Home Market Releases for August 30th, 2016

August 29, 2016

We are in the heart of TV on DVD season with a dozen such releases on this week’s list. Unfortunately, while there are a few that are worth picking up, none of them have the extras needed to be Pick of the Week contenders. The biggest release of the week is The Jungle Book, which is one of the biggest hits of the year. I got a chance to review it, so you can compare my opinion to the critics. As for the best of the best, there weren’t a lot to choose from. In the end, I went with The Commitments, which is making its Blu-ray debut this week.

Arrow: Season 4 - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
Video on Demand
One of the best-reviewed shows on this week’s list. I could never get into it, because it is too CW, if you get my meaning. I do hope the character makes the leap to the big screen in a Harley Quinn / Poison Ivy movie.

Blunt Talk Season 1 - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD
Video on Demand
This TV show has earned mixed reviews with most critics saying Patrick Stewart is great, but the writing is not.

Chicago Fire: Season 4 - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD
Video on Demand
There are a lot of TV on DVD releases on this week’s list and most are like this show, thoroughly mediocre.

Chicago Med: Season 1 - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD
Video on Demand
There are way too many spin-offs on TV and it has pushed past the point of self-parody.

Citizen Soldier - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
Video on Demand
A documentary that uses footage shot by soldiers to show what it is really like in a warzone. The reviews are excellent, plus there are better than average extras for a DVD. It is worth picking up and a contender for Pick of the Week.

The Commitments - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
Video on Demand
One of the best movies about musicians ever made and it is getting its first Blu-ray release for its 25th anniversary. There are a lot of releases on this week’s list that have earned great reviews, but have weak extras. That is not the case here, as there are a lot of extras, including a new featurette with the cast. It’s a great way to catch up with them and it pushes the overall package to a Pick of the Week contender.

Criminal Minds: Season 11 - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD
Video on Demand
It has been a long, long time since I watched this show. It is a police procedural and I’ve grown tired of that genre. I don’t watch any show in this genre anymore, not with the end of Castle, so maybe in a few years I will jump back into the genre.

Destiny - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
Video on Demand
A silent film from Fritz Lang. Every time there’s a release for a Fritz Lang film, I put in a request. Every time the screener doesn’t arrive. One day I will get a screener, but that day is not today.

Grey's Anatomy: Season 12 - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD
Video on Demand
This show is too much of a soap opera for my tastes.

Me Before You - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
Video on Demand
Emilia Clarke plays a woman hired to look after Sam Claflin, an athletic man who became a quadriplegic after an accident. The two fall in love, but Sam was set to go to Switzerland to commit doctor assisted suicide. The reviews were good, for a Romantic Comedy. The extras are limited to a making of featurette, outtakes, and deleted scenes, which is not great. If you love the movie, it is worth picking up. If you haven’t seen it but like the genre, it is worth checking out.

Mom: Season 3 - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD
Video on Demand
This show has become one of the better sitcoms on TV at the moment. Unfortunately, it took a hit in the ratings last year and fell from 26th place to 40th. Hopefully it will recover this season, otherwise we might not get a fifth season.

NCIS: Los Angeles: Season 7 - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD
Video on Demand
I liked the original show this show was spun-off from, but I could never get into this show. I just don’t think the two leads have good chemistry together.

The Night Manager - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
Video on Demand
A British mini-series about a man, Tom Hiddleston, who has to infiltrate an arms dealer, Hugh Laurie. The reviews are simply amazing, but there are no extras. Oh come on! This could have been a Pick of the Week contender, if it had good extras.

Shameless: Season Six - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
This show has earned great reviews over its six-season run. However, the extras are limited with just two featurettes and some deleted scenes. If it had an audio commentary track or two, it would have been a Pick of the Week contender. (With the lack of top-tier releases, it might still be a Pick of the Week contender.)

Star Wars Rebels: Season Two - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
This digitally animated cartoon based on the Star Wars franchise has earned excellent reviews and it is worth picking up for fans of this show or the previous cartoon. The extras are a little light with just three featurettes, one of which is a Blu-ray exclusive, so it is not Pick of the Week material.

Weiner - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD
This came out last week, but ... WOW. A new scandal made this release about ten times more relevant.

You're The Worst: Season Two - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD
Great show, but it is coming out on a featureless DVD-R release. I do like DVD-R releases, because it is usually the only way these TV shows would ever get a DVD release. The lack of features keeps it from being a Pick of the Week contender.

Blu-ray Releases - Buy from Amazon:
Barbarosa - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
Chimes at Midnight (The Criterion Collection) - Reviews - Video on Demand
Evils of the Night - No Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
The Immortal Story (The Criterion Collection) - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
The Phenom - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
Taboo - No Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
When Supernatural Battles Became Commonplace - No Reviews - Buy from Amazon: Blu-ray
I’ve been told that When Supernatural Battles Became Commonplace is a very good Anime title, but it really needed a second season.

4K Blu-ray Releases - Buy from Amazon:
No 4K titles this week.

TV on DVD Megasets - Buy from Amazon:
The Carol Burnett Shows: The Lost Episodes Ultimate Collection - No Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD
Hee Haw: The Collector's Edition - No Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD
Martial Law - No Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD
Only one true Complete Series Megaset, but it only ran two seasons, so it doesn’t feel that Mega.
Video on Demand - Buy from Amazon:
Captain America: Civil War - Reviews - Video on Demand
The Conjuring 2: The Enfield Poltergeist - Reviews - Video on Demand
Batman Unlimited: Mechs vs. Mutants - Reviews - Video on Demand
Jane Wants a Boyfriend - Reviews - Video on Demand
Kickboxer: Vengeance - Reviews - Video on Demand
Monkey King: Hero is Back - Reviews - Video on Demand
My Love Don’t Cross That River - Reviews - Video on Demand
Captain America: Civil War is by far the biggest release on this weeks list and is a contender for Pick of the Week. However, I would wait for the Blu-ray.

C.S.Strowbridge

Filed under: DVD and Blu-ray Releases, Home Market Releases, The Commitments, The Jungle Book, The Conjuring 2: The Enfield Poltergeist, Me Before You, Kickboxer: Vengeance, The Phenom, Citizen Soldier, Xi you ji zhi da sheng gui lai, My Love, Don't Cross That River, Jane Wants a Boyfriend, Campanadas a medianoche, Der müde Tod, Weiner, Star Wars, Tom Hiddleston, Fritz Lang, Hugh Laurie, Patrick Stewart, Sam Claflin, Emilia Clarke