Her Blu-ray
The future is frequently shown to be a less-than-idyllic place, but in Spike Jonze’s Her, the future is a place dominated by technology and filled with new fashions. It's extremely sleek and clean. It’s not the look or feel of the world in Her that is the important part, however. Instead, an unconventional relationship is what we're asked to buy into..
Theodore Twombly is a disenchanted writer, a man with a knack for penning love letters but who feels broken when it comes to his own love life. Early on, we see him struggle with a past relationship and with a new love interest, both of which are painful experiences. When Theodore gets the chance to try a new, artificially intelligent operating system named Samantha (Scarlett Johansson), he soon finds himself more connected to the woman within the device than many of the humans that he interacts with daily.
Her smartly tells a story about love in the time of technology, creating a narrative that is strange but is easy to invest in. The unfurling romance should resonate with any viewers who have ever fallen in love, and while Her relies on a twist for its third act, the movie still manages to be sweet and mostly satisfying.
You can order Her over at Amazon.
Special Features:
Her is an impressive movie, but its extras aren’t anything to write home about. Among these is a weird montage behind-the-scenes segment looking at Jonze’s creative work on Her. There’s another weird montage segment about love in Her. There’s a third montage about relationships. Each of the segments is short and doesn’t offer much in the way of new information. I’m pretty sure they were produced as advertising slots and don’t offer much for fans in terms of bonus content. Hopefully, that’s not the reason people will invest in Her, anyway. You can check out the names of the bonus features, below.
"The Untitled Rick Howard Project"
"Her: Love in the Modern Age"
"How Do You Share Your Life with Somebody"
I, Frankenstein Blu-ray
Superheroes are all the rage right now, and it makes sense that the Underworld creators would want to take their action-oriented sensibilities and turn a fictional monster into an exciting hero. Unfortunately, the script by graphic novel writer Kevin Grevioux and Pirates of the Caribbean’s Stuart Beattie panders around, taking itself pretty seriously but never really delivering on the action or the dramatics.
I, Frankenstein actually has a modestly famous cast, with Aaron Eckhart taking on the role of Frankenstein, a monster created in 1795 who eventually morphs into a protector of humanity. Before he gets there, the film time hops quite a bit, introducing us to a group of gargoyles led by Gideon (Jai Courtney) and a billionaire demon going by the name Charles Wessex (Bill Nighy). Eventually, the lives of humans are put on the line and Frankenstein, now called Adam, has to determine who he is and where he stands in the fight.
Of course, that’s a barebones description of the plot, which actually happens to be rather convoluted and includes the ascension of gargoyles, the potential reanimation of corpses and much, much more. I’d never deign to call I, Frankenstein light on the action, but unfortunately, the action is never really engaging enough to be a selling point for the movie. The acting really isn’t a selling point, either. Fans need go no further than Eckhart’s ridiculous Batman voice to see why.
It’s too bad, because the set itself is actually pretty nice. Fans can splurge for the I, Frankenstein 3D edition of the film, which has a snazzy case, although we can’t say much about the 3D itself since we don’t have the right player. Lionsgate’s film features some pretty great CGI; so, one would imagine it really pops in 3D.
If you are a fan of Mary Shelley’s original Frankenstein book or do love pretty much any fantasy story, I, Frankenstein might be a flick worth checking out. For everyone else, the Blu-ray edition of the flick is probably one to skip.
Best Special Feature:
Unlike a good percentage of movies, I, Frankenstein goes a little crazy with the bonus features. There are two audio commentaries—two!—and it’s clear through each of the extras that those involved were very invested in the project. The best of the extras is probably the "Frankenstein’s Creatures" segment, which delves into how the I, Frankenstein movie came together, picking up where Mary Shelley’s novel left off and telling "another chapter" of the character’s life. The extra also takes a closer look at the VFX that pop up onscreen, as well as look at the different creatures that are a part of the movie.
Other Bonus Features:
Audio Commentary with co-writer/ director Stuart Beattie
Audio Commentary with filmmakers Gary Lucchese, Richard Wright, James McQuade and Kevin Grevioux
"Creating a Monster" Featurette
"Frankenstein’s Creatures" Featurette
Theatrical trailer
Eastbound & Down: The Complete Fourth And Final Season
Eastbound & Down has always erratically appeared on HBO’s schedule. The comedy’s fourth and final season was an unexpected surprise, but a good one, taking place in a future in which our hero Kenny Powers is trying to adjust to life as an average dad. Of course, Powers is a larger-than-life personality and it doesn’t take long for the former baseball player to get bitten by the fame bug. He ends up landing his own talk show and losing his family along the way.
Eastbound & Down is not without drama or lesson-learning. Powers has proven over the years that he is capable of seeing multiple sides of a coin and learning from his mistakes, but like all flawed individuals, he frequently chooses to ignore the lessons he has learned and forge forward with a life of selfish intentions and repeated mistakes.
Eastbound & Down has never been like anything else on television and the trajectory of Season 4 follows suit down to its finale, which should go down as one of the most unabashedly weird endings on television.
While HBO usually puts together really nicely packaged sets, The Complete Fourth and Final Season DVD is not one of them. The Eastbound & Down set does come with a few bonus features, including plenty of deleted scenes, but on the whole, it's not up to their usual, exhaustive standards. Still, for all hardcore fans, it warrants a purchase.
Other May 13 Releases
Orange Is The New Black: Season 1
That Awkward Moment
Stalingrad
Perry Mason Movie Collection: Volume 2 DVD
Double Feature: Crocodile Dundeed/ Crocodile Dundee II Blu-ray
Generation Iron DVD
The Godfather Part III Blu-ray
Deadly Code DVD
Shelter Island DVD
American Jesus DVD
