Home Market Releases for March 20th, 2018

March 20, 2018

It is a slow week with less than a dozen releases in the main section, and that includes two late reviews. There’s no more than that for the secondary Blu-ray releases. That said, a high percentage of these are worth picking up with many Pick of the Week contenders. For example, the biggest release of the week, Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, is one of the best, as is one of the smallest releases, Miss Kiet’s Children. However, in the end, I went with Coco, which technically came out a couple of weeks ago, but the screener arrived late and it really deserves the title of Pick of the Week.

Archer: Season 8: Dreamland - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD
Video on Demand
The writers of Archer have decided that continuity is overrated and they’d rather just shove the cast of characters into whatever situation they decide they want to. For example, this season is a 1940s Film Noir detective show and not a spy series set in an indeterminate time frame. Extras include a trio of audio commentary tracks, which is enough to make it a Pick of the Week contender. Granted, the lack of a Blu-ray option does hurt.

The `Burbs: Collector's Edition - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: Blu-ray
This film is almost 30 years old. Its reviews are mixed, but it is one of my guilty pleasures. It’s also one of the best-selling new releases this week, so I’m not alone in loving it. There are some new interviews as extras on the Blu-ray, while it also has the old audio commentary track, deleted scenes, alternative ending, and a director’s cut workprint. It is easily worth picking up.

Coco - Buy from Amazon: DVD, Blu-ray Combo Pack, 4K Ultra HD Combo Pack
Video on Demand
The latest Oscar-winner from Pixar. Did it win out of habit? Or does it deserve all of the praise? Read our review for my opinion.

Downsizing - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD, Blu-ray Combo Pack, or 4K Ultra HD Combo Pack
Video on Demand
Someone give Hong Chau a leading role in a good movie. She’s the best part of this movie, even though the broken English her character uses was considered a problem for a lot of people. She said this was her choice, which did deflate a lot of the controversy. However, later, an early script was found, which included the broken English. So not only is she the best part of this movie, but she took a bullet to stop the controversy. As for this film, give it a rental. It is deeply flawed, but there’s some interesting points in the movie.

Ichi The Killer: Definitive Remastered Edition - Buy from Amazon: Blu-ray
This film’s reputation is infamous. Does it deserve it? Can it appeal to a wider audience? Check out our review for my opinion.

Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD, Blu-ray, or 4K Ultra HD Combo Pack
Video on Demand
One of the biggest surprise box office hits of the past several years, at least until Black Panther opened. I put in a request for a screener, but Sony is a little hit and miss when it comes to screeners. Extras include five featurettes, outtakes, and a music video. Depending on how long those featurettes are, this could be excellent or disappointing. Hopefully I will get a screener and I’ll be able to tell you in a full review.

Justice League - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: Blu-ray Combo Pack, 3D Combo Pack, or 4K Ultra HD Combo Pack
Video on Demand
I got together with friends to play Unstable and watched this movie and the Robot Chicken: Walking Dead Special. The latter comes out next week, so I will review it over the weekend, while I’ll be giving my first impressions of Justice League now.

It’s not good. It starts out terribly. The first scene is a flashback to the first movie, although not a scene in the actual movie. It has two kids interviewing Superman and it’s the first time we see the CG used to remove Henry Cavill’s mustache. It doesn’t look good. The next scene is equally bad, but for a different reason. Batman is attacking a buglar and toys with him to get him scared. He’s actually hunting a Parademon, and Parademons are attracted to the smell of fear. I’m going to assume this scene was directed by Joss Whedon, because say what you will about Zack Snyder, but he can direct an action scene and this scene is poorly directed. At this point, I was worried that this film might actually be worse than Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. Fortunately, the next scene features Wonder Woman saving people in a bank. There’s a real sense of danger and well executed action scenes.

Don’t worry, I’m not going to recount the movie scene-by-scene. In fact, that’s the last actual plot detail I’m going to mention. I bring up these first three scenes, because they are emblematic of the movie as a whole. For every part that works, there are two that don’t. I don’t like Dudebro Aquaman and I don’t know who thought this was a good idea. (Sadly, Aquaman is the next film in the DCEU and I really don’t think they will be able to salvage this character in the meantime.) Cyborg is a better character, but he’s also a grim character and the DCEU needs to move away from that. Ezra Miller stands out best as the Flash, but even then his quips can go from endearing to annoying at times. Oh yeah, Steppenwolf, the bad guy, is generic in both personality and appearance.

