This Week on DVD & Blu-ray (10/01/13)
UPSIDE DOWN (2012) review
written by: Juan Diego Solanas
produced by: Claude Léger, Dimitri Rassam, Aton Soumache, Jonathan Vanger & Alexis Vonarb
directed by: Juan Diego Solanas
rating: PG-13 (for some violence)
runtime: 107 min.
U.S. release date: March 15, 2013 (limited)
DVD/Blu-ray release date: June 25, 2013 (currently streaming on Netflix)
Here we are again. The beauty and flaw in the science fiction genre. Anything can happen, anything that can be thought of or even imagined can come to life in the past, present, future, a tweaked present, anything. That’s what’s so cool about 2012’s “Upside Down”, a sci-fi flick with a ton of potential that never really amounts to much to the point it’s almost painful to watch.
ENOUGH SAID (2013) review
written by: Nicole Holofcener
produced by: Anthony Bregman and Stefanie Azpiazu
directed by: Nicole Holofcener
rating: PG-13 (for crude and sexual content, comic violence, language and partial nudity)
runtime: 93 min.
U.S. release date: September 18, 2013 (limited) & September 27, 2013 (wide)
In recent years, sitting through a rom-com has been an ordeal, what with all the awful Katherine Heigl and Gerard Butler duds. But there are a few writer/directors who can bring a rare experience to the genre – Lisa Cholodenko (“The Kids Are All Right”) and Nicole Holofcener (“Please Give”), come to mind – the kind that serves as a reminder that there are still filmmakers that are determined to bring real people to the big-screen and let viewers to relate to their relationship woes, while allowing the natural laughs to come uncomfortably and awkwardly. Holofcener’s latest, “Enough Said”, is that kind of romantic comedy – scratch that – it’s more of a bittersweet dramedy
This Week on DVD & Blu-ray (09-24-13)
Despite being better than its previous sequel, “Iron Man 3” was met with much scorn amongst fanboys and moviegoers. Some of the criticism I got, but there’s no denying that the first movie of Marvel’s Second Wave was action-packed, fun and entertaining. Director Shane Black did a fine job reteaming with the incomparable Robert Downey, Jr. and even managed to humanize superhero Stark in a relatable and funny way. Pretty rare for a summer blockbuster. Speaking of summer, “The Kings of Summer” is an indie film that earned some good buzz as it made its rounds on the festival circuit before earning a limited theatrical release last May. An underrated John Carpenter gem from 1987, “Prince of Darkness”, starring Donald Pleasance, comes out on a Collector’s Edition Blu-ray, thanks to the Shout Factory! folks and their Scream Factory line. It’s a trippy film that belongs in the religious horror subgenre, involving Anti-Christ, Anti-God and Anti-Matter. That can’t be Anti-Bad, right?
EMPEROR (2013) review
written by: Vera Blasi and David Klass
produed by: Russ Krasnoff, Gary Foster, Yoko Narahashi & Eugene Nomura
directed by: Paul Webber
rating: PG-13 for violent content, brief strong language and smoking (historical)
runtime: 105 min.
U.S. release date: March 8, 2013
DVD/Blu-ray release date: August 13, 2013
Win a war. Rebuild a country. Well, that’s the nice way of doing it. Following the Civil War, the Reconstruction Era was a dark mark on U.S. history. After World War I, the Allied powers basically neutered Germany, demilitarizing the army and placing harsh limits on the country. The Marshall Plan followed the conclusion of World War II, but what to do with Germany, and as is the case in 2012’s “Emperor” specifically, what to do with Japan? Read more…
PRISONERS (2013) review
written by: Aaron Guzokowski
produced by: Broderick Johnson, Kira Davis, Andrew A. Kosove & Adam Kolbrenner
directed by: Denis Villeneuve
rating: R (disturbing violent content including torture and language throughout)
runtime: 153 min.
U.S. release date: September 20, 2013
“Prisoners” is the most exhausting movie I’ve seen this year. Not the checking-your-watch kind of exhausting, but the squirming-in-your-seat, heart-wrenching feeling that is rarely experienced without cinematic manipulation. When a movie this absorbing and – dare I use an overused adjective (but, it’s well-earned here) – harrowing, full of intense desperation and nerve-racking suspense, earns every fiber of my attention, then it’s safe to say it succeeds. Indeed, “Prisoners” the first studio release and English-language debut from French-Canadian director Denis Villeneuve succeeds on multiple levels, resonating with viewers long after its abrupt cliffhanger ending, regardless of how they respond to the challenging subject matter.
