Critically acclaimed films, queer twists, and some zany bears fuel this week in home entertainment.
Spotlight chronicles a newspaper’s real-life expose of pedophile priests, while Johnny Depp plays criminal sociopath Whitey Bulger in biopic Black Mass. Your favorite crime-solving bears return for Where The Bears Are: Season 4, and British period dramas get a queer twist in The Scandalous Four.
Now let’s see those trailers, details and your comments!
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Our newsletter is like a refreshing cocktail (or mocktail) of LGBTQ+ entertainment and pop culture, served up with a side of eye-candy.
($34.98 Blu-ray, $29.98 DVD; Universal)
Director Thomas McCarthy and co-writer Josh Singer dramatize the Boston Globe “Spotlight” investigative team’s efforts to expose the Catholic Church’s repugnant cover-ups of pedophilia within the ranks back in 2001. While most of the film’s action involves newsroom discussions, phone calls, and office visits, this is gripping stuff with plenty of surprises and jaw-dropping moments despite the fact we all know what happened in the end. Mark Ruffalo, Michael Keaton, Liev Schreiber, Rachel McAdams, Stanley Tucci and Billy Crudup are among the uniformly excellent cast. Extras include several featurettes.
($24.99 DVD; 3 Bears Entertainment)
Hitting its fourth season, the delightful (and crowdfunded) mystery-comedy webseries about crime-solving L.A. bears — a sort of Golden Girls meets Murder She Wrote with lots of body fuzz and extra pounds – sees a murder committed at the wedding of Nelson and Todd, which leads Reggie and Wood on a hunt to find the killer and, of course, zany escapades. The extras-loaded DVD compilation of the season features uncensored nudity, an exclusive new 20-minute New Year’s Eve episode, bloopers, a commentary and behind the scenes footage.
($19.99 DVD; Shami Media Group)
In this British period drama, a woman, Penelope, is pressured into marrying a fellow named Jonathan (who looks a bit like Adam Driver). However, both of them have their eyes and libidos on others — specifically in the case of Jonathan, on other guys like the butler. Think Merchant-Ivory on a budget!
($35.99 Blu-ray, $28.98 DVD; Warner)
Johnny Depp chews a whole lot of scenery with help from prosthetics and piercingly blue contacts as real-life, former Boston crime lord Whitey Bulger in this gripping, violent biopic. A worthy companion piece to Donnie Brasco, it chronicles Bulger’s alliance with a former friend turned FBI agent, who actually enabled Bulger’s activities in order to put the kibosh on the Italians. Amazing, repeat viewing worthy stuff with equally strong turns from Joel Edgerton, Peter Skarsgaard, and, although briefly, Benedict Cumberbatch. Extras include several featurettes.
ALSO OUT:
I Smile Back
Moonwalkers
Secret In Their Eyes
