Home Market Releases for January 10th, 2017
January 9, 2017
There’s a lull in the quality and quantity of releases on the home market, one that will continue until the holiday releases start coming out. That’s not to say there are no releases worth picking up. Under the Shadow is an amazing horror film and the DVD is a Contender for Pick of the Week. However, the winner of that honor is The Criterion Collection release for His Girl Friday oni Blu-ray.
The Accountant - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD, Blu-ray Combo Pack, 4K Ultra HD Combo Pack
B.C. Butcher - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: Blu-ray
Band of the Hand - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: Blu-ray
The Birth of a Nation - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD, Blu-ray Combo Pack, 4K Ultra HD Combo Pack
Broad City: Season Three - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD
Deepwater Horizon - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD, Blu-ray Combo Pack, or 4K Ultra HD Combo Pack
His Girl Friday (The Criterion Collection) - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: Blu-ray
Homeland: Season Five - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD, Blu-ray
Kevin Hart: What Now? - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD and Blu-ray
Max Steel - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD, Blu-ray
Mr. Robot: Season 2 - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
Under the Shadow - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD
Valentine Ever After - No Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD
Blu-ray Releases - Buy from Amazon:
3D Blu-ray Releases - Buy from Amazon:
4K Blu-ray Releases - Buy from Amazon:
TV on DVD Megasets - Buy from Amazon:
Video on Demand - Buy from Amazon:
Video on Demand
Ben Affleck plays a man with Aspergers who is obsessed with numbers as a kid. When he grows up, he becomes an accountant who works for a lot of shady people. He is also a well-trained marksmen and a great hand-to-hand fighter. When he takes on a legitimate job as cover, he finds himself in a conspiracy and he will need to use his combat skills to survive. This film could have been really exploitative, because of the Aspergers angle, but that doesn’t seem to be the case. On the other hand, it doesn’t seem to be a particularly good action film. It’s worth a rental for sure, but the only extras are a trio of featurettes, so even if you are a fan of the cast, a rental will probably be enough.
Video on Demand
A horror comedy teenage slasher set in prehistoric times. This is something bizarre enough that I might have to blind buy. It certainly has cult potential.
Video on Demand
This is a terrible movie that some people really, really love. I was going to say it was worth a rental if you are a fan of bad movies, but the Blu-ray costs just $7. At that price, you might as well buy it.
Video on Demand
This was widely expected to be an Oscar contender this year; however, its reviews were merely good and it really struggled in theaters. The extras are good, especially on the Blu-ray, which has several exclusive extras. The DVD has an audio commentary track, plus a featurette on the real Nat Turner, while the Blu-ray has a making of featurette, deleted scenes, etc. It is certainly worth picking up, but not a Pick of the Week contender.
Ilana Glazer and Abbi Jacobson hit another home run with this season. If you don’t mind grating lead characters and cringe-inducing comedy, then this show is for you.
Video on Demand
This film is based on the real-life environmental disaster and it earned stellar reviews. A Tomatometer Score of 83% positive isn’t Award-worthy, but it is closer than most people assumed it would earn. However, it still bombed in theaters earning less than $115 million on a $156 million production budget. ... 2016 was a year Lionsgate would love to forget. Unfortunately, they will be paying for 2016 for a while. There are a lot of extras on the DVD / Blu-ray, including a multi-part making of featurette, etc. It is certainly worth picking up, but not quite a Pick of the Week contender.
This is one of the films I point to when people say remakes are garbage. The movie is about a newspaper editor, Cary Grant, who learns his ex-wife, Rosalind Russell, is about to remarry and he plans to stop that by enticing her back as his star reporter. The extras are impressive and include a new 2K restoration of the director’s cut of the original 1931 film, The Front Page. It’s two amazing movies for the price of one.
Video on Demand
This show is off its peak, but it is still a great show. Extras are weak with a featurette on the lead character and a season overview. Worth picking up, but not Pick of the Week material.
Video on Demand
While this movie couldn’t live up to Kevin Hart’s previous stand-up concert film at the box office, it did earn better reviews. There are plenty of extras on the DVD and Blu-ray making it a solid purchase.
Video on Demand
One of the worst movies of the year. Skip it.
Rami Malek stars as a hacker who uses his abilities to act as a vigilante and begins to work with a like-minded Mr. Robot. The show has earned incredible reviews and has won a number of awards. The extras on the DVD and the Blu-ray are a little weak, on the other hand, with just a couple of behind-the-scene featurettes and some deleted scenes. It is still a contender for Pick of the Week, but not quite the winner.
Video on Demand
A horror film from Iran set during the Iraq-Iran war. A single parent has to protect her daughter when a missile crashes into their apartment complex, but doesn’t explode. The reviews are almost 100% positive, but it wasn’t able to find an audience in theaters. Hopefully that will change on the home market, but the lack of a Blu-ray release is not a good omen.
Video on Demand
Valentine’s Day is just over a month away, which means romance movies will be very common on the home market.
The 400 Blows (The Criterion Collection) - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
Aquarion Logos: Season 3, Part 2 - No Reviews - Buy from Amazon: Blu-ray Combo Pack
Battleground - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: Blu-ray
Beautiful Bones - No Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
Black America Since MLK: And Still I Rise - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
Closet Monster - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
The People vs Fritz Bauer - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
Scavenger Hunt - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
Sold - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
Southwest of Salem: The Story of the San Antonio Four - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
The Summoning - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
The Survivor - No Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
The Triplets of Belleville - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: Blu-ray
xXx - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: Blu-ray
The Criterion Collection release for The 400 Blows is clearly the best secondary Blu-ray release of the week, but it is not the first time it has come out. In fact, if I recall correctly, it was one of the first Blu-rays Criterion released, first coming out in 2009.
No 3D releases this week, again.
The Accountant - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: 4K Ultra HD Combo Pack
The Birth of a Nation - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: 4K Ultra HD Combo Pack
Deepwater Horizon - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: 4K Ultra HD Combo Pack
Deepwater Horizon is the best of the 4K releases and the most visual as well.
Crime Story - No Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD
Star Trek: Enterprise - No Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD
Star Trek: Enterprise: The Complete Series comes out on Blu-ray next month. If you want the complete series, I would wait.
An Act of Love - Reviews - Video on Demand
Christine - Reviews - Video on Demand
I’m Not Ashamed - Reviews - Video on Demand
The Night is Young - No Reviews - Video on Demand
Ouija: Origin of Evil - Reviews - Video on Demand
Pinocchio - Reviews - Video on Demand: Movie Only or Movie with Extras
Queen of Katwe - Reviews - Video on Demand: Movie Only, Movie with Extras
Windstorm - Reviews - Video on Demand
There are a number of really good films coming out this week on VOD. It is hard to pick just one to recommend. Christine and Queen of Katwe are both amazing, and sadly mostly ignored by moviegoers.
Filed under: DVD and Blu-ray Releases, Home Market Releases, His Girl Friday, Ouija: Origin of Evil, Deepwater Horizon, The Accountant, The Birth of a Nation, Kevin Hart: What Now?, Max Steel, Queen of Katwe, Der Staat gegen Fritz Bauer, Christine, I’m Not Ashamed, Under the Shadow, Southwest of Salem: The Story of the San Antonio Four, Ostwind, An Act of Love, The Night is Young, Cary Grant, Ben Affleck, Kevin Hart, Rami Malek, Rosalind Russell, Christian Slater, Ilana Glazer, Abbi Jacobson