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The Replacements

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  • Title: The Replacements
  • IMDb: link

The ReplacementsDespite being nearly old enough to drive (the film was released in theaters in 2000), The Replacements hadn’t been available on Blu-ray until now. Based very loosely on the 1987 NFL strike, the script by Vince McKewin centered around a ragtag group of replacement players for the Washington Sentinels (a fictional stand-in for the Redskins). Keanu Reeves stars as college star and NFL bust Shane Falco who is given a second chance by Jimmy McGinty (Gene Hackman) who assembles his team from a hodgepodge of unknowns.

Playing on various underdog themes The Replacements isn’t that far removed from a number of sports movies (most notable Necessary Roughness which follows a very similar plot at the college level). Joining Reeves on the football field are Jon Favreau (as the character most likely to kill someone on the field), Orlando Jones (as the bigmouth wide receiver), Faizon Love, Michael Jace, Michael Taliferro, David Denman, and Rhys Ifans.

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The Boxtrolls

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  • Title: The Boxtrolls
  • IMDb: link

The BoxtrollsBased on the novel Here Be Monsters! by Alan Snow, The Boxtrolls is the latest offbeat stop-motion adventure film from the same production company which gave us both ParaNorman and Coraline. The film centers on an orphaned boy named Eggs (Isaac Hempstead Wright) raised by an underground group of Boxtrolls hunted by an evil exterminator (Ben Kingsley) vastly exaggerating the creatures monstrous tendencies for his own ends.

As with the studio’s previous two films the animation is impressive while offering a rather straightforward message for children. But it’s nowhere near as entertaining as The LEGO Movie which Boxtrolls beat out for an Oscar nomination for Best Animated Film. Although technically impressive the film itself is little more than a mild diversion.

Available on both DVD and Blu-ray, extras include commentary by directors Graham Annable and Anthony Stacchi, and ten short featurettes on various aspects of the movie. The Blu-ray also includes early storyboard animatic sequences and a digital copy of the film.

[Universal Studios, DVD $29.98 / Blu-ray $34.98 / 3D Blu-ray $49.98]

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The Maze Runner

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  • Title: The Maze Runner
  • IMDb: link

The Maze RunnerA thinly-veiled sci-fi version of Lord of the Flies, The Maze Runner (based on the novel by James Dashner) casts Dylan O’Brien as the newest member of a group of children abducted and forced to live in a small wooded clearing in the middle of a vast and deadly maze. Despite the rules against him entering the maze, Thomas (O’Brien) is drawn to it as his actions will have sever repercussions for both himself and the entire community.

By far, the most interesting character of the movie is the maze itself, and the scenes outside the gigantic moving and changing monstrosity suffer as they lose what little magic the film has to work with. The more Thomas remembers about his life and the maze itself the more the film struggles as the answers provided by the movie’s plot are far less interesting than the mystery itself. Pulling back in what is meant to be an epic Dark City style reveal, The Maze Runner flounders at its climatic moment foreshadowing what will be its inevitable sequel.

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The November Man

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  • Title: The November Man
  • IMDb: link

The November ManFive years after retiring, ex-CIA specialist Peter Devereaux (Pierce Brosnan) is reactivated by his old boss (Bill Smitrovich) and put on a plane to Russia to retrieve the love of his life (Mediha Musliovic) who has been working undercover in the Russian Government for more than a decade. Things go terribly wrong pitting Devereaux against his old agency and his protege (Luke Bracey) in a conspiracy that reaches into both the U.S. and Russian Governments involving the Presidential hopes of a genocidal Russian general (Lazar Ristovski).

Based on Bill Granger‘s novel, The November Man isn’t a bad B-movie action flick but it is a tad too convoluted for its own good. The reasoning behind putting Devereaux in the field is sketchy at best, particularly after the villain is revealed. Brosnan can play the aging spy in his sleep and Olga Kurylenko makes the most out of the over-complicated Alice who holds the key to the entire sordid affair.

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Interview with the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles

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  • Title: Interview with the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles
  • IMDb: link

Interview with the Vampire: The Vampire ChroniclesOver his career Tom Cruise has supplied audiences with his share of good, bad, and indifferent feature films. Released in 1994, and adapted from the works of Anne Rice, Interview with the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles gave audiences Brad Pitt as a present-day vampire describing his history to a reporter (Christian Slater). Directed by Neil Jordan the film also stars Cruise as the vampire Lestat turned by Louie (Pitt) and a young Kirsten Dunst as a child turned into a vampire who will never age.

The movie, and Cruise’s character, still feels too whiny as Lestat bemoans his immortality eventually turning on other vampires and walking the Earth alone. It’s certainly an interesting looking film (earning an Oscar nomination for Art Design) and even a whiny Cruise is occasionally compelling in the role of Lestat, Pitt is effectively creepy, and Dunst offers glimpses of the actress she would become. The film suffers a bit after Pitt exits stage left to be replaced by a vampire coven including Thandie Newton and Antonio Banderas.

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