Bears Blu-ray Review

     Director: Alastair Fothergill

Format: Multiple Formats, Blu-ray, Color, Dubbed, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen

Language: English (DTS-HD High Res Audio), French (Dolby Digital 5.1), Spanish (Dolby Digital 5.1)

Subtitles: English, French, Spanish

Dubbed: French, Spanish

Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1

Rated: G

Studio: Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment

Release Date: August 12, 2014

Run Time: 78 minutes

        Disneynature releases specialize in taking all of the harshness out of nature programs, glossing over heavier realities of life with cute images and humorous celebrity narration. Growing up, I remember watching the old Disney nature live-action films, and that is what I equate with the releases from this new Disney sub-studio. There isn’t much new in the narrative, but it is a nice family-safe introduction to nature documentaries.

 

Hateship Loveship DVD Review

     Actors: Kristin Wiig, Guy Pearce

Director: Liza Johnson

Format: Multiple Formats, Color, Widescreen, NTSC

Language: English

Number of discs: 1

Rated: R (Restricted)

Studio: MPI HOME VIDEO

DVD Release Date: August 12, 2014

Run Time: 102 minutes

 

 

        In hindsight, it is fairly easy to understand why “Twilight” was a successful franchise among teenage girls, even before the novels were made into films with heartthrob young actors in the roles. The narrative involves a plain looking girl who single-handedly wrangles the unbridled ‘beastly’ qualities of the two ‘teens’ fighting over her affection. It is a wish-fulfillment fantasy even without the elements of vampires and werewolves. I have never read the short story by Alice Munro that is the inspiration for the awkwardly titled Hateship Loveship, but the film seems a middle-aged woman’s wish fulfillment along similar lines as those in Twilight. Instead of supernatural teenage boys, the female protagonist of this film is able to tame a wild drug addict to be her domesticated partner.

 

The Blacklist: The Complete First Season DVD Review

     Actors: James Spader, Harry Lennix, Ryan Eggold, Diego Klattenhoff

Format: Multiple Formats, Box set, Closed-captioned, Color, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC

Language: English

Number of discs: 5

Rated: NR (Not Rated)

Studio: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment

DVD Release Date: August 12, 2014

 

 

        I don’t know if it is merely NBC’s tendency to heavily market their most promising new shows or simply the hype of James Spader’s return to television, but somehow I heard more about “The Blacklist” than any other new show this year. Unfortunately, this show also features the creativity of a network show ten years ago, making it feel dated and fairly unoriginal. I can think of several espionage/crime shows that are similar (and in many cases, better), and the real disappointment is how ill-suited Spader seems for the role he plays. Fans will still enjoy his distinct approach to dialogue, but I can’t help but feel like it was a bit forced at times. Mildly enjoyable as “The Blacklist” is, it mostly made me long for the better shows that it borrows from and better characters that Spader has played.

 

Proxy Blu-ray Review

     Actors: Joe Swanberg, Kristina Klebe

Director: Zack Parker

Format: Multiple Formats, Blu-ray, Widescreen

Language: English

Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1

Number of discs: 1

Rated: Unrated

Studio: MPI HOME VIDEO

Release Date: August 12, 2014

Run Time: 122 minutes

 

        Although bloated in length, the strength of Proxy lies in director Zack Parker’s willingness to allow the film to be carried by mood rather than plot. In that regard, the first hour of the film is an enigma of success. I was absolutely captivated, but the film’s momentum is hijacked by a plot twist in the middle of the film and what worked for the first hour becomes increasingly tiresome by the end of the 122 minute running time. Despite several strands of various themes throughout the film, Parker never commits to any of them enough for the answers to live up to questions raised. With all criticism in consideration, even in failure I was more engaged by the unique filmmaking Parker’s Proxy than all of the safely mediocre horror movies of recent past.

 

Swelter Blu-ray Review

     Actors: Jean-Claude Van Damme, Alfred Molina, Josh Henderson

Director: Keith Parmer

Format: Multiple Formats, Blu-ray, Widescreen

Language: English

Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1

Number of discs: 1

Rated: R (Restricted)

Studio: Well Go USA

Release Date: August 12, 2014

Run Time: 118 minutes

 

        It is quite apparent that filmmaker Keith Parmer is attempting to emulate Quentin Tarantino with his sophomore feature, Swelter. The beginning opens like so many other Tarantino imitators, with a heist and convoluted postmodern editing that introduces characters with freeze frame title information. Then the film moves from crime thriller to western, segmenting rather than blending the genres. This makes for an overly confusing first act, before finally settling into a predictable modern western cliché.

 

I’ll Follow You Down Blu-ray Review

    Actors: Haley Joel Osment, Rufus Sewell, Victor Garber, John Paul Ruttan

Director: Richie Mehta

Format: Multiple Formats, Blu-ray, Widescreen

Language: English

Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1

Number of discs: 1

Rated: Unrated

Studio: Well Go USA

Release Date: August 5, 2014

Run Time: 92 minutes

 

        If you were to remove all of the spectacle of action and humor from Back to the Future and the mystery and intelligence of Donnie Darko, the remainder of what was left would likely resemble all that is contained in I’ll Follow You Down. It is a cookie-cutter time-travel narrative, utilizing nothing but the melodrama to tell its story. I can’t think of a more straight-forward telling of a disjointed timeline, and the result feels like a short film dragged out to feature film length. Because little happens in the film, there is no need for impressive special effects or action sequences of any kind. This is not always necessarily a bad thing, but it is noticeable in a film void of any type of audience enjoyment.

 

Bitten: The Complete First Season Blu-ray Review

     Actors: Laura Vandervoort, Greyston Holt, Greg Bryk, Paul Greene, Steve Lund

Format: Multiple Formats, NTSC, Widescreen

Language: English

Subtitles: English

Number of discs: 4

Studio: Entertainment One

Release Date: August 12, 2014

Run Time: 572 minutes

 

 

        The popular literature business is apparently no different than the mediums of television and film, and that is apparent in the vast number of supernatural soap opera novels that followed in the wake of Twilight’s inexcusable success. And because Twilight was adapted from a poorly written book series into a sloppily constructed film franchise, many of the imitators have followed suit with their own film and television adaptations. The clearest example of this is “The Vampire Diaries,” though “Bitten” follows very closely with canine steps. Replacing the vampires with werewolves, many of the story elements remain the same.