2012 was a big year for animation and stop-motion hit ParaNorman is one of the leading candidates for being the best animated movie of the year. ParaNorman is now coming out of DVD, Blu-ray and 3D Blu-ray and is Entertainment Fuse’s Recommendation of the Week.
First Release
- Men in Black 3 (DVD and Blu-ray) (release date Nov. 30)
- Men in Black Trilogy (DVD and Blu-ray) (release date Nov. 30)
- ParaNorman (DVD and Blu-ray)
- Lawless (DVD and Blu-ray)
- Step Up Revolution (DVD and Blu-ray)
- The Day (DVD and Blu-ray)
- Burning Man (DVD)
- Sparkle (DVD and Blu-ray) (release date Nov. 30)
ParaNorman (DVD and Blu-ray) *Recommendation of the Week*
Directed by Sam Fell, Chris Butler
Written by Chris Butler (screenplay), Arianne Sutner, Stephen Stone (story)
Starring: Kodi Smit-McPhee, Anna Kendrick, Tucker Albrizzi, Casey Affleck, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, John Goodman
It was a big year for stop-motion animated films, seeing the releases of The Pirates: Band of Misfits, Frankenweenie and of course ParaNorman. Brought to you from the makers of Coraline, ParaNorman tells the story of Norman Babacock (Kodi Smit-McPhee, The Road), a young boy who can communicate with zombies and had to take on living dead, ghosts and witches to save his New England town from a centuries-old curse.
Critics Rating (Rotten Tomatoes): 86% (excellent)
Player Affinity Score: 8.3/10 (read our review)
DISC DETAILS
DVD Special Features: N/A
Amazon Price: $16.99 (DVD), $22.99 (Blu-ray), $27.99 (3D Blu-ray)
Score (DVDTalk.com): Content 3.5 stars, Video 5 stars, Audio 4.5 stars, Extras 4 stars, Replay 4 stars (out of 5). Highly Recommended.
It is a week of only new releases, the big highlights being Men in Black 3, The Men in Black Trilogy boxset and the historical gangster movie Lawless.
Men in Black 3 (DVD and Blu-ray) (release date Nov. 30)
Directed by Barry Sonnenfeld
Written by Etan Cohen (screenplay), Lowell Cunningham (comic book)
Starring: Will Smith, Tommy Lee Jones, Josh Brolin, Jemaine Clement, Michael Stuhlbarg, Emma Thompson
Despite the star power of Will Smith, the early signs regarding the third Men in Black movie were not good: it is the second sequel to a franchise and has come out 10 years following the last installment, its budget ballooned out of control, there were constant re-writes during filming and the residents of Manhattan were unhappy with Smith’s massive trailer. Despite all this, Men in Black 3 ended up being a commercial and critical success.
The notorious criminal, Boris the Animal (Jemaine Clement, Flight of the Conchords), escapes from prison and goes back to 1969 to kill the man who put him there, Agent K (Tommy Lee Jones). It is up to Agent J (Smith) to go back in time to save both the young Agent K (Josh Brolin) and the Earth from being invaded.
Critics Rating (Rotten Tomatoes: 69% (good)
Player Affinity Score: 6.6/10 (read our review)
DISC DETAILS
DVD Special Features: The Making of Men In Black 3; "Back In Time" Music Video by Pitbull
Additional Blu-ray Special Features: Spot the Alien Game; Men In Black: 1960s vs. Today; Creating the Visual Effects; Scene Investigation; Progression Reels
Amazon Price: $16.99 (DVD), $19.99 (Blu-ray), $27.99 (3D Blu-ray)
Score (DVDTalk.com): N/A
Men in Black Trilogy (DVD and Blu-ray)
Men in Black (1997)
Directed by Barry Sonnenfeld
Written by Ed Solomon (screenplay), Lowell Cunningham (comic)
Starring: Tommy Lee Jones, Will Smith, Linda Fiorentino, Vincent D’Onofrio, Rip Torn
Men in Black II (2002)
Directed by Barry Sonnenfeld
Written by Robert Gordon, Barry Fanaro (screenplay), Robert Gordon (story), Lowell Cunningham (comic)
Starring: Tommy Lee Jones, Will Smith, Lara Flynn Boyle, Johnny Knoxville, Rosario Dawson, Rip Torn
Men in Black 3 (2012)
Directed by Barry Sonnenfeld
Written by Etan Cohen (screenplay), Lowell Cunningham (comic book)
Starring: Will Smith, Tommy Lee Jones, Josh Brolin, Jemaine Clement, Michael Stuhlbarg, Emma Thompson
As well as the release of Men in Black 3, the whole Men in Black Trilogy is also being released onto Blu-ray as the MIB’s finest, Agent J (Will Smith) and Agent K (Tommy Lee Jones) have to on take the scum of the universe and not let the general public know about it.
