Three books written for kids that were adapted into popular family films receive Blu-ray upgrades this week.
Jumanji: 20th Anniversary Edition (Sony/Blu-ray, 1995, PG, audio commentary, featurettes, storyboards, trailer, animated Jumanji storybook excerpts narrated by the author; featurette on upcoming Goosebumps movie).
The Indian in the Cupboard: 20th Anniversary Edition (Sony/Blu-ray, 1995, PG, audio commentary, featurettes, trailer; featurette on upcoming Goosebumps movie).
Zathura: A Space Adventure: 10th Anniversary Edition (Columbia/Blu-ray, 2005, PG, audio commentary, featurettes, trailer, animated Zathura storybook excerpts narrated by the author; featurette on upcoming Goosebumps movie). As indicated by the bonus features, these three book-to-movie films are being released on Blu-ray to excite interest in Goosebumps, a new book-to-movie release from the same studio (opening Oct. 16). But thats not a complaint; theyre all worth seeing again or sharing with your kids for the first time.
Jumanji, from the book by Chris Van Allsburg, is a special effects-driven fantasy-destruction comedy about an ancient board game that summons up fantastic creatures and threatens to destroy the world. Robin Williams, Bonnie Hunt, and young Kirsten Dunst and Bradley Pierce star, with the biggest laughs engendered by David Alan Grier as a befuddled cop.
The Indian in the Cupboard is a more subdued but no less enjoyable fantasy, adapted from Lynn Reid Banks novel by screenwriter Melissa Mathison (E.T., The Black Stallion) and director Frank Oz (Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, What About Bob?). A boy (Hal Scardino) is given an old wooden cupboard for his birthday and discovers it can bring his three-inch toys to life.
Zathura, by Jumanjis Van Allsburg, has a pair of bickering brothers (Josh Hutcherson, Jonah Bobo) finding a board game that brings on dangers, such as a robot (voiced by Frank Oz), reptilian aliens and an edgy astronaut (Dax Shepard). Yes, it is sort of a space-age Jumanji, but its still fun. Kristen Stewart plays their teenage sister and Tim Robbins is their father.
Dog Day Afternoon: 40th Anniversary Edition (Warner/Blu-ray, 1975, R for language and violence, two discs, audio commentary, featurette, documentary: Lumet: Film Maker; DVD documentary: I Knew it Was You: Rediscovering John Cazale, audio commentary, deleted scenes, two short films: The American Way, The Box). Dog Day Afternoon is a sterling example of how a film with a thin story can rise in status with top-of-the-line talent.
The story, which is crazy but true, is set during a hot, muggy summer day as a down-and-out gay couple (Al Pacino, John Cazale) rob a Brooklyn bank for money to pay for Cazale to have a sex-change operation. But the banks cash has been transported away, the hostages are getting nervous and the cops quickly surround the building. Funny, tragic, looney, with knockout performances by Pacino, Cazale, Charles Durning, James Broderick and Carol Kane, among others, and tight direction by Sidney Lumet at the top of his game.
The second disc is a DVD of an affectionate 2009 40-minute documentary about Cazale, best known for playing the doomed Fredo in the Godfather movies. Cazale rose quickly in the New York theater-and-film communities in the 1970s but died after making only five features, all nominated for best-picture Oscars. Two short films featuring Cazale are included.
Pitch Perfect 2 (Universal/Blu-ray/DVD/Digital/On Demand, 2015, PG-13, deleted/extended/alternate scenes, featurettes, bloopers). Sequel to the 2012 hit reunites Anna Kendrick, Rebel Wilson and the rest of the gang for another a cappella musical comedy, this time upping the ante for sexual innuendo and vulgarity, pushing the PG-13 rating about as far as it can go (though the first film was also pretty vulgar). This one marks the feature-directing debut of Elizabeth Banks, who also reprises her role as one of the competition judges.
Results (Magnolia/Blu-ray/DVD/Digital, 2015; R for language, sex, drugs; featurettes). A divorced, newly rich slacker (Kevin Corrigan) relocates to Austin, Texas, and drops by a gym with half-hearted thoughts of getting in shape. But when hes attracted by the icy trainer (Cobie Smulders) and befriended by the controlling gym owner (Guy Pearce), a romantic triangle ensues. Low-key, quirky independent film co-stars Giovanni Ribisi, Anthony Michael Hall and Brooklyn Decker.
Saint Laurent (Sony Classics/Blu-ray/DVD/Digital, 2015; R for nudity, sex, drugs, language; in French with English subtitles, featurettes). French biographical film about famed fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent (Gaspard Ulliel), focusing on the years 1967-76 when he was at his peak.
Chain of Command (Lionsgate/Blu-ray/DVD/Digital, 20125, R for violence and language, trailers). Michael Jai White is an elite military veteran tracking his brothers killer when he stumbles on a massive drug-running operation that comes out of Afghanistan and involves his old military buddies. Steve Austin and Max Ryan co-star.
Eaten Alive (Arrow/Blu-ray/DVD, 1977; R for violence, sex, nudity, language; audio commentary, introduction, featurettes, isolated music, photo/poster gallery; booklet). Director Tobe Hoopers follow-up to The Texas Chain Saw Massacre was this gory horror flick about visitors to a hotel in a swamp that are fed by the irascible hotels owner (Neville Brand) to his pet crocodile. Former stars of Hollywoods golden age, Mel Ferrer, Carolyn Jones and Stuart Whitman, co-star, along with Chain Saw star Marilyn Burns.
