Home Market Releases for February 13th, 2018
February 13, 2018
It’s not a good week in terms of box office numbers, as the biggest box office hit to come out this week is Wonder. It is also one of the best new releases of the week and a contender for Pick of the Week. Other contenders for Pick of the Week include Blade of the Immortal, Night of the Living Dead, The Silence of the Lambs, and The Sinner: Season One. In the end, it was a coin toss between Blade of the Immortal and Night of the Living Dead and the former won.
Akiba's Trip: The Complete Series - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: Blu-ray Combo Pack
The Ballad of Lefty Brown - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray Combo Pack
Ben 10: Villain Time - Buy from Amazon: DVD
Ben 10 first came out more than a decade ago. It was about a 10-year old boy, Ben, who is able to use the Omnitrix to transform into 10 different aliens, which he uses to battle villains. The original show lasted many years and over the course of those years, he grew up into a teenager. It remains popular enough that a reboot was practically inevitable, but does it capture the qualities that made the original so good? That depends on who you ask. Long time fans who grew up on the show seem to hate it. They hate how Ben is 10 years old again, they hate the over reliance on humor, they hate the new animation style. However, if you watched the original show as a kid, you are now too old to be part of the target audience. I am certainly too old for this show and the humor is too juvenile to appeal to adults. That said, if you are in the right age range, around 8 years old, then the combination of humor and action should be appealing.
There are no extras on the DVD; however, it does cost less than $10 for nearly four hours of episodes, so that’s a better deal than most similar releases.
Blade of the Immortal - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
The Deuce: Season One - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
The Deuce takes place in New York City in the 1970s, specifically around the city’s growing sex industry. It stars an ensemble cast, headlined by Maggie Gyllenhaal and James Franco, both of whom are also producers. On the positive side, the cast is fantastic across the board and Maggie Gyllenhaal even earned a Golden Globe nomination. On the negative side, I wish more of them played sympathetic characters. I mentioned this before, but when it comes to TV shows, I need at least a significant portion of the characters to be sympathetic, or I quickly lose interest. There are characters on this show that, if I knew them in real life, I would change my schedule to avoid seeing them in person. Why would I go out of my way to spend my limited free time watching a TV show about them? I will admit, I am in the minority here and the reviews are amazing, so keep that in mind.
Extras on the DVD / Blu-ray include an audio commentary track on the pilot, as well as the season finale. All eight episodes also have a short Inside the Episode. Disc three also has a 12-minute making of featurette called The Wild West: New York in the Early ‘70s and an eight-minute The Deuce in Focus. If you are a fan of the show, it is worth picking up. I am not a fan of the show, on the other hand.
Doctor Who Special: Twice Upon a Time - No Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
Drag Me to Hell: Collector’s Edition - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: Blu-ray
Fairy Tail: Collection Eleven - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: Blu-ray Combo Pack
Food Wars: Second Plate - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
God’s Own Country - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: Blu-ray
Hellraiser: Judgment - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
Leatherface: Texas Chainsaw Massacre III - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: Blu-ray
Mystery Science Theater 3000: Volume VII - No Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD
Night of the Living Dead: The Criterion Collection - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
Pokemon the Movie: I Choose You! - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
Re-Animator: Collector’s Edition - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: Blu-ray
Roman J. Israel, Esq. - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
The Silence of the Lambs: The Criterion Collection - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
The Sinner: Season One - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD
Teenage Cocktail - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD
Threads: Limited Edition - No Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
Wonder - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray Combo Pack, or 4K Ultra HD Combo Pack
4K Blu-ray Releases - Buy from Amazon:
TV on DVD Megasets - Buy from Amazon:
Video on Demand - Buy from Amazon:
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An Anime TV show about a group who have to fight Bugged Ones and the only way to defeat them is to strip them down to their underwear. ... Oh Anime, you make it so hard to be a fan sometimes. Extras include an audio commentary track on the first episode, promo videos, and the usual clean opening and closing credits. This is better than most Anime titles get, but the reviews are weaker than average, so I would skip this one. If the setup sounds intriguing, you can watch the first couple of episodes on Funimation and judge for yourself.
