‘Neighbors’ having good, not-so-clean fun
Neighbors
Universal, $29.98; Blu-ray, $34.98
Already on VOD
This raunchy comedy stars Seth Rogen and Rose Byrne as married parents of a newborn and Zac Efron as their new next-door neighbor — the deceptively friendly president of a party-happy fraternity. The premise is mainly just an excuse for talented young comic actors to gather and trade profane insults and crazy pranks, but “Neighbors” is also more tightly constructed than these kinds of comedies usually are, coming in at under 100 minutes. And there’s a theme of sorts too — having to do with the mutual envy between the young and the settled — making the movie surprisingly poignant as well as side-splitting. The “Neighbors” DVD and Blu-ray add featurettes, deleted scenes and a gag reel.
The Rover
Lionsgate, $19.98; Blu-ray, $24.99
“Animal Kingdom” writer-director David Michod returns with the very different “The Rover,” starring Guy Pearce as a sullen loner who seeks revenge on a group of bandits in a bleak, futuristic Australia. Robert Pattinson plays a low-level gang member pressed into service by the hero. “The Rover” is more pensive and hushed than most post-apocalyptic action pictures. It’s the kind of movie where the fights and chases are less exciting than the philosophical conversations about whether any kind of divine or earthly authority figure is still around in this bleak landscape to render judgment on its inhabitants. “The Rover” DVD and Blu-ray come with a featurette.
We Are the Best!
Magnolia, $26.98; Blu-ray, $29.98
After spending the last decade making depressing social dramas, Lukas Moodysson returns to the cheerier, youthful mode of earlier films like “Together” and “Show Me Love” with this comedy about three Stockholm adolescent girls who form a punk band in the early 1980s. Based on a graphic novel by Moodysson’s wife, Coco — drawn from her own experiences — “We Are The Best!” offers a series of vivid re-creations of the past, barely held together by anything like a plot. The only real suspense is whether the girls’ on-again-off-again friendship will survive long enough for them to play their first gig. Moodysson gets how emotionally complicated kids’ lives can be, and how amid all the giggle fits, snack runs and arguments over bands and boys, these kids are forging their own ideas of what’s important. A pair of featurettes on the “We Are the Best!” DVD and Blu-ray delve into the making of the movie and its music.
White Bird In a Blizzard
Available on VOD Sept. 25
Gregg Araki’s film stars Shailene Woodley as a teenager named Kat whose mother disappears right around the time that Kat becomes sexually active. Araki uses the mystery of the missing woman — and a plot drawn from Laura Kasischke’s coming-of-age novel — to stage his own delirious re-creation of a Cocteau Twins- and David Lynch-inspired 1980s. The case is too easy to crack, and the movie is stilted overall, but Woodley is engaging, and Araki’s usual colorful sets and visual textures are beautiful. “White Bird In a Blizzard” ultimately has a lot to say about how young people can be so self-absorbed that they’re blind to what’s really happening in their lives.
And…
Brooklyn Nine-Nine: Season One
Universal, $44.98
Halloween: The Complete Collection
Starz/Anchor Bay/Scream! Factory Blu-ray, $169.99
How I Met Your Mother: The Complete Series
20th Century Fox, $179.98
Macbeth
Criterion, $29.95; Blu-ray, $39.95
Mom: The Complete First Season
Warner Bros., $44.98
The Signal
Universal, $29.98; Blu-ray, $34.98
Available on VOD Tuesday
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