Amazonia DVD Review

• Actors: Martin Sheen
• Director: Thierry Ragobert
• Disc Format: AC-3, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
• Language: English
• Subtitles: English
• Region: Region 1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated:
  G
• Studio: Lionsgate
• DVD Release Date: October 4, 2016
• Run Time: 93 minutes

        Amazonia is a strange amalgamation of scripted narrative film and nature documentary, which seems unconventional by today’s standards despite a tradition of these type of films from Disney in the past. Though the facts about nature are accurate and informative, we follow a single narrative involving a monkey which has clearly been fabricated as the vehicle for the delivery of educational information. Though there may be some who will prefer the realism of actual nature documentary material, Amazonia is perfect for younger audiences unaccustomed to the more unpredictable elements of nature. This G-rated film provide educational information within the safety of a sanitized script.

Men & Chicken Blu-ray Review

• Actors: Mads Mikkelsen, David Dencik, Nikolaj Lie Kaas, Søren Malling, Nicolas Bro
• Format: NTSC
• Language: English
• Region: Region A/1
• Number of discs: 2
• Rated:
  Unrated
• Studio: Drafthouse
• Release Date: October 25, 2016
• Run Time: 99 minutes

        As a screenwriter, Anders Thomas Jensen has provided some of the strongest material for a few very serious-minded Danish filmmakers, which quite ironic considering the tone of the films which he seems to prefer making as a director. Although it has been 10 years since his last project as director, Jensen hasn’t missed a beat. Men & Chicken would make a perfect companion piece to Adam’s Apples (2005), not to mention the darkly comic similarities The Green Butchers (2003).

Skiptrace Blu-ray Review

• Actors: Jackie Chan, Johnny Knoxville, Bingbing Fan, Eve Torres, Eric Tsang
• Director: Renny Harlin
• Format: NTSC, Widescreen
• Language: English
• Region: Region A/1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated:
  PG-13
• Studio: Lionsgate
• Release Date: October 25, 2016
• Run Time: 98 minutes

        Skiptrace feels like a movie made 15 years ago, and in many ways I mean that as a compliment. There is also a valid reason for the feeling of nostalgia brought on by this film, as it rejoins star Jackie Chan with director Renny Harlin, who were originally in the process of planning a film to take place on the World Trade Center when the attacks of 9/11 occurred. That film was understandably scrapped, and Chan went on to make The Tuxedo instead, which was the beginning of Chan’s shift from the physical comedy of his own stunt work to a reliance on CGI to make up for the growing limitations of his age. But despite being made a decade and a half after The Tuxedo, Skiptrace feels like a return to the signature Jackie Chan style.

Nerve Blu-ray Review

• Actors: Emma Roberts, Dave Franco, Juliette Lewis, Emily Meade, Miles Heizer
• Directors: Henry Joost, Ariel Schulman
• Format: Color, NTSC, Widescreen
• Language: English
• Region: Region A/1
• Number of discs: 2
• Rated:
  PG-13
• Studio: Lionsgate
• Release Date: October 25, 2016
• Run Time: 96 minutes

        Nerve boasts an original idea with relevant modern commentary on the digital age and an over-reliance on social media for feelings of self worth, though it often feels like a creative concept destroyed by poorly drawn characters and increasingly idiotic plot twists. Individual traits only seem to exist in order for each character to shift the narrative where it needs to be, altered at the drop of a hat without consideration of consistency. The story manipulates everything in Nerve, including the audience. Rather than intelligently applying its themes, directors Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman merely cram them into a typical action movie formula.

       

Gleason DVD Review

• Cast: Steve Gleason
• Director: Clay Tweel
• Format: AC-3, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
• Language: English
• Subtitles: English, Spanish
• Region: Region 1
• Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated:
  R
• Studio: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
• DVD Release Date: November 1, 2016
• Run Time: 111 minutes

        If Gleason were a scripted narrative film, it would likely come off as contrived. And yet, the intimacy that the camera is often able to achieve far surpasses the typical level of realism found even in the documentary format. This is exactly the type of complexity through contrast found within many elements of director Clay Tweed’s film. This is a film with brutally raw language, but amidst the casual use of the “F” word is an honest discussion about faith that would benefit even the most conservative of Christians. Gleason is a devastating front-row seat to the effects of a disease which destroys the physical body, while serving as an uplifting testament to the soul of the man within.   

Sherpa DVD Review

• Director: Jennifer Peedom
• Disc Format: Closed-captioned, Color, NTSC, Widescreen
• Language: English
• Region: Region 1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated:
  PG
• Studio: LIONSGATE
• Release Date: October 11, 2016
• Run Time: 93 minutes

        Sometimes the difference between making a good documentary and a great one is just the simple luck of being at the right place at the right time. If I had to guess, I would assume that director Jennifer Peedom set out to make Sherpa as a film about the record-breaking climb of Everest by one of the local guides. Had he completed the summit during the 2014 expedition, Sirdar Phurba Tashi Sherpa would have beaten the record for the number of times a single person has reached the top of the infamous mountain. While that may have been the original intentions of Peedom’s film, it quickly became about something else as a tragic avalanche occurred during the 2014 expedition, taking the lives of a record number of Sherpa guides in one afternoon.

Hell on Wheels: Season 5, Volume 2 Blu-ray Review

• Actors: Colm Meaney, Phil Burke, Anson Mount, Common
• Producers: Chad Oakes, Michael Frislev
• Format: Subtitled
• Language: English
• Subtitles: English
• Region: All Regions
• Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
• Number of discs: 2
• Studio: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
• Release Date: November 1, 2016
• Run Time: 301 minutes

        There are two ways to approach the review of the second volume of the fifth and final season of “Hell on Wheels.” I could review the content itself, which would be nothing but high praise for the emotional resonance of these final episodes. Unfortunately, the release plan for the last season has not been nearly as admirable as the content. Rather than waiting to release the entire final season together, they split it up into two separate packages with only 7 episodes in each. Considering the cost of each release, it is difficult not to see this as a direct insult to the fans.

The Hunger Games Ultra HD 4K Review

• Actors: Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Woody Harrelson, Elizabeth Banks
• Director: Gary Ross
• Disc Format: 4K, Closed-captioned, Color, NTSC, Widescreen
• Language: English
• Number of discs: 2
• Rated:
  PG-13
• Studio: Lionsgate
• Release Date: November 8, 2016
• Run Time: 111 minutes

        Certain films will lend themselves to the viewing enhancements brought by 4K better than others. Animation will always see the most noticeable upgrading, because of the technology used to create these films, and this is also why large budget action films with computer generated effects also appear improved. While the first film in The Hunger Games franchise had a noticeably smaller budget, all of the films benefit from this new format.