This Week in Blu-ray / DVD Releases: Creed, Room, The Americans

By John Law

February 29th 2016, 10:21pm

This Week: Back in the ring with Stallone and 'Creed,' Brie Larson makes 'Room' for an Oscar, and the spy games get more tense in 'The Americans.'

► Yes, it can be argued CREED is just a lesser remake of the original ‘Rocky.’ No, you won’t care about that one bit once Sylvester Stallone – in a performance that is flat-out great – takes the son (Michael B. Jordan) of his late friend Apollo Creed under his wing. Stallone is so good here, conjuring everything he has left for this iconic character and facing his mortality in a grueling scene in which he (and a lot of us) look back on what has been lost over the past 30 years. Thankfully Jordan isn’t just a bystander here, guilting Rocky into training him, then forming a bond as they head to the UK to take on the undefeated light heavyweight champ (Tony Bellew). Nostalgic without being pandering, it completes the redemption of a series which lost its way in the middle rounds. Blu-ray includes a look back on the series.

► There was some straight up bullshit on Oscar night, but Brie Larson winning Best Actress for ROOM wasn’t up for debate. She’s never less than riveting in this gloomy tale of a mom and her son (Jacob Trembley) held captive in a tiny shed. Their relationship makes the first half of the film a fascinating (if claustrophobic) family drama, but the best moments occur after they escape and try adjusting to the world. Might be one of the most unique family movies ever made, and Larson sells the tall concept with realistic pain.

► There wasn’t nearly enough love for Season 3 of THE AMERICANS, which was superior to just everything on TV not called ‘Fargo’ last year. As the Cold War of the early ‘80s gets more tense, suburban Soviet spies Keri Russell and Matthew Ryhs grow more uncomfortable with the orders from back home. A bigger concern is their daughter, who finally figures out mom and dad aren’t who they say they are, leading to a finale revelation that has me panting for Season 4, which starts March 16.

► Seth Rogan continues his quest to out-stoner Cheech & Chong with THE NIGHT BEFORE, joining Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Anthony Mackie who decide to end their tradition of meeting every Christmas Eve with one last holiday blowout. They do it by scoring tickets to the elusive Nutcracker Ball, the party that started it all years earlier. Blu-ray extras include 20 minutes of on-set horsing around and an extended strip club scene.

► Wait a minute, there were two horror movies called THE BOY, released within five months of each other? This one, directed by Craig MacNeil, follows a nine-year-old operating a floundering motel with his dad after mom has fled the scene. Fending for himself, he develops a fascination with death which indicates a budding serial killer. His talents catch the attention of a visiting stranger (Rainn Wilson).

► Tom Hardy’s biggest misstep of 2015 was the one he did double duty on. For LEGEND he plays both Kray twins Reggie and Ronnie in this latest look at the London gangsters who became UK celebrities before their downfall in 1969. Ronnie is the psychotic one while Reggie is the businessman trying to take their operation legit.

► Italian comedy YOUTH has Michael Caine and Harvey Keitel as best friends – one a composer, the other a filmmaker – who head to the Swiss Alps to get some work done and reflect on their lives. The hotel’s weird inhabitants keep things from getting too sentimental. Cast includes Jane Fonda, Rachel Weisz and Paul Dano.

► Comedy Central’s DRUNK HISTORY is like a cram session before an exam, where you’re desperately trying to explain something to your dumb inebriated friends. Only it’s re-enacted by celebrities who recite every word of your plastered prose. Season 3 gathers the likes of Sam Rockwell, Patton Oswalt and Kat Dennings to share some history on inventors, journalism and Las Vegas, among others. Thirteen episodes, with five ‘unblurred’ episodes and deleted scenes.

Also out this week: