New Blu-rays: ‘Passengers,’ ‘Collateral Beauty,’ ‘Fences’
For the week of March 14th, Sony Home Entertainment will be releasing its sci-fi film, Passengers, starring Chris Pratt and Jennifer Lawrence on Blu-ray and 4K UHD. Also due out this week are the holiday drama, Collateral Beauty, Academy Award winner Fences and anime classic, Ghost in the Shell.
Directed by Morten Tyldum (The Imitation Game), Passengers is set on the starship, Avalon, where thousands of colonists and crew are sent into hibernation. After a mishap in space, the ship’s engineer (Pratt) and a writer (Lawrence) awaken earlier than expected. The two form a bond, while attempting to figure out what went wrong with the ship.
Despite two Academy Award nominations (Best Original Score, Best Production Design), Passengers was generally panned by critics. Here at We Live Entertainment, Passengers was better received. In his review, Scott Menzel called the space adventure “one of the most entertaining films of the year.”
Sony will be releasing Passengers in both Blu-ray and 4K UHD combo packs. Best Buy will be selling a 4K UHD steelbook this Tuesday.
Also out this week is the David Frankel drama, Collateral Beauty. Will Smith stars an advertising executive, who recently lost his daughter to cancer. His firm is struggling due to his depression. Attempting to cope, he writes to the abstract themes of time, love and death. His friends and co-workers (Michael Pena, Edward Norton and Kate Winslet) try to bring these themes into his life so he can confront them head-on.
Like Passengers, Collateral Beauty was generally disliked by critics. Here at We Live Entertainment, the consensus was rather mixed. Scott Menzel called Collateral Beauty “a pleasant holiday surprise.” Matt Marshall considered words such as “cynical, manipulative and outlandish” in his review.
Warner Bros. Home Entertainment is releasing Collateral Beauty as a Blu-ray, Digital HD combo pack.
While the last two films didn’t win over critics, these last two surely did. Fences, based on the August Wilson play, comes home from Paramount Home Entertainment. The period drama, starring Denzel Washington and Viola Davis, follows a family in 1950’s Pittsburgh. Washington plays Troy Maxon, a ball player turned waste collector who was rejected by big leagues. While he provides the best he can, he clashes with his wife (Davis), his estranged son and tries to care for his mentally challenged brother.
Fences was critically-acclaimed with Davis even capturing the Best Supporting Actress Oscar a few weeks ago. Praise continued here at We Live Entertainment. In his review, Nick Casaletto deemed Fences “a masterclass in acting and a brilliant achievement.” Matt Marshall agreed about Denzel Washington’s acting and directing, stating “Washington provides a triumphant insight to the highly-successful August Wilson stage play.”
Paramount Home Entertainment is releasing Fences as a Blu-ray, DVD, Digital HD combo pack.
Last up for the week is the re-release of the iconic anime, Ghost in the Shell. Based upon the manga of the same, Ghost in the Shell follows a cybernetic assault team leader called Major Kusanagi on the hunt for a hacker known as the Puppet Master. Film such as The Matrix and Avatar have taken inspiration from the 1995 anime.
Starz and Anchor Bay bring the anime back as part of the Mondo steelbook series. The film will be available as a Blu-ray, Digital HD combo pack.
