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Have you ever played the game where you try to figure out who would play you in the movie of your life? If you're Alek Skarlatos, Anthony Sadler, or Spencer Stone, then you don't have to think about it any longer. The three were selected by Director Clint Eastwood to play themselves in the biographical picture 15:17 TO PARIS.

The film details the thwarted terrorist attack on a passenger train which was stopped by Skarlatos, Sadler and Stone. However, the film tries to do much more than that, as it reaches back into their childhoods to show how they became friends, became separated, and followed different life paths until meeting up again for a backpack tour of Europe that placed them in the right place at the right time.

Madeleine L'Engle's novel A WRINKLE IN TIME is a benchmark in science fiction and fantasy. Ava DuVernay's version...not so much.

While the film boasts an all-star cast, including three young leads who are already accomplished, the film suffers from immersing itself too deeply in its presentation, with the angelic characters of Mrs. Which (OPRAH WINFREY), Mrs. Who (MINDY KALING) and Mrs. Whatsit (REESE WITHERSPOON) done up so intensely gaudy in both costuming and makeup that it comes across the screen as simply bad cosplay.

Tis the season for announcing the summer slate of DVD boxed sets for all our favorite fall shows that wrapped up a few weeks back. Chief among those is LUCIFER, starring Tom Ellis as the Prince of Darkness teamed up with an LAPD Detective, Chloe Decker (Lauren German).

The promo material for the release reads as follows:

Today I find myself tasked with trying to relate to you, dear reader, the plot and feelings involved in ALEX GARLAND's cinematic soporific, ANNIHILATION.

Slowly paced, quietly executed, chronologically splintered, ANNIHILATION addresses the self-destructive tendencies in people and magnifies that to an unexplainable alien event. I began to identify with the premise, as I started to wish I were dead myself as we plodded through quicksand toward the finish line, much like Lena (NATALIE PORTMAN) toward that iconic lighthouse where it all begins and ends.

Before Mystery, Inc, there was Ridgely High -- where two students, Daphne Blake (SARAH JEFFERY, WAYWARD PINES) and Velma Dinkley (SARAH GILMAN, LAST MAN STANDING), first meet in real life after having been online BFFs.

Daphne has just transferred to Ridgely, a high-tech school that would make a Jetson's jaw drop. She's led a charmed life where everything has always worked out and good things come easily to her. She also believes in ghosts and aliens. But there's a secret behind Daphne's good luck that gets stripped away, leaving her to her own devices for the first time in her life.

JASON BATEMAN and RACHEL MCADAMS are a perfect pair in the Warner Brothers adventure-comedy, GAME NIGHT.

Max (Bateman) and Annie (McAdams) met over bar games. Both are sharp-minded, quick-witted, and competitive, and they continue their game night tradition with their friends into their marriage. But lately they've begun to exclude their neighbor, Gary (JESSE PLEMONS), following his divorce, which has left the police officer seeming a bit on the creepy side, so the friends have to do their game nights with less fanfare.

Complicating matters for Max is the arrival of his older, better-looking, and more successful brother, Brooks (KYLE CHANDLER), who opts to host the next game night at a house he's renting while in town. The game is a murder mystery, so when the house gets broken into and Brooks is kidnapped before their very eyes, the players all believe this is the beginning of the game. Except it's very real, and Brooks is in deadly danger.

So there it is: the worst BATMAN animated story I've seen (and I've seen BATMAN UNLIMITED: MECHS VS MUTANTS, so that's saying something).

There's so many things wrong with this movie, but let me start out on the high note: the animation isn't one of them. The imagery -- inconsistent in style as it is -- is gorgeous. Watch it with the sound off, and only glance at it now and then, and you'll always see something awesome.

But if you actually expose yourself to the story, your fascination will quickly dwindle away.

Every once in a while, the Ghosts of Saturday Mornings Past rears its sentimental head (and that's two Christmas Carol references in the same day for those keeping count; no there's no real reason behind it), and reminds me just how much better things were when they were not so over-produced.

Today's case in point: The Wacky Races. The original Hanna-Barbera series had a motley cast of characters who were more than two-dimensional players. They had depth to them, and some even had their own series, The Perils of Penelope Pitstop and Dastardly and Muttley in Their Flying Machines. Having such a large cast afforded the opportunity for more (and more interesting) interactions, even if each racing team had its one-note to hit (Peter Perfect was always "perfect," the Gruesome Twosome were always monstrous, the Slag Brothers were always clubbing each other on the head).

AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR's CHRIS HEMSWORTH headlines this film as Captain Mitch Nelson, a military team leader who has never seen real combat and who has just disbanded his team to take a desk job. It was a good plan, and a good career.

But 9-11 got in the way.

Following the attacks on the World Trace Center in 2001, Nelson fights to get his Special Forces team back together and sent to the Middle East. Over objections, he is successful, and his team join up with one of the Afghan warlords, General Dostum (NAVID NEGAHBAN), to take on the Taliban. Their specific mission is to advance and capture the city of Mazar-i-Sharif, which is a stronghold of the Taliban.

BEN WHISHAW returns to lend his voice to the delightfully courteous and thoughtful-to-a-fault Paddington Brown, a talking bear who lives in London with the Brown family -- Henry (HUGE BONNEVILLE), Mary (SALLY HAWKINS), Judy (MADELAINE HARRIS) and Jonathan (SAMUEL JOSLIN).

Paddington's Aunty Lucy (IMELDA STAUNTON) is having an important birthday coming up, and Paddington wants to get her the perfect present. He finds it in an antique shop -- a pop-up book of all the London landmarks, created by a very famous carnival owner. Alas, the book is very expensive, and Paddington sets out to earn the money to buy the book.

