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. If we were provided screener copies, we’ll have our own write-up, but if that’s not the case, one can find official descriptions from the distributors. Check out our rundown below and return every Tuesday for the best 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.
Dear White People (Justin Simien)
One great aspect of the Sundance Film Festival is the occasional discovery of potential new and important voices in American cinema. Dear White People, the debut feature film from writer/director Justin Simien, heralds just that. It is a compelling, yet uneven scattershot of humor and commentary about racial conventions in the 21st century. Set in a fictitious Ivy League university, the film skewers the preconceptions of race in the modern era and how both sides of the coin can negatively reinforce stereotypes. The strength of the film is its razor-sharp dialogue brimming with quick-fire humor that would make Kevin Smith smile. Simien is a natural at creating flowing conversations that punch with intelligence and wit, but are also funny and entertaining. – Raffi A. (full review)
The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby (Ned Benson)
While The Weinstein Company botched the three-pronged release of The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby earlier this fall, today brings a chance to see all available versions with the arrival of the Blu-ray. Exploring the ups and downs of a marriage between a recently split couple (James McAvoy and Jessica Chastain), we found the Them version to be a respectable drama, but we’re looking forward to see what the Her and Him versions have in store. – Jordan R.
Every Man For Himself (Jean-Luc Godard)
After a decade in the wilds of avant-garde and early video experimentation, Jean-Luc Godard returned to commercial cinema with this star-driven work of social commentary, while remaining defiantly intellectual and formally cutting-edge. Every Man for Himself, featuring a script by Jean-Claude Carrière and Anne-Marie Miéville, looks at the sexual and professional lives of three people—a television director (Jacques Dutronc), his ex-girlfriend (Nathalie Baye), and a prostitute (Isabelle Huppert)—to create a meditative story about work, relationships, and the notion of freedom. Made twenty years into his career, it was, Godard said, his “second first film.” – Criterion.com
John Wick (David Leitch and Chad Stahelski)
John Wick is a refreshingly streamlined action movie. There’s not an ounce of fat in David Leitch and Chad Stahelski‘s film, and Derek Kolstad‘s script gets right everything so many revenge pictures get wrong. The familial scenes in the Taken movies, for example, are an afterthought — crap you have to trudge through to get to the shootouts. Actual time and care was put into the set-up of John Wick. When Wick’s dog dies, it’s an earned moment for the character and the film. It’s a strangely heartfelt movie, and far more sincere than most pieces of Oscar bait. What follows that effective set-up is a wildly entertaining action movie, filled with a variety of set pieces, fun kills, style, and a world that begs for a sequel. – Jack G.
Also Available This Week
About Schmidt
Diner
The Overnighters (review)
Pom Poko
Porco Rosso
The Retrieval (review)
Tales from Earthsea
Recommended Deals of the Week
(Note: new additions are in red)
12 Years a Slave (Blu-ray) – $11.99
21 Jump Street (Blu-ray) – $6.96
Alien Anthology (Blu-ray) – $24.96
The American (Blu-ray) – $7.99
Amelie (Blu-ray) – $6.74
Atonement (Blu-ray) – $7.55
Beginners (Blu-ray) – $6.60
Black Swan (Blu-ray) – $9.49
Bronson (Blu-ray) – $10.91
The Cabin in the Woods (Blu-ray) – $7.88
Casino (Blu-ray) – $8.99
Contagion (Blu-ray) – $8.83
Do the Right Thing (Blu-ray) – $8.10
Edge of Tomorrow (Blu-ray) – $9.99
The Fly (Blu-ray) – $6.99
Gangs of New York (Blu-ray) – $7.50
Gone Girl (Blu-ray) – $14.99
Goodfellas (Blu-ray) – $8.54
Good Will Hunting (Blu-ray) – $7.50
The Grand Budapest Hotel (Blu-ray) – $10.00
Gravity (Blu-ray) – $10.00
The Grey (Blu-ray) – $6.96
Haywire (Blu-ray) – $9.29
Her (Blu-ray) – $9.99
Hot Fuzz (Blu-ray) – $8.99
Hugo (Blu-ray) – $6.99
Inglorious Basterds (Blu-ray) – $7.99
In the Loop (Blu-ray) – $7.93
Jackie Brown (Blu-ray) – $8.12
Jurassic Park (Blu-ray) – $9.99
L.A. Confidential (Blu-ray) – $8.65
Laurence Anyways (Blu-ray) – $12.94
The LEGO Movie (Blu-ray) – $10.00
Looper (Blu-ray) – $9.99
Lost In Translation (Blu-ray) – $7.99
Margaret (Blu-ray) – $9.99
Moonrise Kingdom (Blu-ray) – $10.99
No Country For Old Men (Blu-ray) – $6.99
Observe & Report (Blu-ray) – $9.29
Office Space (Blu-ray) – $8.99
Persepolis (Blu-ray) – $7.26
Public Enemies (Blu-ray) – $7.99
Reality Bites (Blu-ray) – $9.49
The Rover (Blu-ray) – $9.99
The Secret In Their Eyes (Blu-ray) – $8.17
A Serious Man (Blu-ray) – $9.55
Seven (Blu-ray) – $6.71
sex, lies, and videotape (Blu-ray) – $8.25
Shutter Island (Blu-ray) – $7.50
A Single Man (Blu-ray) – $8.87
Snowpiercer (Blu-ray) – $10.00
Spring Breakers (Blu-ray) – $9.96
Source Code (Blu-ray) – $5.00
Synecdoche, New York (Blu-ray) – $7.99
There Will Be Blood (Blu-ray) – $8.63
The Truman Show (Blu-ray) – $7.99
This is the End (Blu-ray) – $9.99
To the Wonder (Blu-ray) – $12.49
Vanilla Sky (Blu-ray pre-order) – $8.47
Volver (Blu-ray) – $6.56
We Own the Night (Blu-ray) – $6.91
The Wrestler (Blu-ray) – $6.99
Zero Dark Thirty (Blu-ray) – $9.99
What are you picking up this week?