This Week: A whole bunch of Key & Peele, The Killing Joke gets animated, and Garry Marshall's last sappy comedy.
► Key & Peele bang off some big laughs in KEANU, co-starring the most adorable damn kitten you’ll find outside of YouTube. After he escapes a drug cartel massacre, he ends up on the doorstep of the recently dumped Rell (Jordan Peele). But when the cat gets stolen by a local gang, he talks straight-laced buddy Clarence (Keegan-Michael Key) into infiltrating the gang by pretending to be stone cold gangstas. It’s all predictable but frequently funny, especially Key’s sermon on the genius of George Michael to his new homeys. Will Forte, Luis Guzman and Anna Faris add to the laughs, and yes, Keanu Reeves voices the cat in one sequence. Extras include deleted scenes. This one’s a decent table-setter for better Key & Peele movies to come.
► Chintzy animation, lackluster direction and a needless side story involving Batgirl make the long-awaited BATMAN: THE KILLING JOKE a huge disappointment. And it shouldn’t be a surprise – Alan Moore’s cerebral masterpiece, like many of his classics, struggles when interpreted by someone else. Here is one of the all-time great Batman stories, and THE great Joker story. It doesn’t need to be fiddled with, but the film – either padding its runtime or assuming Moore’s story wasn’t complete enough – adds more to what is already perfect source material. At least Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill return, and a decent set of extras includes a look at the book’s legacy (Moore isn’t involved, of course), Brian Bolland’s original artwork, and two 22-minute animated Batman episodes.
► Greek director Yorgo Lanthimos’ absurdist comedy THE LOBSTER has Colin Farrell as a newly single man at a resort where single people have 45 days to find a partner, or they turn into an animal. The good news? You get to pick which animal. He chooses a lobster because he loves the sea. From that bizarre starting point things just get more weird, as the transformed animals are then sent into the woods to be hunted. Rachel Weisz and John C. Reilly get in on the freakiness.
► Garry Marshall’s final film will unfortunately be the insufferable MOTHER’S DAY, which gathers Jennifer Aniston, Julia Roberts and Kate Hudson and has them deal with their mommy issues in the most sappy way possible. It was Marshall’s third straight ‘holiday’ themed flick (following ‘Valentine’s Day’ and ‘New Year’s Eve’) and got the same dismal reception. Jason Sudeikas, Timothy Olyphant and Marshall regular Hector Elizondo co-star.
► One of the greatest horror remakes ever, Philip Kaufman’s 1978 take on INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS gets a Shout! Factory special edition blu-ray with commentary from Kaufman, several making-of featurettes, and a new 2K scan. The unnerving score, spot-on sound effects (did I hear that heartbeat effect in the first episode of ‘Preacher?’), and several classic moments – dog with man’s face, yo – took an already bleak story about aliens replacing us while we sleep and made it infinitely more creepy. Donald Sutherland, Jeff Goldblum, Leonard Nimoy and Brooke Adams are all superb here. Easily one of the best horror films of the ‘70s.
► And to go with ‘Keanu’ this week comes the Complete Series of KEY & PEELE, with all five seasons and 53 episodes of the Comedy Central sketch show. So much great stuff here, including Key’s ‘anger translator’ for Barrack Obama (which got him invited to do the bit with the actual president last year), Peele’s fibbing nerd Wendell, and the colorfully named gang of the East West Bowl. I especially love raging substitute teacher Mr. Garvey (Key), who may be getting his own movie. As with any sketch show there are plenty of lulls to get through, but most every episode has a brilliant moment or two. Extras include the duo’s YouTube commenting alter-egos Van and Mike, outtakes, and a supersized episode collecting the best of Seasons 1 & 2.
► Seven months after its stellar second season ended, there’s still no official word whether THE KNICK is returning. Frankly, it’s hard to see how after the Season 2 finale, without it being a completely different show. If it’s over, it ended in garish but satisfying fashion, as New York surgeon John Thackery (Clive Owen) faces the end result of his drug addictions and the hospital administration’s many sins come home to roost. Once again, Steven Soderbergh directs every episode, ensuring this looks – and feels – like no other show on TV.
► Based on Steven Soderbergh’s 2009 film with Sasha Grey, Starz’ THE GIRLFRIEND EXPERIENCE follows a law school intern (Lisa Marie Presley’s daughter Riley Keough) struggling with her expenses who follows her friend’s lead to become a high-end escort offering the whole package, not just sex. Soderbergh returns as executive producer. Also stars Paul Sparks (who has been in some awesome shows since ‘Boardwalk Empire’) and 24’s Mary Lynn Rajskub.
Also out this week:
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SO WHAT DVD/BLU-RAYS ARE YOU GUYS STOKED ABOUT THIS WEEK?!