DVD and Blu-ray Releases for October 28th, 2014
October 27, 2014
It's a terrible week on the home market with no major releases. The biggest theatrical release is Begin Again, which earned excellent reviews, but opened in limited release and never expanded truly wide. The best new release on the list is the limited edition Breaking Bad: The Complete Series 2014 Barrel, but it costs more than $200, so it is out of the price range of most people. Besides those two releases, there's more filler than releases worth talking about. Begin Again wins Pick of the Week, practically by default, as it is the only release I can enthusiastically recommend.
Alan Partridge - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
America: Imagine a World Without Her - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
Begin Again - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
Behaving Badly - Buy from Amazon: DVD
Big Valley - Season 4 - Buy from Amazon: DVD
Blu-ray Releases - Buy from Amazon: Beethoven's Treasure Tail, Child of God, Companeros, The Complete Jacques Tati, Dragon Ball Z: Season 8, Fairy Tail: Part 13, Free Fall, Fedora, Ghost in the Shell Arise: Borders 1 & 2, Good People, Miss Marple: Volume One, The Prince, Planet of the Vampires, Squirm, Stargate 20th Anniversary, Street Fighter: Assassin's Fist, The Vanishing, and Werewolf Woman
Christmas Releases - Buy from Amazon: Franklin and Friends: Franklin's Christmas Spirit, A Star For Christmas, Thomas & Friends: The Christmas Engines, and The Wiggles: Go Santa Go
Death Comes to Pemberley - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
Deliver Us From Evil - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray Combo Pack
Hellsing Ultimate: Volumes 9 & 10 - Buy from Amazon: Blu-ray Combo Pack
How We Got To Now - Buy from Amazon: DVD
Life of Crime - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: Season 1 - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
My Little Pony Equestria Girls: Rainbow Rocks - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray Combo Pack
Nightbreed - Buy from Amazon: Blu-ray Combo Pack
TV on DVD Full Series Megasets - Buy from Amazon: Breaking Bad: The Complete Series 2014 Barrel and WKRP In Cincinnati: The Complete Series
Vera, Set 4 - Buy from Amazon: DVD
Wish I Was Here - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray Combo Pack
Alan Partridge is a character Steve Coogan has been playing on and off for more than 20 years, but this movie is the first time many people Stateside will have heard the name. Is it a good introduction to the character? Or is the first "too British"? Read our review for my opinion.
A "documentary" best described as laughably bad made by someone who is, at best, politically incompetent. The only extras on the DVD and Blu-ray are 45 minutes of extended / deleted scenes. However, given how bad the movie was, seeing what was cut doesn't seem like a selling point. Skip it.
Keira Knightley stars as a musician who follows her fellow musician / boyfriend to New York City, but when he becomes famous, he cheats on her and leaves. She then bumps into failed music producer, Mark Ruffalo, who helps her make an album. The film's reviews are not quite Award-worthy, but quite close. Unfortunately, the extras are weak with just a making of featurette and some music videos. Still, it is the best release of the week.
I really like Ashley Rickards. She's great in Awkward and was amazing in Fly Away. However, her choices of movies this year has not been as impressive. A Haunted House 2 earned only 8% positive reviews, while this one earned no positive reviews. Hopefully next year will be better for her with critics.
Good show, but normally this would be filler. This week, it's nearly in the top ten new releases.
There are not a lot of hidden gems in this week's list of secondary Blu-ray releases. The Swedish original of The Vanishing is coming out as a Criterion Collection release and it is the best here.
Not much in the way of Christmas titles this week. There are certainly none that are top-tier releases.
A continuation of the Pride and Prejudice story, this time as a British Murder Mystery. Sadly the reviews are only good and not great, as it isn't among the best of either genre.
Not the worst horror movie to come out this year, but very forgettable. Extras on the DVD are disappointing with just an audio commentary track and a making of featurette. The Blu-ray has this, plus a look at the make-up, as well as two featurettes pushing the "based on real life events" claim. Still not worth picking up, but maybe if you are a fan of the genre, it is worth a rental. Maybe.
According to Amazon.com, this Anime release is in the top five best-selling new releases of the week. It's a slow week.
A documentary series from PBS that looks at the great ideas and inventions that helped create the modern world.
Jennifer Aniston leads an ensemble cast. She stars as the wife of a business man kidnapped and held for ransom. Here's the thing, her husband, Tim Robbins, has a mistress, Ilsa Fisher, and really doesn't want his wife back. The reviews were good, but not great, and it opened on Video on Demand, which explains why it didn't find an audience in theaters. Extras include an audio commentary track, two making of featurettes, and deleted scenes. It's worth picking up, but it is not Pick of the Week material.
Personally, I thought this was the best new show from last season. However, looking at the ratings, a lot of people who started watching the show stopped halfway through the season. Is it worth getting back into for those who stopped? Is it worth checking out for those who didn't watch it in the first place? Read our review to find out.
I believe a screener is on its way. There are very few reviews on Rotten Tomatoes, but they are both positive.
When this film was first made, it was taken away from its director, Clive Barker, and butchered by the studio. The result earned bad reviews and bombed at the box office. Now nearly 25 years later Shout!Factory has found the lost footage, restored it, and with Clive Barker, produced a Director's Cut that includes 45 minutes of footage not seen in the original version of the film. Extras on the DVD include audio commentary track, making of featurette, interviews, and more. There is also a Limited Edition release, but it costs more than $70, so it is only for the hardest of the hardcore fans.
There are just the two TV on DVD Megasets this week, and while both are for great shows, both have serious issues. This is the second time Breaking Bad has been released and this collector's edition is really expensive. WKRP is a classic sitcom, but due to the era it came out, there is a serious issue with music rights, so many songs are missing.
A British Murder Mystery show. It is very expensive for a TV on DVD release, but if you look at it as a set of 4 TV movies, then it looks a lot better.
Zach Braff returned to the director's chair with this movie. It became famous before it was even made, because of its success on Kickstarter. (There was a backlash against that, unfortunately.) The reviews were mixed, as critics felt it was a little schmaltzy at times and the film doesn't do much new within the genre. The extras are good with two audio commentary tracks, making of featurette, deleted scenes, etc. Worth picking up, if you like Zach Braff's work.
Filed under: DVD and Blu-ray Releases, Home Market Releases, Nightbreed, Deliver Us from Evil, A Haunted House 2, Alan Partridge, Begin Again, Life of Crime, Wish I Was Here, Behaving Badly, America: Imagine a World Without Her, Jennifer Aniston, Clive Barker, Zach Braff, Steve Coogan, Isla Fisher, Keira Knightley, Tim Robbins, Mark Ruffalo, Ashley Rickards