A Belle for Christmas DVD Review

     Actors: Dean Cain, Kristy Swanson, Haylie Duff

Director: Jason Dallas

Writer: Jake Helgren

Format: Multiple Formats, Color, Widescreen, NTSC

Language: English

Subtitles: English, Spanish

Aspect Ratio: 1.77:1

Number of discs: 1

Rated: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)

Studio: ANCHOR BAY

DVD Release Date: November 4, 2014

Run Time: 91 minutes

 

        This is a little bit strange, but as I prepared to review this typically overly-saccharine holiday film involving a dog I couldn’t help but notice that star Dean Cain has a longstanding relationship with both holiday and canine-themed family films. Along with this film, Cain has many other holiday films on his resume, including A Christmas Wedding (2006), A Nanny for Christmas (2010), The Case for Christmas (2011), Merry ExMas (2014), Small Town Santa (2014), Defending Santa (2014).

 

Premature DVD Review

     Actors: John Karna, Craig Roberts, Alan Tudyk

Director: Dan Beers

Format: Multiple Formats, Color, Widescreen, NTSC

Language: English

Aspect Ratio: 2.40:1

Number of discs: 1

Rated: R (Restricted)

Studio: MPI HOME VIDEO

DVD Release Date: November 4, 2014

Run Time: 90 minutes

 

 

        Premature is a predictably typical sex comedy in nearly every way, with the exception of the time loop narrative that makes it resemble Groundhog’s Day or The Edge of Tomorrow for a high school virgin. And even the use of a time loop somehow does little to motivate originality in the screenplay, which is content to re-use the same vulgar gag repeatedly as the only source of entertainment within the film. Characters are little more than props for the repeat sex jokes and predictable outcomes, with female characters sketched out in a two-dimensional manner to fit into the male fantasy.

 

Bound by Flesh DVD Review

     Actors: Lea Thompson, Nancy Allen

Director: Leslie Zemeckis

Format: Multiple Formats, Color, Widescreen, NTSC

Language: English

Aspect Ratio: 1.77:1

Number of discs: 1

Rated: NR (Not Rated)

Studio: MPI HOME VIDEO

DVD Release Date: October 28, 2014

Run Time: 90 minutes

 

 

        Bound by Flesh is strongest when delving into the historical context of the freak show rather than the personal lives of conjoined twins, Daisy and Violet Hilton. It isn’t that their lives aren’t interesting, but we are given very little content to help us understand or relate to them as people, beginning with the essential choice to remain conjoined despite having no medical reason to stay that way. These sisters chose to remain attached to each other, even long after their fame and careers in the entertainment industry had passed.

 

The Paradise: Season Two Blu-ray Review

    
     Format: Blu-ray, NTSC

Language: English

Subtitles for the Hearing Impaired: English

Aspect Ratio: 1.77:1

Number of discs: 2

Rated: NR (Not Rated)

Studio: BBC Home Entertainment

Release Date: November 18, 2014

Run Time: 464 minutes

 

        “The Paradise” is a new BBC series which has the feel of a classic literature adaptation, filled with savory melodrama and colorful characters in an immaculate Victorian setting. Season one of this delightful romance could stand alone as a miniseries by the way the story is neatly wrapped up in eight episodes, though the narrative continues with this second season. While the narrative may not be so neatly contained in a second season, the characters are increasingly endearing through a new series of obstacles and conflicts.  

 

Miss Marple Blu-ray Review

    Actors: Joan Hickson

Format: Blu-ray

Language: English

Subtitles: English

Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1

Number of discs: 2

Rated: NR (Not Rated)

Studio: BBC Home Entertainment

Release Date: October 28, 2014

Run Time: 527 minutes

        Agatha Christie’s iconic character of Miss Marple has been played by many actresses, from Margaret Rutherford to Angela Landsbury with more adaptations inevitably on their way, but none are likely to surpass the success of the original interpretations by Joan Hickson in the 1980s and early 90s. Hickson was 78 when she was cast as Miss Marple in 1984, making her one of the oldest actresses to ever take a lead role in a television series. This collaboration resulted in twelve television film adaptations of Christie’s classic works starring Hickson, before her retirement eight years later.

