We have so many themes out in DVD and Blu-ray releases this week: love and fate, identity theft, war and history, foster care, organ harvesting and perils of suburbia. Player Affinity’s top choices for this week is the sci-fi thriller The Adjustment Bureau and the re-release film of the week is Kiss Me Deadly (but it does help that there are only two re-releases).
First Release
- The Adjustment Bureau (DVD and Blu-ray)
- Unknown (DVD and Blu-ray)
- The Eagle (DVD and Blu-ray)
- Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules (DVD and Blu-ray)
- Cedar Rapids (DVD and Blu-ray)
- Happythankyoumoreplease (DVD and Blu-ray)
Re-Release
- Kiss Me Deadly (DVD and Blu-ray)
- The Island (Blu-ray)
The Adjustment Bureau (DVD and Blu-ray)
What's the Deal?
Philip K. Dick’s stories have been used to make great films like Blade Runner and Minority Report to some really clangers, such as Next and Paycheck. His short story Adjustment Team was given the film treatment and it is on the higher end of Dick adaptations. Written and directed George Nolfi (writer of The Bourne Ultimatum), The Adjustment Bureau serves as his directional debut. Matt Damon and Emily Blunt star in this sci-fi thriller.
David Norris (Damon) is a young and up and coming politician running to become a US Senator for the state of New York. His course in life seems assured but he ends up meeting an English ballerina Elise (Blunt) and the two fall in love. But the physical agents of Fate do everything to keep them apart and the lovers go on the run.
Critics Rating (Rotten Tomatoes): 72% (good)
Player Affinity Score: 7.5/10
DISC DETAILS
DVD Special Features: Deleted and extended scenes ; Leaping through New York ; Destined to Be ; Becoming Elise ; Feature commentary with writer/director George Nolfi
Additional Blu-ray Special Features: D-Box motion enabled; Blu-Ray: The Labyrinth of Doors - With this interactive map of New York City, explore the intricate network of portals to leap from location to location, and go behind the scenes with cast and crew; BD Live
Amazon Price: $16.99 (DVD), $22.99 (Blu-ray)
Score (DVDTalk.com): N/A
Unknown (DVD and Blu-ray)
What's the Deal?
It really is quite amazing how in
his mid-to-late fifties Liam Neeson has been able to repaint himself as a tough
actor hero with roles in Taken and The A-Team. Because of the
success of Taken Neeson ended up starring in another action-thriller,
this time taking on baddies in Berlin. Directed by Jaume Collet-Serra (Orphan),
Unknown has a strong cast of German and American actors, Diane Kruger,
January Jones (X-Men: First Class), Aiden Quinn (Legends of the Fall),
Bruno Ganz (Downfall) and Frank Langella.
Dr Martin Harris (Neeson) travels to the capital of Germany for a conference
with his wife (Jones) when they end up in a car crash. He awakes to find his
wife does not recognize him and another man has taken his place. With
taxi-driver Gina (Kruger), Harris sets out to find out the truth with
mysterious forces trying to stop him.
Critics Rating (Rotten Tomatoes): 55% (average)
Player Affinity Score: 7.0/10
DISC DETAILS
DVD Special Features: Unknown: What Is Known? - investigate the characters and plot of this international trailer
Amazon Price: $14.99 (DVD), $19.99 (Blu-ray), $22.99 (Blu-ray/Combo)
Score (DVDTalk.com): Content 2.5 stars, Video 4.5 stars, Audio 5 stars, Extras 0.5 stars, Replay 2.5 stars (out of 5). Rent It.
The Eagle (DVD and Blu-ray)
What's the Deal?
Rosemary Sutcliff’s historical novel The Eagle of the Ninth is popular with children and adults in the UK and been praised for its historical accuracy. The Eagle is the second film about the Roman Empire’s failed invasion of Scotland made in a short space of time. Adapted by Jeremy Brock (Last King of Scotland), The Eagle was helmed by Kevin MacDonald (Last King of Scotland, State of Play, 2009). This historical epic has a strong cast, with Jamie Bell, Donald Sutherland and Mark Strong: sadly they are led by the ultra talent-less Channing Tatum.
