DISCussion: New on DVD and Blu-ray (1.6.15)

Well, we did it; welcome to the first DISCussion of 2015. Last week was perhaps the slowest week of new releases we saw in 2014, but the first week of the new year is jam-packed with great new films. So without further ado, the first Recommendation of the Week for 2015 (and one of the best films of 2014) is Richard Linklater's Boyhood. New Release: Boyhood – (Blu-ray, DVD and Instant) The Guest – (Blu-ray, DVD and Instant) Get On Up – (Blu-ray, DVD and Instant) No Good Deed – (Blu-ray, DVD and Instant) Horns – (Blu-ray, DVD and Instant) Left Behind – (Blu-ray, DVD and Instant) Two Night Stand – (Blu-ray, DVD and Instant) Re-Release: The Sword of Doom (1966) – (Criterion Blu-ray) The Boys from Brazil (1978) – (Blu-ray)   Boyhood – (Blu-ray, DVD and Instant) *Recommendation of the Week* Directed and written by Richard Linklater Starring: Ellar Coltrane, Patricia Arquette, Ethan Hawke Director Richard Linklater's 12-year epic covers a boy's transition into adulthood. Filmed in real time, Linklater's film is unlike any other ever made. Absolutely one of the best films of 2014, Boyhood will almost certainly go down in cinema history. Critics Rating (Rotten Tomatoes): 98% (Superb) Metacritic: 100 (Superb) IMDB: 8.4 (Superb) Entertainment Fuse: 10/10 (Read our Review) DISC DETAILS Special Features: “The 12-Year Project” making-of featurette; and Q&A with Richard Linklater and cast Amazon: $19.99 (Blu-ray); $16.99 (DVD); $4.99/$12.99 (Instant Rent/ Buy) Score (DVDTalk.com): Content: 4.5 stars(out of 5); Video: 4.5 stars; Audio: 4.5 stars; Extras: 2.5 stars; Replay: 4.5 stars. Highly Recommended.   The Guest – (Blu-ray, DVD and Instant) Directed by Adam Wingard Written by Simon Barrett Starring: Dan Stevens, Sheila Kelley, Maika Monroe When a still-grieving family is greeted by their killed-in-action son's military compatriot, they do not hesitate to take him in. When a series of deaths begins to plague their surroundings, they are forced to question their new visitor. A gripping an intense thriller, The Guest provides a fresh take on the action genre. Critics Rating (Rotten Tomatoes): 90% (Excellent) Metacritic: 76 (Very Good) IMDB: 6.7 (Good) Entertainment Fuse: 8/10 (Read our Review) DISC DETAILS Special Features: Deleted scenes; Interview with Dan Stevens; Audio commentary by Adam Wingard and Simon Barrett Amazon: $22.99 (Blu-ray); $23.39 (DVD); $4.99/$14.99 (Instant Rent/ Buy) Score (DVDTalk.com): Content: 3.5 stars(out of 5); Video: 4.5 stars; Audio: 4.5 stars; Extras: 2 stars; Replay: 3 stars. Recommended.   Get On Up – (Blu-ray, DVD and Instant) Directed by Tate Taylor Written by Jez Butterworth (screenplay and story), John-Henry Butterworth (screenplay and story), and Steven Baigelman (story) Starring: Chadwick Boseman, Nelsan Ellis, Dan Aykroyd This biopic of James Brown follows his meteoric rise from poverty to the heights of international stardom. Featuring a great performance by Chadwick Boseman and great direction from Oscar-nominated Tate Taylor, Get on Up is an honest yet fun biography with some soulful music. Critics Rating (Rotten Tomatoes): 80% (Very Good) Metacritic: 71 (Very Good) IMDB: 7.0 (Very Good) Entertainment Fuse: 8/10 (Read our Review) DISC DETAILS Special Features: Audio commentary from Tate Taylor; Deleted scenes; Four full-song performances; “Long Journey to the Screen” featurette; “Meet James Brown” featurette; “The Get on Up Family” featurette with supporting cast; “On Stage with the Hardest Working Man” featurette that explores supporting musicians; “The Founding Father of Funk” featurette with interviews of famous Brown contemporaries; “Tate Taylor's Acting Class” featurette Amazon: $19.99 (Blu-ray); $16.99 (DVD); $4.99/$14.99 (Instant Rent/ Buy) Score (DVDTalk.com): Content: 3.5 stars(out of 5); Video: 5 stars; Audio: 5 stars; Extras: 3.5 stars; Replay: 3 stars. Recommended.   