Movies
New On Blu-ray: ‘John Wick: Chapter 2’, ‘LEGO Batman Movie’, ‘Bambi’
John Wick and Batman go toe-to-toe in this week’s new Blu-ray releases. We also have those other “doobie brothers,” Cheech and Chong, as Next Movie makes its high-def debut, plus other notable titles now on Blu-ray!
JOHN WICK: CHAPTER 2
When the first John Wick flick (man, I just love alliteration) came out, I don’t think audiences knew what to expect. The movie was action personified as stunt coordinators turned directors David Leitch and Chad Stahelski serving as conductors to a blood-soaked, bullet-strewn symphony with Keanu Reeves in the title role. Now comes John Wick: Chapter 2, which goes further into Wick’s past as he’s pulled out of retirement by a former associate who wants him to do a “job” so he can usurp power and get a seat at the high table of an international assassin’s guild. Much like the first installment, the sequel ups the body count (and head shots) as Keanu becomes a marked man when Common comes for retribution.
JW:C2 is easily one to the best movies of 2017 on entertainment value alone. Adding Laurence Fishburne to a cast that already includes Ian McShane and Lane Reddick (stars of American Gods and The Wire, respectively) was a nice touch as you got a little Matrix reunion. Arriving on Blu-ray and 4K UHD, the release comes cocked and loaded with director Chad Stahelski and Keanu Reeves holding court on an audio commentary, plus several featurettes about the success of John Wick, the shadow underworld in which Wick operates, and last but not least, the number of kills.
THE LEGO BATMAN MOVIE
If Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice left a bad taste in your mouth, Warner Bros. makes it up to you with a different kind of Batman this year. Batman has been LEGO-fied in The LEGO Batman Movie. Will Arnett (Netflix’s “Bojack Horseman”) lends his vocals to the Caped Crusader, as he did in The LEGO Movie. Only Batman has a bit of a problem. He lacks a sense of humor and he’s not one for the whole we-can-do-it-as-team thing. Being a vigilante you can only do so much on your own. Changes are happening in Gotham City and if Batman is going to save the day, he may have to LEGO of the solo act and work with others for a change.
Picking up where Phil Lord and Chris Miller left off, filmmaker Chris McKay populates this animated hit with lots of callbacks, references and other bric-a-brac (which is perfect because this LEGO movie is full of bricks!). Arriving on Blu-ray and 4K UHD, audiences get plenty of supplements. We have four animated shorts, plus a special look at the upcoming LEGO Ninjago movie; deleted scenes and trailers; and finally four featurettes (the best of which may be the one entitled “One Brick at a Time” – a short but comprehensive look at the making of the film).
BAMBI
As part of Disney’s Diamond Collection series, Bambi made its high-def debut in 2011. Six years later it has returned as part of the studio’s Signature Collection series, joining Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (#01), Beauty and the Beast (#02), and Pinocchio (#03).
Disney is notorious for releasing featured animated titles and then putting them back into the vault, only for them to be re-branded/re-released again. Bambi was released in theaters in 1942 and its development was a painstaking process by the revered Walt Disney and his staff of animators. While the Signature Collection does port over bonus material found on the 2011 release, it is the new material that Disney lovers may find most valuable.
While BackstageOL’s Dave Morales had the pleasure of talking with the men who voiced Bambi (Donnie Dunagan) and Thumper (Peter Behn) – watch the video – this new Blu-ray release is a treasure trove waiting to be unlocked. You get rare audio recordings of the man himself, Walt Disney, as he discusses the challenges of bringing Bambi to life, plus the effect the film has had on animation as a whole since its release 75 years ago. Two deleted scenes (“Bambi’s Ice and Snow,” “The Grasshopper”) and “Africa Before Dark” (an animated short with Oswald the Lucky Rabbit). Finally, there is a featurette on Tyrus Wong, whose concept art inspired the water-colored backgrounds in the film (this extra is exclusive to the digital release).
