World War Z Blu-ray
Much of the buzz surrounding the release of World War Z relates to all of the predictions of financial ruin and how that assumed failure was seemingly overcome almost single-handedly by Brad Pitt's star power. Focusing on that knowledge is somewhat unfair, however, as it loses sight of the fact that World War Z actually turned out to be a fine summer movie that doesn't give audiences one moment to unclear their fists or catch their breaths during the length of its run.
If you’ve been keeping tabs on World War Z at all, you’ll know that the third act was written and then re-written and reshot in what was a costly effort on the studio's part to make the last portion of the film more character-driven. Those who look closely might be able to tell the latter portion of the film takes us in a bit of a different and subtler direction from what we get from the rest of the movie. Still, it achieves what it wanted to achieve: showing off Pitt’s character as a family man.
Pitt stars in the film as a former U.N. employee Gerry Lane, a man who used to extract people from war zones and other dangerous situations. When a plague begins spreading across the United States and much of the rest of the world, Lane does what he can to get his family to safety and then trots around the globe trying to get to the bottom of the zombie epidemic and how to beat the undead.
Hordes of zombies are always tough to describe. Like vampires, the rules are always different. Where do they come from? What are their motivations? How do you dispose of them? World War Z answers these questions craftily, and the unrated version on the Blu-ray does so in roughly ten more minutes than the theatrical release. That may not be enough of a reason to go out of your way to catch the unrated version of the film, but even without the few added moments World War Z manages to explain its mythology without ever really slowing its pace. Our questions are answered in smart ways that heighten our anticipation and equal a big, blowout summer movie that also tickles our brains a little bit.
You can order World War Z over at Amazon.
Best Special Feature: I would have really liked it if Paramount Home Media Distribution had just bit the bullet and given fans access to the disasterous first cut that was almost World War Z. I could wish about that all day and it would never happen, though, so instead I’ll just talk about the WWZ: Production featurettes available with the set.
There are technically four of these that look at the outbreak, the beginning of the journey, the wall scenes in Israel, and “Camouflage,” a segment that explains some of the details from the final scenes of the film. During the featurettes, we get to hear a lot of the cast and producing team talking about how “thankful” they are for the experience, but the more interesting segments are when they focus on how they puzzled through the plot and worked on the special effects.
Other Special Features:
“Looking to Science”
Bates Motel: Season 1 Blu-ray
The horror genre has become more popular on television in recent years, with shows like American Horror Story and Bates Motel standing out in cable’s lineup as both creepy and kooky. I’ve never watched the former, so when I tuned in for the latter I was wildly, pleasantly surprised by what horror on cable can offer.
A prequel of sorts to Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho, Bates Motel follows Norma (Vera Farmiga) and Norman Bates (Freddie Highmore) in the time just after they set foot in White Pine Bay, Oregon to open a motel. The location and the contemporary time period don’t make the series a full-fledged prequel, but after watching the first season, I can’t imagine a cast or setting that is more fitting for A&E’s freshman drama.
Farmiga shines as Norman’s mother in the series, a possessive, quick-to-anger woman who equally seems dominant over and scared of her teenaged son. Their relationship is a complicated one, and throughout the first round of episodes, it grows even more problematical, as Norman’s estranged brother Dylan (Max Thieriot) shows up on the scene and Norman begins to open up to several girls, including the lovely and kind Bradley (Nicola Peltz) and the spunky and smart Emma (Olivia Cooke).
Bates Motel begins with a dead body, and it certainly isn’t the only dead body viewers see through the show’s ten-episode run. The tranquil town of White Pine Bay opens up some of its secrets and becomes something a little more sinister, with drugs and sex slave rings running amok. The mix of regular coming-of-age tropes and a shifty criminal enterprise is an intriguing way to frame a series, as well. Bates Motel isn’t afraid to mix and mash horror tropes, drama, and complicated relationships. The tightly woven first season is a clear indication of the direction A&E can go with its drama lineup, and with a few new projects at the network, we'll see if any new programming can manage to match up.
You can order Bates Motel: Season 1 over at Amazon.
Best Special Feature: There aren’t a ton of bonus features with the Blu-ray set, and the best extras are certainly the deleted scenes. When a TV set puts together episode-related bonus features like deleted scenes, the home entertainment people have to decide whether or not to put the deleted scenes in a big chunk on the disc or to spread them out to coordinate with each of the episodes.
In this instance, Universal Studios Home Entertainment opted to lump all of the bonus features together. The deleted scenes are the big bulk of these, and some of them give us added moments of character development, as Norman and his teacher, Miss Watson (Keegon Connor Tracy) exhibit added tension and as Norma and Dylan have a couple of bonding moments. Occasionally, it’s difficult to tell which deleted scenes fit with which episode, but that’s a small criticism.
