From the Big Screen:
“Now You See Me 2,” “A Bigger Splash,” “Love & Friendship,” “Money Monster,” “The Darkness” and “The Meddler.” For more information on other releases this week, see the Weekly Guide to Home Video Releases.
This Week’s Highlights:
Patrick Swayze’s unfortunately short career was highlighted by several films in which he took very different lead roles: a sexy dance instructor in “Dirty Dancing” (1987), a gentle husband in “Ghost” (1990), a thrill-seeking robber in “Point Break” (1991), and a drag queen in “To Wong Foo Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar” (1995). One of his most memorable roles was in “Road House” (1989), where he starred as Dalton, the best bar bouncer in the business. He’s anything but “typical” — he’s a little small for his trade, has a degree in philosophy and he believes in “being nice.” But when he’s hired to clean up the Double Deuce in the small town of
Though not a boxoffice smash, the 1999 “The Iron Giant” is about as good as animated films can get. It’s a simple tale — a young boy befriends a giant robot from outer space that a paranoid government agent wants to destroy — but it explores so many tropes — friendship, love, loyalty, fear — that your mind and heart are overwhelmed with joy. Winner of nine Annie Awards, “The Iron Giant” is the tale of an unlikely friendship between a rebellious boy named Hogarth (voiced by Eli Marienthal) and a giant robot, voiced by a then little-known actor named Vin Diesel. The voice cast also included
From TV to DVD:
“CSI: Cyber The Final Season” (2015-16) is a five-disc set with all 18 episodes. Investigator D.B. Russell (Ted Danson) transfers from Las Vegas to become the director of the newly created division of Next Generation Cyber Forensics. He joins Avery Ryan (Patricia Arquette) and specialists Elijah Mundo (James Van Der Beek), Daniel Krumitz (Charley Koontz), Brody Nelson (Shad “Bow Wow” Moss) and Raven Ramirez (Hayley Kiyoko) to track down the most dangerous cyber criminals. When confronted with old enemies, secrets
Buzzin’ the ‘B’s:
- “The Bodyguard (aka My Beloved Bodyguard)” (2016 — Hong Kong): Directed by and starring Sammo Hung, co-stars Andy Lau. In a small town bordering China and Russia, a retired bodyguard with early dementia (Sammo Hung) makes friends with a young girl. But when she and her father disappear, he must recall long-abandoned skills to take down the mob and save her. On DVD, Blu-ray Disc from Well Go USA.
- “Center Stage: On Pointe” (2016): Peter Gallagher, Sascha Radetsky, Kenny Wormald, Ethan Stiefel, Nicole Muñoz, Chloe Lukasiak. In the third installment of the franchise, Jonathan Reeves (Gallagher) is tasked with infusing more contemporary styles and modernism into the American Ballet Academy, and enlists his top choreographers Charlie (Radetsky), Cooper (Stiefel) and Tommy (Wormald) to recruit dancers to compete at a camp where the winners will be selected to join the Academy. Bella Parker (Muñoz), who has always lived in the shadow of her hugely successful sister Kate, finally gets her chance to step into the limelight as one of the dancers recruited for the camp. From Sony.
- “Compadres” (2016): Omar Chaparro, Aislinn Derbez, Joey Moirgan, Eric Roberts, Camila Sodi, Kevin Pollak. Action buddy comedy from the studio behind the record-breaking “Instructions Not Included.” After his release from prison, a former Mexican lawman (Omar Chaparro) works with a teenage hacker (Joey Morgan) to find the crime boss (Erick Elías) who framed him. From Lionsgate.
- “The Dead Room” (2016): Jed Brophy, Jeffrey Thomas, Laura Petersen. Inspired by a 1970s urban legend, this atmospheric nerve shredder follows two scientists and a young psychic as they investigate mysterious occurrences at a remote farmhouse. Skepticism quickly turns to terror as the researchers’ visit unsettles a seriously angry demonic presence possessing the home. On DVD, Blu-ray Disc from IFC Midnight/Scream Factory.
- “Equals” (2016): Nicholas Hoult, Kristen Stewart, Jacki Weaver, Guy Pearce. In this sci-fi romance, Kristen Stewart and Nicholas Hoult play Nia and Silas, two people who
work together in a futuristic society known as “The Collective.” A seemingly utopian world, “The Collective” has ended crime and violence by genetically eliminating all human emotions. Despite this, Nia and Silas can’t help noticing a growing attraction between them, leading them to a forbidden relationship — at first tentative, but then exploding into a passionate romance. As suspicion begins to mount among their superiors, the couple is forced to choose between going back to the safety of the lives they have always known, or risking it all to try and pull off a daring escape.On DVD, Blu-ray Disc from Lionsgate. - “Fishes ‘N Loaves: Heaven Sent” (2016): Patrick Muldoon, Diana Meyer, Dominique Swain, William McNamara, Bruce Davison. When his parish closes, a big-hearted California preacher is dispatched to a church in tiny Eufala, Arizona (pop. 4,521), a land of rodeos, square dances, love-struck goats, and amateur musicals. Can Pastor Randy (Patrick Muldoon) and his loved ones keep their sanity long enough to inspire a community that’s gone astray? Awarded the Dove “Faith Friendly” seal. From Lionsgate.
