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OnVideo's Weekly Guide to Home Video Releases
April 4:
The Founder: The story of Ray Kroc, a salesman who turned two brothers' innovative fast food eatery, McDonald's, into one of the biggest restaurant businesses in the world with a combination of ambition, persistence, and ruthlessness. (DVD, Blu-ray release: April 18)
April 7:
The Ticket: When a blind man inexplicably regains his vision, he becomes possessed by a drive to make a better life for himself, but leaves little room for the people who were part of his old, simpler life.
April 10:
Captain Planet and the Planeteers: All six seasons
Actor Martinez
(2017) Lindsay Burdge, Mike Ott, Nathan Silver. Being in show business is tough, but being an actor in Denver is tougher, so when performer and full-time computer repairman Arthur Martinez hires two indie filmmakers to make a feature film with him as the lead, he realizes he’s in over his head. The filmmakers scrap the genre film Arthur had intended them to make -- instead quickly designing an entirely new project based around his real-life persona, which becomes more and more elusive as the production steams ahead. Once Arthur realizes what the filmmakers are up to, his protective measure is to hide behind a mask, keeping the filmmakers questioning: Are any of Arthur’s moments on camera truthful or is it all just a performance in the end?
Formats: DVD, VOD, Digital. (Breaking Glass Pictures).
The Carol Burnett Show: The Best of Tim Conway
(2017) Single DVD includes four complete episodes -- three not seen in more than 40 years -- featuring Conway's most indelible characters on "The Carol Burnett Show": "Oldest Man," "Mr. Tudball," "The Virgin Prince" and "The Dentist." Formats: DVD. (Time Life).
Heidi
(2017) Bruno Ganz, Anuk Steffen, Isabelle Ottman, Quirin Agripp. Dove Foundation "Family Approved" live-action feature based on one of the best-selling children's novels of all time. Formats: DVD, Digital. (Omnibus Entertainment/Film Movement).
Legend of Bruce Lee: Volume Two
(2008) Three-disc set with 10 episodes. These episodes follows Lee as he comes to America and begins a revolution in the world of martial arts.
Formats: DVD. (Well Go USA).
Paterson
(2016) Dir.: Jim Jarmusch. Stars: Adam Driver, Golshifteh Farahani, Helen-Jean Arthur, Owen Asztalos, Kacey Cockett. The film chronicles the quiet triumphs and defeats of daily life via Paterson (Adam Driver), a hardworking bus driver in Paterson, N.J.,
who follows the same routine every day, observing the city, listening to fragments of conversations, and writing heartfelt poems. Formats: DVD, Blu-ray Disc, VOD, Digital, UltraViolet (cloud). (Universal).
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
(2016) Felicity Jones, Diego Luna, Riz Ahmed, Jiang Wen, Donnie Yen,
Mads Mikkelsen, Alan Tudyk, Forest Whitaker. The Rebel Alliance makes
a risky move to steal the plans for the Death Star, setting up the
epic saga to follow. Formats: DVD, Blu-ray Disc, Blu-ray/DVD Combo, VOD, Digital, UltraViolet (cloud). Extras:
Sesame Street: Elmo and Cookie Monster Supersized Fun
(2017) Elmo and Cookie Monster make the best -- and cutest -- team on Sesame Street in this selection of skits, songs and stories featuring everyone’s two favorite monsters. Kids can dance and play along with Elmo, Cookie Monster and their Sesame Street friends in this curated compilation featuring such fan-favorite stories as “Cookies of the Caribbean,” “Elmo The Musical: Prince” and more. Formats: DVD. (Warner).
We Don’t Belong Here
(2016) Catherine Keener, Anton Yelchin, Riley Keough, Kaitlyn Dever, Annie Starke, Molly Shannon, Maya Rudolph, Cary Elwes. Thriller about the matriarch (Keener) of a dysfunctional family who is pushed to her tipping point by the disappearance of her son. When Max (Yelchin) goes missing, his mother and three sisters (Keough,Dever, Starke) learn that a dark past haunts more than one of the Green siblings. Formats: DVD, Digital. (Sony).
The World’s Largest Ball of Twine
(2016) Documentary tells the unexpected story of two competing Midwest farm towns and the very different balls of twine that each claim is "The World’s Largest." The film showcases the stories of two towns and twine ball creators, Frank and Francis. Each began collecting as a hobby, only to have their collections become local town attractions, going head-to-head in a "Battle of the Balls” for over a half century. But -- what neither town realized -- was that in the end they would both be beaten out for the record, by a Texas Rancher who created his own ball and was certified with the Guinness Book of Records title. Formats: DVD, VOD, Digital. (Big Life Entertainment/Random Media).