No Good Deed – (Blu-ray, DVD and Instant) Directed by Sam Miller Written by Aimee Lagos Starring: Idris Elba, Taraji P. Henson, Leslie Bibb No Good Deed seeks to show that any small act of kindness can get you killed. In an overdone, exploitive thriller, Elba's Colin is fetishized by the horrors he inflicts upon his victims, while the plot provides little else on which for the audience to focus. Critics Rating (Rotten Tomatoes): 10% (Very Awful) Metacritic: 26 (Woof) IMDB: 5.6 (Okay) DISC DETAILS Special Features: “Making a Thriller” featurette; “The Thrill of a Good Fight” featurette; and “Good Samaritan” featurette Amazon: $19.99 (Blu-ray); $16.99 (DVD); $3.99/$12.99 (Instant Rent/ Buy) Score (DVDTalk.com): Content: 3 stars(out of 5); Video: 4.5 stars; Audio: 4.5 stars; Extras: 2 stars; Replay: 1 stars. Rent It.   Horns – (Blu-ray, DVD and Instant) Directed by Alexandre Aja Written by Keith Bunin (screenplay) and Joe Hill (novel) Starring: Daniel Radcliffe, Juno Temple, Max Minghella In what is ultimately an over-thought, under executed sci-fi mystery, Daniel Radcliffe cannot overcome his English heritage as the small-town, Southern (US) murderer. Horns begins with an interesting set of ideas, yet is ruined by sloppy execution and over-exposition. Aja's direction provides some pretty shots, but it is not enough to elevate the film to anything more than weekend HBO movie background noise. Critics Rating (Rotten Tomatoes): 41% (Bad) Metacritic: 46 (Bad) IMDB: 6.5 (Good) Entertainment Fuse: 8/10 (Read our Review) DISC DETAILS Special Features: Making of Featurette Amazon: $12.99 (Blu-ray); $13.99 (DVD); $6.99/$14.99 (Instant Rent/ Buy) Score (DVDTalk.com): Content: 3 stars(out of 5); Video: 4 stars; Audio: 4.5 stars; Extras: 1 stars; Replay: 2.5 stars. Rent It.   Left Behind – (Blu-ray, DVD and Instant) Directed by Vic Armstrong Written by Jerry B. Jenkins (novel), Tim LaHaye (novel), Paul Lalonde (written by), and John Patus (written by) Starring: Nicolas Cage, Lea Thompson, Cassi Thompson When the Biblical rapture turns out to be a real thing, His Holiness Nicolas Cage is left to fend for himself, and a group of refugees (non-believers, I guess). In standard Nick Cage movie fashion, some stuff happens and 110-minutes later, it's over. Critics Rating (Rotten Tomatoes): 2% (Add this to Boyhood's score and you have 100%) Metacritic: 12 (Just Terrible) IMDB: 3.1 (HAHA) DISC DETAILS Amazon: $14.99 (Blu-ray); $9.99 (DVD); $3.99/$12.99 (Instant Rent/ Buy)   Two Night Stand – (Blu-ray, DVD and Instant) Directed by Max Nichols Written by Mark Hammer Starring: Miles Teller, Analeigh Tipton, Jessica Szohr Whiplash may have pushed Miles Teller to the breaking point, but he is at his charming ways of old in Two Night Stand. Great performances are not able to save the film, however, which suffers from cliché after cliché of romantic comedy nonsense. Critics Rating (Rotten Tomatoes): 32% (Bad) Metacritic: 44 (Bad) IMDB: 6.5 (Good) DISC DETAILS Amazon: $11.99 (DVD); $9.99 (Instant Buy)   The Sword of Doom (1966) – (Criterion Blu-ray) Directed by Kihachi Okamoto Written by Shinobu Hashimoto (screenplay) and Kaizan Nakazato (novel) Starring: Tatsuya Nakadai, Michiyo Aratama, Yûzô Kayama Surrounded by violence, ruthless samurai Ryunosuke (Nakadai) kills without hesitation. A lingering remnant of a bygone era, Ryunosuke's cold-blooded past catches up with him as madness begins to creep in. Critics Rating (Rotten Tomatoes): 71% (Good @ 7 reviews) IMDB: 8.1 (Excellent) DISC DETAILS Special Features: New high-definition digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray edition; Audio commentary featuring film historian Stephen Prince; Trailer; PLUS: An essay by critic Geoffrey O’Brien Amazon: $27.59 (Criterion Blu-ray) The Boys from Brazil (1978) – (Blu-ray) Directed by Franklin J. Schaffner Written by Ira Levin (novel) and Heywood Gould (screenplay) Starring: Lawrence Olivier, Gregory Peck, James Mason A Nazi hunter, Ezra Lieberman (Olivier) follows Dr. Josef Mengele (Peck) into the heart of South America to stop a plot to clone Hitler. Faced with the nightmare of a re-assembling Third Reich, Lieberman is forced to act quickly in this taught and dizzying thriller. Critics Rating (Rotten Tomatoes): 70% (Good @ 27 reviews) IMDB: 7.1 (Very Good) DISC DETAILS Amazon: $17.99 (Blu-ray)