Home Video Releases // February 10

A couple of awards snubs and some discs for the little ones highlight this week’s home video releases.

Nightcrawler

[projekktor id=’15934′ poster=’https://www.www.chch.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/nightcrawler-fi.jpg’]

When the Oscar nominations came out a few weeks back, the film we all thought got the biggest snub wasn’t Selma or The LEGO Movie, but this dark look at graveyard shift video journalism featuring another knockout performance by Jake Gyllenhaal. Writer/director Dan Gilroy did pick up a nomination for Best Original Screenplay, but was overlooked in every other category. Gyllenhaal definitely deserved a nod, and Gilroy had to have been in the race for a Best Director nomination for his directorial debut. Check out our full review of Nightcrawler.

Along with the film, the Blu-ray release offers an audio commentary by the Gilroy siblings – Dan, Tony (who produced), and John (the editor) – and a short behind the scenes featurette.

Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

[projekktor id=’15197′ poster=’https://www.www.chch.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/ALX-03327_R2.jpg’]

Steve Carell leads the unlucky family in this adaptation of Judith Viorst and Ray Cruz’s classic children’s book. The film debuted at #3 over its opening weekend where it competed with a week-old Gone Girl and Dracula Untold, so a pretty modest showing. Special features include “Alexander…In Real Life”, “Snappy Crocs & Punch Roos: The Australian Outback Party”, and a music video for “Hurricane” by the Vamps. The adventure is a regular comedy of errors and is sure to delight families.

Force Majeure

[projekktor id=’17610′]

This Swedish drama was a critical hit heading into awards season picking up the Jury Prize in Un Certain Regard at Cannes last year and picked up the Best Foreign Film award from the Toronto Film Critic’s Association. Force Majeure made the January shortlist for the Best Foreign Language Oscar but wasn’t chosen as a nominee. The film has a very interesting premise and is definitely one to watch if you’re a fan of foreign films.

101 Dalmatians

[projekktor id=’17611′]

Disney has cracked open their vault again and let the dogs out. 101 Dalmatians is being released for the first time on Blu-ray in a Diamond Edition Blu-ray + DVD combo pack. The release includes lots of bonus features including the short film, The Further Adventures of Thunderbolt. There’s also the featurette, Lucky Dogs, where animators from the original film talk about the process of making the hand drawn feature and how crucial new technology (Xeroxing) was to making the film. There is also a kid-focused run-down of interesting facts about the movie hosted by Cameron Boyce, the actor who plays Cruella De Vil’s son in Disney’s TV series Descendants.

A wonderful family classic, its a great addition to any home video collection.

Also available:
Rosewater
Dear White People
Laggies