In 140 AD a young centurion, Marcus Aquila (Tatum), arrives from Rome to the Northern England to lead his first garrison. Twenty years earlier his father had led a failed invasion of Scotland and his family is seen as cursed. Aquila sets out to save his family’s honor by going into the wild territory to retrieve the Ninth’s eagle. He cannot go in alone so he goes into the territory with his slave, Esca (Bell).
Critics Rating (Rotten Tomatoes): 40% (poor)
Player Affinity Score: 4.6/10
DISC DETAILS
DVD Special Features: Alternate Ending; Deleted Scenes; The Eagle: The Making Of A Roman Epic; Feature Commentary With Director Kevin McDonald
Amazon Price: $19.99 (DVD), $27.99 (Blu-ray)
Score (DVDTalk.com): Content 3 stars, Video 2.5 stars, Audio 3.5 stars, Extras 3 stars, Replay 0 stars (out of 5). Rent It.
Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules (DVD and Blu-ray)
What's the Deal?
The first Diary of a Wimpy Kid was a surprise hit last year, making $75 Million from a $15 Million budget, so a sequel was quickly commissioned. Most of the cast return for the sequel, except for Chloe Moretz. Child actress Peyton R. List (27 Dresses) joins the action. Animator David Bowers (Flushed Away) replaces Thor Freudenthal in the director’s chair.
Set a year after the events of the first film, our hero Greg Heffley (Zachary Gordon) has to go on another series of trials and tribulations, including surviving the torment that is an older brother, Rodrick (Devon Bostick) – I sympathize – and try and impress the new girl in school, Holly Hills (List).
Critics Rating (Rotten Tomatoes): 47% (average)
Player Affinity Score: 7.0/10
DISC DETAILS
DVD Special Features: Closed Caption; Summer just got cooler with hilarious "My Summer Vacations" shorts!; "My Magick Summer" by Greg Heffley; "My Zoo-Wee Vacation!" by Rowley Jefferson
Additional Blu-ray Special Features: Gag reel; 7 "My Summer Vacation" shorts; 10 deleted scenes; Alternate ending: "Stealthinator"; Audio commentary by author Jeff Kinney and director David Bowers
Amazon Price: $15.99 (DVD), $19.99 (Blu-ray)
Score (DVDTalk.com): N/A
Cedar Rapids (DVD and Blu-ray)
What's the Deal?
Cedar Rapids is an independent comedy that was a hit with critics and was produced by Fox Spotlight. Directed by Miguel Arteta (Youth in Revolt) the script for Cedar Rapids by Phil Johnston was on the 2009 Blacklist, a list of the best unproduced screenplays. Starring Ed Helms (The Hangover) and John C. Reilly, Cedar Rapids is about Tim Lippe (Helms), a small-town insurance agent who goes to the convention in the city of Cedar Rapids, Iowa and has to see how the modern world works.
Critics Rating (Rotten Tomatoes): 85% (excellent)
Player Affinity Score: N/A
DISC DETAILS
DVD Special Features: Closed Caption; Deleted scenes ; Gag reel ; Mike O'Malley - Urban Clogger ; Tweaking in the USA ; Wedding Belles - Crashing a Lesbian Wedding ; Top Notch Commercial
Additional Blu-ray Special Features: Convention Connection; Fox Movie Channel presents Direct Effect with Miguel Arteta and Writer's Draft with Phil Johnston; BD Live - 'Go behind the scenes with brand -new exclusive footage
Amazon Price: $18.99 (DVD), $19.99 (Blu-ray)
Score (DVDTalk.com): N/A
Happythankyoumoreplease (DVD and Blu-ray)
What's the Deal?
