RT on DVD & Blu-Ray: Silver Linings Playbook and The Guilt Trip
Plus, a dud of a thriller, a dark comedy, and plenty more.
This week on home video, we've got one of the big award-winners of last year, followed by a few not so acclaimed films, including a road trip comedy, a noir-ish thriller, and a dark farce. Then we've got a couple of smaller films and a slew of Blu-ray reissues. See below for the full list.
Silver Linings Playbook
92%
Though Silver Linings Playbook only took home one of its eight potential Academy Awards, it received nominations for all of the most prestigious categories, including all four for acting -- the first to do so in over 30 years. David O. Russell (The Fighter) helmed the film, which stars Bradley Cooper as an emotionally unstable high school teacher recently released from a mental health facility and Jennifer Lawrence (who took home the Best Actress Oscar) as the equally volatile acquaintance who establishes a connection with him and shows him there's more to life than pining for his estranged wife. It's an unconventional romance with a sharp tongue, and Russell extracts witty and poignant performances from his talented cast. Certified Fresh at 92%, Silver Linings Playbook comes highly recommended by critics and audiences alike.
The Guilt Trip
38%
Partially inspired by a road trip that screenwriter Dan Fogelman took with his own mother, The Guilt Trip stars Seth Rogen as an aspiring inventor Andy and Barbra Streisand as his widowed mother Joyce, whom he invites to accompany him as he drives from New Jersey to San Francisco. Andy's making the trip to pitch a new cleaning fluid, but he's also secretly planning to reunite Joyce with an old flame; tensions rise en route, of course, leading to presumably funny situations. Unfortunately, critics didn't find said situations particularly funny, leading to a mediocre 37% Tomatometer score. The problems don't lie with Rogen or Streisand, who have decent chemistry, but with the lifeless script and lack of laughs. If you're in need of some mother-son bonding, feel free to give The Guilt Trip a shot, but don't expect too much.
Broken City
30%
Mark Wahlberg can be a little hit-or-miss, and Russell Crowe still seems to be looking for a proper return to the glory days of his Gladiator era, but bringing them together doesn't appear to have done them any favors. In Broken City, Wahlberg is ex-NYPD officer-turned-private eye Billy Taggart, who repays a favor from the sitting mayor (Russell Crowe) by agreeing to track the mayor's wife Cathleen (Catherine Zeta-Jones), suspected of having an affair. As Taggart closes in on Cathleen, he unwittingly finds himself in the middle of a murder conspiracy that will force him to choose between a life in disgrace or no life at all. Despite its capable cast (which includes Jeffrey Wright, Barry Pepper, and Kyle Chandler), Broken City failed to impress the critics, who found the script overly formulaic and poorly written. At 30% on the Tomatometer, it's not the noir it thinks it is.
The Details
45%
One of those small releases you're typically surprised to discover even existed, The Details sports a recognizable cast in an indie comedy that's equal parts dark humor and existential angst. Tobey Maguire plays suburban husband Jeff Lang, who, amid troubles with his wife Nealy (Elizabeth Banks), becomes obsessed with exterminating a family of raccoons terrorizing his property. This obsession sets off a chain of events, each twist more extreme and absurd than the last, that begins to tear Jeff and Nealy's lives apart, taking some (not so) innocent bystanders along with them. Consensus here is that The Details isn't quite sure which tone it wants to emphasize, and as a result it fails to pull off either the comic or the tragic particularly effectively. The acting, however, is strong -- Ray Liotta, Laura Linney, Kerry Washington, and Dennis Haysbert co-star -- and there are some laughs to be had, so at 43%, this might be worth a rental.
Also available this week:
- William Wyler's Funny Girl (92%), starring an Oscar-winning Barbra Streisand in a musical biopic of the influential entertainer Fanny Brice, on Blu-ray.
- Strictly Ballroom (95%), Baz Luhrmann's directorial debut about a rebellious ballroom dancer, on Blu-ray.
- The Revisionaries (91%), a doc about ideological warfare in the US educational system, on DVD.
- Not Fade Away (69%), a coming-of-age story set in the 1960s and infused with music.
- 1951 murder mystery The Enforcer (86%), starring Humphrey Bogart, on Blu-ray.
- Fritz Lang's Cloak and Dagger (75%), starring Gary Cooper in a post-war espionage tale, on Blu-ray.
Janson Jinnistan
I want to see "Not Fade Away" and "Broken City". Maybe "Cloak and Dagger" will have the alternate ending?
Apr 29 - 04:32 PM
Ryan Fujitani
It doesn't appear to have any special features, unfortunately.
Apr 29 - 04:58 PM
Janson Jinnistan
Wishful thinking. The ending has long rumored to be lost forever.
Apr 29 - 05:03 PM
Jay Gatsby
What do you think happened to it?????
Apr 29 - 05:19 PM
Janson Jinnistan
Hey Ryan, how about banning this bastard?
Apr 30 - 01:57 PM
Dave J
What did he do?
