Home Market Releases for August 22nd, 2017

August 23, 2017

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2 comes out this week and it is such a big release that is scared away nearly all of the competition. Fortunately, it is also a great film and a serious contender for Pick of the Week. The main competition are Ash vs Evil Dead: Season 2 and Supergirl: Season 2. In the end. I went with Ash vs Evil Dead, but it was a close race.

Barton Fink - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
This film is an early classic from the Coen Brothers. I was really hoping to get a screener for this title, but that’s apparently not happening. That’s probably for the best, as I had two other screeners for this week already. Extras include four interview featurettes and eight deleted scenes for a total running time of about 75 minutes. That’s enough to be an easy buy, but I think a lot of fans of the movie may have already imported the region-free Blu-ray from the U.K.

Blue Bloods: The Seventh Season - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD
A police procedural aimed at a more mature demographic than the usual police procedural, and this genre already skews older.

Brooklyn Nine-Nine: Season Four - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD
One of the better sitcoms on TV right now. Extras include deleted scenes, which is on the low end, but better than nothing. The show itself has enough replay value that it is worth picking up.

Daredevil: Season Two - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
Season two is not as good as season one, but still worth checking out. Unfortunately, Netflix DVD / Blu-ray releases tend to be terrible without any extras.

Great British Baking Show: Season 4 - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD
Video on Demand
One of the few competitive Reality TV shows I can watch, because while it is a competition, the people are not competitive jerks. Warning: Watching it will make you hungry.

Jessica Jones: Season One - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
Arguably the best of the Netflix Marvel shows. The lack of extras are disappointing, but not unexpected.

Lucifer: The Complete Second Season - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
The Devil goes to Los Angeles and decides to help the cops solve crimes. The reviews for season one were only 50% positive. Season two’s reviews were “better”, but only because the number of critics that bothered to review it went from 36 to 5. Ouch.

NCIS: Los Angeles: The Eighth Season - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD
I like some of the supporting cast, but the overall chemistry isn’t as good as the original show and there are simply too many shows in this genre to watch even a fraction of them.

Scales: Mermaids are Real - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD
Video on Demand
There’s only one review on Rotten Tomatoes, and it is negative. On the other hand, it is selling very well and it has the Dove seal of approval, so you know if you are in the target audience here.

Society - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: Blu-ray
I was really hoping to get a screener for this release. I’ve never seen it and I only know it by its reputation. Its reputation is ... intense. It’s body horror mixed with social satire and it is not for everyone. On the other hand, there are a ton of new extras on the Blu-ray, so if you are a fan of the movie, this is a must have.

Supergirl: The Complete Second Season - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
I’m not a big fan of Mon-Elm, but overall the second season of this show was really good. Extras include an audio commentary on one episode, ComicCon panel, interviews, and more. It is certainly worth picking up and a contender for Pick of the Week.

Thomas & Friends: Journey Beyond Sodor - No Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD
According to Amazon, this is one of the top five best-selling new releases of the week. According to Amazon, this is selling better than the Blu-ray for The Walking Dead.

The Walking Dead: Season Seven - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
Video on Demand
The writers better be preparing to wrap up the show in the next few seasons, because if the quality keeps dropping, then the audience is going to flee before then, meaning it won’t get a proper finale. Season Seven’s average viewership is down 3 million from its peak two seasons ago. Worse still, the season premiere had the second-best ratings ever for the show, but it lost 34% of its viewership by the end of the season. That is the worst result in the show’s seven year run. If you are still a fan and are excited about season eight, then the DVD / Blu-ray is worth picking up. If you are on the fence about season eight, then wait to see if the quality has improved. If not, it might be time to move on.

Blu-ray Releases - Buy from Amazon:
The Adventures of Hercules 2 - No Reviews - Buy from Amazon: Blu-ray
Bakuon: The Complete Collection - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
Beggars of Life - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
Beyond the Boundary - I'll Be Here - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: Blu-ray Combo Pack
Effects - No Reviews - Buy from Amazon: Blu-ray
Hercules - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: Blu-ray
Kill Switch - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
My Blue Heaven - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: Blu-ray
La Poison: The Criterion Collection - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: Blu-ray
Rainbow Days: The Complete Series - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: Blu-ray Combo Pack
Sid & Nancy - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
Variety - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: Blu-ray
Whale Rider - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
There’s a good list of secondary Blu-ray releases this week with a number of films worth picking up. La Poison is a film about a married couple who have fallen out of love with each other, so they decide the best course of action is to try and murder each other. Beggars of Life is a classic film from the silent era and is about a woman who kills her would be rapist and goes on the run disguised as a boy.

3D Blu-ray Releases - Buy from Amazon:
No 3D releases this week.

4K Blu-ray Releases - Buy from Amazon:
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2 Reviews - Buy from Amazon: 4k Ultra HD Combo Pack
This is a great movie and if you already have a 4k system, it is worth paying extra for this. That said, I’m still not sold on 4k in general.

TV on DVD Megasets - Buy from Amazon:
No TV Megasets on this week’s list.

Video on Demand - Buy from Amazon:
Girl on Wave - No Reviews - Video on Demand
Innocently Violent - No Reviews - Video on Demand
Kiki - Reviews - Video on Demand
The Man in the Silo - Reviews - Video on Demand
Megan Leavey - Reviews - Video on Demand
The Mummy - Reviews - Video on Demand
Rough Night - Reviews - Video on Demand
Starship Troopers: Traitor of Mars - No Reviews - Video on Demand
We the Parents - Reviews - Video on Demand
The Wedding Plan - Reviews - Video on Demand
The Mummy is the biggest secondary VOD release of the week, but it is far from the best. Of the other big releases, Rough Night would make a good rental, while Megan Leavey is the only one that looks like it is worth picking up.

C.S.Strowbridge

Filed under: DVD and Blu-ray Releases, Home Market Releases, Hercules, We the Parents, The Mummy, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2, Megan Leavey, Rough Night, Laavor et hakir, Kill Switch, Kiki, Scales: Mermaids are Real, Starship Troopers: Traitor of Mars, Thomas & Friends: Journey Beyond Sodor, Innocently Violent, The Man in the Silo, Girl on Wave, The Adventures of Hercules II, La Poison, Ethan Coen, Joel Coen