Disneys Tomorrowland and the disaster flick San Andreas are on Blu-ray and DVD this week.
Tomorrowland (Disney, 2015, PG, deleted scenes, featurettes, Easter eggs). After giving us three memorable animated flicks The Iron Giant and Pixars The Incredibles and Ratatouille filmmaker Brad Bird wowed us with his first live-action picture, Mission: Impossible: Ghost Protocol.
For his fourth film, Bird came up with this eccentric live-action sci-fi adventure, which was an unfortunate box-office misfire, probably because the story is over-plotted and episodic, and it takes its time developing. But your patience will be rewarded, since the film also gets better as it goes along and offers many delightful sequences.
The story follows a teenage girl (Britt Robertson) who links up with an aging, disenchanted science nerd (George Clooney) to travel to an imagination-driven world called Tomorrowland, where they discover theyre just in time to avert an apocalypse. Co-stars include Hugh Laurie, Tim McGraw, Kathryn Hahn, Keegan-Michael Key and Judy Greer.
San Andreas (Warner, 2015, PG-13, deleted scenes, audio commentary, featurettes, bloopers). L.A. Fire Department rescue-helicopter pilot Dwayne Johnson wrestles with a 9.1 earthquake along the San Andreas Fault as he attempts to rescue his daughter (Alexandra Daddario) and ex-wife (Carla Gugino). It includes lots of just-made-it escapes, but they arent any more ridiculous than the Fast & Furious flicks. Turn off your brain and enjoy. Paul Giamatti co-stars.
Sharknado 3 (Asylum, 2015, not rated, extended scenes/alternate endings, audio commentary, featurettes, bloopers). Movies made bad on purpose; what an odd phenomenon. And theyre never as funny as bad movies that didnt intend to be. But theres no denying the popularity of this ridiculous TV-movie franchise. Here, merging waterspouts throw sharks around the East Coast, so its Fin (Ian Ziering) and his chainsaw to the rescue. Tara Reid returns, with Bo Derek as her mother. Celebrity cameos are too many to list but include Ann Coulter, Bill Engvall, David Hasselhoff, Jerry Springer, Kevin Sorbo, Lou Ferrigno and Steve Guttenberg, along with the returning "Today" show hosts.
Dope (Universal, 2015; R for language, sex, drugs, nudity, violence; featurettes). This low-budget critical darling is a comedy-drama about a Harvard-bound high school geek (Sameik Moore) who accepts an invitation to an underground party, leading to all kinds of R-rated misadventures. (By the way, dope in the title does not refer to drugs but rather to someone who is cool.)
Gloria (Universal, 2015; R for sex, nudity, language; in Spanish with English subtitles, featurettes, music video). Sofia Espinosa delivers a fiery performance as real-life Mexican singing star Gloria Trevi, often referred to as The Mexican Madonna. The film takes Trevi from her start in a failed pop group to solo superstardom, and then the sex scandal that landed her in prison for more than four years before she was cleared of all charges.
The Gallows (Warner, 2015, R for violence, original guerrilla-style version, deleted scenes, featurettes, bloopers). Another found-footage yarn, this grim horror is about teens putting on a high school play to replicate a performance from 20 years earlier that resulted in an accidental hanging onstage or was it an accident?
Call Me Lucky (MPI, 2015, not rated, audio commentary, trailer). Comic and filmmaker Bobcat Goldthwait directed this documentary about angry, scathingly sharp political comedian and activist Barry Crimmins, building the film around his stand-up act (which suffers no fools), but also interviewing comics he has mentored, including Margaret Cho, David Cross, Patton Oswalt, etc.
American Bear: An Adventure in the Kindness of Strangers (Virgil, 2015, not rated, deleted scenes, audio commentary, short film: The Friendliest Town in Idaho). Filmmakers Sarah Sellman and Gregory Grano expand on their short film by spending 60 days traveling through 30 states in a sort of social experiment, attempting to spend each night in the home of someone they dont know. What they discover is that it is indeed possible to rely on the kindness of strangers.
