New to View: July 26
By Bob Bloom
The following Blu-rays and DVDs are being released on Tuesday, July 26, unless otherwise noted:
The Boss: Unrated (Blu-ray + DVD + Ultraviolet)
Details: 2016, Universal Studios Home Entertainment
Rated: Not rated & R, language, sexual content, drug use
The lowdown: Melissa McCarthy plays Michelle Darnell, a self-centered, inconsiderate, deceitful investment mogul who loses everything after being arrested by the SEC for insider trading.
To make the movie palatable for McCarthy’s fans, it opens with Michelle’s backstory of continually being abandoned and rejected by several foster families.
This is the filmmakers’ attempt to soften Michelle’s image and justify her bad behavior. This shot at emotional manipulation is one of the artifices the movie uses to simultaneously allow Michelle to act as she does and give the audience leave to, if not approve, then at least understand her motivations.
“The Boss” is very predictable; the opening sequence basically telegraphs every future plot point.
McCarthy tries to work both sides of the fence — being a funny and selfish bitch, while also not letting filmgoers forget the reasons for her actions.
The set contains the original theatrical version and an unrated version that adds six minutes to the film.
Technical aspects: Blu-ray: 1080p high definition, 1.85:1 widescreen picture; English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio, 2.0 audio description track and Spanish and French 5.1 DTS digital surround; English SDH, French and Spanish subtitles; DVD: 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen picture; English, French and Spanish 5.1 Dolby digital and English 2.0 descriptive audio track; English SDH, French and Spanish subtitles.
Don’t miss: Bonus materials include an alternate ending, deleted scenes, a gag reel, extended and alternate scenes, an original sketch and origin story of McCarthy’s Michelle Darnell and featurettes on costars Peter Dinklage and Kristen Bell.
Barbershop: The Next Cut (Blu-ray + Ultraviolet)
Details: 2016, Warner Home Video
Rated: PG-13, sexual material, language
The lowdown: Ice Cube, Cedric the Entertainer and Regina Hall are among the cast members returning for this latest installment in this entertaining comical series.
It has been 10 years since the last trip to Calvin’s Barbershop, and in that decade, changes have come about.
The biggest, of course, is that the establishment is now co-ed, as the ladies come to get pretty and exchange gossip.
However, the community has become dangerous, forcing Calvin and his friends to unite to save the shop as well as the neighborhood.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 1.85:1 (16×9 enhanced) widescreen picture; English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio, English 5.1 audio descriptive track and Spanish 5.1 Dolby digital; English SDH, Spanish and French subtitles.
Don’t miss: A “Barbershop” boot camp, gag reel and deleted scenes comprise the bonus features.
Dementia 13 (Blu-ray)
Details: 1963, The Film Detective
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: A 24-year-old Francis Ford Coppola wrote and directed this movie, produced by Roger Corman, is a gothic thriller in the vein of “Psycho.”
The film centers on the Haloran family, which converges every year at the family castle in Ireland to enact a morbid ceremony to remember a daughter who drowned.
The story features a mysterious stranger, odd characters, a murder and, of course, secrets.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 1.78:1 widescreen picture; English Dolby digital.
Person of Interest: The Fifth and Final Season (Blu-ray + Ultraviolet)
Release date: July 19
Details: 2016, Warner Home Video
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: A five-disc set that features all 13 final episodes of this popular CBS series starring Jim Caviezel and Michael Emerson as former CIA agent John Reese and billionaire tech genius Harold Finch.
Along with their allies, they work to get back The Machine, all the while the government’s Samaritan is at full power and a threat to expose them as well as targeting and killing innocent citizens.
The series plays into the paranoia of our times about government surveillance and machines taking over our lives.
Please be aware that Warner Bros. Home Entertainment provided me with a free copy of the DVD I reviewed in this post. The opinions I share are my own.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 1.78:1 (16×9 enhanced) widescreen picture; English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio; English SDH, French and Spanish subtitles.
Don’t miss: A trio of featurettes, including a 2015 Comic-Con panel, comprise the bonus offerings.
The Return of Ruben Blades (Blu-ray)
Release date: July 22
Details: 1985, MVD Visual-Mug Shot Productions
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: Director Robert Mugge focuses his camera on musician, activist and lawyer Ruben Blades as it looks at the man’s world outside of music.
Blades is seen receiving his master’s degree in international law from Harvard, working on a recording session with Linda Ronstadt and performing in New York.
Fans of Blades will enjoy this look at a multi-faceted individual who puts his heart and soul into every endeavor.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, widescreen picture.
The Boy Who Cried Werewolf (Blu-ray)
Details: 1973, Scream Factory
Rated: PG
The lowdown: A horror feature about a young boy on a visit to his father’s secluded cabin who sees his dad bitten by a werewolf.
Because his parents are getting a divorce, no one believes the boy when he tries to warn people that his dad will transform into a werewolf at the next full moon.
The film’s star, Kerwin Mathews, and its director, Nathan Juran, had previously worked on “The 7th Voyage of Sinbad” and “Jack the Giant Killer.”
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 1.85:1 widescreen picture; English DTS-HD Master Audio monaural; English subtitles.
Hellhole (Blu-ray + DVD)
Details: 1985, Scream Factory
Rated: R, language, violence
The lowdown: A young woman with amnesia — received from a fall while being chased by a serial killer — awakens in a sanitarium, where the killer once again stalks her.
The killer wants information locked in the young woman’s brain and forms an alliance with a psychotic doctor at the facility who has been testing new lobotomy techniques on inmates.
The film stars Judy Landers as the young woman, Mary Woronov as the doctor and Ray Sharkey as the killer.
Technical aspects: Blu-ray: 1080p high definition, 1.78:1 widescreen picture; English DTS-HD Master Audio monaural; DVD: 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen picture; English Dolby digital monaural.
Don’t miss: An interview with Woronov is the major bonus feature.
Other Blu-rays and DVDs being released on Tuesday, unless otherwise indicated:
Amateur Night at City Hall: The Story of Frank L. Rizzo (Mug-Shot Productions-MVD Visual)
The Last Diamond (Cohen Media Group)
Listening (MVD Visual)
DIGITAL DOWNLOADS AND STREAMING
Batman: The Killing Joke (Warner Home Video)
The Angry Birds Movie (Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, July 29)
Viral (IM Global-Blumhouse International-Busted Shark Productions, July 29)
Agatha Raisin: The Quiche of Death (Acorn TV, Aug. 1)
Game of Thrones: The Complete Sixth Season (HBO Home Entertainment, Aug. 1)
Coming next week: The Lobster
Confirmation
Bob Bloom is a member of the Indiana Film Journalists Association. He reviews movies, Blu-rays and DVDs for ReelBob (ReelBob.com), The Film Yap and other print and online publications. He can be reached by email at bobbloomjc@gmail.com. You also can follow Bloom on Twitter @ReelBobBloom and on Facebook. Movie reviews by Bloom also can be found at Rottentomatoes: www.rottentomatoes.com.