The faith film War Room, which was a huge national success (No. 40 among the years biggest box-office hits) is on Blu-ray and DVD this week.
War Room (TriStar, 2015, PG, deleted scenes, audio commentary, featurettes, bloopers, music video). This melodrama by the Kendrick brothers was a big hit for the faith-film market, telling the story of a marriage thats failing and the difficult steps taken by the parties involved to save it.
Workaholic salesman Tony (T.C. Stallings) considers having an affair on the road, and he may have crossed a legal line in his business. Meanwhile, his wife Elizabeth (Priscilla C. Shirer) meets a potential real estate customer, an elderly widow named Miss Clara (Karen Abercrombie, playing older) who starts giving Elizabeth lessons in prayer.
Its easy to see where this is going, of course. Eventually, Tony will take responsibility for his actions, and Elizabeth will learn to forgive. But co-writer/director Alex Kendrick and his co-writer/producer brother Stephen dont offer simple answers, allowing the story to flow organically while unafraid of hanging it on their Christian beliefs.
But they are also smart enough to build the kind of tension anyone can relate to, lace the dialogue with sly humor and throw in flat-out entertainment in the form of a Double Dutch jump-rope competition. The Kendricks filmmaking skills have come a long way since Flywheel and Fireproof, putting this one up there with what I consider to be their best film, Courageous.
Pawn Sacrifice (Universal, 2015, PG-13, featurette). One of the years unfortunate box-office failures was this gripping retelling of chess prodigy Bobby Fischers Cold War match against Soviet champ Boris Spassky, which turned into a challenge between giant world superpowers. Tobey Maguire is excellent as Fischer, an undeniable chess genius whose public descent into paranoid madness during the match is both chilling and heartbreaking. Liev Schreiber as Spassky is also first rate, as are co-stars Lily Rabe and Peter Sarsgaard.
Sun Ra: A Joyful Noise (MVD, 1980, not rated, extended audio live performances).
Hawaiian Rainbow/Kumu Hula: Keepers of a Culture (MVD, 1987/1989, not rated, two features). Sun Ra, Hawaiian Rainbow and Kumu Hula are documentaries by Robert Mugge, the prolific filmmaker best known for chronicling the lives and music of many a musician over the past four decades. All three films have been meticulously restored and look great.
The first disc, one of Mugges earliest works, is a perfect example, as he follows avant-garde jazz musician, poet and philosopher Sun Ra, whose musical roots are African and Caribbean blended with a sort of cosmic mythology. Mugges hourlong film tracks two years of live performances in a variety of venues as Sun Ras costumed theatricality, mixing ancient Egyptian and outer-space motifs, establishes him as a pioneer of Afrofuturism. (Yes, thats a thing; look it up.)
The second disc has two charming 85-minute films, Hawaiian Rainbow and Kumu Hula, celebrating Hawaii and its musical legacy. The first provides an overview of Hawaiian music, filmed largely on Oahu, and the second, shot on several islands, explores dance traditions that go back several generations.
Pan (Warner, 2015, PG, audio commentary, featurettes). This offbeat rebooted prequel to Peter Pan is a sad misfire, casting the beloved boy who never grew up as a 12-year-old orphan, whisked away to Neverland as punishment and forced into the slave labor of pixie-dust miner Blackbeard the Pirate (Hugh Jackman, hamming it up). There, Peter learns he can fly and is befriended by James Hook. When they escape, Peter is identified as the foretold hero Pan. Tiger Lily, Tinker Bell, the crocodile theyre all here. But any magic is woefully missing.
The Giant King (Lionsgate, 2015, PG, featurette, Miniscule episodes, trailers). Thai animated feature (dubbed in English) about two robots that wake up chained together and discover they have no memory of who they are or what has happened to them, much less that 1,000 years earlier there was an epic robot battle and they were sworn enemies. So they wander the barren wasteland looking for RAM, the creator of all robots, not realizing hes out to destroy them.
