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.
Her (Spike Jonze)
I expected a lot of things from Spike Jonze’s quirky tale of an emotionally vulnerable man dating his computer, but what I wasn’t prepared for was just how gently accurate it is when dealing with the reality of human relationships, both on small, personal levels and at larger social ones too. Without ever really stopping to explain exactly how this near future operates, or what the parameters of its technology actually are, we are dropped into Theodore’s (Joaquin Phoenix) life and made to feel the loneliness and vulnerability while expressing our own wonder at new wrinkles in this reality. Phoenix gives one of his finest and sure to be most underrated performances as a guy who is trying to recover from a broken heart while learning that he’s not nearly as connected to others as he expected. Awards or no, Scarlett Johansson is astonishing in what she accomplishes with only voice-work. Samantha, the operating system that nabs Theo’s heart, is an original and compelling creation and Jonze does her justice by structuring his film around the various evolving stages of her awareness. This is a brilliant and complex tale about the future of our technology, a spiritual exploration about what makes us tick as humans in the act of being. – Nathan B.
Stranger By the Lake (Alain Guiraudie)
The parking lot, always glimpsed from the same perched, high-angle camera position, is the edge of society in Alain Guiraudie’s Stranger by the Lake. Men pull up here, in their cars, take a short walk through the forest, and emerge onto the shore of a lake, where the sun reflects off the water, leaving little sparks of summer light. The men sunbathe, gossip, chit-chat, ogle — and, above all, cruise. Guiraudie’s film never leaves this location; his coiled, merciless plot is constructed entirely out of what these men do near this lake over the course of a handful of bright days and portentous evenings. At first glance, there doesn’t seem to be much reason for conflict: many of the men know each other and are friendly, and the ones who don’t are generally content to hook up in the trees and then part ways. But the film ends in blood and ambiguity, revealing a dim view of human nature. – Danny K. (full review)
Rent
Recommended Deals of the Weeks
(Note: new additions are in red)
The 40-Year-Old Virgin (Blu-ray) – $7.50
Adventureland (Blu-ray) – $5.00
Almost Famous (Blu-ray) – $9.96
The American (Blu-ray) – $6.00
Amelie (Blu-ray) – $7.57
The Cabin in the Woods (Blu-ray) – $7.88
Caddyshack (Blu-ray) – $7.67
Capote (Blu-ray) – $9.21
Casino (Blu-ray) – $8.71
Collateral (Blu-ray) – $7.88
Dark City (Blu-ray) – $7.98
The Departed (Blu-ray) – $8.99
Django Unchained (Blu-ray) $12.99
Drag Me To Hell (Blu-ray) – $7.50
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (Blu-ray) – $9.99
Gojira (Blu-ray) – $9.49
Gone Baby Gone (Blu-ray) – $6.00
Goodfellas (Blu-ray) – $8.99
Gravity (Blu-ray) – $14.99
Heat (Blu-ray) – $8.38
Hot Fuzz (Blu-ray) – $7.50
Hugo (Blu-ray) – $4.99
Inside Llewyn Davis (Blu-ray) – $14.99
Jaws (Blu-ray) – $9.99
Knocked Up (Blu-ray) – $7.50
Looper (Blu-ray) – $9.99
Moonrise Kingdom (Blu-ray) – $9.99
No Country For Old Men (Blu-ray) – $5.00
Public Enemies (Blu-ray) – $7.50
Once Upon a Time in the West (Blu-ray) – $8.99
Pulp Fiction (Blu-ray) – $7.88
Reality Bites (Blu-ray) – $9.96
Rocky: Heavyweight 6-Film Collection (Blu-ray) – $22.99
A Separation (Blu-ray) – $11.49
Seven (Blu-ray) – $7.88
Shutter Island (Blu-ray) – $7.99
Source Code (Blu-ray) – $7.88
Spring Breakers (Blu-ray) – $9.96
Stoker (Blu-ray) – $11.15
Submarine (Blu-ray) – $11.99
There Will Be Blood (Blu-ray) – $7.86
The Town (Blu-ray) – $8.99
The Truman Show (Blu-ray) – $8.89
The World’s End (Blu-ray) – $14.99
What are you picking up this week?