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.
“Dirty Grandpa”
WHAT: When his recently widowed grandpa Dick (Robert De Niro), whom he used to be close with as a kid, needs someone to drive him to his Florida vacation home, uptight corporate lawyer Jason (Zac Efron) grudgingly volunteers. But as he soon discovers, Dick has ulterior motives for their road trip – namely, to get laid – and takes them on a detour through Daytona Beach to soak up the spring break festivities.
WHY: Robert De Niro has proven himself adept at comedy over the years, but he’s almost always played the straight man, which is what makes “Dirty Grandpa” an interesting choice for the actor, because it allows him to let loose in ways that audiences have never seen before. Though there’s something wrong about watching a screen legend like De Niro acting so raunchy, it’s also part of the film’s strange appeal. It would all be quite embarrassing if De Niro and Efron didn’t appear to be having such a good time, but the two actors form a great team, elevating the juvenile material just enough to earn a few chuckles. Unfortunately, that doesn’t change the fact that “Dirty Grandpa” is an incredibly stupid movie fueled by a never-ending stream of bad language, insults and frat humor that’s shocking for the sake of shock value. The film progressively gets worse the lower it sinks (wasting its supporting cast in the process), and yet despite its indefensible badness, “Dirty Grandpa” is still marginally entertaining, if only because De Niro makes it so.
EXTRAS: There’s an audio commentary by director Dan Mazer and writer John Phillips, a behind-the-scenes look at making the movie, three more featurettes and a gag reel.
FINAL VERDICT: SKIP
“The Witch”
WHAT: In 1630s New England, a devout Christian family is exiled from its village and builds a homestead on the outskirts of an eerie forest. But when their newborn son mysteriously vanishes and their crops suddenly die, the family members begin to turn on each other.
WHY: Praised as the best horror movie in years upon its debut at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival, “The Witch” is a decent but wildly overrated period drama masquerading as a genre flick. Though first-time director Robert Eggers creates an unsettling sense of dread that looms over the entire film, there’s nothing very scary about the events that transpire apart from a few choice moments, like the possession sequence with the family’s middle child, Caleb (Harvey Scrimshaw). “The Witch” is an incredibly slow burn that boasts some beautiful imagery and fantastic atmosphere, but there’s so little to the actual story that it’s easy to lose interest during its many lulls. Thankfully, the cast delivers such compelling performances – especially newcomer Anna Taylor-Joy – that it’s never as boring as it could have been. While “The Witch” is definitely worth experiencing once, the movie has too many issues (for instance, the manner in which it plants the seed of paranoia within the family) to warrant the kind of acclaim that’s been thrust upon it.
EXTRAS: There’s an audio commentary by director Robert Eggers, a making-of featurette, a Q&A with Eggers and star Anna Taylor-Joy, and a photo gallery.
FINAL VERDICT: RENT
