New DVD;BLU/RAY;Streaming Release This Week!!! FIVE FILMS BASED ON BOOKS!!

After nothing to note of the last two weeks we are showered with new home viewing options this week!! And as odd as it is, all five films this week are based on popular books.


FAR FROM THE MADDING CROWD
Directed by Thomas Vinterberg
Screenplay David Nicholes
Based on the novel by Thomas Hardy
Starring Carey Mulligan; Matthias Schoenaerts; Michael Sheen;and Tom Sturridge



In Victorian England, the  Bathsheba Everdene (Mulligan), an independent, beautiful,smart woman has three suitors: Gabriel Oak (Schoenaerts), a sheep farmer; Frank Troy (Sturridge), a reckless Sergeant; and William Boldwood (Sheen), a wealthy bachelor.

The film is Madding Crowd The Book in Fast Forward. I was far enough away from the book to separate the book and the film. The film comes in at less than two hours and it works real well. It is all Carey Mulligan with an outstanding performance. Playing Everdene walking around in a "mans world" and not backing down in business and going against social norms and hoping to be single and independent. She often has a quick smile on her face, like she loves the challenge and she almost saying she knows she is smarter than you. Mulligan is fantastic.
Her suiters:
Schoenaerts as Oak is clearly the choice, we all know this but it is still fun to watch. He is very quiet and says so much with his eyes. Great casting.
Sheen as Boldwood is also very good. However it starting to seem he is playing the same type of hardass/cold character all the time. In the film it seems Everdene does not want to love him, she wants to be him...successful.
Sturridge as Troy. I thought he overacted and the moustache was distracting...I had a lot of trouble figuring out what Everdene was seeing in him. When Everdene is with Troy she looks uncomfortable, like she knows this is the path that she did not want. You as a viewer feel it.
Another quick note they advertise that Juno Temple is in this film and she barely is. She plays an important role, however she is in the film for only 10 minutes at the most. I think she is a wonderful actress and seems to always be on the presuppose of a big breakout but just cant break through. I really like her.
Well I  give Far From The Madding Crowd 4 out of 5 stars, a well done version of Tom Hardy's book. This is all Carey Mulligan...you can not help but cheer her on in this film. If you want a love story to watch while you are home at night this is a very good choice.


INSURGENT
Directed by Robert Schwentke
Scrrenplay: Akiva Goldsman; Brian Duffield; and Mark Bomback
Based on the novels by Veronica Roth
Starring: Shailene Woodley; Theo James; Kate Winslet; Miles Teller; and Ansel Elgort



Tris (Woodley) must continue trying to save those she loves--and herself--while finding her identity and loyalties and falling in love.

I felt Divergent was a minor league Hunger Games. I did not enjoy Divergent, I just did not like any of the characters and because of that I did not care about the characters.
Now, part two, Insurgent becomes Divergent with less stunts and more bore. This is pretty much a film stealing ideas from Harry Potter-Sorting Hat; Matrix; and The Hunger Games. And with all that stealing, I still don't care!!!!
This movie I felt was a mess. After all these years we finally found worse shooters than the Storm Troopers in Star Wars. I mean people are 10 feet in front of them and they continuously miss. And decisions are goofy. They will kill people with a snap of the finger bad guys/bad girls who are shooting at them (and missing), however they will not take down the head of the snake, Kate Winslet. They had a chance to do so at the end of Divergent and in this movie. I don't get it! I want to shout at the screen, "What are you doing! I know she survived the Titanic it does not mean you cant put her down like the person you shot 10 minutes ago! She is trying to kill you!". While I am complaining, another irksome problem in the script: How many times in one film can you pull out the ...Oh That Was Just A Dream Card/ You Fooled Me!!

Okay I am done ripping this film. Here is some good:
 Miles Teller is an interesting character, but not on the screen enough. The last 5 minutes was interesting which made me interested in what happens next (But sadly also in that 5 minutes a ridiculous scene: "Okay I Want All Actors To Skip And Laugh While Coming Out Of The Building"! It looks silly).
 So now the last 5 minutes got me interested in the what happens next, however sadly, rumor has it the next book or part of the story is going to be split into two parts. Ugh!!

So I give Insurgent 1 1/2 stars out of 5. If you feel you need to continue with the Divergent story now you can watch the first five minutes and the last five minutes of Insurgent at home on DVD, then wait for the next part and hope for a better sequel.


