Home Market Releases for November 21st, 2017

November 20, 2017

It is a slow week on the home market for two reasons. Technically it is one reason, but it is having two effects. It’s Thanksgiving weekend, which means the schedule is really busy and I need to keep this list short in order to save time. Also, while Thanksgiving means Black Friday and Cyber Monday, two of the busiest shopping days of the year, you don’t want to release something new into that storm of chaos. The biggest release of the week, not counting VOD releases is The Hitman’s Bodyguard, which I reviewed. As for the best release on this week’s list, I’m torn between Good Time, NEW GAME: The Complete First Season, and The Villainess. It was down to a roll of the dice, but The Villainess on Blu-ray Combo Pack is the Pick of the Week.

Beach Rats - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
Video on Demand
A coming of age story about a young man who spends his time gay cruising on the beach, but also forms a deeper relationship with a woman. The film’s Tomatometer Score is over 80% positive, but its average review is only about 7 out of 10. This means it is worth checking out, but the lack of extras hurts its overall value. It is still worth picking up, if you are part of the target demographic.

Birth of the Dragon - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray Combo Pack
Video on Demand
Skip it. On a normal week, I wouldn’t even mention this release here, but would have relegated it to the Secondary Blu-ray list below.

Good Time - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
Video on Demand
Robert Pattinson stars as thief who has to work to keep his younger brother out of prison after a bank heist gone wrong. It is easily worth picking up, but the extras are a little weak with just an audio commentary track, making of featurette, and a music video. It is still a Pick of the Week contender, as there’s not a lot of competition.

Jabberwocky: The Criterion Collection - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray Combo Pack
This film is almost a Monty Python film, given the number of members that are in this movie. Unfortunately, the end result is boring and confused and not nearly as engaging as a proper Monty Python movie. The extras are good with an audio commentary track from 2001, plus a new making of featurette and a new interview featurette. If you are a fan of the movie, then this is worth picking up. If you’ve never seen it, give it a rental first.

Jungle - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray Combo Pack
Video on Demand
Daniel Radcliffe has made a lot of interesting choices in movie roles, even if not all of them worked out. This film’s reviews are almost exactly 50/50, so I would rent rather than buy and that’s only if you like the cast. If you’ve seen the movie and like it, there are only a trio of featurettes on the DVD / Blu-ray, which isn’t enough to be worth picking up.

Kite: Uncut - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray Combo Pack
This Anime title is technically Hentai, but mostly due to violence and gore and not due to sex or nudity. This film was adapted into a live-action movie, but it’s terrible. The original isn’t very good, but it is worth checking out, if you are a fan of the genre.

Leap! - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray Combo Pack
Video on Demand
A Canadian digitally animated film about two orphans, one who wants to become a ballerina and the other who wants to become an inventor. The reviews are good, but not great, while the extras are limited to a behind-the-scenes recording booth featurette and an image gallery. If you have kids in the right age range, then it is worth checking out. I’m not convinced it is worth a purchase, on the other hand.

The Librarians: Season 3 - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray Combo Pack
Video on Demand
A fun show that doesn’t take itself too seriously, which is a large part of its charm. It has a lot of engaging characters going on adventures. Extras include some commentary tracks and some VLOGS. Call it a solid purchase.

Mully - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD
A documentary about Charles Mully, who went from a homeless kid to a rich entrepreneur, who then used his riches to help underprivileged kids. There are only three reviews, but all of them are positive. It is selling better than expected, but again, it is a shallow week.

Mystery Science Theater 3000: Volume XXXIX - No Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD
Volume 39 will very likely be the last volume to be released from the original run of MST3K. The rest of the unreleased episodes are stuck in copyright hell. There are still some good episodes here, including the series finale. If you have been collecting the show so far, there’s no reason to stop now.

NEW GAME: The Complete First Season - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: Blu-ray Combo Pack
This Anime is about Aoba Suzukaze, a recent high school graduate who just landed her dream job, working at the video game studio that makes her favorite video game series. This is in the Slice of Life genre of Anime and it earned amazing reviews. In fact, I’ve heard some who consider this the best new Anime of 2016. That’s probably overstating things, as 2016 was a good year for Anime, but it is still absolutely worth checking out for Anime fans. There are no substantial extras on the DVD / Blu-ray, which prevents it from being the Pick of the Week. It is close, on the other hand.

Red Dwarf: Season 12 - No Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray Combo Pack
This season wasn’t as good as season 10, but a little better than season 11. If you are a fan of the show, it is certainly worth picking up. If you have seen the TV show, I would start with Season Three.