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
The first of the Star Wars stand-alone films. Since almost everyone in the known universe has seen "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story" (except for the Trumps and the Putins, who were too busy divvying up the world), there's no need to replicate the entire stoyline here, save to say that -- unlike "Star Wars 1 & II & III" --- this is a true prequel, picking up matters just before the beginning of the original 1977 "Star Wars" (now dubbed "A New Hope"). The Empire is close to finishing the planet-destroying Death Star and a ragtag assemblage of Rebels (including the daughter of the Death Star's designer, who has built a fatal flaw into the heart of the weapon) are dispatched to steal the plans and deliver them to the Rebel Alliance. Unlike "Star Wars VII," this adventure has a great hard edge, with more fighting, more deaths, more special effects and more action and -- thankfully, more anger and vengeance. The leads, Felicity Jones and Diego Luna (at the risk of being politically incorrect, finally we have a Star Wars hero and a heroine that we would like to sleep with) are no-nonsense fighters; the supporting rebels are nasty but likable killers (Forest Whitaker, Jiang Wen and Donnie Yen), and the Empire villains are despicable. There's guest appearances (via CGI) of a couple Star Wars stalwarts, and Darth Vader shows up to finally strut himself as a true killing machine. Unlike so many other modern comic book or sci-fi "epics" that rely on FX instead of story to take the viewer from beginning to end (all those "Iron Man," "Avengers" and "Transformer" films that run together so you can't tell one sequel from another), this one boasts some intelligence in its plot. And if you have a decent surround system, you'll be pleased with the sound here; if you like bonus features with your DVD or Blu-ray, this release will keep you busy for hours: there's a crazy amount of behind-the scenes extras. Vitals: Director: Gareth
Edwards. Stars: Felicity Jones, Diego Luna, Riz Ahmed, Jiang Wen,
Donnie Yen, Mads Mikkelsen, Alan Tudyk, Forest Whitaker.
2016, CC, MPAA rating: PG-13, 133 min., Science Fiction, Box
office gross: $529.020 million, Disney.
Extras:
Paterson
Paterson (Adam Driver) is a bus driver in the city of Paterson, New Jersey -- they share the name. Every day, he adheres to a simple routine of driving his daily route, where he observes the city as it drifts across his windshield, overhearing fragments of the conversations that swirl around him. He writes poetry into a notebook, walks his dog, and has exactly one beer at a local bar. By contrast, his loving wife Laura (Golshifteh Farahani), is a dreamer who is constantly inspired by new ideas and ambitious projects, all the while championing Paterson's gift for poetry. The history and energy of the City of Paterson is a felt presence in the film and its simple structure unfolds over the course of a single week, and the quiet triumphs and defeats of daily life are observed, along with the poetry that's evident in its smallest details.
Vitals: Director: Jim Jarmusch. Stars: Adam Driver, Golshifteh Farahani, Helen-Jean Arthur, Owen Asztalos, Kacey Cockett.
2016, CC, MPAA rating: R, 113 min., Comedy Drama. Box office gross: $.824
million, Universal.
Office Christmas Party
When an overbearing CEO (Jennifer Aniston) decides to close her hard-partying brother’s failing branch, he (T.J. Miller) and his fired up co-workers (Jason Bateman, Olivia Munn, Kate McKinnon) decide to throw an epic office party to land a big shot client and save everyone’s jobs. Fueled by booze and bad decisions, things quickly spiral out of control in one of the craziest nights of their lives.
Vitals: Director: Josh Gordon & Will Speck. Stars: Jason Bateman, Olivia Munn, T.J. Miller, Jennifer Aniston, Kate McKinnon, Courtney B. Vance, Jillian Bell, Rob Corddry.
2016, CC, MPAA rating: R, 105 min., Comedy, Box office gross: $82.329 million, Paramount.
Blu-ray extras: Unrated version, commentary by directors Josh Gordon & Will Speck, "Throwing an Office Christmas Party," outtakes, deleted and extended scenes.
Paterson: The film chronicles the quiet triumphs and defeats of daily life via Paterson (Adam Driver), a hardworking bus driver in Paterson, N.J., who follows the same routine every day, observing the city, listening to fragments of conversations, and writing heartfelt poems.
Silver Skies: A group of eccentric seniors band together to save their homes.
Sleepless: An undercover homicide detective (Jaimie Foxx) seeks revenge on his son’s kidnappers during one sleepless night. (DVD, Blu-ray release: April 18)
Split: A man with 23 personalties kidnaps three girls, who must try to escape before the last and most sinister 24th personality begins emerges to take control.(DVD, Blu-ray release: April 18)
The Young Pope: HBO series that delves into the life of a newly elected pope (Jude Law) -- the youngest in history and first-ever American -- whose audacity, independence and arch-conservatism wreaks havoc within the Vatican. (DVD, Blu-ray release: June 6)
(Disney).
Three
(2016 -- Hong Kong) Wallace Chung, Louis Koo, Zhao Wei. Master filmmaker Johnnie To’s latest showdown between cops, robbers and everyone else caught in the crossfire. When a police sting goes bad, a cornered criminal makes a desperate choice: he shoots himself, forcing the officers to cease fire and rush him to the hospital. Once there, he refuses treatment, waiting for his cohorts to break him out. Caught between an obsessed cop and the dedicated surgeon assigned to save his life, the hospital is now a battleground of deception, double-crosses and a coming onslaught of violence. Formats: DVD, Blu-ray Disc, VOD, Digital. Extras: "Master Director Johnnie To" featurette, “Three Complex Characters” featurette. (Well GO USA).
Youth in Oregon
(2016) Frank Langella, Billy Crudup, Christina Applegate, Mary Kay Place, Josh Lucas, Nicola Peltz, Alex Shaffer. When 79-year-old curmudgeon Raymond (Langella) makes arrangements to be euthanized in Oregon, his family refuses to accept his decision. But when another family emergency arises, Raymond's daughter Kate (Applegate) turns to her husband Brian (Crudup) for a little help. So Brian reluctantly volunteers to drive the cantankerous Raymond and his wine-loving wife Estelle (Kay Place) 3000 miles to Oregon. Determined to change the old man's mind before they reach the Beaver State, it becomes quickly apparent to Brian that convincing your father-in-law to keep living when he's ready to check out is no simple task. Formats: DVD. (Samuel Goldwyn Films/Sony).
© 1996 -- 2017 OnVideo. All rights reserved
April 2, 2017
(ISSN 1094-3676).
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