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DISCussion: New on DVD and Blu-ray (8.27.2013)

Entertainment Fuse’s Recommendation of the Week comes curiosity of the Norwegian film industry, Kon-Tiki. This release of an Oscar nominated movie comes with a documentary about the real events and a special effects featurette.

First Release

- The Great Gatsby (2013) (DVD and Blu-ray)
- Pain & Gain (DVD and Blu-ray)
- Kon-Tiki (DVD and Blu-ray)
- The Reluctant Fundamentalist (DVD and Blu-ray)

Re-Release

- To Be or Not to Be (1942) (DVD and Blu-ray)
- The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh (1977) (DVD and Blu-ray)
- And Then There Were None (1945) (Blu-ray)
- Prime Suspect Complete Series (Blu-ray)


Kon-Tiki
(DVD and Blu-ray) *Recommendation of the Week*

Directed by Jochim Rønning, Espen Sandberg
Written by Petter Skavlan
Starring: Pål Sverre Valheim Hagen, Anders Baasmo Christiansen, Odd-Magus Williamson, Agnes Kittelsen, Gustaf Skarsgård, Jakob Oftebro, Tobias Santelmann

Kon-Tiki is a Norwegian movie that was nominated for the Best Foreign Language Oscar at the 85th Academy Awards. Kon-Tiki tells the story of Thor Heyerdahl (Pål Sverre Valheim Hagen), a scientist and explorer who attempts to prove that pre-Columbian South Americans were able to settle in Polynesia and sails the Kon-Tiki raft to prove his theory.

The directing duo Jochim Rønning and Espen Sandberg impressed Disney with this movie so much that they were able to land the fifth Pirates of the Caribbean gig.

Critics Rating (Rotten Tomatoes):
83% (very good)
Metacritic Rating:
63/100 (good)
Entertainment Fuse Score:
8.0/10

DISC DETAILS

DVD Special Features: Full-length Academy Award® Nominated Foreign Language Feature Film (Norwegian); Kon-Tiki: The Incredible True Story; Visual Effects Featurette

Amazon Price:
$19.99 (DVD), $24.99 (Blu-ray)


This week sees the releases of two big movies, Baz Luhrumann’s The Great Gatsby and Michael Bay’s pet project Pain & Gain. Disney fans have the re-release of The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh to keep them happy.


The Great Gatsby
(2013)
(DVD and Blu-ray)

Directed by Baz Luhrmann
Written by Baz Luhrmann, Craig Pearce (screenplay), F. Scott Fitzgerald (novel)
Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Tobey Maguire, Carey Mulligan, Joel Edgerton, Isla Fisher, Jason Clarke, Amitabh Bachchan

F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby is considered one of the great American novels and Baz Luhrmann’s version is the latest adaptation. Nick Carraway (Tobey Maguire) is a Midwestern man who moves to Long Island where he comes involved and witnesses the world of the mysterious millionaire Jay Gatsby (Leonardo DiCaprio).

Critics Rating (Rotten Tomatoes):
49% (average)
Metacritic Rating:
55/100 (average)
Entertainment Fuse Score:
8.0/10 (read our review)

DISC DETAILS

DVD Special Features: The greatness of Gatsby; "Within and without" with Tobey Maguire; The swinging sounds of Gatsby; The jazz age; Razzle dazzle: the fashion of the '20s; Fitzgerald's visual poetry; Gatsby revealed; Deleted scenes; 1926 The Great Gatsby trailer  

Amazon Price:
$16.99 (DVD), $22.99 (Blu-ray), $29.99 (3D Blu-ray)

Score (DVDTalk.com):
Content 3 stars, Video 5 stars, Audio 4.5 stars, Extras 4 stars, Replay 1.5 stars (out of 5). Highly Recommended.


Pain & Gain
(DVD and Blu-ray)


Directed by Michael Bay
Written by Christopher Markus, Stephen McFeely (screenplay), Pete Collins (articles)
Starring: Mark Wahlberg, Dwayne Johnson, Anthony Mackie, Tony Shalhoub, Ed Harris

Michael Bay is often decried by fanboys for his filmography and a whipping boy for critics. Some of his movies like Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen and Pearl Harbor read more like a rap sheet then a filmography. But by doing the Transformers movies he was able to get to make his dream project, the dark comedy Pain & Gain, his lowest budget movie since Bad Boys.

