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The Best 6 DVD/Blu-ray And Streaming Releases of November 2013

By Jodi Smith | DVD Releases | December 1, 2013 |

By Jodi Smith | DVD Releases | December 1, 2013 |


Man of Steel: “The key players involved (Cavill, Adams, Shannon) as well as the secondary characters — Christopher Meloni and Harry Lennix as steely military men trying to decide whether or not they can trust Superman, and Costner and Lane as the forces that shaped his moral compass — are all, for the most part, terrific. Cavill plays the role with a sense of wistful loneliness, a man who has resigned himself to the fact that he will always be apart from humanity, even as he tries to save it. Shannon is a psychotic force of nature, a megalomaniacal fury who sees nothing but what he has convinced himself is right, and he’ll destroy anything in his path. Adams, meanwhile, is given curiously little to do once her investigative stint is over, and instead she spends the second half of the film being thrown from high places so that Superman can catch her (although she’s redeemed with a critical role in the film’s resolution). That said, for the first half the character is a shrewd investigator and overall, she’s a thoroughly likable character.” - TK

Frances Ha: “Most importantly of all, the film isn’t entirely about romantic love, for once. There isn’t some looming romance meant to destroy or solve everything about Frances. She is basically just trying to live well, but without much understanding of what that means for her future. Living uncertainly, in a world of people our own age who seem to be adults, is the hallmark of the late twenty-something, and Baumbach especially is gifted at capturing and conveying that feeling of restless uncertainty. As in his very, very fine film Kicking and Screaming, there’s moments and sentences that feel drawn from the very quintessential core of what it is to be alive, giving voice to what lay silent inside us for so long. Frances Ha is drawn from the same well of deep understanding.” - Amanda Mae Meyncke

We’re the Millers: “The film works because there really is some excellent chemistry among the leads and supporting players, particularly Sudeikis and Aniston. Sudeikis can pretty much play this role in his sleep, but Aniston, in a toned-down, less malicious version of her hypersexualized Horrible Bosses character, really shines once again. Her post-“Friends” career hasn’t been entirely smooth, but she seems to have found a niche in playing brassy, ballsy women who take little sh*t but give plenty back. Here she’s a solid foil for Sudeikis, and their contentious-yet-charming relationship works better than one might expect. Roberts and Poulter round out the foursome nicely, playing opposite ends of the teenage spectrum off of each other with a scathing cleverness by Roberts and Poulter’s loopy sweetness. As for Offerman and Hahn, I expected for their shtick to grow old, yet it actually worked well as a contrast to the dysfunctional wickedness of the fictional Millers.” - TK

2 Guns: “Does the story make much sense? Shut the fuck up. Does Denzel shoot a gun? Why yes, yes he does. On more than a few occasions, in fact. He whips that bitch out, flashes that Denzel grin, and blows his Denzel all over everyone. Does Denzel blow up shit and walk away casually with his back turned to the explosion? You’re goddamn right he does, and Marky Mark stands back and goes all Jesse Pinkman “Yeah Bitch!” on the joint because that’s what you do when Denzel is being Denzel. Is it a good movie? Again, shut the fuck up. Denzel is in it, isn’t he? Well, then, that’s a stupid fucking question, asshole.” - Dustin Rowles

Red 2: “…the sequel does little to deviate from the formula that made the original so enjoyable, and as a result is a fun, modestly exciting, occasionally hilarious summer flick that I can safely recommend, even as I acknowledge that the film isn’t particularly well-scripted or creative, and is unlikely to be particularly memorable. The plot is much the same — Frank (Bruce Willis) is still trying his hand at retirement, much to the chagrin of his action-starved girlfriend Sarah (Mary-Louise Parker), when he finds out that due to a series of nefarious machinations, a contract has been taken out on him. He’s once again joined by the madcap (though much more subdued this time around) Marvin (John Malkovich). He’s stalked by the world’s best assassin’s, including old friend Victoria (the always-luminous Helen Mirren) and Han (Byung-hun Lee), and encounters an oddball assortment of villains, criminals, weirdos and wackos, including Anthony Hopkins as a kooky genius, Catherine Zeta-Jones as the femme fatale from Frank’s past, and a brilliantly menacing Neal McDonough as the government spook hunting them down.” - TK

The World’s End: “The bottom line is that this movie is fantastic. It is a combination of funny and tragic in a way that reminds me of what might be the result if Joss Whedon tried his hand at making a comedy instead of an adventure.

I expected a quality entertaining movie given the cast and director. It never occurred to me that it would also be something to make one ponder.” - Steven Lloyd Wilson