The Sea of Trees Blu-ray Review

• Actors: Matthew McConaughey, Naomi Watts, Ken Watanabe, Katie Aselton
• Director: Gus Van Sant
• Format: NTSC, Widescreen
• Language: English
• Region: Region A/1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated:
  PG-13
• Studio: Lionsgate
• Release Date: November 1, 2016
• Run Time: 110 minutes

        There wasn’t a single twist in the narrative of The Sea of Trees that I didn’t see coming long before they arrived, but I still would have allowed myself to be swept up by the clichés in the grief-filled story. The intermixing of supernatural with emotion-filled melodrama did not even bother me, at least not until it became forcefully manipulative. It is one thing to use sadness to evoke emotions from the audience, but the way it is done in The Sea of Trees often feels sadistically manipulative, regardless of how authentic the performances may be. The emotions are not earned so much as thrust upon the audience, which is unfortunate considering the dedication and skill of the cast involved.

The IT Crowd: The Complete Series DVD Review

• Actors: Chris O'Dowd, Richard Ayoade, Katherine Parkinson
• Director: Graham Linehan
• Format: Box set, Color, Dolby, NTSC, Widescreen
• Language: English
• Subtitles: English
• Dubbed: English
• Region: Region 1
• Number of discs: 5
• Rated: Not Rated
• Studio: MPI HOME VIDEO
• DVD Release Date: November 1, 2016
• Run Time: 617 minutes

        Many great film careers have started with a successful television show, but it is rare for one show to launch several careers. These are the shows that become lasting classics, which can be watched countless times, in part because of how much the cast embodies their roles: “Freaks and Geeks,” “Friends,” “Cheers.” “The IT Crowd” belongs in this category, perhaps even more so than its American counterparts. Television in the UK is such a dominate art form that it is not seen as the stepping stone it is in Hollywood, so a success in this medium almost guarantees a thriving career.

Legend of Bruce Lee: Volume One DVD Review

• Actors: Danny Chan, Michelle Lang, Mark Dacascos
• Director: Li Wenqi
• Format: Color, Dolby, NTSC, Subtitled, THX, Widescreen
• Language: English
• Subtitles: English
• Region: Region 1
• Number of discs: 3
• Rated:
  Unrated
  Not Rated
• Studio: Well Go USA
• DVD Release Date: November 1, 2016
• Run Time: 451 minutes

        A love of Chinese cinema may mislead some English-speaking consumers to make incorrect assumptions about the DVD release of “Legend of Bruce Lee.” The first mistaken assumption is that this release is the same quality of the films that are exported from the country. “Legend of Bruce Lee” is a television miniseries, not a film, and it won’t take long to discover that the Chinese television industry is nowhere near as polished. Even this may have been easier to dismiss, if the presentation on the Region 1 DVD release weren’t also horribly dubbed as the only option for sound. Though there are subtitles available, the original language track is shamefully missing.