The following Blu-rays and DVDs are being released on Tuesday, Dec. 20, unless otherwise noted:
Sully (Blu-ray + DVD + Ultraviolet) Details: 2016, Warner Home Video Rated: PG-13, dangerous situations, language The lowdown: Tom Hanks (who else?) stars as Capt. Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger in this recreation of the “Miracle on the Hudson” during which Sullenberger and co-pilot Jeff Skiles, played by Aaron Eckhart, landed their disabled jetliner on the Hudson River, saving all 155 people aboard. But that was not dramatic enough for the filmmakers, including director Clint Eastwood, who seem to always need an antagonist. And since geese would not do, they created their own villains — the members of the board that investigated the incident, nearly turning it into an inquisition of Sullenberger. That is the major flaw of this otherwise fine feature that grabs you and holds you tightly as it slowly displays the calm, professionalism and quiet heroics of the Sullenberger and his crew. Technical aspects: Blu-ray: 1080p high definition, 2.40:1 (16x9 enhanced) widescreen picture; English Dolby Atmos, English 5.1 descriptive audio and English, French and Spanish 5.1 Dolby digital; English SDH, French and Spanish subtitles; DVD: 2.40:1 (16x9 enhanced) widescreen picture; English, Spanish and French 5.1 Dolby digital; English 5.1 descriptive audio; English SDH, French and Spanish subtitles. Don’t miss: Extras include a profile of Sullenberger; a step-by-step explanation of what happened to Flight 1549 as told by Sullenberger, Skiles and air traffic controller Patrick Harten; and a featurette on the making of the movie.
Storks (Blu-ray + DVD + Ultraviolet) Details: 2016, Warner Home Video Rated: PG, mild action, thematic elements The lowdown: An animated feature that deals with the changing role of storks, which used to deliver babies, but now carry packages for a global Internet retail corporation. Junior (voiced by Andy Samberg) is the company’s top delivery stork who is about to get a promotion. But a mishap on his watch accidentally activates the Baby Factory, which produces an adorable baby girl. To save his promotion — and job — Junior and his friend, Tulip, must deliver this new bundle of joy before the boss discovers the error. Kids will enjoy this adventure, which also features the vocal talents of Kelsey Grammer, Jennifer Aniston, Ty Burrell, Keegan-Michael Key, Jordan Peel, Danny Trejo and Katie Crown. Technical aspects: Blu-ray: 1080p high definition, 2.40:1 (16x9 enhanced) widescreen picture; English 7.1 DTS-HD Master Audio; English 5.1 descriptive audio and French and Spanish 5.1 Dolby digital; English SDH, French and Spanish subtitles; DVD: 2.40:1 (16x9 enhanced) widescreen picture; English, French and Spanish 5.1 Dolby digital; English 5.1 audio descriptive; English SDH, Spanish and French subtitles. Don’t miss: Bonus materials include an animated short, “Storks: Guide to Your New Baby”; A LEGO Ninjago short, “The Master”; deleted scenes; a music video; outtakes; and a commentary track.
Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children (Blu-ray + DVD + digital HD) Release date: Dec. 13 Details: 2016, Fox Home Entertainment Rated: PG-13, intense sequences of fantasy action, danger and violence The lowdown: Tim Burton directed this fantasy feature about 16-year-old Jake (Asa Butterfield) who discovers a home for children with special abilities run by Miss Peregrine (Eva Green). He soon realizes his own place in this new and strange world and how his own peculiar abilities can help save the other children under Miss Peregrine’s charge from their timeless enemies. The cast also includes Judi Dench, Samuel L. Jackson, Chris O’Dowd, Allison Janney, Rupert Everett and Terence Stamp. Technical aspects: Blu-ray: 1080p high definition, 1.85:1 widescreen picture; English 7.1 DTS-HD Master Audio, English 5.1 descriptive audio and Spanish and French 5.1 Dolby digital; English SDH, French and Spanish subtitles; DVD: 1.85:1 widescreen picture; English 5.1 Dolby digital; English 5.1 descriptive audio and Spanish and French 2.0 Dolby digital surround; English SDH, French and Spanish subtitles. Don’t miss: Supplemental components include featurettes on the stories, the character and their peculiarities, a “Hollows and Ex-Hollows” featurette, a map of Miss Peregrine’s home and Blackpool Tower, a music video and a gallery of sketches.
