Kumiko: The Treasure Hunter Blu-ray Review

     Actors: Rinko Kikuchi, Shirley Vendard, Nobuyuki Katsube, David Zellner, Nathan Zellner

Director: David Zellner

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

Language: English (Dolby TrueHD 5.1)

Subtitles: English, Spanish

Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1

Number of discs: 1

Rated: NR (Not Rated)

Studio: ANCHOR BAY

Release Date: June 30, 2015

Run Time: 104 minutes

 

        Bleak doesn’t even begin to describe the narrative of Kumiko: The Treasure Hunter, containing more than a few similarities to the Zellner Brothers’ earlier film, Goliath, about a depressed man searching for his lost cat. Add cultural differences and an increase in mental instability and the main difference between the two films is better production values and a stronger performance by leading actress Rinko Kikuchi. The cinematography looks great and the premise based loosely on a true story is compelling, though I’m afraid I don’t share the same fascination as the Zellners with the lives of solitary depressed individuals.

 

The Bridge Blu-ray Review

     Actors: Folker Bohnet, Fritz Wepper, Michael Hinz

Director: Bernhard Wicki

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

Language: German

Subtitles: English

Number of discs: 1

Rated: NR (Not Rated)

Studio: Criterion Collection (Direct)

Release Date: June 23, 2015

Run Time: 103 minutes

        You can always distinguish a war film from an anti-war film by the lack of discernible enemies on either side, or even more so when the country of the origin for the protagonists comes off worse than those they are fighting against. The Bridge was really the first post World War II German film to address the topic, and wisely spends most of the film focused on national critique instead of vilifying the invading/opposing troops. As well as being the first German anti-war movie, this 1959 classic was also the first of the country’s post-war films to be widely distributed internationally, even garnering an Oscar nomination for Best Foreign Language Film.

 

Timbuktu Blu-ray Review

     Actors: Abel Jafri, Fatoumata Diawara, Ibrahim Ahmed, Toulou Kiki

Director: Abderrahmane Sissako

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

Language: French

Subtitles: English

Number of discs: 1

Rated: PG-13 

Studio: Cohen Media Group

Release Date: June 23, 2015

Run Time: 97 minutes

 

        Timbuktu shares a great deal in common with the Russian film, Leviathan. Both were nominated for an Academy Award in the category of Best Foreign Language Film, though Timbuktu has the distinction of being Mauritania’s first submission to the Oscars. They are also both films with political undertones, giving views of social injustice. Both are also visually arresting pictures that capture the film’s setting with clarity and beauty. Neither one of these movies won their category, but both certainly deserved the nomination.

 

Mutant World DVD Review

     Actors: Holly Deveaux, Ashanti, Amber Marshall Kim Coates

Director: David Winning

Producers: Chad Oakes Michael Frislev

Format: NTSC

Language: English

Region: All Regions

Number of discs: 1

Rated: NR (Not Rated)

Studio: SPE

DVD Release Date: May 26, 2015

Run Time: 82 minutes

 

        With a derivative storyline, awful melodramatic script, and lazy special effects, Mutant World was a perfect fit for the Sci-Fi Channel. It just isn’t a good fit for my taste. But anyone who thinks that florescent green eyes are enough of a special effect to justify the title insinuating mutation, and enjoys watching incapable actors suffer through a humorless screenplay full of clichés, Mutant World may be the film for you. 

The Fisher King Blu-ray Review

     Actors: Jeff Bridges, Robin Williams, Mercedes Ruehl, Amanda Plummer

Director: Terry Gilliam

Format: Multiple Formats, Blu-ray, AC-3, DTS Surround Sound, NTSC, Subtitled, Surround Sound, Widescreen

Language: English

Subtitles: English

Number of discs: 1

Rated: R (Restricted)

Studio: Criterion Collection (Direct)

Release Date: June 23, 2015

Run Time: 138 minutes

        The Fisher King was somewhat of a transitional film for director Terry Gilliam, both as his first major Hollywood blockbuster and ironically one of his more simplistic and subdued narratives. For the first time in his filmography, none of the members of Monty Python are a part of the cast, and his iconic style was focused into a thoughtful fantasy grounded in the character’s psychological struggles. Though many of the fairy tale narrative elements are carried over from Gilliam’s heavier fantasy and sci-fi films, they primarily exist in the delusions of our protagonist’s broken psyche. It is an enigma of a film, containing all of the elements necessary for the typical zaniness of a Gilliam comedy-fantasy, but instead unfolds into a thoughtfully sentimental drama.

The Happiness of the Katakuris Blu-ray Review

     Actors: Kenji Sawada, Keiko Matsuzaka, Shinji Takeda

Director: Takashi Miike

Format: Blu-ray, Color

Language: Japanese

Number of discs: 2

Rated: R (Restricted)

Studio: Arrow Video

Release Date: June 16, 2015

Run Time: 113 minutes

 

 

        If you’re the type of person who wonders what The Sound of Music would be like if it included a zombie dance sequence, The Happiness of the Katakuris is the answer. The dark comedy with musical numbers and trippy claymation sequences was directed by Takashi Miike in 2001, as a much lighter entry compared to his other films during that period (include 1999’s Audition). And yet, it still has the distinct stamp of the filmmaker, particularly in the moments of macabre. The best comparison I can make is that The Happiness of the Katakuris is to Miike’s filmography what The Trouble with Harry was to Alfred Hitchcock’s.

 

Pandas: The Journey Home Blu-ray Review

     Actors: Joely Richardson (Narrator)

Director: Nicolas Brown

Format: Multiple Formats, Blu-ray, Color, 3D, Widescreen

Language: English

Number of discs: 2

Rated: NR (Not Rated)

Studio: Virgil Films and Entertainment

Release Date: June 16, 2015

Run Time: 40 minutes

 

 

        Like most Imax short-subject documentaries, Pandas: The Journey Home attempts to make up in spectacle what it lacks in narrative depth. Unfortunately, much of this is lost in the transfer from massive screens to home entertainment. In an effort to compensate for the loss of scope, the high definition presentation of the Blu-ray offers both 2D and 3D versions of the film, with a second disc including the DVD format.

 

A Master Builder Blu-ray Review

     Actors: Wallace Shawn, Julie Hagerty, Lisa Joyce

Director: Jonathan Demme

Format: Multiple Formats, Blu-ray, AC-3, DTS Surround Sound, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen

Language: English

Subtitles: English

Number of discs: 1

Rated: Unrated

Studio: Criterion Collection (Direct)

Release Date: June 16, 2015

Run Time: 127 minutes

Long-winded and overly theatrical cinematic adaptation

        There is a clear theatricality to all of the cinematic collaborations between Wallace Shawn and André Gregory, most notably with the two classics directed by the former French auteur, Louis Malle (My Dinner with Andre [1981], Vanya on 42^nd Street [1994]). This was true of My Dinner with Andre despite being an original concept, mostly because of the single-location and dialogue-heavy screenplay, which featured discussion of the art form from the two playing versions of themselves. Gregory was an established theater director and Shawn also worked heavily in the medium as a playwright and actor (though he was best known for playing character parts onscreen). They then lent these talents to their own stage adaptation of Anton Chekhov’s “Dyadya Vanya,” which became the subject of Malle’s film about a play, adapted for the screen by David Mamet.

 

My Dinner with Andre Blu-ray Review

     Actors: Wallace Shawn, André Gregory

Director: Louis Malle

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

Language: English

Subtitles: English

Number of discs: 1

Rated: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)

Studio: Criterion Collection (Direct)

Release Date: June 16, 2015

Run Time: 111 minutes

Two artists question the meaning of existence and their work, while eating quail.

        My Dinner with Andre (1981) is a film about a conversation meant to inspire further discussion from the audience. It is art that discusses the philosophy of art and how life interacts with the process, while encouraging viewers to follow the filmmakers down the rabbit-hole of logic and apply it to their own lives. Deliberately pretentious and decisively contradictory, My Dinner with Andre imitates life by presenting two artists playing themselves in a fabricated sense of realism. In the end, it is only the ideas we can trust to be entirely true, though even these are merely theories meant to be deliberated rather than decided upon. It is somewhat like Michael Winterbottom’s recent food-driven series, The Trip (2010) and The Trip to Italy (2014), without the focus on food or bad jokes and irritating impressions to attempt lightening the mood.

 

Wild Tales Blu-ray Review

     Actors: Ricardo Darín, Oscar Martinez, Leonardo Sbaraglia, Erica Rivas, Rita Cortese

Director: Damián Szifron

Format: Blu-ray, Widescreen

Language: Spanish

Region: All Regions

Number of discs: 1

Rated: R (Restricted)

Studio: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment

Release Date: June 16, 2015

Run Time: 90 minutes

 

Dark satirical anthology offers six clever stories of revenge.

 

        Wild Tales doesn’t bother setting up its premise or explaining the connection in themes between the six individual short storylines; it begins with a furious energy and never quite lets up the suspenseful feeling that anything could happen until the final frame. The final skit has less impact than those preceding it, but this may have been a calculated choice to provide the audience some sense of closure in an otherwise rage-filled series of set-ups and punch-lines. These six individual stories involve different characters and a variety of situations, but they all share in common a sense of helplessness in the machine of modern society, as well as the catharsis of revenge.

 

Chappie Blu-ray Review

     Actors: Hugh Jackman, Dev Patel, Sharlto Copley, Ninja

Format: Blu-ray, Ultraviolet, Widescreen

Language: English

Region: All Regions

Number of discs: 1

Rated: R (Restricted)

Studio: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment

Release Date: June 16, 2015

Digital Copy Expiration Date: December 31, 2018

Run Time: 90 minutes

Robocop meets Wall-E

 

        Still riding off of his success with District 9, Neill Blomkamp’s latest sci-fi action thriller has many of the same themes and similar visions of a future/alternate world. District 9, Elysium, and Chappie would make an extremely coherent and obvious triple-feature, and it would also show the fast decline of Blomkamp. I can only hope that this isn’t a sign of what he will do to the Alien franchise, which is set as his next project.

 

Justified: The Complete Final Season DVD Review

     Actors: Timothy Olyphant, Nick Searcy

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

Language: English

Number of discs: 3

Rated: Unrated

Studio: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment

DVD Release Date: June 2, 2015

 

 

Based on the short story “Fire in the Hole” by crime novelist Elmore Leonard, “Justified” worked as an adaptation with room for growth. Timothy Olyphant carries the narrative as U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens, bringing a familiar gunslinger swagger to the western set-up, though this FX series is far more similar to “Sons of Anarchy” than “Deadwood.” With his personal knowledge of Harlan County, Kentucky, Raylan is perfect candidate to take down a local crime family. This location becomes the primary premise for the series, along with Raylan’s vendetta against local criminal legend, Boyd Crowder (Walton Goggins).

 

The Wonder Years: Season Three DVD Review

     Actors: Fred Savage

Format: Multiple Formats, Box set, Color, NTSC

Language: English

Number of discs: 4

Rated: NR (Not Rated)

Studio: Time Life Records

DVD Release Date: May 26, 2015

 

 

        “The Wonder Years” was one of those shows I thought would never make it to DVD, mostly because of how much great music from the show had copyright issues. Not only has it finally made its way onto DVD for the first time ever, it comes with the originally broadcast music, including Joe Cocker’s memorable rendition of The Beatles’ With a Little Help from My Friends. In total, there are over 50 classic songs included from the original broadcast of season three. But this is a show that is much more than the fantastic soundtrack, though just as much of a classic as the hits that took so long to get copyrighting for.

 

Welcome to Sweden: The Complete First Season DVD Review

     Actors: Greg Pohler, Josephine Bornebusch, Patrick Duffy

Director: Carl Astrand

Format: Multiple Formats, Dolby, NTSC, Widescreen

Language: Swedish

Dubbed: English

Number of discs: 2

Rated: NR (Not Rated)

Studio: Entertainment One

DVD Release Date: May 19, 2015

Run Time: 220 minutes

        The IMDB page for “Welcome to Sweden” is filled with user praise, primarily from those who are Swedish or have been exposed to the culture through relationships. If you were to only judge this series based upon the realism of the humor about an American attempting to bond with the family of his Swedish girlfriend along with the fish-out-of-water narrative of adapting to a new culture, it certainly is deserving of some praise. The rest of the show is a complete failure, only possible because of the nepotistic connections of creator and star Greg Poehler, who seems far too reliant on sister Amy Poehler to produce, guest star, and provide a variety of famous cameos that would not have been obtained on the show’s merits alone.

 

Turbo Fast: Season One DVD Review

     Format: Multiple Formats, Animated, Box set, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC

Language: English (Dolby Digital 5.1), French (Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround), Spanish (Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround)

Subtitles: English, French, Spanish

Dubbed: French, Spanish

Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1

Number of discs: 3

Studio: Dreamworks Animated

DVD Release Date: June 2, 2015

Run Time: 599 minutes

 

        Turbo was a mildly successful CGI animated film about a snail that fulfills his dream to race against cars when he accidentally absorbs nitrous oxide. This was a quite transparent message to children that they should always follow their dreams regardless of how impossible they seem (even if you need to take enhancement drugs), but this Netflix produced spin-off series leaves the message behind for some good-old-fashioned cartoons. More irreverent than inspirational, “Turbo Fast” is fast-paced comic fun that will keep the attention of most children without irritating the parents too much.

