Home Market Releases for April 12th, 2016

April 13, 2016

The Lady in the Car with Glasses and a Gun

It is a very slow week on the home market. The only first-run release is The Forest, which earned a single-digit Tomatometer Score. The best-selling release of the week is Justice League vs. Teen Titans which continues to prove animated D.C. is better than live-action D.C. As far as Pick of the Week contenders are concerned, there are a few releases that interest me, including Suspicion on Blu-ray. However, I went with The Lady in the Car with Glasses and a Gun on Blu-ray. I will admit it dances deep into the Style over Substance territory, but it's a style I have really got into.

Bride of Re-Animator - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray Combo Pack
The sequel to Re-Animator, which is considered a classic. This film, on the other hand, is only average. Not enough is fresh, but it could still please its target audience. Furthermore, the 3-disc set is loaded with extras, so that's a bonus.

Family Matters: The Complete Sixth Season - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray Combo Pack
Video on Demand
Normally I would skip TV on DVD releases like this one. It is a catalog title near the end of its run. Either you are a fan of the show and already are keeping track of the releases, or you are not a fan and don't care. However, this is in the top five best-selling new releases for the week, at least according to Amazon.

The Forest - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
A horror movie that features a good performance from Natalie Dormer, but no where near enough scares to be effective. Unless you really like Natalie Dormer and / or the genre, you can safely skip this movie.

Grace And Frankie: Season One - Buy from Amazon: DVD
Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin star as two women who were never friends, but who learn their respective husbands have been having a decades long affair, with each other. Now the men want to get married and the two women have a lot more in common. The TV show has a great cast, but the critics complain that the scripts are filled with tired sitcom clichés.

Heroes Reborn: Event Series - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray Combo Pack
I like the "Event Series" label. This show was clearly going for a full series, but the ratings were too weak to last beyond the mini-series. Unfortunately, its reviews were no better than its ratings.

It Follows - Buy from Amazon: Blu-ray
Great movie, but we didn't need a double-dip this close to its original release. At least wait till the upcoming sequel comes out.


Ken Burns: Jackie Robinson - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
The latest from Ken Burns is earning unanimously positive reviews. If you are a fan of Ken Burns, or of baseball, then this DVD or Blu-ray is a must have.

Justice League vs. Teen Titans - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray Combo Pack
This animated movie is better than Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. I'm basing that statement more on The Law of Averages than its reviews, as there is only one on Rotten Tomatoes at the moment. These movies do tend to earn overall positive reviews and many of them earn overwhelmingly positive reviews, but it is too soon to tell where this one will end up. It is selling well compared to its competition, so maybe that's a positive sign.


The Lady in the Car with Glasses and a Gun - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
Video on Demand
The Lady in the Car with Glasses and a Gun is a French film with a decidedly Film Noir style to it. It has a lot of style. Perhaps too much style. Is it worth checking out? Is the Blu-ray worth picking up? Check out our review to find out.

London Spy - Buy from Amazon: DVD
Video on Demand
Ben Whishaw stars as Danny, who falls in love with Alex. When Alex dies, Danny decides to figure out why, only to learn Alex worked for the Secret Intelligence Service. The reviews are excellent and $20 for a five-hour mini-series is a better price than most British imports have, so that's a plus.

Me...Jane...and More Stories about Girl Power - Buy from Amazon: DVD
This screener arrived late and I already have three screeners for next week, so I'm going to have to push it to the prize pool.


Only Angels Have Wings: Criterion Collection - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
This movie is nearing its 80th anniversary. That's my only concern for this Blu-ray , as an 80th anniversary release is possible. That said, Criterion Collection are usually top-notch, so an anniversary edition probably wouldn't be better than this release.

Power Rangers Dino Charge: Resurgence - Buy from Amazon: DVD
The latest Power Rangers DVD comes out this week. I'm more interested in Wild Force: Complete Series. Hopefully it sells well enough that RPM gets a $15 release.


Suspicion - Buy from Amazon: Blu-ray
This Hitchcock classic is from 1941. The movie is about a woman whose new husband might be a murderer. It is one of the best movies made and definitely the best on this week's list. However, there is the issue of double-dips, as I own this movie twice already, including in a really nice DVD box set. If they re-release the box sets on Blu-ray, then it would be the Pick of the Week.

Video on Demand - Buy from Amazon: The 5th Wave, 7 Miles of Paradise, Birds of a Feather: Season One, Creative Control, Krampus, Lego Scooby-Doo: Haunted Hollywood, Miso Hungry, Nikki Glaser: Perfect, and Ride Along 2
The only VOD release that I'm really interested in seeing is Krampus. Fortunately, the screener is already here, so look for that review in two weeks.

Village of the Damned - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
Video on Demand
This is the 1995 dud and not the 1960s classic.

Filed under: DVD and Blu-ray Releases, Home Market Releases, The Forest, Krampus, Justice League vs Teen Titans, Bride of Re-Animator, Only Angels Have Wings, Jane Fonda, Alfred Hitchcock, Lily Tomlin, Ben Whishaw, Natalie Dormer, Ken Burns, Edward Holcroft