Every Tuesday, I review the newest Blu-ray releases and let you know whether they’re worth buying, renting or skipping, along with a breakdown of the included extras. If you see something you like, click on the cover art to purchase the Blu-ray from Amazon, and be sure to share each week’s column on Facebook and Twitter with your friends.
WHAT: As the newly elected mayor of Yonkers, New York, rising politician Nick Wasicsko (Oscar Isaac) is thrown in at the deep end when he’s forced to deal with a controversial, court-ordered plan to build public housing within the mostly white, middle-class side of town.
WHY: After spending five years exploring the socioeconomic landscape of Baltimore with the HBO series “The Wire,” it’s fitting that David Simon would want to tackle this true story about racial and political tensions in Yonkers during the late 80s and early 90s. The six-part miniseries boasts a fantastic lead performance from Oscar Isaacs and great supporting turns by Catherine Keener, Winona Ryder and Alfred Molina, but unfortunately, it just isn’t as compelling as Simon’s previous work. For starters, there are no real heroes in this story, despite what the title (a play on the famous F. Scott Fitzgerald quote) might suggest. Though Wasicsko may have been responsible for pushing through the housing legislation, he only did so out of compliance and fear of bankrupting the city, not because he felt like it was the right thing to do. Additionally, while the attempts to show both sides of the conflict are commendable, the minority characters aren’t afforded the same depth as their political counterparts. “Show Me a Hero” is either too long or not long enough, because in trying to juggle so many different storylines, it lacks the focus that would have made it truly excellent.
EXTRAS: The two-disc set includes a making-of featurette.
FINAL VERDICT: RENT
WHAT: Disgraced campaign strategist “Calamity” Jane Bodine (Sandra Bullock) is hired by an elite management team representing Bolivian presidential candidate Pedro Castillo (Joaquim de Almeida) as a last-ditch attempt to save his campaign. Despite the seemingly impossible odds, Jane agrees to take the job after discovering that the competition has hired its own American strategist, longtime rival Pat Candy (Billy Bob Thornton), who she’s never defeated.
WHY: For a movie about selling lies through a carefully crafted message, “Our Brand Is Crisis” feels hopelessly thrown together. There’s a complacency to the storytelling that prevents the film from ever moving outside its comfort zone, even though that’s exactly what it should be doing, while the talented ensemble cast is squandered in marginal roles. Even Sandra Bullock’s character is pretty one-dimensional, although at least she has the benefit of sharing the screen with Billy Bob Thornton’s reptilian sleazeball, who is hands-down the highlight of the movie. Thornton excels at playing the self-righteous asshole, and the ensuing tête-à-têtes between him and Bullock result in some entertaining moments of political puppetry. Unfortunately, it’s not enough to mask the film’s many flaws. “Our Brand Is Crisis” could have been a biting satire about U.S. politics and our insistence on forcing American culture on other countries, but it takes the easy Hollywood route instead – one more concerned about its protagonist’s contrived journey to redemption than the millions of people being affected by her actions.
EXTRAS: There’s a featurette on Sandra Bullock’s development of the lead character, but sadly, that’s the extent of the bonus material.
FINAL VERDICT: RENT
WHAT: Kaulder (Vin Diesel) is an immortal witch hunter who has spent the past 800 years helping to keep the peace between humans and those that practice magic. But when the evil Witch Queen is resurrected, Kaulder teams up with a young witch named Chloe (Rose Leslie) to stop her from unleashing a plague upon the world.
WHY: Vin Diesel has been a fan of Dungeons & Dragons since he was a kid, so it’s surprising that it took him this long to make a film in the fantasy genre, especially when it plays to his strengths as an actor. Unfortunately, “The Last Witch Hunter” may convince him to never do another fantasy movie again, because although it features a decent cast, promising world-building and some cool visuals (flaming sword FTW!), it never quite comes together. The film gets off to a good start, especially with Michael Caine around to class things up as Diesel’s friend/handler, but it eventually devolves into a CGI-driven bore that lacks a compelling villain. It might have been better if it didn’t feel like director Breck Eisner was holding back from digging too deep into the mythology, but therein lies the problem, because while “The Last Witch Hunter” was obviously created with a franchise in mind, nobody is going to care about a sequel if the first movie isn’t good enough to warrant one.
EXTRAS: The Blu-ray release includes an audio commentary by director Breck Eisner, a making-of featurette, deleted scenes and a series of animated short films.
FINAL VERDICT: SKIP
WHAT: After she uncovers revelatory information about incumbent president George W. Bush’s military service in a 2004 news report for “60 Minutes,” producer Mary Mapes (Cate Blanchett) comes under heavy criticism when the authenticity of the story is questioned.
WHY: James Vanderbilt’s directorial debut will undoubtedly draw comparisons to “Spotlight” due to the fact that both movies are set within the world of investigative journalism, but they’re actually pretty different. While the latter focuses on the pavement-pounding reporting of its titular news team, Vanderbilt’s film is more about Mapes herself and how one of the biggest stories of her career turned out to be the end of it. Neither approach is necessarily better, but “Truth” isn’t nearly as interesting as result of its by-the-numbers treatment of the material. This story deserved better, and although Cate Blanchett delivers top-notch work as usual, the rest of the cast is wasted in throwaway roles, including Robert Redford, who never really makes a mark as iconic news anchor Dan Rather. In the hands of someone like Aaron Sorkin (who coincidentally did a similarly themed, two-season arc on HBO’s “The Newsroom”), this could have been great, but instead, it’s a relatively bland and biased account of an event that most people have already forgotten.
EXTRAS: There’s an audio commentary by writer/director James Vanderbilt and producers Brad Fischer and William Sherak, a Q&A with Vanderbilt and actors Cate Blanchett and Elisabeth Moss, and a casting featurette.
FINAL VERDICT: RENT
WHAT: Nancy (Lake Bell) hasn’t been in a meaningful relationship for years, so when she runs into 40-year-old divorcee Jack (Simon Pegg) at the train station and he mistakes her for his blind date, Nancy decides to be impulsive for once and plays along, setting into motion a wild night that will change their lives forever.
WHY: “Man Up” received such a limited theatrical release in the U.S. that most people have probably never even heard of it, but it’s actually one of the better recent entries in the romantic comedy genre, which makes its desultory treatment all the more bewildering. While the film doesn’t stray too far from the conventional rom-com formula, first-time feature writer Tess Morris’ charming and refreshingly honest script is at least somewhat self-aware about it. The introduction between Jack and Nancy is also a nice twist on the typical meet-cute, even though director Ben Palmer is a little too quick to reveal the latter’s true identity. Fortunately, “Man Up” features a pair of extremely likable stars in Lake Bell and Simon Pegg, who have a great chemistry that enlivens the proceedings despite the predictability of each plot turn. The movie is still limited by the genre tropes that define it, but it’s more enjoyable than a lot of the garbage that passes for romantic comedies these days.
EXTRAS: There’s a making-of featurette, interviews with actors Simon Pegg and Lake Bell, and a gag reel.
FINAL VERDICT: RENT
WHAT: When the Evil Queen orders her faithful Huntsman to kill Snow White, the princess escapes into the forest, where she meets seven dwarfs who help keep her safe.
WHY: Though it has the honor of being Walt Disney’s first feature-length animated movie, cementing its place in cinematic history, “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” doesn’t hold up as well as its legacy suggests. The animation is pretty solid for 1937 – especially the sequences involving the dwarfs, who inject some much-needed energy into the second half – but the plot is almost non-existent. Apart from the basic setup and big finale, most of the film’s 83-minute runtime is wasted on song-and-dance filler that doesn’t do anything to progress the story. That’s obviously a reflection of its time, but it doesn’t change the fact that for a movie held in such high regard, “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” isn’t really that great. Snow White remains one of the most annoying protagonists in the studio’s history, while the far more interesting Queen isn’t given nearly enough to do. It’s not a film that you’ll necessarily want to watch over and over, but its influence on the Disney classics that followed is undeniable.
EXTRAS: In addition to an audio commentary by Roy E. Disney and historian John Canemaker, the Signature Collection edition includes new featurettes on the film’s iconography and character design, archival recordings of Walt Disney discussing the project, deleted scenes, an alternate sequence and much more.
FINAL VERDICT: RENT