Martin Luther King Jr. squares off against President Lyndon Johnson in Selma, which is on Blu-ray and DVD this week. Also newly released is Spare Parts, the inspiring true story of an underdog team in a robotics competition.
Selma (Paramount/Blu-ray/DVD/Digital/On Demand, 2014, PG-13, deleted/extended scenes, audio commentaries, featurette, vintage newsreels, music video, trailers). David Oyelowo delivers a wonderfully shaded performance as Martin Luther King Jr. in this story of events leading up to the historic 1965 march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, designed to bring national attention to injustices toward blacks attempting to vote in the South.
The story unfolds episodically, with emphasis on Kings ruffling the feathers of President Lyndon Johnson (Tom Wilkinson), who feels that King is pushing too hard and too fast, although in the end, of course, he is forced to sign into law the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
The film is artfully directed by Ava DuVernay with a sterling supporting cast that includes co-producer Oprah Winfrey, Giovanni Ribisi, Common, Cuba Gooding Jr., Tim Roth, Martin Sheen and many others.
Spare Parts (Lionsgate/DVD/Digital, 2015, PG-13, deleted scenes, trailers). Energetic, uplifting, crowd-pleasing true story of a down-on-his-luck substitute teacher (George Lopez) organizing a robotics club with disparate, disenfranchised Arizona high schoolers, all from illegal-immigrant Mexican families. He then inspires them to enter a college-level underwater robotics competition whose reigning champs are from MIT. Sure, you know where its going, but its still a lot of fun. Co-stars include Jamie Lee Curtis, Marisa Tomei, Alexa PenaVega and Esai Morales.
Black Sea (Universal/Blu-ray/DVD/Digital/On Demand, 2015, R for language and violence, audio commentary, featurette, trailers). Jude Law stars in this claustrophobic underwater thriller as an unemployed undersea-salvage captain approached about going after a sunken World War II German U-boat with a cargo of gold. But it isnt long before the half-Russian, half-British crew is at each others throats, and thats just for starters. Its not Das Boot, but Law is intense and supported by an able cast, and for the most part the film is quite effective.
Mr. Turner (Sony Classics/Blu-ray/DVD/Digital, 2014, R for sexual content, deleted scene, audio commentary, featurette, trailers). English filmmaker Mike Leigh wrote and directed this intimate examination of the final 25 years in the life of the eccentric 19th-century British artist J.M.W. Turner (Timothy Spall in a towering performance). Considered quite controversial in his day, Turner is now recognized as a master of watercolor landscape painting.
The Last Five Years (Anchor Bay/Blu-ray/DVD, 2015, PG-13, featurette, sing-along, trailers). Anna Kendrick, who showed off her musical chops in Pitch Perfect and Into the Woods, and Jeremy Jordan, of TVs Smash and the Broadway version of Newsies, star in this adaptation of the titular stage musical. When they meet, shes a struggling actress and hes a struggling novelist (who later hits it big), and their five-year romance/marriage odyssey is chronicled in time-shifting episodes. The films charms rely heavily on its stars, and they both deliver, but whether youll take to it will have a lot to do with how you respond to the songs.
Miss Julie (Lionsgate/DVD./Digital/On Demand, 2014, PG-13, featurette, trailers). Actress/filmmaker Liv Ullmann, who was Ingmar Bergmans muse for many a film, wrote and directed this cloistered drawing-room clash of wills, based on an August Strindberg play and set in an 1880s Irish estate. Jessica Chastain plays to the back row as the aristocratic daughter of a count, whose valet (Colin Farrell) attempts to seduce her over the course of one night of drunken revelry. Or is she seducing him? Samantha Morton co-stars.
Love, Rosie (Paramount/DVD, 2015, R for language and sex). Rosie (Lily Collins) and Alex (Sam Claflin) have been best friends since the fifth grade, but after a miscommunication on the night of a high school dance they spend their lives just missing opportunities to be with each other over several decades as the film jumps around in time. Based on the novel Where Rainbows End by Cecelia Ahern.
The Frontier (Virgil/DVD, 2014, not rated, trailers). A retired literature professor (Max Gail, best known as Wojo on the sitcom Barney Miller) reaches out to his estranged son (Coleman Kelly), who reluctantly comes home. They meet allegedly to mend fences, but before that the son berates Dads egocentric need to be the center of attention, although evidence here suggests the son has taken over that role. The fathers assistant (Anastassia Sendyk) acts as mediator and perhaps a tentative romantic interest for the son, but Gails grounded performance is the reason to see it.
Lost River (Warner/Blu-ray/DVD, 2014; R for violence, language, sex, trailers). Vilified (it was booed at the Cannes Film Festival) vanity project for Ryan Gosling, who wrote, directed and co-produced this dark fantasy about a single mother (Christina Hendricks) in a depressed neighborhood trying to raise money to save her home. Meanwhile, her oldest son (Iain De Caestecker) and his girlfriend (Saorise Ronan) think they know how to reverse a curse on the town. Gosling comes up with vivid imagery but the story is hopelessly muddled.
A Few Best Men (Universal/DVD/On Demand, 2015, not rated, trailers). Sleazy, foul-mouthed Australian comedy about a man who proposes to a woman after only a week of dating, then he rounds up three pals as best men for the wedding, leading to a string of rowdy, raunchy episodic sequences. Can you say, The Hangover, mate? In the cast are Rebel Wilson and wait for it Olivia Newton-John.
Pitch Perfect Sing-Along Aca-Awesome Edition (Universal/Blu-ray/DVD/Digital, 2012, PG-13, original and sing-along versions, deleted/alternate/extended scenes, audio commentaries, featurettes, music video, trailers). This reissue of Pitch Perfect includes a sing-along version of the musical about a college a cappella competition, starring Anna Kendrick.
