We’ve got a pretty weak slate of new Blu-ray releases coming out today, if you ask me. Is there anything worth buying? Let’s take a look and see what we can find.
Here’s the list of discs being released:
- ‘36th Precinct‘ (Palisades Tartan)
- ‘Band Baaja Baaraat‘ (Dancing Dolphin)
- ‘Battle: Los Angeles‘ (Sony)
- ‘Battle: Los Angeles (Combo Pack)‘ (Sony)
- ‘Big Mommas: Like Father, Like Son‘ (20th Century Fox)
- ‘Boondock Saints: Truth & Justice Edition‘ (20th Century Fox)
- ‘Camille 2000: Extended Edition‘ (Cult Epics)
- ‘The Cincinnati Kid‘ (Warner Brothers)
- ‘Dance In the Vampire Bund: Complete Series‘ (FUNimation)
- ‘Dare to Cook, Seasonal Italian Cuisine‘ (Bennett-Watt)
- ‘Dare to Cook, Seasonal Italian Cuisine: Fall‘ (Bennett-Watt)
- ‘Dare to Cook, Seasonal Italian Cuisine: Spring‘ (Bennett-Watt)
- ‘Dare to Cook, Seasonal Italian Cuisine: Summer‘ (Bennett-Watt)
- ‘Dare to Cook, Seasonal Italian Cuisine: Winter‘ (Bennett-Watt)
- ‘Hall Pass‘ (Warner Brothers)
- ‘Hall Pass (Enlarged Edition)‘ (Warner Brothers)
- ‘Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince: Ultimate Edition‘ (Warner Brothers)
- ‘Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix: Ultimate Edition‘ (Warner Brothers)
- ‘Haven: The Complete First Season‘ (E1)
- ‘The Image‘ (Synapse Films)
- ‘Insignificance‘ (Criterion)
- ‘Jackass 3.5: The Unrated Movie‘ (Paramount)
- ‘Johnny Mnemonic‘ (Image)
- ‘Kill the Irishman‘ (Starz/Anchor Bay)
- ‘Kingdom of War: Part 1‘ (Magnolia)
- ‘Kingdom of War: Part 2‘ (Magnolia)
- ‘Kingdom of War: Part I & II‘ (Magnolia)
- ‘Last Exile: The Complete Series‘ (FUNimation)
- ‘Legend of the Fist: The Return of Chen Zhen‘ (Well Go USA)
- ‘Legend of the Fist: The Return of Chen Zhen: Collector’s Edition‘ (Well Go USA)
- ‘The Makioka Sisters‘ (Criterion)
- ‘Marvel Knights Spider-Woman: Agent of S.W.O.R.D. / Iron Man: Extremis‘ (Shout Factory)
- ‘N-Secure‘ (20th Century Fox)
- ‘Point Break (Reissue)‘ (Warner Brothers)
- ‘Red Riding Hood‘ (Warner Brothers)
- ‘Red Riding Hood: Alternate Cut (Combo Pack)‘ (Warner Brothers)
- ‘Supernatural: The Complete Second Season‘ (Warner Brothers)
- ‘When They Were Young‘ (Image)
The only marginally interesting day-and-date title is the sci-fi actioner ‘Battle: Los Angeles‘, which by all accounts is cliché-ridden and thoroughly mediocre. But at least it has lots of visual effects and stuff blowin’ up. That might be worth a rental.
Otherwise, we have to deal with the Farrelly brothers’ latest comedy flop ‘Hall Pass‘ (yawn), that ‘Red Riding Hood‘ movie from the director of ‘Twilight’ (ugh), or – god help us all – Martin Lawrence’s third dragsploitation-fest ‘Big Mommas: Like Father, Like Son‘. No, just no. These do not ever need to be watched.
Can’t get enough of Johnny Knoxville and the boys? (I sure can, and have.) Well, you’re in luck. They shot so much unused extra footage for ‘Jackass 3‘ that they’ve managed to put together a whole separate movie of stunt-making stupidity: ‘Jackass 3.5‘. As far as I know, there’s still no 3D on this Blu-ray. If you can’t watch a guy taking a sledgehammer to the nuts in 3D, then what’s the point of watching it at all?
It’s double-dip time yet again for the ‘Harry Potter‘ series. This week gives us the Ultimate Editions of the franchise’s fifth and sixth movies. The films have not been extended, to the best of my knowledge. All we’re getting here is fancier packaging and some extra bonus features. But, if you’re a completist, here are two more discs to spend your money on.
Now let’s dig up some cult films. The dopey-but-fun ‘Boondock Saints‘ gets a totally superfluous Truth & Justice Edition double-dip. Keanu Reeves’ idiotic cyberpunk thriller ‘Johnny Mnemonic‘ finally makes its way to these shores. (The movie had previously been released on Blu-ray in Japan.) And Radley Metzger’s softcore cheesefest ‘Camille 2000‘ gets a new extended director’s cut and a high-def makeover, so you can ogle those boobies in HD and listen to that glorious lounge music in pure lossless quality.
The Criterion Collection gives us two obscure ’80s movies that I’d honestly never even heard of before. Our reviewer Steven feels that ‘Insignificance‘ has an intriguing premise that doesn’t quite come together. All I know of ‘The Makioka Sisters‘ is that it’s a Japanese family drama.
On the TV front, fans of ‘Supernatural‘ can finally fill in the gaps in their collections with the release of the show’s second season. For some reason, Warner Bros. has been releasing the show’s seasons in totally random order, starting with the third, then progressing to the fourth, then first, then fifth, and now second. What’s up with that? The recently-completed sixth season has still not yet been given a firm release date, either.
William Henley
Riding Hood is a rental for me. I’m interested, but the reviews were weak, so I will want to see this one before I buy.
I’ll probably pick up Mozart: The Marriage of Figaro and Handel: Belshazzar, if I can find them at decent prices. Music Blu-Rays tend to be ridicoulously expensive.
vihdeeohfieuhl
Battle: Los Angeles was exactly what I was expecting it to be. It was like Black Hawk Down mixed with War of the Worlds, with a little ID4 thrown in. Was it a great film? Certainly not. However, the visuals and the sound were both superb in the theatre. And from the HDD review, it appears that they are both stellar on the blu-ray. I can’t wait to watch it tonight.
For those that haven’t seen it, I would recommend giving it a shot. The reviews were poor because most critics were looking for the wrong thing, or expecting something different. The acting — with the exception of Aaron Eckhardt, who is brilliant — is fairly wooden, but the film really delivers in terms of an alien invasion showcase. If you enjoy the sub-genre, you’ll really love this. It seems like most people did. It was one of those films that had a big divide between what critics and general audiences thought about it.
We haven’t had a watchable alien invasion movie in quite a long time. Just look at Signs. Like I said before, it’s not a great film, it might not even qualify as a good film for a lot of people; But the visuals and the audio track really deliver, and it’s a blast to watch.
vihdeeohfieuhl
By the way, I’m ashamed to admit this, but I’ll probably pick up Red Riding Hood “for the wife.” It will give me the opportunity to have an excuse to look at Amanda Seyfried for almost 2 hours. 😉
paramedic0112
Yeah, Amanda Seyfried is hot but I already saw it all in ‘Chloe.’ I’m also surprised that Gary Oldman is in ‘Reding Riding Hood.’
William Henley
I’ll just watch Mamma Mia again, or catch up on Big Love. Actually, Red Riding Hood is in my queue, but it is only because of Amanda Seyfried. She is so hot, I will watch just about anything they put her in!
Chaz Dumbaugh
Yeah I gotta see Chloe as I’m another who will watch anything she’s in, man she is nice to look at 🙂
Jane Morgan
I would buy it twice, if Amanda Seyfried was in ‘The Image.’
vihdeeohfieuhl
True, I could just go watch Chloe again. And I have watched it a fair amount of times already, but she’s so hot, I want to see her in all of her many iterations. Red Riding Hood gives us medieval looking Amanda Seyfried, and hello! She’s in a red riding hood costume! Nuff said!
paramedic0112
I was thinking of picking up ‘The Cincinnati Kid’ because I’m a huge Steve McQueen fan. I haven’t seen it but I bet it’s good because Norman Jewison directed.
Anthony
Makioka Sisters for sure. Maybe Insignificance someday, but this week’s only good side is that it’s saving my wallet from losing more money.