January 11th, 2018
Directors Guild of America is one of those awards groups that spread out their nominations, but the last of them were announced today. There are some pleasant surprises and what is possibly the biggest shock of Awards Season so far. The only film to earn two nominations was Get Out.
More...
September 20th, 2017
I think it is a really good week on the home market. The biggest release of the week is Wonder Woman, which is also one of the best wide releases of the year. The extras are strong and the Blu-ray Combo Pack / 3D Combo Pack are Pick of the Week contenders. It isn’t the winner, as The Big Sick is one of the best movies I’ve seen all year and the DVD / Blu-ray Combo Pack is loaded with extras.
More...
April 13th, 2016
It is a very slow week on the home market. The only first-run release is The Forest, which earned a single-digit Tomatometer Score. The best-selling release of the week is Justice League vs. Teen Titans which continues to prove animated D.C. is better than live-action D.C. As far as Pick of the Week contenders are concerned, there are a few releases that interest me, including Suspicion on Blu-ray. However, I went with The Lady in the Car with Glasses and a Gun on Blu-ray. I will admit it dances deep into the Style over Substance territory, but it's a style I have really got into.
More...
September 16th, 2014
The Christmas Shopping Season is kicking into high gear with a great mix of first-run releases, as well as TV on DVD releases. The biggest release of the week is Godzilla and while it is worth picking up on DVD, Blu-ray Combo Pack, or 3D Combo Pack, it isn't quite Pick of the Week material. For that, we turn to The Fault in Our Stars on DVD or Blu-ray Combo Pack and Eraserhead on Blu-ray (Criterion Collection). It was a close call, but in the end, I went with The Fault in Our Stars.
More...
April 22nd, 2014
According to Amazon, the top three best selling new releases of the week are a play, a film considered one of the biggest box office bombs of all time, and a yoga exercise DVD. Most weeks, these would be filler. This week, they are the top three releases. There's not a lot that jumps out as being worth picking up. Sorcerer's Blu-ray release will interest a lot of people, while the other two contenders for Pick of the Week are Bettie Page Reveals All on Blu-ray and Big Bad Wolves on Blu-ray. Like last week, it came down to a roll of the dice and Bettie Page Reveals All won.
More...
April 23rd, 2013
This time of year tends to be really bad on the home market. By this late in spring, there are only a few late winter releases still finding their way on the home market. Last weekend it was Django Unchained and next weekend it will be Silver Linings Playbook. This week, there are no such releases. The best selling release according to Amazon.com is Jurassic Park, which makes its home market 3D debut. (It is still in the top ten at the box office, so that might be helping the sales.) I hope to get a screener to review but so far it is late, so I'm not sure if the 3D upgrade is worth the triple-dip. As far as Pick of the Week Contenders, there are not many. The Impossible is probably the best bet, but I'm still waiting for the screener. The week is so bad, that I took the time to review Star Trek: The Next Generation: Season Three on Blu-ray a week in advance, just so I would have something to choose as Pick of the Week this week. It is expensive, but there are several classic episodes that aired this season and there is a ton of new extras on the six-disc set.
More...
January 7th, 2013
Surprises seems to be the word of the day, as the WGA nominations included a number of them. Granted, Zero Dark Thirty and a lot of the other films that have earned Awards Season success thus far were here, but there were almost as many surprises as there were obvious choices.
More...
November 23rd, 2012
It's a pretty light week for limited releases. Hitchcock is by far the biggest release, but its reviews are only mixed, so its box office chances are not strong. On the other hand, The Central Park Five is earning reviews that are strong enough that it should thrive, at least in limited release. It is very rare for a documentary to expand wide, even under the best of circumstances.
More...