Don’t Think Twice (Blu-ray + DVD + Ultraviolet) Release date: Dec. 6 Details: 2016, Universal Studios Home Entertainment Rated: R, language, drug use The lowdown: This very entertaining feature is a bittersweet and sad comedy. And, while that may seem contradictory, the film’s premise supports that notion. The movie, written and directed by Mike Birbiglia, centers on an improv comedy troupe, called The Commune and the drama that commences when one of its members leaves to join the cast of “Weekend Live,” a late-night TV comedy show, modeled after “Saturday Night Live.” The film is a case study of envy and jealousy, as members of the troupe react in various ways to the defection of one of their own for a more popular, mainstream and higher-paying venue. A heavy air of desperation weighs on “Don’t Think Twice.” The troupe members all frantically seek validation, recognition and — most importantly — praise from each other, celebrities, students, family and audience members. While they continually extol the virtues of improvisation and their little family, they all want to crack the mainstream of show business, instead of clinging to the sidelines. “Don’t Think Twice” will make you laugh. It also may make you cry. And it will give you an appreciation of those brave souls who step out on a stage every night to take our minds off our problems and make us laugh at the world, them — and ourselves. Technical aspects: Blu-ray: 1080p high definition, 2.40:1 widescreen picture; English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio; English SDH, French and Spanish subtitles; DVD: 2.40:1 anamorphic widescreen picture; English 5.1 Dolby digital; English SDH, Spanish and French subtitles. Don’t miss: Extras include improv deleted scenes, a look at the film’s creative team, a featurette on The Commune and another on the art of improvisation.
Bridget Jones’s Baby (Blu-ray + DVD) Release date: Dec. 13 Details: 2016, Universal Studios Home Entertainment Rated: R, nudity, language, sexual references The lowdown: Renee Zellweger returns as Bridget Jones who, in this outing is in are 40s and single again after breaking up with Mark Darcy (Colin Firth). Bridget decides to forget about love and concentrate on her job and surrounding herself with old and new friends. That all changes, of course, when she meets a charming American named Jack (Patrick Dempsey), and all her resolutions are forgotten. Bridget soon finds herself pregnant, the only problem is, she is not sure which of the two men in her life is the father. You won’t know either, unless you watch this engaging comedy, which received a 77 percent positive rating at Rottentomatoes.com. Technical aspects: Blu-ray: 1080p high definition, 2.40:1 widescreen picture; English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio, English 2.0 descriptive audio and Spanish and French 5.1 DTS digital surround; English SDH, French and Spanish subtitles; DVD: 2.40:1 anamorphic widescreen picture; English, French and Spanish 5.1 Dolby digital and English 2.0 descriptive audio; English SDH, French and Spanish subtitles. Don’t miss: Bonus offerings include an alternate ending, deleted and alternate scenes, a gag reel and a making of featurette.
Star Trek: The Original Series — The Roddenberry Vault (Blu-ray) Release date: Dec. 13 Details: 1966-69, CBS Blu-ray-Paramount Home Entertainment Rated: Not rated The lowdown: This three-disc set, which celebrates this timeless TV series’ 50th anniversary, features 12 classic and fan-favorite episodes, including “City on the Edge of Forever,” “The Devil in the Dark,” “The Trouble With Tribbles,” “Return to Tomorrow,” “Mirror, Mirror,” “The Corbonite Maneuver,” “Arena,” “Space Seed,” “This Side of Paradise,” “Operation — Annihilate!,” “Metamorphosis” and “Who Mourns for Adonais?” The lure of this set is the materials discovered and preserved in film canisters by the Roddenberry estate, all of which are relevant to the selected episodes. Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 4x3 full-screen picture; English 7.1 DTS-HD Master Audio and English, Italian, German and Spanish Castilian monaural; English SDH, Italian, German, Spanish Castilian, Danish, Finnish, Norwegian and Swedish subtitles. Don’t miss: Hours of great bonus features including a three-part documentary hosted by Rod Roddenberry that goes inside the vault to explain the historical significance of the newly discovered materials with interviews with “Star Trek” alumni and historians; “Star Trek: Revisiting a Classic” looks at the origins of the series, including behind-the-scenes, on-set shots and interviews with guest stars, directors and production people; “Strange New Worlds: Visualizing the Fantastic” looks at the creation of spaceships, transporters and the show’s visuals. Among the personnel interviewed are, of course, William Shatner, as well as writers Dorothy “D.C.” Fontana, David Gerrold and John D.F Black, director Ralph Senensky and guest stars Clint Howard, Barbara Luna, Leslie Parrish, Michael Forest, Elinor Donahue and Charles Brill. Another extra that will intrigue fans is “Swept Up: Snippets from the Cutting Room Floor.” Commentary tracks and isolated music tracks also are included on many episodes.