There are some fun character moments and some truly engaging actions scenes. My personal favorite is Superman vs. the Flash. See Flash run around Superman in his speed mode where everything is basically frozen in time, only to have Superman turn to face him worked fantastically. That was a great use of powers to show us something we haven’t seen before. Unfortunately, the fight ends in one of the most anticlimactic ways possible. In the movie, Steppenwolf is trying to collect the three Mother Boxes. The good guys have one of them and they think they can use it to bring back Superman. They can, but when he comes back, he’s a little disoriented and the good guys get into a fight. Lois Lane calms him down and the two of them take off ... and then Steppenwolf grabs the third Mother Box off screen. The phrase is “Show, don’t tell” for a reason.

That said, overall the film is not as bad as I feared and there are enough elements here that I will follow the production of the upcoming DCEU films and not just the Wonder Woman films. “Justice League didn’t make me give up on the DCEU!” isn’t exactly glowing praise, but that’s as good as I’m going to give.

Miss Kiet’s Children - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD
Normally we stick with movies that are in the top 1,000 on Amazon’s sales chart. We have to have a limit to keep the work manageable. This film is barely in the top 100,000. That said, it has 100% positive reviews and I think it is an important documentary, so I wanted to give it a mention here.

One Piece: Season Nine, Voyage Four - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD
This TV show will never end. Part of me wants to start watching it, but I know I would never ever even come close to catching up.

The Passion of Joan of Arc: The Criterion Collection - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
A silent film from France about Joan of Arc, who is one of the country’s biggest historical heroes. The reviews are nearly 100% positive and there are plenty of extras, including multiple musical tracks, audio commentary track, interviews, and more. Since it is a silent film, its target audience is limited, on the other hand.

Pitch Perfect 3 - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD, Blu-ray Combo Pack, 4K Ultra HD Combo Pack
Video on Demand
I’m still waiting for the screener for this film. The reviews are quite poor, but maybe it will be a guilty pleasure. Also coming out this week is the Trilogy Box Set.

Blu-ray Releases - Buy from Amazon:
Baal: The Criterion Collection - No Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
Chaos;Child: The Complete Series - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: Blu-ray Combo Pack
Chihayafuru: Season 2 - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
The Church: Reviews - Buy from Amazon: Blu-ray
Highway Dragnet - No Reviews - Buy from Amazon: Blu-ray
Images - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: Blu-ray
No Orchids for Miss Blandish - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD, Blu-ray
Offerings - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: Blu-ray
Rockula - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: Blu-ray
Small Town Crime - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
The Vanishing of Sidney Hall - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
Season 1 of Chihayafuru came on in last fall and its reviews were excellent. Season 2’s reviews are even better.

4K Ultra HD Releases - Buy from Amazon:
Downsizing - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: 4K Ultra HD Combo Pack
Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: 4K Ultra HD Combo Pack
Pitch Perfect - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: 4K Ultra HD Combo Pack
Pitch Perfect 2 - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: Blu-ray
Pitch Perfect 3 - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: 4K Ultra HD Combo Pack
There are five 4K releases this week, three of which are from the Pitch Perfect franchise. If I were to pick just one 4K release to buy, it would be Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle.

TV on DVD Megasets - Buy from Amazon:
None this week, but there’s a big release next week.

C.S.Strowbridge

Filed under: DVD and Blu-ray Releases, Home Market Releases, The Greatest Showman, Downsizing, Coco, Justice League, Pitch Perfect 3, Father Figures, Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, Insidious: The Last Key, Welcome the Stranger, Small Town Crime, Augie, The Rape of Recy Taylor, The Vanishing of Sidney Hall, Courting a Killer, No Orchids for Miss Blandish, Highway Dragnet, Offerings, Rockula, Baal, Heart of Wilderness, Pitch Perfect, DC Extended Universe, Wonder Woman, Ben Affleck, Henry Cavill, Gal Gadot, Ciaran Hinds, Zack Snyder, Joss Whedon, Ezra Miller, Jason Momoa, Hong Chau, Ray Fisher

Home Market Releases for March 20th, 2018

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