New titles on Blu-ray, DVD & VoD

A round-up of the latest releases available to buy on DVD & Blu-ray and download online.

This month sees the release on the Disney adaptation of Stephen Sondheim's musical Into the Woods, All is Lost and Margin Call director JC Chandlor's cold New York crime drama A Most Violent Year and two of last awards-season's contenders, Foxcatcher and Whiplash.

Into the Woods

★★★☆☆

The long-awaited Disney adaptation of Steven Sondheim's musical is full of striking cinematography and an all-star cast. Yet it is without a doubt a marmite film: you will either adore or hate its child-like play and repetitive singing.

Narrated by James Corden, who plays a baker married to Emily Blunt, the film intertwines several of the Grimm brothers fairytales. The thin-on-the-ground extras include a small Streep Sings Sondheim video, There’s Something About The Woods doc, another entitled The Cast as Good as Gold, and an audio commentary by director Rob Marshall and producer John DeLuca. There is also a sing-along version included.

Words: Bridie Pearson-Jones. Blu-ray, VoD & DVD.

A Most Violent Year

★★★★☆

Article continues below...
More stories you may like...
10 films made by a female director for your next girl’s night
Hollywood two years on from #MeToo: where can we go from here?
'A Girl from Mogadishu' director on the power of testimony

Jessica Chastain has been terrifically outspoken recently about the casting of women, non-white people and gay people in Hollywood. She is right: it is incredibly tough out there for people in those groups to get substantial leading roles in films; all the more reason A Most Violent Year should be recognised for handing her such a meaty, complex role as an oil entrepreneur’s wife, negotiating the difficult criminal backwaters of his business as he seeks to expand his dangerous endeavours into darker areas.

JC Chandor’s direction of this New York-set crime drama is first rate, as is Oscar Isaac in an intense leading turn and supporting British actor David Oyelowo.

Words: Barnaby Walter Blu-ray, VoD, & DVD.

Foxcatcher

★★★★☆

Foxcatcher is an exceptional slice of psychological drama, headed up by two of the year’s top performances. Though incredibly well-crafted and effective piece of work which demands praise, the film is also one that bleeds its audience of any sense of happiness. Difficult, but ultimately worth it in the name of cinema.

Words: Ben Robins. Blu-ray, VoD & DVD.

Whiplash

★★★★★

The fact that such a small film, and one focused on such a niche topic, was nominated for Best Picture is testament enough to its achievements. Whiplash bubbles and boils with more energy and more intensity than many other films could ever hope to achieve: it is a stunning, extraordinary piece of cinema, one that should be watched and enjoyed again and again.

Words: Matt Clarson. VoD exclusively until its Blu-ray/DVD release on 1 June.

New titles on Blu-ray, DVD & VoD

You might also like...

People who read this also read...