This week on home video, we’ve got a couple of Oscar nominees (including one that actually took home a trophy), a much anticipated book adaptation for the ladies, a few Certified Fresh TV seasons, and a number of smaller films of varying degrees of quality. Read on for the full list.
Maybe if David Oyelowo had shaved his eyebrows like Steve Carell, he would have edged him out for the Best Actor nomination. We’ll never know, though, and if you’re a voting member of AMPAS, you’re probably satisfied with Selma‘s Best Song win. On the other hand, pretty much everyone else though Oyelowo’s portrayal of Martin Luther King, Jr. during the pivotal 1965 marches in Alabama deserved more recognition. Selma depicts King’s efforts to spur legislative reexamination of voting rights for African-Americans, ultimately resulting in the passage of the Voting Rights Act, thanks to a number of peaceful marches he helped orchestrate. Few critics had anything negative to say about the film, and Oyelowo’s performance was a big part of the reason it notched a Certified Fresh 99 percent on the Tomatometer. Both timely and historically significant, this is probably worth a watch. Unless, you know, you hate freedom.
What famously began as Twilight fan-fiction and culminated in a hugely successful — but critically panned — big screen adaptation has come and gone from theaters, but if you missed your chance to see Dakota Johnson’s boobs projected across 100-foot screens on Valentine’s Day, the DVD/Blu-ray comes out this week. Oh, there’s other stuff in the movie, of course, like Jamie Dornan as Christian Grey, the handsome billionaire with an S&M fetish, Marcia Gay Harden as Christian’s mother, a helicopter, and some whips. But this is only the first installment of a planned trilogy based on the novels by E.L. James (formerly known as E.L. Fudge), so plucky Anastasia Steele (Johnson) has two more movies to convince Christian to open up and spank her more affectionately. The critics gave Fifty Shades of Grey a 25 percent, but if you’re watching this, you know what you’re getting into, and the score is probably of little significance.
Mr. Turner (2014) (98 percent), starring Timothy Spall in Mike Leigh’s Oscar-nominated biopic of British painter J.M.W. Turner.
Winter Sleep (2014) (88 percent), a Certified Fresh Turkish drama about a man, his wife, and his sister experiencing a bleak winter holed up in the hotel he owns and runs.
Black Sea (2015) (82 percent), starring Jude Law and Scoot McNairy in Kevin Macdonald’s Certified Fresh thriller about a submarine captain who puts together a crew to go after a sunken treasure.
Amira & Sam (2015) (74 percent), starring Jay Baruchel and Dina Shihabi in a romantic comedy about a war vet who falls for the Iraqi woman who seeks shelter with him after encountering immigration troubles.
The Last 5 Years (2015) (60 percent), starring Anna Kendrick and Jeremy Jordan in an adaptation of the musical about a novelist who falls in love with a struggling actress.
Miss Julie (2014) (48 percent), starring Jessica Chastain and Colin Farrell in Liv Ullmann’s drama about a man and woman in 1800s Ireland engaged in a game of seduction and repulsion over the course of one night.
Black or White (2015) (37 percent), starring Kevin Costner and Octavia Spencer in a drama about a man battling for custody of his mixed-race granddaughter with her paternal grandmother.
Lost River (2015) (30 percent), starring Christina Hendricks in Ryan Gosling’s directorial debut, about a mother trying to protect her sons in a dreamlike version of Detroit.
Parenthood: Season Six (2014) (100 percent), as well as the complete series box set, are both available on DVD.
Masters of Sex: Season Two (2014) (97 percent), starring Michael Sheen and Lizzy Caplan, is available on DVD and Blu-ray.
Broadchurch: Season Two (2015) (85 percent), starring David Tennant and Olivia Colman, is also available on DVD & Blu-ray.
Halt and Catch Fire: Season One (2014) (78 percent), starring Mackenzie Davis and Lee Pace, is available on DVD and Blu-ray.
