Movies to watch this fortnight on Blu-Ray and DVD: 50 Shades, more...
Out on 15 June and 22 June
Dakota Johnson accepts her punishment. Chris Hemsworth hacks a computer. Karl Urban turns a loft into a swingers paradise that still functions as a loft. Yes, heres this fortnights new DVD and Blu-Ray releases. Click on for our reviews of 50 Shades Of Grey: Unseen Edition, Selma, Blackhat, The Loft. The Relic, LEGO DC's Justice League Vs Bizarro League, Wild Tales, Digging Up The Marrow, Forty Guns, The Magnet, The Man With The Golden Arm and Love Is Strange. For the best movie reviews, subscribe to Total Film.
FIFTY SHADES OF GREY: UNSEEN EDITION
Youve read E.L. James Etch-A-Sketched sex books (100 million copies sold). Youve bought the gaffer tape (B&Q sent a joke memo warning of increased demand when the movie hit cinemas). Now you can watch Sam Taylor- Johnsons box-office smash in the (dis)comfort of your very own red room. If you dont know the story, its the classic Cinderella tale of virginal student Anastasia Steele (Dakota Johnson) finally getting to go to the balls belonging, in this case, to tumescent Filofax Christian Grey (Jamie Dornan). Call it The Devil Wears Nada and youre nearly there. Dreamy of face but deviant of trouser, Grey is a 15 year olds conception of a brooding antihero. Though he holds Anastasias hair while she pukes, sends her Thomas Hardy novels and squires her off to shagland in his helicopter, hes actually a stalky sex reptile. I dont make love, I fuck hard! he tells her, without laughing. Indeed, Dornan and particularly Johnson deserve credit for keeping straight faces, especially in the Razzie-tastic hardware store scene, which nods to Dornans breakthrough role on TVs The Fall when Anastasia tells Grey, Youre the complete serial killer, and he replies, Not today. The main problem is not that Fifty Shades is bad its slickly made, and the Blu-ray package contains more extras (featurettes, interviews, the three minutes longer unseen edition) than a billionaires BDSM contract but that its not quite bad enough. A bit more self-awareness, and the soulless Mills & Boobs shenanigans would have been comedy gold. EXTRAS: Extended version > Alternate ending > Featurettes (two-disc DVD, BD) > Music videos (BD) Director: Sam Taylor-Johnson Starring: Dakota Johnson, Jamie Dornan Blu-ray release: 22 June 2015 Matt Glasby
SELMA
This isnt right, muses Martin Luther King, Jr. (David Oyelowo) at the beginning of Ava DuVernays study of the 1965 Selma-to-Montgomery marches, a cornerstone of the Civil Rights movement. Hes talking about an askew necktie, yet his comment echoes the surprise when this fine film was largely shut out of awards contention: just one Oscar win (Best Song), with no recognition for DuVernay or Oyelowo. Both deserved at least a nod. Oyelowo flawlessly mimics the iconic ministers baritone in recreations of Kings speeches (remarkable, given rewrites to escape copyright issues). Yet Oyelowos even better showing King in his downtime mulling over tactics, changing bin bags to capture a tender portrait of the exhausting pressure of maintaining the myth. DuVernay, meanwhile, consistently makes brave, brilliant choices, notably for resisting temptations to make a King biopic; instead, its a document of the wider coalition to overturn racist laws restricting black Americans right to vote. Many Hollywood films with black protagonists (even 12 Years A Slave) rely on a white saviour; Selma almost casually subverts the trope. The result is a gripping portrait of grassroots activism. DuVernay maintains a sense of hard-fought procedure, focussing on the how over the why of Selmas importance. As a result, this history lesson doubles as a pertinent call to action. Extras include two commentaries, several featurettes and remarkable newsreel footage from the actual Selma marches. One deleted-scenes highlight is The Wires Wendell Pierce giving in-character court testimony: a masterclass in improvisation. EXTRAS: Commentary > Featurette Director: Ava DuVernay Starring: David Oyelewo, Tom Wilkinson, Tim Roth, Carmen Ejogo Blu-Ray release: 15 June 2015 Simon Kinnear
BLACKHAT
Michael Manns prescient tech-thriller disappeared in a nano-second in cinemas, but dont let that deter you. Chris Hemsworth plays jailed hacker Nicholas Hathaway, unjailed by the FBI to hunt the cyber-criminal (or blackhat hacker) who used his code to cause a Chinese nuclear reactor meltdown. Theres strong support from Viola Davis and Wei Tang (Lust, Caution), while Manns flair for style, atmosphere and detail is very much present. No, its not Heat at times the mildly ludicrous plot teeters on self-parody but even so, hes still the man(n). Three short, smart featurettes and thats your lot. EXTRAS: Featurettes (BD) Director: Michael Mann Starring: Chris Hemsworth, Tang Wei, Holt McCallany, Wang Leehom, Viola Davis Blu-ray release: 22 June 2015 James Mottram
THE LOFT
Shot in 2011 but only now getting a release, Eric Van Looys US version of his own 2008 Belgian thriller (itself remade in Holland in 2010) shows you cant keep a good idea down. The plot sees five guys (Karl Urban, James Marsden, Matthias Schoenaerts, Wentworth Miller and Modern Familys Eric Stonestreet) sharing a secret apartment for their extra-marital affairs until murder comes a-knocking. Stylish and competently performed, its relatively compelling despite some despicable sexual politics (Schoenaerts assertion that, You cant rape a whore, being a particular low point), but if they remake it again, they should definitely call Neil LaBute. EXTRAS: None Director: Erik Van Looy Starring: Karl Urban, Wentworth Miller, James Marsden, Isabel Lucas Blu-ray release: 15 June 2015 Matt Glasby
THE RELIC
