect until he meets challenges that his ability can’t rearrange.  While it sounds very sci-fi, it is not, but rather it is a sweet and lovely little film with a lot of laughs and even more heart.  I wish more romantic comedies were like this.  If they were, they wouldn’t have such a bad rep.  A-

Blood Brother
Unrated
Available on DVD
Blood Brother is a documentary that follows the life of Rocky Braat, a young American who has dedicated his life to working in a small community of children with HIV in India.  While very challenging at times, the film is not as depressing as you might think and by the end gives you a wonderful and heart-felt smile on your face with a happy tear in your eye.  I found myself thanking God there are people like Rocky in the world who sacrifice themselves on a daily basis for those who have nothing and no one to call their own.  A

Cutie and the Boxer
Rated R for nude art images
Available on DVD and Blu-ray
This Oscar-nominated documentary follows the lives of a Japanese artist couple who have struggled with their very niche art in New York City through four chaotic decades.  The characters are interesting, as are their creations, but I doubt the film will hold the interest of a broad audience as the narrative isn’t as compelling as some of the other documentaries this year.   B-

Jules and Jim: The Criterion Collection
Available on DVD/Blu-ray combo
If you’ve ever been to film school or read extensively on the subject of French cinema, you will have no doubt studied this 1962 Francois Truffaut classic about two close friends who both fall for the same woman and spend decades in a love triangle.  While the film has been very influential for many filmmakers, I much prefer the films that have been inspired by this film (such as Amelie and Vanilla Sky) than the film itself.  While this new collection has a wonderful new 2k restoration and thus looks fantastic, I really could care less for the story or the characters.  My indifference to them and their actions make this a hard film for me enjoy on any level greater than intellectually.  So if you are learning about cinematic history, or have a passion for French New Wave, then you probably don’t need me to recommend this film.  For everyone else, I wouldn’t bother.  C-