Brace your bank accounts, it’s time to see what’s Now Available to Own for the week of August 11, 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 Unfriended, Hot Pursuit, Hell on Wheels, Person of Interest, and more.
Movies on Blu-ray
Unfriended (Levan Gabriadze) Rated R [82 min] – A group of online chat room friends find themselves haunted by a mysterious, supernatural force using the account of their dead friend.Director: Stars: Heather Sossaman, Matthew Bohrer, Courtney Halverson, Shelley Hennig (Watch the trailer)
How well could a studio pull off a full-length feature film told exclusively via Skype? A few shorts have been told through the medium, but nothing as daring as Unfriended has yet to be attempted. And it works. Unfriended cuts itself at the right moment and it never feels as if they’re cheating their way to tell the story. The depth of the mythology is kind of lacking, but the concept is fun and the actors are pretty believable for a low-budget horror. There are enough solid setups and surprises that will keep you invested until the very end.
- No special features included
Hot Pursuit (Anne Fletcher) Rated PG-13 [87 min] – An uptight and by-the-book cop tries to protect the outgoing widow of a drug boss as they race through Texas pursued by crooked cops and murderous gunmen. Starring Reese Witherspoon, Sofía Vergara, Matthew Del Negro, Michael Mosley, and John Carroll Lynch (Watch the trailer)
Reese Witherspoon hasn’t been jumping on many opportunities to come back to the silver screen. Last year’s Wild proved she still had the acting chops that won her the Oscar in Walk the Line. And as much as I enjoy Legally Blonde, Hot Pursuit is not a return to form for the actress in the realm of comedy. She has a knack for the genre, but Hot Pursuit is not written well for her. The movie is too thin and too goofy to find any ounce of entertainment; unless you like the sound of Sofia Vergara screaming incomprehensibly.
Special features include:
- The Womance – Reese and Sofía’s on-set crazy-mashup-antics. From dance moves to car crashes, see these women light up the screen and leave us in stitches with their side-splitting comedic styling.
- Say What? – Watch the hilarity that ensued when Reese and Sofía each tried to speak the other’s language. See Reese get her tongue tied trying to speak Spanish and watch Sofía’s tongue actually go numb from trying to speak English.
- Action Like A Lady – In this action montage we will see all the crazy fun that went into creating the insane action scenes in the film. From jumping out a ten-foot high window, to a crazy girl fight to commandeering a tour bus during a high-speed shoot out… bring on the laughs.
- Alternate Ending
I Am Big Bird: The Caroll Spinney Story (Dave LaMattina and Chad N. Walker) Unrated [90 min] – Caroll Spinney has been Sesame Street’s Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch since 1969; at 78-years-old, he has no intention of stopping. Staring Caroll Spinney, Jim Henson, and Frank Oz
For anyone growing up over the past half century, Big Bird was most likely a big part of your childhood. I Am Big Bird captures the magic and the wonder of what makes the character and the man behind him so special. There’s so many touching behind the scenes moments that even the Grinch would be moved. This is a great nostalgic documentary, but there’s not much of a definitive angle it’s trying to capture. Just the tale of a man and his many talents.
- No special features included
Television Series
Person of Interest: The Complete Fourth Season (Jonathan Nolan) Rated TV-14 [43 min] – A former CIA operative is recruited by an enigmatic billionaire to prevent violent crimes. Starring Jim Caviezel, Taraji P. Henson, Kevin Chapman, and Michael Emerson
The folks behind Person of Interest continue to keep the series in good spirits with now four seasons under their belt. There are still surprises and wonderful character moments that continue to bring more depth and more intrigue into one of the better written crime dramas on network TV. The fourth season ends on quite the high note, leaving much to be desired for an upcoming with Sarah Shahi returning as a series regular.
Special features include:
- Music of Interest
- Going Underground with Root and Finch
- Person of Interest 2014 Comic-Con Panel
- Gag Reel
- Digital HD Digital Copy of the Entire Season
2 Broke Girls: The Complete Fourth Season (Whitney Cummings and Michael Patrick King) Rated TV-14 [22 min] – Two young women waitressing at a greasy spoon diner strike up an unlikely friendship in the hopes of launching a successful business – if only they can raise the cash. Starring Kat Dennings, Beth Behrs, and Garrett Morris
I’m not sure who continues to green light season after season of 2 Broke Girls, but it has to stop. I’m not one to quit in the middle of a season, but I stopped only a handful of episodes into the first season and never looked back. Given the chance to check out season four, I was curious to see how much this show has changed. As much as I like Kat Dennings quirky indie charming, the writing and the comedy is too corny. And the plot moves at a snails pace with nothing really moving our characters in a particular direction. The show is very stagnant and droll.
Special features include:
- Gag Reel
- Unaired Scenes
Hell on Wheels: The Complete Fourth Season (Joe and Tony Gayton) Rated TV-14 [42 min] – Cullen Bohannon, a former soldier and slaveholder, follows the track of a band of Union soldiers, the killers of his wife. This brings him to the middle of one of the biggest projects in US history, the building of the transcontinental railroad. After the war years in the 1860s, this undertaking connected the prospering east with the still wild west. Starring Anson Mount, Colm Meaney, Phil Burke, Robin McLeavy, Dohn Norwood, Christopher Heyerdahl, Common, and Kasha Kropinski
I’ve never bothered with Hell on Wheels before. It’s never struck me as immediate viewing, and I’ve never heard any noise surrounding the show. So I checked out season four since I had the chance to. It’s a very cinematically beautiful show, but basic on all levels. Hell on Wheels seems perfectly content with playing it safe without causing too much of a stir. It’s an interesting period of events to follow, but there just isn’t enough depth to keep this train running.
Special features include:
- A Look at Season 4
- The New Characters of Season 4
- Cheyenne Set Tour
- Anson Mount Retrospective
- On the Set with Colm Meaney
- On the Set with Jake Weber
- Episode Featurettes
The Knick: The Complete First Season One (Jack Amiel, Michael Begler) Unrated [58 min] – A look at the professional and personal lives of the staff at New York’s Knickerbocker Hospital during the early part of the twentieth century. Starring Katrina E. Perkins, Clive Owen, and André Holland
I have not seen this series, but have heard positive things toward it. Nip/Tuck served as a fantastic surgery show based in the present day, and I’d be interested in checking out The Knick for that reason back in the time it’s set.
Special features include:
- Audio commentaries with Jeremy Bobb, Eve Hewson, Michael Angarano, Chris Sullivan, Cara Seymour, Eric Johnson and creators and executive producers Jack Amiel and Michael Begler
- Post-op featurettes: Get educated on ground-breaking surgery techniques featured in the series
Blu-Ray Deals and Steals
- Space Invaders – $8.99
- Nightcrawler – $8.99
- The Guest – $8.99
- Edge of Tomorrow – $13
- Person of Interest (Season 3) – $16.99
- Die Hard: 25th Anniversary Collection – $19.96
- The Spectacular Now – $5
- Dallas Buyers Club – $8.99
- The Truman Show – $4.99
- The LEGO Movie – $13
- Neighbors – $8.99
- Ex Machina – $16.99
- It Follows – $12.69
- Sin City – $4.75
- Fargo – $5
All prices from Amazon.com. Best Buy, Frys, and Target all price match online prices.
What will you be taking home this week? Tell us in the comments section below!
All plot synopses come courtesy of IMDb.com
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