Jumanji: 20th Anniversary Edition (Sony/Blu-ray, 1995, PG, audio commentary, featurettes, storyboards, trailer, animated Jumanji storybook excerpts narrated by the author; featurette on upcoming Goosebumps movie).
The Indian in the Cupboard: 20th Anniversary Edition (Sony/Blu-ray, 1995, PG, audio commentary, featurettes, trailer; featurette on upcoming Goosebumps movie).
Zathura: A Space Adventure: 10th Anniversary Edition (Columbia/Blu-ray, 2005, PG, audio commentary, featurettes, trailer, animated Zathura storybook excerpts narrated by the author; featurette on upcoming Goosebumps movie). As indicated by the bonus features, these three book-to-movie films are being released on Blu-ray to excite interest in Goosebumps, a new book-to-movie release from the same studio (opening Oct. 16). But thats not a complaint; theyre all worth seeing again or sharing with your kids for the first time.
Jumanji, from the book by Chris Van Allsburg, is a special effects-driven fantasy-destruction comedy about an ancient board game that summons up fantastic creatures and threatens to destroy the world. Robin Williams, Bonnie Hunt, and young Kirsten Dunst and Bradley Pierce star, with the biggest laughs engendered by David Alan Grier as a befuddled cop.
The Indian in the Cupboard is a more subdued but no less enjoyable fantasy, adapted from Lynn Reid Banks novel by screenwriter Melissa Mathison (E.T., The Black Stallion) and director Frank Oz (Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, What About Bob?). A boy (Hal Scardino) is given an old wooden cupboard for his birthday and discovers it can bring his three-inch toys to life.
Zathura, by Jumanjis Van Allsburg, has a pair of bickering brothers (Josh Hutcherson, Jonah Bobo) finding a board game that brings on dangers, such as a robot (voiced by Frank Oz), reptilian aliens and an edgy astronaut (Dax Shepard). Yes, it is sort of a space-age Jumanji, but its still fun. Kristen Stewart plays their teenage sister and Tim Robbins is their father.
Dog Day Afternoon: 40th Anniversary Edition (Warner/Blu-ray, 1975, R for language and violence, two discs, audio commentary, featurette, documentary: Lumet: Film Maker; DVD documentary: I Knew it Was You: Rediscovering John Cazale, audio commentary, deleted scenes, two short films: The American Way, The Box). Dog Day Afternoon is a sterling example of how a film with a thin story can rise in status with top-of-the-line talent.
The story, which is crazy but true, is set during a hot, muggy summer day as a down-and-out gay couple (Al Pacino, John Cazale) rob a Brooklyn bank for money to pay for Cazale to have a sex-change operation. But the banks cash has been transported away, the hostages are getting nervous and the cops quickly surround the building. Funny, tragic, looney, with knockout performances by Pacino, Cazale, Charles Durning, James Broderick and Carol Kane, among others, and tight direction by Sidney Lumet at the top of his game.
The second disc is a DVD of an affectionate 2009 40-minute documentary about Cazale, best known for playing the doomed Fredo in the Godfather movies. Cazale rose quickly in the New York theater-and-film communities in the 1970s but died after making only five features, all nominated for best-picture Oscars. Two short films featuring Cazale are included.
Pitch Perfect 2 (Universal/Blu-ray/DVD/Digital/On Demand, 2015, PG-13, deleted/extended/alternate scenes, featurettes, bloopers). Sequel to the 2012 hit reunites Anna Kendrick, Rebel Wilson and the rest of the gang for another a cappella musical comedy, this time upping the ante for sexual innuendo and vulgarity, pushing the PG-13 rating about as far as it can go (though the first film was also pretty vulgar). This one marks the feature-directing debut of Elizabeth Banks, who also reprises her role as one of the competition judges.
Results (Magnolia/Blu-ray/DVD/Digital, 2015; R for language, sex, drugs; featurettes). A divorced, newly rich slacker (Kevin Corrigan) relocates to Austin, Texas, and drops by a gym with half-hearted thoughts of getting in shape. But when hes attracted by the icy trainer (Cobie Smulders) and befriended by the controlling gym owner (Guy Pearce), a romantic triangle ensues. Low-key, quirky independent film co-stars Giovanni Ribisi, Anthony Michael Hall and Brooklyn Decker.
Saint Laurent (Sony Classics/Blu-ray/DVD/Digital, 2015; R for nudity, sex, drugs, language; in French with English subtitles, featurettes). French biographical film about famed fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent (Gaspard Ulliel), focusing on the years 1967-76 when he was at his peak.
Chain of Command (Lionsgate/Blu-ray/DVD/Digital, 20125, R for violence and language, trailers). Michael Jai White is an elite military veteran tracking his brothers killer when he stumbles on a massive drug-running operation that comes out of Afghanistan and involves his old military buddies. Steve Austin and Max Ryan co-star.
Eaten Alive (Arrow/Blu-ray/DVD, 1977; R for violence, sex, nudity, language; audio commentary, introduction, featurettes, isolated music, photo/poster gallery; booklet). Director Tobe Hoopers follow-up to The Texas Chain Saw Massacre was this gory horror flick about visitors to a hotel in a swamp that are fed by the irascible hotels owner (Neville Brand) to his pet crocodile. Former stars of Hollywoods golden age, Mel Ferrer, Carolyn Jones and Stuart Whitman, co-star, along with Chain Saw star Marilyn Burns.