New to View: Aug. 16 Update
By Bob Bloom
The Angry Birds Movie (Blu-ray + DVD + Ultraviolet)
Details: 2016, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
Rated: PG, rude humor and action
The lowdown: Kids will enjoy this animated feature based on the popular video game.
It seems the birds are angry for many reasons, including that most are flightless. Also, green piggies that mean nothing but trouble visit and disrupt the birds’ island paradise.
The voice cast includes Jason Sudeikis, Josh Gad, Danny McBride, Maya Rudolph, Kate McKinnon, Sean Penn, Keegan-Michael Kay, Bill Hader and Peter Dinklage.
Technical aspects: Blu-ray: 1080p high definition, 1.85:1 widescreen picture; English 7.1 DTS-HD Master Audio, Portuguese 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio, English 5.1 Dolby digital audio description track and Cantonese, Mandarin (PRC and Taiwan), French, Korean, Spanish, Thai and Vietnamese 5.1 Dolby digital; English SDH, English, Cantonese, Chinese (simplified and traditional), French, Indonesian/Bahasa, Korean, Portuguese, Spanish, Thai and Vietnamese subtitles; DVD. 1.85:1 widescreen picture; English 5.1 Dolby digital and audio description track and Cantonese, Mandarin (PRC and Taiwan), French, Korean, Spanish, Thai and Vietnamese 5.1 Dolby digital; English SDH, English, Cantonese, Chinese (simplified and traditional), French, Indonesian/Bahasa, Korean, Portuguese, Spanish, Thai and Vietnamese subtitles.
Don’t miss: Bonus materials include deleted scenes, a dance along with birds and pigs featurette, a look at how to build your own piggy tower, a meet the hatchlings featurette, a “Chuck’s Rescue” bonus scene, featurettes on the music, a Blake Shelton music video and a creating the real world of Angry Birds featurette.
Ingrid Bergman: In Her Own Words: Special Edition (Blu-ray)
Details: 2015, The Criterion Collection
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: This documentary, which marks the 100th anniversary of the birth of Ingrid Bergman, uses the three-time-Academy Award-winning actress’ letters, diaries, photographs and home movies she shot to tell her story.
The film covers her youth, career, marriages and her relationships with her children.
Actress Alicia Vikander narrates this feature that fans of Bergman will find interesting, informative and insightful.
Technical aspects: 1.78:1 widescreen picture; Swedish, English, Italian and French 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio; English SDH subtitles.
Don’t miss: Extras include an interview with the film’s director, Stig Bjorkman, a selection of 8mm films shot by Bergman, deleted and extended scenes, a clip from “Landskamp,” a 1932 film that marked Bergman’s debut, outtakes from Bergman’s 1936 film, “On the Sunny Side,” a music video and an essay by noted film scholar Jeanine Basinger.
Raiders! The Story of the Greatest Fan Film Ever Made (Blu-ray + DVD + digital)
Details: 2015, Drafthouse Films-MVD Visual
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: I saw this movie last year at the Heartland Film Festival in Indianapolis.
It was a captivating story of how movies can inspire.
And it did for a group of boys, who, in 1982, after seeing Steven Spielberg’s “Raiders of the Lost Ark,” were so impressed by the exploits of Indiana Jones that they set out to film their own scene-by-scene remake of the saga.
Every summer for seven years, they accomplished their goal, filming all but one scene from the film.
The making of that final sequence 30 years later is the crux of “Raiders!.” It’s a wistful documentary about a trio of men who reunite so they can complete a childhood dream — and in the process heal old wounds and, for a moment, recapture their youth.
Fans of the original will enjoy and applaud the perseverance — some may call it obsession — of these men as they face of the challenges of finishing what they started.
Technical aspects: Blu-ray: 1080p high definition, 1.78:1 widescreen picture; English 5.1 Dolby digital; English SDH subtitles; DVD: 1.78:1 widescreen picture; English 5.1 Dolby digital; English SDH subtitles.
