The Boss Baby (Blu-ray, DVD & Digital copy)
Seven-year-old Tim Templeton (Miles Bakshi) suddenly finds his share of parental love plummeting when his new baby brother (Alec Baldwin) arrives — wearing a suit and toting a briefcase — and makes it clear to everyone that he’s in charge. But when Tim discovers that Boss Baby is on a secret mission, he reluctantly agrees to team up with his pint-sized sibling for an epic adventure that might just change the world.
The concept for this movie appeared very silly, but its execution is actually quite entertaining. It’s still somewhat unclear if the key target audience for the film is children since there’s a lot of talk about business and marketing against a backdrop of adults choosing not to have children, but there’s also enough slapstick baby comedy to keep younger viewers entertained. Once put into the context of a boy with a wild imagination that sees everything through the goggles of make-believe, the movie becomes much more enjoyable. Baldwin is perfect as the undercover baby, while Steve Buscemi‘s role as the scheming executive is also very amusing.
Special features include: “Mini Adventure: The Boss Baby and Tim’s Treasure Hunt Through Time”; “The Forever Puppy Infomercial”; “BabyCorp and You”; “Babies vs. Puppies: Who Do YOU Love?”; “The Boss Baby’s Undercover Team”; “Cookies are for Closers: Inside BabyCorp”; and “The Great Sibling Competition.” (Fox Home Entertainment)
Ghost in the Shell (Blu-ray, DVD & Digital copy)
Set in a world where people are enhanced with technology, Major (Scarlett Johansson) believes she was rescued from near death. The first of her kind, Major is a human mind inside an artificial body designed to fight the war against cyber-crime. While investigating a dangerous criminal (Michael Pitt), Major makes a shocking discovery — the corporation that created her lied about her past life in order to control her. Unsure what to believe, Major will stop at nothing to unravel the mystery of her true identity and exact revenge against the corporation she was built to serve.
This adaptation of the popular Japanese manga and film franchise took a lot of deserved slack for casting Johansson in the title role. Although she’s perfectly adequate as the confused yet efficient heroine, the role is based on an Asian female character and was whitewashed for the purposes of this film. The actual narrative has several predictable twists built around gunfights and other action sequences in which Major battles humans and robots alike. Pitt’s performance teeters between over-the-top and magnificent as he portrays the inhuman human that holds at least some of the answers Major seeks. In the end, this picture understands its source as shown in the bonus feature interviews, but it fails to capture its essence.
Special features include: “Hard-Wired Humanity: Making Ghost in the Shell”; “Section 9: Cyber Defenders”; and “Man & Machine: The Ghost Philosophy.” (Paramount Home Media Distribution)
Girls: The Complete Sixth Season (Blu-ray & Digital copy)
Six months after the end of season five, Hannah (Lena Dunham) is enjoying new success as a writer while her roommate and bestie Elijah (Andrew Rannells) considers getting serious about his acting career. Marnie (Allison Williams), now in a relationship with Ray (Alex Karpovsky), seeks to maintain her independence post-divorce from Desi (Ebon Moss-Bachrach). Now also a couple, Jessa (Jemima Kirke) and Adam (Adam Driver) decide to embark on a creative project to channel their passions, which could become a source of contention. And Shoshanna (Zosia Mamet) finds herself professionally on the right path, though personally she realizes that her friendships may be holding her back.
The final season seems to come very close to concluding with none of the characters truly maturing or bettering themselves. Years later, they are still battling the same insecurities, chasing or running from the same incestuous relationships, and continuing to disregard each other’s needs. But near the end, it ultimately feels like they’ve become slightly less self-involved and may actually be able to leave some of the drama behind. It’s an incredibly long road and audiences struggled right along with the girls to get to the end. Even though closure is provided by yet another in-season fast-forward, it is a fitting end.
Special features include: commentary by Lena Dunham, Judd Apatow and Jenni Konner; “A Goodbye to Girls: Extended Cut”; “Favourite Moments”; and “Inside the Episodes.” (HBO Home Entertainment)
Shot Caller (Blu-ray & DVD)
When a DUI turns deadly, an unsuspecting father, Jacob (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau), must go to extreme lengths to survive in a maximum-security prison.
This is a raw and disturbing portrait of a man pushed to his limits and forced to work within a system that demands his soul. Jacob makes a terrible mistake one night, but because it was lethal he is incarcerated with men whose crimes were less than accidental. To survive, he must align himself with one of the ruling criminal factions who have no interest in his business acumen — only that he can follow orders and wield a shiv. It’s a surprisingly powerful film that carries even greater impact because his journey to the top of the food chain isn’t revealed until later in the film. Coster-Waldau is compelling and a key contributor to the film’s excellence.
There no special features. (VVS Films)
Unforgettable (Blu-ray, DVD & Digital copy)
Tessa Connover (Katherine Heigl) is barely coping with the end of her marriage when her ex-husband, David (Geoff Stults), becomes happily engaged to Julia Banks (Rosario Dawson) — not only bringing Julia into the home they once shared but also into the life of their daughter, Lily. Trying to settle into her new life, Julia believes she has finally met the man of her dreams, the man who can help her put her own troubled past behind her. But Tessa’s jealousy soon takes a pathological turn until she will stop at nothing to turn Julia’s dream into her ultimate nightmare.
The scorned ex has been the subject of thrillers for decades, but this is one of the most over-the-top and ridiculously malicious movies in the genre. Though it tries to justify her behaviour by alluding to an unpleasant childhood, the fact that everyone seems to turn a blind eye to clearly disturbing conduct is just unbelievable — particularly when a child’s safety is involved. Brushing off scary coincidences or authority figures overstepping their bounds are just too convenient for the narrative. Finally, the conclusion is the sour cherry on top of this poor story.
Special features include: commentary by director Denise Di Novi; deleted scene with commentary; and making-of featurette. (Warner Bros. Home Entertainment)
