This week on home video, we’ve got four films that were based on real events or real people, and two of them are up for Oscars in a couple weeks. Then, we’ve also got a pair of HBO shows and a pair of new releases from the Criterion Collection. Read on for details:
Michael Fassbender and Kate Winslet star in Danny Boyle‘s Certified Fresh biopic of the Apple founder, which focuses on three of his major product launches, as well as his sometimes rocky interpersonal relations. A making-of doc and two audio commentary tracks are included.
This Certified Fresh drama profiles the life of notorious Irish mobster Whitey Bulger (Johnny Depp), who collaborates with the FBI to bring down the Italian mafia. Special features include a collection of interviews with the cast, a featurette on Depp’s transformation into Bulger, and an hourlong profile of the real life manhunt for Bulger.
Bryan Cranston stars in this drama about the prolific Hollywood writer who, along with several others, was jailed for his political beliefs and fought against the notion of the “blacklist.” Only two extras are listed for the release: a short collection of anecdotes about Trumbo and a look at Cranston’s makeup process.
Antonio Banderas and Juliette Binoche star in this retelling of the heroic 2010 rescue of 33 Chilean miners who became trapped underground when their mine collapsed. Bonus features include a look back at the collapse and the worldwide media attention it received.
Mark Duplass (who produces the series alongside brother Jay) and Amanda Peet star in HBO’s Certified Fresh series about a struggling married couple who take in the husband’s friend and the wife’s sister when they fall on hard times. Each disc comes with behind-the-scenes material for every episode and deleted scenes.
Another one of HBO’s popular comedies, Girls centers on four young women (Lena Dunham, Allison Williams, Jemima Kirke, and Zosia Mamet) trying to navigate life and love in New York City. The Certified Fresh fourth season set comes with lots of extras, including gag reels, deleted scenes, extended scenes, a making-0f doc, episode recaps, and more.
And lastly, the first of two Criterion releases is Charlie Chaplin’s 1921 feature debut, which centers on his “tramp” character as he finds and adopts a kidnapped baby and raises it as his own. Special features include a new video essay, footage of Chaplin conducting the score for the film, a silent short film featuring Chaplin and his co-star, Jackie Coogan, and lot of other goodies.
Criterion’s second release this week is a rather underseen social satire by Japan’s Nagisa Oshima, about a Korean man set to hang for murder who survives the execution but contracts amnesia, forcing the authorities to reenact the crime to jog his memory. The new Blu-ray comes with a new interview with critic Tony Rayns and a hi-def transfer of a 1965 experimental short documentary that Oshima filmed.
