New on DVD & Blu-Ray: 'Dallas Buyers Club', 'Escape Plan', 'About Time'

Dallas Buyers Club - Ron Woodroff lives life on the edge. He's a heavy smoker, drinker, drug user, and casual sex junkie. When he ends up in the hospital and the doctors discover he is HIV positive, they give him 30 days to live. Stubborn, angry, and in denial, Ron sets off to try to get the drug AZT, which is only being trialed in the U.S. and isn't given to paying customers. He acquires it in other ways and sets up a place where other people suffering from HIV can get it too. The film gives us Oscar-nominated performances by Matthew McConaughey and Jared Leto and also stars Jennifer Garner.  

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Escape Plan - Sylvester Stallone stars as a security escape artist who's able to get out of any prison, no matter how sophisticated their security system is. When Stallone is set up and is sent to a maximum security prison he can't escape as easily as usual, he teams up with Arnold Schwarzenegger, an inmate at the prison, to make plans and escape what seems to be the inescapable. Also starring Sam Neill, Faran Tahir, 50 Cent, Jim Caviezel, and Amy Ryan. 

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About Time - When Tim is 21, his father lets him in on a little family secret: the men of the family can travel through time. Of course, you need to be in a dark place with your fists clench, but it does work. So Tim sets off in search of a girlfriend and ends up meeting Mary and tries to make everything perfect in their relationship by going back and trying to change the past. Eventually Tim learns that you can't change some things, but can enjoy what you have. A heart warming film filled with fun moments. Starring Domhnall Gleeson, Rachel McAdams, and Bill Nighy.

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Free Birds - In this animated comedy, two turkey enemies team up in order to go back in time and make sure that Thanksgiving is never again called Turkey Day. In order to spare themselves, the two turkeys must learn to work together if they have any hopes of saving themselves and all the turkeys of the world. The voice cast includes Owen Wilson, Woody Harrelson, Amy Poehler, George Takei, and Keith David.

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Baggage Claim - Montana Moore's youngest sister is getting married. Desperate and not wanting to be the oldest and the only woman in her family to never get married, Montana embarks on a 30-day adventure to find a man and get engaged. She uses her airline connections to travel 30,000 miles in order to find someone before her sister's wedding. The film stars Paula Patton, Tia Mowry, Taye Diggs, Jill Scott, and Adam Brody.

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Romeo and Juliet - William Shakespeare would probably be proud to know that his tragic tale of Romeo and Juliet has transcended time and is still one of his most popular works. So popular, that it has garnered another movie about the two star-crossed lovers. This time around, the roles have been filled in by Hailee Steinfield, Douglas Booth, Christian Cooke, and Ed Westwick.

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Cutie and the Boxer - Ushio and Noriko Shinohara are both artists who came from Japan to New York City in the '70s. This documentary by Zachary Heinzerling follows the couple in present day as they struggle to bring in money from their artwork and gives us the background to their tumultuous 40-year relationship. The documentary has been nominated for an Academy Award. 

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71st Annual Golden Globes: 'American Hustle' Wins Three Awards, '12 Years A Slave' Wins Best Drama

The 71st Annual Golden Globes are now in the books, one of the last major steps on the road to the Academy Awards, and there are a couple of surprises that are all tied in together. Probably the biggest of all is that 12 Years A Slave, which had come in as the favorite over the last few months, only managed one win for Best Drama, leading many on social media to wail that the film was mere moments away from being totally shut out.

The big victor of the night was David O. Russell's American Hustle with three, including Best Picture Comedy/Musical, Best Actress-Comedy for Amy Adams, and Best Supporting Actress for Jennifer Lawrence. The momentum for Matthew McConaughey for Dallas Buyers Club continued as he defeated Chiwetel Ejiofor for Best Actor-Drama, while his co-star Jared Leto won Best Supporting actor. Despite the film earning its share of criticism, Leonardo DiCaprio won Best Actor-Comedy for Martin Scorsese's The Wolf of Wall Street. As many predicted, Alfonso Cuaron won Best Director for Gravity, overcoming stiff competition from Steve McQueen and O. Russell.

