DVD and Blu-ray Releases for July 26th, 2011
July 25, 2011
Summer time at the box office is amazing. From the first weekend in May until sometime in August, there is usually an average of one $100 million dollar movie released per week. This year will have at least three months in a row with at least one $100 million film. On the home market, on the other hand, summer time is crappy. This year has been particularly tiresome, as the spring wasn't a fun time at the box office. The biggest release this week is Source Code, which was only a midlevel hit. To be fair, it is one of the best-reviewed wide releases of the year. On the other hand, neither the DVD nor the Blu-ray are exactly overloaded with extras.
American Grindhouse - Buy from Amazon
Angel Beats: Complete Collection - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
Blu-ray Releases - Buy from Amazon: Angel Beats! Complete Collection, The Blues Brothers, Burn Notice: The Fall of Sam Axe, Dante's Peak, Donnie Darko, High and Low: The Criterion Collection, Ironclad, Justice League: Season Two, The King of Fighters, Leon Morin, Priest: The Criterion Collection, Life During Wartime: The Criterion Collection, Matrimony, Monamour, National Lampoon's Animal House, Red Planet, Soldier, Source Code, Stargate Atlantis: Complete Series Gift Set, Supernatural: The Anime Series, Trust, and Winter in Wartime
Burn Notice: Fall of Sam Axe - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
Conan The Adventurer: Season One - Buy from Amazon
Dennis The Menace: Season Two - Buy from Amazon
Dylan Dog Dead of Night - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
Four Weddings and a Funeral - Blu-ray Buy from Amazon and Overboard - Blu-ray - Buy from Amazon
Herculoids: The Complete Series - Buy from Amazon
Ironclad - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
Jersey Shore: Season Three - Buy from Amazon
The Laurie Berkner Band: Party Day - Buy from Amazon
McMillan & Wife - Buy from Amazon: Season Four and Season Five
Music Video Exposed: The Collection - Buy from Amazon
Orgasm Inc. - Buy from Amazon
Source Code - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
Stargate: Atlantis: Complete Series Megaset - Blu-ray - Buy from Amazon
Strike Witches: The Complete First Season - Buy from Amazon
Supernatural: The Anime Series - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
Thor: Tales of Asgard - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray / DVD Combo Pack
Trust - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
Wake Wood - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
We Are What We Are - Buy from Amazon
Winter in Wartime - Blu-ray / DVD Combo Pack - Buy from Amazon
This documentary earned very strong reviews, and Grindhouse films are seeing a resurgence in popularity. On the other hand, they are still very much a niche market, so it is not surprising that this film struggled to find an audience in limited release. If you are a member of the small target audience, the movie is worth checking out.
This show has earned critical praise, but calling the three-disc DVD / two-disc Blu-ray set a complete collection is a little misleading, as it was only a 13-episode miniseries and not an ongoing show.
A martial arts epic that deals with an important time in Chinese history. But will audiences unfamiliar with the fall of the Qing Dynasty still be interested? Check out our review to find out.
While there are a lot of Blu-rays on Amazon's list for the week, most of them are re-releases of Acoustic Reality Experience Blu-rays, and those from a series which I won't name. As for releases that might actually have an impact on the home market, Source Code should lead the way, while I'm going to see if I can score screeners for The Blues Brothers and National Lampoon's Animal House.
Love the show. Love Sam Axe as a character. Can't wait till the screener arrives.
I might get a chance to review this DVD. I hope so, because I only have the vaguest recollection of the show.
Fans of the show should be happy with the speed of the DVD releases, as Season One came out in March and Season Three comes out in October. I assume before then the release date for the final season will be announced, and it will probably be in March of next year.
This film is based on a popular comic book, or to be more accurate, a comic book that is popular in its native Italy. Here, most people have never heard of it, which helps explain why the movie bombed. The reviews likely didn't help. A screener should arrive shortly, so hopefully it is not as bad as its Tomatometer Score would indicate.
Two films from MGM's library made their debuts on Blu-ray earlier in the month. Are either of them worth checking out? And do the Blu-rays do the films justice? Check out our review to find out.
A Syfy original TV movie. I can't remember the last one of those I reviewed that I was really impressed with. Will this one break the streak? Read our review to find out.
