DISCussion: New on DVD and Blu-ray (1.21.2014)

Entertainment Fuse's latest entry of DISCussion, the Recommendation of the Week is the critically praised Tom Hanks thriller Captain Phillips. The DVD and Blu-ray release of the movie features a director's commentary and a behind the scenes featurette. First Release - Captain Phillips (DVD and Blu-ray) - Blue Jasmine (DVD and Blu-ray) - Machete Kills (DVD and Blu-ray) - Instructions Not Included (DVD and Blu-ray) - In a World... (DVD and Blu-ray) - Starving Games (DVD) Re-Release - It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World (1963) (Blu-ray) - La Vie de Boheme (1992) (Blu-ray) - Robocop (1987) (Blu-ray) - Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968) (Blu-ray) - White Men Can't Jump (1992) (Blu-ray) - Nostalghia (1983) (DVD and Blu-ray) Captain Phillips (DVD and Blu-ray) *Recommendation of the Week* Directed by Paul Greengrass Written by Billy Ray (screenplay), Richard Phillips, Stephan Tatty (book 'A Captain's Duty') Starring: Tom Hanks, Barkhad Abdi Based on the true story of the hijacking of Maersk Alabama Captain Phillips was a highly regarded thriller, earning six Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture and Best Supporting Actor. Helmed by Bourne director Paul Greengrass Captain Phillips follows the events of the hijacking of the Alabama by Somali pirates and Captain Richard Phillips (Tom Hanks) sets out to protect his crew from pirates led by Abduwali Muse (Barkhad Abdi). Critics Rating (Rotten Tomatoes): 93% (excellent) Metacritic Rating: 83/100 (very good) Entertainment Fuse Score: 7.8/10 DISC DETAILS DVD Special Features: Commentary with director Paul Greengrass; Capturing Captain Phillips - In-depth behind-the-scenes featurettes on making the acclaimed film Amazon Price: $17.99 (DVD), $22.99 (Blu-ray) Score (DVDTalk.com): Content 4 stars, Video 4.5 stars, Audio 4 stars, Extras 3.5 stars, Replay 4 stars (out of 5). Highly Recommended. The other major release this week is the Woody Allen comedy-drama Blue Jasmine whilst movies likes It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World and Robocop are being re-released. Blue Jasmine (DVD and Blu-ray) Written and directed by Woody Allen Starring: Cate Blanchett, Alec Baldwin, Bobby Cannavale, Louis C.K. Andrew Dice Clay, Sally Hawkins, Peter Sarsgaard, Michael Stuhlbarg Woody Allen's Blue Jasmine was seen as one of the early Oscar contenders last year and it has earn three nominations for Best Actress, Best Supporting Actress and Best Original Screenplay. Jeanette "Jasmine" Francis (Cate Blanchett) is a New York socialite who is forced to move in with her sister (Sally Hawkins, Happy-Go-Lucky) in San Francisco when she becomes bankrupt and slowly succumb to a mental breakdown. Critics Rating (Rotten Tomatoes): 91% (excellent) Metacritic Rating: 78/100 Entertainment Fuse Score: 10/10 DISC DETAILS DVD Special Features:  Notes from the Red Carpet and Blue Jasmine cast press conference Amazon Price: $17.99 (DVD), $22.99 (Blu-ray) Score (DVDTalk.com): Content 5 stars, Video 4.5 stars, Audio 4 stars, Extras 3 stars, Replay 5 stars (out of 5). Highly Recommended. Machete Kills (DVD and Blu-ray) Directed by Robert Rodriguez Written by Kyle Ward (screenplay), Robert Rodriguez, Marcel Rodriguez (story) Starring: Danny Trejo, Michelle Rodriguez, Sofia Vergara, Amber Heard, Antonio Banderas, Lady Gaga, Carlos Estevez, Mel Gibson Machete Kills is the sequel to the grindhouse homage Machete. Robert Rodriguez returns as director and Danny Trejo reprises his role as Mexico's greatest agent who this time is recruited by the President of the United States (Carlos Estevez AKA Charlie Sheen) to track down a dangerous weapons dealer, Luther Voz (Mel Gibson), who plans to launch a weapon into space. Critics Rating (Rotten Tomatoes): 30% (poor) Metacritic Rating: 41/10 (poor) Entertainment Fuse Score: 5.5/10 (read our review) DISC DETAILS DVD Special Features: Deleted and extended scenes; Making Machete Kills Amazon Price: $17.99 (DVD), $22.99 (Blu-ray) Instructions Not Included (DVD and Blu-ray) Directed by Eugenio Derbez Written by Guillermo Rios, Leticia López Margalli, Eugenio Derbez Starring: Eugenio Derbez, Jessica Lindsey, Loreto Peralta, Daniel Raymont, Alessandra Rosaldo The Mexican comedy-drama Instructions