 

Last Heroes of D-Day DVD Review

   

     Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1

Number of discs: 1

Rated: NR (Not Rated)

Studio: BBC Home Entertainment

DVD Release Date: November 4, 2014

Run Time: 100 minutes

 

 

        “Last Heroes of D-Day” is a 2-part World War II documentary special about the events leading up to D-Day on June 6^th, 1944. Utilizing interviews from surviving veterans, reenactments and special effects, this special gives the top secret stories of espionage and planning that went into the calculated attack in Northern France by the Allied Forces. It is all very cutting edge and flashy, including hip young host Dan Snow.

 

Walter’s War DVD Review

       
   Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1

Number of discs: 1

Rated: NR (Not Rated)

Studio: BBC Home Entertainment

DVD Release Date: November 4, 2014

Run Time: 108 minutes

 

 

        Walter Tull was a successful professional football player prior to the First World War, where he was a heroic non-commissioned officer until his death in 1918. The television movie, “Walter’s War” focuses entirely upon Tull’s time in the war, and the 53-minute TV-movie feels incomplete because of these limitations in the screenplay. This wounds the telling of this true story, but it is the cliché racial obstacles within the narrative that deals a fatal blow to the derivative screenplay from actor-turned-writer Kwame Kwei-Armah.

 

It Happened One Night Blu-ray Review

     Actors: Claudette Colbert, Clark Gable

Director: Frank Capra

Format: Multiple Formats, Black & White, Full Screen, NTSC, Special Edition, Subtitled

Language: English

Subtitles: English

Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1

Number of discs: 1

Rated: NR (Not Rated)

Studio: Criterion Collection (Direct)

Release Date: November 18, 2014

Run Time: 105 minutes

 

        This was the film which catapulted the success of the screwball comedy genre in the 1930s, not to mention its impact on the sales of undershirts in America. Made just prior to the days of Production Code censorship and restriction, It Happened One Night has a sequence which doesn’t seem anything but mild by today’s standards, but might have been cut had the film been made a year later. The scene featured Clark Gable’s character undressing, and this dashing star’s missing undershirt in this sequence suddenly gave men all over the country to skimp on this article, either for fashion or frugality.

 

I Am Ali Blu-ray Review

     Director: Clare Lewins

Writer: Clare Lewins

Producers: Clare Lewins, George Chignell, Greg Hobden

Format: Blu-ray, Ultraviolet, Widescreen

Language: Portuguese (DTS 5.1), German (DTS 5.1), English (DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1), French (DTS 5.1), Spanish (DTS 5.1)

Subtitles: Portuguese, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, French, German, Japanese, Spanish, Norwegian, Swedish, English

Dubbed: Portuguese, French, German, Spanish

Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1

Rated: PG

Studio: Universal Studios

Release Date: November 11, 2014

Digital Copy Expiration Date: May 2, 2016

Run Time: 112 minutes

 

        Certain cultural figures never truly leave the limelight, and it feels as though there is renewed interest in their celebrity every few years through various documentary and film projects. These icons most commonly include John Lennon, Bruce Lee and Muhammad Ali. The latter of these three has been given another documentary feature to praise his accomplishments, though I Am Ali does little to add to the cultural significance of the man. Aside from the rehashing of familiar material, the main draw of I Am Ali is commentary from those closest to him and private recordings of personal conversations with family members. For those who have no need to hear one of the greatest boxers talking in a baby voice for his children, any of the other documentaries will likely suffice.

 

22 Jump Street Blu-ray Review

     Actors: Peter Stormare, Channing Tatum, Jonah Hill, Wyatt Russell

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

Language: English

Subtitles: English, French

Dubbed: French

Aspect Ratio: 2.40:1

Number of discs: 2

Rated: R (Restricted)

Studio: Sony

Release Date: November 18, 2014

Digital Copy Expiration Date: December 31, 2017

 

        21 Jump Street seemed like a terrible idea, along with The Dukes of Hazzard, Starsky & Hutch and every other television-to-film adaptation from decades past. In the end, it was the film’s unwillingness to take the material seriously which was ultimately the saving grace, which is why it makes sense for the post-modern, self-referential style to carry the sequel into successful comedic territory. Rather than just creating a straightforward second installment in the franchise, this quickly becomes a comedy about the ridiculousness of all buddy-action sequels. The impact of this humor was also far greater before the news of another sequel in the works, especially since the end of this film is dedicated to poking fun at that very prospect.

