Home Market Releases for August 9th, 2016
August 8, 2016
It is a really slow week on the top with only a couple of main releases worth being a contender for Pick of the Week: Supergirl: Season 1 and Sweet Bean on DVD. The Nice Guys would also be a contender, but it is only coming out on Video on Demand this week and it is worth waiting for the Blu-ray Combo Pack. With only two real choices, Sweet Bean is my Pick of the Week.
11.22.63 - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
2016 NBA Cleveland Cavaliers Champions - No Reviews - Buy from Amazon: Blu-ray Combo Pack
Code Black: Season 1 - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray Combo Pack
Fathers and Daughters - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD
A Hologram for the King - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
NCIS: New Orleans: Season 2 - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD
Perry Mason: The Complete Movie Collection - No Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD
Scooby-Doo! and WWE: Curse of the Speed Demon - No Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray Combo Pack
Blu-ray Releases - Buy from Amazon:
4K Releases - Buy from Amazon:
Video on Demand - Buy from Amazon:
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A TV mini-series about a man, James Franco, who travels back in time to prevent the assassination of JFK. The reviews are great, but the only extra is a single featurette. Worth checking out for most, picking up for many, but not a Pick of the Week contender.
Real fans want full games, not an hour and a bit of highlights.
Video on Demand
A medical drama that earned mixed reviews, but had very steady ratings throughout its opening season. If you watched the show beyond the pilot, then it is very likely you watched the show to the very end. If you haven’t seen it and like medical dramas, check out the pilot on VOD. ... On a side note, I think the pilot episode for every show should be free. In fact, I would say the first episode of every season should be free and that the first X episodes of the first season should be free, where X is the number of seasons. Sure, Amazon could be potentially giving away millions of dollars in free downloads, but you wouldn’t need to convert many of those downloads into season subscriptions to make up for the loss.
Video on Demand
Good cast. Bad script. The end result is a movie that tries hard but won’t please most people, even fans of the cast.
Video on Demand
Tom Hanks plays an American businessman whose financial situation isn’t good. He gets a chance to close a business deal in Saudi Arabia and jumps at it, because he thinks it will be the deal of his lifetime. However, things become more complicated than he imagined. The reviews are good, but it opened in “select cities”, which is a death sentence for films. It's too many theaters for a targeted ad campaign, but not enough to warrant a national ad campaign. The film finished with under $5 million domestically, which explains why the only extras on the DVD / Blu-ray are a couple of making of featurettes. That said, it is still worth checking out and if you like the cast, worth purchasing over just renting.
Video on Demand
I’m burned out on this franchise. I don’t even watch the original anymore.
I’ve previously reviewed all five volumes of the movies and while I liked most of the movies, they were pricey compared to most TV on DVD releases. This box set is actually cheaper than some of the individual volumes. I don’t mean it is cheaper than buying all five volumes individually. It’s actually cheaper than volume three or four by themselves. (Volumes one and two seem to be MIA on Amazon.) If you like the original show but balked at the price of the movies, now it a great time to grab them. If you bought them originally, you have legitimate reason to be upset.
Video on Demand
Scooby-Doo teams up with the WWE to make a series of direct-to-video movies. I’m not in the target audience here and there are no reviews on Rotten Tomatoes to judge the movie. Extras include a making of featurette and two bonus cartoons from the franchise’s long, long history. If you are a fan of Scooby-Doo and / or the WWE, then it is worth checking out.
Supergirl: Season 1 - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
Video on Demand
I watched the first few episodes of this series and while I liked the performances by Melissa Benoist and others, but I thought the action scenes were below average, even for a TV show. Later on, I read that the show had improved and checked out a few more episodes. It has improved. I’m not sure I agree with the 96% positive Tomatometer Score, but it is certainly one of the better new TV shows from last season and it is worth checking out. Extras include a couple of featurettes, the ComicCon Panel, deleted scenes, and outtakes. That pushes it up to a solid purchase, but I really would have liked some audio commentary tracks. Normally the lack of audio commentary tracks would hurt it, but it is a really slow week, so it is still a contender for Pick of the Week.
Sweet Bean - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD
I put in a request for this film, but if the screener is on its way, it is late. The reviews are excellent, so much so that even without getting a screener, it is a clear contender for Pick of the Week.
Absolute Duo: The Complete Series - No Reviews - Buy from Amazon: Blu-ray Combo Pack
Addicted to Fresno - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
Barakamon: The Complete Series - No Reviews - Buy from Amazon: Blu-ray Combo Pack
Basket Case 2 - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: Blu-ray
Basket Case 3 - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: Blu-ray
Baskin - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray Combo Pack
Canadian Pacific - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: Blu-ray
The Cariboo Trail - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: Blu-ray
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: Blu-ray
Charlie Chan and the Curse of the Dragon Queen - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: Blu-ray
Female Prisoner Scorpion: The Complete Collection - No Reviews - Buy from Amazon: Blu-ray
Garo the Animation: Season One, Part Two - No Reviews - Buy from Amazon: Blu-ray Combo Pack
Gunslinger Girl Gunslinger Girl II Teatrino - No Reviews - Buy from Amazon: Blu-ray Combo Pack
Wake Up, Girls! - No Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
WWE: Attitude Era, Volume 3 - No Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof is the best of the secondary Blu-ray releases this week. However, there are a couple of Randolph Scott Canadian adventure movies that I’m interested in. It’s my patriotic duty to support any movie that has Mounties in it.
Lone Survivor - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: 4K Combo Pack
Lucy - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: 4K Combo Pack
Oblivion - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: 4K Combo Pack
Coincidentally, I have previously reviewed all three movies. I liked all three, to one degree or another, but in my opinion, Lucy is the best. ... Just ignore the science and pretend it’s magic.
Annabelle Hooper and the Ghosts of Nantucket - No Reviews - Video on Demand
DC Super Hero Girls: Hero of the Year - No Reviews - Video on Demand
The First Monday in May - Reviews - Video on Demand
A Monster With A Thousand Heads - Reviews - Video on Demand
The Nice Guys - Reviews - Video on Demand
Ratchet and Clank - Reviews - Video on Demand
The Nice Guys is clearly the best Video on Demand release this week, but it is too good for just VOD. I’ve pre-ordered the Blu-ray Combo Pack. However, I think DC Super Hero Girls: Hero of the Year will be excellent on Video on Demand. It will be a nice pallet cleanser for the GrimDark D.C. Extended Universe.
Filed under: DVD and Blu-ray Releases, Home Market Releases, The Nice Guys, A Hologram for the King, Ratchet and Clank, Un monstruo de mil cabezas, Fathers and Daughters, The First Monday in May, DC Super Hero Girls: Hero of the Year, Scooby-Doo! and WWE: Curse of the Speed Demon, Annabelle Hooper and the Ghosts of Nantucket, DC Extended Universe, Tom Hanks, James Franco, Randolph Scott, Melissa Benoist