Home Market Releases for August 11th, 2015
August 11, 2015
Fortunately, summer is coming to an end, so the quality of the home market releases will start to climb very soon. Unfortunately, this week the biggest first-run release is Unfriended. It is worth picking up, if you are a fan of the genre, but it is not exactly a blockbuster title. As for the best releases of the week, I Am Big Bird: The Caroll Spinney Story is close to the top of the list. However, in the end I went with Felicia Day: You're Never Weird on the Internet (Almost), which is a bit of an unorthodox choice, as it is not a DVD or Blu-ray. However, it is the best new release of the week.
2 Broke Girls: Season 4 - Buy from Amazon: DVD
Blaze & The Monster Machines: High-Speed Adventure - Buy from Amazon: DVD
Blu-ray Releases - Buy from Amazon: Basilisk: Complete Collection, Batman: Gotham Knight, Batman: Year One, Captain Earth: Collection 2, Copycat, Dig: Season One, The French Lieutenant's Woman, The Front Page, Haikyu!! Collection 2, Halloween III: Season of the Witch, Heat, January Man, Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, Justice League: Crisis On Two Earths, Justice League: War, Kite Collection, L.A. Confidential, The People Under the Stairs, Preggoland, The Monster That Challenged the World, Northmen - A Viking Saga, Silence, Still of the Night, Superman: Doomsday, War-Gods of the Deep, Wonder Woman, and WWE: The Very Best of WCW Monday Nitro, Volume 3
Home - Buy from Amazon: DVD, Blu-ray Combo Pack or 3D Combo Pack
Hot Pursuit - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray Combo Pack
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit - The 16th Year - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray Combo Pack
Match - Buy from Amazon: DVD
Person of Interest: Season 4 - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
Police Story: Lockdown - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
Soaked in Bleach - Buy from Amazon: DVD
Unfriended - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray Combo Pack
TV on DVD Full Series Megasets - Buy from Amazon: Clue Club and Power Rangers: Lightspeed Rescue
Video on Demand - Buy from Amazon: 72 Hours, Air, Aloha, Cleveland Abduction, Dig: Season One, Felt, Final Girl, The French Lieutenant's Woman, Good Kill, LEGO DC Super Heroes: Justice League: Attack of the Legion of Doom!, Mad Max: Fury Road, Molly Moon, Northmen: A Viking Saga, Preggoland, Return to Sender, Stations of the Cross, Strawberry Shortcake: Berry Tales, Tim Minchin and the Heritage Orchestra, Tom at the Farm, Walt Disney Animation Studios Shorts Collection, and Where Hope Grows
I really like Kat Dennings, which is why I'm sticking with this show. However, I admit it has been uneven at times, while the DVD releases have lacked extras.
Normally I wouldn't talk about a release this small, but it is a shallow week.
There are a lot of D.C. releases on this week's list of secondary Blu-ray releases. They almost drown out the competition.
Felicia Day: You're Never Weird on the Internet (Almost) - Buy from Amazon: Hardcover, Kindle, or Audio
Felicia Day is one of the biggest stars on the Internet and she has written, produced, starred in countless shows, including the award-winning The Guild. This week, her memoir is coming out in a variety of formats and despite not being a DVD or Blu-ray, it is our Pick of the Week.
Video on Demand
A TV show from AMC that has had a very stable run both with critics and viewers. Stable, but it has never been a huge hit, which explains why next season is its last, nor have the reviews been award-worthy. Extras include behind-the-scenes featurettes, season overview, featurette on the new characters, etc. If you are a fan of the series, it is certainly worth picking up, but it isn't Pick of the Week material.
Video on Demand
One of the biggest box office hits of the year, but is it also one of the better films? Is it at least a good family film? Read our review to find out.
Video on Demand
One of the worst movies of the year. Avoid at all costs.
I Am Big Bird: The Caroll Spinney Story - Buy from Amazon: DVD
Video on Demand
A documentary about Carroll Spinney, the actor / puppeteer who plays Big Bird. The film's reviews were excellent and it is certainly a contender for Pick of the week. It didn't quite win, but it came in a close second.
Video on Demand
A documentary about the late Chris Farley. The reviews are good, but not great, as many critics complain the filmmakers didn't look deeply enough at the darker aspects of his life. It's not that the critics wanted a hit piece, but they felt they didn't get to know the real Chris Farley. It is still worth checking out, if you are a fan of the late actor.
The Knick: The Complete First Season - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
A medical drama set in New York City in the year 1900. That certainly gives it a different feel and the critics responded. It even earned several nominations for the upcoming Emmys. Extras include some episode featurettes and audio commentary tracks. If you are a fan of the genre, it is certainly worth picking up. It is even a Pick of the Week contender.
A documentary TV series from the History Channel. It arrived unannounced and it will be a prize in this week's Box Office Prediction Contest.
This is a great show in a very crowded genre. It has outlasted all but a very few of its contemporaries; in fact, it is the longest-running non-animated scripted series currently on American primetime. If it can last a few more seasons after the upcoming one, it will tie Law & Order and Gunsmoke for the all-time record. On the other hand, the show can be watched in any order and the DVDs rarely have significant extras, so it is not something you need to buy on DVD to enjoy.
Video on Demand
A drama starring Patrick Stewart, among others. Its reviews were good, but not great, and it struggled in theaters. It is worth checking out, but a rental is probably the best choice.
Video on Demand
It has been a while since I watched this show regularly. Does it hold up? Or has the show jumped the shark? Read our review for my opinion.
A police procedural, of sorts. This is a very, very crowded genre, which explains why it never really lived up to its potential with audiences. This in turn explains why next season's shortened run will likely be its last. Extras include two making of featurettes, Comic-con Panel, and outtakes. That's enough to be worth picking up, but not enough to be a contender for Pick of the Week.
Video on Demand
A disappointing entrant in the Police Story franchise. Even if you are a hardcore fan of Jackie Chan, there are simply too many better options to bother with this one.
Scandal: Season 4 - Buy from Amazon: DVD
One of the best shows on network TV. Kerry Washington deserves her Golden Globe and Emmy nominations. Unfortunately, while the show is excellent, the extras are weak. It is still a contender for Pick of the Week, but it doesn't quite win that honor.
The latest Shark Week release. I didn't have time to review it this week, so it is part of our current Box Office Prediction Contest.
Bad conspiracy theory involving Kurt Cobain.
Video on Demand
This is a horror film with an interesting hook. The vast majority of it takes place during a Skype call. Fortunately, the gimmick works, for the most part. A lot of critics feared that there will be imitators and those will get tiresome nearly immediately. If you are a fan of the genre, it is worth checking out. However, there are absolutely no extras on the DVD or the Blu-ray, so renting it VOD is probably the best choice.
Only two Complete Series Megasets on this week's list, and they are both for kids.
Quite a collection of VOD releases this week. The biggest of which is Mad Max: Fury Road. It doesn't come out on Blu-ray till September, but it will likely be worth the wait. As for the smaller releases, Final Girl is the one I'm most interested in.
Filed under: DVD and Blu-ray Releases, Home Market Releases, Mad Max: Fury Road, Home, Hot Pursuit, Match, Unfriended, Soaked in Bleach, I Am Big Bird: The Caroll Spinney Story, Final Girl, Jing cha ju shi 2013, I Am Chris Farley, Police Story, Jackie Chan, Kat Dennings, Chris Farley, , Patrick Stewart, Kerry Washington