BEAUTY AND THE BEAST
Beauty and the Beast, the tale as old as time, gets dusted off and brought back to life by Disney, this time as a live-action musical. Starring Emma Watson as Belle, Dan Stevens as the Beast, and Luke Evans as Gaston, the Bill Condon-directed billion-dollar hit arrived to Blu-ray the first Tuesday and June and it is selling hotter than Lumiere the Candelabra.
By now you should know the story of Belle, the well-read, independent woman who, in pre-Hunger Games fashion, offers herself as tribute in place of father to be a prisoner by a beast in his castle. Frightened at first, she begins to befriend the beast’s enchanted staff before ultimately discovering the beast has a kind heart and the soul of a prince.
Disney has spared no expense to ensure fans get the ultimate experience with a loaded high-def release that explores the process of making the Oscar-nominated classic into a live-action feature. From the film’s legacy to the table read to those elaborate musical sequences, Beauty and the Beast has plenty to offer. Vacancies are free to “be our guest” on Blu-ray.
LOGAN
You knew eventually we would get the ultimate Wolverine movie. Hugh Jackman has played the roguish hero for the past seventeen years starring in or making appearances for various X-Men films and projects, including two singular adventures (X-Men Origins: Wolverine and The Wolverine). The first of those two adventures is almost unwatchable, though it did introduce Ryan Reynolds as Deadpool – until Fox executives gave notes to the filmmakers to sew his mouth shut (big mistake!). The second had a poor last act, but at least director James Mangold had a vision of where he wanted to take Jackman’s celebrated character.
That vision is delivered in Logan, a film that echoes motifs found in westerns. Mangold also goes against the grain by making a film that doesn’t play by the rules we expect from most comic-book movies. Logan is gritty and raw with Logan caring for an ailing Professor X (Patrick Stewart) in a compound near the Mexican border. But when Logan is approached to transport an 11-year-old girl to North Dakota, she makes him an offer he can’t pass up. Unfortunately, young Laura (Dafne Keen) is being pursued by a bio-tech firm that looks to liquidate its “assets,” which complicates the situation.
Logan’s arrival on Blu-ray was nicely timed to happen right before Father’s Day as it is a film that channels what it is like to be a caretaker in extreme times. Beyond deleted scenes and a making-of documentary, the special, added attraction is Logan Noir – a black and white version of the film that gives it a distinct look. This version was inspired by the B&W photographs director James Mangold took on set.
GET OUT
Not to be confused with one of Elaine Benes’ signature catchphrases on Seinfeld, Jordan Peele’s filmmaking debut, Get Out, shocked audiences when it was released near the end of February. Described as a “social thriller” – horror with social themes and messages (think Roman Polanski’s Rosemary’s Baby or The Stepford Wives) – Peele’s debut was a hit among critics and audiences, and has the distinction of being the most-successful film from a first-time filmmaker.
But beyond its monetary success (which is more than $245 million worldwide), Get Out is topical horror about race relations. Daniel Kaluuya plays Chris, an African-American, dating Rose (Allison Williams), a white woman. They escape the confines of New York apartment life to spend the weekend at her family’s upstate home with parents Missy (Catherine Keener) and Dean (Bradley Whitford).
There is a feeling-out process with Chris meeting the parents and their over-accommodating behavior. And as the weekend progresses, a series of new discoveries lead Chris to suspect that there’s more to this family than just a difference in skin color.
The Blu-ray gives you an opportunity to see Jordan Peele’s alternate ending as well as more than twenty minutes of deleted scenes (which can be viewed with or without commentary), plus a short behind-the-scenes documentary and even shorter Q&A with Peele and the Cast.
THE GREAT WALL
As we have seen recently with The Mummy, U.S. box office means little when it comes to a movie being a success. Then again, The Great Wall starring Matt Damon has the dubious distinction of making more than $300 million worldwide and is still considered unsuccessful. Pretty much a monster movie with Damon as the star attraction (or maybe the real star was his man-bun and hair extensions), Zhang Yimou’s English-language debut, while visually impressive, plays like a fantasy movie you’d likely see in the 1980s with hackneyed dialogue but with bigger eye candy.
