In a large week of strong DVD and Blu-ray releases and re-releases, our winner of our weekly Recommendation of the Week contest is the critically acclaimed crime drama The Place Beyond the Pines.
First Release
- Oblivion (DVD and Blu-ray)
- The Place Beyond the Pines (DVD and Blu-ray)
- Mud (DVD and Blu-ray)
- To the Wonder (DVD and Blu-ray)
- On the Road (DVD and Blu-ray)
- West of Memphis (DVD and Blu-ray)
- Antiviral (DVD and Blu-ray)
- The Sapphires (DVD and Blu-ray)
Re-Release
- The Sword in the Stone (1963) (Blu-ray and Blu-ray)
- Robin Hood (1973) (Blu-ray)
- Oliver & Company (1988) (Blu-ray)
- The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956) (Blu-ray)
The Place Beyond the Pines (DVD and Blu-ray) *Recommendation of the Week*
Directed by Derek Cianfrance
Written by Derek Cianfrance, Ben Coccio, Darius Marder
Starring: Ryan Gosling, Bradley Cooper, Eva Mendes, Ray Liotta, Ben Mendelsohn
The crime drama The Place Beyond the Pines sees Blue Valentine director Derek Cianfrance and star Ryan Gosling reunite for a three part story about Luke Glanton (Gosling), a motorbike stuntman who robs banks when he finds out his old girlfriend, Romina (Eva Mendes) tells him how he has a son, Avery Cross (Bradley Cooper) who becomes a hero cop and stumbles onto a corruption ring in his police force and their sons when they become teenagers.
Critics Rating (Rotten Tomatoes): 82% (very good)
Metacritic Rating: 68/100 (good)
Entertainment Fuse Score: 8.0/10
DISC DETAILS
Amazon Price: $18.99 (DVD), $22.99 (Blu-ray)
Score (DVDTalk.com): Content 4.5 stars, Video 4 stars, Audio 4 stars, Extras 2 stars, Replay 3.5 stars (out of 5). Highly Recommended.
There are many movies being released onto DVD and Blu-ray that should wet the appetites of movie fans. There is sci-fi action with Oblivion, serious drama with Mud and art-house fans have To the Wonder and Antiviral. Also three Disney animated movies are being re-released, as well as an Alfred Hitchcock movie.
Oblivion (DVD and Blu-ray)
Directed by Joseph Kosinski
Written by Joseph Kosinski, Karl Gajdusek, Michael Arndt (screenplay), Joseph Kosinski, Arvid Nelson (graphic novel)
Starring: Tom Cruise, Olga Kurylenko, Andrea Riseborough, Melissa Leo, Morgan Freeman
Oblivion was the first one of three movies about humanity being forced to leave Earth this year. Directed by Joseph Kosinski (Tron: Legacy), Oblivion is based on his own unpublished graphic novel.
60 years ago Earth had repelled an alien invasion but the planet has been left uninhabitable. Jack Harper (Tom Cruise) and Victoria Olsen (Andrea Riseborough, The Devil’s Whore) are assigned the mission to maintain robots to protect facilities from the remaining aliens known as ‘Scavs’. But Jack has dreams about a woman (Oleg Kurylenko, Quantum of Solace) and he soon discovered a dark secret about his handler Sally (Melissa Leo).
Critics Rating (Rotten Tomatoes): 54% (average)
Metacritic Rating: 54/100 (average)
Entertainment Fuse Score: 7.3/10 (read our review)
DISC DETAILS
Amazon Price: $19.99 (DVD), $19.99 (Blu-ray)
Score (DVDTalk.com): Content 4 stars, Video 5 stars, Audio 5 stars, Extras 3.5 stars, Replay 3.5 stars (out of 5). Highly Recommended.
Mud (DVD and Blu-ray)
Written and directed by Jeff Nichols
Starring: Matthew McConaughey, Tye Sheridan, Jacob Lofland, Sam Shepard, Reese Witherspoon
Matthew McConaughey’s resurgence as an acting force continues with his starring role in Jeff Nichols follow up movie to Take Shelter, Mud. Mud was nominated for the Palme d’Or at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival and shown in the 2013 Sundance Film Festival before earning a limited release.
In the Arkansas delta two teenage boys, Ellis (Tye Sheridan) and Neckbone (Jacob Lofland) have nothing to do in the summer when they meet a stranger, Mud (McConaughey), on the banks of the Mississippi River. Mud offers the boys his boat if they bring him food and help him reunite with his old love (Reese Witherspoon). But Mud is a wanted fugitive.
