DVD & Blu-ray reviews: From Michael Keaton in Birdman to Angelina Jolie's Unbroken

Broad strokes and humour dominate Birdman (above)

Michael Keaton, left, and Edward Norton in a scene from Birdman

Birdman (15) Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu DVD/Blu-ray (119 mins)

Broad strokes and humour dominate Alejandro González Iñárritu's Oscar-winning satire (above) on actors and their fragile egos. Birdman which is set almost exclusively inside a Broadway theatre, centres on Riggan (Michael Keaton), the former star of the wildly successful Birdman superhero series who is trying to gain some credibility with his own theatrical take on Raymond Carver. After his lead actor is felled by some scenery, he's forced to take on Ed Norton's unhinged Mike. The female characters are underwritten, but what elevates this icy comedy-drama is the acting from Norton and Emma Stone, who provides much needed heart as Riggan's recovering-addict daughter.

****

Cobain: Montage of Heck (15) Brett Morgen DVD/Blu-ray (132 mins)

"Kurt's brain was just constantly going... I'm just so glad I didn't get that genius brain," says Kurt Cobain's sister, Kimberly, in Brett Morgen's depressing but thorough documentary, charting the Nirvana frontman's childhood, his feeling of "rejection" and relationship with Courtney Love. Contributions from his mother Wendy, his clearly distressed father Don, his stepmom and musicians including Nirvana's Kris Novoselic paint a picture of a talented, "hyper" boy who grew into a damaged, addictive adult. Every bit as upsetting as you'd imagine it would be.

***

Unbroken (15) Angelina Jolie DVD/Blu-ray (137 mins)

Louis Zamperini goes from Californian delinquent to Olympic runner to Japanese PoW in Angelina Jolie's gruelling epic, which flits around different time periods. The main focus is on Louis's internment in a Tokyo camp headed by sadistic Japanese corporal Mutsuhiro "Bird" Watanabe, who targets (presumably out of jealousy) the former athlete for extra punishment. The Railway Man, starring Colin Firth, handled this subject far more astutely and packed a weightier emotional punch. This worthy effort, about a remarkable man, feels flat by comparison.

***

National Gallery (12) Frederick Wiseman DVD/Blu-ray (181 mins)

Veteran film-maker Frederick Wiseman focuses on London's National Gallery without the need for a narrative voiceover; fixing his camera on the absorbing people who work there. The description of Camille Pissarro's The Boulevard Montmartre at Night to a group of blind people, navigating a print in relief with their hands, is inspiring and fascinating, as is the majority of this three-hour documentary which never patronises the viewer.

****

Coffy (18) Jack Hill DVD/Blu-ray (91 mins)

"That's a present for my little sister and a nice cop called Carter," maintains sassy vigilante nurse Coffy (Pam Grier, excellent) after disposing of another scumbag drug pusher in Jack Hill's lurid, violent and vigorous Blaxploitation flick from 1973, which was a huge influence on Tarantino. You better believe it's coming!...

***