Video on Demand
Bill Pullman stars as the titular Lefty Brown, a cowboy, whose best friend is murdered and he seeks to find out who did it and bring them to justice. The film’s Tomatometer is 80% positive, but the average review given by critics is just 6.2 out of 10, so while most critics liked the movie, few of them loved it. Extras include an audio commentary track, two making of featurettes, and deleted scenes. This is enough to lift the film from a solid rental to the purchase level.
I didn’t put in a request for this DVD, because I knew I would be busy with our Oscar contest and the category highlights. The screener arrived anyway, so I’m doing a spotlight review to save time.
Video on Demand
Takashi Miike has made some incredibly violent movies, films so violent they limit their target audience. This film isn’t as violent, but there’s still more blood that most martial arts movies have. Will this limit its audience? Or does it have more mainstream appeal? Read our review to find out.
The second screener to arrive without a request. Again, I didn’t have time to do a full featured review, but I am able to do a spotlight review.
I’ve heard mixed opinions about Steven Moffat’s last foray into Doctor Who. Some liked it, but a lot of people said it was a bad send off for the current Doctor and a weak celebration of Moffat’s legacy. Also coming out this week is Doctor Who: Complete Peter Capaldi Years.
This film earned amazing reviews when it first came out nearly a decade ago. The two-disc collection is loaded with extras, including an uncut version of the movie. If you haven’t seen the film, but like horror movies, then you have to check it out. If you have the previously release, it is worth the upgrade.
I think we are at the end of this series’ home market releases, sort of. The final season starts this year, so there will be more Blu-rays, but we’ve caught up to what has been released so far. The show’s reviews are excellent and the extras are a lot better than most Anime titles get with several audio commentary tracks and a couple of featurettes. It is worth picking up if you are a fan of the show, but if you’ve never seen it before, there’s a lot of episodes to catch up on.
Putting the fan service in “food porn”. It’s actually a really good show, although, the weird plot about the takeover of the culinary school in season three is confusing. It is such a bad plan. The only extras on the DVD and Blu-ray are clean openings and closings, which is a shame, but it is still one of the best recent Anime shows and definitely worth picking up, assuming you don’t have a problem with Ecchi.
This is a great movie, but it came out on DVD just a few weeks ago, so releasing a Blu-ray now is just not right.
This horror franchise has been around a long time, but the latest installment is being released direct-to-video and there are almost no reviews, so the buzz is just not there. Even if you are a fan of these movies, there are not enough extras (deleted scenes and outtakes) to be worth anything more than a rental.
Even if you are a fan of the franchise, you can safely ignore this installment. That said, it is selling really well on Blu-ray.
They are re-releasing MST3K sets at a much lower price. If you have them already, there is no reason to upgrade. However, if you balked at the prices before, now is the perfect time to pick them up.
Why are there so many horror movies on this week’s list? This one is one of the best all-time horror movies and practically invented the modern zombie genre. The Criterion Collection release has a lot of extras, including extras that are new to this release, like a work-print version of the film and 16 mm dailies. These new extras are important, as the movie itself is public domain, because it has been released on the home market countless times. This version has enough extras that it is worth picking up, even if you own a previous release. And if you don’t own it already, it is Pick of the Week material.
One of the most popular Anime franchises in the world. That said, it’s a kids movie that has little crossover appeal with adult fans of animation. Finally, there are no extras, so its only worth a rental, if you have kids who like the show.
This is a great movie, but it is a movie that has been released far too often to get excited about another release. If you don’t own it yet, then buy it.
Video on Demand
Busted Oscar-bait. It’s worth a rental, but that’s it.
This is the second Criterion Collection release for a classic horror movie. Both are amazing and both releases are loaded with extras. However, I think this one is slightly weaker, both in terms of quality / legacy, as well as extras. It is still a contender for Pick of the Week, but not quite the winner.
Jessica Biel stars as a young mother who straight-up murders a man in public, but doesn’t know why. This mini-series earned amazing reviews and even a couple of Golden Globe nominations. Meanwhile, its ratings doubled in the key demographic from the first episode to the finale. It’s disappointing that there’s no Blu-ray release, while the only extras are some deleted scenes. Even so, it is a Pick of the Week contender.