One of the lesser known Hannah Barbara cartoons of the 1960s, it only ran for 18 episodes over two seasons. That said, there's certainly an element of nostalgia to be found within.
Paul Giamatti plays King John, whose divine power is threatened by those who would force him to sign the Manga Carta. The reviews were only mixed, but it's Paul Giamatti, so it's worth at least a rental.
I hate this show even more than most Reality TV shows.
A two-disc set that includes a DVD with 12 new songs, plus a CD of these songs. I don't have this DVD to review, but I have reviewed a previous release from the band.
The last two seasons of this show before it was retooled as simply McMillan for the next, and last season of the show. Also of note, for those who have never seen the show but are concerned that there are only 13 episodes combined, each episode was a two-hour TV movie, so the price-per-minute is not bad.
Three of the episodes from the VH1 series, which looked at the pioneers of the music video as an art form. Since the show itself is only three 24-minute long episodes, the value of the three-disc set depends almost entirely on the extras. Do they deliver? Read our review to find out.
This documentary is about a rather titillating subject, but is it exploitative, or is there some real depth here? Check out our review to find out.
A co-production between Syfy and After Dark, which are two companies that specialize in low budget horror, but only one of them has any kind of track record in terms of quality. Will working together raise the average of Syfy, or lower the average for After Dark? Check out our review to find out.
Jake Gyllenhaal has not yet broken into A-list leading man status, and while this film's reviews were among the best of any wide release this year, the DVD only has an audio commentary track while the Blu-ray also has a Picture-in-Picture track. That's not a lot of extras for a first-run release. That said, it is a terribly slow week and that's enough to be a contender for Pick of the Week.
There is a slim chance I will be getting this to review. I hope so, because it is a great show and depending on the quality of the Blu-ray release, it is Pick of the Week material.
This show was already released on DVD more than a year ago, but this new release is about half the price of the previous one (if you are comparing the prizes with the Amazon.com discounts).
Fans of Supernatural should be intrigued by the prospect of seeing the Anime version of this show. Interestingly, Jared Padalecki provides the voice for Sam in this series (scheduling conflicts prevented Jensen Ackles from providing the voice for Dean for all but a couple episodes). On the other had, the two voice actors in the Japanese version also do the dubbing for the live action version of the show.
Reality TV get skewered by this horror film. But will this well deserving target feel the sting? Or will the film be ineffectual? Read our review for my opinion.
Thor hit theaters at the beginning of May and this Blu-ray / DVD followed just a couple weeks later. The synergy didn't hurt at the box office, but would fans of the movie or of the comic in general be satisfied with the story? Read our review for my opinion.
A family tries to deal with the aftermath when their teenage daughter falls victim to an online predator. The film earned very good reviews, but that didn't translate into success in limited release. Unfortunately, weak box office numbers appear to have hurt the film's home market release, as both the DVD and the Blu-ray only have a behind-the-scenes featurette as an extra. Still, the film itself is worth at least a rental, while many will want to pick it up.
The rebirth of Hammer Films, which for a time was synonymous with horror movies. However, that time was decades ago. Have they lost their touch, or will fans of the genre be happy to have their voice back? Check out our review for my opinion.
A family of cannibals has to adapt after their father, and provider, dies. The reviews were good, but the screener is late, so I can't say if I agree with the consensus or not.
This film was short-listed for the Best Foreign Language Oscar, while the review were nearly 80% positive. On the other hand, its opening weekend at the box office only resulted in a middling per theater average. At least its legs were long and that suggests good word of mouth. The Blu-ray / DVD Combo pack only has a making of featurette for an extra, but it is still worth checking out for most, picking up for many.
Filed under: DVD and Blu-ray Releases, Home Market Releases, Dante’s Peak, The Blues Brothers, Four Weddings and a Funeral, Overboard, Donnie Darko, The Alarmist, Shi Yue Wei Cheng, Dylan Dog: Dead of Night, Winter in Wartime, Ironclad, Source Code, , Trust, The Task, Scream of the Banshee, Orgasm Inc., American Grindhouse, Somos lo que hay, Wake Wood, Thor: Tales of Asgard