DVD and Blu-ray Releases for May 21st, 2013
May 23, 2013
It's an abridged list of DVD and Blu-ray releases report this week due to technical difficulties. The best selling new release of the week is True Blood: The Complete Fifth Season on Blu-ray Combo Pack, which is certainly worth owning for fans. However, the best releases are the Hayao Miyazaki Double-Shot, Howl's Moving Castle on Blu-ray Combo Pack and My Neighbor Totoro on Blu-ray Combo Pack. Most prefer the former, but I prefer the latter.
The ABCs of Death - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray Combo Pack
Beautiful Creatures - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray Combo Pack
Best of Warner Bros Cartoon Collection - Hanna - Buy from Amazon
Blu-ray Releases - Buy from Amazon: The Burning (Collector's Edition), Captain America, K-On: The Movie, Medium Cool (Criterion Collection), National Lampoon's Vacation: 30th Anniversary, Redemption: Cold Eyes of Fear, Redemption: The Sinful Nuns of St. Valentine, The Rolling Stones: Crossfire Hurricane, Sommersby, Subspecies: The Blu Ray Collection Volume 1, Tenchi Muyo! War on Geminar, Part 1, Tenchi Muyo! War on Geminar, Part 1 (Limited Edition), Tenchi Muyo! War on Geminar, Part 2, This Girl is Badass, Ultimate Gangsters Collection: Classics, Ultimate Gangsters Collection: Contemporary, and Vegas Vacation
Dark Circles - Buy from Amazon
Disneynature: Wings of Life - Buy from Amazon: Blu-ray Combo Pack or Video on Demand
Hayao Miyazaki Double-Shot - Buy from Amazon: Howl's Moving Castle or My Neighbor Totoro
Laverne & Shirley: Season Six - Buy from Amazon
LEGO Batman: The Movie - DC Super Heroes Unite - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray Combo Pack
Mel Brooks: Make A Noise - Buy from Amazon
Mickey Mouse Clubhouse: Quest for the Crystal Mickey - Buy from Amazon
Parker - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
Perception: The Complete First Season - Buy from Amazon
Saving Hope: The Complete First Season - Buy from Amazon
Side Effects - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray Combo Pack
Struck By Lightning - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
Teen Wolf: Season Two - Buy from Amazon
Wagner and Me - Buy from Amazon
Don't release anthologies in theaters. We had three of them this year and all three bombed. This one earned mixed reviews, but it is hard to look at just the Tomatometer Score to tell if it is worth renting. How many of the segments have to be worth watching before it is worth paying for a movie ticket? 70%? 80%? However, on the home market, that number is a lot less, because you can skip the bad segments. 60% would be fine, maybe even 50%. If you are into more extreme horror, it might be worth checking out, but start with a rental.
An obvious attempt to start a movie franchise that failed. Its reviews weren't terrible, but its box office numbers were. The DVD only has some deleted scenes as extras, while the Blu-ray has a lot of really short featurettes. Even with the deleted scenes, it is barely 30 minutes of extras. If you like this genre and / or the cast, it is worth checking out. However, even then a rental will be enough for most.
Chronological order. I am not spending another penny on Warner Bros. cartoons till they release them in chronological order.
There are quite a few secondary Blu-ray releases this week, but none of them really stand out as a must have. Medium Cool is the closest.
Still waiting for the screener for this movie. It is a low budget horror film from After Dark, which is a label with a mixed success rate. Then again, mixed is better than most direct-to-DVD low budget horror films can manage.
Every year, Disneynature releases a nature documentary on Earth day. This year, that film was released direct-to-DVD. Is it that much weaker than previous offerings? Or will fans of the other films want to check out this film as well? Read our review to find out.
These two Blu-rays arrived, but they arrived a day late, and a day after my Blu-ray player died. I will be buying a replacement tomorrow, assuming I'm not up till noon trying to get all of my work done.
Arnold Schwarzenegger's first starring role in more than a decade failed to make an impact. That's an understatement. Now that it is out on the home market, will it find an audience? Or was there a good reason it was ignored by moviegoers? Read our review for my opinion.
This TV on DVD release is part of our current box office prediction contest, but if you don't win, it is still worth picking up.
This franchise is aimed at kids, but it has a goofy sense of humor that will entertain many adults as well. Extras are better than expected, especially given the target audience, and it is worth picking up.
A 90-minute documentary on the career of Mel Brooks. It is part of the American Masters, which is a PBS show that has been going on for nearly 30 years now and have an excellent reputation for quality.
I'm not getting this screener to review, but I've reviewed enough of them in the past to know this show is better than most that are aimed at preschoolers.
A by-the-numbers action film, but that's what you've come to expect from Jason Statham. There is a relatively good selection of extras on the Blu-ray, including a couple exclusive extras, but that's not enough to lift it passed the rental level.
A police procedural starring Eric McCormack, Rachael Leigh Cook, among others. The reviews are pretty good, but not great. Then again, this is better than a lot of summer shows earn.
A Canadian drama set in a hospital. It stars Erica Durance as a surgeon whose fiancee and fellow surgeon, Michael Shanks, falls into a coma. The reviews are only mixed, but it's a summer show, so that is to be expected. Erica Durance did earn a Gemini Awards nomination for her performance, while it won one for Best Supporting Actress for Wendy Crewson, so it might be worth checking out.
Still waiting for the screener for this film. The reviews were amazing, so I'm really looking forward to seeing it.
This film had three Oscar-winning actors in the main three roles. Despite this, it failed to gain an audience when it open in select cities. Will it perform better on the home market? Or will it struggle here as well? Check out our review for my opinion.
Written and starring Chris Colfer. It's about a high school student who is struck by lightning and we flashback to see his life as it led up to his death. The reviews were weak, but even some of the negative reviews said Chris Colfer might have a future as a screenwriter, with a little more experience.
Not the disaster I thought it would be, but there are too many similar shows on TV at the moment. Hell, the CW has three of them at the moment. The direct competition is too intense and this show just can't stand out.
This show saw its ratings dip for the first time during its run. Is this a sign that the quality it also dipping? If so, has it dipped so far that it is no longer worth checking out? Read our review for my opinion.
A documentary about separating a flawed artist from their amazing work. Will it appeal to fans of Wagner and / or Stephen Fry? Will it have wider appeal? Read our review to find out.
Filed under: DVD and Blu-ray Releases, Home Market Releases, Hauru no ugoku shiro, Tonari no Totoro, The Last Stand, Parker, Beautiful Creatures, Stand Up Guys, Wagner & Me, Side Effects, Struck By Lightning, The ABCs of Death, Disneynature: Wings of Life, Mel Brooks, Rachael Leigh Cook, Wendy Crewson, Stephen Fry, Eric McCormack, Hayao Miyazaki, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Michael Shanks, Jason Statham, Chris Colfer