The latest Hunger Games sequel was 2014s biggest hit, and it finally arrives on Blu-ray and DVD this week, along with several other films, including the Oscar-nominated Foxcatcher.
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 (Lionsgate/Blu-ray/DVD/Digital/On Demand, 2014, PG-13, deleted scenes, audio commentary, featurettes, music video, trailers). These days, sequels dont end. They just stop. And that happens here, so no one will blame you if you hold off on seeing this one until you can watch it back to back with Mockingjay Part 2 (due in theaters Nov. 20). But you wont. Or more correctly, you didnt, since this was last years biggest hit.
And most of the way its a solid entry in the franchise, with two-time Hunger Games champ Katniss (Jennifer Lawrence) declining an offer to be the face of the rebellion until she learns that Peeta (Josh Hutcherson) is being manipulated by the Capitol, and that she can help rescue him. Nicely structured action scenes and each member of the large cast (including recent Oscar-winner Julianne Moore) has a moment or two to shine.
Foxcatcher (Sony Classics/Blu-ray/DVD/Digital/On Demand, 2014, R for drugs and violence, deleted scenes, featurette). Offbeat low-key melodrama relating the true story of wealthy DuPont chemicals heir John du Pont (well played by an unrecognizable Steve Carell). One of his hobbies is training wrestlers for the Olympics, and the film chronicles his dysfunctional relationship with two brothers he recruits (Channing Tatum and Mark Ruffalo, both excellent), and with his own aged mother (Vanessa Redgrave). That this story will end in tragedy is a given but the journey is strange, disturbing and oddly engaging.
The Captive (Lionsgate/Blu-ray/DVD/Digital, 2015, deleted scenes/alternate ending, audio commentary, featurette). Ryan Reynolds stars in this thriller as the father of a young kidnap victim who is frustrated by slow police procedures and the fact that he is under suspicion, so he takes matters into his own hands. Directed by Atom Egoyan (The Sweet Hereafter). Co-stars include Scott Speedman, Rosario Dawson and Mireille Enos.
The Whale (BBC/DVD, 2013). British TV movie strives for an epic look on a moderate budget, and it shows. But the story is interesting, based on the true incident of the Essex, an American whaling ship that was attacked and sunk by a giant whale in 1820. Some 35 years later, Herman Melville was inspired to write Moby Dick after reading accounts of the incident by survivors. Here, Essex cabin boy Thomas Nickerson recalls the events, played as an old man by Martin Sheen and as a lad on the ship by Charles Furness. (Ron Howard has filmed the same story as In the Heart of the Sea.")
Dragonheart 3: The Sorcerers Curse (Universal/Blu-ray/DVD/Digital, 2015, PG-13, featurette). In the original Dragonheart (1996), Dennis Quaid stars and Sean Connery voices the dragon. In the second film, a made-for-video sequel, Dragonheart: A New Beginning, Robby Benson voiced the dragon. Here, its Ben Kingsley and this one is a prequel, with the dragon being rescued from an evil sorcerer by a young knight.
The Dog Who Saved Easter (Lionsgate/DVD/Digital, 2014, PG, audio commentary, featurette, photo gallery). Dean Cain, the only actor whos stayed with the entire Dog Who Saved franchise, headlines this fourth entry in the TV-movie series. Here, K-9 Zeus is left in a doggie daycare facility that is sabotaged by a trio of hapless crooks.
Day of the Gun (Monarch/DVD, 2015, not rated, featurettes, trailer). Low-budget Western (filmed in Montana and Maryland) is alternately interesting and amateurish in range-war tale of a widow challenging a cattle baron after he puts up a fence. Late in the film Eric Roberts turns up and shows the rest of the cast what acting is supposed to look like.
Innocence (Cinedigm/Blu-ray/DVD/Digital, PG-13). After losing her mother, a 16-year-old girl and her father move into a new area where her prep school is inhabited by teachers who live eternally on the blood of virgins. Kelly Reilly and Linus Roache head the adult cast.
Believe Me (Virgil/Blu-ray/DVD, 2014, PG-13, deleted scenes, outtakes, trailers). Satire on evangelical fundraising has college students coming up with a fake charity scam to get money for tuition. Unusual faith film pokes fun at the gullibility but never the beliefs of churchgoers.
To Write Love On Her Arms (Sony/DVD/Digital, 2015, PG-13, deleted scenes, featurettes). Kat Dennings stars as a young woman with addictions who eventually recovers and founds a charity to help others. Fictionalized biographical film about the founder of the titular charity, which aims to help people overcome addictions. (Part of the films proceeds will be donated to the charity.)
Lets Kill Wards Wife (Well Go/Blu-ray/DVD, 2014, not rated, outtakes, trailer). Very dark comedy about Ward (Donald Faison) and his friends plotting to kill his wife, a shrew hated by everyone. Co-stars include Patrick Wilson, Amy Acker, Nicolette Sheridan and Scott Foley, who also makes his feature writing-directing debut.
