Limelight Blu-ray Review

     Actors: Charlie Chaplin, Claire Bloom, Buster Keaton

Director: Charles Chaplin

Format: Multiple Formats, Blu-ray, Full Screen, NTSC, Subtitled

Language: English

Subtitles: English

Number of discs: 1

Rated: NR (Not Rated)

Studio: Criterion Collection (Direct)

Release Date: May 19, 2015

Run Time: 137 minutes

 

          My little sisters knew who Charlie Chaplin was at 8. I made sure of it. I force every one of my classes to sit through at least one scene from his films every semester that I work as a film professor. I have reviewed each of the previous Chaplin releases on Criterion (The GoldRush, Modern Times, City Lights, The Great Dictator and MonsieurVerdoux) with increased admiration and endless gushing. At the same time, I am aware that there are still many who are unfamiliar with the breadth of his work, in particular the significance of Limelight. The only comparison that I can think to make is to Birdman. Both films are about aging actors taking their last chance at lasting fame in the arena of theater, and both starred actors who seemed to be playing characters who increase in significance the more familiar you are with their previous filmography. Michael Keaton’s prior performance as Batman adds a layer of relevance to his performance in Birdman, as does Chaplin’s iconic role as The Tramp to his performance in Limelight.

 

Make Way for Tomorrow Blu-ray Review

     Actors: Victor Moore, Beulah Bondi, Fay Bainter

Director: Leo McCarey

Format: Multiple Formats, Blu-ray, Full Screen, NTSC, Subtitled

Language: English

Subtitles: English

Number of discs: 1

Rated: NR (Not Rated)

Studio: Criterion Collection

Release Date: May 12, 2015

Run Time: 92 minutes

 

          Leo McCarey’s familial melodrama, Make Way for Tomorrow, is deceptively simplistic in story and screenplay. The narrative, however, contains much more than plot; we are exposed to every expression, every reaction shot, with a precision in filmmaking that McCarey carried over from his years of experience in early comedic cinema. Famous for having made the reaction shot a commonplace element in the slapstick of Our Gang and Laurel & Hardy shorts, McCarey achieves just as much success with pathos in the close-ups and deliberate framing of his drama. McCarey understands that body language and subtle expressions are universally helpful in the language of cinema, affecting the audience’s emotional response with both laughter and tears. Make Way for Tomorrow has both, but neither feels contrived; the audience is brought into the story by the demand to participate in the reading of facial expressions, so that the emotional investment is our own. This is the sincerest form of filmmaking, as McCarey trusts his audiences enough to allow them their own personal involvement in the unfolding of the narrative.  

 

These Final Hours Blu-ray Review

     Actors: Sarah Snook, Nathan Phillips, Daniel Henshall, David Field

Director: Zak Hilditch

Format: Blu-ray, Widescreen

Language: English

Number of discs: 1

Rated: Unrated

Studio: Well Go USA

Release Date: May 12, 2015

Run Time: 87 minutes

 

 

          These Final Hours is a small Australian pre-apocalyptic thriller with a plot that sounds similar to dozens of movies with much higher budgets. Just reading the film’s description made me feel as though I had already watched it, and anticipated no surprises in its viewing. While I was correct in assuming that the plot would be fairly predictable, the surprise came in how engaged I became with this slightly derivative narrative, mostly due to the strengths in its leading performers and a capable director.

 

Magical Universe DVD Review

     Actors: Al Carbee

Director: Jeremy Workman

Format: Multiple Formats, Color, Widescreen, NTSC

Language: English

Number of discs: 1

Rated: NR (Not Rated)

Studio: MPI Home Video

DVD Release Date: May 12, 2015

Run Time: 77 minutes

 

 

          Artists tend to be inherently eccentric, which is why documentaries and biopics about their lives are often as engaging as the art itself. While this certainly holds true of Al Carbee, whose bizarre art involving a menagerie of discarded Barbie dolls is matched only by the quirky personality of the artist himself, filmmaker Jeremy Workman seems to be constructing a biography which is mostly rooted in his own personal relationships with the man. Though there is some value in Carbee’s friendship with Workman, specifically because he doesn’t appear to have many other loyal friends in his life, this alone is not quite enough content to fill up a feature film. Even within the first five minutes of the documentary, Workman (who edited Magical Universe, as well as producing and directing) re-uses the same footage twice, which is an instant red flag that the content has been stretched too thin.  

