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.
The Best Years of Our Lives (William Wyler)
Tracking a trio of World War II veterans who return home after serving their duty, William Wyler‘s Best Picture winner is finally coming to Blu-ray for the first time today. While this release is short on worthwhile special features (including just a trailer, brief introduction with Virginia Mayo and interview with the aforementioned actress, as well as Teresa Wright), but thankfully this restored 1080p version makes for a must-buy (with cinematography coming from Citizen Kane‘s Gregg Toland), particularly if you’ve never seen the drama. – Jordan R.
James Dean: Ultimate Collector’s Edition
Before he tragically died at the age of 24 in 1955, James Dean had completed work on three starring roles, in East of Eden (1955), Rebel Without a Cause (1955) and Giant (1956). Many decades later, Warner Bros. has now released the trio of films on Blu-ray with a mountain of special features. With commentaries, featurettes, screen tests, outtakes and more, it’s a must-own for those that have been fascinated by the actor’s short, but legendary career. – Jordan R.
Passion (Brian De Palma)
It’s De Palma to the extreme: cameras are constantly roving, investigating a room like a hungry detective; comedy, tragedy, and terror oscillate between one another faster than we’ve ever seen count; a character’s kinky interests are expected, barely requiring explanation; but for as fun as all this may be, Passion has a more significant position as the most “21st-century” picture to De Palma’s name. Though remaining slavishly faithful to the tics which came to define so much of his own cinema for so long, the filmmaker makes a massive extension into the world of digital images and digital economy. – Nick N.
See Also: Terror, Cyphers, and Femme Fatales: The 21st-Century Cinema of Brian De Palma, The Film Stage Show Ep. 68 – Passion
The Right Stuff (Philip Kaufman)
The time was the late 1940s. World War II had just ended and the United States was entering into a new kind of war, a Cold War. New technology and the development of high-speed aircraft became one of the centerpieces of this new kind of conflict. The race to space between the United States and the Soviet Union had just begun. Adapted from Tom Wolfe’s best-selling book, The Right Stuff tells the heroic story of Chuck Yeager (the first person to fly faster than the speed of sound), the Flying Fraternity and the Mercury Astronauts – the first Americans in space. The bravery and daring exploits of these men captured the imagination of the American public during the 1940s and 1950s, and The Right Stuff re-creates these breathtaking events in emotionally riveting and suspenseful detail.
Rent: The Attack, Computer Chess, Parkland, White House Down
Recommended Deals of the Weeks
(Note: new additions are in red)
2001: A Space Odyssey (Blu-Ray) – $8.49
Alfred Hitchcock: The Essentials Collection (Rear Window, Vertigo, North by Northwest, Psycho and The Birds) (Blu-ray) – $39.99
The American (Blu-ray) – $6.04
Blow (Blu-ray) – $7.98
Blue Valentine (Blu-ray) – $7.54
Boogie Nights (Blu-ray) – $5.99
Cape Fear (Blu-ray) – $8.99
Casablanca (70th Anniversary Limited Collector’s Edition Blu-ray/DVD Combo) – $26.98
Children of Men (Blu-ray) – $9.98
Coen Brothers Collection (Blood Simple/Fargo/Miller’s Crossing/Raising Arizona) – $19.49
Cool Hand Luke (Blu-ray) – $8.49
Contact (Blu-ray) – $6.49
Dark City (Blu-ray) – $8.49
Fantastic Mr. Fox (Blu-ray) – $11.99
Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (Blu-ray) – $7.98
Goodfellas (Blu-ray) – $8.99
Halloween (Blu-ray) – $7.88
Hugo (Blu-ray) – $9.49
Inception (Blu-ray) – $9.93
Jaws (Blu-ray) – $9.99
Mean Streets (Blu-ray) – $7.98
Memento (Blu-ray) – $9.98
Moulin Rouge (Blu-ray) – $6.99
Once Upon a Time in the West (Blu-ray) – $8.99
No Country For Old Men (Blu-ray) – $6.99
Rescue Dawn (Blu-ray) – $7.99
Side Effects (Blu-ray) – $12.49
Slumdog Millionaire (Blu-ray) – $8.98
Spring Breakers (Blu-ray) – $9.99
Terminator 2: Judgement Day (Blu-ray) – $7.54
There Will Be Blood (Blu-ray) – $9.49
True Romance (Blu-ray) – $5.99
The Truman Show (Blu-ray) – $8.99
Up in the Air (Blu-ray) – $7.98
Wanderlust (Blu-ray) – $6.95
Winter’s Bone (Blu-ray) – $6.99
Zodiac (Blu-ray) – $9.49
What are you picking up this week?