‘Boss: Season One’ among new VOD, DVD releases
“Footnote”
Sony, $30.99;Blu-ray, $35.99
Available on VOD beginning Tuesday
Writer-director Joseph Cedar’s foreign-language Oscar nominee is about academics who study the wordings of ancient texts, a fairly dry subject rendered here with some snap. Shlomo Bar Aba and Lior Ashkenazi play father and son philologists with differing views on how to research the Talmud; when the father wins an award that was meant for the son, the latter has to find a way to prevent his colleagues from righting the wrong, lest they shame his old man. Cedar gets across the history of these two — and the nature of their professions — by using every stylistic trick at his disposal, from direct addresses to the camera to on-screen text, aiming to show how even something as remote and imposing as the word of God can be personalized through the art of interpretation. “The Footnote” DVD and Blu-ray add a pair of featurettes.
“Jiro Dreams of Sushi”
Magnolia, $26.98; Blu-ray, $29.98
Available on VOD beginning Tuesday
Octogenarian sushi chef Jiro Ono runs a 10-seat restaurant in a Tokyo subway station that’s one of the rare fast-food joints to boast three Michelin stars. David Gelb’s documentary partly delves into Ono’s biography and reputation but is mainly about the quest for perfection that drives Ono to ask, “What defines deliciousness?” It gets repetitive after a while, but that’s partly Gelb’s point: that it takes discipline and practice to be the best, and that life has more meaning to those willing to commit to an ideal, even if that ideal is to make unimpeachable sushi. Gelb provides a commentary track to the “Jiro” DVD and Blu-ray, which also contain a pair of featurettes.
“The Deep Blue Sea”
Music Box, $29.95; Blu-ray, $38.94
Available on VOD beginning Tuesday.
Terence Rattigan’s 1952 play examines the impossible choices of a suicidal housewife, who leaves her rich husband for a troubled World War II veteran. In the hands of writer-director Terence Davies, Rattigan’s play is transformed into a new British cinema classic, reminiscent of the postwar dramas of David Lean and Michael Powell in its emphasis on repressed emotions and thwarted romance. As with Davies’ earlier films, this one also considers the textures of everyday life, from the cramped spaces that his leads, Rachel Weisz and Tom Hiddleston, occupy to the way the touch of their skin against skin offers temporary relief from the gloom. The DVD and Blu-ray come with multiple interviews and featurettes, plus a Davies commentary.
“Boss: Season One”
Lionsgate, $39.98; Blu-ray, $39.98
The pay-cable channel Starz has yet to produce a straight-up drama as sophisticated as the best of HBO, FX or AMC, but this Chicago political saga is certainly a strong step in that direction. Kelsey Grammer stars as a Chicago mayor trying to hold onto power in one of the toughest political climates in America while hiding a degenerative disease that’s weakening him physically.”Boss” goes overboard with the gratuitous “Look what we can do on cable!” sex and violence, but it’s smart about its subject, and Grammer is a dynamo as the lead. On the “Boss: Season One” DVD and Blu-ray, the eight one-hour episodes are accompanied by a featurette and a few commentary tracks.
And …
“Brake”
MPI, $24.98; Blu-ray, $29.98
“The Last of England”
Kino Lorber, $24.95; Blu-ray, $29.95
“My Way”
Well Go USA, $24.98; Blu-ray, $29.98
“Silent House”
Universal, $29.98; Blu-ray, $34.98
Available on VOD beginning Tuesday.
“Star Trek: The Next Generation — Season One”
Paramount Blu-ray, $129.99
“Superman vs. the Elite”
Warner Bros., $24.98
“Treasure Island: The Complete Series”
Vivendi, $19.97; Blu-ray, $29.95
Only good movies
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