Men in Black (1997)
Critics Rating (Rotten Tomatoes): 90% (excellent)
Player Affinity Score: 8.0/10
Men in Black II (2002)
Critics Rating (Rotten Tomatoes): 39% (poor)
Player Affinity Score: 4.8/10
Men in Black 3 (2012)
Critics Rating (Rotten Tomatoes): 69% (good)
Player Affinity Score: 6.6/10 (read our review)
DISC DETAILS
DVD Special Features: N/A
Amazon Price: $59.96 (Blu-ray)
Score (DVDTalk.com): N/A
Lawless (DVD and Blu-ray)
Directed by John Hillcoat
Written by Nick Cave (screenplay), Matt Bondurant (novel)
Starring: Shia LaBeouf, Tom Hardy, Guy Pearce, Mia Wasikowska, Jessica Chastain, Jason Clarke, Gary Oldman
After making The Road, John Hillcoat has reunited with his The Proposition writer, Nick Cave, to adapt Matt Bondurant’s novel, The Wettest County in the World. Premiering at the Cannes Film Festival, Lawless was nominated for the Palme d’Or and signifies the start of Shia LaBeouf trying to prove himself as a serious actor.
The year is 1931 and Prohibition is full swing. In Franklin County, Va., the locals make the law and their own moonshine. Two of the most successful moonshiners are the Bondurant brothers, Forrest (Tom Hardy) and Howard (Jason Clarke, Trust). Their younger brother Jack (LaBeouf) wants in on the action and starts his own operation. But a new Special Deputy from the city, Charley Rakes (Guy Pearce) arrives and is willing to use violence to stop the Bondurants.
Critics Rating (Rotten Tomatoes): 67% (good)
Player Affinity Score: 7.7/10 (read our review)
DISC DETAILS
DVD Special Features: N/A
Amazon Price: $16.99 (DVD), $22.99 (Blu-ray)
Score (DVDTalk.com): N/A
Step Up Revolution (DVD and Blu-ray)
Directed by Scott Speer
Written by Jenny Mayer (screenplay), Duane Adler (characters)
Starring: Ryan Guzman, Kathryn McCormick, Misha Gabriel, Peter Gallagher
The Step Up franchise is now four movies strong and all of them have been very profitable. Music video director Scott Speer has replaced Jon M. Chu in the director’s chair as Step Up Revolution follows a rich girl, Emily (Kathryn McCormick), who moves to Miami to become a professional dancer. She meets Sean (Ryan Guzman) who leads a flash mob dance troop and under Emily’s influence the troop starts to make their actions more political.
Critics Rating (Rotten Tomatoes): 43% (poor)
Player Affinity Score: N/A
DISC DETAILS
DVD Special Features: Deleted and alternate scenes; Music videos:; "Goin' In" - JLo featuring Flo Rida and Lil Jon; "Hands in the Air" - Timbaland featuring Ne-Yo; Extended dance sequences from the hottest scenes; Four featurettes; Director and cast commentary
Amazon Price: $14.99 (DVD), $19.99 (Blu-ray)
Score (DVDTalk.com): N/A
The Apparition (DVD and Blu-ray)
Written and directed by Todd Lincoln
Starring: Ashley Greene, Sebastian Stan, Tom Felton
The horror movie The Apparition is considered one of the worst movies of 2012, as a young couple (Ashley Greene and Sebastian Stan) are haunted by a manufactured presence and their only hope is a supernatural expert, Patrick (Tom Felton, the Harry Potter series).
