Third Person Blu-ray Review

     Actors: Adrien Brody, James Franco, Liam Neeson

Format: Multiple Formats, Blu-ray, Widescreen

Language: English

Subtitles: English, Spanish

Aspect Ratio: 2.40:1

Number of discs: 1

Rated: R (Restricted)

Studio: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment

Release Date: September 30, 2014

Run Time: 137 minutes

 

        The ability to enjoy Third Person relies entirely on the viewer’s level of patience and willingness to accept significance and meaning to outweigh any emotional attachment to the characters. Many of the storylines and the characters in the film are contrivances meant to hammer in the thematic points, which take on more significance than believability or being relatable. This isn’t for lack of effort from the cast, however, who all give dedicated performances to filmmaker Paul Haggis’ vision.

 

Sordid Lives Blu-ray Review

     Actors: Beau Bridges, Delta Burke, Olivia Newton-John, Leslie Jordan

Director: Del Shores

Format: Multiple Formats, Blu-ray, AC-3, Closed-captioned, Color, Surround Sound, Widescreen

Language: English

Aspect Ratio: 1.77:1

Number of discs: 2

Rated: R (Restricted)

Studio: Wolfe Video

Release Date: September 30, 2014

Run Time: 111 minutes

        With big personalities and an excess of somewhat pointless dialogue filling each of the scenes, all of which seem to take place indoors, it is not hard to imagine that Sordid Lives began as a stage play before it was adapted into this film. The characters are big and the plot is minimal, but the high camp value of the humor makes it easy to understand the film’s cult success. Being able to understand is not the same as to appreciate, however, and I found the endless southern ramblings to be a bit much to endure for 111-minutes.

 

Cold in July Blu-ray Review

     Actors: Michael C. Hall, Sam Shepard, Don Johnson, Wyatt Russell

Director: Jim Mickle

Format: Multiple Formats, Blu-ray, Widescreen

Language: English

Aspect Ratio: 2.40:1

Number of discs: 1

Rated: R (Restricted)

Studio: MPI HOME VIDEO

Release Date: September 30, 2014

Run Time: 110 minutes

 

 

        Filmmaker Jim Mickle may borrow in style from directors that he admires, but the narratives he chooses have an unpredictable edge to them. Cold in July is no exception, spiraling into a seedy noir that one would never imagine from the film’s beginning. Based on the novel by Joe R. Lansdale, the story winds and weaves into unexpected territory after an exciting opening scene. Though it drags in the middle before providing a satisfyingly exciting climactic sequence, this is helped along with the three fantastic actors in the leading roles.

 

Hellion DVD Review

     Actors: Aaron Paul, Josh Wiggins, Deke Garner, Dalton Sutton

Director: Kat Candler

Format: Multiple Formats, Color, Widescreen, NTSC

Language: English

Number of discs: 1

Rated: Unrated

Studio: MPI HOME VIDEO

DVD Release Date: September 30, 2014

Run Time: 99 minutes

 

 

        Hellion will likely soon blend into my memory alongside countless other coming-of-age independent films of its kind, but that doesn’t make it any less effective as a film. Never boring and rarely inauthentic, despite numerous sequences of contrived melodramatic events, Hellion is a solid film, however unnecessary it may be. I only wish that writer/director Kat Candler had put more depth into the narrative of the characters. They respond emotionally to situations in the narrative, but not enough background is given to understand why they are reacting. It becomes an exercise in acting, which may be successful but doesn’t make for a memorable narrative.

 

Lucky Them DVD Review

     Actors: Toni Collette, Thomas Haden Church

Director: Megan Griffiths

Format: Multiple Formats, Color, Widescreen, NTSC

Language: English

Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1

Number of discs: 1

Rated: R (Restricted)

Studio: MPI HOME VIDEO

DVD Release Date: September 30, 2014

Run Time: 96 minutes

 

        The initial premise of Lucky Them promises a mystery that needs solving and an exploration into the way that music affects our lives. It delivers on neither of them in spades, instead letting plot and narrative give way to aimless scenes of character interaction. The saving grace of this choice only comes from the casting, with all roles filled to perfection and with the capability of engaging the audience enough to distract them from noticing that the plot is not developing. Insightful this film is not, but it does manage enjoyable for much of the run time.

 

Wolf DVD Review

     Actors: Chemseddine Amar, Mark Catuogno, Steef Cuijpers

Director: Jim Taihuttu

Format: Multiple Formats, Color, Widescreen, NTSC

Language: Dutch

Number of discs: 1

Rated: Unrated

Studio: MPI HOME VIDEO

DVD Release Date: September 30, 2014

Run Time: 123 minutes

 

 

        For being overlong and often a familiar blend of successful gangster films from cinematic history, Wolf is a remarkably watchable entry into the genre from the Netherlands. With gritty black-and-white cinematographer and a main character who balances a life between crime and professional boxing, comparisons to Raging Bull are inevitable, but it has a raw energy that often remind me more of Nicolas Winding Refn’s Pusher trilogy. Though there are few surprises in the narrative, at least filmmaker Jim Taihuttu has good taste in what influences his work.

Sniper: Legacy DVD Review

    Actors: Chad Collins, Dominic Mafham

Format: Multiple Formats, Closed-captioned, Color, NTSC

Language: English

Subtitles: Chinese, English, Korean

Number of discs: 1

Rated: Unrated

Studio: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment

DVD Release Date: September 30, 2014

 

 

        It is difficult to believe that the lineage of the 1990s action franchise, Sniper (1993), has remained alive and active. Though the franchise was revived in 2011 without Tom Berenger, the protagonist was the son of Thomas Beckett, leaving an opening for him to return. This is the film which joins the franchise’s original sniper, with the younger version in Sgt. Brandon Beckett (Chad Michael Collins).

New BBC Mystery on DVD

     Format: Multiple Formats, Color, NTSC

Language: English (Stereo)

Number of discs: 2

Rated: NR (Not Rated)

Studio: BBC Home Entertainment

DVD Release Date: September 16, 2014

Run Time: 270 minutes

 

 

DCI Banks: Season Two

 

        Based on the Inspector Banks novels by Peter Robinson, “DCI Banks” follows title character Detective Chief Inspector Banks (Stephen Tompkinson) in his pursuit of justice. This begins with a mystery involving Inspector Banks’ estranged brother and a murder, a case which he inadvertently becomes involved in. Using his no-nonsense methods of investigation, Banks sets out to prove his brother’s innocence in one of three two-part mysteries that make up season two.