Studio Ghibli
Porco Rosso - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray Combo Pack
The Secret World Of Arrietty - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray Combo Pack
Two of the weaker Studio Ghibli films. However, second-tier Studio Ghibli is still better than nearly all other animated films out there.

Unleashed - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD
Video on Demand
Kate Micucci stars as a newly single woman whose pet dog and pet cat magically turn into humans. That’s a strange premise, but the limited reviews are good. Add in a slow week and this film is worth checking out at the least, picking up if you are a fan of the lead actress.

Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD, Blu-ray Combo Pack, or 4K Ultra HD Combo Pack
Video on Demand
This is one of the most expensive films released this year, but its reviews were mixed and it went nowhere at the box office. Extras include a nearly hour-long making of featurette and a pop-up Enhancement Mode. That’s fine, given its box office struggles.

The Villainess - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray Combo Pack
Video on Demand
Kim Ok-vin stars as a woman who was trained as an assassin since she was a teenager and is now looking to find her freedom. She struggles to adapt to normalcy when two men from her past re-enter her life. The reviews are good and this genre is one I really like. The extras are light with a single making of featurette, but that’s common for a foreign-language import. Add in a shallow week and it is a Pick of the Week contender.

Christmas Releases - Buy from Amazon:
Christmas in Conway - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD
November Christmas - No Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD
Saving Christmas - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD
The Sweetest Christmas - No Reviews - Video on Demand
Thomas & Friends: Thomas' Holiday Collection - No Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD
There’s not a lot of Christmas releases this week. (Next week is another story.) Of these, The Sweetest Christmas is the biggest, but there are no reviews, so it is impossible to say if it is the best.

Blu-ray Releases - Buy from Amazon:
California Typewriter - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
Dolores Claiborne - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: Blu-ray
The Fall: Series 3 - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
Fritz Lang: The Silent Films - No Reviews - Buy from Amazon: Blu-ray
Future Diary: The Complete Series + OVA - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: Blu-ray Combo Pack
Hangover Square - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: Blu-ray
Haven't You Heard: I'm Sakamoto - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray Combo Pack
I'll Be Seeing You - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
The Man from Earth: Special Edition - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: Blu-ray Combo Pack
My Journey Through French Cinema - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
Myriad Colors Phantom World: The Complete Series - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: Blu-ray Combo Pack
Since You Went Away - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
Tales of Zestiria the X: Season One - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: Blu-ray Combo Pack
There are a couple of Shirley Temple films from when she was a teenager. If I were to pick just one secondary Blu-ray release on this week’s list, it would be Fritz Lang: The Silent Films.

3D Blu-ray Releases - Buy from Amazon:
Cease Fire - No Reviews - Buy from Amazon: 3D Blu-ray
A 3D war movie from the 1950s. This is why I wanted 3D movies to thrive on the home market. I wanted to be able to see 3D movies from the 1950s and 1960s as they would have originally been seen.

4K Blu-ray Releases - Buy from Amazon:
The Hitman’s Bodyguard - Review - Buy from Amazon: 4K Ultra HD Combo Pack
Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: 4K Ultra HD Combo Pack
I would argue that The Hitman’s Bodyguard is the better movie, but Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets will clearly benefit more from 4K.

TV on DVD Megasets - Buy from Amazon:
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD
The Fall - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
The Incredible Hulk - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD
The Fall is the best Megaset on this week’s list, but The Incredible Hulk holds a lot of nostalgic charm for me.

Video on Demand - Buy from Amazon:
American Assassin - Reviews - Video on Demand
Despicable Me 3 - Reviews - Video on Demand
Home Again - Reviews - Video on Demand
Red vs. Blue: Season Fifteen - No Reviews - Video on Demand
Soft Lad - No Reviews - Video on Demand
Woodshock - Reviews - Video on Demand
Despicable Me 3 is the biggest and best secondary VOD release this week. It isn’t even a close competition.

C.S.Strowbridge

Filed under: DVD and Blu-ray Releases, Home Market Releases, Despicable Me 3, Woodshock, Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets, Good Time, The Hitman’s Bodyguard, Birth of the Dragon, Home Again, Ballerina, California Typewriter, Beach Rats, Voyage à Travers le Cinéma Français, Aknyeo, Mully, Jungle, The Sweetest Christmas, Soft Lad, Monty Python, Shirley Temple, Fritz Lang, Kim Ok-vin, Robert Pattinson, Daniel Radcliffe, Kate Micucci