50 Years with Peter, Paul and Mary Release date: Dec. 9 Details: 2014, MVD Visual Entertainment Rated: Not rated The lowdown: A very enjoyable documentary that features rare and unseen television footage including a BBC program from the early 1960s that includes the folk trio’s most notable songs. The movie covers not only the performances of Peter, Paul and Mary, but their social activism, including the Civil Rights and anti-war movements, that continues to this day. Such iconic hits as “Leaving on a Jet Plane,” “Where Have All the Flowers Gone,” “Blowin’ in the Wind” and “Puff, the Magic Dragon” are included. Technical aspects: Dolby digital stereo.
“Hellraiser: The Scarlet Box Limited Edition Trilogy” (Blu-ray) Details: 1987-92, Arrow Video Rated: R, graphic violence, language The lowdown: A four-disc set featuring “Hellraiser” and its two sequels, “Hellbound: Hellraiser II” and “Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth.” The movies stirred much talk among horror fans upon their release. Author Clive Barker unleased “Hellraiser” in 1987, making Pinhead, a popular genre figure on the scale of Michael Myers, Jason Voorhees and Freddy Krueger. The movies deal with the Cenobites, demonic entities from another dimension, who eventually want to bring their hellish world into ours. The sequels did not measure up to the original, but still offer enough chills that most fans of the first one enjoyed them. These Blu-rays present all three films in sharp, new 2K transfers. Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 1.85:1 widescreen picture; English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio and LPCM 2.0 stereo (“Hellraiser” and “Hellbound: Hellraiser II”) and 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio (“Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth”); English SDH subtitles. Don’t miss: Hours of bonus materials including documentaries on the making of the three movies; commentary tracks on the movies; interviews with actor Sean Chapman; a featurette on the “Hellraiser’s” abandoned musical score; vintage and archival featurettes on the making of the movies; on-set cast and crew interviews; BD-ROM draft screenplays; an alternate unrated version of “Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth”; and a disc centered on Barker, with short films he shot, discussions of his literary works, a featurette looking at the evolution of the “Hellraiser” franchise and a short film, “The Hellraiser Chronicles: A Question of Faith.”
The Man Who Skied Down Everest (Blu-ray) Release date: Dec. 13 Details: 1975, The Film Detective Rated: G The lowdown: This Academy Award-winning documentary tells the story of Japanese alpinist Yuichiro Miura and his attempt to ski down Mt. Everest in 1970. The movie’s narrator, Douglas Rain, reads from Miura’s daily diary, giving his thoughts as Miura ascends the mountain. This turned out to be a tragic enterprise as several people died helping Miura achieve his dream. Miura successfully skies down the mountain, using a parachute to brake his decent, as he stops just shy of a crevasse that would have claimed his life. Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 2.35:1 widescreen picture; English, Spanish and French Dolby digital; English closed-captioning.
Western Union (DVD-R) Release date: Nov. 15 Details: 1941, Fox Cinema Archives Rated: Not rated The lowdown: An early Technicolor Western starring Randolph Scott as a good-bad man, Robert Young, Dean Jagger and Barton MacLane as Scott’s bad-man brother. The usual cast of Fox supporting players, including John Carradine, Chill Wills and Slim Summerville, also are featured in the movie, directed by Fritz Lang. Virginia Gilmore plays the obligatory love interest. The story, as the title notes, deals with the stringing of the wires that Western Union will use to unite the nation and the opposition the company faces. The release is a made-on-demand DVD-R from the Fox Cinema Archive series and can be found at www.foxconnect.com or other online dealers. Technical aspects: 4x3 full-screen picture.
Coney Island (DVD-R) Release date: Nov. 15 Details: 1943, Fox Cinema Archives Rated: Not rated The lowdown: Betty Grable stars in this splashy 20th Century Fox Technicolor musical who starts out as a saloon singer, but is transformed into a refined chanteuse. Along the way, of course, she finds love and heartbreak. The movie, directed by Fox regular Walter Lang, costars George Montgomery and Cesar Romero. Also along for comedy relief are Charles Winninger and Phil Silvers. The feature is a made-on-demand DVD-R from the Fox Cinema Archives series and can be found at www.foxconnect.com or other Internet retailers. Technical aspects: 4x3 full-screen picture.
DIGITAL DOWNLOADS and STREAMING Deepwater Horizon (Lionsgate Home Entertainment) A Place to Call Home, Series 4 (Acorn TV, Dec. 25) The Brokenwood Mysteries, Series 3 (Acorn TV, Dec. 25 Close to the Enemy (Acorn TV, Dec. 26)
Coming next week: American Honey A Man Called Ove
Bob Bloom is a member of the Indiana Film Journalists Association. He reviews movies, Blu-rays and DVDs for ReelBob (ReelBob.com), The Film Yap and other print and online publications. He can be reached by email at bobbloomjc@gmail.com. You also can follow Bloom on Twitter @ReelBobBloom and on Facebook. Movie reviews by Bloom also can be found at Rottentomatoes: www.rottentomatoes.com.