Hot Pursuit (2015) [Blu-Ray/DVD/Digital HD]

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“Hot Pursuit” is another in a long line of half baked festering “Midnight Run” wannabes where our two cast members fail to live up to any expectations of chemistry we might have. For all their talents, Reese Witherspoon and Sofia Vergara can’t muster any kind of friction or tension between them. Instead they come off as bickering harpies that fail to do anything but annoy. And “Hot Pursuit” tries harder than anything to create some memorable laughs, and barely comes up with a chortle in the duration of its goofy ridiculous narrative.

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Tammy (2014): Extended Cut (Blu-ray/ DVD/Digital)

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Ben Falcone and Melissa McCarthy’s “Tammy” is yet another comedy vehicle this year tailored as a vanity film for a specific comic presence that fails on every conceivable level. The movie most of all fails Melissa McCarthy who is much better than this pile of unfunny junk. “Tammy” is specifically tailored for her, and yet she and husband Falcone can never decide what tone they want to run with, they never land even the slightest one-liner, and every effort to make titular Tammy likable is wasted. I’m not even sure what is wrong with Tammy and why she’s comedic. Is she mentally disabled? Is she just naive? Is she the product of coddling and spoiling who just never matured? Is she just a perpetual loser? Are we supposed to laugh at her? Why is watching a human being in constant misery supposed to be funny?

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Pee-wee’s Big Adventure (1985)

peeweesbigadventureTim Burton’s adaptation of the comedy eighties icon is still a film that’s an acquired taste all things considered. Pee Wee begins as a slightly grating presence, but his enthusiasm eventually wins you over. Even to this day easing in to “Pee Wee’s Big Adventure” is a fun and unique fantasy film with Pee Wee Herman managing to entertain with his charismatic presence, unusual voice, and still excellent dance sequence to “Tequila” in a biker bar. I remember just about every kid in the late eighties would at one point imitate Pee Wee’s dance on the pool table.

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The Battery (2012) [Blu-ray]

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After a zombie apocalypse has overtaken most of the country including New England, former baseball players Ben and Mickey have found themselves stuck together. They’re too frightened to be alone, and yet don’t like one another enough to stay together. Thus they form an uneasy pact with one another, roaming the more desolate landscape of New England looking for food, shelter, and new means to keep themselves from going absolutely stir crazy. With the rising population of the dead, and the lack of human contact, it’s becoming a task that’s increasingly difficult to conquer day by day.

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Escape From Garden Grove (2014)

I like how director Mathilde Dratwa’s short tale of coming of age and growing up doesn’t try to be anything but itself. Right until the very end, it’s a cute and very bittersweet tale about accepting adulthood, and the grim realities of being an adult. Sometimes we have to forgive, sometimes we have to forget, and a lot of times running away from problems solves nothing. Martine Moore is adorable as young Sophie, a teenage girl who breaks in to Garden Grove old folks home to break out her grandmother Faye. Faye is a bit eccentric and somewhat odd, but Sophie only feels solace in confiding in her and her alone.

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Nebraska (2013)

In “Nebraska,” Woody Grant is convinced that he’s won a million dollars. So convinced is he that he’s won, that soon everyone begins to believe it. What were once old friends, are now people intent on collecting a debt from him, while old relatives come knocking at his door asking for a hand out. Woody Grant is known as the town degenerate, a man who lived life as a loser and will die a loser, only when he perceives himself as a winner, do people begin to believe he is, and try to exploit that.

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Inside Llewyn Davis (2013)

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Llewyn Davis has just come to a startling realization. The only reason why anyone even knew him was because he was apart of a two man folk group. His partner, who committed suicide, is much more of a well known musical figure than Llewyn ever was, and now Llewyn is facing a life where the art form her cherishes the most will only be able to offer him fame or heart ache. What happens when a second tier musical performer has to carve out his own identity without a partner? Can you achieve fame and wealth without selling out your principles in the end? Does selling out destroy your value as a serious artist?

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