SALT LAKE CITY, Utah, Feb. 23, 2016 (Gephardt Daily) — Of the films being released to home video today, the two major releases are Disney/ Pixar’s animated “The Good Dinosaur” and “Spotlight” starring Michael Keaton, Rachel McAdams and Mark Ruffalo.
“The Good Dinosaur”
Starring the voices of: Sam Elliott, Jeffrey Wright and Anna Paquin
Rated PG
The film asks the question, ‘What if the asteroid that forever changed life on Earth missed the planet completely and giant dinosaurs never became extinct?’
In this epic journey into the world of dinosaurs, an Apatosaurus named Arlo makes an unlikely human friend. While traveling through a harsh and mysterious landscape, Arlo learns the power of confronting his fears and discovers what he is truly capable of.
“The Good Dinosaur” deals with overcoming fear as its central theme. The main character, Arlo, takes a journey; not unlike Simba’s journey in “The Lion King.” There’s a tragic death, a separation from family, meeting and understanding new cultures and growing from the experience.
The film does suffer from a couple of problems, first being the film never explores the evolution of the dinosaur species at all. Disney/ Pixar didn’t even try to attempt to give us creatures who have evolved into something new 65 million years after the asteroid misses Earth. The ‘plot device’ is disappointing.
The major problem is it just doesn’t seem to be invested enough in its characters to make them truly memorable.
But that’s not saying the film isn’t worthwhile, I found it to be rather fun and in some places very touching and the animation is crisp and fresh. And I think most audiences will walk away from the film happy.
Overall “The Good Dinosaur” is a good family film and well worth the time to see it.
On Blu-ray and DVD it gets a B and is rated PG.
“Spotlight”
Starring: Michael Keaton, Rachel McAdams, Mark Ruffalo and Liev Schreiber
Rated R
When the Boston Globe’s tenacious “Spotlight” team of reporters delves into allegations of abuse in the Catholic Church, their year-long investigation uncovers a decades-long cover-up at the highest levels of Boston’s religious, legal, and government establishment, touching off a wave of revelations around the world.
“Spotlight” offers up such a well acted and intelligent story it’s no wonder the film made just about every critic’s top 10 list for 2015.
The film, which is based on a true story, is in the same league as thrilling newspaper films such as “All the President’s Men,” “The Paper” and “State of Play.”
“Spotlight” is not to be missed. If you didn’t see this gem when it was in theaters, see it now on Blu-ray or DVD. It gets an A and is rated R.
Other films being released today are:
“My All American”
Freddie Steinmark, an underdog on the gridiron, faces the toughest challenge of his life after leading his team to a championship season. The film stars Aaron Eckhart and Finn Wittrock.
“I Smile Back”
Laney Brooks, played by Sarah Silverman does bad things. Married with kids, she takes the drugs she wants, sleeps with the men she wants, disappears when she wants. Now, with the destruction of her family looming, and temptation everywhere, Laney makes one last desperate attempt at redemption.
“Entertainment”
En route to meet his estranged daughter and attempting to revive his dwindling career, a broken, middle-aged comedian plays a string of dead-end shows in the Mojave desert. The film stars Gregg Turkington and John C. Reilly.
“Secret in their Eyes”
Nicole Kidman and Julia Roberts star in this film about a tight-knit team of rising investigators, along with their supervisor, is suddenly torn apart when they discover that one of their own teenage daughters has been brutally murdered.
