Welcome to “Buy it? Rent it? Stream it? Skip it?” which will from this point on be known as BuRStS, a weekly look at what’s new to the world of Blu-ray and DVD. Let’s get right to it:
Crimson Peak (Check out our Movie Hot Take from last year)
Super Simple Synopsis: A story with ghosts in it. (And a living, breathing, beautifully creepy mansion!)
Why Buy?
You’re a huge Guillermo del Toro fan and love visuals. Crimson Peak is a work of art.
Why Rent?
You watched the trailer but aren’t 100% sure this is your cup of tea. You have a 60″ HDTV and a Blu-ray and aren’t afraid to use it!
Why Stream?
You like creepy but not scary. You like mystery but not gore. You like Guillermo del Toro but not love.
Why Skip?
You’re looking for a horror film. You saw Pan’s Labyrinth, Pacific Rim and/or Hellboy and were less than pleased by del Toro’s previous work.
MHT Verdict: Rent it (on Blu-ray!)
It’s important to see this in the most visually appealing format you can find as Crimson Peak is a really beautiful movie to watch. It didn’t keep my attention but the visuals are stunning enough that they’d be worth seeing again.
Freaks of Nature (Did Not Review)
Super Simple Synopsis: A town of peaceful humans, vampires and zombies have their harmony spoiled by an alien apocalypse. Three teens (a human, a vampire and a zombie) must figure out how to get rid of their unwanted visitors.
Why Buy?
You love zombie movies… or vampire movies… or dystopian teen movies.
Why Rent?
You have to be a little intrigued by the premise, right? Plus, the supporting cast includes Bob Odenkirk, Key (without Peele), Denis Leary, Joan Cusack and Patton Oswalt.
Why Stream?
You happen upon it on a free streaming service and have 90 minutes to kill and don’t want to go back to binge-watching Supernatural.
Why Skip?
You’re really over the whole zombie (or vampire or dystopian teen) thing and not one of the comedic supporting cast has ever made you laugh before. (EVER?)
MHT Verdict: Rent it!
You had me at zombies, vampires and humans living together in peace.
Grandma (Check out our Movie Hot Take from last year)
Super Simple Synopsis: When you have nowhere to turn, there’s always your broke lesbian grandmother to help you get an abortion… a comedy.
Why Buy?
You love Lily Tomlin. You can’t get enough of critically acclaimed art house flicks that don’t really feel like art house flicks.
Why Rent?
You like Lily Tomlin usually. You enjoyed Juno and Boys On the Side.
Why Stream?
You laughed at Lily Tomlin once. You remember Julia Garner from her bit role in The Perks of Being A Wallflower and think you thought she was kind of good in that.
Why Skip?
You watch Fox News. You think Lily Tomlin has never been funny.
MHT Verdict: Stream it!
Grandma wasn’t great but it had some laughs mixed in with some actual drama and social commentary. Lily Tomlin was excellent in her performance and would have gotten Oscar consideration had the film been better.
Love the Coopers (Check out our Movie Hot Take from last year)
Super Simple Synopsis: Another dysfunctional family during the holidays.
Why Buy?
You love Christmas movies. You don’t care how bad the movie is, you think Diane Keaton is fabulous.
Why Rent?
You love movies with dogs as very minor characters. You want to see Alan Arkin in one more role before he retires.
Why Stream?
You’re away from your own dysfunctional family and you miss them dearly. You can’t believe Anthony Mackie was in this many movies in 2015 and want visual proof.
Why Skip?
You hate Christmas. You hate dysfunctional families. You hate John Goodman.
MHT Verdict: Stream it (During the holidays!)
Love the Coopers caught me off guard and was better than my incredibly low expectations. In retrospect, it was pretty mediocre but benefitted from expecting total disappointment.
MI-5 (Did Not Review)
Super Simple Synopsis: James Bond and Ethan Hunt had a baby.
Why Buy?
You love action spy thrillers… especially British ones. You’ve seen the long-running British show and loved it, how could you go wrong?
Why Rent?
You’re friend keeps bugging you to binge-watch the British series and maybe if you watch this you can fake it enough to get him to shut up.
Why Stream?
You binge-watched the British series and were left wanting more.
Why Skip?
You didn’t see MI-1, MI-2, MI-3 or MI-4.
MHT Verdict: Stream it!
This will be something I accidentally watch on Netflix or some other streaming service in 6 months.
Spectre (Check out our Movie Hot Take from last year)
Super Simple Synopsis: Bond… James Bond.
Why Buy?
You bought every other Bond film (even the one with George Lazenby). You don’t care that Daniel Craig now loathes playing James Bond.
Why Rent?
You sometimes like James Bond but you remember how crappy Tomorrow Never Dies and Quantum of Solace were.
Why Stream?
You want to give James Bond another chance even though he usually disappoints. You have to see that opening sequence because it’s incredible but really have no desire to see the whole movie.
Why Skip?
You think bonds are a terrible investment and would rather invest in mutual funds.
Star Trek: Original Motion Picture Collection (Did Not Review)
Super Simple Synopsis: The ones with William Shatner.
Why Buy?
You love at least 3 of the original Star Trek movies and want to see them on Blu-ray. You haven’t gotten around to buying the Star Trek collection and that’s not a bad price.
Why Skip?
You’re a Trekker who is appalled these were released in their original form and not in the extended formats with all the great added footage.
MHT Verdict: Buy it!
Love the original movies and love when films are remastered for Blu-ray… plus, I’m cheap.
Lotta info there. Got my head spinning. Not sure whether to buy, rent, stream, bleep or go blind.
I’m just gonna wait until Ted Danson and Kelsey Grammar do a buddy movie.