DVD Releases of the Week: Oscar Winners 'Big Hero 6', 'Whiplash' Among New Movies in Stores
This week, two Oscar winners will be released on DVD hoping to obtain a bigger audience and obtain more buzz. There will also be an Oscar nominee and a studio comedy.
"Big Hero 6"
The Oscar-winning Disney film will be released after a successful theatrical run. The animated feature starring Genesis Rodriguez, tells the story of a special bond that develops between a plus-sized inflatable robot Baymax, and prodigy Hiro Hamada, who team up with a group of friends to form a band of high-tech heroes. When it was released in November, the film scored rave reviews and ended up making $220 million. It later went on to surprise at the Academy Awards after having lost the Golden Globe, the BAFTA and Critics' Choice. With very little family film out in the market at the moment and its recent Oscar win, "Big Hero 6" will definitely be a big DVD release.
"Whiplash"
The film starring Miles Teller and J.K. Simmons tells the story of a promising young drummer who enrolls at a cut-throat music conservatory where his dreams of greatness are mentored by an instructor who will stop at nothing to realize a student's potential. The movie was a huge hit since it won the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival in 2014. It later went to Cannes and played in the fall festival circuit before scoring five Academy Awards. The film later went on to win three Oscars, including one for Simmons, who also swept the critics' awards for supporting actor. While "Whiplash" was not the big box office hit most expected, the drama is likely to get more buzz on DVD.
"Beyond the Lights"
Relativity will release the Indie film starring Gugu Mbatha-Raw and Minnie Driver. The film tells the story of a famed superstar singer Noni who is on the edge, until she meets Kaz, a young cop who works to help her find the courage to develop her own voice and break free to become the artist she was meant to be. The movie did not get a huge marketing campaign when it was released and as a result, it did poorly at the box office. However, it ended up scoring an Oscar nod for Best Song and was even nominated at the Gotham Awards. While it is likely to get some more attention on DVD, it will likely have limited appeal.
"Horrible Bosses 2"
The latest sequel by Warner Bros. will be released after having flopped at the box office. The movie starring Jason Bateman, Charlie Day, Christoph Waltz and Jamie Foxx tells the story of Dale, Kurt and Nick who decide to start their own business but things don't go as planned because of a slick investor, prompting the trio to pull off a harebrained and misguided kidnapping scheme. The movie's lackluster box office was due in part because the sequels were three years apart. Reviews were also poor and audiences were not interested in a second part. "Horrible Bosses 2" will likely play to the audiences that saw the original but will have a hard time capturing new audiences.
"Code Black"
Long Shot Factory will release the award winning documentary which premiered at the Hamptons Film Festival and Los Angeles Film Festival. The movie tells the story of a notorious trauma bay in an inner-city E.R. which earns its keep as the 'hurt locker of medicine' as new, idealistic and adrenaline-seeking doctor's train in an environment akin to a war zone. When the hospital moves to a swank new building, the rush fades and bureaucracy gridlocks the state-of-the-art facility, and the doctors are faced with the unexpected realities of life and death in a safety-net health-care system on the brink of overload. The film was released back in June in limited release, but never took off. Documentaries are hard sells and this film will likely play to art house crowds.