The Transporter: Refueled (Fox, 2015, PG-13, featurettes). Ed Skrein is a poor substitute for Jason Statham in this fourth Transporter flick. The convoluted plot has Frank Martins father (Ray Stevenson) kidnapped by beautiful blonde thieves to coerce the driver into helping them get revenge on a human trafficker. The usual CGI-enhanced, over-the-top stunts are on overdrive, but there isnt much else. Stevenson is by far the most appealing character but doesnt get enough screen time.
The Perfect Guy (Sony, 2015, PG-13, featurette). When boyfriend David (Morris Chestnut) cant commit, Leah (Sanaa Lathan) dumps him and begins dating Carter (Michael Ealy). But after Carter exhibits a propensity for violence, she also drops him. Soon, however, Leah learns that Carter is stalking her, and it only escalates when she gets back together with David. Despite earnest performances, this gender-reversed Fatal Attraction isnt much, although it was a surprise box-office hit. Tess Harper, Kathryn Morris and Charles S. Dutton co-star.
Dragon Blade (Lionsgate, 2015, R for violence, in English and in Mandarin with English subtitles, featurettes, music video, trailers). This Chinese film (a big hit in China) is a wild misfire, a very bloody, opulent and extremely strange historical action drama set in 48 B.C. But the three stars seem horribly miscast Jackie Chan (who also produced) as an impetuous imperial guard, John Cusack as a world-weary Roman soldier and Adrien Brody as evil Roman leader Tiberius. Oh, and theres a musical number.
Heist (Lionsgate, 2015; R for violence, language, sex; deleted/extended scenes, audio commentary, featurettes). To save his deathly ill young daughter, a former gangster (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) enlists a pal (Dave Bautista) to help him rob a casino owned by his former boss (Robert De Niro). Except for De Niros presence, this low-rent action picture has little to distinguish it from dozens of others and even less to recommend it. Co-stars include Kate Bosworth, Morris Chestnut and D.B. Sweeney.
12 Rounds 3: Lockdown (Lionsgate, 2015; R for violence, sex, nudity). Wrestling star Dean Ambrose stars in the third film of this formulaic franchise as a police detective returning to active duty after being wounded and watching his partner die in a shootout. But to his dismay, he finds himself surrounded by crooked cops.
War Room (TriStar, 2015, PG, deleted scenes, audio commentary, featurettes, bloopers, music video). This melodrama by the Kendrick brothers was a big hit for the faith-film market, telling the story of a marriage thats failing and the difficult steps taken by the parties involved to save it.
Workaholic salesman Tony (T.C. Stallings) considers having an affair on the road, and he may have crossed a legal line in his business. Meanwhile, his wife Elizabeth (Priscilla C. Shirer) meets a potential real estate customer, an elderly widow named Miss Clara (Karen Abercrombie, playing older) who starts giving Elizabeth lessons in prayer.
Its easy to see where this is going, of course. Eventually, Tony will take responsibility for his actions, and Elizabeth will learn to forgive. But co-writer/director Alex Kendrick and his co-writer/producer brother Stephen dont offer simple answers, allowing the story to flow organically while unafraid of hanging it on their Christian beliefs.
But they are also smart enough to build the kind of tension anyone can relate to, lace the dialogue with sly humor and throw in flat-out entertainment in the form of a Double Dutch jump-rope competition. The Kendricks filmmaking skills have come a long way since Flywheel and Fireproof, putting this one up there with what I consider to be their best film, Courageous.
Pawn Sacrifice (Universal, 2015, PG-13, featurette). One of the years unfortunate box-office failures was this gripping retelling of chess prodigy Bobby Fischers Cold War match against Soviet champ Boris Spassky, which turned into a challenge between giant world superpowers. Tobey Maguire is excellent as Fischer, an undeniable chess genius whose public descent into paranoid madness during the match is both chilling and heartbreaking. Liev Schreiber as Spassky is also first rate, as are co-stars Lily Rabe and Peter Sarsgaard.
Sun Ra: A Joyful Noise (MVD, 1980, not rated, extended audio live performances).
Hawaiian Rainbow/Kumu Hula: Keepers of a Culture (MVD, 1987/1989, not rated, two features). Sun Ra, Hawaiian Rainbow and Kumu Hula are documentaries by Robert Mugge, the prolific filmmaker best known for chronicling the lives and music of many a musician over the past four decades. All three films have been meticulously restored and look great.
