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Third Person Blu-ray Review

     Actors: Adrien Brody, James Franco, Liam Neeson
  • Format: Multiple Formats, Blu-ray, Widescreen
  • Language: English
  • Subtitles: English, Spanish
  • Aspect Ratio: 2.40:1
  • Number of discs: 1
  • Rated: R (Restricted)
  • Studio: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
  • Release Date: September 30, 2014
  • Run Time: 137 minutes



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            The ability to enjoy Third Person relies entirely on the viewer’s level of patience and willingness to accept significance and meaning to outweigh any emotional attachment to the characters. Many of the storylines and the characters in the film are contrivances meant to hammer in the thematic points, which take on more significance than believability or being relatable. This isn’t for lack of effort from the cast, however, who all give dedicated performances to filmmaker Paul Haggis’ vision.

     

    Sordid Lives Blu-ray Review

         Actors: Beau Bridges, Delta Burke, Olivia Newton-John, Leslie Jordan
  • Director: Del Shores
  • Format: Multiple Formats, Blu-ray, AC-3, Closed-captioned, Color, Surround Sound, Widescreen
  • Language: English
  • Aspect Ratio: 1.77:1
  • Number of discs: 2
  • Rated: R (Restricted)
  • Studio: Wolfe Video
  • Release Date: September 30, 2014
  • Run Time: 111 minutes




  •         With big personalities and an excess of somewhat pointless dialogue filling each of the scenes, all of which seem to take place indoors, it is not hard to imagine that Sordid Lives began as a stage play before it was adapted into this film. The characters are big and the plot is minimal, but the high camp value of the humor makes it easy to understand the film’s cult success. Being able to understand is not the same as to appreciate, however, and I found the endless southern ramblings to be a bit much to endure for 111-minutes.

     

    Cold in July Blu-ray Review

         Actors: Michael C. Hall, Sam Shepard, Don Johnson, Wyatt Russell
  • Director: Jim Mickle
  • Format: Multiple Formats, Blu-ray, Widescreen
  • Language: English
  • Aspect Ratio: 2.40:1
  • Number of discs: 1
  • Rated: R (Restricted)
  • Studio: MPI HOME VIDEO
  • Release Date: September 30, 2014
  • Run Time: 110 minutes


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            Filmmaker Jim Mickle may borrow in style from directors that he admires, but the narratives he chooses have an unpredictable edge to them. Cold in July is no exception, spiraling into a seedy noir that one would never imagine from the film’s beginning. Based on the novel by Joe R. Lansdale, the story winds and weaves into unexpected territory after an exciting opening scene. Though it drags in the middle before providing a satisfyingly exciting climactic sequence, this is helped along with the three fantastic actors in the leading roles.

     

    Hellion DVD Review

         Actors: Aaron Paul, Josh Wiggins, Deke Garner, Dalton Sutton
  • Director: Kat Candler
  • Format: Multiple Formats, Color, Widescreen, NTSC
  • Language: English
  • Number of discs: 1
  • Rated: Unrated
  • Studio: MPI HOME VIDEO
  • DVD Release Date: September 30, 2014
  • Run Time: 99 minutes


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            Hellion will likely soon blend into my memory alongside countless other coming-of-age independent films of its kind, but that doesn’t make it any less effective as a film. Never boring and rarely inauthentic, despite numerous sequences of contrived melodramatic events, Hellion is a solid film, however unnecessary it may be. I only wish that writer/director Kat Candler had put more depth into the narrative of the characters. They respond emotionally to situations in the narrative, but not enough background is given to understand why they are reacting. It becomes an exercise in acting, which may be successful but doesn’t make for a memorable narrative.

     

    Lucky Them DVD Review

         Actors: Toni Collette, Thomas Haden Church
  • Director: Megan Griffiths
  • Format: Multiple Formats, Color, Widescreen, NTSC
  • Language: English
  • Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
  • Number of discs: 1
  • Rated: R (Restricted)
  • Studio: MPI HOME VIDEO
  • DVD Release Date: September 30, 2014
  • Run Time: 96 minutes




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            The initial premise of Lucky Them promises a mystery that needs solving and an exploration into the way that music affects our lives. It delivers on neither of them in spades, instead letting plot and narrative give way to aimless scenes of character interaction. The saving grace of this choice only comes from the casting, with all roles filled to perfection and with the capability of engaging the audience enough to distract them from noticing that the plot is not developing. Insightful this film is not, but it does manage enjoyable for much of the run time.

     

    Wolf DVD Review

         Actors: Chemseddine Amar, Mark Catuogno, Steef Cuijpers
  • Director: Jim Taihuttu
  • Format: Multiple Formats, Color, Widescreen, NTSC
  • Language: Dutch
  • Number of discs: 1
  • Rated: Unrated
  • Studio: MPI HOME VIDEO
  • DVD Release Date: September 30, 2014
  • Run Time: 123 minutes



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            For being overlong and often a familiar blend of successful gangster films from cinematic history, Wolf is a remarkably watchable entry into the genre from the Netherlands. With gritty black-and-white cinematographer and a main character who balances a life between crime and professional boxing, comparisons to Raging Bull are inevitable, but it has a raw energy that often remind me more of Nicolas Winding Refn’s Pusher trilogy. Though there are few surprises in the narrative, at least filmmaker Jim Taihuttu has good taste in what influences his work.

    Sniper: Legacy DVD Review

        Actors: Chad Collins, Dominic Mafham
  • Format: Multiple Formats, Closed-captioned, Color, NTSC
  • Language: English
  • Subtitles: Chinese, English, Korean
  • Number of discs: 1
  • Rated: Unrated
  • Studio: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
  • DVD Release Date: September 30, 2014



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            It is difficult to believe that the lineage of the 1990s action franchise, Sniper (1993), has remained alive and active. Though the franchise was revived in 2011 without Tom Berenger, the protagonist was the son of Thomas Beckett, leaving an opening for him to return. This is the film which joins the franchise’s original sniper, with the younger version in Sgt. Brandon Beckett (Chad Michael Collins).

    New BBC Mystery on DVD

         Format: Multiple Formats, Color, NTSC
  • Language: English (Stereo)
  • Number of discs: 2
  • Rated: NR (Not Rated)
  • Studio: BBC Home Entertainment
  • DVD Release Date: September 16, 2014
  • Run Time: 270 minutes




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    DCI Banks: Season Two

     

            Based on the Inspector Banks novels by Peter Robinson, “DCI Banks” follows title character Detective Chief Inspector Banks (Stephen Tompkinson) in his pursuit of justice. This begins with a mystery involving Inspector Banks’ estranged brother and a murder, a case which he inadvertently becomes involved in. Using his no-nonsense methods of investigation, Banks sets out to prove his brother’s innocence in one of three two-part mysteries that make up season two.