Home Market Releases for January 30th, 2018
January 31, 2018
This is one of the worse times of year for the home market. Until we start getting the holiday blockbusters landing on DVD / Blu-ray, there’s not much to talk about. That’s not to say there are no good releases, as God’s Own Country, The Square, and Steven Universe: Season One are all easily worth picking up. There are just no big releases. For example, the Pick of the Week goes to Professor Marston & The Wonder Women on Blu-ray, which was sadly ignored by moviegoers when it first hit theaters.
Class of 1999 - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: Blu-ray
A Dash of Love - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD
God’s Own Country - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD
Gothic - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: Blu-ray
Last Flag Flying - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
Legend of the Naga Pearls - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
Napping Princess - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray Combo Pack
Professor Marston & The Wonder Women - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
Ray Donovan: The Fifth Season - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD
Revolutionary Girl Utena 20th Anniversary Ultra Edition Complete Series Collection - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: Blu-ray
The Square - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD
Additionally there’s the thematic problem. The film stars Claes Bang as Christian, the curator to a museum. There’s not much of a plot, more of a series of events that take place over several days, so it is harder to decide what is and is not a spoiler and when to cut off the plot summary. The film starts with Christian being interviewed by Anne and later the pair meet again and have what Christian thought was a one-night stand. Christian is also the victim of a pickpocket and while he does get his phone and watch back, his method of doing so has unintended consequences. Finally, the museum is opening a new art exhibit called The Square. They need to promote it, but it’s too positive and bland for the marketing team to come up with a good hook. That’s not a long summary, and even then I’m worried that I’m giving too much away.
The Square has been earning a lot of praise and even picked up an Oscar nomination for Best Foreign-language Film. I’m not that enthusiastic. Don’t get me wrong, I do think the film is good, but I’m not sure it’s as good as its award wins would suggest. First of all, the film is almost two and a half hours long, and that’s too long for what the film has to say. It is a little too meandering to be fully engaging. I still think the movie is worth checking out, I just don’t think it was worth the Palme d'Or at last year’s Cannes.
I recommend buying The Square on DVD, but keep your expectations in check.
Static Shock: The Complete Third Season - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD
Steven Universe: Season One - Buy from Amazon: DVD
Tragedy Girls - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
Tyler Perry’s Boo 2! A Madea Halloween - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray Combo Pack
Victoria: Season 2 - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
Blu-ray Releases - Buy from Amazon:
4K Blu-ray Releases - Buy from Amazon:
TV on DVD Megasets - Buy from Amazon:
In the 1980s and 1990s there was a huge fear of gangs taking over schools. This feat resulted in a three-movie franchise, which begun with Class of 1984. This film isn’t as good as the original was, but it is still worth checking out if you are a fan of the genre. Extras on the Special Edition include an audio commentary track, interviews, featurettes, and more, It’s not quite Pick of the Week material, not even on a week this slow, but it is a fascinating look at the past.
Video on Demand
The latest Hallmark Channel original movie. Like nearly all of these movies, this one has no reviews, but it is selling well on the home market.
This film earned amazing reviews, but it was too small to earn any real Awards Season buzz. Now it isn’t even getting a Blu-ray release here. That said, it is still a Pick of the Week contender.
This film is loosely inspired by the events that inspired the creation of both Frankenstein and The Vampyre. “Loosely inspired” seems like an understatement here. The reviews are mixed, but if you are fan of stylish horror films, then it is worth checking out. Extras include an audio commentary track, separate score track, interviews, lots of interviews, and more. It’s not a Pick of the Week contender, but it is certainly worth picking up for fans of the genre.
Video on Demand
Busted Oscar-bait. It’s not a bad movie, but it is certainly not award-worthy. Extras include a making of featurette, another featurette about veterans, outtakes, and deleted scenes. Call it a solid purchase.
I was really hoping to get a screener to review, but it is a bad time of the month to get extra screeners. There are almost no reviews on Rotten Tomatoes and the ones that are there are mixed. That said, I do like Asian fantasy films, regardless of their country of origin (this one is Chinese), so I was looking forward to seeing it. There appears to be no extras, so I would recommend renting over buying.
An Anime about a high school girl, who spends most of her day in a dreamworld. However, when her father is arrested, she discovers the dreamworld she visits while asleep might actually hold the key to releasing her father. The reviews are good, but not great, while the extras include some interviews, Japanese premiere, promos, etc. If you are a fan of Anime, it is worth picking up. If you are new to Anime, give it a rental.
Video on Demand
Another busted Oscar-bait movie on this week’s list. This one earned very good reviews, but bombed in theaters, so not enough people saw it to vote for it. Extras are better than expected, given its box office struggles, as there are two featurettes, a motion comic, and deleted scenes. It’s not a deep week, so there’s not a lot of competition and it is a Pick of the Week contender.