Tomorrowland (Disney, 2015, PG, deleted scenes, featurettes, Easter eggs). After giving us three memorable animated flicks The Iron Giant and Pixars The Incredibles and Ratatouille filmmaker Brad Bird wowed us with his first live-action picture, Mission: Impossible: Ghost Protocol.
For his fourth film, Bird came up with this eccentric live-action sci-fi adventure, which was an unfortunate box-office misfire, probably because the story is over-plotted and episodic, and it takes its time developing. But your patience will be rewarded, since the film also gets better as it goes along and offers many delightful sequences.
The story follows a teenage girl (Britt Robertson) who links up with an aging, disenchanted science nerd (George Clooney) to travel to an imagination-driven world called Tomorrowland, where they discover theyre just in time to avert an apocalypse. Co-stars include Hugh Laurie, Tim McGraw, Kathryn Hahn, Keegan-Michael Key and Judy Greer.
San Andreas (Warner, 2015, PG-13, deleted scenes, audio commentary, featurettes, bloopers). L.A. Fire Department rescue-helicopter pilot Dwayne Johnson wrestles with a 9.1 earthquake along the San Andreas Fault as he attempts to rescue his daughter (Alexandra Daddario) and ex-wife (Carla Gugino). It includes lots of just-made-it escapes, but they arent any more ridiculous than the Fast & Furious flicks. Turn off your brain and enjoy. Paul Giamatti co-stars.
Sharknado 3 (Asylum, 2015, not rated, extended scenes/alternate endings, audio commentary, featurettes, bloopers). Movies made bad on purpose; what an odd phenomenon. And theyre never as funny as bad movies that didnt intend to be. But theres no denying the popularity of this ridiculous TV-movie franchise. Here, merging waterspouts throw sharks around the East Coast, so its Fin (Ian Ziering) and his chainsaw to the rescue. Tara Reid returns, with Bo Derek as her mother. Celebrity cameos are too many to list but include Ann Coulter, Bill Engvall, David Hasselhoff, Jerry Springer, Kevin Sorbo, Lou Ferrigno and Steve Guttenberg, along with the returning "Today" show hosts.
Dope (Universal, 2015; R for language, sex, drugs, nudity, violence; featurettes). This low-budget critical darling is a comedy-drama about a Harvard-bound high school geek (Sameik Moore) who accepts an invitation to an underground party, leading to all kinds of R-rated misadventures. (By the way, dope in the title does not refer to drugs but rather to someone who is cool.)
Gloria (Universal, 2015; R for sex, nudity, language; in Spanish with English subtitles, featurettes, music video). Sofia Espinosa delivers a fiery performance as real-life Mexican singing star Gloria Trevi, often referred to as The Mexican Madonna. The film takes Trevi from her start in a failed pop group to solo superstardom, and then the sex scandal that landed her in prison for more than four years before she was cleared of all charges.
The Gallows (Warner, 2015, R for violence, original guerrilla-style version, deleted scenes, featurettes, bloopers). Another found-footage yarn, this grim horror is about teens putting on a high school play to replicate a performance from 20 years earlier that resulted in an accidental hanging onstage or was it an accident?
Call Me Lucky (MPI, 2015, not rated, audio commentary, trailer). Comic and filmmaker Bobcat Goldthwait directed this documentary about angry, scathingly sharp political comedian and activist Barry Crimmins, building the film around his stand-up act (which suffers no fools), but also interviewing comics he has mentored, including Margaret Cho, David Cross, Patton Oswalt, etc.
American Bear: An Adventure in the Kindness of Strangers (Virgil, 2015, not rated, deleted scenes, audio commentary, short film: The Friendliest Town in Idaho). Filmmakers Sarah Sellman and Gregory Grano expand on their short film by spending 60 days traveling through 30 states in a sort of social experiment, attempting to spend each night in the home of someone they dont know. What they discover is that it is indeed possible to rely on the kindness of strangers.
