New on DVD this week:
Only Lovers Left Alive
Jim Jarmusch’s vampire tale stars Tom Hiddleston and Tilda Swinton as Adam and Eve, two recently reunited, highly cultured vampires who have evolved beyond the need to kill humans, but who still need access to an untainted blood supply. Adam is world-weary, but Eve is more philosophical about the state of human civilization. Their personal Eden – amidst the crumbling cities of Detroit and Tangier – is threatened by the arrival of Eve’s volatile and blood-thirsty younger sister (Mia Wasikowska) with the ominous line “we’re going to have so much fun together!” Co-starring John Hurt and Anton Yelchin. Special features on the Blu-ray include Traveling at Night (an extra on Jarmusch, seen at first in shadow), deleted scenes and a music video by Yasmine Hamdan.
The Amazing Spider-Man 2
Peter Parker (Andrew Garfield) has a lot on his plate in this sequel to the latest Spider-Man reboot: he finally learns the truth about his parents, struggles with guilt and crises of loyalty, faces a hulking electrocuted villain (Jamie Foxx), a Rhino (Paul Giamatti), his old friend Harry Osborn (Dane DeHaan), and has to deal with his on-again-off-again love affair with Gwen Stacey (Emma Stone). No wonder Spidey is so often on the verge of tears. Special features on the Blu-ray 3D combo pack include deleted scenes with commentary, Alicia Keys music video, commentary with director Marc Webb and filmmakers: a whopping 100-plus minutes’ worth of making-of featurettes.
Jarhead 2: Field of Fire
Corporal Chris Merrimette (Josh Kelly) is in the middle of his third deployment in four years. He and his gang of battle-weary Marines are headed to a remote outpost in Afghanistan, “way outside the Green Zone” and a hairs-breadth from the Taliban. Along the way they face IEDs, suspected terrorists on donkeys, and a stranded Navy SEAL who asks for some very dangerous roadside assistance. There is projectile blood-squirting in the first four minutes and a barbecue by the fifth, but production value is high and firefight scenes are convincing, perhaps thanks to Kelly’s real Afghanistan combat credentials before he switched to acting. Choose from a rated or unrated version; deleted scenes are available on the Blu-ray combo pack.
Blacklist, Season One
Who can resist ’80s baddie James Spader as one of the FBI’s most wanted and elusive fugitives? Spader owns every well-written episode as Raymond “Red” Reddington, who turns himself in out of the blue after decades on the run and will only cooperate if he works with newbie FBI profiler Liz Keen (Megan Boone). Together they bring in some of the country’s most slippery criminals, but Red has an ulterior motive... Extras on the DVD include producer commentary and Beyond the Blacklist, a behind-the-scenes look at the show featuring chats with Spader, producers, writer, supporting cast and crew.