I reviewed the first season of the show and I didn’t like it then and the more I think about it, the less I like it. If I knew these characters in real life, I would actively take measures to not interact with them, so I have no idea why I would intentionally spend my limited time watching them on TV. On the other hand, its ratings have remained mostly steady for five years, so clearly most people who have watched the show feel differently.
This is one of the greatest Anime Series ever made. ... The box set costs $225 on Amazon. Wow. Granted, there are a lot of extras, including a 250 page artbook and a replica of the rings from the show, but that’s still asking a lot.
This is a difficult movie to review for two reasons. One is technical, the other is thematic. On the technical front, I had to watch the film as a VOD screener. Normally, I have three or more windows open for Firefox doing work on various projects. This means the browser sucks up a lot of ram and this is a problem when it comes to watching streaming video. I had to deal with two crashes, one of them so severe I had to reboot my computer to get the browser working again. Because of this, I’m doing a spotlight review rather than a featured review.
This show only lasted four seasons, but it remains popular, in part due to the diversity in its cast. The DVD sales suggest a lot of these fans are still interested in the show, even though the show was aimed at pre-teens and early teens. This is partially nostalgia, but it has also aged well.
This show has been on the air for five years and has had an enthusiastic fan base from the beginning, so it’s strange it took this long to get a DVD release. Is it worth checking out if you haven’t see it before? Yes. Is it worth picking up for fans of the show? Read our review to find out.
The second release from Gunpowder and Sky. The film follows two high school girls who write a blog about a serial killer. They are able to track down this serial killer, but decide they would be more famous if they continue the crime spree and report on the murders. The film’s Tomatometer is excellent, so if you are a fan of the black comedies / horror comedies, it is worth checking out. I haven’t been able to find any information on extras, but it is an on demand printing, so it is unlikely to have any extras. Also, it doesn’t come out until Friday, so keep that in mind.
Video on Demand
Tyler Perry has a lot of fans; he couldn’t continue to make movies if people didn’t go see them. However, the average critic isn’t among his fans. There are only 16 reviews on Rotten Tomatoes, which is shockingly low for a wide release, while only one of them is positive. Extras include featurettes, outtakes, and deleted scenes.
TV shows usually earn much better reviews during the second season than the first season, because a lot of critics review the first season and much fewer review the second season. Only critics who really liked the first season bother to review the second season. This show actually got worse reviews for the second season. That’s a really troubling sign. The reviews are still good, but unless you were a major fan of the first season, I would just rent this time around.
Bee Gees: One For All Tour Live in Australia 1989 - No Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
Belle Epoque - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray Combo Pack
Fugitive Girls - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: Blu-ray
Jamón Jamón - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
Kameradschaft: The Criterion Collection - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
The Pink Panther Cartoon Collection - Vol. 1 - No Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
The Projected Man - No Reviews - Buy from Amazon: Blu-ray
Rendel: Dark Vengeance - No Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
Sweet Sugar - No Reviews - Buy from Amazon: Blu-ray
Tanaka-Kun Is Always Listless - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
Tanaka-Kun Is Always Listless: Premium Box Set - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: Blu-ray Combo Pack
Westfront 1918: The Criterion Collection - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
The Witches - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
The two Criterion Collection releases are arguably the best secondary Blu-ray releases of the week, but the Anime title, Tanaka-Kun Is Always Listless is also earning great reviews.
No secondary 4K releases this week.
Project ARMS - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD
Power Rangers: Super Sentai: Seijuu Sentai Gingaman - No Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD
It’s a light week for TV on DVD Megasets. Next week is busier.
Video on Demand - Buy from Amazon:
Eruption L.A. - Reviews - Video on Demand
The Florida Project - Reviews - Video on Demand
Phantom Thread - Reviews - Video on Demand
Pipeline Fighters - No Reviews - Video on Demand
Roman J. Israel, Esq. - Reviews - Video on Demand
Scorched Earth - Reviews - Video on Demand
Wolf Mother - Reviews - Video on Demand
Wonder - Reviews - Video on Demand
Your Name - Reviews - Video on Demand (Dubbed) or Video on Demand (Subbed)
It’s a good week for Seconday VOD releases, and I do mean week, as a couple of them don’t come out till Friday. This includes Phantom Thread, which is an Oscar contender. I’m more interested in The Florida Project, while Your Name and Wonder are also high on my To Watch list.
Filed under: DVD and Blu-ray Releases, Home Market Releases, Wonder, Kimi no na wa, God’s Own Country, Phantom Thread, Tyler Perry’s Boo 2! A Madea Halloween, Scorched Earth, Professor Marston & The Wonder Women, Last Flag Flying, The Florida Project, The Square, Jiao Zhu Chuan, Roman J. Israel, Esq., Hirune-hime: Shiranai watashi no monogatari, Le Streghe, Eruption L.A., Rendel: Dark Vengeance, Wolf Mother, Pipeline Fighters, The Projected Man, Jamón Jamón, Westfront 1918: Vier von der Infanterie, Kameradschaft, Elisabeth Moss, Tyler Perry, Brianna Hildebrand, Alexandra Shipp, Claes Bang