DVD and Blu-ray Releases for October 11th, 2011

October 12, 2011

It's not a particularly strong week on the home market. The biggest first run release coming out this week is Horrible Bosses, which was a surprise $100 million hit. Green Lantern will likely be the best selling release of the week, but it disappointed with critics and at the box office. As far as the best of the best goes, The Tree of Life Blu-ray / DVD Combo Pack is the best bet as far as Pick of the Week goes, bu there are a few others that are worth picking up. There are also a couple of late arrivals that deserve honorable mentions this week: Castle: Season Three and Dumbo - Blu-ray Combo Pack.

Note: These Blu-rays made their home market debuts on the 25th of September.

Airplane - Blu-ray Best Buy Exclusive or Future Shop Exclusive
The Naked Gun - Blu-ray - Best Buy Exclusive or Future Shop Exclusive
Planes, Trains, and Automobiles - Blu-ray - Best Buy Exclusive or Future Shop Exclusive

Three classic comedies from the 1980s made their Blu-ray debuts recently, but as exclusive releases. Are they worth going out of your way to grab? Check out our review to find out.

Aqua Unit Patrol Squad: Season One - Buy from Amazon
A strange show keeps getting stranger. While the show has been rebranded, it's the same weirdness fans have come to know and love over these many years.

Beautiful Boy - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
Two parents, Maria Bello and Michael Sheen, have to deal with the aftermath after their son goes on a shooting spree. The reviews were good, but not great, and it struggled to find an audience in theaters. The DVD and Blu-ray have an audio commentary track and deleted scenes, which is not a lot in terms of extras. Overall it is a solid rental / leaning toward a purchase.

Blu-ray Releases - Buy from Amazon: Aspen Extreme, The Bad Seed, Cream: Live at the Albert Hall, Dark Night of the Scarecrow, Disorganized Crime, The Family Man, The Four Feathers (The Criterion Collection), Maniac Cop, and Queen's Blade 2: The Evil Eye
I changed up the format of the Blu-ray releases this week, as I didn't include any of the ones I mentioned elsewhere in this list. Of the secondary releases, The Bad Seed is the one I'm most interested in. It's not the most well known of the titles here, but it did earn four Oscar nominations and even won a Golden Globe award.

3D Blu-ray Releases - Buy from Amazon: Green Lantern
Only one 3D release this week, and it was a bad movie and a box office disappointment.

Bonanza: Season Two, Volume Two - Buy from Amazon
One of two iconic TV westerns coming out on DVD this week. It's a great show and fans of the genre will want to pick up the four-disc set, especially after being limited to "Best Of" DVDs for so long.

Bones: Season Six - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
This show saw its ratings grow during its sixth season reaching the highest level the series has managed thus far. But was this increase in viewership met with an increase in quality? Read our review for my opinion.

Cafe - Buy from Amazon
Jennifer Love Hewitt leads an ensemble cast in this film, which is set in a Philadelphia cafe. It earned almost no reviews, but from what I can gather, the acting is good, but the script is full of clichés and there's not enough reason to care about the characters.

Note: This DVD made its home market debut on the 20th of September.

Castle: Season Three - Buy from Amazon
This is one of only a handful of shows I will take time to watch on a weekly basis. Did the show get better this season? Or did it struggle to maintain the quality level set the first two years? Check out our review to find out.

The Child's Eye - Buy from Amazon
The latest from the Pang Brothers. The pair have made a lot of movies over the years, but their hit to miss ratio is not always the best. Will this film be a hit? Or will it drag down their batting average? Check out our review for my opinion.

Christmas Releases - Buy from Amazon: Barney: A Very Merry Christmas, Call Me Mrs. Miracle, Christmas Cupid, Christmas Lodge, If You Believe / A Different Kind of Christmas, The Life and Adventure of Santa Claus, Merry Christmas Thomas, Merry Madagascar, The Night Before The Night Before Christmas, The Penguins of Madagascar: The All-Nighter Before Xmas, Santa Who? / Chance of Snow, Scrooge, and That 70s Show: Holiday Edition
Despite my protests and my simple rule of "No Christmas before Halloween" there is a flood of Christmas releases this week. Of these, the only one that has a chance of making a serious impact in terms of sales is Scrooge on Blu-ray.

Chuck: Season Four - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
If this show was on any other network besides NBC, it would have been canceled long ago. Its reviews are really low for a network TV show, but NBC has been beaten by Univision on many nights, so they don't really have the option to be picky. It is a good show and deserves to be seen by a lot more people, while the DVD and Blu-ray are worth picking up (the latter more than the former). But unless there's a miracle, Season Five will be the last.

Complete Series Megasets - Buy from Amazon: Casper the Friendly Ghost, Doctor Who: The David Tennant Years, Jem and the Holograms, and The Trailer Park Boys
Quite a diverse collection of TV on DVD Full Series Megasets this week. The Doctor Who collection isn't strictly speaking a Complete Series, but it is also the most interesting of the four releases, at least in my opinion.

Doctor Who: The Talons of Weng-Chiang - Buy from Amazon
After grabbing Doctor Who: The David Tennant Years, fans of the franchise will also want to pick up this DVD.

Note: This Blu-ray made its home market debut on the 20th of September.

Dumbo - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray Combo Pack
One of the classic Disney animated films, Dumbo celebrates its 70th anniversary with its Blu-ray debut. But has the film aged well? And is the Blu-ray worthy of the movie? Read our review to find out.

