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.
All That Heaven Allows (Douglas Sirk)
This heartbreakingly beautiful indictment of 1950s American mores by Douglas Sirk follows the blossoming love between a well-off widow (Jane Wyman) and her handsome and earthy younger gardener (Rock Hudson). When their romance prompts the scorn of her children and country club friends, she must decide whether to pursue her own happiness or carry on a lonely, hemmed-in existence for the sake of the approval of others. With the help of ace cinematographer Russell Metty, Sirk imbues nearly every shot with a vivid and distinct emotional tenor. A profoundly felt film about class and conformity in small-town America, All That Heaven Allows is a pinnacle of expressionistic Hollywood melodrama. – Criterion.com
L’Eclisse (Michelangelo Antonioni)
“L’eclisse was also the climax of a loose trilogy about Eros, art, business, and emotional alienation in the contemporary world that consolidated Antonioni’s international reputation, preceded by L’avventura (1960) and La notte (1961). And in some ways, it upped the ante of his provocative modernism by being the most radical of the three, in both its defiance of narrative conventions and its chilling poetry of absence and desire,” Jonathan Rosenbaum writes in his Criterion essay for the film. Now getting a Blu-ray upgrade, a Richard Peña commentary and an hour-long documentary on the director are among the fantastic special features. – Jordan R.
Non-Stop (Jaume Collet-Serra)
One of the best B-movie directors Hollywood has as of late, Jaume Collet-Serra doesn’t quite get the recognition he deserves for creating highly entertaining, slick thrillers. His latest is no exception, providing Liam Neeson with his post action role in this Taken era, following him as a U.S. Marshal that gets caught up in a hijacking attempt. While the ending of Non-Stop lays things on a bit too think, it’s some of the most fun I’ve had at a theater this year. The Blu-ray unfortunately skimps on special features, with two meager EPK featurettes, but the film is well worth a watch. – Jordan R.
True Detective (Cary Fukunaga)
The closest a television show has reached cinematic levels, thanks to Cary Fukunaga‘s singular vision behind each episode, backed by Nic Pizzolatto‘s scripting and producing efforts, True Detective is about as thrilling and dramatically involving a first season can get. Tracking an expansive journey of the life and work of two Louisiana detectives (Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson, in perhaps their finest roles), the Blu-ray release includes deleted scenes, a pair of commentaries, featurettes and more. As we await to see who’ll take part in #TrueDetectiveSeason2, revisiting this would certainly not be a waste of your time, and make sure to listen to our discussion of the entire season. – Jordan R.
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
The American (Blu-ray) – $6.01
Amelie (Blu-ray) – $6.94
Anna Karenina (Blu-ray) – $11.99
The Big Lebowski (Blu-ray) – $9.96
The Cabin in the Woods (Blu-ray) – $7.88
Casino (Blu-ray) – $7.99
City of God (Blu-ray) – $7.88
The Deer Hunter (Blu-ray) – $10.49
Django Unchained (Blu-ray) $12.99
Drag Me To Hell (Blu-ray) – $7.50
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (Blu-ray) – $9.99
Gone Baby Gone (Blu-ray) – $6.00
The Grey (Blu-ray) – $7.50
Hanna (Blu-ray) – $7.99
High Plains Drifter (Blu-ray) – $9.96
Hot Fuzz (Blu-ray) – $7.50
Hugo (Blu-ray) – $8.98
Inglorious Basterds (Blu-ray) – $7.99
Jane Eyre (Blu-ray) – $9.71
Knocked Up (Blu-ray) – $7.50
Life of Pi (Blu-ray) – $4.99
Looper (Blu-ray) – $9.99
Lost In Translation (Blu-ray) – $6.99
The Master (Blu-ray) – $9.99
Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol (Blu-ray) – $7.99
Moonrise Kingdom (Blu-ray) – $11.99
Nebraska (Blu-ray) – $11.49
No Country For Old Men (Blu-ray) – $4.99
Office Space (Blu-ray) – $4.99
The Other Guys (Blu-ray) – $8.96
Pain & Gain (Blu-ray) – $9.40
Public Enemies (Blu-ray) – $7.50
Pulp Fiction (Blu-ray) – $7.00
Raging Bull (Blu-ray) – $7.99
Reality Bites (Blu-ray) – $9.96
Rise of the Planet of the Apes (Blu-ray) – $4.99
Seven (Blu-ray) – $8.98
Shutter Island (Blu-ray) – $8.98
Skyfall (Blu-ray) – $4.99
Source Code (Blu-ray) – $7.88
Spring Breakers (Blu-ray) – $9.96
Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (Blu-ray) – $12.49
The Wolf of Wall Street (Blu-ray) – $11.99
The World’s End (Blu-ray) – $14.99
What are you picking up this week?