Critics Rating (Rotten Tomatoes): 4% (awful)
Player Affinity Score: 1.0 (read our review)
DISC DETAILS
DVD Special Features: The Apparition: a cinematic spectre
Additional Blu-ray Special Feature: Special features on Blu-ray: follow modern-day ghost hunters and witness the real, frightening forces that consume their lives; The dark realm of paranormal: discover the chilling reality behind supernatural events; Haunted Asheville: ghost hunter Joshua P. Warren shows you two real-life locations filled with paranormal sightings and bizarre occurrences; The experiment of the apparition: movie meets real-life horror as Warren atempts to replicate the experiment gone wrong
Amazon Price: $14.99 (DVD), $19.99 (Blu-ray)
Score (DVDTalk.com): Content 0.5 stars, Video 3 stars, Audio 4 stars, Extras 2 stars, Replay 0 stars (out of 5). Skip It.
The Day (DVD and Blu-ray)
Directed by Doug Aarniokoski
Written by Luke Passmore
Starring: Dominic Monaghan, Shawn Ashmore, Shannyn Sossamon, Ashley Bell, Cory Hardrict Michael Eklund
From the director of Highlander: Endgame and WWE Studios, hopes are low for the post-apocalyptic movie The Day. A group of five survivors have to hold out for one day from a gang of bloodthirsty predators attacking them.
Critics Rating (Rotten Tomatoes: 25% (very bad)
Player Affinity Score: N/A
DISC DETAILS
DVD Special Features: N/A
Amazon Price: $12.99 (DVD), $16.99 (Blu-ray)bur
Score (DVDTalk.com): Content 2 stars, Video 3.5 stars, Audio 3.5 stars, Extras 1 stars, Replay 1.5 stars (out of 5). Skip It.
Burning Man (DVD)
Written and directed by Jonathan Teplitzky
Starring: Matthew Goode, Bojana Novakovic, Rachel Griffiths
Burning Man is an Australian drama starring Matthew Goode (Watchmen) as Tom Keaton, an English chef living in Sydney who ends up in a series of sexual encounters after a tragedy and risks losing his wife and son in the process.
Critics Rating (Rotten Tomatoes: 74% (good)
Player Affinity Score: N/A
DISC DETAILS
DVD Special Features: N/A
Amazon Price: $20.58 (DVD)
Score (DVDTalk.com): N/A
Sparkle (DVD and Blu-ray) (Release Date Nov. 30)
Directed by Salim Akil
Written by Mara Brock Akil, Howard Rosenman (screenplay), Joel Schumacher, Howard Rosenman (original movie)
Starring: Jordin Sparks, Whitney Houston, Derek Luke, Mike Epps, Tamela Mann, Carmen Ejogo, Tika Sumpter, Omari Hardwick, Cee Lo Green
Sparkle is a remake of a 1976 movie of the same name. It serves as the film debut for American Idol winner Jordin Sparks and was Whitney Houston’s last movie.
Sparks stars as Sparkle, a talented young singer in the '60s who has to overcome the challenges of fame and the effects it has on her tight knit family.
Critics Rating (Rotten Tomatoes: 58% (average)
Player Affinity Score: N/A
DISC DETAILS
DVD Special Features: Commentary with Director/Producer Salim Akil; A Tribute to Whitney Houston; A Dream Come True
Additional Blu-ray Special Feature: Extended performance of “Hooked On Your Love” by Jordin Sparks; Sparkle & Shine; A Sparkling Performance; "Celebrate" Music Video By Whitney Houston & Jordin Sparks
Amazon Price: $16.96 (DVD), $21.93 (Blu-ray)
Score (DVDTalk.com): N/A
