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New in Blu: 'The A-Team', 'The Town' and 'Despicable Me'
This is a good week for parents who are looking for quality films to keep their kids entertained. On the mature, more traditional front we've got Nanny McPhee Returns, which is a cute, well-intentioned fantasy film that should captivate kids of all ages. On the silly-but-cool front we've got Despicable Me, which is a thoroughly entertaining debut for Universal's new animation department. And on the fantasy-adventure front we've got Legend of the Guardians, which is an absolutely gorgeous and wholly welcome alternative to the pop culture-loving animated films that Hollywood tends to favor.
It's not all kids films, however. Adults should have plenty to look forward to thanks to The A-Team and The Town, both of which hit Blu-ray with extended cuts.
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Top Shelf
The A-Team (Fox, $22.99)
The Movie: Here's a simple test: If you saw the trailer for The A-Team and rolled your eyes at a gang of elite, fugitive soldiers flying a tank, then it's just not your kind of movie. If that level of absurdity didn't bother you one bit, then The A-Team is going to deliver everything you hope it will. Great cast (I'm normally not a fan of Bradley Cooper, but he's pitch perfect here), great action and a goofy premise that is treated with the utmost sincerity.
The Features: The Blu comes with both both the film's 117-minute theatrical cut as well as a 136-minute extended cut that features a bit more establishing plot and character work (but no major action set pieces). There are a number of making-ofs on the disc, which aren't particularly lengthy in nature, but they're definitely each worth watching. In particular, the visual effects before-and-after with commentary track from Carnahan's fx supervisor is definitely worth checking out as it highlights an impressive combination of practical and digital elements. Not only did Joe Carnahan record an energetic feature-length commentary track, but the Blu-ray comes with an added feature-length watching mode called "The Devil's in the Details" that brings up a PiP interface that provides a kind of storyboard of the various steps of Hannibal's plans as well as periodic appearances from Carnahan. This additional mode is neat, but it's unnecessary since Carnahan's actual commentary is satisfying enough on its own (and if you own a Plasma TV like I do, you may even want to turn it off since it adds dark red bars to the top and bottom of the screen).
Who Should Buy It: Action fans. If the trailer intrigued you in the least, then I assure you the movie will satisfy. If it didn't, you clearly hate fun and shouldn't even bother with it.
BUY IT HERE!
The Town (Warner Bros, $22.99 - out on December 17th)
The Movie: The Town is, as far as the 125 minute theatrical cut goes, a few trims away from being one of my favorite films of the year. Without getting into spoiler territory, there are a few moments where Ben Affleck (serving as both director, producer and co-screenwriter) cozy up too close to audience-pleasing territory that it ruins the otherwise sharp edge that runs throughout the entire film. Sure, it doesn't exactly brave any major new paths in the heist genre, but it's still a pretty damned good entry in the niche. And when Affleck sticks to his guns and rides that edge, The Town is on fire. It's funny (but not cheesy), smart (but still accessible), and thrilling (but not preposterous). I just wish a tiny bit of it ended up on the cutting room floor...
The Features: ... And yet the main reason I want to check out this Blu-ray is because Warner Bros. let Affleck pick everything up off of the cutting room floor and then some. The extended cut of the film packs in an extra 25 minutes of material, which is great as one assumes that's closer toward the intended vision for the film, but I imagine the problems I have with it will still linger around.
Who Should Buy It: Anyone who likes a good heist film. Even with a few nagging problems, it's still an engaging, satisfying film with a great cast and a solid story.
BUY IT HERE!
Despicable Me (Universal, $21.99)
The Movie: If you were to watch only the trailers for Despicable Me, you'd probably think it was just another silly, irreverent little kids movie that exists only to sell little toy minions. It isn't. Sure, it is silly throughout, but it's actually an exceedingly charming kids movie with a clever sense of adult-friendly humor and a core of characters that will, surprisingly, warm your heart by film's end.
I said it when it originally came out, and I'll say it again now: the only major downside to Despicable Me is that it seems like every playful line of dialogue was specifically designed to maximize quotability. So if you have kids who latch on to a movie they love, watch it on end and parrot back every single line from it, consider yourself warned: Despicable Me is crack for kids.
The Features: And if Despicable Me the film is crack for kids, then Universal's Blu-ray of it is a full-blown drug den. Not only does it come with a DVD and Digital Copy so they can watch it wherever they are, but it's loaded with an almost ludicrous amount of extra features. It's got three new short films featuring the minions (Banana being the best), about a half dozen featurettes that really get into the spirit of the Despicable Me world (hell, it even includes five cookie recipes from the film), as well as two feature-length goodies: a commentary track from the directors and a "Gru-Control" mode that lets you watch the movie with periodic interruptions from Gru and the minions (which should satisfy kids who already know the film backwards and forwards).
Who Should Buy It: Parents with kids between, say, 5 and 13 will definitely get the most out of both the movie and this rather time-consuming Blu-ray, but I still say that adult fans of animated movies should still check out Despicable Me. It'll surprise you.