TRUE STORY
Directed by Rupert Goold
Screenplay by Rupert Goold; Michael Finkel; and David Kajganich
Based on the memoirs of Michael Finkel
Starring: Jonah Hill; James Franco: and Felicity Jones



When accused killer Christian Longo (Franco) is caught in Mexico, he uses the name of a former New York Times reporter Michael Finkel (Hill) as his alias. When the unemployed Finkel hears about this he smells a story and precedes to interview Longo. Thus begins an odd relationship between the two.

The movie is built as a Cat And Mouse game, which I did not see. I just saw a writer desperate to repair his image. He smells money for a book and gets frustrated because he cannot figure out the truth. Mainly because Longo is a professional liar. Now, what Finkel does not know is he is being used by Longo by teaching Longo how to tell a "story".
The film is well acted. Hill is very good as the frustrated and confused and maybe a little sleazy Finkel. Franco is well, Franco. However...he is cast perfectly...which make his performance fantastic. He drips with sleaze, but somehow he comes across as innocent...and to the viewer it makes him even more scary. Felicity Jones is wasted. I can see the writers saying "We need a woman in this film, find out about Finkel's wife". In reality she does not matter and at one point she does something odd that makes no sense. I was in the theatre with my hands up thinking "What are you doing??!!.
 I walked out of the theatre thinking that there is not much of a story here and if it was going to be made maybe a small screen film on cable or even a stage play would have been a better idea. So now it is on a small screen and as you read it is the story that is about Longo a killer...who killed his wife and kids. He is the face of evil and getting this attention is gives me the "Heeebies".
2 1/2 stars out of 5 for True Story,  2 1/2 stars for the actors.


CHILD 44
Directed by Daniel Espinosa
Screenplay by Richard Price
Based on the novel by Tom Rob Smith
Starring: Tom Hardy; Noomie Rapace; Joel Kinnaman; and Gary Oldman



A politically-charged serial killer thriller set in 1953 Soviet Russia, CHILD 44 chronicles the crisis of conscience for secret police agent Leo Demidov (Tom Hardy), who loses status, power and home when he refuses to denounce his own wife, Raisa (Noomi Rapace), as a traitor. Exiled from Moscow to a grim provincial outpost, Leo and Raisa joins forces with General Mikhail Nesterov (Gary Oldman) to track down a serial killer who preys on young boys. Their quest for justice threatens a system-wide cover-up enforced by Leo’s psychopathic rival Vasili (Joel Kinnaman), who insists “There is no crime in Paradise.”

I did not write this synopsis. I took it from the trailer. I just wanted you to read how interesting and intriguing this movie seems. Also the trailer looks suspenseful. Oh Boy!!! How can it go so wrong?! This film is soooo slow and soooo boring. How do you have Hardy and Rapace and Kinnaman, three of the best young actors working today and fail so bad?!
Now I did not read the book, so maybe the book was slow, and the screenplay just followed, with the thought process of, it will work out because the book was a best seller. You could literally fall asleep, wake up, and not miss a thing. Three things happen: A-Refuses to denounce his wife B- Move into poverty C- find killer of children. You know 2 hours and 20 minutes, and those three things were the most interesting and they took up maybe 15 minutes. Even the search for the killer of children went off the rails (no pun intended), with a soso conclusion.
I am not even going to get into the bad Russian accents...2 stars of 5 for the actors in Child 44. I was generous with that grade. I read in the news that Child 44 was banned in Russia because it shows Russia in a bad light. Lucky Russians!!  A big disappointment.



MADAM BOVERY
Directed by Sophie Barthes
Screenplay by Felipe Marino
Based on the Novel by Gustave Flaubert
Starring Mia Wasikowska; Paul Giamatti; and Ezra Miller



The beautiful wife (Wasikowska) of a small-town doctor engages in extramarital love affairs in an attempt to advance her social status.

Oh brother. How can a book with so much drama and passion be so boring?
Casting!! Bad casting everywhere!! Giamatti...good actor, not this part. Miller...good actor, not for this part. Wasikowska...the lead the most important part.  No. Just not believable. And I really like her (See The Kids Are Alright; Alice In Wonderland; or Tracks), it was not the right part for her. The film has no passion or meat. She seems stiff a bit. Almost uncomfortable in her costumes and she is suppose to be pushing forward at fast speed without thinking about the repercussions.
What is good about the film is it's costuming and the scenic views are wonderful, So there is something.
Now, maybe for home viewing it may be worth a look like a Downton Abbey maybe.
2 out of 5 for the story and that is all...just bad casting.


Well Madding was the only film high on the list this week, so look for it!!


As always from the shadows thanks for your time.