Apr 30 - 04:45 PM
Janson Jinnistan
Dave, I know you've been battling a crippling ZQuil addiction, so I'll spare you the details of Jerry's months long trolling.
Apr 30 - 06:31 PM
Bigbrother .
All that is necessary for evil trolls to triumph is for good commenters to be dumb :)
Apr 30 - 07:59 PM
Jay Gatsby
Months? Wow, you think you accomplished something. I've trolled everyone on this site for 1 year. Plus, it was only 3 weeks, crybaby
May 1 - 12:07 PM
Jay Gatsby
AND if you want me to go back to Jerry Benedict, I will and no matter how many times I get banned I'll always come back, bitch
May 1 - 12:12 PM
Janson Jinnistan
Nuff said.
May 1 - 12:27 PM
Dave J
He hasn't done anything else to you though except when you tried to push his buttons by making him all angry again! What else is new!
May 1 - 12:59 PM
Janson Jinnistan
Or he could just avoid me. Huh. Think about that. Do I go out of my way to reply to his comments? But somehow he finds the strength to repeatedly reply to mine. Yeah. That must be my fault. Good work, Detective Dave!
May 1 - 02:00 PM
Jay Gatsby
Maybe because I wanna quit trolling. Huh. Ever thought of that, Detective Janson!
May 1 - 02:19 PM
Dave J
I don't know, users only care about what is currently happening right now- they don't care about what happened in the past since they're new users coming here all the time as much as people who don't log into their RT accounts anymore! If you're so offended then don't reply, you can't dictate someone from not replying- that doesn't make much sense nor is it realistic! If you don't like him that much then ignore him- can it be anymore simpler than that!
May 1 - 03:26 PM
Janson Jinnistan
STFU, for a minute, Dave. @Jerry - 1) Aw. 2) Good for you. 3) Just assume I don't give a shit. 4) Simple as leave me alone. Get it? Got it? Done. Stop replying to me, and I won't make fun of your chemical imbalances. Deal? K.
May 1 - 03:31 PM
Jay Gatsby
Janson, help me out here, first off, how does me replying to you affect your life? Am I killing someone? Hurting your feeling? What is it? I just wanna know why does me asking you a serious question affect your life. You obviously don't have to reply, and many users told you 'Don't reply' but you still reply. And don't give me that BS that I trolled you because everyone knows about it. Even when I don't troll you, you still try to get me banned.
So, think about that. Am I really that type of person where you can't ignore. Someone else commented, yet when I commented we get in a heated argument that ends with no one winning. So, my question is: Why do you reply to me? Answer that without using the trolling thing and I'll leave you alone.
May 1 - 03:54 PM
Janson Jinnistan
Oh please let me help you.
"How does me replying to you affect your life?"
How does replying to me affect yours?
"...why does me asking you a SERIOUS question affect your life?"
Very serious indeed. You used, like, five question marks. At least your curiosity over this serious matter has been somewhat abated.
"...many users told you 'Don't reply' but you still reply"
Who? Where? Where have I replied to your comments? You see, this is my comment. See how the replies move right from the left side of the screen? I have not replied to your comments, including the one you posted below. You keep replying to mine, though. Strange how that works, eh?
"Even when I don't troll you, you still try to get me banned."
OK, lil' Precious Britches, when I ask you repeatedly to stay away from me and you keep it up, that's trolling whether you even say Howdy. I assume you've had a restraining order placed against you at some point in your fucked up life. I just don't know how to tell you to Piss Off any more clearly. Still around?
"Am I really that kind of person where you can't ignore?"
It's hard to ignore a shit-stained hobo in my hallway.
"Why do you reply to me?"
I got a better question. Why do you reply to me? Daddy wasn't generous enough with his belt? To repeat, where have I responded to you that wasn't on my own comment thread?
"Answer that without the trolling thing and I'll leave you alone."
Oh, right. Like blackmail or something. You act like you have some kind of skin in this game to be giving me ultimatums. Did Dave send you a pair of brass balls in the mail? I got a better idea, why don't you just fuck that hole in the wall, and we can pretend we never met? I'm down if you are. You wanna slap a little more stupid on the skillet? Walk it off, as long as it's in the direction away from me. No time for love Dr. Jerry.
May 1 - 04:33 PM
Jay Gatsby
Insults. SMH. Oh, and this is technically my comment on your comment thread. Who's comment is closer to the left. My first one or these groups right here.
And you know what. Fuck you and I hope you catch Lou Gerhig's disease. And you don't know my personal life, bitch. Unless, you're a stalker. You say I don't have enough attention, but how do you know? Do you fuckin see life of others. Maybe you don't get enough attention from your mommy or daddy. That's why your nothing but a pretentious prick. And deal to the no talkin to each other. Good luck in life, asswipe.
May 1 - 04:46 PM
Janson Jinnistan
All you got to do is stop. Today. New leaf, bitch. Suck it up and keep moving.
May 1 - 05:22 PM