BUY IT HERE
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Middle Shelf
Nanny McPhee Returns (Universal, $26.99)
The Movie: Nanny McPhee Returns is the perfect kind of movie for parents with young kids. Sure, it's got an agenda to show kids that being cordial and well-behaved will improve everything in their lives, but it's got something even more valuable than nice moral fiber: it's actually a good little movie. It's got enough fantasy elements to it that kids might become obsessed with it, and yet it's got enough adult elements to it (performances, setting and production design being paramount here) that it won't drive parents insane if it does end up getting played on end in your house.
That said, it's also not exactly the kind of movie that childless adults should actively seek out. It is strictly a film for children, it just happens to be one with a considerably more commendable sense of maturity than most kids films do these days.
The Features: While the Nanny McPhee Returns Blu does support a good number of features, most of them are pretty paltry in length. So if you're expecting to keep your kids entertained with the film beyond the actual feature, you might be disappointed to see that the extras run from about a minute long (a time-lapse video of Emma Thompson's make-up process) to approximately 15 minutes (the deleted scenes).
However, it's definitely worth pointing out that while the special features for NRR aren't exactly stellar (unless your kids can sit through a commentary track), Universal has given this disc, as it has with its recent new releases, the ability to stream a bonus movie. In this case your options are either Curious George 2 or Beethoven's Big Break-- slim pickings, sure, but a free movie is a free movie.
Who Should Buy It: Parents who would rather their kids watch a film with a bit more substance to it than the legion of lame duck CGI-animated films that make up the majority of kids' films these days.
BUY IT HERE
Legend of the Guardians (Warner Bros., $22.99 - Out on December 17th)
The Movie: And speaking of lame duck CGI-animated kids films... Legend of the Guardians isn't one of them. And no, that's not because it's about owls instead of ducks. The plot will seem comfortably familiar to anyone who has seen any number of fantasy films about a journey that some wide-eyed kids must make, but what it lacks in narrative originality it makes up for in almost every other sector. It looks great, it sounds great (minus the regrettable montage set to a pop song), it's got a bit of a dark seam running through it, and it's simply a fun adventure film.
The Features: Also unlike Nanny McPhee Returns, Legend of the Guardians has a special feature set that is targeted toward keeping kids entertained. I haven't actually explored any of them, so I can't vouch for quality, but it looks to boast a commendable number of goodies.
Who Should Buy It: People who like kids films that replace silliness with adventure.
BUY IT HERE!
The Other Guys (Sony, $22.99)
The Movie: Mark Wahlberg and Will Ferrell in a pseudo-action spoof of what happens when The Other Guys try to take over for the out-of-commission hero cops of the NYPD. Sounds promising, no? And it delivers on most of the promises. It's well written and it's got some great jokes, but it kind of falls short on delivering an action movie about unlikely action stars. It's also overly long and the last act really sags under the bloated weight, so I'm afraid the extra nine minutes on the Unrated Blu-ray will only hurt instead of help.
The Features: As should be expected with any improv-heavy Will Ferrell comedy, the emphasis here is on all the jokes that didn't make it into the movie, with deleted scenes and gag reels making up the bulk of this disc's features.
Who Should Buy It: Die hard Will Ferrell fans, for everyone else this is probably just a rental.
BUY IT HERE!
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All the Rest
Cyrus (Fox, $22.99)
I missed the latest comedy from the Duplass brothers (Baghead) back at SXSW, which is about a man who has to deal with the obnoxious, stay-at-home son of the woman he's fallen in love with, but by most accounts it delivers big laughs thanks to John C. Reilly and Jonah Hill.
BUY IT HERE!
The Black Pirate (Kino, $25.99)
I'm sad to say that my knowledge of vintage pirate films is sorely lacking. Now thanks to Kino and my "I'll watch anything if it's in HD" moto, I can catch up on this high seas classic starring Douglas Fairbanks.
BUY IT HERE!
Hard Boiled (Vivendi, $15.99)
While a number of his earlier films made waves in the States prior to Hard Boiled, it was this 1992 Chow Yun-Fat actioner that really made people take notice of the name John Woo. And there's a simple reason for that: it's badass.
BUY IT HERE!
Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work (MPI, $25.99)
If you're anything like me, you're oddly fascinated by Joan Rivers; a shrewd old woman who seems to be a contradiction of everything she rallies against. So if you're anything like me, you'll be dying to check out a documentary about the life of one of the crassest old broads in the entertainment industry. (You'll also be happy to know that it's available on Netflix Watch Instantly.)
BUY IT HERE!
MicMacs (Sony, $26.99)
What happens with a quirky French auteur like Jean-Pierre Jeunet makes a heist movie? Well, a quirky French heist movie, that's what. It's definitely not going to be everyone's bag, but if you love the visual energy and abstract humor Jeunet brings to the screen, then there will definitely be something for you here.
BUY IT HERE!
True Grit '69 (Paramount, $17.99)
As with my knowledge of vintage pirate films, my knowledge of vintage westerns is also sorely lacking, but I think it's safe to assume that if the Coen Brothers are interested in remaking a film, the original is bound to have a lot going for it.
BUY IT HERE!