INHERENT VICE

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.

The Friends of Eddie Coyle (Peter Yates)

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In one of the best performances of his legendary career, Robert Mitchum plays small-time gunrunner Eddie “Fingers” Coyle in an adaptation by Peter Yates of George V. Higgins’s acclaimed novel The Friends of Eddie Coyle. World-weary and living hand to mouth, Coyle works on the sidelines of the seedy Boston underworld just to make ends meet. But when he finds himself facing a second stretch of hard time, he’s forced to weigh loyalty to his criminal colleagues against snitching to stay free. Directed with a sharp eye for its gritty locales and an open heart for its less-than-heroic characters, this is one of the true treasures of 1970s Hollywood filmmaking—a suspenseful crime drama in stark, unforgiving daylight. – Criterion.com

Inherent Vice (Paul Thomas Anderson)

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At once Paul Thomas Anderson‘s loosest and densest film, Inherent Vice presents a world that’s easy to get lost in. Not because his adaptation of Thomas Pynchon‘s novel isn’t interested in hand-holding — it is a mystery from the point-of-view of a paranoid and confused pothead, mind you — but its melancholic tone, the Blake Edwards-like comedy, and array of endlessly eccentric characters, all of which add up to a transcendent two-and-a-half hours. This is a movie that washes over its viewers as long as they’re willing to go along for the trippie ride. It’s a strange, funny, and surprisingly sad story, almost more about a bad breakup than the mystery Doc has to unravel. Shasta Fay’s (Katherine Waterston) presence is almost always felt in Inherent Vice. Doc confronts equally confusing internal and external struggles in this dreamlike LA story. Despite a disappointing box-office, it’s up there with Anderson’s best work. –  Jack G.

Mommy (Xavier Dolan)

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Writer-director Xavier Dolan’s characters in Mommy rarely feel like people you’d want to spend any length of time with, which is precisely why the film is so affecting. Each have their own unique quirks that make them entirely human and draw you in. You root for them to succeed, and Dolan takes a twisted joy in breaking them in various ways. This is a richly affecting film about the notion of controlling your own life when your child, your responsibility, seems hell-bent on derailing it. Easy answers aren’t given, and there’s a key moment in the film that rings incredibly hollow — a feeling taken away just when you actually bite into the lure. Dolan’s work is moving and painfully beautiful, with astounding performances throughout. – Bill G.

Paddington (Paul King)

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When Michael Bond’s beloved creation Paddington first showed up in children’s books in the 1950’s, he was sitting there in the train station he’s named after, wearing a note around his neck that said, “Please look after this bear. Thank you.” To the surprise and delight of fans of the quirky little, marmalade guzzling bear from Darkest Peru, director Paul King (The Mighty Boosh, Bunny and the Bull) takes that imploring note to heart, and not only looks after Paddington, but celebrates the spirit of his creator with a film that’s both witty and enchanting. – Nathan B. (full review)

Also Available This Week

From a Whisper to a Scream
The Gambler (review)
Last Days in Vietnam
Le Silence de la Mer
Miami Blues

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) – $6.70

A Most Violent Year (Blu-ray) – $14.98

Anna Karenina (Blu-ray) – $12.02

The Babadook (Blu-ray) – $14.99

Beginners (Blu-ray) – $6.99

Black Swan (Blu-ray) – $6.74

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) – $7.38

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) – $9.49

Drive (Blu-ray) – $7.99

The Fly (Blu-ray) – $6.99

Frank (Blu-ray) – $10.43

Gangs of New York (Blu-ray) – $7.50

Goodfellas (Blu-ray) – $8.35

Good Will Hunting (Blu-ray) – $7.50

The Grey (Blu-ray) – $8.72

Haywire (Blu-ray) – $7.88

Hot Fuzz (Blu-ray) – $8.73

The Illusionist (Blu-ray) – $9.99

The Immigrant (Blu-ray) – $9.99

Inglorious Basterds (Blu-ray) – $8.00

Jackie Brown (Blu-ray) – $5.00

Jane Eyre (Blu-ray) – $8.55

Killing Them Softly (Blu-ray) – $7.99

L.A. Confidential (Blu-ray) – $8.56

The Last Waltz (Blu-ray) – $7.88

Lawrence of Arabia: 50th Anniversary Collector’s Edition (Blu-ray) – $38.99

Looper (Blu-ray) – $8.00

Lost In Translation (Blu-ray) – $8.49

Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (Blu-ray) – $6.56

Margaret (Blu-ray) – $9.49

Martha Marcy May Marlene (Blu-ray) – $7.46

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) – $7.49

Office Space (Blu-ray) – $8.99

Pariah (Blu-ray) – $6.13

Persepolis (Blu-ray) – $7.18

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) – $6.99

A Serious Man (Blu-ray) – $7.98

Seven (Blu-ray) – $7.00

Seven Psychopaths (Blu-ray) – $7.99

Shutter Island (Blu-ray) – $6.96

Singin’ in the Rain (Blu-ray) – $7.99

Spring Breakers (Blu-ray) – $7.99

Synecdoche, NY (Blu-ray) – $8.33

There Will Be Blood (Blu-ray) – $8.35

The Tree of Life (Blu-ray) – $7.51

The Truman Show (Blu-ray) – $7.99

This is the End (Blu-ray) – $9.99

Vanilla Sky (Blu-ray pre-order) – $8.37

Waltz with Bashir (Blu-ray) – $9.04

We Own the Night (Blu-ray) – $8.96

Where the Wild Things Are (Blu-ray) – $6.50

Whiplash (Blu-ray) – $14.99

The Wrestler (Blu-ray) – $6.73

Zero Dark Thirty (Blu-ray) – $8.00

What are you picking up this week?

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