 

Land Ho! Blu-ray Review

     Actors: Paul Eenhoorn, Earl Lynn Nelson

Format: Multiple Formats, Blu-ray, AC-3, Closed-captioned, Dolby, Subtitled, Widescreen

Language: English

Subtitles: English, Spanish

Region: All Regions

Aspect Ratio: 1.77:1

Number of discs: 2

Rated: R (Restricted)

Studio: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment

Release Date: November 4, 2014

Run Time: 95 minutes

 

        Road trip films are often far more interested in the journey than the destination, but the Icelandic setting of Land Ho! makes each step of the trip feel like an arrival of sorts. The plot is minimal between the two old friends on the trip together, so all focus is on the character development, and the scenery often feels as though it has a supporting role in the narrative. This is not unlike many other road trip/vacation buddy comedies, though it does begin to feel like a travelogue for Iceland at certain points in the meandering screenplay.

 

Iceman Blu-ray Review

     Actors: Donnie Yen, Wang Baoqiang, Eva Huang, Simon Yam

Director: Law Wing Cheong

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

Language: Cantonese

Subtitles: English

Dubbed: English

Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1

Number of discs: 1

Rated: R (Restricted)

Studio: Well Go USA

Release Date: November 11, 2014

Run Time: 104 minutes

 

        Donnie Yen has somehow gone from one of the most impressive martial arts action stars working today to becoming nothing more than a celebrity face for the latest CGI-filled blockbuster in Chinese cinema. Iceman is the latest of these poorly constructed vehicles of mass entertainment, mashing up period costume drama with modern police procedural, all filtered through the expectations of logic usually lowered for a comic book movie. There is action and humor every fifteen-minutes, all meant to entertain while distracting from the ridiculousness bursting from every frame of this film. And just in case the open-ended resolution of the film’s climax doesn’t completely turn away the audience, there are plans for a sequel to follow.

 

LFO DVD Review

     Actors: Patrik Karlson, Per Lofberg

Director: Antonio Tublen

Format: Multiple Formats, Color, Widescreen, NTSC

Language: Swedish

Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1

Number of discs: 1

Rated: Unrated

Studio: Dark Sky Films

DVD Release Date: October 28, 2014

Run Time: 98 minutes

 

 

        This low-budget science-fiction dark comedy from Sweden plays into the darker recesses of human nature, specifically delving into the question of what we might do if there were no repercussions for our actions. What if we could act any way that we wanted, because the simple push of a button could provide the ability to control the way that others perceive events? LFO imagines a situation where that power is in the hands of a disturbed loner spending most of his time alone, envious of those he watches from the windows of his home.

 

Beneath DVD Review

    Actors: Kelly Noonan, Jeff Fahey

Director: Ben Ketai

Format: Multiple Formats, Color, Widescreen, NTSC

Language: English

Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1

Number of discs: 1

Rated: Unrated

Studio: MPI HOME VIDEO

DVD Release Date: October 28, 2014

Run Time: 89 minutes

 

 

        The ambiguity of the horror film Beneath is what allows it to still claim inspiration from a true story, though we know that many of the film’s more grotesque images cannot possibly have existed in reality. This is also what helps the audience to grasp some type of understanding from the ambiguity. I found this construction in the screenplay to be the most impressive element of the film, which in every other way seems to be as generic a horror movie as I have ever seen.

 

Impractical Jokers: The Complete Second Season DVD Review

Format: Multiple Formats, Box set, Full Screen, NTSC

Language: English

Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1

Number of discs: 3

Studio: Turner Home Ent

DVD Release Date: November 4, 2014

Run Time: 572 minutes

 

 

        I was more than a bit of a troublemaker when I was younger, mostly due to my overactive imagination and the unwillingness to remain bored. When my physical situation is dull, I find my mind compensating with creative inspiration for ideas of less than traditional amusement. In other words, I would have fit right in with the guys of “Impractical Jokers,” despite the fact that they are fully grown and still amusing themselves through immature methods. The adult in me is somewhat embarrassed for these four grown men, while the kid in me is simply jealous of their job.

