Each year there are worthy films that just cant make a dent at the box office, and two from 2015 are on home video this week, The Walk, a harrowing high-wire story, and Captive, a faith film that is also a thriller.
The two true stories may have failed to connect with audiences in theaters, but they are well worth your time on video.
The Walk (TriStar, 2015, PG, deleted scenes, featurettes). Joseph Gordon-Levitt is terrific as high-wire walker Philippe Petit, who, in 1974, became the only person to ever hook up a cable, grab a balancing pole and strut between the twin towers of the World Trade Center. And yes, watching it is every bit as harrowing as that sounds.
This was not done legally, of course. You couldnt just go buy a permit. So Petit and his crew had to perform the task surreptitiously and the film becomes a sort of heist/prank-style yarn and its every bit as suspenseful as the best of those.
The first half of the film also chronicles Petits life (with Ben Kingsley as his mentor) in a charming, light and airy manner, as artfully directed by Robert Zemeckis (the Back to the Future trilogy, Forrest Gump). (Available on Blu-ray 3-D, standard Blu-ray and DVD.)
Captive (Paramount, 2015, PG-13, featurettes). David Oyelowo, who shined as Martin Luther King in Selma, co-produced and stars in this story of a vicious killer who escaped from Fulton County courthouse in Atlanta in 2005. He hides out in an apartment, taking the occupant, a single mother and recovering meth addict (Kate Mara), hostage. Inspired by a devotional book shes been reading, she tries to get through to him. Two excellent lead performances sell it.
A Brave Heart: The Lizzie Velasquez Story (Cinedigm, 2015, PG-13, deleted scenes, featurettes). Lizzie Velasquez, a 26-year-old woman with a rare congenital disease that prevents her from accumulating body fat, has never weighed more than 64 pounds. This documentary is alternately heartbreaking and uplifting as it takes her from cyber-bullied youth to spokeswoman against bullying and lobbyist for a safer Internet environment, which has made her a popular motivational speaker.
Valley Inn (Monarch, 2015, not rated). This low-budget faith film is a comedy about a New Jersey college girl who finds herself in a small Arkansas town selling Christian books and meeting an array of eccentric characters. She even finds romance with a preachers son. Mary Steenburgen has a cameo, singing a song she co-wrote.
Full of Grace (Cinedigm, 2015, not rated, featurette, trailer). Yet another low-budget faith film, this one speculates about Mary, the mother of Jesus, toward the end of her life, some 10 years following the Lords Crucifixion and Resurrection as she counsels Peter in his efforts to continue the church.
The Visit (Universal, 2015, PG-13, deleted scenes/alternate ending, featurettes). M. Night Shyamalans latest thriller with a twist ending is on the level of an overlong Twilight Zone episode, bolstered by solid performances from Olivia DeJonge and Ed Oxenbould as children visiting their grandparents for the first time but becoming alarmed as things go from creepy to deadly.
Experimenter (Magnolia, 2015, PG-13, featurettes). Peter Sarsgaard stars as social psychologist Stanley Milgram, conducting experiments at Yale in 1961 to test the limits of conformity and free will in human behavior. This disturbing true story provides much food for thought. Co-stars include Winona Ryder, Jim Gaffigan, Anthony Edwards, John Leguizamo and Dennis Haysbert.
Infinitely Polar Bear (Sony Classics, 2015, R for language, deleted scenes, audio commentary, featurette). Mark Ruffalo delivers a solid performance in this drama laced with comedy as a bipolar father who suddenly finds himself in charge of his three children for 18 months while his wife (Zoe Saldana) advances her education to better provide for the family.
Sicario (Lionsgate, 2015, R for violence and language, featurettes). Emily Blunt, Josh Brolin and especially Benicio Del Toro bolster this twisty thriller about FBI and DEA agents attempting to bring down a powerful Mexican drug lord. Victor Garber co-stars.
Mercury Plains (Lionsgate, 2015; R for violence, language, drugs; deleted scenes, audio commentary). Scott Eastwood (son of Clint) stars in this action picture as a troubled young man recruited by a paramilitary group fighting drug cartels in Mexico. As he rises in the ranks, he begins to question their true purpose.
Battle For Skyark (Lionsgate, 2015, PG-13, trailers). Earth is invaded by aliens from space (what, again?) and humans are forced to live in a city in the sky called Skyark. But, of course, rebels rise up to fight back.
Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse (Paramount, 2015; R for violence, sex, nudity, language; deleted scenes, featurettes). Sometimes the title just says it all. Thats the case with this raunchy, gory zombie comedy.
The Green Inferno (Universal, 2015; R for violence, sex, nudity, language, drugs, audio commentary, photo gallery). Torture-film aficionado Eli Roth (Cabin Fever, Hostel) directed this tale of a pair of New York college students heading to the Amazon for an eco-protest when their plane crashes in the Peruvian jungle and they are captured by cannibals.
Kill Game (Cinedigm, 2015, not rated). High school teens pull pranks on less popular students and teachers, but when an innocent boy dies as a result, they cover their tracks and live with the secret until it comes back to haunt them years later. Hey, we all know what you did last summer.
Little Dead Rotting Hood (Cinedigm, 2015, not rated, featurette, bloopers, trailers). What was that I said above about titles telling it all? Here, an old woman in the woods keeps deadly wolves at bay, but when she dies its up to her granddaughter to save the day.