In the DC Universe, there is an afterlife. That's not a philosophical debate, it's an actual thing, and it presents a number of sticky problems that the players have to deal with, not always in a fashion consistent with the ramifications of there being a Heaven and a Hell. It's the focal point of this latest DC Animated Universe release, SUICIDE SQUAD: HELL TO PAY.

The hit fantasy series THE SHANNARA CHRONICLES based on the best-selling book series of the same name, written by Terry Brooks, is coming to Blu-Ray/DVD.

Originally airing on MTV for its first season, the series moved to Spike TV head of the network's pending change to the Paramount Network. For this reason, many fans of the first season may have missed the opportunity to catch up with Wil, Allanon, and the rest of the gang.

This May, fans of the "Four Lands" will be able to catch up with the second season as all 10 episodes land on Blu-Ray and DVD on May 15! Dubbed as "Television's best fantasy series" by Forbes the Blu-Ray will come packed with special features like Behind-the-Scenes Extras.

Overview:

The police procedural is possibly one of the longest-lived, most successful television genres after the situation family comedy. From DRAGNET to ADAM-12, all the way to HILL STREET BLUES and LAW & ORDER, people love to watch the good guys at work bringing the bad guys to justice.

It's never the wrong time of the year to watch a Christmas special, particularly when it's one of the DOCTOR WHO episodes, as they are as momentous as they are charming.

This particular episode finds The Doctor (PETER CAPALDI) heading off to Antarctica, where he intends to refrain from his next regeneration and allow himself to die. He quickly learns, interestingly enough, that this is not the first time he's decided to do this very thing, as he learns there is another TARDIS nearby -- and another Doctor. The original one, portrayed by DAVID BRADLEY as a dead ringer for the first Doctor, William Hartnell.

MATT DAMON (JASON BOURNE) stars in this ALEXANDER PAYNE vehicle about a world where the capability of shrinking living beings is made a reality.

Being able to become five inches high, while irreversible, comes with many advantages, which fall into the categories of ecology and economy. Requiring less to sustain yourself scales what might be a meager savings for a full-size individual into a fortune for a miniaturized one, allowing for a retirement to leisure much earlier. Likewise, the less one uses, the less waste produced, so it's a win-win.

Payne does a wonderful job exploring the downsides of the technology as well -- particularly with political dissidents being shrunk against their will, and the challenges to illegal immigration if refugees can simply be shipped overseas by Federal Express.

She's cultured. He's coarse.

She's pedigreed. He's lowly.

She's refined. He's ruff...er...rough around the edges.

Naturally, they're made for each other!

It's almost unfathomable to think there's anyone over five years of age who hasn't seen Walt Disney's LADY AND THE TRAMP by now. However, it's good to occasionally be reminded of just how good a film it is for young and old alike, a tale of how love bridges class boundaries, and can cause anyone to rethink their entrenched philosophies for the happiness of another.

At this stage of the game, I've seen enough LEGO movies to get the joke. Expect a level of silliness, everything unmade can be remade, bricks are the building block of the universe, and there's a somber lesson to be learned in there somewhere that will still end with a punchline.

And then there's THE FLASH -- which does all of that and more.

The story opens with the Justice League going up against The Joker (JASON SPISAK) who has targeted Metropolis since Batman (TROY BAKER) has been spending his time with all his super friends at the Hall of Justice. He's setting off laughing gas bombs that must be stopped, so the entire League -- including Superman (NOLAN NORTH), Wonder Woman (GREY DELISLE), Cyborg (KHARY PAYTON), Plastic Man (TOM KENNY), Firestorm (PHIL LAMARR) and newly-recruited member The Atom (ERIC BAUZA) set out to stop him. But none of them are fast enough, and all eventually succumb to Joker's attacks as Batman persistently grumbles, "Where is Flash!?"

When an art dealer (GREG KINNEAR) is discovered to be cheating on his wife (RENEE ZELLWEGER), she forgives him on the condition they try to fix their relationship. For Ron Hall, this means he will be joining Debbie in assisting at a homeless shelter, not by writing a check but by using his hands and putting in the effort to get to know the people there and help them one-on-one. It is here that they meet Denver Moore (DJIMON HOUNSOU), a violent man with a criminal past. He also looks exactly like the man Debbie has been having dreams about, and she focuses on finding out more about him.

BURBANK, CA (February 13, 2018) – Prepare to witness the Dark Knight, alongside many of his most famed allies and infamous foes, in an eye-popping anime display you’ve never seen before when Warner Bros. Japan, DC Entertainment and Warner Bros. Home Entertainment present Batman Ninja. The all-new, feature-length animated film arrives on Digital starting April 24, 2018, and Blu-ray™ Steelbook ($29.98 SRP), Blu-ray™ Combo Pack ($24.98 SRP) and DVD ($19.98 SRP) on May 8, 2018.

The film will be available in 4K UHD for Digital only in a release planned for Summer 2018. 

Batman Ninja is PG-13 for sequences of violence and action, and for some suggestive material.

What can be said about Madonna Louise Ciccone, aka Madonna, that hasn’t been said, seen, or written dozens of times before? Nothing really, I suppose, so I’m just going to focus on this CD/DVD set what it is and what it does.

This set shows that despite the passage of time, Madonna at 59 is still the Queen of Pop she was in the eighties, able to put on a pop show unlike any other, still the consummate professional who knows what she is doing and what needs to be done to turn an already frenzied audience into a frenzied mob. What helps makes this possible is the technical advances enabling the “off the charts” stage show that they could only hint at back in those “dark ages.”