It's a terrible week on the home market from top to bottom, but for different reasons. There are a few really big releases at the top, Ted, Ice Age: Continental Drift, The Bourne Legacy, Girls: Season One, Futurama: Volume Seven. However, I am waiting for the final screener for all of them. (I did get a DVD screener for a couple.) After that glut of good releases, there's a sharp drop-off in sales potential. That doesn't mean there aren't other releases worth picking up, but I don't expect Following to sell 100,000 units on DVD or Blu-ray. It is the best release on this week's list and the winner of the Pick of the Week honor. On a side note, there are a ton of cheap releases with the word, "Django" in the title, obviously hoping to cash in on Django Unchained. There are also a lot of releases that I would describe as porn, or at least porn-lite. I assume those two trends are unrelated.

2011 Girls Generation Tour - Buy from Amazon
The P.M. of Australia recently released a video on the end of the world and one of the possible reasons the world would end was the total domination of K-Pop, so you might as well get used to it.

Baron Blood - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
Calling this movie a B-movie is being polite, but maybe its still entertaining, even if it isn't high quality. I won't know till the screener arrives.

Blu-ray Releases - Buy from Amazon: Ashanti, Bill Cunningham New York, Death Valley, Doomsday Book, Heavyweights, The Island, Joy Luck Club, Kill Em All, Level E: Complete Series, Les Miserables, Osombie, The Portrait Of A Lady, The Qatsi Trilogy (Criterion Collection), The Ultimate Buster Keaton Collection, Why Stop Now, The Wild Geese
The Ultimate Buster Keaton Collection looks so good. It is expensive, but if you know someone who liked Buster Keaton, it would make a great gift.

3D Blu-ray Releases - Buy from Amazon: Ice Age: Continental Drift
Only one 3D release this week, but I'm still waiting for the screener to review.

The Bourne Legacy - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray Combo Pack
This film couldn't live up to its predecessors at the box office or with critics. Was it a case of unfair comparisons? Or was it really just an average action film? Won't know till the screener arrives.

Christmas Releases - Buy from Amazon: Andre Rieu: Home for Christmas, Babes in Toyland, and Upon Midnight Clear
As the normal people begin to prepare for Christmas, the home market moves on and begins to ignore the holiday.

Codependent Lesbian Space Alien Seeks Same - Buy from Amazon
A homage to 1950s science fiction films with a lesbian romance added in. It earned good reviews, but it is little too much of a niche market to find a wide audience.

Dreams of a Life - Buy from Amazon
A woman dies in her apartment and no one realizes she is dead for three years. She wasn't an elderly shut in either, she was described by those who knew her as a social person. This documentary tries to explore what happened to her. I say tries, because there are no real answers. The lack of answers hurt its reviews, but it is still worth checking out.

Following - Criterion Collection - DVD or Blu-ray
Christopher Nolan's first film, which is enough of a reason to be interested in the film. It earned great reviews and the Criterion Collection release has an audio commentary track, interview with the director, etc. and it is worth picking up and it is even a contender for Pick of the Week.

Gayby - Buy from Amazon
A gay man and a straight woman try to have a baby together, because they are in their 30s and think their time to find someone special is running out. The film's reviews were excellent and it even picked up an Independent Spirit Award, but it is a niche market film and it struggled to find an audience. Hopefully that will change on the home market.

Girls: The Complete First Season - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray Combo Pack
I've read some very positive reviews for this show, but also some very negative ones. The positive ones appear to outnumber the negative ones by a significant margin, but I won't know what side I fall under till the screener arrives.

Hazel: The Complete Fourth Season - Buy from Amazon
Too old-fashion for my taste, but it does have fans.

Law & Order: Criminal Intent: Year Nine - Buy from Amazon
Good show, bad DVD releases. Moving on.

Lego Ninjago: Masters of Spinjitzu - Rise of Green - Buy from Amazon
According to Amazon.com, this is in the top ten for best selling new DVDs for the week.

Mankind: The Story of All of Us - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
The history of mankind from the first major civilizations to the discovery of America. On the one hand, it is a History channel series, so it suffers from the same problems most of those shows suffer from. (It is repetitive, overly dramatic and favors style over substance.) On the other hand, at least it's not about ancient aliens.

Metallica: Quebec Magnetic - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
One of the best-selling new releases of the week. I don't know enough about the band to comment and there are not enough major reviews that I could find to judge.

Miami Connection - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
A Z-movie made in the 1980s but never distributed until now. It isn't a good movie exactly, but it is entertaining. Extras include an audio commentary track, making of featurette, deleted / alternative scenes, reunion, and more. If you are a fan of movies that are so bad they are good, then it is worth checking out.

Mickey Mouse Clubhouse: Mickey & Donald Have a Farm - Buy from Amazon
A fun show for preschoolers, plus the DVDs tend to have better than average extras, although I don't have this particular DVD to judge.

The San Francisco Giants: 2012 World Series Collector's Edition - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
Like I always say, real fans want full games. It even includes a couple of the NLCS games and an historic game from the regular season.

The Story of Film: An Odyssey - Buy from Amazon
A five-disc, 15-hour documentary on the history of film from its early begins during the late 1800s to today. It's an invaluable guide for fans of movie history.

Survivor - Buy from Amazon: Cook Island and Fiji
I hate Reality TV, but I can't just ignore these releases because I don't like the show.

Ted - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray Combo Pack
This film was one of the biggest surprise hits of the year and it looks like it fits perfectly with my sense of humor. It could be a contender for Pick of the Week, but the screener is late.

TV on DVD Megasets - Buy from Amazon: In Search Of..., JAG, and Mission: Impossible
I might get JAG and / or Mission: Impossible to review, but so far it is late. I have reviewed enough of the individual seasons to recommend the shows. In Search Of... is an interesting show, even if it is far from scientific.

WWE: Raw 100 - The Top 100 Moments in Raw History - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
I'm not a fan of wrestling, but I would be surprised if this didn't reach the top 30 on the DVD chart during its opening week.

- C.S.Strowbridge

Date posted: 2012-12-10