Not Included is one of the most successful Spanish language movies in North America. Eugenio Derbez directs, co-writes and stars in this movie and play Valentin, a Mexican playboy who ends up with a baby, Maggie, from one of his flings. He raises Maggie as a single father for six years, working as a stuntman to pay the bills. But Valentin's world is rocked when Maggie's birth mum returns. Critics Rating (Rotten Tomatoes): 56% (average) Metacritic Rating: 55/100 (average) Entertainment Fuse Score: 7.3/10 DISC DETAILS DVD Special Features: Closed Caption; Audio commentary by Eugenio Derbez Amazon Price: $12.96 (DVD), $16.99 (Blu-ray) In a World... (DVD and Blu-ray) Written and directed by Lake Bell Starring: Lake Bell, Fred Melamed, Demetri Martin, Michaela Watkins, Ken Marino, Rob Corddy, Nick Offerman, Tig Notaro Another movie that was directed, written and starring one person is In a World.... Lake Bell stars as Carol Solomon, a vocal coach who is motivated by her father to follow his footsteps and become a voiceover artist. Critics Rating (Rotten Tomatoes: 92% (excellent) Metacritic Rating: 79/100 (very good) Entertainment Fuse Score: 7.0/10 DISC DETAILS DVD Special Features: Commentary with Lake Bell; Alternate opening sequence; Deleted scenes; In A World... promo trailers; Gag reel Amazon Price: $14.99 (DVD), $17.99 (Blu-ray) Score (DVDTalk.com): Content 3.5 stars, Video 4 stars, Audio 4.5 stars, Extras 3.5 stars, Replay 3 stars (out of 5). Recommended. The Starving Games (DVD) Written and directed by Jason Friedberg, Aaron Seltzer Starring: Maiara Walsh, Brant Daugherty, Cody Christian Just when we thought we were safe Selzberg are back with another 'parody' movie, this time their target being The Hunger Games, with movies like Avatar, The Avengers and Sherlock Holmes added just for good measure. Critics Rating (Rotten Tomatoes): 0% (awful) DISC DETAILS Amazon Price: $18.88 (DVD) It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World (1963) (Blu-ray) Directed by Stanley Kramer Written by William Rose, Tania Rose Starring: Spencer Tracy One of the re-releases from The Criterion Collection is ensemble comedy It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World focusing on five motorists who race to be the first person to find $350,000 that is buried in a California park. Critics Rating (Rotten Tomatoes): 79% (very good) Entertainment Fuse Score: 8.0/10 DISC DETAILS DVD Special Features:  Restored 4K digital film transfer of the general release version of the film, with 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack on the Blu-ray; New high-definition digital transfer of a 197-minute extended version of the film, reconstructed and restored by Robert A. Harris using visual and audio material from the longer original road-show version—including some scenes that have been returned to the film here for the first time—with 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack on the Blu-ray; New audio commentary featuring It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World aficionados Mark Evanier, Michael Schlesinger, and Paul Scrabo; New documentary on the film’s visual and sound effects, featuring interviews with visual-effects specialist Craig Barron and sound designer Ben Burtt; Excerpt from a 1974 talk show hosted by director Stanley Kramer and featuring Mad World actors Sid Caesar, Buddy Hackett, and Jonathan Winters; Press interview from 1963 featuring Kramer and cast members; Excerpts about the influence of the film from the 2000 AFI program 100 Years . . . 100 Laughs; Two-part 1963 episode of the TV program Telescope that follows the film’s press junket and premiere; The Last 70mm Film Festival, a 2012 program featuring Mad World cast and crew, hosted by actor Billy Crystal; Selection of humorist and voice-over artist Stan Freberg’s original TV and radio ads for the film, with a new introduction by Freberg; Trailers and radio spots; Two Blu-rays and three DVDs, with all content available in both formats; PLUS: A booklet featuring an essay by film critic Lou Lumenick and new illustrations by legendary cartoonist Jack Davis, along with a map of the shooting locations by artist Dave Woodman. Amazon Price: $29.99 (Blu-ray) La Vie de Boheme (1992) (Blu-ray) Directed by Aki Kaurismäki Written by Aki Kaurismäki (screenplay), Henri Murger (novel) Starring: Matti Pellonpää, Evelyne Didi, André Wilms, Kari Väänänen, Christine Murillo The other Criterion Collection re-release is the French movie about three penniless artists and their lives in Paris. DISC DETAILS DVD Special Features: New, restored high-definition digital film transfer, supervised by director Aki Kaurismäki, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray; Where is Musette?, an hour-long documentary on the making of the film; New interview with actor André Wilms; New english subtitle translation; One Blu-ray and one DVD, with all content available in both formats; PLUS: a booklet featuring an essay by critic Luc Sante Amazon Price: $35.96 (Blu-ray) Robocop (1987) (Blu-ray) Directed by Paul Verhoeven Written by Edward Neumeier, Michael Miner Starring: Peter Weller, Nancy Allen, Dan O'Herlihy, Ronny Cox, Kurtwood Smith, Miguel Ferrer A reboot of the Robocop franchise is hitting theaters next month: but if you cannot wait that long the 1987 Paul Verhoeven darkly satirical original is being re-released on 4K Blu-ray. In the future Detroit is a crime-ridden, bankrupt city with its police force privatized police force. Alex Murphy (Paul Weller) is a police officer who is transferred to Detroit and killed in the line of duty and his body and brain are used to become the first cyborg police officer, Robocop. Robocop cleans up the city but soon his questions his humanity as the police prepare to go on strike and the internal politics of Omni Consumer Products turns violence. Critics Rating (Rotten Tomatoes): 88% (excellent) Metacritic Rating: 67/100 (good) Entertainment Fuse Score: 8.4/10 DISC DETAILS DVD Special Features: All-new Q&A with the filmmakers Plus: Flesh and steel: the making of Robocop Robocop: creating a legend 1987 featurettes: shooting Robocop and making Robocop The boardroom: storyboard with commentary by animator Phil Tippett Deleted scenes Villains of old Detroit Special effects: then and now Commentary with director Paul Verhoeven, writer Ed Neumeier and executive producer Jon Davison Amazon Price: $7.99 (Blu-ray) Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968) (DVD and Blu-ray) Directed by Ken Hughes Written by Roald Dahl, Ken Hughes (screenplay), Ian Fleming (novel) Starring: Dick Van Dyke, Sally Ann Howes, Adrian Hall, Heather Ripley, Lionel Jeffries, Benny Hill As well as being the author of James Bond, Ian Fleming also wrote the children's book Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and is a beloved movie for many as an eccentric inventor creates a flying car, but soon becomes the target of a foreign dictator. Critics Rating (Rotten Tomatoes: 68% (good) Entertainment Fuse Score: 6.3/10 DISC DETAILS DVD Special Features: Sing-along; Chitty chitty's bang bang driving game; Toot sweet toots musical maestro; Remembering chitty chitty bang bang with Dick Van Dyke; A fantasmagorical motorcar; Sherman brother's demos; Vintage featurettes; Photo and vintage advertising galleries Amazon Price: $17.99 (Blu-ray) White Men Can't Jump (1992) (Blu-ray) Written and directed by Ron Shelton Starring: Wesley Snipes, Woody Harrelson White Men Can't Jump is a sports comedy starring Wesley Snipes and Woody Harrelson stars as two basketball hustlers who double their chances by teaming up together. Critics Rating (Rotten Tomatoes): 77% (very good) Entertainment Fuse Score: 7.0/10 DISC DETAILS DVD Special Features: Includes both the theatrical version and extended version not shown in theaters; Music video "White Men Can't Jump" by Riff; Theatrical trailers; TV spot Amazon Price: $17.99 (Blu-ray) Nostalghia (1983) (DVD and Blu-ray) Directed by Andrei Tarkovsky Written by Tonino Guerra, Andrei Tarkovsky Starring: Oleg Yankovsky, Erland Josephson, Domiziana Giodano Nostalghia is a Russian/Italian co-production about a Russian poet, Andrei Gorchakov (Oleg Yanovskiy) and his translator Eugenia (Domiziana Giordano) travel Italy as he research an 18th century Russian composer. But Andrei is soon drawn by a strange man, Domenico (Erland Josephson). Critics Rating (Rotten Tomatoes): 78% (very good) DISC DETAILS Amazon Price: $26.96 (DVD), $29.99 (Blu-ray) Score (DVDTalk.com): Content 4 stars, Video 3.5 stars, Audio 3.5 stars, Extras 0.5 stars, Replay 4 stars (out of 5). Highly Recommended.