 

The Sleepwalker DVD Review

     Actors: Christopher Abbott, Gitte Witt

Director: Mona Fastvold

Format: Multiple Formats, Color, Widescreen, NTSC

Language: English

Number of discs: 1

Rated: Unrated

Studio: MPI HOME VIDEO

DVD Release Date: May 12, 2015

Run Time: 91 minutes

 

 

          A lot of independent films are born out of a singularly unique good idea, but fail in the management of the execution. This can happen with poor performances from amateur actors, technical inadequacy in the form of bad cinematography and poor sound, or a screenplay with dialogue that is heavily in need of a rewrite. Surprisingly, all of these elements are effectively carried out within the narrative of The Sleepwalker; all of the leads give consistently solid performances, the film looks and sounds great, and little of the dialogue made me cringe. The problem doesn’t come from the execution, but instead what feels like an incomplete concept for the film itself. Whatever point or end result that filmmaker Mona Fastvold may have been hoping the audience would be left with somehow gets lost. The Sleepwalker is excellently executed but ends up feeling like an empty shell. With all of the effort to crack this nut, it will likely leave audiences feeling frustratingly unnourished. 

 

The Human Centipede III (Final Sequence) Review

 

 

 

          The Human Centipede was shocking in concept alone, not to mention filmmaker Tom Six’s unflinching approach to the actual acts. It arrived at the tail end of an era of torture porn horror films, including the final entry of the Saw franchise a mere six months later, but took the genre in a new direction with the inclusion of a mad-scientist angle. Dieter Laser chewed the scenery as Dr. Heiter, carrying out an experiment that Six still insists to be 100% medically accurate.

 

Fifty Shades of Grey Blu-ray Review

      Actors: Dakota Johnson, Jamie Dornan, Jennifer Ehle, Rita Ora, Marcia Gay Harden

Director: Sam Taylor-Johnson

Format: Blu-ray, Ultraviolet, Widescreen

Language: English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo), English (Dolby Digital 5.1), English (DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1), French (Dolby Digital 5.1), French (DTS 5.1), Spanish (Dolby Digital 5.1), Spanish (DTS 5.1)

Subtitles: French, Spanish, English

Aspect Ratio: 2.40:1

Rated: R

Studio: Universal Studios

Release Date: May 8, 2015

Digital Copy Expiration Date: May 2, 2016

 

          I am neither sexually frustrated nor artistically ignorant enough to ever find reason to read the pathetically popular fan-fiction book franchise written by E.L. James on her blackberry. Having already endured all four of the Twilight books, I understand the appeal of poorly written soap opera drama (though the reading of those books ensured my disinterest in their film adaptations), and approached the viewing of Sam Taylor-Johnson’s Fifty Shades of Grey with a harsh bias and eagerness to write a ruthlessly unfavorable review. While the story itself is as unsatisfactory as I had expected, the characters poorly developed, the situations contrived and unbelievable, the dialogue comically stupid, and the chemistry more forced than a film with Robert Pattinson as the lead, Fifty Shades of Grey is far from the worst film I have seen this year. It wasn’t even the worst film I watched this week.  

 

The Drownsman Blu-ray Review

     Actors: Caroline Palmer, Clare Bastable, Gemma Bird Matheson, Michelle Mylett, Ry Barrett

Director: Chad Archibald

Format: Blu-ray, Widescreen

Language: English

Number of discs: 1

Rated: NR (Not Rated)

Studio: ANCHOR BAY

Release Date: May 12, 2015

Run Time: 86 minutes

 

 

          For an entertaining horror film, you need a clever concept and creative execution. While The Drownsman seems born out of a unique idea, the way in which the plot unfolds is never convincing due to the filmmaker’s inability to think through the various elements. The end result feels like an uneven collection of contrived moments borrowed from better films, along with generic performances from the bevy of attractive and unconvincing co-ed cast members. All of this would make little difference if the horror aspects of the film worked, but rules change from scene to scene and the film is as void of logic as it is decent supporting cast members.