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 (Lionsgate/Blu-ray/DVD/Digital/On Demand, 2014, PG-13, deleted scenes, audio commentary, featurettes, music video, trailers). These days, sequels dont end. They just stop. And that happens here, so no one will blame you if you hold off on seeing this one until you can watch it back to back with Mockingjay Part 2 (due in theaters Nov. 20). But you wont. Or more correctly, you didnt, since this was last years biggest hit.
And most of the way its a solid entry in the franchise, with two-time Hunger Games champ Katniss (Jennifer Lawrence) declining an offer to be the face of the rebellion until she learns that Peeta (Josh Hutcherson) is being manipulated by the Capitol, and that she can help rescue him. Nicely structured action scenes and each member of the large cast (including recent Oscar-winner Julianne Moore) has a moment or two to shine.
Foxcatcher (Sony Classics/Blu-ray/DVD/Digital/On Demand, 2014, R for drugs and violence, deleted scenes, featurette). Offbeat low-key melodrama relating the true story of wealthy DuPont chemicals heir John du Pont (well played by an unrecognizable Steve Carell). One of his hobbies is training wrestlers for the Olympics, and the film chronicles his dysfunctional relationship with two brothers he recruits (Channing Tatum and Mark Ruffalo, both excellent), and with his own aged mother (Vanessa Redgrave). That this story will end in tragedy is a given but the journey is strange, disturbing and oddly engaging.
The Captive (Lionsgate/Blu-ray/DVD/Digital, 2015, deleted scenes/alternate ending, audio commentary, featurette). Ryan Reynolds stars in this thriller as the father of a young kidnap victim who is frustrated by slow police procedures and the fact that he is under suspicion, so he takes matters into his own hands. Directed by Atom Egoyan (The Sweet Hereafter). Co-stars include Scott Speedman, Rosario Dawson and Mireille Enos.
The Whale (BBC/DVD, 2013). British TV movie strives for an epic look on a moderate budget, and it shows. But the story is interesting, based on the true incident of the Essex, an American whaling ship that was attacked and sunk by a giant whale in 1820. Some 35 years later, Herman Melville was inspired to write Moby Dick after reading accounts of the incident by survivors. Here, Essex cabin boy Thomas Nickerson recalls the events, played as an old man by Martin Sheen and as a lad on the ship by Charles Furness. (Ron Howard has filmed the same story as In the Heart of the Sea.")
Dragonheart 3: The Sorcerers Curse (Universal/Blu-ray/DVD/Digital, 2015, PG-13, featurette). In the original Dragonheart (1996), Dennis Quaid stars and Sean Connery voices the dragon. In the second film, a made-for-video sequel, Dragonheart: A New Beginning, Robby Benson voiced the dragon. Here, its Ben Kingsley and this one is a prequel, with the dragon being rescued from an evil sorcerer by a young knight.
The Dog Who Saved Easter (Lionsgate/DVD/Digital, 2014, PG, audio commentary, featurette, photo gallery). Dean Cain, the only actor whos stayed with the entire Dog Who Saved franchise, headlines this fourth entry in the TV-movie series. Here, K-9 Zeus is left in a doggie daycare facility that is sabotaged by a trio of hapless crooks.
Day of the Gun (Monarch/DVD, 2015, not rated, featurettes, trailer). Low-budget Western (filmed in Montana and Maryland) is alternately interesting and amateurish in range-war tale of a widow challenging a cattle baron after he puts up a fence. Late in the film Eric Roberts turns up and shows the rest of the cast what acting is supposed to look like.
Innocence (Cinedigm/Blu-ray/DVD/Digital, PG-13). After losing her mother, a 16-year-old girl and her father move into a new area where her prep school is inhabited by teachers who live eternally on the blood of virgins. Kelly Reilly and Linus Roache head the adult cast.
Believe Me (Virgil/Blu-ray/DVD, 2014, PG-13, deleted scenes, outtakes, trailers). Satire on evangelical fundraising has college students coming up with a fake charity scam to get money for tuition. Unusual faith film pokes fun at the gullibility but never the beliefs of churchgoers.
To Write Love On Her Arms (Sony/DVD/Digital, 2015, PG-13, deleted scenes, featurettes). Kat Dennings stars as a young woman with addictions who eventually recovers and founds a charity to help others. Fictionalized biographical film about the founder of the titular charity, which aims to help people overcome addictions. (Part of the films proceeds will be donated to the charity.)
Lets Kill Wards Wife (Well Go/Blu-ray/DVD, 2014, not rated, outtakes, trailer). Very dark comedy about Ward (Donald Faison) and his friends plotting to kill his wife, a shrew hated by everyone. Co-stars include Patrick Wilson, Amy Acker, Nicolette Sheridan and Scott Foley, who also makes his feature writing-directing debut.
