Locke (Lionsgate, Blu-ray, DVD, VOD), on its surface, sounds like one of the those high-concept / stunt thrillers and horror films that sprouted up like weeds a few years ago: one actor in a car, driving alone in a stretch of freeway at night, talking to the people in his life through phone calls (hands free, of course; the man is nothing if not responsible).
Except that Locke is not a crime drama or a horror film; there are no villains on his trail or masterminds toying with him by phone. Locke is about a man who, in the space of a 90-minute night drive from a construction site in Birmingham to a London hospital, makes a decision that defines his character and changes the course of his life forever. There’s no twist to the narrative, no shocking revelation, but the meaning of his journey is best discovered along the way as Ivan Locke (Tom Hardy)—husband, father, construction manager—explains it to his family and colleagues.
Tom Hardy is in the driver’s seat, literally and figuratively, for the entirety of the film, and there’s nothing showy in his measured, introspective journey. While those on the end of his phone calls–a wife on the verge of hysteria, nervous sons aware that something is wrong, a construction foreman suddenly promoted to take charge of the biggest concrete pour ever attempted in the UK—unravel at the news, Locke remains calming and deliberate while in conversation and struggles to hold himself together in between calls as he confronts the consequences of his decision.
British filmmaker Steven Knight wrote the tough, lean, uncompromising scripts for Dirty Pretty Things and Eastern Promises. Locke is just as uncompromising, but what’s at stake here is the measure of a man faced with a difficult decision. Knight finds ways to keep the journey from getting dull or claustrophobic with the camera finding new set-ups within the confined space of the car, watching Locke in reflection or lit up by passing cars and overhead lights; imagery that reminds us of the transience of his situation, a man alone in a river of anonymous travelers. But it’s the personal journey that makes Locke, a terribly human story about one man who refuses to shirk his responsibility no matter what it costs to his career, such and emotionally powerful drama.
Blu-ray and DVD with commentary by director / writer Steven Knight and the featurette “Ordinary Unraveling: Making Locke.” Also on Cable VOD.
Muppets Most Wanted (Disney, Blu-ray, DVD, Digital HD, VOD, Disney Movies Anywhere), the second film in the great Muppet revival, harkens back to the goofy sequels of the first Muppet Movie wave, making a virtue of the sheer silliness of the premise: Kermit the Frog is kidnapped and tossed in a Siberian gulag while his lookalike Constantine, aka The Most Dangerous Frog In The World, takes his place sending the Muppet crew to perform in theaters coincidentally right next door to prime robbery targets. No one notices, of course, and the fact that their new manager (played by Ricky Gervais with smiling insincerity) is named Badguy (“It’s pronounced Bad-jhee,” he explains to knowing Muppet nods) just piles on the ridiculousness. Meanwhile, Kermit stages a musical in stir, putting the prisoners (which include Ray Liotta, Jemaine Clement, Josh Groban and Danny Trejo as himself) through the paces of dance numbers from A Chorus Line. Yes, it’s not much of a story. Rather, it’s a crazy plot on which to hang a bunch of gags and as much a parody of silly sequels as it is a goof-fest in its own right. The jokes don’t all hit but they come so rapidly it hardly matters. This is as much for the kid in the adult viewers as for the kids themselves.
Tina Fey and Ty Burrell co-star, Christoph Waltz, Salma Hayek, Usher Raymond, Sean Combs, Lady Gaga, Tony Bennett and Céline Dion guest star as themselves, and Tom Hiddleston, Stanley Tucci, Frank Langella and Zach Galifianakis make cameo appearances.
While the DVD is pretty bare bones (it has a music video), the digital version of the film (Digital HD and Disney Movies Anywhere) includes a few additional supplements, notably “The Longer Longest Blooper Reel in Muppets History,” the featurette “Rizzo’s Biggest Fan,” and “The Statler and Waldorf Cut” of the film, which is a really more of a quick but clever gag.
The Blu-ray features “The Unnecessarily Extended Cut,” which has more than 15 minutes of additional footage, in addition to the extras mentioned above plus DVD and Digital HD versions of the film.
Also new and notable: 
The Railway Man (Anchor Bay, Blu-ray, DVD, VOD) stars Colin Firth as a World War II veteran who survived the brutal treatment at a Japanese prison camp and returns decades later to confront the translator who was responsible for much of his treatment. Nicole Kidman, Jeremy Irvine, Stellan Skarsgård and Hiroyuki Sanada co-star in this based-on-a-true-story drama. With commentary by director Jonathan Teplitzky and co-writer / producer Andy Paterson and the featurette “The Making of The Railway Man.”
Fanie Fourie’s Lobola (Olive, DVD), a romantic comedy from South Africa, plays the cultural clash for laughs when an Afrikaans man falls in love with a Zulu woman and struggles to fulfill the custom of the lobola, the marriage dowry of Zulu custom. The multi-lingual film did not get an America release but it did win audience awards at a couple of major American film festivals.
Breathe In (Cohen, Blu-ray, DVD, VOD) – Drake Doremus and Felicity Jones, the director and star of Like Crazy, reunite for this indie drama of a destructive attraction starring Guy Pearce, Amy Ryan and Mackenzie Davis. Guy Pearce is also in Hateship Loveship (IFC, DVD), which stars Kristen Wiig as a nanny to Hailee Steinfeld and Pearce as her recovering addict father.
Also new: Frankie & Alice (Lionsgate, DVD, Digital HD, VOD) with Halle Berry and Stellan Skarsgård, the profane comedy Filth (Magnet, Blu-ray, DVD), based on the novel by Irvine Welsh and starring James McAvoy as a corrupt cop, and the indie horror thriller Proxy (IFC, Blu-ray, DVD).