 

Black or White Blu-ray Review

      Actors: Bill Burr, Kevin Costner, Anthony Mackie

Format: Multiple Formats, Blu-ray, DTS Surround Sound, Subtitled, Widescreen

Language: English (DTS 5.1)

Subtitles: English, Spanish

Aspect Ratio: 2.40:1

Number of discs: 1

Rated: PG-13 

Studio: 20th Century Fox

Release Date: May 5, 2015

Run Time: 122 minutes

 

 

          Though never horrendous enough to destroy the film’s excellent qualities, there are enough flaws within Black and White to make the film feel manufactured and insincere. Despite some great performances by the adult leads, the screenplay backs the conflict into a corner so that only an unbelievable bit of melodrama can neatly tie up the ending for resolution. While this is somewhat forgivable, what is most upsetting is how the larger issues of race are glossed over in favor of the Lifetime-movie domestic clichés that involve alcoholism, drug abuse, and a near drowning to provide the antagonist a moment of contrived redemption.

 

The Pyramid Blu-ray Review

     Actors: James Buckley, Denis O'Hare, Philip Shelley

Format: Multiple Formats, Blu-ray, Dolby, DTS Surround Sound, Dubbed, Subtitled, Widescreen

Language: English (DTS 5.1), French (Dolby Digital 5.1), Spanish (Dolby Digital 5.1)

Subtitles: English, French, Spanish

Dubbed: French, Spanish

Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1

Number of discs: 1

Rated: R 

Studio: 20th Century Fox

Release Date: May 5, 2015

Run Time: 89 minutes

          Unnecessary as another found footage horror film may be, this is far from the worst of what The Pyramid has to offer. As ridiculous as the plot involving aliens and an ancient Egyptian pyramid is, it comes nowhere close to being as absurd as the characters and the dialogue which the audience is forced to endure within the scenario. Even with some of the sloppiest CGI effects used to create it, the creature ends up being the best actor within this bunch, possibly because it never has to weather the atrocious dialogue written by Daniel Meersand & Nick Simon for the human characters.

 

Mr. Turner Blu-ray Review

    Actors: Timothy Spall, Paul Jesson, Dorothy Atkinson

Director: Mike Leigh

Format: Multiple Formats, Blu-ray, Anamorphic, Dolby, DTS Surround Sound, Widescreen, NTSC

Language: English

Rated: R (Restricted)

Studio: SONY PICTURES

Release Date: May 5, 2015

Run Time: 150 minutes

 

 

          Throughout the two-and-a-half hour running-time of Mr. Turner, I don’t believe I ever fully grasped the point of Mike Leigh’s biography, though I found myself captivated by each individual sequence. All of the individual elements are something to marvel, from the magnificent cinematography to Timothy Spall’s incredibly dedicated performance, despite coherence in theme and direction missing from the overall experience. If a realistic period film about a reclusive artist was all Leigh was attempting to achieve, he was extremely successful, though part of me longed to understand the title character rather than just experience him.

 

The Last Five Years Blu-ray Review

     Director: Richard LaGravenese

Format: Blu-ray, Widescreen

Language: English

Number of discs: 1

Rated: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)

Studio: ANCHOR BAY

Release Date: May 5, 2015

Run Time: 94 minutes

 

 

          Theater actors, especially those of the musical variety, are taught to play to the back of the room. When these performances are captured on film, the result often has me feeling as though I were given front-row seats to one of these performances. Watching Richard LaGravenese’s film version of The Last Five Years, I was able to imagine the appeal of its theatrical show, while desperately wishing I could move to the back of a non-existent theater. Some things are unattractive so close, and however effective these two stars may have been onstage, I couldn’t help but be distracted by all of the nose flairs and big mannerisms that came with close-up shots of actors as they belt out lyrics.