Don’t miss: Extras include a couple of commentary tracks, deleted scenes, outtakes from the “Raiders” adaptation, a question-and-answer session from the 2003 premiere at that Alamo Drafthouse and a 16-page booklet about the movie.
The Affair: Season Two
Details: 2015, Showtime Entertainment-CBS DVD-Paramount Home Entertainment
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: This three-disc set features all 12 second-season episodes of this adult Showtime series about an affair and its impact on four people — Noah (Dominic West), Alison (Ruth Wilson), Helen (Maura Tierney) and Cole (Joshua Jackson).
The story includes the aftermath of an unsolved murder, an exposed betrayal, vengeance and emotional turmoil.
Over the course of the episodes, the estranged couples begin planning for their individual futures as new deceptions again make them question everything they believed.
Technical aspects: 16:9 widescreen picture; English 5.1 Dolby digital and 2.0 Dolby digital stereo surround; English SDH, Spanish and Portuguese subtitles.
Don’t miss: Supplemental materials include character profiles, a tour of Montauk, a memory lanes featurette and the first two episodes of the Showtime series, “Billions.”
The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension: Collector’s Edition (Blu-ray)
Details: 1984, Shout! Factory
Rated: PG
The lowdown: This campy and pulpish science fiction feature has a fervent cult following despite receiving only tepid reviews.
Peter Weller stars as Buckaroo Banzai, a neurosurgeon, physicist, rock star and all-around hero.
With the help of his team, The Hong Kong Cavaliers, Buckaroo is already ready to save the world.
And his services will sorely be needed after a test of his Oscillation Overthruster, which allows him to travel through matter, unleashes the evil and alien Red Lectroids from the 8th Dimension, who are led by the mad dictator Lord John Whorfin (a deranged performance by John Lithgow).
The aliens want to use the device to return to their home planet, but Buckaroo and his crew thwart them at every turn.
The movie also features Jeff Goldblum, Ellen Barkin, Christopher Lloyd and Clancy Brown.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 2.35:1 widescreen picture; English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio; English SDH subtitles.
Don’t miss: A multi-part documentary that looks at the making of the movie and features cast and filmmaker interviews, deleted scenes, a commentary track, a declassified featurette, an alternate opening sequence and a jet car trailer comprise the bulk of the bonus offerings.
Microwave Massacre (Blu-ray)
Details: 1983, Arrow Video
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: Another Italian giallo feature, this one dealing with grisly murders as well as forensic investigations of the crimes.
The feature centers on a put-upon construction worker named Donald, who can’t get anything good to eat since his wife has decided to cook only gourmet dishes.
That, as well as her constant harping, finally makes him snap. He whacks his wife, and in his agitated state of mind, comes up with a new use for the microwave oven.
He soon finds that he is eating much better, so he begins experimenting with different recipes as well as different meats.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 1.85:1 widescreen picture; Italian and English 1.0 DTS-HD Master Audio monaural; English and English SDH subtitles.
Don’t miss: A look at the career of director Duccio Tessari, a visual essay about the movie, a commentary track with film critics and authors Alan Jones and Kim Newman and a 36-page booklet about the movie.
Other Blu-rays and DVDs being released on Tuesday, unless otherwise indicated:
FOR KIDS
Shimmer and Shine: Welcome to Zahramay Falls (Nickelodeon-Paramount Home Entertainment)
DIGITAL DOWNLOADS and STREAMING
Love & Friendship (Sony Pictures Home Entertainment)
Me Before You (Warner Home Video)
Money Monster (Sony Pictures Home Entertainment)
A Bigger Splash (Fox Home Entertainment, Aug. 19)
C Street (Indelible Films, Aug. 19)
Now You See Me 2 (Lionsgate Home Entertainment, Aug. 19)
Looking: The Movie (HBO Home Entertainment, Aug. 22)
The Syndicate: All or Nothing (Acorn TV, Aug. 22)
Coming next week: Ratchet & Clank
Maggie’s Plan
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.