To Write Love on Her Arms DVD Review

     Actors: Kat Dennings, Chad Michael Murray, Rupert Friend, Corbin Bleu

Director: Nathan Frankowski

Format: Multiple Formats, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DTS Surround Sound, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC

Language: English

Subtitles: Chinese, Korean

Number of discs: 1

Rated: PG-13

Studio: SONY PICTURES

DVD Release Date: March 3, 2015

Run Time: 118 minutes

 

        I’m not sure what the reason was for the delay of this film being released after its initial 2012 festival run, but the delay resulted in the film becoming one of the casualties of the Sony Pictures Studio hack. I would like to say that this is the reason for the underwhelming reception of To Write Love on Her Arms, but the sad reality is that this is exactly the type of film that will always get dumped into home entertainment formats. I would have thought 2012 would have been a great time to release a film starring the rising star, Kat Dennings, following her 2011 successes with her new sitcom, “Two Broke Girls,” and the supporting role in Thor. Unfortunately, small personalized dramas don’t have the same mass appeal as sex-obsessed sitcoms and comic book blockbusters, but I would be willing to bet that To Write Love on Her Arms has more potential for connecting with its audience, however specific it may be.

Outlander: Season One, Volume One DVD Review

     Actors: Caitriona Balfe, Sam Heughan, Tobias Menzies, Graham McTavish

Format: Multiple Formats, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DTS Surround Sound, Widescreen, NTSC

Language: English

Subtitles: Thai

Dubbed: Thai

Aspect Ratio: 1.77:1

Number of discs: 2

Rated: Unrated

Studio: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment

DVD Release Date: March 3, 2015

 

        “Outlander” is a series based upon the international bestselling book series by Diana Gabaldon, and is likely to be most appreciated by those familiar with the original text. It is not a difficult story to follow, but much of the praise the Starz Channel series has received has been about the faithfulness of the adaptation. Those unfamiliar with the romantic fantasy text are less likely to be impressed with the contrived narrative, though there is no denying the surefooted capabilities of the cast and crew in bringing this historically-based fantasy to life. There are eight novels in the series, with a ninth on the way. I don’t imagine that we will see an end to the television adaptations anytime soon either, with this narrative being dragged out and released in two sections, as studios have made habit out of feature-film adaptations.

 

Let’s Kill Ward’s Wife Blu-ray Review

     Actors: Patrick Wilson, Scott Foley, Greg Grunberg, Amy Acker, Dagmara Dominczyk

Director: Scott Foley

Format: Blu-ray, Widescreen

Language: English

Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1

Number of discs: 1

Rated: Unrated

Studio: Well Go USA

Release Date: March 3, 2015

Run Time: 83 minutes

 

 

         I have had many comedic actors explain to me the enjoyment that they had working on a film with many of their friends. This is an easy concept to understand, even for those of us on the outskirts of the entertainment industry can relate to the ways in which a poor job can be improved by co-workers we can also call friends. Apparently, the case is also true for the filming of bad screenplays, because there are countless awful films made by a group of people that like each other. Perhaps this comes from an unwillingness to be honest about the content that doesn’t work, or maybe having your buddies with you at work can be more of a distraction to the creative process. Whatever the reason, the group of friends, couples, and former co-workers that came together to make Let’s Kill Ward’s Wife should be ashamed at how utterly unsuccessful this dark comedy is. How ironic that the tagline is “Real Friends Do the Dirty Work.”