- “Genius” (2016): Colin Firth, Nicole Kidman, Jude Law, Laura Linney, Guy Pearce. Based on the biography “Max Perkins: Editor of Genius.” Tells the story of the riveting friendship between author Thomas Wolfe and book editor Maxwell Perkins, who had published works from Ernest Hemingway and F. Scott Fitzgerald. Frem Lionsgate.
- “Hard Target 2” (2016): Scott Adkins, Robert Knepper, Rhona Mitra, Ann Truong, Temuera Morrison, Adam Saunders, Sahajak Boonthanakit. Retired mixed martial artist Wes “The Jailor” Baylor (Scott Adkins) can’t refuse a million-dollar purse he’s offered for one final bout in Myanmar. But when he arrives for the fight, he learns he’s been tricked into becoming the target of a human hunt. Carrying only water and a ruby-filled money belt for the last person standing, Wes must outsmart the heavily armed group that has paid to kill him. As he fights for his life in the treacherous jungle terrain, the hunters become the hunted. On DVD, Blu-ray Disc. From Universal.
- “Honey 3: Dare to Dance” (2016): Cassie Ventura, Kenny Wormald. At a prestigious South African school, Melea and her boyfriend imagine a hip-hop version of Romeo and Juliet, but Melea’s dreams are dashed when she’s unable to pay tuition and is forced to leave. Determined to fulfill her destiny, she does the unthinkable — persuades the community to support her artistic and unique vision. When adrenaline-filled rehearsals cause dance crew rivals and egos to get in the way, everything falls apart. Once again, Melea dares to dream and risks it all. On DVD, Blu-ray Disc. From Universal.
- “Night of the Living Deb”
(2016) Maria Thayer, Michael Cassidy, Ray Wise, Chris Marquette. After a girls’ night out, endearingly awkward Deb wakes up in the apartment of the most attractive guy in Portland, Maine. She’s thrilled, but can’t remember much about what actually got her there. Pretty boy Ryan, who’s engaged to be married, only knows her presence is a mistake and he ushers her quickly out the door – right into a full-scale zombie apocalypse! Now the mismatched pair must team up to survive. On DVD, Blu-ray Disc. From Dark Sky Films/MPI. - “Nina” (2016): Zoe Saldana, David Oyelowo, Mike Epps, David Keit, Ella Joyce. Biopic about the great singer and activist Nina Simone (Zoe Saldana). She was one of the century’s most extraordinary talents, a 15-time Grammy nominee and Grammy Hall of Fame recipient; her mesmerizing songs and passionate politics combined to make her unforgettable. But fame and fortune came with a price, and her later years were riddled with depression, alcohol abuse and isolation. Rediscovering the meaning of her life and work took courage, strength and one true friend: Clifton Henderson (David Oyelowo), the man who started out as her assistant and eventually became her loyal manager. With Clifton’s encouragement, the “high priestess of soul” began a courageous journey back to her music … and, eventually, herself. On DVD, Blu-ray Disc from RLJ Entertainment.
- “The Ones Below” (2015): Clémence Poésy, David Morrissey, Stephen Campbell Moore, Laura Birn. A dark, modern fairy tale in which the lives of two families become fatally intertwined. A couple expecting their first child discover an unnerving difference between themselves and the couple living in the flat below them who are also having a baby. On DVD, Blu-ray Disc, Digital, from Magnolia Home Entertainment.
- “Therapy for a Vampire” (2014 — Austria): Tobias Moretti, Jeanette Hain, Karl Fischer Dominic Oley, Cornelia Ivancan. Count von Kozsnom (Tobias Moretti), a vampire in 1930s Vienna, is trapped in an eternally long marriage to the Countess Elsa von Kozsnom (Jeanette Hain), and has lost his thirst for life. After seeking out marriage counseling from the legendary Dr. Sigmund Freud (Karl Fischer), The Count, in an effort to appease his vain wife’s desire to see her own reflection, commissions a portrait of her by his assistant Viktor, an aspiring painter. But it’s Viktor’s headstrong girlfriend Lucy who most intrigues The Count, convinced that she’s the reincarnation of his one true love. It doesn’t take too long for a wave of mistaken identities and misplaced affections to envelop the hapless group. On DVD from Music Box Films.
- “Urge” (2016): Pierce Brosnan, Justin Chatwin, Alexis Knapp, Ashley Greene, Bar Paly, Danny Masterson, Alison Lohman. A weekend getaway takes a dangerous turn when a mysterious nightclub owner (Brosnan) introduces a group of friends to a new designer drug. Stripped of their inhibitions, they start living out their wildest fantasies — but what starts out as a fun night of partying quickly turns deadly, as the island paradise deteriorates into a tropical madhouse. On DVD, Blu-ray Disc from Lionsgate.
On the Indie Front:
“In-Lawfully Yours” (2016), staring Chelsey Crisp, Philip Boyd, Joe Williamson, Corbin Bernsen and Marilu Henner, is a family-friendly Christian comedy about a recently divorced woman who moves to her cheating ex-husband’s home town to help her recently widowed mother-in-law and falls for the local town’s pastor, who also happens to be her ex-husband’s brother-in-law. From Cinedigm.
For the Family:
“The Swan Princess: Princess Tomorrow, Pirate Today” (2016) is the sixth