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.
“Big Eyes”
WHAT: In 1958, aspiring artist Margaret Ulbrich (Amy Adams) leaves her husband for a fresh start in San Francisco, and before long, she marries smooth-talking artist Walter Keane (Christoph Waltz). But when Walter starts taking credit for Margaret’s kitschy paintings (after all, they both sign their art “Keane,” and Walter insists they’re a team), the lie grows so big that Margaret is unable to stop it in fear that the whole Keane empire, and her life’s work, will be tarnished in the process.
WHY: Tim Burton’s first live-action feature to not star Johnny Depp in over a decade may be a bit of a departure for the oddball director, but “Big Eyes” is his best film in years, even if that comes off like a backhanded compliment considering some of the recent garbage he’s released. Amy Adams delivers an outstanding performance as Margaret Keane, whose façade of female empowerment is stripped away by Walter’s passive-aggressive bullying, leaving behind an emotionally defeated shell of a woman that Adams plays with such honesty that you feel her heartbreak with every betrayal. And though Christoph Waltz’s bombastic fraud isn’t afforded the same level of complexity, he still takes what could have been a one-dimensional character and turns him into somewhat of a tragic figure, so desperate for recognition that it’s sad to watch as he becomes consumed by his own lie. Unfortunately, “Big Eyes” doesn’t feel like a Burton movie at all, to the point that it makes you wonder what drew such a creative and visual filmmaker to what’s pretty standard biopic material. Kudos to the director for taking a break from his usual genre leanings in order to make a more straightforward drama, but while “Big Eyes” features some strong lead performances and a fascinating story, just like Margaret Keane’s paintings, it never amounts to more than a pleasant distraction.
EXTRAS: There’s a making-of featurette and some Q&A highlights.
FINAL VERDICT: RENT
“Batman vs. Robin”
WHAT: After being trained as a killer by Ra’s al Ghul, young Damian Wayne (Stuart Allan) is having difficulty adjusting to Batman’s moral code and his new role as Robin. So when a secret society known as the Court of Owls tries to recruit Damian to their cause, he’s forced to decide what kind of hero he wants to be: one that seeks justice or vengeance.
WHY: “Batman vs. Robin” is just the latest in a line of mediocre animated films from DC Comics. The biggest problem with the movie is its horribly misleading title, because the dynamic duo only faces off against each other once, and even then, it’s a relatively brief skirmish that ranks as the weakest of the included action scenes. A direct sequel to last year’s “Son of Batman,” the movie integrates elements from Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo’s popular “The Court of Owls” story arc into the continuing narrative of Damian’s transformation into Robin. Unfortunately, Damian is such an incredibly annoying character (made even worse by Stuart Allan’s irritating voice work) that you don’t care what happens to the pint-sized brat, and the story suffers as a result. The rest of the characters don’t fare any better, particularly Batman, who resorts to fighting inside a lame robot suit for the climactic battle in what the filmmakers probably thought would be the film’s crowd-pleasing moment. Instead, it’s when Alfred enters the fray seconds later armed with a shotgun, and for as great as that moment may be, it’s a rare highlight in an otherwise forgettable movie.
EXTRAS: There’s an audio commentary with the filmmakers, a pair of featurettes on the Court of Owls and the Talons of the Owls, a sneak peek at “Justice League: Gods & Monsters” and four bonus cartoons from the DC Comics vault.
FINAL VERDICT: SKIP
“Odd Man Out”
WHAT: When IRA gunman Johnny McQueen (James Mason) is shot during a failed robbery in Northern Ireland, he’s forced to go on the run, seeking refuge throughout the city while being hunted by the police. As Johnny’s fellow conspirators are captured one by one, his lover (Kathleen Ryan) enlists the help of the local priest to track him down.
WHY: Carol Reed is probably best known as the director of “The Third Man,” and for good reason, because it’s one of the greatest films of the 1940s. Just two years before making that movie, however, Reed directed an adaptation of F.L. Green’s novel, “Odd Man Out,” and though it shares many of the same visual cues as “The Third Man,” it doesn’t hold up as well. That’s partly because it’s very much a product of its time, and as such, there are a lot of silly things that transpire over the course of the film that simply don’t make sense. (The fact that all of the characters refer to McQueen’s criminal group as “the organization” and not the IRA, which it very clearly is, smacks of political censorship.) Additionally, the setup is weak and the ensuing story isn’t particularly interesting, losing focus in the latter half as it devolves into a bunch of metaphysical psychobabble. James Mason delivers some good work as the speechless, almost zombified protagonist, and Kathleen Ryan is the unsung hero of the piece, but it doesn’t have the “wow” factor of “The Third Man” to make up for its lesser qualities.
EXTRAS: In addition to a pair of new interviews with British cinema scholar John Hill and music scholar Jeff Smith, there’s a new featurette about the film’s production, the 1972 documentary “Home, James,” the 1952 radio adaptation of the movie, and an essay by critic Imogen Sara Smith.
FINAL VERDICT: RENT
