Home Market Releases for August 27th, 2019

August 28, 2019

This week, the main list of new releases is particularly short for two reasons. Firstly, it is a slow week. Secondly, I’ve filtered out the TV on DVD releases for their own section. I’ve been meaning to do this for a while and we are entering the heart of TV on DVD season on the home market, so it made sense to do it this week. (I’m including all TV on DVD releases, both individual seasons and full series Megasets.) As for the biggest new releases, there are not a lot to talk about. Godzilla: King of the Monsters and The Secret Life of Pets 2 both missed expectations at the box office, but both are worth picking up for their respective target audiences. As for the best, only The Last Black Man in San Francisco and Rocketman are contenders for Pick of the Week. The latter has far better extras, but the former is the better movie and wins that title.

Apocalypse Now: The Final Cut - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: 4K Ultra HD Combo Pack
This is the third version of this film to get a release and its reviews are even better than the first two were and it was already widely considered an all-time classic. So why isn’t it a Pick of the Week contender? It has been released so many times on the home market that everyone who wants it likely has one of the previous releases and not enough people have made the leap to 4K to recommend it universally.

The Banana Splits Movie - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
Video on Demand
This movie takes a live-action Hanna Barbara TV series from the 1960s and turns it into a horror movie in a similar vein as Five Nights at Freddy’s. It’s actually earning good reviews, mostly. Even the positive reviews are not enthusiastic, but fans of horror films should check it out.

Godzilla: King of the Monsters - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD, Blu-ray Combo Pack, 3D Combo Pack, or 4K Ultra HD Combo Pack
Video on Demand
This is either the best Godzilla movie of all time or is nothing but giant monsters attacking each other with no plot or characters to care about. It depends on who you ask. The extras on the DVD, Blu-ray, etc. include audio commentary track, a handful of featurettes, deleted scenes, and more. It’s a standard, but good selection of extras.

Hell Comes to Frogtown - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: Blu-ray
I’ve seen the phrase “only in the 80s” to describe this movie and that’s 100% accurate. It is not without its charms, but it isn’t a good in the traditional sense of the word.

The Last Black Man in San Francisco - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
Video on Demand
This is one of the best-reviewed films of the year and it did very well in limited release earning more than $4 million. Unfortunately, it is still a limited release and the extras are therefore limited with just an audio commentary track and a featurette. That said, it is still a Pick of the Week contender and there was not a lot of real competition for that title.

Rocketman - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD, Blu-ray Combo Pack, or 4K Ultra HD Combo Pack
Video on Demand
One of the best-reviewed wide releases of this week and there are a ton of extras as well. There is no audio commentary track, which is a bit disappointing, but there is more than an hour of extras, not counting the music. There’s nearly two hours of musical extras, including extended performances, sing-along, and jukebox. It is easily worth picking up for fans of the genre, or of Elton John in specific, and a Pick of the Week contender.

The Secret Life of Pets 2 - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD, Blu-ray Combo Pack, 4K Ultra HD Combo Pack
This film isn’t as good as the first film; however, the gap isn’t nearly as large as the gap between the two film’s box office numbers. I blame the marketing, as the trailers and TV spots focused on the characters and not the plot. Since the trailers didn’t explain the plot, there was little reason to go and see this movie rather than rewatch the first film. There are a ton of extras, so if you liked the movie or have kids who like the franchise, then it is worth picking up. Also coming out this week is a two-movie collection.

TV on DVD Releases - Buy from Amazon:
Chicago Fire: Season Seven - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD
Chicago Med: Season Four - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD
The Flash: Season Five - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
Into the Badlands: Season 3 - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
A Million Little Things: The Complete First Season - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD
NCIS: Los Angeles: The Tenth Season - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD
Nova: The Planets - No Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
The Rookie: Season One - Reviews Buy from Amazon: DVD
Sabrina the Teenage Witch: The Complete Animated Series - No Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD
V: The Original Miniseries - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: Blu-ray
The only show on this list that I watched this season was The Rookie and even then I didn’t finish the season. I like Nathan Fillion, but I’m burned out on police procedurals.

Blu-ray Releases - Buy from Amazon:
9 Lives Of A Wet Pussy - No Reviews - Buy from Amazon: Blu-ray
Clarence Clemons: Who Do I Think I Am? - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: Blu-ray
Day of the Outlaw - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: Blu-ray
Fear in the Night - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: Blu-ray
The Flavor of Green Tea Over Rice: The Criterion Collection - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
Flesh Gordon - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: Blu-ray
Jezebel - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: Blu-ray
Kimagure Orange Road: Complete OVA Series & Movie - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: Blu-ray
The Koker Trilogy: The Criterion Collection - No Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
Let My Puppets Come - No Reviews - Buy from Amazon: Blu-ray
Love Letters - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
MegaBeast Investigator Juspion: Complete Series - No Reviews - Buy from Amazon: Standard Definition on Blu-ray
Sorcerer Hunters: Complete Series - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: Standard Definition on Blu-ray
There are a number of interesting secondary Blu-ray releases this week, including two from The Criterion Collection. There is also Flesh Gordon, which is equal parts softcore porn and puns. It is considered a cult classic for a reason.

3D Blu-ray Releases - Buy from Amazon:
Godzilla: King of the Monsters - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: 3D Combo Pack
One of the biggest releases of the week is also coming out on 3D. It is also the kind of film that benefits from being seen in 3D, as it is action oriented.

4K Ultra HD Releases - Buy from Amazon:
Stand by Me - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: 4K Ultra HD Combo Pack
There is only one secondary 4K release this week. It is an amazing movie, but not one that needs to be seen in 4K to be enjoyed.

Video on Demand - Buy from Amazon:
Aladdin - Reviews - Video on Demand (Movie Only)
Aladdin - Reviews - Video on Demand (with Bonus Features)
Aladdin - Reviews - Video on Demand (4K Ultra HD)
Aladdin - Reviews - Video on Demand (Movie Only)
Aladdin - Reviews - Video on Demand (with Bonus Features)
It’s Aladdin week on VOD with both the 1992 animated film and this year’s live-action remake getting multiple releases each.

C.S.Strowbridge

Filed under: DVD and Blu-ray Releases, Home Market Releases, Love Letters, Godzilla: King of the Monsters, The Secret Life of Pets 2, Aladdin, Rocketman, The Last Black Man in San Francisco, Clarence Clemons: Who Do I Think I Am?, Ochazuke no aji, Godzilla, The Secret Life of Pets, Nathan Fillion