Digital / VOD / Streaming exclusives:
The final three episodes of Agatha Christie’s Poirot, the long-running British mystery series featuring David Suchet, are available exclusively on the AcornTV streaming service in the U.S. At least until they debut on disc in November.
Neighbors (Universal, Digital HD), the family vs. frat comedy with Seth Rogen, Rose Byrne and Zac Efron, as available as a Digital purchase six weeks before disc.
The Other Woman (Fox, Cable VOD), like other Fox releases, arrives on Demand and at Redbox a couple of weeks after its disc and digital debut. You also get the gag reel with the Cable rental.
And you can also get these new releases On Demand same day as disc release: Muppets Most Wanted, Locke (both reviewed above), The Railway Man, Breathe In, Frankie & Alice, A Haunted House 2 and the nature documentary Bears.
More releases:
Bears (Disney, Blu-ray+DVD Combo, Digital HD, VOD, Disney Movies Anywhere)
A Haunted House 2 (Universal, Blu-ray, DVD)
Swelter (Well Go, Blu-ray, DVD)
Decline of an Empire (Lionsgate, DVD, Digital HD, VOD)
Rage (Image, Blu-ray, DVD)
Kilimanjaro (Virgil, DVD)
Sol Lewitt (Icarus, DVD)
William Shatner’s Get a Life! (eOne, DVD)
The Girl on a Train (Monterey, DVD, VOD)
The Moment (Screen Media, DVD)
Summer in February (Cinedigm, DVD)
The Crown and the Dragon (New Video, Blu-ray, DVD)
Jesse (ARC, DVD)
Boredom (TDC, DVD)
Worm (Synapse, DVD)
The Midnight Game (Anchor Bay, DVD)
Eastsiders (Wolfe, DVD)
TV on disc:
Low Winter Sun: The Complete Series (Anchor Bay, DVD)
The Blacklist: The Complete First Season (Sony, Blu-ray, DVD)
The Marx Brothers TV Collection (Shout Factory, DVD)
Bitten: The Complete First Season (eOne, Blu-ray, DVD)
Classics and Cult:
Chaplin’s Mutual Comedies 1916-1917 (Flicker Alley, Blu-ray+DVD)
The Mack Sennett Collection (Flicker Alley, Blu-ray)
Batman: Assault on Arkham (Warner, Blu-ray, DVD)
Turtle Power: The History of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Paramount, DVD, VOD, Digital HD)
Favorites of the Moon: 30th Anniversary Edition (Cohen, Blu-ray, DVD)
We Won’t Grow Old Together (Kino Classics, Blu-ray, DVD)
Love Streams (Criterion, Blu-ray+DVD Combo, DVD)
Viva Las Vegas: 50th Anniversary Premium Digibook (Warner, Blu-ray)
Elvis: That’s the Way It Is – Two Disc Special Edition Premium Digibook (Warner, Blu-ray)
Motel Hell: Collector’s Edition (Shout Factory, Blu-ray)
Hercules: Special Edition (1997) (Disney, Blu-ray+DVD Combo)
Tarzan: Special Edition (1999) (Disney, Blu-ray+DVD Combo)
Bedknobs and Broomsticks: Special Edition (Disney, Blu-ray+DVD Combo)
Mickey, Donald, Goofy: The Three Musketeers (Disney, Blu-ray+DVD Combo)
The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad (Disney, Blu-ray+DVD Combo)
The Toxic Avenger (Troma, Blu-ray, DVD)
The Unforgiven (Kino Lorber, Blu-ray, DVD)
Mr. Majestyk (Kino Lorber, Blu-ray, DVD)
Breakheart Pass (Kino Lorber, Blu-ray, DVD)
The Children’s Hour (Kino Lorber, Blu-ray, DVD)
Man Hunt (Twilight Time, Blu-ray)
The Buddy Holly Story (Twilight Time, Blu-ray)
Follow That Dream (Twilight Time, Blu-ray)
The Secret of Santa Vittoria (Twilight Time, Blu-ray)
Riff Raff / Raining Stones (Twilight Time, Blu-ray)
Looney Tunes Platinum Collection Volume 3 (Warner, Blu-ray)
War Films Triple Feature: Attack / Attack on the Iron Coast / Beach Red (Shout Factory, DVD)
The Wild Geese (Severin, DVD)
Santa Sangre (single-disc edition) (Severin, DVD)
Careful, He Might Hear You (Scorpion / Kino Lorber, DVD)
A Summer Story (Scorpion / Kino Lorber, DVD)
Rush Hour 2 (Warner, Blu-ray)
The Avengers (1998) (Warner, Blu-ray)
Escape to Grizzly Mountain (Shout Factory, DVD)
Black Angel (2002) (Cult Epics, Blu-ray)
Bloodsucking Freaks (Troma, Blu-ray+DVD Combo)
DEVO: The Men Who Make The Music (MVD, DVD)
Grindhouse Trailer Classics Volume 1 (Intervision, DVD)
Mondo Magic (Massacre Video, DVD)
Tinto Brass: Maestro of Erotic Cinema Four-Disc Set (Cult Epics, Blu-ray)
Tropic of Desire / Fantasy World (Vinegar Syndrome, DVD)
Purely Physical / Cathouse Fever (Vinegar Syndrome, DVD)
Cry Wilderness / In Search of Bigfoot (Vinegar Syndrome, DVD)
Ultimate Pleasure / I Am Always Ready (Vinegar Syndrome, DVD)
42nd Street Forever: The Peep Show Collection Vol. 4 (Impulse, DVD)
Calendar of upcoming releases on Blu-ray, DVD, Digital, and VOD