 

Deliver Us From Evil DVD Review

     Actors: Eric Bana, Edgar Ramirez

Format: Subtitled, NTSC

Language: English

Subtitles: French

Dubbed: French, Spanish

Aspect Ratio: 2.40:1

Number of discs: 1

Rated: R (Restricted)

Studio: Sony

DVD Release Date: October 28, 2014

Digital Copy Expiration Date: December 31, 2017

 

        There have been far too many exorcism/demonic possession films in recent film history for Deliver Us from Evil to stand out without a twist, which is the blending of a police procedural with the religious horror genre. Add the fact that it was inspired by actual accounts of an NYPD sergeant (another favored element of the genre), and Deliver Us from Evil should have delivered adequate entertainment. Unfortunately, in order for a film to be frightening, you have to be able to see what is going on, and this is easily one of the worst shot horror films I have ever seen.

Grace: The Possession DVD Review

     Format: Multiple Formats, Color, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC

Language: English

Subtitles: French, Spanish

Dubbed: French, Spanish, English

Aspect Ratio: 1.77:1

Number of discs: 1

Rated: R (Restricted)

Studio: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment

DVD Release Date: October 28, 2014

Run Time: 87 minutes

 

        Grace: The Possession has the laziness of a found-footage horror movie without any of the logic. Rather than being a film shot by the characters, we are instead given the sole perspective of a demon that has entered the body of our protagonist. This means we witness everything through the eyes of Grace (Alexia Fast), whose POV becomes the same as the typical hand-held camera shots of a found-footage horror movie. Then again, this also means the audience is not subjected to relentlessly asinine reasons for the character to be holding a camcorder for the running-time of the narrative.

 

F is for Fake Blu-ray Review

     Actors: Orson Welles, Oja Kodar, Joseph Cotton

Director: Orson Welles

Format: Multiple Formats, Blu-ray, Widescreen

Language: English

Aspect Ratio: 1.66:1

Number of discs: 1

Rated: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)

Studio: Criterion Collection (Direct)

Release Date: October 21, 2014

Run Time: 87 minutes

 

        It is easy to see why F is for Fake is often called an “essay film,” because of how it transitions from one narrative of forgery to the next, each time connecting them with common threads. But it is also far more than that; a documentary with filmed sequences and original stories mixed in. It is an unpredictable viewing experience, which is what one would expect from the mind of Orson Welles, who becomes a link on the narrative chain along the way.

 

The Vanishing Blu-ray Review

    Actors: Bernard-Pierre Donnadieu, Gene Bervoets, Johanna ter Steege

Director: George Sluizer

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

Language: Dutch

Dubbed: French

Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1

Number of discs: 1

Rated: Unrated

Studio: Criterion Collection (Direct)

Release Date: October 28, 2014

Run Time: 106 minutes

 

        In the wake of David Fincher’s critical and box-office success about a missing person’s case, a classic in the genre from 1988 has been released on Blu-ray through The Criterion Collection. Also based on a screenplay adapted from a novel by the author himself, The Vanishing was successful enough to warrant an American remake starring Jeff Bridges and Kiefer Sutherland five years after this French/Dutch version. In reality, however, this is a narrative which has been around for much longer, whether considering Alfred Hitchcock’s classic, The Lady Vanishes, or a classic Parisian Urban Legend from 1901. What makes director George Sluizer’s film memorable is his uncompromising and unforgettable ending.

 

Kundo Blu-ray Review

    Actors: Ha Jung-Woo, Kang Dong-won, Lee Sung-min, Cho Jin-woong

Director: Yoon Jong-bin

Format: Multiple Formats, Blu-ray, Dubbed

Language: Korean

Dubbed: English

Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1

Number of discs: 1

Rated: Unrated

Studio: Well Go USA

Release Date: October 21, 2014

Run Time: 137 minutes

 

 

        Originality is something hard to come by in period martial arts movies, mostly because there have simply been so many of them. With the historical events of the Korean Joseon Dynasty, which resulted in a major division between peasants and the wealthily oppressive royalty, Kundun has the perfect scenario for a Robin Hood type narrative. Unoriginal as it may be, this is cinematically a perfect match, providing plenty of action and a reason to root for the vengeance of the good guys.