Home Market Releases for April 7th, 2020

April 6, 2020

The movie industry is still reacting to the ongoing Covid-19 outbreak and the changing release schedule has resulted in not a lot coming out this week. Even worse, there are only three first-run releases on the main list and two of them are serious bombs. Fortunately, the third first-run release, Little Women, is an easy Pick of the Week winner. In fact, it’s only competition is the Slings & Arrows: Complete Series DVD, a Canadian TV show that most people reading this have never even heard of.

Beyond the Door: 2-Disc Special Edition - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: Blu-ray
A horror film so similar to The Exorcist that it resulted in a lawsuit. It’s not a good movie in any real sense of the word, but if you are into horror films that are obvious rip-offs of better horror films, then this one is a fun ride.

Cats - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray Combo Pack
Video on Demand
This film is one of the biggest bombs of 2019 and also one of the most critically reviled films of that year. I put in a request for a screener, but with all that’s happening, it hasn’t yet arrived. I put in a request because the film can’t possibly be as bad as its reputation, right? Right!? If you are a fan of the movie, then the DVD / Blu-ray does have a lot of extras. However, until I get a screener, I can’t tell if this is a case of quantity over quality, or if the nearly dozen featurettes are substantial enough to be worth watching.

Dolittle - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD, Blu-ray Combo Pack, 4K Ultra HD Combo Pack
Video on Demand
This film is one of the biggest bombs of 2020 and also one of the most critically reviled films of the year so far. Worse still, this is a bad kids movie and those are usually not even bad in an entertaining way.

Little Women - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray Combo Pack
Video on Demand
This is one of the best films of 2019. It is so good that many people looked at its six Oscar nominations and still thought it was unfairly snubbed by Oscar voters. Extras include half-a-dozen featurettes, which is enough to make it an easy Pick of the Week winner.

TV on DVD Releases - Buy from Amazon:
Hallmark 2-Movie Collection (Paris, Wine and Romance - No Reviews / Rome in Love - No Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Video on Demand (Paris, Wine and Romance) or Video on Demand (Rome in Love)
Madam Secretary: The Final Season - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD
Madam Secretary: The Complete Series - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD

Slings & Arrows: The Complete Series - No Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD
Slings & Arrows is easily the best TV on DVD release of the week and is a contender for Pick of the Week. The TV show dominated the Gemini Awards when it first aired (The Geminis are the Canadian equivalent of the Emmys.) while the six-disc set has all 18 episodes, as well as more than four hours of extras. If you are a fan of dark comedy, then it is absolutely worth picking up.

Blu-ray Releases - Buy from Amazon:
After War Gundam X - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: Blu-ray
Angel - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: Blu-ray
Aria The Natural: Part 1 - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: Blu-ray
Army of Shadows: The Criterion Collection - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
Beau Geste - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: Blu-ray
Breach - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: Blu-ray
Camp Cold Brook - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
The Cold Blue - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
The General Died at Dawn - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: Blu-ray
The Helpful Fox Senko-san: The Complete Collection - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: Blu-ray
The Lives of the Bengal Lancer - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: Blu-ray
Murder, He Says - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: Blu-ray
Revue Starlight - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: Blu-ray
Supernatural - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: Blu-ray
Swift - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray Combo Pack
Terror Train - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: Blu-ray
Trapped - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: Blu-ray
Wimbledon - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: Blu-ray
There are a lot of real classics on the list of secondary Blu-ray releases this week. And I use the term “classic” in two ways, as there are plenty of films that earned stellar reviews, as well as films that are 60, 70, 80 years old. Many are in both groups. This could be an expensive week, especially if you are a fan of older films.

3D Blu-ray Releases - Buy from Amazon:
3-D Rarities, Volume II - No Reviews - Buy from Amazon: 3D Blu-ray
There’s a 3D release this week! Okay, it’s not a first-run release, but there’s still a release. To be fair, the first volume of this series is interesting enough that fans of cinema history who have a 3D setup will want to give this one a watch.

C.S.Strowbridge

Filed under: DVD and Blu-ray Releases, Home Market Releases, Dolittle, Little Women, Cats, The Cold Blue, Manou the Swift, Camp Cold Brook, Rome in Love