This Week in Blu-ray / DVD Releases: Hitman Agent 47, Ray Donovan, Shameless

By John Law

December 29th 2015, 12:38am

Last Updated on August 2, 2021

This Week: The last week of new releases for 2015 includes the return of Ray Donovan, Shameless and – for some reason – Hitman. Also, Kurt Russell vs. Cannibals.

► I’m pretty sure there was zero demand for another ‘Hitman’ movie, but here’s HITMAN: AGENT 47 anyways. Based on the video game series, it brings in Rupert Friend (you know him as Quinn on ‘Homeland’) to take over for Timothy Olyphant from the 2007 film as a professional assassin engineered to kill without remorse or emotion. But when he finds out his DNA is being used to make an army of killers, he turns against his creators. Zachary Quinto and Hannah Ware co-star.

► RAY DONOVAN continues to be a powerhouse for Showtime, even though ratings slipped about 15% for Season 3. Ian McShane and Katie Holmes join the cast as members of The Finneys, a family of warring media moguls who want Ray to knock off each other. The usual backstabbing, family issues and high body count ensue. Die hard fans insist this is TV’s best crime show since ‘The Sopranos.’ It’s good, but that’s crazy talk.

► The hopelessly dysfunctional Gallagher family has a new enemy in Season 5 of SHAMELESS – hipsters. Yes, the south side of Chicago is starting to attract real estate speculators and organic coffee shops, and Frank (William H. Macy) will have none of it. And he hopes the ensuing battle will bring some kind of purpose and reconciliation to his own clan. The usual 12 episodes. Season 5 starts Jan. 10.

► Kurt Russell gets back to the scary stuff with BONE TOMAHAWK. He plays a small town sheriff who gathers a group of gunslingers who head out to save some settlers from a vicious group of cave-dwelling cannibals. Patrick Wilson, Richard Jenkins, Sean Young and Sid Haig fill out a great cast. Despite some decent buzz this only had a limited release.

► Originally titled ‘Bus 657,’ the renamed action thriller HEIST stars Jeffrey Dean Morgan (your future Negan on ‘The Walking Dead’) as a single dad whose sick daughter will be taken off the transplant list if he doesn’t come up with funds. He asks his boss, casino owner Robert De Niro, for a loan and is refused. So he plans to rob him instead. Dave Bautista, Morris Chestnut and Kate Bosworth co-star.

► As ‘Let Me In’ showed, it’s good to have a vampire friend when you’re being bullied. In SOME KIND OF HATE, a kid gets some supernatural help against the horde picking on him at a school for troubled teens. He accidentally summons the ghost of a girl named Moira (Sierra McCormack), who committed suicide years ago as the result of bullying. She’s not in a forgiving mood.

► The message of THE PERFECT GUY? When you dump a pretty decent dude because he doesn’t want kids, you’re tempting fate. Sure enough, Sanaa Lathan gives her guy the heave-ho, only for the slick new boyfriend (Michael Ealy) to show a psychotic side after he pummels someone. When she calls it off, the stalking begins.

► National Geographic Channel’s LIVE FREE OR DIE follows six Americans who leave it all behind to live off the grid, their only mandate being to remain self-sufficient. And, uh, ignore the cameraman. Getting away from it all sounds so tempting some days, until you realize indoor plumbing won’t be going with you. Manufactured on demand from Amazon.

Also out this week: