Category: DVD/BLU-RAY

Having only a fringe comprehension of actor/creator Chris Lilley and his
fondness for the mockumentary genre (explored in "Summer Heights High"
and "We Can Be Heroes"), I was surprised by much of his latest effort,
"Angry Boys." Billed as a comedy, the series is actually anything but at
times, refusing opportunities for humor to take the entire enterprise
with the utmost seriousness, as though Lilley was aiming for
respectability with his well-rehearsed sideshow act, trying to breathe
life into caricatures that he barely has a handle on. While his
improvisational breathlessness is something to behold, Lilley doesn't
have much to say with "Angry Boys" outside of some mild satire directed
at the fragility of emotionally stunted men. The rest is a blend of
profanity, touches of blackface and yellowface, anti-gay slurs, urine
and semen jokes, and wild tonal swings that render the show a real
patience-tester at times, watching the star feel around in the dark for a
narrative direction that he's never able to find. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Many images come to mind when the name David Geffen is mentioned. A
protector of music, a producer of movies, a billionaire, and a tenacious
businessman, Geffen has lived quite a life. Filled with the type of
entertainment world high adventure few will ever be able to equal,
Geffen has built a brand name of quality and longevity, often from mere
scraps of ideas, trusting in his instincts and a good hearty yell to
broker deals and secure interests, with over 50 years of ladders
climbed, egos endured, and financial risks to show for his work. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

The haunted ship subgenre is not something that's explored much these
days, with 2002's "Ghost Ship" perhaps the last major effort to claim
multiplex attention, and that didn't go well. Back in the 1970s and
'80s, fascination with all things floating and demonic was more common,
with "Death Ship" (released in 1980) a prime example of what the premise
has to offer on an absurdly tiny budget. It's ridiculous and dips a toe
in tastelessness, but the core terror experience is acceptable for fans
of the scary stuff, eating up 90 minutes with creepy corridors,
unexplained antagonism, blood showers, and the most dangerous peppermint
candy ever committed to film. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Unless you happen to be an archaeologist or a closet fan of the 1994
adventure film, "Rapa Nui," there are plenty of mysteries left to
examine when investigating the cryptic Polynesian location, Easter
Island. Researchers and scientists have spent the last century
attempting to deduce the experience of the island's indigenous people,
with special concentration on monolithic human statues called "moai."
These enormous ancestral tributes are catnip to those with a curiosity
about the area, providing an irresistible puzzle of movement, with the
impossibly heavy rock creations (weighing about 14 tons) scattered
around the island, despite little evidence on how they were actually
able to reach their final resting places atop "ahus," or sacred stone
platforms. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Boasting over 120 species and a substantial history, it's about time the
ducks of America receive their own "Nature" special. "An Original
DUCKumentary" (hee-hee) endeavors to explore the strange, cyclical realm
of behaviors and quest of survival for these peculiar birds, studying a
year in the life of these animals. The journey is brief but
informative, aided by oddly enthusiastic narration from Paul Giamatti,
imparting a basic understanding of the duck experience, from the first
steps out of the nest to the gamesmanship of finding a suitable mate,
with feeding rituals, flight patterns, and regional habits inspected
along the way. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

"Babes in Toyland" represented a bold step forward for Walt Disney in
1961. His first live-action musical, the mogul proceeded carefully with
the work, updated from the operetta by Victor Herbert, casting
fan-favorite and loyal Mouseketeer Annette Funicello (the girl who
launched an entire generation of boys into puberty) in the lead role,
while filling the frame with all kinds of advanced Disney wizardry to
keep audiences amazed and, at times, distracted. Experimental in nature
but familiar in design, the picture is a mixed bag of delights, with the
majority of its success tied to the designers and animators, who bring a
surprising amount of invention to the screen, working to open up the
limited stage setting Disney requested. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

When "Heavyweights" opened in 1995, it bombed. It was an unsurprising
fate for the feature, which was cursed with a ridiculous poster, a
flaccid trailer, and a February release date, keeping the summer camp
adventure away from more appreciative summer audiences. I caught the
film during its initial theatrical release and was left a tad puzzled by
the effort, watching the production stitch together a traditional
Disney-style family film experience with an edgier comedic aim, keeping
what should've been a forgettable matinee distraction interesting,
dusted with a few sizable laughs. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

It's hard to believe it's been a decade since the release of "Like
Mike," leaving "Thunderstruck" ample room to pick up where the
teen-centric sports fantasy left off. However, while "Like Mike" at
least made a faint attempt to conjure curiosity concerning the iffy
magic dust it was spreading, "Thunderstruck" doesn't even attempt to
pinpoint its basketball enchantment. It's a peculiar creative choice in
an otherwise bland, feebly acted comedy, concentrating more on laughs
and half-realized messages of adolescent responsibility than solidifying
a truly bizarre premise, at least to a point where it appears as though
the production actually cared about telling a coherent story. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

The trailer for "The Apparition" contained more story than the picture
it was promoting. In fact, I think the trailer for "The Apparition" is
actually more of a movie than "The Apparition." A wildly incoherent
effort that spends most of its running time avoiding its own plot, "The
Apparition" is one of those major studio releases that's so stunningly
inept, it's a wonder it ever received a theatrical release, possibly
finding a more appreciative audience with the no-risk Redbox crowd,
allowing those with a few bucks in their pocket and heavenly B-movie
patience to sit down and decode the bungled filmmaking. Perhaps there's
someone out there who could possibly explain the feature to me one day. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Full confession: I'm not a fan of comic books. It's not my field of
expertise, not a page-turning pastime that was burned into my routine as
a young boy. These days, it's difficult to go without an OCD knowledge
of the industry, especially as someone who spends most of the day
watching comic-inspired screen entertainment, hit with all types of
heroes and obscure characters boasting rich ink and paint histories only
the truest of the true fan could decode. And colleagues in possession
of such knowledge? Transformed into message board deities. The beauty of
director Ron Mann's 1988 documentary, "Comic Book Confidential," is
that it requires little homework to enjoy, creating an air of artistic
accomplishment and expression without working through the suffocating
details of history, hitting the viewer with brief blasts of idiosyncrasy
and storytelling that provide a secure appreciation of the
personalities involved with the production. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