Pain & Gain is based on Pete Collins’ articles for the Miami New Times about the Sun Gym gang, a gang of bodybuilders lead by Daniel Lugo (Mark Wahlberg) who embark on a life of crime, but end up in a world of violence since they have muscles for brains.

Critics Rating (Rotten Tomatoes): 46% (average)
Metacritic Rating:
44/100 (poor)
Entertainment Fuse Score:
5.0/10 (read our review)

DISC DETAILS

Amazon Price: $14.99 (DVD), $17.99 (Blu-ray)

Score (DVDTalk.com): Content 4 stars, Video 5 stars, Audio 5 stars, Extras 0 stars, Replay 4 stars (out of 5). Highly Recommended.


The Reluctant Fundamentalist (DVD and Blu-ray)

Directed by Mira Nair
Written by William Wheeler (screenplay), Mohsin Hamid (novel)
Starring: Riz Ahmed, Kate Hudson, Liev Schreiber, Kiefer Sutherland

Based on Mohsin Hamid critically acclaimed novel The Reluctant Fundamentalist is a political thriller about Changez (Riz Ahmed, Four Lions), a Pakistani man and Princeton Graduate who turns his back on his career as a financial analyst on Wall Street, how he became an Islamic fundamentalist and examines his life in America.

Critics Rating (Rotten Tomatoes):
54% (average)
Metacritic Rating: 54/100 (average)

DISC DETAILS

DVD Special Features: Making of, Trailer

Amazon Price:
$12.99 (DVD), $12.93 (Blu-ray)


To Be or Not to Be
(1942) (DVD and Blu-ray)

Directed by Ernst Lubitsch
Written by Melchior Lengyel, Edwin Justus Mayer
Starring: Carole Lombard, Jack Benny, Felix Bressart, Sig Ruman

From the Criterion Collection this week is To Be or Not to Be, a dark comedy about a troupe of travelling actors in Nazi-occupied Poland who become embroiled in the war when they have to stop information that can harm the Polish Resistance getting to the Nazis.

Critics Rating (Rotten Tomatoes): 97% (excellent)

DISC DETAILS

DVD Special Features: New, restored 2K digital film transfer, with uncompressed monaural; New audio commentary featuring film historian David Kalat; Lubitsch le patron, a 2010 French documentary; Two episodes of The Screen Guild Theater, a radio anthology series; Trailer; PLUS: A booklet featuring an essay by critic Geoffrey O'Brien; More!

Amazon Price: $19.99 (DVD), $27.59 (Blu-ray)


The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh (1977) (Blu-ray)

Directed by John Lounsbery, Wolfgang Reitherman
Written by Larry Clemmons, Ralph Wright, Vance Gerry, Xavier Atencio, Ken Anderson, Julius Svendsen, Ted Berman, Eric Cleworth (screenplay), A.A. Milne (book)
Starring: Sterling Holloway, John Fiedler, Junius Matthews, Paul Winchell, Howard Morris, Bruce Reitherman, Jon Walmsley, Timothy Turner

From the achieves of Disney is The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, their adaptation of A.A. Milne’s Winnie-the-Pooh book. The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh is a collection of shorts about some of the most beloved characters in children’s literature.

Critics Rating (Rotten Tomatoes): 91% (excellent)
Entertainment Fuse Score:
7.0/10

DISC DETAILS

DVD Special Features:
Disney's "My Friends Tigger & Pooh" bonus episode; "A Day for Eeyore" animated short; The Story Behind the Masterpiece: The making of the Winnie the Pooh featurette; The 100 Acre Wood Challenge game; “The Winnie the Pooh Theme Song" performance by Carly Simon; "Pooh's Shadow" Disney storyline; Pooh's Pop-Up fun facts;  Winnie-the-Pooh art gallery; "The Wonderful Thing About Tiggers" sing-along song

Amazon Price: $20.93 (DVD), $24.96 (Blu-ray)


And Then There Were None (1945) (Blu-ray)

Directed by René Clair
Written by Dudley Nichols (screenplay), Agatha Christie (novel)
Starring: Barry Fitzgerald, Walter Huston, Louis Hayward, Roland Young, Judith Anderson, C. Aubrey Smith, Mischa Auer, June Duprez

Based on a novel by Agatha Christie And Then There Were None is a mystery about 10 strangers who are invited to a remote house where they are all accused of murder. Soon all the guests are killed off one-by-one.

Critics Rating (Rotten Tomatoes: 100% (excellent)

DISC DETAILS

Amazon Price: $14.99 (Blu-ray)


Prime Suspect Complete Series (Blu-ray)

Prime Suspect (1991)
Directed by Christoper Menaul
Written by Lynda La Plante
Starring: Helen Mirren, John Bowe, Tom Bell, Tom Wilkinson, Zoë Wanamaker

Prime Suspect 2
(1992)
Directed by John Strickland
Written by Alan Cubitt, Lynda La Plante
Starring: Helen Mirren, Colin Salmon

Prime Suspect 3 (1993)
Directed by David Drury
Written by Lynda La Plante
Starring: Helen Mirren, Peter Capaldi, Tom Bell, Mark Strong, David Thewlis, Ciarán Hinds

Prime Suspect: The Lost Child (1995)
Directed by John Madden
Written by Paul Billing (teleplay), Lynda La Plante (characters)
Starring: Helen Mirren, Beatie Edney, Robert Glenister, Stuart Wilson, Lesley Sharp

Prime Suspect: Inner Circles (1995)
Directed by Sarah Pia Anderson
Written by Eric Deacon (teleplay), Meredith Oakes (story), Lynda La Plante (characters)
Starring by Helen Mirren, Kelly Reilly

Prime Suspect: Scent of Darkness (1995)
Directed by Paul Marcus
Written by Guy Hibbert (teleplay), Lynda La Plante (characters)
Starring: Helen Mirren, Stuart Wilson, David Ryall, Marc Warren, Joyce Redman, Tim Woodward

Prime Suspect 5: Errors in Judgement (1996)
Directed by Philip Davis
Written by Guy Andrews (teleplay), Lynda La Plante (characters)
Starring: Helen Mirren, Steven Mackintosh, David O’Hara, Marsha Thomason

Prime Suspect 6: The Last Witness (2003)
Directed by Tom Hooper
Written by Peter Berry (teleplay), Lynda La Plante (characters)
Starring: Helen Mirren, Ben Miles, Clare Holman, Mark Strong, Liam Cunningham, Frank Finlay, Ingeborga Dakunaite, Phoebe Nicholls, Valentine Pelka, Oleg Menshikov

Prime Suspect 7: The Final Act (2006)
Directed by Philip Martin
Written by Frank Deasy (teleplay), Lynda La Plante (character)
Starring: Helen Mirren, Stephen Tompkinson, Gary Lewis, Laura Greenwood, Tom Bell

The Prime Suspect series is a critically acclaimed TV series in the UK as it follows Detective Chief Inspector Jane Tennison (Helen Mirren) as she leads police investigations into brutal crimes and has to battle sexism in the ranks of the London Metropolitan Police.

Prime Suspect (1991)
Entertainment Fuse Score:
8.0/10

Prime Suspect 2
(1992)
Entertainment Fuse Score:
N/A

Prime Suspect 3
(1993)
Entertainment Fuse Score:
N/A

Prime Suspect: The Lost Child
(1995)
Entertainment Fuse Score:
N/A

Prime Suspect: Inner Circles
(1995)
Entertainment Fuse Score:
N/A

Prime Suspect: Scent of Darkness
(1995)
Entertainment Fuse Score:
N/A

Prime Suspect 5: Errors in Judgement
(1996)
Entertainment Fuse Score:
N/A

Prime Suspect 6: The Last Witness
(2003)
Entertainment Fuse Score:
N/A

Prime Suspect 7: The Final Act
(2006)
Entertainment Fuse Score:
N/A

DISC DETAILS

DVD Special Features:
Prime Suspect behind-the-scenes special (50 min.), Series 6 behind-the-scenes featurette (23 min.), and photo gallery

Amazon Price:
$83.99 (Blu-ray)

Score (DVDTalk.com):
Content 4 stars, Video 3.5 stars, Audio 3.5 stars, Extras 1.5 stars, Replay 4 stars (out of 5). Highly Recommended.

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