This week: Edge of Tomorrow gets another day; more sharks in tornados; and – holy hell, it's about time! – The Wonder Years.
► Really, the premise of the outstanding ‘Live, Die, Repeat’…er, EDGE OF TOMORROW is pretty much every video game that drove you nuts. You get killed, you see where you screwed up, and you do it again. And again. In this under-appreciated sci-fi version of ‘Groundhog Day,’ Tom Cruise is an inexperienced soldier thrown into combat against an alien invasion. He’s stuck in a time loop, so every time he dies he comes back better and smarter. Emily Blunt is the sergeant who knows what’s up, and uses him to infiltrate the alien’s hive. Director Doug Liman nails this version of the Japanese short story 'All You Need is Kill,' but it got lost in the summer stampede of sequels. A whole lot of people are about to fall in love with this one.
► You know what’s kind of a big deal? THE WONDER YEARS is finally out on DVD this week. The entire series will be released exclusively through Time-Life on Friday (available here) for $250, with 96% of its original music intact (The Doors, Neil Young and Blood, Sweat & Tears were sticklers, for some reason). All 115 episodes, on 26 discs, are stored in a collectible metal locker, with a cast reunion among the extras (wow, did Winnie Cooper grow up well). Three days earlier, however, you can pick up the six-episode first season, where the show’s greatness was already apparent. Considering the wait, this is the biggest DVD release of the year for many folks.
► Foul-mouthed teddy bear? Huge hit. A riff on old westerns? Not so much. Seth McFarlane is confused too, as his A MILLION WAYS TO DIE IN THE WEST was one of summer’s first big misfires (going up against ‘Maleficent’ didn’t help). He stars as a feeble sheep farmer who finds his courage with the help of a notorious outlaw’s wife (Charlize Theron). The hit-and-miss script might leave you cold (not the laughs-per-minute of ‘Ted’), but stay for the killer cameos: Christopher Lloyd, Jamie Foxx, Ewan McGregor and Bill Maher to start. Liam Neeson, having a busy year, plays the outlaw Clinch Leatherwood.
► Disney’s MILLION DOLLAR ARM is like a lot of sports bios – it ends before you see how it really ended. Jon Hamm plays the sports agent who comes up with the idea of contest to find the best Cricket bowlers for a chance at the major leagues. In India he finds two young prospects who can throw a fastball but know nothing about baseball. You’ll wish this was a proper documentary instead of a by-the-numbers crowdpleaser.
► Look, I could believe one sharknado happening, but two? Totally implausible. SyFy’s inevitable SHARKNADO 2: THE SECOND ONE prolongs the joke as the airborne fishies take Manhattan. The good news? Returning star Tara Reid gets her hand bitten off early on. The bad? Um, does that need answering? It’s another friggin’ movie about sharks inside tornados. I will never be drunk and/or high enough to find SyFy’s series of animal pun movies funny. Among the million or so cameos are Billy Ray Cyrus, Robert Hays and Kelly Ripa. Meanwhile, Kari Wuhrer plays a character named – I’m not kidding – Ellen Brody.
► If you thought THE FOLLOWING’s first season ended on a ridiculous note, it’s just the starting point for a bizarre second season in which – of course – the serial killer isn’t really dead. It’s a year later and ex-FBI agent Ryan Hardy (Kevin Bacon) is teaching in New York, but when killer Joe Carroll’s remaining cult members strike on the first anniversary of his ‘death,’ he’s lured back into the game. Ratings went south but it’ll still be back for a third season next year.
► Every season of AMERICAN HORROR STORY sucks me in, only to realize this is horror for soccer moms. Season 3, ‘Coven,’ adds Kathy Bates and Angela Bassett to the returning cast, once again led by Jessica Lange who is both perfect and probably too good for this show. She plays the Supreme, the head witch of a New Orleans coven operating as a boarding school. As always, Ryan Murphy leaves subtlety at the door and goes for campy shock virtually every episode. Stevie Nicks provides some nice stunt casting for two episodes. The real horror story is how this season got 17 Emmy nominations.
► HEMLOCK GROVE is like the overlooked sibling of Netflix – everyone loves 'House of Cards' and 'Orange Is the New Black,' few mention this. Probably because its cornball mix of mystery and horror, executive produced by Eli Roth, is borderline incomprehensible. Landon Liboiron stars as a teen wolf, though not the teen wolf the townsfolk suspect killed two teenage girls. Throw in some mad scientists, high school angst and a pregnant girl who claims the father is an angel, and 'True Blood' fans have something to fill the void. Season 2 went up on Netflix in July, if you need more.
Also out this week:
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SO WHAT DVD/BLU-RAYS ARE YOU GUYS STOKED ABOUT THIS WEEK?!