While never greeted with a rapturous response befitting a world-class
thespian, Jean-Claude Van Damme made a welcome impression performing in
low-budget actioners that didn't tax his English language skills,
focused primarily on his feats of strength and flexibility. He was a
built guy with a thick accent and a wide-open face that could register
fear and fury (not to mention a stupendous command of plausible
confusion), and his early work benefited from that simplicity. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

"Crooked Arrows" is a film I wanted to like, came close to enjoying, but
was consistently pulled away by some poor storytelling decisions. It's
one of the first movies to concentrate solely on the game of lacrosse, a
sport that's grown in popularity in recent years after spending
centuries as a sacred activity for Native American cultures, where it's
known as "The Creator's Game." It's a highly athletic, fast-paced sport
that deserves a better onscreen celebration than "Crooked Arrows," which
slaps around every cliché imaginable, looking to win over viewers
through the comfort of familiarity. It has charm and a refreshing
cultural perspective, but the predictability is often too much to bear,
tanking the potential for a proper cinematic exploration of lacrosse. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

When a documentary from Ken Burns steps into view, certain expectations
are triggered that would never apply to a routine production. Building a
golden reputation with his work on "The Civil War" and "Baseball,"
Burns supplies a certain regality to his efforts that's blended with a
sensational amount of textured information, creating unforgettable
portraits of American life and conflict. "The Dust Bowl" furthers his
interests in the fragility and fortitude of the country. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Dermot Mulroney seems like a very capable filmmaking professional. As an
actor, he's been involved with a few challenging, thought-provoking
pictures ("Zodiac," "About Schmidt," "Longtime Companion") to help
counterbalance the studio fluff ("My Best Friend's Wedding," "Big
Miracle"), building a filmography that's not especially impressive, but
consistently interesting, with varied performances to match. "Love,
Wedding, Marriage" is Mulroney's directorial debut, which typically
promises a least a modicum of creative control, spending time calling
the shots, shaping a picture with a sense of purpose. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

I'm not exactly sure what "ABBA: The Movie" was originally intended to
be when director Lasse Hallstrom first climbed aboard the production,
but what he ultimately constructed out of a 10-city Australian tour in
1977 is something that not only captures the band at the peak of their
popularity and musical creativity, but isolates the swirl of hysteria
that greeted the group inside the one area of the world that treated
their presence like a coronation. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Kate Hudson has become the poster girl for particularly lazy romantic
comedies, spending nearly her entire career in the genre with efforts
such as "How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days," "Something Borrowed," and "Alex
& Emma." "A Little Bit of Heaven" is her most grotesque production
to date, merging googly eyes with colon cancer in a stunningly tasteless
picture that's made up entirely of cheap sentiment and wretched
direction. Turning on her high beams of charm, Hudson tap dances madly
through this movie, trying to remain as effervescent as possible with a
script that does a great disservice to the trials of cancer and the game
of love. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

I'm thinking Wes Craven should go ahead and contact his lawyer. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Although it seems strange to commit this thought to the page, it appears
the "Beverly Hills Chihuahua" saga is improving as it motors along, now
firmly ensconced in DTV mode. Please contain your eye-rolls, I'm not
comparing this talking animal franchise to "The Godfather," but as a
harmless family film diversion with an emphasis on good-natured
adventures, mild screenwriting, and accelerated colors, the producers
are heading in the right direction, reducing the scale of these efforts
as they go. The original 2008 picture was all-around awful, yet the 2011
sequel and now "Beverly Hills Chihuahua 3: Viva La Fiesta" have
developed a modest personality, keeping the antics on an approachable
level of mischief and domestic concern, free of a theatrical release
burden that once plagued the creative credits. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

"Broadway: The American Musical" is a 2004 PBS series that endeavors to
compact a history of musical theater into a documentary that's a mere
six hours in length. It's quite a task considering the extensive list of
productions that have graced the heavily lit area, a few hanging around
for years after opening. Director Michael Kantor is ambitious, but
delightfully so, displaying unexpected confidence with his assembly of
industry highs and lows, using his secret weapon, host Julie Andrews, to
distract from a few gaps in the timeline. It's a colorful, tightly
edited series with a healthy sense of humor, a dash of backstage venom,
and a jubilant sense of Broadway expansion, bringing viewers into the
thick of the creativity that fuels these big shows, using interviews
with key industry players to carry the narrative along. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Excluding his recent work as the demented, Satan-worshiping villain in
last summer's blockbuster, "The Expendables 2," the career of
Jean-Claude Van Damme has suffered from an extensive period of stagnancy
and, frankly, stupidity. 1990's "Death Warrant" is a dramatic reminder
of the bruiser's rise to screen glory, starring in a kooky B-list prison
picture that attempts to merge the subgenre's propensity for violence
and community intimidation with a mystery of modest means, permitting
the martial artist an opportunity to branch out as an actor, playing
traditional fist-first beats while working on his range of reactions to
uncovered clues. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com