This Week on DVD & Blu-ray (09-17-13)
This week, some of the better movies from this summer are now available on DVD & Blu-ray. Two of them, “The Bling Ring” and “The East” suffered from a limited release run and therefore probably didn’t receive the audience they should’ve and then there’s “World War Z” which surprised most by being better than all the maligned word-of mouth it had before it’s run in theaters. Director Marc Forster’s (“Quantum of Solace”) loose adaptation of Max Brook’s fictional historical account of a future where governments, scientists and medical specialists must deal with a global zombie attack (technically, the victims are moreso “infected”, rather than the “undead”) is one of the those books that seemed not meant to be adapted for the big screen – if anything, maybe a television series. But despite the movie’s controversial production – going over-budget, plowing through several screenwriters and the studio insisting on a PG-13 rating – the movie wound up being quite a nail-biter. Just don’t expect a straight-up zombie movie from the movie as it’s more of a mysterious procedural than a gory horror fest, even though there are some terrifying sequences.
BEHIND THE CANDELABRA (2013) review
written by: Richard LaGravenese
produced by: Gregory Jacobs, Susan Ekins and Michael Polaire
directed by: Steven Soderbergh
rating: not rated
runtime: 118 min.
U.S. release date: May 26, 2013
DVD/Blu-ray release date: September 17, 2013
There are three big draws that compelled me to watch Steven Soderbergh’s “Behind the Candelabra”: 1.) Michael Douglas playing flamboyant pianist Liberace 2.) Matt Damon playing his young boyfriend, and 3.) it’s supposedly Soderbergh’s last movie. When it was first announced, Douglas seemed like an odd choice, yet it’s hard to think of anyone else embodying Mr. Showmanship after watching it. How surprising it was to learn that Damon has an even bigger, more challenging role than expected. Both actors bite into some saucy material here, as they reunite with a director who’s guided them through some of their best material (“Traffic” and “The Informant!”), but I find it hard to believe a filmmaker so gifted can just retire from the medium altogether, especially when this isn’t his best work.
42 (2013) review
written by: Brian Helgeland
produced by: Thomas Tull and Kurt Russell
directed by: Brian Helgeland
rating: PG-13 (for thematic elements including language)
runtime: 128 min.
U.S. release date: April 12, 2013
DVD/Blu-ray release date: July 16, 2013
There are names of star athletes in sports and then there are star athletes. Maybe the most influential athlete from the 20th Century, Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in major league baseball, becoming the first African-American man to play in the majors when he debuted with the Brooklyn Dodgers in the 1947 season. Robinson played himself in a 1950 movie about his life, but some 60-plus years later, he’s gotten a major studio bio-pic release in the simply and appropriately named “42”.
This Week on DVD & Blu-ray (09-10-13 thru 09-13-13)
“Star Trek Into Darkness” is out this week. It’s the first of a handful of big summer blockbusters that did well at the box office, despite the mixed reaction from fans. I enjoyed it thoroughly, yet completely understood most of the issues people had with director J. J. Abrams sequel. I had such a good time with it that I don’t care. Now, for those who purchase Blu-rays for Special Features – well, Paramount doesn’t care about you. They’ve managed to scatter them throughout many platforms (iTunes has a commentary, Best Buy and Wal-Mart has some others as well), so keep that in mind when you’re considering picking up “Star Trek Into Darkness”. There’s also “Peeples”, which is a “Tyler Perry Presents” comedy starring Craig Robinson who decides to crash his girlfriend’s (Kerry Washington) family reunion in the Hamptons in order to ask for her hand in marriage. Awkwardness and familial dysfunction ensues. I haven’t seen it, but Robinson is always a hoot, so maybe. Disney is releasing a 20th Anniversary of “Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas” (even though Burton didn’t direct it, Henry Selick did) with Halloween just around the corner, just in case you don’t have a copy in your collection. What else is out this week….