Critics Rating (Rotten Tomatoes): 98% (excellent)
Metacritic Rating: 76/100 (very good)
DISC DETAILS
Amazon Price: $13.00 (DVD), $16.99 (Blu-ray)
Score (DVDTalk.com): Content 4 stars, Video 4.5 stars, Audio 4 stars, Extras 3.5 stars, Replay 3.5 stars (out of 5). Highly Recommended.
To the Wonder (DVD and Blu-ray)
Written and directed by Terrence Malick
Starring: Ben Affleck, Olga Kurlenko, Rachel McAdams, Javier Bardem
The art-house director Terrence Malick was famous for having a 20 year gap between the releases of Days of Heaven and The Thin Red Line. He has now suddenly become prolific with the releases of The Tree of Life and To the Wonder in the space of a couple of years and has another two movies on the way.
To the Wonder is a love story about Neil (Ben Affleck), an American who meets and falls in love with Marina (Olga Kurlenko) when travelling in Europe. But when Neil returns to America with Marina he reconnects with his old flame Jane (Rachel McAdams). Whiles this is going on Father Quintana (Javier Bardem) suffers a crisis of faith.
Critics Rating (Rotten Tomatoes: 42% (poor)
Metacritic Rating: 58/100 (average)
Entertainment Fuse Score:
DISC DETAILS
Amazon Price: $14.96 (DVD), $19.96 (Blu-ray)
On the Road (DVD and Blu-ray)
Directed by Walter Salles
Written by Jose Rivera (screenplay), Jack Kerouac (novel)
Starring: Sam Riley, Garrett Hedlund, Kristen Stewart, Amy Adams, Tom Sturridge, Danny Morgan, Alice Braga, Elisabeth Moss, Kirsten Dunst, Viggo Mortensen
On the Road is a considered one of the great American novels and a favorite of the beatnik generation. Helmed by Walter Salles (The Motorcycle Diaries), an all-star cast was assembled as writer Sal Paradise (Sam Riley, Control) and ex-con Dean Moriarty (Garrett Hedlund, Tron: Legacy) travel across America in the late 1940s and meet a lot people on the way.
Critics Rating (Rotten Tomatoes): 45% (average)
Metacritic Rating: 56/100 (average)
DISC DETAILS
Amazon Price: $9.99 (DVD), $12.99 (Blu-ray)
West of Memphis (DVD and Blu-ray)
Directed by Amy J. Berg
Written by Amy J. Berg, Billy McMillin
Starring: Jessie Misskelley, Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin
Produced by Peter Jackson and directed by Amy Berg (Deliver Us from Evil) West of Memphis is a documentary about the West Memphis Three, three men who were arrested and imprisoned for the murder of an 8-year-old child and were released in 2011 when doubt was case on the forensic evidence, as well as offering up another potential suspect.
Critics Rating (Rotten Tomatoes): 95% (excellent)
Metacritic Rating: 80/100 (very good)
DISC DETAILS
Amazon Price: $19.96 (DVD), $26.93 (Blu-ray)
Antiviral (DVD and Blu-ray)
Written and directed by Brandon Cronenberg
Starring: Caleb Landry Jones
Nominated for the Un Certain Regard at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival Antiviral is Brandon Cronenberg’s, son of David, directional debut. Syd March (Caleb Landry Jones, X-Men: First Class) works for a company that sells live viruses harvested from sick celebrities to their fans. March also illegally smuggles viruses to the criminal underworld, using himself as a carrier. But when he is infected by a virus that killed superstar Hannah Geist (Sarah Gadon, World Without End) he has to figure out the mystery of her death so he can save himself.
Critics Rating (Rotten Tomatoes): 65% (good)
Metacritic Rating: 55/100 (average)
Entertainment Fuse Score:
DISC DETAILS
DVD Special Features: Commentary with Director Brandon Cronenberg and Cinematographer Karim Hussain, Anatomy of a Virus - Making Of Documentary, Deleted Scenes, Behind the Scenes, Trailer
Amazon Price: $9.93 (DVD), $11.93 (Blu-ray)
The Sapphires (DVD and Blu-ray)
Directed by Wayne Blair
Written by Keith Thompson, Tony Briggs (screenplay), Tony Brigg (play)
Starring: Chris O’Dowd, Deborah Mailman, Jessica Mauboy, Shari Sebeens, Miranda Tapsell
The Australian movie The Sapphires is based on a play which is itself based on a true story about four sisters from Aboriginal backgrounds who become the Soul group The Sapphires and go through the highs and lows of fame.