The first disc, one of Mugges earliest works, is a perfect example, as he follows avant-garde jazz musician, poet and philosopher Sun Ra, whose musical roots are African and Caribbean blended with a sort of cosmic mythology. Mugges hourlong film tracks two years of live performances in a variety of venues as Sun Ras costumed theatricality, mixing ancient Egyptian and outer-space motifs, establishes him as a pioneer of Afrofuturism. (Yes, thats a thing; look it up.)
The second disc has two charming 85-minute films, Hawaiian Rainbow and Kumu Hula, celebrating Hawaii and its musical legacy. The first provides an overview of Hawaiian music, filmed largely on Oahu, and the second, shot on several islands, explores dance traditions that go back several generations.
Pan (Warner, 2015, PG, audio commentary, featurettes). This offbeat rebooted prequel to Peter Pan is a sad misfire, casting the beloved boy who never grew up as a 12-year-old orphan, whisked away to Neverland as punishment and forced into the slave labor of pixie-dust miner Blackbeard the Pirate (Hugh Jackman, hamming it up). There, Peter learns he can fly and is befriended by James Hook. When they escape, Peter is identified as the foretold hero Pan. Tiger Lily, Tinker Bell, the crocodile theyre all here. But any magic is woefully missing.
The Giant King (Lionsgate, 2015, PG, featurette, Miniscule episodes, trailers). Thai animated feature (dubbed in English) about two robots that wake up chained together and discover they have no memory of who they are or what has happened to them, much less that 1,000 years earlier there was an epic robot battle and they were sworn enemies. So they wander the barren wasteland looking for RAM, the creator of all robots, not realizing hes out to destroy them.
The Transporter: Refueled (Fox, 2015, PG-13, featurettes). Ed Skrein is a poor substitute for Jason Statham in this fourth Transporter flick. The convoluted plot has Frank Martins father (Ray Stevenson) kidnapped by beautiful blonde thieves to coerce the driver into helping them get revenge on a human trafficker. The usual CGI-enhanced, over-the-top stunts are on overdrive, but there isnt much else. Stevenson is by far the most appealing character but doesnt get enough screen time.
The Perfect Guy (Sony, 2015, PG-13, featurette). When boyfriend David (Morris Chestnut) cant commit, Leah (Sanaa Lathan) dumps him and begins dating Carter (Michael Ealy). But after Carter exhibits a propensity for violence, she also drops him. Soon, however, Leah learns that Carter is stalking her, and it only escalates when she gets back together with David. Despite earnest performances, this gender-reversed Fatal Attraction isnt much, although it was a surprise box-office hit. Tess Harper, Kathryn Morris and Charles S. Dutton co-star.
Dragon Blade (Lionsgate, 2015, R for violence, in English and in Mandarin with English subtitles, featurettes, music video, trailers). This Chinese film (a big hit in China) is a wild misfire, a very bloody, opulent and extremely strange historical action drama set in 48 B.C. But the three stars seem horribly miscast Jackie Chan (who also produced) as an impetuous imperial guard, John Cusack as a world-weary Roman soldier and Adrien Brody as evil Roman leader Tiberius. Oh, and theres a musical number.
Heist (Lionsgate, 2015; R for violence, language, sex; deleted/extended scenes, audio commentary, featurettes). To save his deathly ill young daughter, a former gangster (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) enlists a pal (Dave Bautista) to help him rob a casino owned by his former boss (Robert De Niro). Except for De Niros presence, this low-rent action picture has little to distinguish it from dozens of others and even less to recommend it. Co-stars include Kate Bosworth, Morris Chestnut and D.B. Sweeney.
12 Rounds 3: Lockdown (Lionsgate, 2015; R for violence, sex, nudity). Wrestling star Dean Ambrose stars in the third film of this formulaic franchise as a police detective returning to active duty after being wounded and watching his partner die in a shootout. But to his dismay, he finds himself surrounded by crooked cops.
