DVD and Blu-ray Releases for July 8th, 2014
July 6, 2014
It is a terrible week on the home market. I could just leave that as my opening sentence on this column all summer long and the vast majority of the time it would fit perfectly. This week, the biggest new release is Raid 2, a foreign-language action film. The second biggest release is Jodorowsky's Dune, a documentary about a movie that was never made. Neither release will sell a ton of units. However, both earned great reviews and both are contenders for Pick of the Week. The third and final contender is Le Week-End, which is earning reviews that are just as good, but the film appears to be selling far fewer units on the home market. While all three releases are worth picking up, Jodorowsky's Dune on Blu-ray Combo Pack is the best this week and it is the winner of the Pick of the Week.
Bad Grandpa .5 - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
Bad Words - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray Combo Pack
The Big Valley: Season 3 - Buy from Amazon
Blu-ray Releases - Buy from Amazon: The Baby, Bloody Birthday, Bloody Moon, Caught, Lake Placid, Lost Moment, Mr. Peabody & The Mermaid, Point Blank, Ragamuffin, Rigor Mortis, and Southern Comfort
D-Day - Buy from Amazon: D-Day 360 and Sunken Secrets
Doctor Who: Series Three, Part Two - Buy from Amazon
Jodorowsky's Dune - Blu-ray Combo Pack - Buy from Amazon
Kid Cannabis - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
Maidentrip - Buy from Amazon
Masterpiece Mystery: Endeavour Series 2 - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
Naruto Shippuden Uncut Set 19 - Buy from Amazon
Nymphomaniac - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
Raid 2 - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
The Time Machine - Blu-ray - Buy from Amazon
Le Week-End - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
Basically deleted scenes and behind-the-scenes from Bad Grandpa cobbled together to form a movie. The original movie wasn't that good, so it is unlikely this one will be any better. If you have to have everything Jackass, then you might as well buy it. The rest of us can safely skip it.
Jason Bateman's directorial debut. It earned good reviews, but not great reviews. Likewise, it did well in limited release, but not well enough to expand truly wide. Furthermore, its extras are good (audio commentary track, making of featurette, deleted scenes) but neither the DVD or Blu-ray are fully loaded. If you like Jason Bateman, then it is worth picking up, but it is not a contender for Pick of the Week.
According to Amazon.com, this is in the top ten best selling new releases of the week. This show ran for four seasons in the late 1960s, but was never a TV ratings hit. That said, it has aged very well and to this day has a lot of fans.
A host of Teenage Slashers in the list of Secondary Blu-ray releases. This is mainly because there are so few releases worth linking to that films that I would normally have skipped were included.
Two PBS DVDs coming out to celebrate the 70th anniversary of D-Day.
Great show, but there are far too many DVD releases for all but the most hardcore fans to keep up with.
A documentary about Alejandro Jodorowsky's epic attempt to adapt Dune into a movie. That movie never got made, but this movie earned near perfect reviews. The only extra on the Blu-ray Combo Pack are some deleted scenes, but there are more than 45 minutes of deleted scenes, so that's a pretty good collection of extras. It is a must have for fans of movie and a contender for Pick of the Week.
Based on a true story of a high school drop-out who became a drug kingpin. This is the kind of film that would normally fall through the cracks, but it is a slow week. Hopefully this will help it out on the home market, because its limited number of reviews are very good.
A documentary about Laura Dekker's attempt to sail around the world solo at the age of 14. The reviews are great, but I'm still waiting for my screener.
Typical British mystery series, even those imported to PBS first. It's a great show, but the price-per-minute is really high compared to other TV on DVD releases. If you buy these DVDs / Blu-rays regularly, then you are used to the prices.
According to Amazon.com, this Anime title is in the top ten best selling new release of the week. I think that's overly optimistic, but it is worth mentioning.
Despite massive hype, these two films never lived up to expectations. I think that's because they are were very pretentious and played more to film critics than to moviegoers. I seriously doubt many people will want to sit through all four hours of the two-part saga. Extras are weak with less than 30 minutes of featurettes spread across the two discs.
This film is not quite as good as the original was, but it is still good enough that it is worth picking up for action fans. Extras include an audio commentary track, several making of featurettes, deleted scenes, interviews, and more. Easily worth picking up and a contender for Pick of the Week.
A horror / musical. There are very, very few films that manage that balance and most instead become horror comedies. Can this one be one of the few successful mergers of those two genres? And is the DVD or Blu-ray worth picking up? Read our review for my opinion.
This is the 1960s version of the classic H.G. Wells story. It is also the best version of the story. Normally I would put this release in with the Secondary Blu-ray releases, but it is a slow week.
Jim Broadbent and Lindsay Duncan play a married couple who travel to Paris, where they honeymooned, for their wedding anniversary. They do this in order to find the spark their relationship has lost, or to learn if that spark is gone forever. The reviews were amazing and it did really well at the box office for a limited release. However, it appears the DVD and Blu-ray are not selling as well as I would have liked. Extras include an audio commentary track and some featurettes, so it is worth picking up. Perhaps it is even an Pick of the Week contender.
Filed under: DVD and Blu-ray Releases, Home Market Releases, Kid Cannabis, Nymphomaniac: Volume I, Bad Words, Le Week-End, Nymphomaniac: Volume II, Maidentrip, Serbuan maut 2: Berandal, Jodorowsky’s Dune, Stage Fright, Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa .5, Jackass, Nymphomaniac, Jason Bateman, Jim Broadbent, Lindsay Duncan, H.G. Wells, Laura Dekker, Alejandro Jodorowsky