 

Free the Nipple DVD Review

     Actors: Lina Esco, Lola Kirke, Casey LaBow

Director: Lina Esco

Format: Multiple Formats, Color, Widescreen, NTSC

Language: English

Number of discs: 1

Rated: Unrated

Studio: MPI HOME VIDEO

DVD Release Date: June 9, 2015

Run Time: 79 minutes

 

 

        I took pages of notes watching this movie, marking down all of the particular lines and scenes that irritated me. I could list them all, but I think it is more effective to simply say that this movie changed my stance on the whole “Free the Nipple” campaign which inspired the film. While I was on the fence before, having to endure this dull and contrived hipster film and hearing plenty of bad dialogue and ill-logic in defense of the issue, I can now say that I am absolutely against the cause. This movie is responsible for that, as well as having people like Lena Dunham and unfortunate celebrity offspring Scout Willis and Miley Cyrus as the cause’s advocates. But the worst offense of the film is blatant hypocrisy within the drifting message of the cause. 

 

Camp X-Ray Blu-ray Review

     Actors: Kristen Stewart, Peyman Moaadi, Lane Garrison

Director: Peter Sattler

Format: Blu-ray, Widescreen

Language: English

Number of discs: 1

Rated: R (Restricted)

Studio: MPI HOME VIDEO

Release Date: June 2, 2015

Run Time: 117 minutes

 

 

        How successful Camp X-Ray is as a film is entirely dependent upon how willing each audience member is to sit through nearly two hours of understated dialogue between two characters separated by walls, glass, and fences, despite knowing where the storyline is inevitably headed. The fact that the material is not more cloying is a testament to writer/director Peter Sattler, though it is thanks to the two leads that the realism in the screenplay feels sincere. The entire film is a balancing act between realism and a contrived relationship, meant to offer introspection over complicated issues of duty and standard operating procedures within the infamous Guantanamo Bay detention camp. While the film falls flat in a somewhat over-inflated running-time, Camp X-Ray earns most of its emotional payoff with a well-researched script and dedicated performances from its actors.

 

Asmodexia DVD Review

     Actors: Albert Baro, Pepo Blasco, Marta Belmonte

Director: Marc Carreté

Format: Multiple Formats, Color, Widescreen, NTSC

Language: Spanish

Number of discs: 1

Rated: Unrated

Studio: MPI Home Video

DVD Release Date: June 2, 2015

Run Time: 81 minutes

 

 

 

        At the very least, Asmodexia has a somewhat original plot that deters from most other exorcism horror films, though it still revels in all of the typical visual tropes of the genre. Young girls, elderly people and children are subjected to the usual demon-possession sequences, though the film eventually offers a thinly veiled twist on the narrative which removes faith and Christianity from the equation altogether. Even though the misdirection of the movie’s early sequences are fairly transparent, Asmodexia is ultimately brought down by an overcomplicated screenplay trying too hard to surprise the audience with mystery. Ultimately, it doesn’t matter who is good or bad; the movie relies almost entirely on the style of individual exorcism sequences.

 

Magician: The Astonishing Life and Work of Orson Welles Blu-ray Review

     Actors: Orson Welles

Director: Chuck Workman

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

Language: English

Number of discs: 1

Rated: NR (Not Rated)

Studio: Cohen Media Group

Release Date: May 26, 2015

Run Time: 94 minutes

 

        Orson Welles was a fascinating person, as were his films, so any documentary about him has that element already going for it. Chuck Workman’s film, Magician: The Astonishing Life and Work of Orson Welles, provides all of the necessary stories and career points of the iconic actor/director, serving as a concise introduction for those unfamiliar with his work. As for those already fans, much of the content will seem redundant and lacking any new insight. Workman realizes that Orson is interesting enough on his own, and fails to insert any viewpoint or unique opinion of his own. This is more like a documentary that you’d expect to find in the DVD special features of an Anniversary release for Citizen Kane.

 

McFarland, USA Blu-ray Review

Actors: Kevin Costner, Rafael Martinez, Johnny Ortiz, Carlos Pratts

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

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

Subtitles: Spanish, English

Dubbed: French, Spanish

Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1

Number of discs: 1

Rated: PG 

Studio: Walt Disney Studios

Release Date: June 2, 2015

Run Time: 129 minutes

 

        Sports movies released under the Disney logo are usually predictable from the trailer alone, following a formula that hasn’t changed much since the horribly contrived Remember the Titans. While McFarland, USA boasts a slightly better screenplay, nearly every aspect of the film aligns with this specific group of films. Based on a true story, dealing with issues of diversity, and centering on a group of underdogs, McFarland, USA feels like a paint-by-numbers Disney sports film, but that doesn’t always detract from its charms. Audiences going into a film like this know what they are getting, and this one delivers what is expected; no more and no less.