“42”
There’s a natural beauty and romanticism about baseball that transitions to the silver screen as perfectly as a well-turned double play. If you add in a powerful story that resonates through history as sharply as the crack of the bat, then you have this new DVD release.
Director and writer Brian Helgeland recounts how Jackie Robinson (Chadwick Boseman) broke the color barrier in Major League Baseball in 1947 when he was offered a contract by owner Branch Rickey (Harrison Ford) to play with the Brooklyn Dodgers.
Helgeland shows a deep respect for the game and for what Robinson accomplished by telling this story through the human drama. Boseman hits a home run showing Robinson as a leader on and off the field.
Grade: A-
“Evil Dead”
The remake of the classic 1981 horror film “The Evil Dead” is proof that more isn’t always better. When it comes to the blood and guts that saturate both movies, there’s a line between scarily gory and just plain disgusting, and the new “Dead” crosses the line on multiple occasions.
Director Fede Alvarez hits the majority of the terror beats of the original movie, from the creepy-looking cabin to rivers of blood.
Despite its filmmaking demons, “Evil Dead” has its moments.
Grade: B-
Also new
“Letters From Jackie: The Private Thoughts of Jackie Robinson”: Documentary chronicles Robinson’s thoughts and ambitions both as an athlete and symbol of the civil rights movement.
“Bill Moyers: On the Hudson — America’s First River”: Moyers discusses the river’s 315-mile course from the Adirondacks to New York harbor.
“Damages: The Final Season”: Law drama starring Glenn Close.
Rick Bentley, The Fresno Bee (Fresno, Calif.)
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