Every week we dive into the cream of the crop when it comes to home releases, including Blu-ray and DVDs, as well as recommended deals of the week. Check out our rundown below and return every Tuesday for the best (or most interesting) films one can take home. Note that if you’re looking to support the site, every purchase you make through the links below helps us and is greatly appreciated.
A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night (Ana Lily Amirpour)
It might feature a skate-boarding, hijab-wearing bloodsucker, but A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night is much more than a hipster horror film. Set in a mythical landscape that feels like Quentin Tarantino and Tim Burton took a gig art-directing Iran, Girl establishes a raw and seductive edge that is also dreamy and wistful, enamored of Old Hollywood’s visual legacy, inspired by a rich independent heritage, and completely in love with its characters. Turning the tropes of Universal horror films on their head — one scene features a tawdry pimp discovering he’s the classic damsel in distress — Amirpour creates a wonderful character in Sheila Vand’s nosferatu. She’s not a monster, but a convergence of several cultural insecurities, wrapped in a feral, defiantly female shell. Crafted from the familiar, Girls’ best feature is just how fearsomely original and confident it feels. Eraserhead and Bride of Frankenstein have new, welcome company in the annals of filmdom. – Nathan B.
Escape From New York (John Carpenter)
Arriving on a Collector’s Edition Blu-ray this week is John Carpenter‘s remastered Kurt Russell-led Escape From New York. While previous audio commentaries from the director and actor, as well as producer Debra Hill and production design Joe Alves, are included, there’s also a new one with Adrienne Barbeau and directory of photography Dean Cundey. Also featuring a batch of new featurettes on the visual effects, the score, and more, it’s a must-own for fans of the 1981 film. – Jordan R.
The River (Jean Renoir)
Director Jean Renoir’s entrancing first color feature—shot entirely on location in India—is a visual tour de force. Based on the novel by Rumer Godden, the film eloquently contrasts the growing pains of three young women with the immutability of the Bengal river around which their daily lives unfold. Enriched by Renoir’s subtle understanding and appreciation for India and its people, The River gracefully explores the fragile connections between transitory emotions and everlasting creation. – Criterion.com
Eclipse Series 42: Silent Ozu—Three Crime Dramas
The great Japanese filmmaker Yasujiro Ozu is best known for the stately, meditative domestic dramas he made after World War II. But during his first decade at Shochiku studios, where he dabbled in many genres, he put out a trio of precisely rendered, magnificently shot and edited silent crime films about the hopes, dreams, and loves of small-time crooks. Heavily influenced in narrative and visual style by the American films that Ozu adored, these movies are revelatory early examples of his cinematic genius, accompanied here by new piano scores by Neil Brand. – Criterion.com
Also Available This Week
Everly (review)
Little Accidents
Taken 3 (review)
Recommended Deals of the Week
(Note: new additions are in red)
22 Jump Street (Blu-ray) – $12.96
The American (Blu-ray) – $8.69
Amelie (Blu-ray) – $6.71
A Most Violent Year (Blu-ray) – $14.99
Anna Karenina (Blu-ray) – $12.02
The Babadook (Blu-ray) – $14.99
Beginners (Blu-ray) – $6.49
Birdman (Blu-ray) – $14.99
Black Swan (Blu-ray) – $7.04
The Bling Ring (Blu-ray) – $7.99
Bronson (Blu-ray) – $10.91
Burn After Reading (Blu-ray) – $8.52
The Cabin in the Woods (Blu-ray) – $4.99
Casino (Blu-ray) – $8.94
Captain Phillips (Blu-ray) – $9.99
Cloud Atlas (Blu-ray) – $6.97
Cloverfield (Blu-ray) – $8.68
Collateral (Blu-ray) – $7.88
Do the Right Thing (Blu-ray) – $9.48
Drive (Blu-ray) – $7.99
The Fly (Blu-ray) – $6.99
Frank (Blu-ray) – $10.39
Gangs of New York (Blu-ray) – $7.50
Gone Girl (Blu-ray) – $14.99
Goodfellas (Blu-ray) – $8.35
Good Will Hunting (Blu-ray) – $7.50
The Grey (Blu-ray) – $8.71
Haywire (Blu-ray) – $7.88
Hot Fuzz (Blu-ray) – $8.73
Hugo (Blu-ray) – $9.97
The Illusionist (Blu-ray) – $9.99
Inglorious Basterds (Blu-ray) – $8.73
Jackie Brown (Blu-ray) – $5.00
Jane Eyre (Blu-ray) – $8.28
Killing Them Softly (Blu-ray) – $7.99
L.A. Confidential (Blu-ray) – $8.57
The Last Waltz (Blu-ray) – $7.88
Looper (Blu-ray) – $9.99
Lost In Translation (Blu-ray) – $8.49
Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (Blu-ray) – $6.57
Margaret (Blu-ray) – $9.49
Martha Marcy May Marlene (Blu-ray) – $7.44
Moonrise Kingdom (Blu-ray) – $10.99
Never Let Me Go (Blu-ray) – $6.50
No Country For Old Men (Blu-ray) – $4.96
Observe & Report (Blu-ray) – $8.17
Office Space (Blu-ray) – $8.99
Pariah (Blu-ray) – $6.13
Persepolis (Blu-ray) – $8.41
Public Enemies (Blu-ray) – $8.72
Pulp Fiction (Blu-ray) – $7.00
Reality Bites (Blu-ray) – $8.49
The Secret In Their Eyes (Blu-ray) – $7.23
A Serious Man (Blu-ray) – $7.98
Seven (Blu-ray) – $7.00
Seven Psychopaths (Blu-ray) – $7.99
Shutter Island (Blu-ray) – $6.97
Spring Breakers (Blu-ray) – $7.99
Synecdoche, NY (Blu-ray) – $9.05
There Will Be Blood (Blu-ray) – $8.35
The Tree of Life (Blu-ray) – $7.50
The Truman Show (Blu-ray) – $7.99
This is the End (Blu-ray) – $9.99
Vanilla Sky (Blu-ray pre-order) – $8.38
Waltz with Bashir (Blu-ray) – $9.01
We Own the Night (Blu-ray) – $9.15
Where the Wild Things Are (Blu-ray) – $6.21
Whiplash (Blu-ray) – $14.99
The Wrestler (Blu-ray) – $6.73
Zero Dark Thirty (Blu-ray) – $9.96
What are you picking up this week?