In their second year as hosts, Tina Fey and Amy Poehler began the night with a scathing and pin-point opener skewering many of the guests, especially ripping George Clooney for his infamous ageism. Tom Hanks was especially in the duo's comedic sights for some reason, and yeah there were plenty of off-the-wall, possibly alcohol-fueled acceptance speeches. In particular Jacqueline Bissett, winning for TV miniseries Dancing on the Edge, gave a sputtering, angry speech that had to be censored for vulgarity.

How will all of this affect the Oscar nominations next week? If anything, it shows that 12 Years A Slave's seeming grip on the top honors is slipping.

The full list of winners is below:

Best Motion Picture - Drama
WINNER: "12 Years a Slave"
"Captain Phillips"
"Gravity"
"Philomena"
"Rush"

Best Motion Picture - Comedy/Musical
WINNER: "American Hustle"
"Her"
"Inside Llewyn Davis"
"Nebraska"
"The Wolf Of Wall Street"

Best Director
WINNER: Alfonso Cuaron - "Gravity"
Paul Greengrass - "Captain Phillips"
Steve McQueen - "12 Years a Slave"
Alexander Payne - "Nebraska"
David O Russell - "American Hustle"

Best Actress - Drama
WINNER: Cate Blanchett - "Blue Jasmine"
Sandra Bullock - "Gravity
Judi Dench - "Philomena"
Emma Thompson - "Saving Mr Banks"
Kate Winslet - "Labor Day"

Best Actor - Drama
WINNER: Matthew McConaughey - "Dallas Buyers Club"
Chiwetel Ejiofor - "12 Years a Slave"
Idris Elba - "Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom"
Tom Hanks - "Captain Phillips"
Robert Redford - "All Is Lost"

Best Actress - Comedy
WINNER: Amy Adams - "American Hustle"
Julie Delpy - "Before Midnight"
Greta Gerwig - "Frances Ha"
Julia Louis-Dreyfus - "Enough Said"
Meryl Streep - "August: Osage County"

Best Actor - Comedy/Musical
WINNER: Leonardo DiCaprio - "The Wolf of Wall Street"
Christian Bale - "American Hustle"
Bruce Dern - "Nebraska"
Oscar Isaac - "Inside Llewyn Davis"
Joaquin Phoenix - "Her"

Best Supporting Actress
WINNER:  Jennifer Lawrence - "American Hustle"
Sally Hawkins - "Blue Jasmine"
Lupita N'yongo - "12 Years a Slave"
Julia Roberts - "August: Osage County"
June Squibb - "Nebraska"

Best Supporting Actor
WINNER: Jared Leto - "Dallas Buyers Club"
Barkhad Abdi - "Captain Phillips"
Daniel Bruhl - "Rush"
Bradley Cooper - "American Hustle"
Michael Fassbender - "12 Years a Slave"

Best Screenplay
WINNER: Spike Jonze - "Her"
Bob Nelson - "Nebraska"
Jeff Pope & Steve Coogan - "Philomena"
John Ridley - "12 Years a Slave"
Eric Warren Singer & David O. Russell - "American Hustle"

Best Foreign Film
WINNER: "The Great Beauty"
"Blue Is The Warmest Color"
"The Hunt"
"The Past"
"The Wind Rises"

Best Animated Feature
WINNER: "Frozen"
"The Croods"
"Despicable Me 2"

Best Original Score - Motion Picture
WINNER: Alex Ebert - "All Is Lost
Alex Heffes - "Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom"
Steven Price - "Gravity"
John Williams - "The Book Thief"
Hans Zimmer - "12 Years a Slave"

Best Original Song - Motion Picture
WINNER: "Ordinary Love" - U2 - "Mandela: Long Walk To Freedom"
 "Atlas" - Coldplay - "The Hunger Games: Catching Fire"
"Let It Go - Idina Menzel - "Frozen"
"Please Mr. Kennedy" - Justin Timberlake & co - "Inside Llewyn Davis"
"Sweeter Than Fiction" - Taylor Swift - "One Chance"

Best TV Series - Comedy/Musical
WINNER: "Brooklyn Nine Nine"
"Girls"
"Big Bang Theory"
"Modern Family"
"Parks and Recreation"

Best Miniseries Or Motion Picture Made For Television
WINNER: "Behind the Candelabra"
"American Horror Story: Coven"
"Dancing On The Edge"
"Top of the Lake"
"The White Queen"

Best TV Drama
WINNER: "Breaking Bad"
"Downton Abbey"
"The Good Wife"
"House of Cards"
"Masters of Sex"

Best Actress - Drama TV Series
WINNER: Robin Wright - "House of Cards"
Julianna Margulies - "The Good Wife"
Tatiana Maslany - "Orphan Black"
Taylor Schilling - "Orange Is the New Black"
Kerry Washington - "Scandal"

Best Actor - TV Drama
WINNER: Bryan Cranston - "Breaking Bad"
Liev Schreiber - "Ray Donovan"
Michael Sheen - "Masters of Sex"
Kevin Spacey - "House of Cards"
James Spader - "The Blacklist"

Best Actress - Miniseries
WINNER: Elisabeth Moss - "Top of the Lake"
Helena Bonham-Carter - "Burton & Taylor"
Rebecca Ferguson - "The White Queen"
Jessica Lange - "American Horror Story: Coven"
Helen Mirren - "Phil Spector"

Best Actor - Miniseries
WINNER: Michael Douglas - "Behind the Candelabra"
Matt Damon - "Behind the Candelabra"
Chiwetel Ejiofor - "Dancing On the Edge"
Idris Elba - "Luther"
Al Pacino - "Phil Spector"

Best Actress - Comedy TV Series
WINNER: Amy Poehler - "Parks and Recreation" 
Zooey Deschanel - "New Girl"
Lena Dunham - "Girls"
Edie Falco - "Nurse Jackie"
Julia Louis-Dreyfus - "Veep"

Best Actor - Comedy TV Series
WINNER: Andy Samberg - "Brooklyn Nine Nine"
Jason Bateman - "Arrested Development"
Don Cheadle - "House of Lies"
Michael J. Fox - "The Michael J. Fox Show"
Jim Parsons - "The Big Bang Theory"

Best Supporting Actor - TV
WINNER: Jon Voight - "Ray Donovan"
Josh Charles - "The Good Wife"
Rob Lowe - "Behind the Candelabra"
Aaron Paul - "Breaking Bad"
Corey Stoll - "House of Cards"

Best Supporting Actress - TV
WINNER: Jacqueline Bisset - "Dancing On the Edge"
Janet McTeer - "The White Queen"
Hayden Panetierre - "Nashville"
Monica Potter - "Parenthood"
Sofia Vergara - "Modern Family"

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Box Office: "Frozen' Freezes Out 'Catching Fire' and 'Out of the Furnace'

1. Frozen- $31.6M/$134.2M
Traditionally, the post-Thanksgiving is a barren one for new releases, and this year is no different. Frozen took advantage and topped the chart with $31M, slipping 53% in its second weekend, slightly lower than Tangled's 55% dip back in 2010.  Internationally the film has hauled in another $55M for a $190M worldwide total, so Disney has to be pretty happy all around. With Oscar buzz swelling for it in the Best Animated Feature category there's little reason to think Frozen will go away any time soon.
2. The Hunger Games: Catching Fire- $27M/$336.6M
3. Out of the Furnace- $5.3M
Hey, dark and moody films just don't do well this time of year as folks are wrapped up in the holiday spirit. Oddly enough it's also awards season when movies like this tend to garner significant critical acclaim. Out of the Furnace didn't have the benefit of glowing reviews, though, despite an A-list cast of potential Oscar contenders Christian Bale and Forest Whitaker. Audiences have no interest in a brooding movie like this right now, and there's no guarantee it will make back the $20M+ production budget. Probably not, actually.
4. Thor: The Dark World- $4.7M/$193.6M
5. Delivery Man- $3.7M/$24.7M
6. Homefront- $3.3M/$15.2M
7. The Book Thief- $2.7M/$12M
8. The Best Man Holiday- $2.6M/$67.2M
9. Philomena- $2.2M/$8.2M
10. Dallas Buyers Club- $1.4M/$12.4M

Maybe folk music isn't as dead a musical form as we thought? The Coen Brothers' Inside Llewyn Davis, riding a ton of Best Actor heat for star Oscar Isaac, opened like gangbusters with $401K in only 4 locations. You can do the math on that one, but it obviously bodes well for a much larger expansion.

