New on Disc: Is it Time to say Yes?
August 25, 2020
Normally this time of year is a transitional period, as the flood of TV on DVD releases begins to give way to the soon-to-be flood of summer blockbusters. However, the pandemic means there are no summer blockbusters coming out this week, or next week. Or next month. Or the month after that. There are still a couple of bigger TV-on-DVD releases, including The Flash, but the biggest recent theatrical releases hardly made an impact. The best release on this week’s list is Yes, God, Yes, but Amazon has it currently unavailable, so grab it from Target instead.
Endeavour: The Complete Seventh Season - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
The Flash: The Complete Sixth Season - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
The King of Staten Island - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
Studio Ghibli Double-Shot
Tales from the Darkside: The Movie - Buy from Amazon: Blu-ray
The Trip to Greece - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
Yes, God, Yes - Buy from Amazon: DVD
Aenigma - Buy from Amazon: Blu-ray
There are some interesting smaller offerings this week, including Gordon Lightfoot: If You Could Read My Mind, which is a must-have for all proud Canadians, as well as fans of musical biographical documentaries. Fans of heist movies will likely enjoy The Burnt Orange Heresy, while Deep Blue Sea 3 is better than it really needs to be.
Chicago Fire: Season Eight - Buy from Amazon: DVD
Megasets for both Star Trek: Voyager and Touched by an Angel have today as their release dates, but both are marked “Currently Unavailable.” I don’t know if they were pushed back, or Amazon is having issues.
The House by the Cemetery - Buy from Amazon: 4K Ultra HD Combo Pack
A couple of films from legendary director Lucio Fulci are hitting 4K this week. I’m not entirely sure why these two films were chosen, as they are not among his best.
Highlights
It’s a British murder mystery TV series. Fans of the genre know what to expect: A very high quality level to go with the higher-than-average price per minute.
One of an increasing number of shows in the D.C. Television universe. The hit-to-miss ratio for the TV shows is much higher than for their movies and this show is an example of one of their hits. The five-disc set also includes the Crisis on Infinite Earths crossover event, which is a great extra, except it has been released on other DC TV show box sets already.
This film had quite a lot of pre-release hype, but its reviews were good, but not great. Furthermore, it is part of a long, long list of films that had their releases disrupted by the pandemic. There are a ton of extras on the DVD / Blu-ray and it is worth picking up; however, it isn’t the classic that some were expecting.
Kiki’s Delivery Service - Buy from Amazon: Blu-ray
Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind - Buy from Amazon: Blu-ray
Both of these movies are amazing and if you don’t own them, then you should pick up these Blu-rays. However, they have been released on the home market a lot, so it is impossible to call them Pick-of-the-Week contenders.
I like this horror anthology more than the average critic did when it first came out and it is selling very well for a catalog title, so apparently I’m not alone. There’s a lot of extras on this disc, including a new audio commentary track to go with an archival one. There are also six making-of featurettes to go with the two audio commentary tracks. So if you are a fan of the movie, it is a must have. If you’ve never seen the movie, give it a rental on VOD.
This franchise stars real-life friends, Rob Brydon and Steve Coogan, as they travel around some gorgeous location, eating amazing food and really, really getting on each others’ nerves. The four films had very consistent reviews with the vast majority of critics really liking them. But, and this is a big but, you really have to like Rob and Steve’s very British sense of humor.
Natalia Dyer stars in this coming-of-age comedy about a Catholic High School student in the early 2000s who discovers something on the internet that awakens something impure in her. When I first organized this list, I figured this film would be the easy Pick of the Week. Then I noticed it was only coming out on DVD … and Amazon has it “Currently unavailable.” That said, it is one of the best films to come out all year, so it is still the Pick of the Week. You will just need to grab it from somewhere else. Target has it for $13.
Other Movie Releases
All I Desire - Buy from Amazon: Blu-ray
Benjamin - Buy from Amazon: DVD
aTypical Wednesday - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
The Burnt Orange Heresy - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray - Rent from Redbox: DVD
Deep Blue Sea 3 - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray Combo Pack
Demonia - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
Gemini - Buy from Amazon: Blu-ray
Gordon Lightfoot: If You Could Read My Mind - Buy from Amazon: DVD
Hell Bent - Buy from Amazon: DVD Blu-ray
Hollywoodland - Buy from Amazon: Blu-ray
INFAMOUS - Buy from Amazon: DVD
The Lady Kills / Pervertissima - Buy from Amazon: Blu-ray
Lupin the 3rd: Dragon of Doom - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
Metallica & San Francisco Symphony S&M2 - Buy from Amazon: Blu-ray
One Night in Bangkok - Buy from Amazon: DVD - Rent from Redbox: DVD
Pat and Mike - Buy from Amazon: Blu-ray
The Sign of the Cross - Buy from Amazon: Blu-ray
There’s Always Tomorrow - Buy from Amazon: Blu-ray
Toni: The Criterion Collection - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
Universal Horror Collection: Volume Six - Buy from Amazon: Blu-ray
Without Love - Buy from Amazon: Blu-ray
TV-on-DVD Releases
Chicago Med: Seasove Five - Buy from Amazon: DVD
CSI: NY: The Fifth Season - Buy from Amazon: DVD
Dead Still, Season 1 - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray Combo Pack
The Gunsmoke Movie Collection - Buy from Amazon: DVD
SEAL Team: Season Three - Buy from Amazon: DVD
Star Trek: Voyager: The Complete Series - Buy from Amazon: DVD
Strike Back: The Complete Series - Buy from Amazon: DVD
Taz-Mania: The Complete Third Season - Buy from Amazon: DVD
Touched by an Angel: The Complete Series - Buy from Amazon: DVD
4K Ultra HD Releases
The New York Ripper - Buy from Amazon: 4K Ultra HD Combo Pack
Filed under: Home Market Releases, DVD and Blu-ray Releases, Benjamin, The Burnt Orange Heresy, The King of Staten Island, Infamous, Yes, God, Yes, Metallica & San Francisco Symphony S&M2, Gordon Lightfoot: If You Could Read My Mind, Deep Blue Sea 3, aTypical Wednesday, One Night in Bangkok, Hell Bent, The Trip, DC Extended Universe, Star Trek: Voyager, Touched by an Angel, Endeavour, Chicago Fire, The Flash, Chicago Med, SEAL Team, Rob Brydon, Steve Coogan, Lucio Fulci, Natalia Dyer