The first installment of our Holiday Gift Guide dealt with first run wide releases and one franchise box set. It wasn’t a particularly good year for high quality monster hits. Sadly, TV on DVD releases look even worse. That’s not to say there were no good TV shows that debuted last year; however, there haven’t been many TV shows that made their DVD / Blu-ray debuts recently. My favorite “new” TV show of the year was MST3K (Netflix says it’s a new show, but the creators say it is season 11 of the original MST3K, so I don’t know if I should really call it a new show), but there’s no DVD / Blu-ray release, at least not for people who didn’t back the Kickstarter. My favorite truly new show was GLOW, but again, there’s no DVD / Blu-ray release yet. Likewise, Stranger Things has no regular Blu-ray release. You know what, just assume anything from Netflix isn’t on this list, because there’s no DVD / Blu-ray, or the release is nearly featureless (as is the case with Jessica Jones). On a side note, my favorite new non-screening show was Speechless, which again has no DVD / Blu-ray release, so it’s not just Netflix that’s ignoring physical media. There are also not a lot of megasets to compensate, meaning this list might be a bit short compared to most years. I’ve even had to break my usual rule when it comes to megasets.
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This week, the home market is led by Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, at least in terms of box office dollars. It is far from the best in terms of reviews. That’s not to say there are no high quality releases this week. In fact, there are five Pick of the Week contenders, six if you include Belladonna Of Sadness, which came out last week, but the screener arrived late, so the review didn’t get published till the weekend. In the end, I went with To Have and Have Not on Blu-ray as Pick of the Week. However, Orphan Black: Season Four earns the seldom awarded Puck of the Week, as the best Canadian release.
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For a summer week, there's a surprising strength on top of the home market releases. Insurgent will very likely be the top selling DVD or Blu-ray on this week's list, but it isn't even close to the best. There were five contenders for Pick of the Week, three of which were in the TV on DVD category. This includes the eventual winner, Orphan Black: Season Three.
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There is actually a $100 million hit on this week's list of new releases, which puts it miles ahead of most of recent weeks. Unfortunately, that new release is Rio 2, which isn't terrible, but it certainly isn't Pick of the Week material either. Worse still, there is practically no depth this week and almost none of the new DVDs / Blu-rays are Pick of the Week contenders. Fortunately, "Weird Al" Yankovic comes to the rescue with Mandatory Fun, which is a CD, which I normally don't talk about. As far as DVDs and Blu-rays are concerned, Orphan Black: Season 2 on Blu-ray is clearly the best.
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It is a busy week, not only in terms of quantity, but also quality. There are seven films earning 80% positive reviews or higher (at least when I checked last). Some of these, like Afflicted, probably won't find an audience in theaters, because it is just the wrong genre. Others, like The Unknown Known and Watermark, might do well for the genre, but won't find any real measure of mainstream success. On the other hand, Under the Skin and Alan Partridge might find audiences in theaters.
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It's not a bad week on the home market with a couple first-run releases that are worth picking up. 42 earned great reviews, but the DVD and the Blu-ray Combo Pack don't have enough extras to lift to to the Pick of the Week contender. Evil Dead does have a lot better extras on the DVD and Blu-ray Combo Pack, but the reviews were only good and not great. This leaves Regular Show: Season 1 & Season 2 on DVD or Blu-ray as the Pick of the Week. If you like Adventure Time or Gravity Falls, then you will likely enjoy this show as well. One final note, Orphan Black: Season One on DVD or Blu-ray is absolutely worth picking up and is worthy of Puck of the Week, for best Canadian released.
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There are nine limited releases on this week's list, including two opening in Canada. Of those, there are only a few with any buzz or strong reviews. To the Wonder is the most buzz-worthy, but the reviews will hurt it. It's a Disaster has good reviews and a great cast for a limited release, but its genre will hold it back. The Angel's Share likely won't have the best opening, but it should have the better legs than To the Wonder thanks to impressive reviews.
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