A new Jackie Chan thriller and a couple of show-biz documentaries head these new movies on Blu-ray and DVD this week.
Police Story: Lockdown (Well Go/Blu-ray/DVD, 2015, not rated, in Mandarin with English subtitles or dubbed in English, featurettes, trailers). Over the past few years, Jackie Chan has been moving away from comedy to concentrate on more serious films, and this mystery-thriller is a pretty good step in that direction, a sort of Die Hard-Rashomon mash-up.
Chan stars as a veteran widowered cop who is summoned by his estranged daughter to her boyfriends warehouse nightclub, where thugs show up and take hostages. But, of course, nothing is as it seems. While the film is serious, there is some humor, and Chan still exhibits some of his signature moves (along with his trademark outtakes under the end credits).
But fans should be warned that despite the title, this one is not related to Chans Police Story franchise of four comedy-action films in which he played the same character, just as 2004s A New Police Story was also unrelated.
I Am Big Bird: The Caroll Spinney Story (Cinedigm/DVD, 2015, not rated, deleted scenes, featurettes, trailers). Sweet, gentle, funny and sentimental, this delightful documentary is semi-autobiographical as it relates the life of artist/puppeteer Caroll Spinney, who has performed as Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch on Sesame Street since the shows inception 46 years ago, and at age 81 shows no signs of slowing down.
This is a mostly chronological narrative, straightforward in the telling and much of it is recited by Spinney himself, who proves to be a terrific storyteller. There are also new and archival interviews, supplemented by plentiful performance clips, home movies and cartoon re-creations (illustrated by Spinney). And dont overlook the bonus features, which offer more humor and tears.
Utah audiences will especially enjoy an amusing collection of clips toward the end that recount what happened when Mitt Romney name-dropped Big Bird during the last presidential election cycle. And its also noted early on that Spinney and Muppet creator Jim Henson first met in 1962 at a puppet festival in Salt Lake City.
I Am Chris Farley (Virgil/Blu-ray/DVD/On Demand, 2015, not rated, featurette, photo gallery). Fawning but engaging documentary about Chris Farley, the Saturday Night Live comic who died of a drug overdose 18 years ago at the age of 33. It's at its best when his fellow SNL comics and family members are paying tribute, embellished by home movies and comedy clips, some of which are hilarious. Among those interviewed are Mike Myers, Adam Sandler, Dan Aykroyd, Jon Lovitz, Molly Shannon and Bo Derek. (Be advised that there is occasional R-rated language.)
Match (IFC/DVD/Digital, 2015, R for language and drugs, trailer). Patrick Stewart stars in this actors showcase, an adaptation by Stephen Belber of his 2004 play about an ex-dancer now teaching at Juilliard who is confronted by a young man who believes the dancer is his father, and hes determined to get the DNA necessary to prove it. Stewart shines in this character melodrama, but Matthew Lillard and Carla Gugino are also good in support.
Hot Pursuit (Warner/Blu-ray/DVD/Digital, 2015, PG-13, alternate ending, featurettes, bloopers). Extremely disappointing cops 'n' crooks comedy with Reese Witherspoon and Sofia Vergara paired as an odd couple on the run. Witherspoons the straight-arrow, socially awkward police officer; Vergara is the aggressive moll shes trying to protect from mobsters and crooked cops. The stars give it their all but the film is loud, chaotic and the comedy falls flat at every turn.
Unfriended (Universal/Blu-ray/DVD/Digital/On Demand, 2015; R for violence, language, sex, drugs; trailers). Do we really want to see a movie that takes place entirely on a computer screen? Thats the gimmick in this variation on the found-footage genre, a sort of a high-tech riff on Agatha Christies And Then There Were None. Six Skyping teens are interrupted by someone claiming to be a girl who committed suicide after a cyber-bullying incident. Revenge-murders via social media ensue.
Police Story: Lockdown (Well Go/Blu-ray/DVD, 2015, not rated, in Mandarin with English subtitles or dubbed in English, featurettes, trailers). Over the past few years, Jackie Chan has been moving away from comedy to concentrate on more serious films, and this mystery-thriller is a pretty good step in that direction, a sort of Die Hard-Rashomon mash-up.
Chan stars as a veteran widowered cop who is summoned by his estranged daughter to her boyfriends warehouse nightclub, where thugs show up and take hostages. But, of course, nothing is as it seems. While the film is serious, there is some humor, and Chan still exhibits some of his signature moves (along with his trademark outtakes under the end credits).
But fans should be warned that despite the title, this one is not related to Chans Police Story franchise of four comedy-action films in which he played the same character, just as 2004s A New Police Story was also unrelated.
I Am Big Bird: The Caroll Spinney Story (Cinedigm/DVD, 2015, not rated, deleted scenes, featurettes, trailers). Sweet, gentle, funny and sentimental, this delightful documentary is semi-autobiographical as it relates the life of artist/puppeteer Caroll Spinney, who has performed as Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch on Sesame Street since the shows inception 46 years ago, and at age 81 shows no signs of slowing down.
This is a mostly chronological narrative, straightforward in the telling and much of it is recited by Spinney himself, who proves to be a terrific storyteller. There are also new and archival interviews, supplemented by plentiful performance clips, home movies and cartoon re-creations (illustrated by Spinney). And dont overlook the bonus features, which offer more humor and tears.
Utah audiences will especially enjoy an amusing collection of clips toward the end that recount what happened when Mitt Romney name-dropped Big Bird during the last presidential election cycle. And its also noted early on that Spinney and Muppet creator Jim Henson first met in 1962 at a puppet festival in Salt Lake City.
I Am Chris Farley (Virgil/Blu-ray/DVD/On Demand, 2015, not rated, featurette, photo gallery). Fawning but engaging documentary about Chris Farley, the Saturday Night Live comic who died of a drug overdose 18 years ago at the age of 33. It's at its best when his fellow SNL comics and family members are paying tribute, embellished by home movies and comedy clips, some of which are hilarious. Among those interviewed are Mike Myers, Adam Sandler, Dan Aykroyd, Jon Lovitz, Molly Shannon and Bo Derek. (Be advised that there is occasional R-rated language.)
Match (IFC/DVD/Digital, 2015, R for language and drugs, trailer). Patrick Stewart stars in this actors showcase, an adaptation by Stephen Belber of his 2004 play about an ex-dancer now teaching at Juilliard who is confronted by a young man who believes the dancer is his father, and hes determined to get the DNA necessary to prove it. Stewart shines in this character melodrama, but Matthew Lillard and Carla Gugino are also good in support.
Hot Pursuit (Warner/Blu-ray/DVD/Digital, 2015, PG-13, alternate ending, featurettes, bloopers). Extremely disappointing cops 'n' crooks comedy with Reese Witherspoon and Sofia Vergara paired as an odd couple on the run. Witherspoons the straight-arrow, socially awkward police officer; Vergara is the aggressive moll shes trying to protect from mobsters and crooked cops. The stars give it their all but the film is loud, chaotic and the comedy falls flat at every turn.
Unfriended (Universal/Blu-ray/DVD/Digital/On Demand, 2015; R for violence, language, sex, drugs; trailers). Do we really want to see a movie that takes place entirely on a computer screen? Thats the gimmick in this variation on the found-footage genre, a sort of a high-tech riff on Agatha Christies And Then There Were None. Six Skyping teens are interrupted by someone claiming to be a girl who committed suicide after a cyber-bullying incident. Revenge-murders via social media ensue.