The Great Wall is a fantasy about why the Chinese created such a massive wall that can be seen from space. Joining Damon in the fun is Pedro Pascal along with Jing Tian and Andy Lau, plus screen veteran William Dafoe in a supporting role. Special features include deleted and extended scenes, and six featurettes that explore Matt Damon’s experiences in China, working with Zhang Yimou, and EPK-style packages on the production design, weapons, and the visual effects.
THE TICKET
Dan Stevens, who plays the beast in Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, is not a visual effect in The Ticket but his character James does regain his vision. This miraculous change causes James to do things differently in his life and better himself. New home. Better-paying job. Tailored suits. That’s just the start. But his self-improvement and ambition affects those who know him best: his dutiful wife (Malin Akerman) and friend Bob (Oliver Platt).
The Ticket from filmmaker Ido Fluk feels like Limitless starring Bradley Cooper in some respect, but it is Fluk’s visual style that draws your attention. This title, part of Shout! Factory’s Shout Select line, comes with the original theatrical trailer and an audio commentary with Fluk and writer Sharon Mashihi.
WHERE THE BUFFALO ROAM
Nearly two decades before Johnny Depp and Benicio Del Toro played journalist Raoul Duke and Dr. Gonzo in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, the legendary Bill Murray played Dr. Hunter S. Thompson (writer of Fear and Loathing and several other titles), in Art Linson’s Where the Buffalo Roam.
Murray plays the underground journalist whose passion for writing was a close runner-up to his love of psychedelic drugs and alcohol. Joining Murray in his manic, madcap adventures is Peter Boyle. Together they traverse the sixties and seventies and take in everything from a San Francisco drug trial to a bathroom interview with Presidential candidate Richard Nixon.
When Where the Buffalo Roam was originally released on VHS and DVD, the high cost of music licensing of the soundtrack prevented their inclusion, aside from Neil Young’s score and a song from Credence Clearwater Revival. Shout! Factory has ensured that the comedy is presented with the original music, including songs from Bob Dylan, The Jimi Hendrix Experience, The Temptations, and the Four Tops.
That alone is a good enough reason to pick up this Shout Select release.
CHEECH AND CHONG’S NEXT MOVIE
Rather than title their second feature Up in Smoke 2 or Keep on Puffing, Cheech & Chong simply went with Cheech and Chong’s Next Movie. The famed marijuana comedians, Cheech Marin and Tommy Chong, returned two years after the success of Cheech and Chong’s Up in Smoke with a new comedy full of drug-enhanced misadventures. Cheech must contend with an angry neighbor and deal with losing his job. Oh, and he wants to hook up with Evelyn Guerrero. Sadly, her character is not named Mary Jane.
As for Chong, well he meets Red, Cheech’s cousin, and the two cruise around Hollywood in a Ferrari. But their escapades are far different than what Ferris Bueller did on his day off. Next Movie has plenty of cameos and early film appearances by Paul “Pee-wee Herman” Reubens, Cassandra “Elvira” Petersen, and “Body by Jake” Jake Steinfeld among others.
The extras are sparse but fans will get a new interview with star and co-writer Cheech Marin, radio spots and the theatrical trailer.
If you watch this comedy, my advice is not to see it on an empty stomach. You may get the munchies.
VISION QUEST
Now here is a movie that brings back memories. Vision Quest. Also known as Crazy for You in some parts of the world due to Madonna’s growing popularity at the time (she appears in the film performing the songs “Gambler” and “Crazy for You”), the drama is actually a coming-of-age story about high school wrestler Louden Swain (Matthew Modine) who is determined to drop a weight class so he can challenge the undefeated Shute, the best wrestler in the state. His quest is interrupted with the arrival of Carla (Linda Fiorentino), a drifter passing through town and to whom Louden is now love struck.
Vision Quest is totally ‘80s supported by a Tangerine Dream score, music tracks from Journey, Sammy Hagar, Foreigner, Red Rider (“Lunatic Fringe” FTW!), and supporting characters played by Michael Schoeffing (best remembered as Jake Ryan in Sixteen Candles), Ronny Cox (RoboCop), Forest Whitaker, and Daphne Zuniga (Princess Vespa in Spaceballs). This Warner Archive release gets a nice high-definition remaster and includes the original green- and red-band trailers.
