Criterion collectors, indie movie fans, Shakespeare buffs and classic foreign film aficionados might all find new Blu-ray titles to peak their interest today. For anyone looking for something a little more mainstream… Well, there’s always next week.
Don’t get me wrong; I fall into most of the above categories. Even so, there’s no denying that this is another slow week.
- ‘Abraham Lincoln vs. Zombies‘ (Asylum)
- ‘The Aggression Scale‘ (Starz/Anchor Bay)
- ‘Bach: Goldberg Variations Acoustica – 3D‘ (AIX Records)
- ‘Coriolanus‘ (Starz/Anchor Bay)
- ‘The Dark Crystal / Labyrinth‘ (Sony)
- ‘Dragon Age: Dawn of the Seeker‘ (FUNimation)
- ‘Earth – 3D‘ (Global Cinema- May 31st)
- ‘Gintama: The Movie‘ (Sentai Filmworks)
- ‘Gone‘ (Summit)
- ‘Goon‘ (Magnolia)
- ‘Goon (Combo Pack)‘ (Magnolia)
- ‘Lord of the Dance – 3D‘ (Kaleidoscope – May 31st)
- ‘Love Never Dies‘ (Universal)
- ‘Man on a Ledge‘ (Summit)
- ‘Memorial Day‘ (Image)
- ‘Murdoch Mysteries: Season 4‘ (Acorn Media)
- ‘The Outlaw Josey Wales (Non-Digibook)‘ (Warner Brothers – May 30th)
- ‘Shiki: Part 1‘ (FUNimation)
- ‘Shiki: Part 2‘ (FUNimation)
- ‘Strange Love of Martha Ivers‘ (Film Chest)
- ‘The Strange Love of Martha Ivers‘ (Film Chest)
- ‘Summer Interlude‘ (Criterion)
- ‘Summer with Monika‘ (Criterion)
- ‘Swingers / Made‘ (Lionsgate)
- ‘Titanic’s Final Mystery‘ (Inception Media Group)
- ‘Traveller / Telling Lies in America‘ (Shout Factory)
- ‘True Blood: The Complete First Season (Combo Pack)‘ (HBO)
- ‘True Blood: The Complete Fourth Season‘ (HBO)
- ‘True Blood: The Complete Second Season (Combo Pack)‘ (HBO)
- ‘True Blood: The Complete Third Season (Combo Pack)‘ (HBO)
- ‘We Need to Talk About Kevin‘ (Oscilloscope Laboratories)
New Releases
In order of descending interest, the (in my opinion) most promising new title of the week would be Ralph Fiennes’ directorial debut, the Shakespearian adaptation ‘Coriolanus‘, which updates the Bard’s tale of a disgraced Roman general to modern-day times. The film received rave reviews on the festival circuit, even if it didn’t get much play in general release.
Next we have something a little more divisive, the black comedy (?), tragedy (?), horror thriller (?) ‘We Need to Talk About Kevin‘, which stars Tilda Swinton as a grieving mother dealing with the fallout when her son goes on a killing spree. The movie’s mix of genres and tones turned out to be a love-it-or-hate-it affair with critics. Some, like Luke, found it fascinating, while others called it overbearing.
Sadly, the mainstream titles are mostly duds from earlier in the year, such as the Sam Worthington heist thriller ‘Man on the Ledge‘, the Amanda Seyfried revenge flick ‘Gone‘, and the Sean William-Scott hockey comedy ‘Goon‘. The latter had the best word of mouth, but I fear that I’d just wind up comparing it unfavorably to ‘Slap Shot’.
Finally, the schlockmeisters at The Asylum have already jumped out ahead of the impending theatrical release of ‘Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter’ with the “mockbuster” rip-off ‘Abraham Lincoln vs. Zombies‘. Do people actually buy these things, or just wait for them to show up on the Syfy Channel?
Catalog Titles
This week, the Criterion Collection rolls out high-def editions of two Ingmar Bergman classics, ‘Summer Interlude‘ and ‘Summer with Monika‘.
Television
In anticipation of the upcoming season premiere, HBO offers up both the latest season of ‘True Blood‘ and Combo Pack reissues of the first three. I suppose that I still consider myself a fan of the show, but (as I wrote when I covered the broadcast run) the fourth season starts off on a really bad foot and, even though it recovers later, is really uneven throughout. I hope that the series can get back on track this year.
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Are you buying anything today? Tell us in the Comments.
HuskerGuy
Nothing for me this week.
William Henley
May pick up Lord of the Dance and Earth on Friday. Looks liek I am actually going to have money left after paying bills (I have pinched myself several times to make sure I am not dreaming). I was also looking at Bach 3D – I LOVE Blu-Ray classical music discs, but that is a bit high for my taste. $35 for a 53 minute long audio disc is a bit on the high side.
William Henley
Dude, I completely overlooked Love Never Dies. I’ll pick that one up for sure!
Drew
I’m all over ‘Coriolanus’!
Drew
Can’t wait for ‘Safe House’ and ‘John Carter 3D’ next week.
I missed ‘Safe House’ in theatres. I’m blind buying it, without regard for the potential that it could suck. I LOVE me some evil Denzel!
I don’t care how badly ‘John Carter’ underperformed, or how poorly it was received. I’ll never say that it was a really good film, but I loved it nonetheless. To me, it was more ‘Star Wars’ than the prequel trilogy ever came close to being. It had a decent emotional core, and a solid heart as well.
JM
I’ll probably blind buy Amanda Seyfried’s ‘Gone‘ and ‘Summer with Monika.‘
And ‘Dragon Age: Dawn of the Seeker,’ and ‘The Strange Love of Martha Ivers.’
I don’t listen to music, but maybe I’ll get ‘Bach 3D’ to accent my coffee table.
But more than anything, I’m totally ready to watch ‘Swingers’ again.
Where I live we’re having a recall election, and our governor totally reminds me of the guy who who plays goofy.
Drew
You know what? To hell with it! Amanda Seyfried is too hot to not blind buy everything she’s in. Count me in for ‘Gone’.
JM
Wherever I go, random people tell me I look identical to Amanda Seyfried.
I was looking forward to ‘Lovelace’ until I read the test screenings called it “movie-of-the week with tits.”
I was hoping the flick would dig a little deeper.
Drew
‘True Blood: The Complete Fourth Season’ is the dud of the week.
I was a huge fan of the series prior to season 4, in spite of the fact that season two was on the cusp of being awful, and season 3 was a roller coaster ride. Season 4 was utterly unwatchable! It was uneven, inconsistent, cliche ridden, cheese filled, and just plain bad. The incompetence of it was stunning. The creators couldn’t even give the show a sense of continuity from one episode to the next! What do they think? That we just watch the show for the abundance of gratuitous nudity?! I’ll give season 5 a chance, but it better start righting the wrongs immediately!
JM
I’m glad Alan Ball is leaving the show.
The dude doesn’t know how to go the distance.
Drew
That’s really too bad, concerning ‘Lovelace’.
Oh well, I’ll take the “tits” and deal with the “movie of the week.”.
I concur with your statement about Alan Ball. In fact, that’s why I’m willing to remain on board, for now at least.
Julian
Why do they rerelease the first three True Blood seasons? Just for the extra DVD and digital copy? Or are there any new extras included? Otherwise, it sounds like a worthless release!
William Henley
Agreed. With so many shows, probably many that were more popular than True Blood, that fans are waiting on releases, and the studios are saying there is not enough demand, yet HBO is rereleasing. Oh well, I guess it is cheaper to simply just stamp out more discs of a show you have already released rather than releasing a new show.