Tom Sizemore and Penelope Ann Miller have a bad night at the museum in Alien-indebted creature feature whose reptilian monster a brain-eating beastie from the Amazon jungle proves markedly more memorable than its two-dimensional characters. The fact that said museum is holding a black-tie benefit just as this fanged menace leaps back to life is only par for the course in a pic with as many clichs as corpses, not to mention a veritable whos who of B-movie mavens (Linda Hunt, Constance Towers, James Whitmore) propping up its cast. Director Peter Hyams makes sure that everyone screams on cue. EXTRAS: None Director: Peter Hyams Starring: Penelope Ann Miller, Tom Sizemore, Linda Hunt, James Whitmore Blu-ray release: 15 June 2015 Neil Smith
LEGO DC's Justice League Vs Bizarro League
While the live-action Justice League is still waiting in the wings, the LEGO version is already up and running; following on from 2013s DC Super Heroes Unite (itself spun off from the LEGO Batman games) this sees the Caped Crusader, Superman and chums take on a collection of less competent doppelgngers of themselves. The humours sharp, the animation crisp and Tony Todd lends his Candyman voice to Darkseid, making passable entertainment out of what is essentially a 45-minute computer-animated toy/game advert. Adding value is the 30-min TV special Batman Be-Leaguered, which bags its own faux-blooper reel. EXTRAS: Featurettes > Gag reel Director: Brandon Vietti Starring: Diedrich Bader, Troy Baker, John DiMaggio Blu-ray release: 15 May 2015 Stephen Puddicombe
WILD TALES
Revenge is a dish best served as a buffet: here, six snack-sized tales cohere into a wickedly satirical meal. Capturing the variety of vengeance from the perspective of perpetrators and victims (sometimes both at once), Argentinean director Damin Szifron has a Tarantino-esque command of his unpredictable, ghoulishly funny narratives. Theres a steady build up of societal anger in the stories collective tussle between haves and have-nots most literally in the films aptly-named highpoint, The Strongest, a madly escalating stand-off between yuppie and redneck. EXTRAS: Making Of > Director interview Director: Damin Szifron Starring: Ricardo Darn, Oscar Martnez, Leonardo Sbaraglia, rica Rivas Blu-ray release: 15 June 2015 Simon Kinnear
DIGGING UP THE MARROW
Genre director Adam Green (the Hatchet franchise) receives a letter from a fan purporting to have found real monsters living underground in his local woods. He grabs a cameraman and sets out to investigate An affectionate mockumentary, Digging Up The Marrow might have worked better if Green was a stronger actor or if hed hired an unknown rather than Twin Peaks Ray Wise as the fan. Still, theres fun to be had, with Green tipping his baseball cap to the horror genre as a whole and to Nightbreed and Blair Witch in particular. EXTRAS: Featurette > Deleted scenes Director: Adam Green Starring: Ray Wise, Adam Green DVD release: 22 June 2015 Jamie Graham
FORTY GUNS
When it came to playing tough, cynical dames few actors could equal Barbara Stanwyck, who hit her peak as ranch owner Jessica Drummond in Sam Fullers delirious western. The set-ups nothing new: Jessica has the sheriff in her pocket; her sidekicks terrorise the townsfolk until a visiting marshal (Barry Sullivan) restores order. But Fuller shakes emotion and violence together in a cocktail of near-operatic passion. Game as ever, Stanwyck insisted on doing her own stunts, including being dragged along the ground for a hundred yards behind a horse. EXTRAS: Interviews > Booklet Director: Samuel Fuller Starring: Barbara Stanwyck, Barry Sullivan, Gene Barry Blu-Ray release: 22 June 2015 Philip Kemp
THE MAGNET
Despite Ealing Studios rep as a purveyor of post-war classics, not everything it touched turned to gold. This very slight and only occasionally amusing comedy follows a boy (a young James Fox!) who cons a friend out of his magnet then spends the rest of the film wrestling with his conscience. Stilted, very 50s child turns dont help, and the problems old-school Brit films had depicting anyone not from the south of England persist. But anything Ealing has a twin role as film and time capsule, which means theres at least some interest here. EXTRAS: Interviews > Booklet Director: Charles Frend Starring: Stephen Murray, Kay Walsh, James Fox DVD release: 15 June 2015 Philip Kemp
LOVE IS STRANGE
Ira Sachs minimalist drama explores an everyday, practical side of love rarely seen on screen. It centres on ageing gay couple Ben (John Lithgow) and George (Alfred Molina), who must sell the apartment they can no longer afford, and live separately while they look for somewhere else. Performed with deft nuance by Lithgow and Molina, its a dramatic situation thats played out in scenes of well-observed mundanity rather than grand gestures. The depiction of passive-aggressiveness as the pair outstay their respective welcomes is particularly on point. A slow-burner for sure, but all the more resonant for it. EXTRAS: None Director: Ira Sachs Starring: John Lithgow, Alfred Molina DVD release: 15 June 2015 Stephen Kelly
THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN ARM
Fresh from prison, Frank Sinatras ex-con is drawn to a window advertising BEER in screen-wide letters. Inside, some dope battles temptation Otto Premingers problem film doesnt do subtle, and the big mans jazzy riff on Nelson Algrens smack-abuse novel nearly gave censors a hernia. Elmer Bernsteins score maxes the tension and two killer set-pieces grip tight: Sinatras harrowing cold-turkey convulsions and his audition for a jazz-drumming gig after a three-day bender, a scene (Whip)lashed with jittery tension. EXTRAS: > Gallery Director: Otto Preminger Starring: Frank Sinatra, Eleanor Parker, Kim Novak DVD, BD release: 22 June 2015 Kevin Harley