 

[Rec] 4: Apocalypse DVD Review

     Actors: Manuela Velasco, Paco Manzanedo, Héctor Colomé

Director: Jaume Balagueró

Producers: Julio Fernández

Format: NTSC

Region: All Regions

Number of discs: 1

Rated: R (Restricted)

Studio: SPE

DVD Release Date: April 14, 2015

Run Time: 95 minutes

 

 

          The [Rec] franchise from Spain easily rivals any Hollywood horror franchise of the last decade (including the one based on the original film), and this also may be why [Rec] 4: Apocalypse is such a letdown. While it is only slightly less impressive than the first two, it also has the unfortunate task of following up the most comedically over-the-top installments of the series. Although it is definitely the black sheep of the franchise, I actually enjoyed the graphic gore and dismissal of the found-footage structure in the third installment. Even without the found footage element, [Rec] 4 returns to the style of the first two in a way that feels somewhat dated and unnecessary.

 

Tiny Giants 3D Blu-ray Review

     Format: Multiple Formats, Blu-ray, Full Screen, NTSC, Widescreen

Language: English

Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1

Number of discs: 2

Rated: NR (Not Rated)

Studio: BBC Home Entertainment

Release Date: April 7, 2015

Run Time: 50 minutes

 

 

          The popularity of the nature program skyrocketed with the success of “Planet Earth” and there have been many visually stunning imitators since its release. Advances in film technology has only made programs like this more predominant, so it should come as no surprise that BBC has begun to dip into the world of 3D visuals. Unfortunately, the release of the 44-minute short documentary film, Tiny Giants, also marks another trend: the repurposing of previously used material. Although the 3D disc is a new addition to the footage, there is no new content within the film. Just as Disneynature re-cut the footage of “Planet Earth” to make their family-friendly theatrical release, Earth, Tiny Giants is made up of footage from the three-hour BBC miniseries from 2014, “Hidden Kingdoms.” Also being released is Wings, a re-release of the Best Buy exclusive film, Winged Planet 3D.

Wings Blu-ray 3D Review

     Format: Multiple Formats, Blu-ray, NTSC, Widescreen

Language: English

Aspect Ratio: 1.77:1

Number of discs: 1

Rated: NR (Not Rated)

Studio: BBC Home Entertainment

Release Date: April 7, 2015

Run Time: 90 minutes

 

 

Advances in film technology has increased the popularity (and subsequent output) of nature programming, so it should come as no surprise that BBC has begun to dip into the world of 3D visuals. Unfortunately, the release of this feature-length documentary film about our feathered friends also marks another trend: the repurposing of previously used material. Wings 3D is merely a re-release of the 2014 Best Buy exclusive film, Winged Planet 3D, which was simply a truncated film version of the BBC series from 2011, “Earthflight.” This same footage has been passed around plenty of times, although this does not detract from the visual spectacle these subjects provide the 3D format. Also being released is Tiny Giants 3D, which is made up of footage from the three-hour BBC miniseries from 2014, “Hidden Kingdoms.”

 

Halt and Catch Fire: The Complete First Season Blu-ray Review

     Director: Jonathan Lisco

Format: Blu-ray

Language: English (Dolby TrueHD 5.1)

Subtitles: English, Spanish

Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1

Number of discs: 3

Rated: NR (Not Rated)

Studio: ANCHOR BAY

Release Date: May 5, 2015

Run Time: 435 minutes

 

 

          AMC’s “Halt and Catch Fire” is well written, has some good performances from a few solid cast members, and is based on an intriguing premise borrowing from real events. There were times while watching the first season that I desperately wanted to like it, but found myself irritated by many of the choices made. Other times I was so annoyed with it that I wanted to hate it (and was successful during some of the season’s more obnoxiously manipulative moments), but somehow found myself obsessively binge-watching anyway. I will continue watching despite the constant contrivances and distasteful characters, mostly because 10 episodes aren’t enough to make a definitive decision about the tech-heavy melodrama.

