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New on DVD: Rae, Nanjiani are ‘Lovebirds’ on the run

By Tribune News Service
Published: June 2, 2021, 3:38pm

A movie about a normal couple who find themselves at the center of a murder mystery tops the DVD releases for the week of June 8.

In “The Lovebirds,” Issa Rae and Kumail Nanjiani star as Leilani and Jibran, a couple on the rocks after years of dating who have their lives upended while driving one day. Their car is commandeered and used to commit a vehicular homicide, setting them on a dangerous journey to clear their names of the murder.

The film reunites Nanjiani with director Michael Showalter, who also helmed the actor’s breakout hit, “The Big Sick.” As with that previous outing, “Showalter is unflashy, efficient and willing to let the performers fully take the spotlight,” Los Angeles Times critic Mark Olsen says in his “Lovebirds” review.

“Rae and Nanjiani have a quicksilver chemistry, flashing from playful banter to genuine, hurtful arguing in an instant,” Olsen writes of the film’s leads. “It’s often up in the air whether to root for this couple to even stay together — someone holding them at gunpoint says, ‘You seem like a nice though somewhat annoying couple’ — which gives the movie an extra charge.”

Ultimately, Olsen finds “Lovebirds” to be a worthy addition to the budding rom-com/thriller subgenre. “On a scale of other recent films that mixed the long-term rom-com with the action thriller, ‘The Lovebirds’ lands somewhere between ‘Game Night,’ starring Jason Bateman and Rachel McAdams, and ‘Date Night,’ starring Tina Fey and Steve Carell.”

Also new on DVD

“City of Lies”: Johnny Depp and Forest Whitaker play detectives investigating the 1997 murders of hip-hop stars Notorious B.I.G. and Tupac Shakur.

“Assault on VA-33”: It’s up to one decorated veteran visiting a VA hospital to save the day when a group of heavily armed terrorists take the staff and patients hostage.

“Flashback”: A young man finds his past, present and future blending as he struggles to remember occurrences from his high school days in this thriller.

“Fuller House: The Fifth and Final Season” and “Fuller House: The Complete Series”: The final season of the “Full House” spinoff is available for those mostly up to speed on the lives of the adult Tanner children, or get the entire “Fuller” series in one fell swoop.

“MacGyver: Season 4”: See the continuing adventures of the young Angus “Mac” MacGyver as he uses his ingenuity to get out of many dangerous situations in this reboot of the ‘80s favorite.

“The Unhealer”: A faith healing attempt backfires, giving a teenage boy special powers he puts to use exacting revenge from the bullies who torment him.

“Zeroville”: James Franco directs and stars as an ex-communicated seminarian who arrives in Los Angeles in the summer of 1969, at the same time the Manson Family was terrorizing the city. Also stars Seth Rogan and Megan Fox.

“Indiana Jones 4-Movie Collection”: This new set presents the classic “Indiana Jones” trilogy as well as 2008’s “Kingdom of the Crystal Skull” on 4K Ultra HD for the first time.

“Ferris Bueller’s Day Off”: This limited-edition Blu-ray release celebrates the 35th anniversary of the day-off classic written and directed by John Hughes and starring Matthew Broderick.

“Pretty In Pink”: Another Hughes-penned favorite from 1986 gets a reissue for its 35th anniversary. Stars Molly Ringwald, Jon Cryer and Harry Dean Stanton.

“Some Kind of Wonderful”: Hughes and director Howard Deutch reteamed a year after “Pretty in Pink” on this high school drama starring Eric Stoltz, Mary Stuart Masterson and Lea Thompson.

Digital HD

“Good Funk”: Examines the lives of immigrants in a Brooklyn neighborhood that is beginning to gentrify.

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