Fat, Sick, & Nearly Dead - Buy from Amazon
A documentary about Joe Cross's odyssey to lose weight, which he did by juicing. (That's extracting the juice from fruits and vegetables and not using steroids.) It's an interesting subject, but dieting is too personal for a one-size-fits-all approach. It's worth renting as a conversation starter.

Green Lantern - Buy from Amazon: DVD, Blu-ray Combo Pack, or 3D Combo Pack
This film was widely considered one of the most disappointing of the potential summer blockbusters in terms of reviews and box office numbers. It did eventually earn more than $100 million domestically, but it cost $200 million to make. Unless it is an unreasonably large hit on the home market, it won't be able to break even any time soon. If you are interested in watching the film, the DVD is fine for a rental, but the Blu-ray and the 3D Blu-ray have a lot more extras, including some that push the technology, and are worth the extra cash to buy. That said, the movie itself is only worth a rental. Also coming out this week is The Best of Green Lantern, but it is also just worth a rental for fans of the character.

Gunsmoke: Season Five, Volume One - Buy from Amazon
An iconic TV western that ran for 20 years, and at this rate, it will take another 20 years for the whole series to come out on DVD.

Horrible Bosses - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray Combo Pack
This film was a surprise hit earning more than $100 million at the box office on a budget of less than $40 million. Good reviews were an asset, but even with 69% positive reviews, its box office numbers were better than expected. Extras on the DVD are limited to just some deleted scenes, while the Blu-ray has a quartet of short featurettes. Quite frankly, given the film's success in theaters, it deserves better. That said, it is still worth picking up on Blu-ray.

Jem and the Holograms: The Complete Series - Buy from Amazon
I wasn't in this show's target demographic when it first came our, but looking at it now, should I given the cartoon a chance? Will it find new fans today? Or is it strictly a nostalgia release? Check out our review for my opinion.

Judy Moody and the Not Bummer Summer - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray Combo Pack
Live action kids movies can be a hard sell, especially ones aimed at girls. Because of this, this film didn't have high expectations But even so, its reviews and box office numbers were much weaker than expected. The amount of extras on the DVD and Blu-ray is better than expected, but there are simply too many other options to go with.

Lucky - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
Colin Hanks plays Ben, a serial killer who targets women who remind him of the woman he loves, Lucy. He's been in love with Lucy for as long as he can remember, but she never shared that feeling. That changes when Ben's latest victim bought the winning lotto ticket, and now he has it. A serial killer marrying a gold digger. It's a good premise, but the reviews are weak and it struggled at the box office.

The Princess of Montpensier - Buy from Amazon
This costume drama was a big hit in its native France, but despite earning excellent reviews, it wasn't able to repeat that success here. Hopefully it will perform better on the home market, as it deserves to find a wider audience.

Scrooge - Blu-ray - Buy from Amazon
The 1970s musical adaptation of the classic Dickens novel comes out on Blu-ray this week. How well does it compare to other versions? And is the Blu-ray worth picking up? Check out our review to find out.

Note: This DVD made its home market debut on the 20th.

Secrets In The Walls - Buy from Amazon
A made for TV horror movie from Lifetime Channel. That's not something you see every day. Does the film have more going for it than the novelty? Read our review for my opinion.

The Sylvian Experiments - Buy from Amazon
A J-horror film written and directed by Hiroshi Takahashi, who previously wrote Ringu. Can this film live up to that earlier movie? Check out our review to find out.

Taylor Swift: Journey To Fearless - Buy from Amazon
A TV mini-series that looked at Taylor Swift's latest tour. Given the number of CDs she sells and the amount of awards she wins, it should come as no shock that this DVD is selling as well as it is.

Terri - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
This film earned good reviews and started out its run in limited release with a per theater average over $10,000. But after that, it couldn't expand. Did it deserve to find a wider audience? Or is it a movie only fans of art house cinema will enjoy? Check out our review for my opinion.

The Tree of Life - Blu-ray / DVD Combo Pack - Buy from Amazon
The latest film from Terrence Malick. Its opening in limited release was incredible, but while it expanded more than most limited releases manage to expand, it never reached the top ten, nor did it expand truly wide. Is it too "art house" for mainstream audiences? Should more people have given it a chance? Read our review for my opinion.

The Trip - Buy from Amazon
Two very funny comedians, Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon, travel around Britain eating food and telling each other jokes. The film's reviews are great and I'm looking forward to seeing the film, but the screener is late.

The War of 1812 - Buy from Amazon
Canada is planning on spending $11 million celebrating the 200th Anniversary of the War of 1812. Rick Mercer had the best joke about that.

Workaholics: Season One - Buy from Amazon
Workaholics is a TV show about three men who are anything but workaholics. They spend their days trying desperately not to grow up. The show earned good ratings for Comedy Central and it is worth checking out for fans of slacker comedy.

Zookeeper - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray Combo Pack
Skip it. It's one of the worst wide releases of the summer and while there are plenty of extras on the DVD and even more on the Blu-ray, they are mostly small, fluffy featurettes that are not enough to compensate for the quality of the movie.


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Filed under: DVD and Blu-ray Releases, Home Market Releases, Airplane!, The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!, Planes, Trains & Automobiles, Dumbo, Green Lantern, Zookeeper, Beautiful Boy, Horrible Bosses, Judy Moody and the Not Bummer Summer, The Tree of Life, La princesse de Montpensier, The Trip, Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead, Terri, Lucky, The Sylvian Experiments