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'Inside Llewyn Davis', 'Fruitvale Station' Win Big at Gotham Awards; Brie Larson Takes Top Acting Prize

Our own WAFCA Awards will be handed out next week, but the awards race really kicked off in earnest tonight as the Gotham Awards announced their big winners. Taking the top prize of Best Feature was the Coen Brothers' folk music film Inside Llewyn Davis, beating out expected Oscar-winner 12 Years A Slave. Early year favorite Fruitvale Station won both categories it was nominated in with director Ryan Coogler winning for Breakthrough Director and star Michael B. Jordan taking home Breakthrough Actor. In a bit of a happy surprise, Brie Larson won Best Actress for the acclaimed indie drama Short Term 12, while Matthew McConaughey won Best Actor for Dallas Buyers Club.

So how does all of this change the Oscar race? Some will say this gives the Coens' film some heavy momentum but in truth this won't mean much unless Inside Llewyn Davis continues to rack up wins. However this could be a significant boost for Larson, who was recently nominated for an Indie Spirit Award, while McConaughey has long been considered a top contender.

Check out the full list of winners below....

Best Feature: "Inside Llewyn Davis"

Best Documentary: "The Act of Killing"

Bingham Ray Breakthrough Director Award: Ryan Coogler, "Fruitvale Station"
 
Best Actor: Matthew McConaughey, "Dallas Buyers Club"

Best Actress: Brie Larson, "Short Term 12"

Breakthrough Actor: Michael B. Jordan, "Fruitvale Station"

Film Audience Award: "Jake Shimabukuro: Life on Four Strings," Tadashi Nakamura

Spotlight on Women Filmmakers ‘Live the Dream’ Grant: Gita Pullapilly, director, "Beneath the Harvest Sky"

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Review: 'Dallas Buyers Club' Starring Matthew McConaughey and Jared Leto

It wasn't too long ago that a "brave" performance by Matthew McConaughey meant not taking his shirt off and flashing his abs for a swooning audience of female fans. Now as his career transitions into one of utmost legitimacy, he does what no major Hollywood star has done since Tom Hanks won the Oscar for Philadelphia more than a decade ago, and that's play an AIDS victim. And much like Hanks, McConaughey gives a transformative, confident performance that could send him to the Academy Awards stage.

As scrawny, shady Texas cowpoke Ron Woodruff it's McConaughey's swagger and southern charm that shines through more than his good looks in Dallas Buyers Club, a film about the early days of the AIDS epidemic that (thankfully) isn't like all of those other films about the AIDS epidemic. The true story of Woodruff is a fascinating one that sees him go from a homophobic, coke-snorting, hard-drinking lowlife into a figure of hope to many who were suffering from the disease. But there are no grand epiphanies to be found; no heartfelt soul-bearing speeches that paint Woodruff as an easily likable champion for the afflicted.

It's a title that wouldn't have suited Woodruff anyway. Based on his true story, the film begins with Woodruff engaged in sweaty anonymous sex, a time-filler between drinks at the bar, scoring some drugs, or his latest hustle. He sees himself as the ultimate man's man, ten-gallon hat permanently atop his head and a cigarette always at the ready. It's 1986 and Rock Hudson has just died of AIDS, but the real tragedy is all the women the actor could have nailed. Such a shame. But there's a problem that Woodruff doesn't want to acknowledge; he's been getting sick. He looks like a bag of bones and is coughing up blood when he isn't fainting altogether. A random work accident sends him to the hospital where he gets a life-changing diagnosis: HIV. And he's only given a few weeks to live.