The two true stories may have failed to connect with audiences in theaters, but they are well worth your time on video.
The Walk (TriStar, 2015, PG, deleted scenes, featurettes). Joseph Gordon-Levitt is terrific as high-wire walker Philippe Petit, who, in 1974, became the only person to ever hook up a cable, grab a balancing pole and strut between the twin towers of the World Trade Center. And yes, watching it is every bit as harrowing as that sounds.
This was not done legally, of course. You couldnt just go buy a permit. So Petit and his crew had to perform the task surreptitiously and the film becomes a sort of heist/prank-style yarn and its every bit as suspenseful as the best of those.
The first half of the film also chronicles Petits life (with Ben Kingsley as his mentor) in a charming, light and airy manner, as artfully directed by Robert Zemeckis (the Back to the Future trilogy, Forrest Gump). (Available on Blu-ray 3-D, standard Blu-ray and DVD.)
Captive (Paramount, 2015, PG-13, featurettes). David Oyelowo, who shined as Martin Luther King in Selma, co-produced and stars in this story of a vicious killer who escaped from Fulton County courthouse in Atlanta in 2005. He hides out in an apartment, taking the occupant, a single mother and recovering meth addict (Kate Mara), hostage. Inspired by a devotional book shes been reading, she tries to get through to him. Two excellent lead performances sell it.
A Brave Heart: The Lizzie Velasquez Story (Cinedigm, 2015, PG-13, deleted scenes, featurettes). Lizzie Velasquez, a 26-year-old woman with a rare congenital disease that prevents her from accumulating body fat, has never weighed more than 64 pounds. This documentary is alternately heartbreaking and uplifting as it takes her from cyber-bullied youth to spokeswoman against bullying and lobbyist for a safer Internet environment, which has made her a popular motivational speaker.
Valley Inn (Monarch, 2015, not rated). This low-budget faith film is a comedy about a New Jersey college girl who finds herself in a small Arkansas town selling Christian books and meeting an array of eccentric characters. She even finds romance with a preachers son. Mary Steenburgen has a cameo, singing a song she co-wrote.
Full of Grace (Cinedigm, 2015, not rated, featurette, trailer). Yet another low-budget faith film, this one speculates about Mary, the mother of Jesus, toward the end of her life, some 10 years following the Lords Crucifixion and Resurrection as she counsels Peter in his efforts to continue the church.
The Visit (Universal, 2015, PG-13, deleted scenes/alternate ending, featurettes). M. Night Shyamalans latest thriller with a twist ending is on the level of an overlong Twilight Zone episode, bolstered by solid performances from Olivia DeJonge and Ed Oxenbould as children visiting their grandparents for the first time but becoming alarmed as things go from creepy to deadly.
Experimenter (Magnolia, 2015, PG-13, featurettes). Peter Sarsgaard stars as social psychologist Stanley Milgram, conducting experiments at Yale in 1961 to test the limits of conformity and free will in human behavior. This disturbing true story provides much food for thought. Co-stars include Winona Ryder, Jim Gaffigan, Anthony Edwards, John Leguizamo and Dennis Haysbert.
Infinitely Polar Bear (Sony Classics, 2015, R for language, deleted scenes, audio commentary, featurette). Mark Ruffalo delivers a solid performance in this drama laced with comedy as a bipolar father who suddenly finds himself in charge of his three children for 18 months while his wife (Zoe Saldana) advances her education to better provide for the family.
Sicario (Lionsgate, 2015, R for violence and language, featurettes). Emily Blunt, Josh Brolin and especially Benicio Del Toro bolster this twisty thriller about FBI and DEA agents attempting to bring down a powerful Mexican drug lord. Victor Garber co-stars.
Mercury Plains (Lionsgate, 2015; R for violence, language, drugs; deleted scenes, audio commentary). Scott Eastwood (son of Clint) stars in this action picture as a troubled young man recruited by a paramilitary group fighting drug cartels in Mexico. As he rises in the ranks, he begins to question their true purpose.
Battle For Skyark (Lionsgate, 2015, PG-13, trailers). Earth is invaded by aliens from space (what, again?) and humans are forced to live in a city in the sky called Skyark. But, of course, rebels rise up to fight back.
Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse (Paramount, 2015; R for violence, sex, nudity, language; deleted scenes, featurettes). Sometimes the title just says it all. Thats the case with this raunchy, gory zombie comedy.
The Green Inferno (Universal, 2015; R for violence, sex, nudity, language, drugs, audio commentary, photo gallery). Torture-film aficionado Eli Roth (Cabin Fever, Hostel) directed this tale of a pair of New York college students heading to the Amazon for an eco-protest when their plane crashes in the Peruvian jungle and they are captured by cannibals.
Kill Game (Cinedigm, 2015, not rated). High school teens pull pranks on less popular students and teachers, but when an innocent boy dies as a result, they cover their tracks and live with the secret until it comes back to haunt them years later. Hey, we all know what you did last summer.
Little Dead Rotting Hood (Cinedigm, 2015, not rated, featurette, bloopers, trailers). What was that I said above about titles telling it all? Here, an old woman in the woods keeps deadly wolves at bay, but when she dies its up to her granddaughter to save the day.
