Snow White and the Huntsman (Blu-ray) Criticize This! Pick of the Week – After Snow White’s mother dies, her father, King Magnus, is drawn to the beautiful Ravenna (Charlize Theron). On the night of their wedding she shows her true self and kills King Magnus in order to take over his kingdom. Jump ahead a few years and Ravenna now has poor Snow White (Kristen Stewart) held captive as she holds the key to Ravenna’s eternal beauty. Snow White figures this out and escapes into the dark forest where the Huntsman (Chris Hemsworth) is recruited to find her and bring her back. As someone who was dreading Snow White and the Huntsman, it really pulled me in and I ended up enjoying it immensely all the way through. There’s the typical ingredients to the story, such as dwarves, an evil stepmother, and a poisonous apple, but there’s also a few great battle sequences, some amazing effects, and great acting, writing, and directing. It’s a beautiful combination that makes for one solid film. The Blu-ray features a crisp and clean 1080p image transfer and wicked 7.1 DTS-HD sound mix. Special features include the theatrical and extended cuts of the film, audio commentary with director Rupert Sanders along with other crew members, making-of featurettes, and more. A regular DVD and digital copy are included as well. Film **** Blu-ray **** (out of 5 stars).
Lola Versus (Blu-ray) – Lola (Greta Gerwig) and Luke (Joel Kinnaman) are a happily engaged couple planning their wedding until a few weeks before the big day when Luke decides he wants a break and calls it off. Lola, who is on the brink of 30, has a meltdown and tries to get on with her life with the aid of your best friends Alice (Zoe Lister-Jones, who also co-wrote the film) and Henry (Hamish Linklater). As she gets back out in the world of dating a lot laughs and a lot of drama follows. While the premise of Lola Versus might not grab you, the cast is absolutely brilliant, especially Gerwig who just shines as Lola and made me want to keep watching long after the film ended. Lister-Jones adds a lot of wit and humour in her performance, and Bill Pullman and Debra Winger are perfectly paired as Lola’s parents. It’s not a groundbreaking or original film by any means, but it has a lot of good elements that makes it worth checking out. The Blu-ray hits all the marks of a nice release, but is not required viewing. Special features include audio commentary with Daryl Wein and Zoe Lister-Jones, deleted scenes, alternate ending, and more. Film *** Blu-ray *** (out of 5 stars).
Also available to Watch @ Home this week is the comedy What to Expect When You’re Expecting, Titanic on Blu-ray and 3-D Blu-ray, Ghosts of the Abyss on 3-D Blu-ray, and the complete first season of the hit show Up All Night.
Top image: A scene from Snow White and the Huntsman. Courtesy Universal Home Entertainment.
