New on Blu: “The Walking Dead,” FOUR LIONS, and more
This is the week many a zombie fan has been waiting for. With the release of AMC's critically and fan favorite cult phenomenon The Walking Dead being released, fans of the show will finally get to have the chance to watch this in the comfort of their hopefully zombie-free home. Also being released is one of Time Magazine's Top Ten movies of this past year, FOUR LIONS.
The post-apocalyptic horror-drama show from the same network that brought other popular shows like Mad Men and Breaking Bad created a new fan-favorite in The Walking Dead. Directed by Frank Darabont (THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION, THE MIST) and based on the famous graphic novel series, the show focuses on Rick Grimes, a police officer who has awoken from a coma only to discover that the world is now infested with "walkers" and his wife and son are missing along with seemingly the rest of civilization. He encounters a group of survivors and together they go day by day trying to make the best of the situation while they search for anyone who may be able to help.
Even those who aren't familiar with the series shouldn't be hard pressed to invest in picking up this set. The first season was only six episodes and they're all tied together very neatly, so pulling off a marathon of the entire season could be done in one sitting and will leave you wanting more. While the Blu-ray set could have benefited from audio commentaries, there are a huge number of extras that range from an in-depth making of featurette to some shorter extras highlighting the training and makeup effects that all of the zombie extras went through to appear as authentic as they did. A really fantastic set that at most places can be picked up for less than $30 and certainly with that, and your time.
The controversial yet highly regarded jihadi comedy FOUR LIONS releases this week. Directed by Christopher Morris along with the writing team of Sam Bain, Jesse Armstrong, and Simon Blackwell, the film focuses on four bumbling suicide bombers who may as well be live-action Looney Tunes characters. They clumsily plan several bombings and hilariously lose some of their friends along the way.
The seriousness of the matter aside, the film does a great job at bringing levity to what is in fact a horrifying thing that does happen in real life. It's commitment to ridiculousness though is apparent from the opening frame so if you can compel yourself to give this film a shot you might just discover a genuinely funny movie.
The extras on the disk are fairly standard with some behind the scenes footage and a round table interview with the director, writers and stars of the film. But the most interesting feature is an interview with Mo Ali. Mo Ali is a young white convert to Muslim who has been imprisoned for planning an act of terrorism. It's a 13 minute long interview and is incredibly compelling. I'd recommend picking this Blu-ray set up, it's a funny movie with a unique look at some of the problems facing the world today.
Also available:
JACKASS 3 (Two-Disc 3D DVD / Blu-ray Combo + Digital Copy
THE NEXT THREE DAYS (Blu-ray/DVD Combo + Digital Copy)
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