Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
‘Bad Moms’ uncorks a raucous good time
Three cheers for “Bad Moms” (2016, Universal, R, $30), a raucous comedy about an over-worked suburbanite (Mila Kunis) who has grown weary of trying to be the perfect mom.
Along with her new besties (Kristen Bell, Kathryn Hahn), she decides to cut loose and have some fun. Written and directed by “Hangover” scripters Jon Lucas and Scott Moore, “Bad Moms” uncorks one giddy scene after another, as the moms wreak havoc in a grocery store, take on the PTA Queen Bee (Christina Applegate) and do JellO shots with Martha Stewart.
Best of all, “Bad Moms” is a showcase for all of the women involved. And, boy, do they rock it. Extras: gag reel, deleted scenes and featurettes.
Also New To DVD
Anthropoid (2016, Universal, R, $28): If you’re in the mood for an old-fashioned thriller set during the early days of World War II, check out this riveting look at the plot to assassinate Reinhard Heydrich, Hitler’s third in command and the main architect of the Final Solution. Cillian Murphy and Jamie Dornan are superb as two Czech resistance fighters tasked with shooting down the Nazi. The film takes quite a while to get going as the men wait for the perfect opportunity to strike. But once Operation Anthropoid kicks in, director Sean Ellis keeps you on the edge of your seat with nonstop action. Extras: featurettes. *** My Love, Don’t Cross That
River (2016, Film Movement, $25): The highest grossing indie film in the history of its native South Korea, this documentary about a married couple together 76 years is a bracing look at life and death. Shot over the course of 15 months, “My Love” doesn’t pull any punches when one member of the couple grows ill and the other must figure out how to cope. Expect to be deeply moved by this look at two soulmates who aren’t ready to say goodbye. Extras: deleted scenes.
***
One Day Since Yesterday: Peter Bogdanovich and the Lost American Film (2016, Warner Archive, unrated, $22): After enjoying a comeback with “Saint Jack,” director Peter Bogdanovich embarked on “They All Laughed,” a sparkling romantic comedy that changed his life. During production, he fell in love with leading lady Dorothy Stratten, who was murdered by her estranged husband before the movie’s release. This touching documentary, which includes interviews with fans Wes Anderson and Quentin Tarantino as well as Bogdanovich intimates like Cybill Shepherd and Jeff Bridges, makes a strong case for the film as a lost classic. “One Day” also serves as an affectionate tribute to Stratten and fellow cast members who have since passed away. Extras: none.
*** Carnage Park (2016, Shout Factory, unrated, $28): Cheap, pulpy thrills can be a blast. That’s the takeaway of this intense gore-fest that begins with the hostage (Ashley Bell) of a heistgone-wrong fighting for her life against her kidnappers. Once the bad guys are dispatched, she finds herself in even deeper trouble thanks to an ex-military sniper (creepy Pat Healy) who sets her free in the desert so he can hunt her like an animal. It’s a shame director Mickey Keating chooses to plunge the final act into total darkness because, until then, “Carnage Park” manages to instill plenty of terror. Extras: none.
***
Shared Rooms (2016, Wolfe, unrated, $25): If Garry Marshall had ever directed a gay rom-com that took place over Christmas, it would look a lot like this feather-weight film about three couples who must deal with a number of easily resolved scenarios, including the sudden appearance of a young man abandoned by his family and the realization between platonic roomies that they have feelings for each other. It’s fizzy and sweet enough to be kind of fun but you’ll forget it as soon as it is over. Extras: bloopers and commentary by writer/director Rob Williams. ***
Men and Chickens (2015, Alamo Drafthouse, unrated, $40): For a while, this bizarre black comedy is watchable thanks to Mads Mikkelsen, the splendid Danish actor who’s best known for embodying a sinister charmer on TV’s “Hannibal.” But not even Mikkelsen, playing against type as an arrogant nitwit, can sustain this outing which one critic aptly described as a hybrid of “The Island of Dr. Moreau” and a Three Stooges comedy. Mikkelsen and David Dencik star as two socially inept brothers who discover they are adopted and then travel to a remote island to meet their biological father. A tsunami of weirdness ensues. Extras: none.
***
Taxi Driver: 40th Anniversary Edition (1976, Sony, R, $20): Director Martin Scorsese and scripter Paul Schrader once called this classic an urban spin on “The Searchers.” Four decades later, that description seems right on target. Not unlike John Wayne in the John Ford western, cabbie Travis Bickle (Robert De Niro) goes to hell and back to save a young woman (Jodie Foster) who might — or might not — need saving. One of the best and most notoriously violent movies of the 1970s, this masterpiece never seems to age, perhaps because it gets so completely inside the mind of a man on the brink of psychosis. Extras: featurettes, storyboards and commentaries. *** The Horrible Dr. Hichcock (1964, Olive, unrated, $25): After killing his wife in a sex-game-gone-bad, diabolical surgeon Dr. Hichcock (Robert Flemyng) departs England for more than a decade. When he returns home, he seems reformed thanks to the new wife (cult actress Barbara Steele). But the good doctor is still bad to the bone. It takes a bit of time for Hichcock to reveal his creepy plans for his bride but when he does, this Hammer Horroresque outing kicks into high gear. Extras: none.
***
Into The Badlands: Season One (2016, Anchor Bay,
unrated, $40): In a future where guns have been outlawed, it’s up to a badass warrior named Sunny (Daniel Wu) to use his fighting skills to protect his territory from villains, all of whom seem to be armed with machetes, knives and axes. What this pulpy outing, originally broadcast on AMC, lacks in character development, it makes up for with some astonishingly well-staged hand-to-hand combat scenes and potboiler-ish plot twists. Extras: featurettes.