 

Masters of Sex: Season Two Blu-ray Review

     Actors: Michael Sheen, Lizzy Caplan

Format: Multiple Formats, Blu-ray, Dolby, DTS Surround Sound, Widescreen

Language: English

Number of discs: 4

Studio: Sony Pictures

Release Date: May 5, 2015

 

 

 

        The more I watch “Masters of Sex,” the more it feels like a bad “Mad Men” rip-off trying to cash in on the ever-popular topic of sex. Though aspects of the narrative are based on real scientific discoveries and advances, these often take back-seat to the exploitable elements of the show. Most often this includes endless scenes of star Lizzy Caplan undressed, just in case you didn’t get enough of her breasts on “True Blood,” while many of the other storylines feel derivative of the worst parts of “Mad Men.” Melodrama concerning affairs, relationships and flings take precedence over just about everything. Even when this season nearly addresses racial issues significant during the period, it shies away in favor of cheap melodrama instead. Season one felt mostly like a monotonous noncommittal bore, whereas season two is a series of wasted opportunities and endless dead-ends in the plot. It feels like they are dragging the story out as long as they can, but my interest has long ago begun to wane.

 

Broadchurch: The Complete Second Season Review

     Actors: David Tennant, Olivia Colman

Director: Euros Lyn

Format: Multiple Formats, Dolby, NTSC, Widescreen

Language: English

Subtitles: English

Number of discs: 3

Rated: NR (Not Rated)

Studio: Entertainment One

DVD Release Date: May 12, 2015

Run Time: 480 minutes

 

 

          I must admit, I was highly skeptical of the decision to create a second season of the detective murder mystery series, “Broadchurch.” Rather than a new mystery a week, this show took on a single case over the course of the first season, much like similarly successful procedurals such as “True Detective.” The difference is the choice to continue the same storyline in the second season of “Broadchurch,” as opposed to the shift to new characters and narratives in the follow up seasons of shows like “True Detective” or “Fargo.” Seeing as the setting of “Broadchurch” is meant to be a small peaceful seaside town, there is some suspension of disbelief needed in the continuation of such criminal investigations, but it is done in a way that cleverly surpasses the first season in many ways.

 

The Wedding Ringer DVD Review

     Actors: Kevin Hart, Josh Gad, Kaley Cuoco-Sweeting

Director: Jeremy Garelick

Format: Ultraviolet, NTSC

Language: English

Subtitles: French

Rated: R

Studio: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment

DVD Release Date: April 28, 2015

Run Time: 101 minutes

 

 

          There may be a fairly good movie within The Wedding Ringer, but it also happens to be paired with several bad ones. There is nothing original about the individual elements of this first-quarter release, though the schizophrenic combination of these contradictory aspects borrowed from better films leads to an original mess of a movie. What could be pitched as Hitch meets I Love You, Man with Kevin Hart as a leading man, The Wedding Ringer must have sounded like a surefire hit, but the result feels like a Frankenstein creation born out of the creative cowardice of a studio board room.

 

50 to 1 DVD Review

     Actors: Skeet Ulrich, Christian Kane, William Devane

Director: Jim Wilson

Format: Multiple Formats, AC-3, Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen

Language: English, French, Spanish, Portuguese

Subtitles: English, French, Spanish, Portuguese

Rated: PG-13 

Studio: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment

DVD Release Date: April 28, 2015

Run Time: 111 minutes

 

          Based on the true story of underdog horse, Mine That Bird, it is easy to predict the ending of a film which tells you in the title how great the odds were against him. I can’t imagine they would ever call a film 50 to 1 if it were about a horse that lost the race. At the same time, I hardly think anyone would have bought a ticket to Seabiscuit or Secretariat if they though the horse would lose the climactic final race. It isn’t the predictability of 50 to1 which makes it far less successful than previous underdog horse narratives; it is the large sections of the film in which the horse is absent from the screen.