Here are the hottest releases on home video this week:
The BFG
Steven Spielberg directs this spirited Disney adaptation of the beloved Roald Dahl children's novel, telling the quirky tale of a girl (Ruby Barnhill) who befriends a friendly giant (Mark Rylance) who helps her community fend off an attack from a band of his marauding brethren. Extras in the Blu-ray/DVD/digital copy combo include an interview with Dahl's daughter, Lucy, an extensive making-of featurette and a look at the extensive process that went into the crafting of the visuals, including the impressive motion-capture process that went into animating the title character.
Don't Breathe
Director Fede Alvarez spins an airtight close-quarters horror film about a gang of burglars (Jane Levy, Dylan Minette and Daniel Zovatto) who choose the wrong house to knock over. Stephen Lang plays a paranoid, blind war veteran who is more than ready for the invasion, with a home lined with booby traps and stocked with deadly weapons. The cat-and-mouse game unfolds in riveting fashion, amounting to one of the better thrillers of the year. For my full review, click here. The Blu-ray/digital copy combo includes deleted scenes with Alvarez's commentary, as well as a filmmaker commentary track and five background featurettes.
Florence Foster Jenkins
Meryl Streep disappears into the role of the title character, a 20th century New York socialite who moonlighted as a notoriously awful opera singer. The light drama follows her struggle of self-discovery as she fends off naysayers and struggles with syphilis while readying to stage the biggest performance of her lifetime at Carnegie Hall. Hugh Grant pops up as her ever-supportive husband. Although buoyed by Streep's determined performance, there isn't quite enough pathos in the material to carry the film throughout. Extras in the Blu-ray/digital copy combo include deleted scenes, a Streep Q&A, premiere footage and a look at the process of bringing the film from the script to the screen.
Looking: The Complete Series
This short-lived HBO drama examines the intertwined lives of three gay San Francisco men. Jonathan Groff, Murray Bartlett and Russell Tovey star, driving the spare scripts with nuanced performances. The set includes the first and only season of the show, along with the follow-up movie that ties up several loose ends. While not HBO's most successful effort, it managed to find a passionate core following and is a significant milestone for gay representation in mainstream pop culture. Extras in the Blu-ray/digital copy set include a retrospective featurette and cast profiles.
Pete's Dragon
A heartfelt remake of the 1977 animation/live action hybrid, this Disney family drama stars Bryce Dallas Howard and Robert Redford as a parental figures who become entangled in the life of a 10-year-old orphan (Oakes Fegley) who is best friends with a mysterious dragon that no one else can see. The filmmakers took great care to maintain the period detail to match the era and feel of the original, while adding considerable elegance to the storytelling aspect. Extras in the Blu-ray/DVD/digital copy combo include director David Lowry's diary, an exploration of the dragon's animation process, set reports from the New Zealand shoot, music videos, bloopers and filmmaker commentary.
Studios provided review screeners.
