Home Market Releases for January 2nd, 2018

January 2, 2018

This is the first Tuesday of the year, so it should be no surprise that there are not a lot of top-tier releases on this week’s list. In fact, there were so few releases worth mentioning that I had to pad the list with some films that were not selling well enough to be worth mentioning during most weeks. As for the Pick of the Week contenders, there were only two: Lucky and Battle of the Sexes. It was a close race, but in the end, I gave that title to Lucky on DVD.

American Made - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD, Blu-ray Combo Pack, or 4K Ultra HD Combo
The latest Tom Cruise film wasn’t a major hit at the box office. It didn’t bomb and worldwide it made enough to cover its $50 million production budget, but it didn’t live up to its reviews. Extras include several featurettes and some deleted scenes, but no audio commentary track. If you like Tom Cruise, then it is worth picking up.

Battle of the Sexes - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray Combo Pack
Video on Demand
This film is Oscar-bait that didn’t do well enough with critics to be a major player during Awards Season, but it has picked up a few major nominations. The only extras are a trio of featurettes, but it is still worth picking up. Since it is a short week, it is even a contender for Pick of the Week.

Brad’s Status - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
Video on Demand
This film’s Tomatometer is 80% positive, but the average score from critics is just 6.9 out of 10, so while most critics liked it, not many loved it. The DVD / Blu-ray has a quartet of featurettes, which is better than most sitcoms, but I think a rental will be enough for most people.

The Breakfast Club: The Criterion Collection - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
A classic and one of the best high school movies of all time. There are a lot of extras on the DVD and Blu-ray, much of which is archival, but there are also some new to this release. It is a great film and absolutely worth owning; however, it has been released so many times that most fans of the film likely already own it, perhaps multiple times.

Chavela - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD
Video on Demand
A documentary about Chavela Vargas, a singer from Costa Rica who first became famous in the 1950s. However, she was also an open lesbian and most of society was not tolerant enough for that, so she was pushed from public life. At least that was until her comeback. The movie isn’t selling as well as I would like, which is why I’m mentioning it here despite its sales numbers.

Hell Night - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: Blu-ray Combo Pack
A teenage slasher from the early 1980s. It isn’t a great film, but it is better than average for the genre and it has Linda Blair in it and she’s quite popular with the fans of this genre. There are loads of new extras on the Blu-ray combo pack and if you are a fan of the movie, it is worth picking up. In fact, if you are merely a fan of the genre, it is worth picking up.

Last Tango in Halifax: Holiday Special - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD
A British dramedy about a widow and widower who were both in love with other as teenagers, but neither made a move on their emotions. They reconnect when they are both in their 70s and realize they are still in love. The reviews for the show have been great, but like most TV on DVD imports, its price-per-minute is really high.

Love at First Glance - No Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD
Video on Demand
The first of two Hallmark Channel original movies. Neither have any reviews, but you know if you are in the target audience or not.

Love Locks - No Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD
Video on Demand
The second of two Hallmark Channel original movies. ... Moving on.

A Question of Faith - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray Combo Pack
Video on Demand
This is a film that normally would be relegated to the Secondary Blu-ray list. However, if I only included big sellers, there would only be about six entries in total. The reviews are mixed and there are no extras on the DVD / Blu-ray. On the other hand, it is far from the worst faith-based film that’s come out.

The Teacher - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD
Video on Demand
This film is set during the communist regime in Slovakia and tells the story of a new teacher, who is also a high-ranking member of the Communist party. The first day of class, she asks all of the kids what their parents do and then makes demands of them. And if the parents refuse, suddenly the students start failing tests. The reviews are great, but it is a foreign-language film, so its audience is limited.

Thank You For Playing - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray Combo Pack
Video on Demand
A documentary about a family whose child died as the result of a rare cancer at the age of five. The family decided to deal with this loss by creating a video game, That Dragon, Cancer. The reviews are great and it is worth seeing, but I fear it will slip through the cracks. And if you are interested in the game, you can buy it on Steam for 30% off.

Blu-ray Releases - Buy from Amazon:
The Adventurers - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: Blu-ray Combo Pack
Blame it on Rio - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: Blu-ray
Breathe - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
Cadillac Man - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: Blu-ray
The Executioner’s Song - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: Blu-ray
The Houses that October Built 2 - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
Kissdum R - Engage Planet - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: Blu-ray
Miss Zombie - No Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
Ninja Nonsense: Complete Collection - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: Blu-ray
Seven Blood Stained Orchid - No Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray Combo Pack
Shock Wave - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray Combo Pack
The best secondary Blu-ray release on this week’s chart is Shock Wave, but there’s not a lot of competition. Not only is it a short week, a lot of the movies here earned terrible reviews, or in some cases, no reviews.

4K Blu-ray Releases - Buy from Amazon:
There was just one 4K release this week, but I already mentioned it above.

Video on Demand - Buy from Amazon:
Bigfoot Country - Reviews - Video on Demand
Death Island: Paranormal Retribution - No Reviews - Video on Demand
Geostorm - Reviews - Video on Demand
Happy Death Day - Reviews - Video on Demand
No Solicitors - Reviews - Video on Demand
Shock Wave - Reviews - Video on Demand
Wonderstruck - Reviews - Video on Demand
A lot of the secondary VOD releases on this week’s list are worth checking out. Happy Death Day, Shock Wave, and Wonderstruck are all worth considering. So is Geostorm, which is bad, but in an entertaining way. I wouldn’t buy it, but if you love “so bad it’s good” movies, then it might be worth a rental. Or wait till it is on Netflix or your favorite subscription streaming service.

C.S.Strowbridge

Filed under: DVD and Blu-ray Releases, Home Market Releases, Geostorm, American Made, Battle of the Sexes, Wonderstruck, Happy Death Day, Chāi dàn zhuānjiā, Chavela, Brad’s Status, A Question of Faith, Love Locks, Love at First Glance, Death Island: Paranormal Retribution, Bigfoot Country, No Solicitors, Tom Cruise, Linda Blair, Harry Dean Stanton