New on DVD: ‘Boxtrolls’ earns Oscar nod for best animated film

Capsule reviews of this week’s video releases, on DVD and Blu-ray, including special features:

• “The Boxtrolls” (PG, 96 minutes, Universal): Don’t be surprised that “The Boxtrolls” got nominated for an Academy Award for best animated film; it deserves consideration, on visuals alone. Laika’s animators, who utilized 3-D printing to generate the roughly one million facial expressions for the character of Eggs, have outdone their previous work on “Coraline” and “ParaNorman,” creating a feast for fans of old-school animation art. The story of “The Boxtrolls,” in lesser hands, might have turned out only so-so. Under Laika’s loving, labor-intensive touch, it takes on a kind of magic. Contains mild action and occasional peril. Extras include a five-part behind-the-scenes documentary; commentary with directors Anthony Stacchi and Graham Annable; featurettes “The Nature of Creation,” “Trolls Right Off the Tongue,” “Allergic to Easy,” “Let’s Dance” and “On the Shoulders of Giants”; and preliminary animatic sequences.

• “Lucy” (R, 89 minutes, Universal): Scarlett Johansson stars as a woman accidentally caught in a dark deal who transforms into a merciless warrior who has evolved beyond human logic. Johansson hopscotches between vulnerability and a robotic commitment to execute whatever her sophisticated internal data processor tells her to do. Her performance is just grounded enough to keep French director Luc Besson’s occasionally inventive, sometimes silly visual flourishes from turning the movie into self-parody. The less time spent thinking about the film’s largely nonsensical plot, the better. The slickly executed bullet-riddler about brainpower can only be enjoyed by cutting off all attempts at logic and rational thought. Contains strong violence, disturbing images and sexuality. Extras include a “Cerebral Capacity: The True Science of Lucy” featurette. Also, on Blu-ray: a making-of featurette.

• “The Drop” (R, 106 minutes, Fox): This taut, atmospheric, exceedingly well-written thriller, adapted by Dennis Lehane from one of his short stories, commits one of the most egregious sins in fiction: introducing an adorable puppy early in the proceedings, only to trot it out at regular intervals to stoke a growing sense of doom. “That’s a good-looking dog,” goes a running line in the film. It’s a credit to Lehane’s screenplay, director Michael R. Roskam’s restraint and a superb cast led by the masterful Tom Hardy that “The Drop” earns every sad-eyed glance and heart-tugging whimper. Hardy plays a bartender in a “drop bar” tavern owned by his cousin (James Gandolfini in a fitting final role) and used by the local crime syndicate to transfer cash in a seemingly endless loop of ill-gotten gains. Contains some strong violence and pervasive profanity. Extras include commentary by Lehane and Roskam, deleted scenes, a making-of, a Gandolfini character profile and the featurettes “Keeping it Real,” “Making Brooklyn Your Own” and “Rocco the Dog.”

• “Annabelle” (R, 95 minutes, Warner): Despite its deficiencies, this prequel to the horror film “The Conjuring” is not without a modicum of verve. It has its unnerving moments, but they’re outweighed by the sheer stupidity and predictability of the story. It’s not a movie for connoisseurs of horror, but for more susceptible sorts, those content with a fast-food approach to fear-mongering. With Annabelle Wallis, Tony Amendola and Alfre Woodard. Contains frightening and violent sequences. Extras include “The Curse of Annabelle” featurette. Also, on Blu-ray: deleted scenes and three featurettes.

• “The Zero Theorem” (R, 106 minutes, Well Go USA): This speculative parable stars Christoph Waltz as a drone working for a vast corporation called Mancon, at a time in the not-too-distant future when culture and civilization have devolved into machinations for amusing ourselves to death. Waltz’s character, Qohen Leth, spends all day in front of a computer, waiting for a phone call he’s convinced will finally tell him the purpose of life. Terry Gilliam fans will most likely consider “The Zero Theorem” a minor work compared with the filmmaker’s similarly themed “Brazil,” but this production has its modest charms. In Gilliam’s singular, still wildly liberated visual imagination, his Skittles-colored future is a place that whips horror and fancy into a diabolical confection of futuristic Victoriana. Waltz skillfully embodies Gilliam’s twin animating moods of whimsy and unease, and Mélanie Thierry is positively incandescent as sex worker Bainsley, who changes personae at the lascivious drop of a latex nurse’s hat. Contains some nudity, sexuality and profanity. Extras include a behind-the-scenes look and featurettes on visual effects, costumes and the sets.

Also:

“A Bet’s a Bet” (also released as “The Opposite Sex,” with Geoff Stults and Mena Suvari, Cinedigm), “Rudderless” (directed by William H. Macy, a music-driven drama starring Billy Crudup and Anton Yelchin, Paramount), “A Little Game,” (Makenna Ballard won International Family Film Festival’s best child actor award for this family film with a strong supporting cast including F. Murray Abraham, Janeane Garofalo and Ralph Macchio, ARC Entertainment), “”Life’s a Breeze” (Ireland, with Fionnula Flanagan, Magnolia), “White Bird in a Blizzard” (with Shailene Woodley and Eva Green), “The Mule” (Australian crime drama/comedy based on true events), “Tyler Perry’s Madea’s Tough Love,” “The Scorpion King 4: Quest for Power” (fourth in the franchise starring Victor Webster in the title role),”Love Is the Devil: Study for a Portrait of Francis Bacon” (1998, with Derek Jacobi, Daniel Craig and Tilda Swinton), “May in the Summer” (Jordan), “The Pirates” (South Korean epic adventure), “My Winnipeg” (by Guy Maddin, won the 2007 Toronto Film Festival’s best Canadian feature film award, The Criterion Collection), “The Palm Beach Story” (1942, Preston Sturges comedy classic, The Criterion Collection), “The Atticus Institute,” “Lost Legion” and “Gnome Alone.”

Television series:

“Swamp People: Season 5” and “Little House on the Prairie – Season Four Deluxe Remastered Edition” (1977-78, five-disc set).