Selma (Paramount/Blu-ray/DVD/Digital/On Demand, 2014, PG-13, deleted/extended scenes, audio commentaries, featurette, vintage newsreels, music video, trailers). David Oyelowo delivers a wonderfully shaded performance as Martin Luther King Jr. in this story of events leading up to the historic 1965 march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, designed to bring national attention to injustices toward blacks attempting to vote in the South.
The story unfolds episodically, with emphasis on Kings ruffling the feathers of President Lyndon Johnson (Tom Wilkinson), who feels that King is pushing too hard and too fast, although in the end, of course, he is forced to sign into law the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
The film is artfully directed by Ava DuVernay with a sterling supporting cast that includes co-producer Oprah Winfrey, Giovanni Ribisi, Common, Cuba Gooding Jr., Tim Roth, Martin Sheen and many others.
Spare Parts (Lionsgate/DVD/Digital, 2015, PG-13, deleted scenes, trailers). Energetic, uplifting, crowd-pleasing true story of a down-on-his-luck substitute teacher (George Lopez) organizing a robotics club with disparate, disenfranchised Arizona high schoolers, all from illegal-immigrant Mexican families. He then inspires them to enter a college-level underwater robotics competition whose reigning champs are from MIT. Sure, you know where its going, but its still a lot of fun. Co-stars include Jamie Lee Curtis, Marisa Tomei, Alexa PenaVega and Esai Morales.
Black Sea (Universal/Blu-ray/DVD/Digital/On Demand, 2015, R for language and violence, audio commentary, featurette, trailers). Jude Law stars in this claustrophobic underwater thriller as an unemployed undersea-salvage captain approached about going after a sunken World War II German U-boat with a cargo of gold. But it isnt long before the half-Russian, half-British crew is at each others throats, and thats just for starters. Its not Das Boot, but Law is intense and supported by an able cast, and for the most part the film is quite effective.
Mr. Turner (Sony Classics/Blu-ray/DVD/Digital, 2014, R for sexual content, deleted scene, audio commentary, featurette, trailers). English filmmaker Mike Leigh wrote and directed this intimate examination of the final 25 years in the life of the eccentric 19th-century British artist J.M.W. Turner (Timothy Spall in a towering performance). Considered quite controversial in his day, Turner is now recognized as a master of watercolor landscape painting.
The Last Five Years (Anchor Bay/Blu-ray/DVD, 2015, PG-13, featurette, sing-along, trailers). Anna Kendrick, who showed off her musical chops in Pitch Perfect and Into the Woods, and Jeremy Jordan, of TVs Smash and the Broadway version of Newsies, star in this adaptation of the titular stage musical. When they meet, shes a struggling actress and hes a struggling novelist (who later hits it big), and their five-year romance/marriage odyssey is chronicled in time-shifting episodes. The films charms rely heavily on its stars, and they both deliver, but whether youll take to it will have a lot to do with how you respond to the songs.
Miss Julie (Lionsgate/DVD./Digital/On Demand, 2014, PG-13, featurette, trailers). Actress/filmmaker Liv Ullmann, who was Ingmar Bergmans muse for many a film, wrote and directed this cloistered drawing-room clash of wills, based on an August Strindberg play and set in an 1880s Irish estate. Jessica Chastain plays to the back row as the aristocratic daughter of a count, whose valet (Colin Farrell) attempts to seduce her over the course of one night of drunken revelry. Or is she seducing him? Samantha Morton co-stars.
Love, Rosie (Paramount/DVD, 2015, R for language and sex). Rosie (Lily Collins) and Alex (Sam Claflin) have been best friends since the fifth grade, but after a miscommunication on the night of a high school dance they spend their lives just missing opportunities to be with each other over several decades as the film jumps around in time. Based on the novel Where Rainbows End by Cecelia Ahern.
The Frontier (Virgil/DVD, 2014, not rated, trailers). A retired literature professor (Max Gail, best known as Wojo on the sitcom Barney Miller) reaches out to his estranged son (Coleman Kelly), who reluctantly comes home. They meet allegedly to mend fences, but before that the son berates Dads egocentric need to be the center of attention, although evidence here suggests the son has taken over that role. The fathers assistant (Anastassia Sendyk) acts as mediator and perhaps a tentative romantic interest for the son, but Gails grounded performance is the reason to see it.
Lost River (Warner/Blu-ray/DVD, 2014; R for violence, language, sex, trailers). Vilified (it was booed at the Cannes Film Festival) vanity project for Ryan Gosling, who wrote, directed and co-produced this dark fantasy about a single mother (Christina Hendricks) in a depressed neighborhood trying to raise money to save her home. Meanwhile, her oldest son (Iain De Caestecker) and his girlfriend (Saorise Ronan) think they know how to reverse a curse on the town. Gosling comes up with vivid imagery but the story is hopelessly muddled.
A Few Best Men (Universal/DVD/On Demand, 2015, not rated, trailers). Sleazy, foul-mouthed Australian comedy about a man who proposes to a woman after only a week of dating, then he rounds up three pals as best men for the wedding, leading to a string of rowdy, raunchy episodic sequences. Can you say, The Hangover, mate? In the cast are Rebel Wilson and wait for it Olivia Newton-John.
Pitch Perfect Sing-Along Aca-Awesome Edition (Universal/Blu-ray/DVD/Digital, 2012, PG-13, original and sing-along versions, deleted/alternate/extended scenes, audio commentaries, featurettes, music video, trailers). This reissue of Pitch Perfect includes a sing-along version of the musical about a college a cappella competition, starring Anna Kendrick.