"There ain't nothing out there that can kill Ron Woodruff in 30 days," he says defiantly to his doctors, including the concerned Dr. Eve Saks (Jennifer Garner) who takes to the gruff cowboy despite his dismissal of her diagnosis. The film begins counting the days, not just to Woodruff's death but until he finally comes to accept the situation he's in. After failing to get in on the AZT medical trials, and not having the money to buy the expensive drug cocktail himself, Woodruff does the unexpected and starts hitting the books. What he discovers is a big ol' roadblock of FDA bureaucracy and dirty deals to make legal AIDS drugs practically unobtainable to those who need them most. As one would expect from a dying con man, Woodruff does whatever it takes to profit from a bad situation. Of course a guy like him would end up in Mexico buying illegal AZT from an unlicensed doctor. Of course a guy like him would smuggle it back across the border and set up the "Dallas Buyers Club", earning a profit by selling access to the drugs outside of FDA regulations. What's surprising is where this scheme takes him, both literally and figuratively.

A barely recognizable Jared Leto steals every scene as Rayon, a transvestite Woodruff meets and forms what begins as only a professional relationship. Rayon lures in more clients, and Woodruff reaps the profits. But over time we see that the kind-hearted Rayon begins to break down those walls of uber-hetero machismo Woodruff has built up, leading to a meaningful friendship that flies in the face of everything Woodruff has ever known. As his quest to beat the odds (and make some cash) takes him places he never imagined, such as Japan, Germany, and even Israel, Woodruff begins to win sympathizers to his cause. Not the least of which is Dr. Saks, who comes to challenge the red tape that is costing many AIDS patients a legitimate shot to survive.

Written without a shred of melodrama and directed with economical precision by Jean-Marc Vallee, Dallas Buyers Club gets its point across without becoming just another message film. He doesn't dwell too much on the fine details of the era, yet you recognize in the many supporting characters the fearful atmosphere permeating the country as AIDS grew into an epidemic. While there's a great deal of medical jargon to wade through, it's balanced nicely by sensitive and humorous character moments. This isn't a crowd-pleaser in the truest sense because, frankly, we know Woodruff's story won't end well. That doesn't diminish in the least the fight and courage he displays, which is nothing less than uplifting. Vallee's a solid director but in his efforts to remain minimal he occasionally underplays a scene's emotional value, such as in the final shot which comes practically out of nowhere and lacks the intended impact.

Despite the heavy subject matter, Dallas Buyers Club is an entertaining, unsentimental character study that everyone will want to take a dose of.

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Watch an AIDS-Stricken Matthew McConaughey in First 'Dallas Buyers Club' Trailer

Is it possible that Matthew McConaughey, that guy who gave us such "thoughtful" performances in Sahara and Failure to Launch, could be on the verge of two Best Actor nominations in the same year? The buzz has certainly been swirling over his soulful turn in Jeff Nichols' Mud, and ever since the first photos emerged of the physical lengths he went to for the AIDS drama Dallas Buyers Club, the talk for it has been just as strong. Now the first trailer has emerged to give us the best look yet at the stunning physical transformation he underwent.

Gone is the rippling physique and six pack abs and in its place is an emaciated McConaughey, playing real life figure Ron Woodruff, a man stricken with AIDS and given only a month to live. Rather than giving in and merely accepting the FDA-approved drug AZT, Woodruff began taking and selling illegal, unapproved medication acquired from all over the world. The film chronicles his fight for survival and the FDA's attempts to shut down his drug-selling operation, a battle which lasted much longer than Woodruff was ever supposed to live.

Although it's tough to tell because of the annoying ET host's voice-over, the tone appears to be walking a balance between drama and comedy, in particular with the back-and-forth between McConaughey and Jared Leto, who lost more than 30lbs to play Woodruff's transvestite partner.

Directed by Jean-Marc Vallee and co-starring Jennifer Garner, Dallas Buyers Club will debut as part of the TIFF line-up then hit theaters on November 1st. We'll update this trailer with a better one soon.

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