Now Available to Own: Home, The Water Diviner, and White God

Brace your bank accounts, it’s time to see what’s Now Available to Own for the week of July 28, 2015. Every Tuesday we run down new movie, television, and video game releases that you can enjoy in the comfort of your own home, as well as some slick deals that can save you some coin. New on shelves this week are Home, The Water Diviner, and White God.

Movies on Blu-ray

White God (Kornél Mundruczó) Rated R [121 min] – Thirteen-year-old Lili fights to protect her dog Hagen. She is devastated when her father eventually sets Hagen free on the streets. Still innocently believing love can conquer any difficulty, Lili sets out to find her dog and save him. Starring Zsófia Psotta, Sándor Zsótér, Lili Horváth, and Szabolcs Thuróczy

From what little the trailer exposes about the story of White God, the visuals more than paint a glorious picture to set expectations high for this foreign feature. The film did not entirely disappoint me, but what unfurled before my eyes was not exactly how I pictured events would take place. I wanted and expected something more fantastical, but what White God is grounded in more realism than I had originally thought. In the overall grand scheme of things, this movie feels more like a short film that’s stretched too thin. It’s overly long, but it is quite masterful to watch all the animals perform. What the filmmakers accomplished for this project is incredible and definitely a really cool concept, but the narrative is hardly interesting.

Special features include:

Behind The Scenes Of White God
Interview With Writer/Director Kornél Mundruczó
Interview With Animal Coordinator/Technical Advisor Teresa Ann Miller

The Water Diviner (Russell Crowe) Rated R [111 min] – An Australian man travels to Turkey after the Battle of Gallipoli to try and locate his three missing sons. Starring Russell Crowe, Olga Kurylenko, Jai Courtney, and Isabel Lucas

From the title alone, The Water Diviner is just as boring as you’d believe it to be. There is nothing inherently captivating or moving about Russell Crowe’s plight nor is the storytelling strong enough to keep my attention. All of the performances come across dialed-in and nothing seems entirely cohesive. Most importantly, I didn’t feel like I took away anything from watching the film. And if it was trying to say something it definitely spoke too softly for me to care.

Special features include:

The Making of The Water Diviner
The Battle of Gallipoli

Home (Tim Johnson) Rated PG [94 min] – Oh, an alien on the run from his own people, lands on Earth and makes friends with the adventurous Tip, who is on a quest of her own. Starring Jim Parsons, Rihanna, Steve Martin, and Jennifer Lopez

I didn’t see Home, but based on the short film with the same character that released in front of Mr. Peabody & Sherman, it was never in my radar to begin with. My dislike for Jim Parsons aside, Home looked meticulously bad. It’s as if it wanted to sabotage from the very beginning. There were more than enough awful jokes in the trailer, I can’t even imagine suffering through an entire movie’s worth. If I had kids, I would only subject them to the movie if they were misbehaving. I would be scratching up the walls if someone made me endure this overly childish looking animated film.

Special features include: