DVD and Blu-ray Releases for April 28th, 2015
April 28, 2015
This is usually a terrible time of year on the home market with the dredges of January and February coming out and precious little else. However, this week is actually really strong with not only one of the best films of the year, Paddington, as well as a number of summer shows coming out on TV on DVD. Unfortunately, it is also a really shallow week and with the May monthly preview due on Friday, I'm not even going to pretend it's a deep week and I'm ignoring anything below second-tier releases. As far as Pick of the Week is concerned, there are really only two contenders. The first is the aforementioned Paddington DVD or Blu-ray Combo Pack. The second is Mommy a Canadian movie coming out on DVD this week. Paddington is the Pick of the Week, but Mommy earns the rarely awarded Puck of the Week.
50 to 1 - Buy from Amazon: DVD
The Barber - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray Combo Pack
Blu-ray Releases - Buy from Amazon: Accidental Love, The Admiral: Roaring Currents, Barquero, Cancer: The Emperor of All Maladies, Convoy, D-Frag: The Complete Series, The Friends of Eddie Coyle, From a Whisper to a Scream, Hayate the Combat Butler: Season 3, Hollywood Shuffle, The Last Days in Vietnam, Little Man Tate, Lord of the Flies, Miami Blues, Nobunaga the Fool, Le silence de la mer, Spaceballs, Teachers, Time of EVE: The Movie, White Buffalo, Wild at Heart, and WWE: ECW Unreleased: Volume 3
The Book of Negroes - Buy from Amazon: DVD
Covert Affairs: Season 5 - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray Combo Pack
The Gambler - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray Combo Pack
Inherent Vice - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray Combo Pack
Masterpiece: Wolf Hall - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
The Mentalist: Season 7 - Buy from Amazon: DVD
Mommy - Buy from Amazon: DVD
New Tricks, Season 11 - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray Combo Pack
Paddington - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray Combo Pack
Royal Pains: Season 6 - Buy from Amazon: DVD
Suits: Season 4 - Buy from Amazon: DVD
Taken 3 - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray Combo Pack
TV on DVD Full Series Megasets - Buy from Amazon: The Mentalist
The Wedding Ringer - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
Usually it takes about about three or four months for a movie to come out on DVD. This film took just over a year. Its reviews are bad, but it did relatively well at the box office, for a limited release and it appears to be doing relatively well on the home market.
Just a quick note for this release. We will be holding a contest and publishing a review, as soon as the screener / prize shows up.
I love Spaceballs, but how many times does it need to be released on Blu-ray?
The press kit that came with this TV mini-series included a quote calling it the Roots for our generation. That sets up really high expectations, expectations I didn't expect to be met. That said, can the mini-series stand on its own? And is the three-disc DVD worth picking up? Check out our review to find out.
This film barely cracked double-digits on Rotten Tomatoes, but is it truly that bad? Is it in in the "So bad it's good" category? Read our review to find out.
The fifth and final season of this show comes out on DVD this week. The reviews were good throughout the show's run, but the ratings were in decline and that spelled the end of the show. Because of this, this is a bittersweet week for fans of the show. They get to complete their collection, but they know no more episodes will be made.
Stick with the original.
This film earned good reviews, but not great reviews. Even so, it did really well in limited release. It couldn't maintain this momentum as it expanded, on the other hand. Its weak box office numbers could explain why there are almost no extras on the DVD or Blu-ray (some deleted scenes and five minutes of featurettes). It is still worth checking out, but I can't be enthusiastic about my recommendation.
A six-part mini-series from PBS. The reviews on Rotten Tomatoes are unanimously positive, so fans of the genre should snap it up. On the other hand, these releases tend to have weak extras.
I watched the first few seasons of this show and I enjoyed it, but there were just too many similar shows I watched and I stopped watching. (In fact, I purged most of the TV shows I watched and I'm down to five or six hours a week, depending on if Game of Thrones is currently on air. I have so many TV shows I have to watch to review that I don't have the time to watch too many shows just for fun.) Also coming out this week is a Complete Series Megaset, but I'm not sure it is a great deal over the individual seasons.
A Canadian movie that earned amazing reviews and did really well... in Canada. It struggled to find an audience in the States, but I really hope that changes on the home market.
A British police procedural that has lasted long enough that it has a mostly new cast. It is not as good as it once was, but it is still good enough to check out for fans of the genre.
This will end the year as one of the best-reviewed wide releases. It also earned just over $75 million, which is amazing for a January release. On the down side, the extras are terrible with just five short featurettes (most are just a couple of minutes) with one of them a Blu-ray exclusive. It is still worth picking up, and since there is very little competition, it is a contender for Pick of the Week.
A typical summer show. It has earned mixed reviews, but its ratings have been strong enough to last seven seasons.
A TV show about a lawyer who is actually a college drop-out, but he has a photographic memory. It's a summer show, which usually means the reviews are mixed. The last season did earn the best Tomatometer Score in the show's run, but that could be because critics who were cold on the show already gave up on it. Or it could mean the show has improved dramatically over its first season. The viewership has fallen below 2 million an episode, so I fear it might be the former.
Last week I told you to skip this Blu-ray; however, that was before I got a screener to review. Is it as bad as its 9% positive reviews would suggest? Or was I too quick to judge? Read our review to find out.
Just the one Megaset this week, but it is for a show that just ended its run. If you liked the series right to the end, but didn't buy the individual seasons, then it is worth picking up.
This film earned bad reviews, but did well at the box office, given its release date. I guess if you are a fan of Kevin Hart, then it is worth checking out, but that's as enthusiastic an recommendation I can make.
Filed under: DVD and Blu-ray Releases, Home Market Releases, Spaceballs, The Barber, Paddington, 50 to 1, The Boy Next Door, The Wedding Ringer, Inherent Vice, Taken 3, Mommy, The Gambler, The Book of Negroes, Kevin Hart