Top Hits
Divergent (action, Shailene Woodley. Rotten Tomatoes: 41%. Metacritic: 48. From Manohla Dargis’ New York Times review: “So, yea for Divergent, a dumb movie that I hope makes major bank if only as a reminder of the obvious: Women can drive big and little movies, including the pricey franchises that fire up the box office and the culture. To do so, though, they’re going to need directors who can handle the demands of an industrial production like this and a script that obscures rather than emphasizes the weakness of the source material. A good action choreographer will be crucial, as will decent hair and makeup.” Read more…)
Need For Speed (action, Aaron Paul. Rotten Tomatoes: 22%. Metacritic: 39. From A.O. Scott’s New York Times review: “Based on a popular series of racing-themed video games, Need for Speed sums up its appeal in the title. An energetic, unpretentious B movie — the kind best seen at a drive-in like the one in an early scene — it is devoted, above all, to the delivery of visceral, kinetic excitement. In the game, you are at the wheel. Watching other people drive is never as much fun, so the movie, directed by Scott Waugh from a script by George Gatins, supplies a few passenger seat distractions. In addition to velocity, you may need some emotion.” Read more…)
Oculus (horror, Karen Gillan. Rotten Tomatoes: 74%. Metacritic: 61. From Ben Kenigsberg’s New York Times review: “Don’t try to outwit a haunted mirror: It can see you. That’s the moral of Oculus, derivative but efficient chiller that cribs from Solaris, The Shining and The Amityville Horror yet also shows glimmers of imagination. Based on the director Mike Flanagan’s own 2006 short, Oculus sticks to a modest scale.” Read more…)
I’ll Follow You Down (sci-fi/drama, Gillian Anderson. Rotten Tomatoes: 25%.)
Eddie Izzard: Live at Madison Square Garden (stand-up comedy, Eddie Izzard)
New Blu-Ray
Divergent
New Classics (pre-1960)
The Lost Moment (1947, drama/thriller, Robert Cummings. From Bosley Crowther’s 1947 New York Times review [requires log-in]: “It is an old, gray palazzo in Venice, haunted by ghosts and mysteries, that is the scene of Walter Wanger’s The Lost Moment, which the credits allow is based upon Henry James’ ‘The Aspern Papers’ and which came to the Winter Garden yesterday. But it is just an old, gray psychological thriller that transpires in this locale—a thriller injected with a romance of a sort that Mr. James never dreamed.” Read more…)
New British
Last Tango In Halifax: Season 2 (drama series, Derek Jacobi. Rotten Tomatoes: 100%. Metacritic: 78.)
New Children’s DVDs
American Girl: Isabelle Dances Into the Spotlight