Other Special Features:
Paley Center Panel Discussion with the Cast and Creative Team
Behind the Candelabra Blu-ray
Due to its subject matter and all-star cast, Behind the Candelabra received a lot of attention before it made its debut on HBO. Directed by Steven Soderbergh and starring Matt Damon and Michael Douglas, the film follows the life of Scott Thorson and his reported lover, the famed pianist Liberace, during the late 1970s. The TV movie is based on the book of the same name written by Thorson in the eighties.
The story of love gone wrong is not a new movie trope. However, if you throw in Liberace’s wild personality, vibrant costumes, and eccentric lifestyle, you have the makings of something a little more interesting. Behind the Candelabra, despite its faults and its monumentally unlikeable characters, is always interesting.
The movie takes us through the rise and decadence of Liberace and Thorson’s relationship. A lot of the focus during the first portion of the movie is on Thorson’s introduction into Liberace’s public lifestyle. It’s tough to play chauffer to a man Thorson clearly feels equal to, and while there is plenty of glitz to living with Liberace, it does come with its own problems. When Liberace decides he wants Thorson to undergo plastic surgery to emulate him, the threads begin to unravel.
Soderbergh’s film is darkly comedic and certainly worth the watch, but HBO Home Entertainment’s DVD set is certainly not up to the company’s usual standards. It’s a flimsy white case with few bonus features, but it also only lists for $19.99, and it’s already available for cheaper over at Amazon.
Best Special Feature: HBO’s DVD set is a barebones affair, and the only bonus feature is a behind-the-scenes “Making of” segment that talks to the cast and crew members. If you really liked the movie, it might be worth a perusal, but don’t count the bonus feature as an additional reason to purchase the movie. It’s not particularly awesome.
Grimm: Season 2 Blu-ray
During its second season, Grimm finally found its niche in the NBC lineup. With the fandom related to the series, Universal Studios Home Entertainment has put together an extremely nice Blu-ray set that is chock full of bonus features—somewhat unusual for an NBC network show.
Grimm is a series that is often shot in the dark, and one of the first things buyers of the Blu-ray will notice is that the scenes shot in darkness are lit incredibly and look great in High Definition. Thanks to vampire dramas being prominent, there are so many shows that are frequently set during nighttime hours (see True Blood and The Vampire Diaries) and Grimm is the best I’ve seen at lighting those hours up.
The series follows Nick Burkhardt (David Giuntoli) as a cop and descendant of the Grimms, a group of hunters who fight supernatural creatures. There’s plenty of myth and lore in Grimm, and the characters are well-developed enough in Season 2 that a wide variety of creatures, including hexenbiests, all seem to be pretty commonplace. The show’s always been part ensemble supernatural drama and part procedural and that weird mix is what is most engaging about the show.
That’s not to say some of the characters aren’t entertaining. Burkhardt’s buddy, Monroe (Silas Weir Mitchell), still offers comedic relief, but is also a more helpful part of the team in Season 2. Additionally, Nick’s mom, Kelly (Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio) also pops up in the first episode of Season 2, and threatens the balance and alliances that Nick has achieved with some of the wesen living in the area. Season 2 offers a solid 22 episodes of content, and the set is actually quite fun to peruse.
You can order Grimm over at Amazon.
Best Special Feature: A large chunk of the bonus features are available on the fifth disc in the set, but it’s kind of tricky to spot them as there are also several episodes on disc five. There are a lot of really engaging bonus features, including the webisodes and some of the featurettes. It may be worth it, however, to purchase the Blu-ray if you are able and willing, as the HD picture is worth the cost and the Blu-ray sports a few bonus features not available with the DVD.
The best of these Blu-ray only extras is a feature called the “Grimm Guide.” It’s interactive, and it offers an index of most of the supernatural creatures that have popped up in the series, along with photos, definitions, and video footage.
Other Special Features:
Collector’s Cards
Extended episode
Grimm Guide
Deleted Scenes
Gag Reel
“Grimm: Myths, Monsters, & Legends”
“Grimm: Creatures and Chaos”
Bad Hair Day Webisodes
Monroe’s Best Moments
Other September 17 Releases
We are nearly in the throes of fall television, and while there haven’t been a ton of big budget movie releases over the last few weeks, this column can’t begin to cover all of the great fodder that Home Entertainment companies now have available on Blu-ray and DVD, should you be a big enough fan to want to own a copy of the season. Among these are some freshman season network hits that managed to get renewals for this fall, including The CW’s hot DC comics property Arrow and ABC’s country music-oriented drama, Nashville. You can check out some of the rest of September 17th’s releases, below. Unless otherwise noted, titles are available on both Blu-ray and DVD.
Arrow: The Complete First Season
The Mentalist: The Complete Fifth Season DVD
The Hollow Crown: The Complete Series DVD
Nashville: The Complete First Season
Haunted History DVD
Java Heat
Suddenly
Augustine