Critics Rating (Rotten Tomatoes): 92% (excellent)
Metacritic Rating: 67/100 (good)
Entertainment Fuse Score: 7.0/10
DISC DETAILS
DVD Special Features: The Making of The Sapphires Interview with The Original Sapphires The Music of The Sapphires with Jessica Mauboy
Amazon Price: $14.96 (DVD), $17.99 (Blu-ray)
The Sword in the Stone (1963) (DVD and Blu-ray)
Directed by Wolfgang Reitherman
Written by Bill Peet (screenplay), Bill Peet (story), T.H. White (novel)
Starring: Rickie Sorensen, Karl Swenson, Junius Matthews, Sebastian Cabot, Norman Alden, Martha Wentworth
The Sword in the Stone is Disney’s version of Arthurian legends, focusing on Arthur, AKA Wart (Rickie Sorensen), a young boy who aims to be a knight’s squire. But Merlin (Karl Swenson) knows Arthur’s true destiny and sets out to give the boy an education so he can be ready to be King of England.
Critics Rating (Rotten Tomatoes): 74% (good)
Entertainment Fuse Score: 7.0/10
DISC DETAILS
Amazon Price: $21.93 (DVD), $24.96 (Blu-ray)
Robin Hood (1973) (Blu-ray)
Directed by Wolfgang Reitherman
Written by Larry Clemmons (screenplay), Ken Anderson (story)
Starring: Phil Harris, Andy Devine, Peter Ustinov, Terry Thomas, Brian Bedford, Monica Evans, Carole Shelley, Pat Buttram, Roger Miller
The Disney of Robin Hood is a childhood favorite mine, reinterpreting the folklore of Robin Hood with anthropomorphic animals. Set in Sherwood Forest and Nottingham, Robin Hood (Brain Bedford) robs from the rich and gives to the poor as Prince John (Peter Ustinov) subjugates England with his high taxes.
Critics Rating (Rotten Tomatoes: 52% (average)
Entertainment Fuse Score: 7.8/10
DISC DETAILS
Amazon Price: $24.96 (Blu-ray)
Score (DVDTalk.com): Content 4 stars, Video 4.5 stars, Audio 4 stars, Extras 3 stars, Replay 4 stars (out of 5). Recommended.
Oliver & Company (1988) (Blu-ray)
Directed by George Scribner
Written by Jim Cox, Tim Disney, James Mangold (screenplay), Charles Dickens (novel ‘Oliver Twist)
Starring: Joey Lawrence, Billy Joel, Natalie Gregory, Dom DeLuise, Cheech Marin, Bette Midler, Robert Loggia, Richard Mulligan, Roscoe Lee Browne, Sheryl Lee Ralph
The 1980s were a tough time for Disney, its animated movies were underperforming with critics and at the box-office and competition from other studios and animators appeared. Oliver & Company is often considered one of Disney’s weakest movies, a reimagining of Oliver Twist.
Oliver (Joey Lawrence) is an orphan kitten on the streets of New York who is taken in by a group of dogs who survive by stealing. But Oliver gets to see what life can be like when he is taken in by a young girl, Jenny (Natalie Gregory).
Critics Rating (Rotten Tomatoes: 44% (average)
Entertainment Fuse Score: 7.0/10
DISC DETAILS
Amazon Price: $19.96 (Blu-ray)
Score (DVDTalk.com): Content 2.5 stars, Video 2 stars, Audio 4 stars, Extras 2 stars, Replay 2 stars (out of 5). Rent It.
The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956) (Blu-ray)
Directed by Alfred Hitchcock
Written by John Michael Hayes (screenplay), Charles Bennett, D.B. Wyndham-Lewis (story)
Starring: James Stewart, Doris Day, Brenda De Banzie, Bernard Miles, Alan Mowbray, Hillary Brooke, Christopher Olsen
Alfred Hitchcok 1956 version of The Man Who Knew Too Much is a remake of his 1934 British movie of the same name. James Stewart and Doris Day take on the lead role of Dr Benjamin and Josephine McKenna who are forced into the world of international espionage when their son Hank (Christopher Olsen) is kidnapped when on vacation in Marrakesh, Morrocco.
Critics Rating (Rotten Tomatoes): 89% (excellent)
Entertainment Fuse Score: 7.5/10
DISC DETAILS
Amazon Price: $16.99 (Blu-ray)