The star of How I Met Your Mother, Josh Radnor seems to be doing a Zach Braff – starring, directing and writing a feature film. Unfortunately for Radnor, his film Happythankyoumoreplease did not match Garden State’s critical repetition. Happythankyoumoreplease also features Malin Akerman (Watchmen), Katie Mara (Brokeback Mountain) and Zoe Kazan (Me and Orson Welles).
Telling the story of a group of six 20-something friends in New York, Sam Wexler (Radnor) is an aspiring novelist who on the way to his publicist meets a young runaway boy, Rasheen (Michael Algieri). Sam ends up taking care of the boy but it affects his bachelor lifestyle.
Critics Rating (Rotten Tomatoes): 39% (poor)
Player Affinity Score: N/A
DISC DETAILS
DVD Special Features: Audio commentary with producer/writer/director/actor Josh Radnor and producer Jesse Hara ; Happythankyoumoremusicplease - featuring Jaymay ; Deleted scenes
Amazon Price: $14.99 (DVD), $19.99 (Blu-ray)
Score (DVDTalk.com): Content 3 stars, Video 4 stars, Audio 3.5 stars, Extras 2.5 stars, Replay 2 stars (out of 5). Recommended.
Kiss Me Deadly (DVD and Blu-ray)
What's the Deal?
Kiss Me Deadly is a classic example of film noir, a gritty mystery based on a novel by Mickey Spillane. Directed by Robert Aldrich (The Dirty Dozen) and adapted by A.I. Bezzerides (On Dangerous Ground), Kiss Me Deadly focuses on Mike Hammer (Ralph Meeker), a private detective who picks up a mysterious woman and for his troubles she is murdered in front of him. Hammer is quickly thrown into a mystery involving spies and a briefcase that contains a powerful weapon.
Critics Rating (Rotten Tomatoes): 97% (excellent)
Player Affinity Score: 8.0/10
DISC DETAILS
DVD Special Features: New high-definition restoration; Audio commentary by film noir specialists Alain Silver and James Ursini; New video tribute from director Alex Cox (Repo Man, Walker); Excerpts from The Long Haul of A. I. Bezzerides, a 2005 documentary on the Kiss Me Deadly screenwriter; Excerpts from Mike Hammer’s Mickey Spillane, a 1998 documentary on the author whose book inspired the film A look at the film’s locations Altered ending Theatrical trailer PLUS: A booklet featuring an essay by critic J. Hoberman and a 1955 reprint by director Robert Aldrich
Amazon Price: $19.99 (DVD), $27.99 (Blu-ray)
Score (DVDTalk.com): N/A
The Island (Blu-ray)
What's the Deal?
Michael Bay made a number of hits when he worked with mega-producer Jerry Bruckheimer but their relationship broke down and Bay went his own way. His first film without Bruckheimer was The Island, a box office bomb (and yet it was one of his better films). Luckily for Bay he was able to recover with Transformers. Ewan McGregor and Scarlett Johannson star in this sci-fi thriller with Sean Bean, Djimon Hounsou (Blood Diamond) and Steve Buscemi. The Island was scripted by Caspian Tredwell-Owen (Beyond Borders), Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci (Star Trek).
In 2019 a group of survivors live in a sheltered community after a chemical attack. Members of this community work with the promise of a lottery that picks people to go to a paradise known as the Island. But one man, Lincoln Six Echo (McGregor) discovers the horrible truth and goes on the run with Jordan Two Delta (Johannson).
Critics Rating (Rotten Tomatoes): 40% (poor)
Player Affinity Score: 6.3/10
DISC DETAILS
DVD Special Features: Commentary by director Michael Bay ; The future in action; The making of The Island ; Pre-visualization: Forward Thinking
Amazon Price: $15.99 (Blu-ray)
Score (DVDTalk.com): Content: 4 stars, Video 4.5 stars, Audio 4.5 stars, Extras 3 stars, Replay 4 stars (out of 5). Highly Recommended.