Ben Stiller’s THE SECRET LIFE OF WALTER MITTY, which I wasn’t too impressed by last December, leads the line-up of new releases on Blu ray and DVD today. Stiller’s adaptation of the James Thurber short story, which felt to me and many others (it has a 49% rating on the Rotten Tomatometer) to resemble a feature length commercial, comes with a slew of Special Features including Deleted, Extended, and Alternate Scenes (equaling around 15 minutes), a bunch of Behind the Scenes featurettes, Gallery: Reference Photography, "Stay Alive" music video (Jose Gonzales), and the Theatrical Trailer.
A movie I liked a little bit better, Stephen Frears’ PHILOMENA, starring Judi Dench and Steve Coogan, also hits home video today. Although the fine film, about a cynical journalist (Coogan, of course) aiding an elderly Irishwoman (Dench) in her search for the son she was forced to give up for adoption, didn’t win any of the four Oscars (surprisingly, it was up for Best Picture) it was nominated for, its Blu ray and DVD release boasts a bevy of high-end bonus material. First up, there’s a commentary with writer/actorpProducer Steve Coogan and Screenwriter Jeff Pope, “A Conversation With Judi Dench” (8:54), a short (under 3 minutes) featurette “The Real Philomena Lee,” and a almost 25-minute Q & A With Steve Coogan from the film’s Guild Screening in Los Angeles last December.
Next up, a film that I thought was just released theatrically (actually it was in January – the year is flying by) also releases this week: Tim Story’s poorly reviewed but crowd pleasing action comedy RIDE ALONG, starring Ice Cube and Kevin Hart. I skipped the film because I’ve not yet found Hart to be funny, but for those of you who do here’s what Special Features are included: Director’s commentary with Story, Gag Reel, Locations Tour, alternate ending, deleted scenes, and various featurettes.
On the older films out this week in fancy new Blu ray editions front there's Orson Welles' undisputed 1958 classic TOUCH OF EVIL, Billy Wilder's 1944 thriller DOUBLE INDEMNITY (another undisputed classic), Anthony Mann’s 1957 Korean War film MEN IN WAR, Douglas Sirk’s 1948 film noir thriller SLEEP, MY LOVE, and the Criterion Collection deluxe edition of Lars Von Trier's heated 1996 drama BREAKING THE WAVES.
More later...
A couple of hit films released last summer that I almost forgot about lead the pack of new releases on home video today: Guillermo del Toro’s PACIFIC RIM, and Paul Feig’s THE HEAT. PACIFIC RIM, a big ass sci-fi action film dealing with giant robots battling giant monsters starring Charlie Hunnam, Idris Elba, Rinko Kikuchi, and Charlie Day, is available in a 3 disc Blu-ray + DVD + UltraViolet Combo Pack and a 2 disc Special Edition DVD + UltraViolet package.
Special Features: Audio commentary by director Del Toro, thirteen Focus Point featurettes equaling over an hour, an interactive feature “The Director’s Notebook,” an archive of the film's key design art: “The Shatterdome,” something called “Drift Space,” bloopers, and deleted scenes.
THE HEAT, the so-so Sandra Bollock and Melissa McCarthy buddy cop comedy, is out this week in a 2 disc Blu-ray / DVD + Digital HD edition, and a single disc DVD release. There are way too many Special Features to list here so let’s just say it includes the theatrical and unrated versions of the film, more than one gag reel, deleted scenes, extended scenes, bloopers, and multiple commentaries including one by the original lineup from Mystery Science Theater 3000 (!). Looks like if you happen to be a big fan of THE HEAT, you’re in for quite a feast of extras.
Franck Khalfoun’s remake of William Lustig’s 1980 slasher film MANIAC also hits home video today in both 1 disc Blu ray and DVD editions. The brutal gore-filled horror film is hard to watch at times, but effectively constructed as it’s almost completely seen through the eyes of its sicko protagonist portrayed by Elijah Wood. Director Khalfoun, Wood, and executive producer Alix Taylor provide a commentary, among other bonus material such as an almost feature length “Making of” doc, poster gallery, deleted scenes, and the theatrical trailer.
Tobias Lindholm’s A HIJACKING, that has a premise similar to the currently playing Tom Hanks hit CAPTAIN PHILLIPS, i.e. a cargo ship is hijacked by Somali pirates, releases today also on 1 disc Blu ray and DVD editions. The basic plot may be the same as CAPTAIN PHILLIPS, but Lindholm’s film, which he also wrote the screenplay for, deals more with the long negotiations over the high-seas hostage situation that go on for several months. Special Features consist of five behind-the-scenes featurettes and the theatrical trailer.
Comic Kevin Hart’s stand-up comedy performance film LET ME EXPLAIN, directed by Leslie Small, drops today in a 2-disc Blu ray package and a single disc DVD. The film, which has drawn comparisons to Richard Pryor and Eddie Murphy’s classic stand-up movies, is made up mostly of highlights from Hart’s 2 sold out Madison Square Garden shows in 2012. Special Features: a few featurettes (“No, No, No, Let Us Explain,” “Backstage Pass”), and three music videos (“Let Me Explain” title song featuring Erick Sermon, Snoop Dogg, Method Man & RL, “Let Me Explain” theme song “The Narcissist” featuring American Antagon 1st, and “Pop Off” by Doeshun featuring Ray Ray & Ruck).
Other notable new releases today include: Richard Rowley’s documentary DIRTY WARS, Jeff Renfroe’s sci-fi horror flick THE COLONY, Chad Crawford Kinkle’s low budget horror production JUG FACE, Catherine Hardwicke’s erotic thriller PLUSH, and Johnnie To’s Chinese-Hong Kong action film DRUG WAR.
On the older films out today front we’ve got the Blu ray debut of George Roy Hill’s 1977 classic hockey comedy SLAP SHOT, the 40th Anniversary Edition of Clint Eastwood’s HIGH PLAINS DRIFTER, the 10th Anniversary Edition of LOVE ACTUALLY, Robert Wise’s 1963 horror classic THE HAUNTING, John Carpenter’s 1994 horror film IN THE MOUTH OF MADNESS, John Sturges’ 1976 war epic THE EAGLE HAS LANDED, Curtis Harrington’s 1961 thriller NIGHT TIDE (starring a young Dennis Hopper), and the Kino Classics Remastered Edition of Orson Welles’ unjustly overlooked 1946 film noir thriller THE STRANGER.
Star Wars: The Clone Wars – The Complete Fifth Season from Executive Producer George Lucas and Lucasfilm Animation is out today in a 3-disc Blu ray set, and a 4-disc DVD set. Extras on what is considered by fans to be the best season of the series includes director’s cuts of two episodes, a bunch of behind the scenes featurettes, cast and crew interviews, deleted scenes, and alternate scenes.
Other TV series sets releasing today include Vikings: Season One, The Fall: Series 1, Defiance: Season One, Maverick: The Complete Third Season, Bewitched: The Complete Series, I Dream of Jeannie: The Complete Series, The Partridge Family: The Complete Series, and for all you Charlie Sheen fans, Anger Management Season 2.
More later…
