New DVDs: 'Guardians of the Galaxy,' 'Boardwalk Empire: Season 5,' and more
Peter Quill (Chris Pratt), one of the central heroes of Marvel's wildly successful comic-book film Guardians of the Galaxy, is a space rogue who was kidnapped as a kid from his Missouri home by a band of marauding interstellar pirates called the Ravagers. There's some planet called Morag, where Quill steals a superspecial orb, and an assassin named Gamora (Zoe Saldana) who goes after him. Huh?
Peter Quill (Chris Pratt), one of the central heroes of Marvel's wildly successful comic-book film
Guardians of the Galaxy
, is a space rogue who was kidnapped as a kid from his Missouri home by a band of marauding interstellar pirates called the Ravagers. There's some planet called Morag, where Quill steals a superspecial orb, and an assassin named Gamora (Zoe Saldana) who goes after him. Huh?
Don't worry if descriptions of director James Gunn's Disney film make it sound more complicated than the entire Lord of the Rings saga. The salient fact is this: Guardians has a great ensemble cast, including Vin Diesel, Bradley Cooper, Lee Pace, Michael Rooker, Karen Gillan, Djimon Hounsou, John C. Reilly, Glenn Close, and Benicio Del Toro.
It has amazing special effects and an exciting, fun adventure story line that's perfectly easy to follow - even for the comic-book-challenged. Throw it into your disc player, turn off your mind, and have a blast.
(http://movies.disney.com/watch-at-home; $29.99 DVD; $39.99 3D Blu-ray/Blu-ray combo; PG-13)
Other titles of interest
Boardwalk Empire: Season 5. We all knew the end had to come sooner or later. And so it has: This was the last season of HBO's terrific period gangster series about the bootleggers and political crooks who once ran Atlantic City. Created by Martin Scorsese and starring Steve Buscemi, Kelly Macdonald, Jack Huston, and Gretchen Moll, the series has an explosive conclusion in this four-disc set due Tuesday. (http://store.hbo.com/; $59.99 DVD; $79.98 Blu-ray; not rated)
The Boxtrolls. Elle Fanning, Toni Collette, and Simon Pegg deliver delightful voice performances in this stop-motion animated adaptation of Alan Snow's popular novel Here Be Monsters!, about a boy raised by trolls who collect trash for a living. Or is it just for fun? It's due Jan. 20 from Universal Studios. (www.universalstudiosentertainment.com; $29.98; $34.98 DVD/Blu-ray Combo; 49.98 3D Blu-ray/Blu-ray Combo; rated G)
Dallas: Season 3. The return of this popular nighttime soap from the late 1970s was dampened when star Larry Hagman died while shooting the second season. Watch the third and final season of the series, which charts the lives, loves, and careers of the original characters' grown children. It's due Tuesday from Warner Home Video. (www.wbshop.com; $32.49; not rated)
Archer: Season 5. Catch another hilarious season of FX's animated spy spoof about a goofball agent (H. Jon Benjamin) who works for an espionage outfit run by his mom (Jessica Walter), a woman who has the maternal instincts and emotional warmth of the iceberg that sank the Titanic. (www.foxconnect.com; $29.98 DVD; $39.99 Blu-ray)
Rudderless. Renowned American thesp William H. Macy (Trust Me, Fargo) makes his directorial debut with this moving musical drama about a grieving father (Billy Crudup) who reconnects with his musician son's inner life when he finds a box of the young man's songs and decides to form a rock band to perform them. The cast includes Felicity Huffman, Anton Yelchin, Selena Gomez, and Laurence Fishburne. It's due Jan. 20 from Paramount. (www.paramount.com/movies/home-media; $21.99; rated R)
Frank. A rock musical of an entirely satirical kind, director Lenny Abrahamson's dramedy stars Michael Fassbender as a rock star who wears a giant cartoon-character head. But it's not just a gimmick: He refuses to take it off. Ever.
(www.magpictures.com/; $26.98;
$29.98 Blu-ray; rated R)
Honey. Italian actor Valeria Golino (Rain Man, In Treatment) makes her feature directorial debut with this startling drama about a young woman (Jasmine Trinca) whose life is dedicated to helping terminally sick patients commit suicide. Her world is upended when she suspects her last client wasn't ill, just depressed. (www.kinolorber.com; $29.95; not rated)