BluRay/DVD: Get high with Kristen & Jesse
Monday, November 30, 2015 at 9:08AM 
Since we haven't done one of these in awhile here is what is new or newish on DVD and BluRay as you try to catch up for your personal year-in-review mania.
• American Ultra - Kristen Stewart and Jesse Eisenberg headline this pot-smoking action comedy. Which begs the question...
• Amy - Glenn recently wondered aloud about the ethics of posthumous privacy invasions but that hasn't stopped audience and critics from rallying around this one.
• Cooties -It only took this horror comedy two years since its Sundance premiere to show up for home entertainment.
• Goodnight Mommy -Jose interviewed the directors of this Austrian horror film, one of the most unusual Oscar submissions for 2015. It's done well at the arthouse, breaking the increasingly difficult 1 million mark
• Grace of Monaco - what a long and tortured ride this biopic starring Nicole Kidman has had, huh? We've been covering it for 3 years! A year and a half since its Cannes debut and one cable premiere later and only now is it on DVD?
• The Man From U.N.C.L.E. -This franchise hopeful adaptation of the spy TV series was a pleasant summer surprise featuring Guy Ritchie's best work in ages, heaps of style, and a disgustingly beautiful cast.
• Meru - An Oscar seeking documentary abou t
• Mississippi Grind - Ryan Reynolds & Ben Mendlesohn are pool sharks
• Mistress America - The latest divisive comedy from Noah Baumbach & Greta Gerwig. I didn't like it much but Jason loved it. As stated, divisive.
• Outlander S1 - Somehow I fell off this series after that super hot super costumed Wedding episode. Should I tune back in?
• Ricki & The Flash -in which Meryl Streep does some of her best and most relaxed work in ages as an aging unsuccessful rocker ... naturally there was little audience reaction and no Oscar buzz as a result! They like to see her sweat for it. Anyway... I liked it. How about you?
• Shaun the Sheep - It shall remain a mystery why this hilarious & sweet Aardman animation effort didn't get US families into theaters to see it (it earned three times as much abroad) considering the absolute garbage parents will take their kids to. The new question is will it be Oscar nominated given the strangely low number of qualifying films in that category this year?
• Stanford Prison Experiment -This ensemble indie (filled with a ton of promising young male actors) about the infamous titular study didn't really catch on but years from now people might look back on it as a "look how many stars are in this!" petri dish.
Reader Comments (9)
I had a lot of fun watching Meryl in Ricky. That's the Meryl I like the most (Prairie, Hope Springs...).
Should you tune back in to Outlander?
NO. I can't believe people are so into this garbage show. There are so many people who give Game of Thrones so much shit, rightfully, and yet go out of their way to defend this show. It's astounding. Torture and rape. Sign me up.
Agreed on Ricki, especially for Diablo Cody's script. But it was so strange how anonymous and sometimes cheap Demme's directing choices were
With Amy, I never felt the movie reconciled how it indicts that invasiveness while being just as invasive. Really limited its impact, though the early performances broke my heart.
Watched "Ricki" this weekend and thought that without Meryl there was basically no movie there. Huge structural problems - she's away from her band for over half the movie so there's no music, then when they finally reunite it's nothing BUT music for a solid chunk. Fun enough, but JUST enough.
Also watched the recent DVD release of "Billy Elliot: The Musical". Good but with very strange tonal decisions - picture a deeply camp musical that also wants to seriously dramatize labor strike politics and economic hardship. Borderline experimental in how it smashes those ideas together.
I am ashamed to say being a brit that i had no idea who Audra Macdonald was but boy did she kill that scene with Meryl.
I enjoyed "Ricki and the Flash" and was thankful such a film got made. (and made it's money back). But I'm not blind to Jonathan Demme not quite being the director he used to be.
Nathaniel & @Elizabeth - I liked Outlander Season 1 and I haven't seen season 2 yet, but I can speak in favour of "Last Kingdom" - you will want to become a Dane. Seriously give it a try.
Shaun the Sheep is brilliant, and I do not understand parents for making "Minions" a hit and ignoring this wonderful, funny film. An Inexcusable lack of taste.
I recently rented Stanford Prison Experiment and couldn't get over the fact that Bertie from The Knick could play someone who seemed so cruel. Overall the film was pretty gripping and forms an interesting companion piece to Experimenter (weirdly enough, I believe Dr. Milgram and Dr. Zimbardo went to high school together).
Amy, Mississippi Grind and Meru are at the top of my queue.
LadyEdith: I'll take Protagonist Destroying Ret-Con for two hundred, Alex? "Which movie superseded prior creator statements that the main character played god with no consequences?"
Was Shaun the Sheep the TV series screened in America? That may have something to do with it. Either way it's one of the best films of the year.