Two teenage girls living in a small town yearn to escape, but they need money, so they turn to online web camera modeling. They do earn a lot of money and decide to take it to the next level, but that has disastrous consequences. There are only five reviews on Rotten Tomatoes, which suggests not a lot of buzz, but all five of them are positive, so hopefully it will find an audience on the home market.
Video on Demand
A British mini-series from 1984 that took place in a then near future where tensions between the U.S.A. and the U.S.S.R. over Iran escalates into a nuclear war. It has a reputation for being, well, traumatizing for those who saw the original broadcast. It is worth checking out, both as a time capsule from over 30 years ago, and as a high-quality mini-series in its own right.
Video on Demand
This is Lionsgate’s biggest hit since the end of Hunger Games. The film is a family friendly film about a boy who is born with facial deformities and the film focuses on the boy’s first time going to a public school. The reviews are excellent and it clearly found an audience, given its long legs. There are plenty of extras with an audio commentary track, making of featurette, and a music video on the DVD, while the Blu-ray has another making of documentary and more. It is easily worth picking up and a contender for Pick of the Week.
Blu-ray Releases - Buy from Amazon:
Animal Kingdom: The Complete Second Season - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
Baby: Secret of the Lost Legend - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: Blu-ray
Benji - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: Blu-ray Combo Pack
The Bird with the Crystal Plumage - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: Blu-ray
The Blood Spattered Bride - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: Blu-ray
Brotherhood of Blades 2 - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray Combo Pack
Games - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: Blu-ray
The Last Hunter - No Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
Monster Hunter Stories Ride On: Season One, Part One - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: Blu-ray Combo Pack
The Night of the Seagulls - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: Blu-ray
Red Vs. Blue: Season 15 - No Reviews - Buy from Amazon: Blu-ray Combo Pack
Seijun Suzuki: The Early Years. Vol. 1 Seijun Rising: The Youth Movies - No Reviews - Buy from Amazon: Blu-ray
The Thomas Crown Affair - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
Touken Ranbu Hanamaru: Season One - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: Blu-ray Combo Pack
V.I. Warshawski - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: Blu-ray
The Bird with the Crystal Plumage is arguably the best secondary Blu-ray release.
Hell or High Water - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: Blu-ray
Wonder - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: 4K Ultra HD Combo Pack
The only two 4K releases this week is one of the biggest first-run releases and one of last year’s Best Picture nominees. I don’t think either needs to be seen in 4K
The Flintstones - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD
Kids In The Hall - No Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD
Little House on the Prairie: Deluxe Remastered Edition - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD
Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD
Three's Company - No Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD
Kids In The Hall is the best TV on DVD Megaset on this week’s list.
Coco - Reviews - Video on Demand (Movie Only) or Video on Demand (With Extras)
#FromJennifer - Reviews - Video on Demand
Have a Little Faith - Reviews - Video on Demand
Justice League - Reviews - Video on Demand
Lady Bird - Reviews - Video on Demand
Lego DC Super Heroes The Flash - Reviews - Video on Demand
Lucky U Ranch - Reviews - Video on Demand
That’s Not Me - Reviews - Video on Demand
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri - Reviews - Video on Demand
There are several Oscar contenders on this week’s list of secondary VOD titles, including Coco. I’m hoping to get a screener for that film soon.
Filed under: DVD and Blu-ray Releases, Home Market Releases, Coco, Justice League, Wonder, God’s Own Country, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, Mugen no jûnin, xiu chun dao II: xiu luo zhan chang, Roman J. Israel, Esq., Lady Bird, The Ballad of Lefty Brown, That’s Not Me, Lego DC Super Heroes: The Flash, Have a Little Faith, Lucky U Ranch, Hellraiser: Judgment, #FromJennifer, Teenage Cocktail, Hellraiser, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Hunger Games, Bill Pullman, Jessica Biel, James Franco, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Takashi Miike, Steven Moffat