DVD and Blu-ray Releases for February 4th, 2014

February 3, 2014

It's another slow week on the home market. There are five or so first run releases, but the biggest box office was earned by Free Birds, which earned $55 million. Fortunately, while there are no box office hits, there are some high quality releases, led by Dallas Buyers Club. Unfortunately, the DVD and Blu-ray Combo Pack has so few extras that I'm convinced a special edition is on its way, so it isn't a Pick of the Week contender. So what are the Pick of the Week contenders this week? First there's Cutie and the Boxer on DVD or Blu-ray. Second there's ... Cutie and the Boxer is the Pick of the Week.

About Time - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray Combo Pack
A movie about a father who tells his son that, like all males in their family, they can time travel. So the son uses this power to win over the girl of his dreams. The film earned good reviews, great reviews compared to the average romantic comedy. Extras on the DVD include an audio commentary track, deleted scenes, outtakes, and two music videos, while the Blu-ray has a trio of featurettes as well. It's worth picking up for sure.

Baggage Claim - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray Combo Pack
Paula Patton stars as a flight attendant whose little sister is getting married. She can't go to the wedding single, so she and her two friends make sure she can reconnect with all of her old boyfriends whenever one of them flies so she can figure out if one of them is Mr. Right. The reviews are as bad as that setup makes the film seem. It struggled to find an audience, but the extras are not terrible (audio commentary track and two featurettes). Even so, no amount of extras would make this movie worth picking up.

Blood Brother - Buy from Amazon
A documentary about Rocky Braat, who traveled to India to find a family and instead became active in helping AIDS orphans. The film's reviews are good and it even won nearly a dozen awards from various film festivals.

Blu-ray Releases - Buy from Amazon: AKB0048 Next Stage: Season 2, A Case of You, City of Angels, Death Wish: 40th Anniversary, Fairy Tail: Part 8, The Inn of the Sixth Happiness, Jules and Jim (Criterion Collection), Million Dollar Baby: 10th Anniversary, Napoleon Dynamite: 10th Anniversary, Stop-Loss, Two Weeks Notice, and Witchboard
There are quite a few releases on this week's list, mostly catalog titles including a few that I was surprised are making their Blu-ray debut this week. Two Weeks Notice was not a small film. It earned nearly $200 million worldwide back in 2002, but this is the first time it is coming out on Blu-ray. Strange.

Care Bears: Care-A-Thon Games - Buy from Amazon
The first of two releases on this week's box office prediction contest. There are four episodes on this disc, which puts it on par with other Care Bears releases.

Cutie and the Boxer - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
One of the best documentaries of the year. It focuses on an artist, Ushio Shinohara, and his wife, Noriko Shinohara, who is an artist as well, but her career took a back seat to helping his. The extras are strong for a documentary and it is worth picking up.

Dallas Buyers Club - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray Combo Pack
One of the best-reviewed films of 2013 and many think it is a lock in to win at least one Oscar. Is it as good as the reviews would indicate? Or am I one of the few on the dissenting side? Read our review to find out.

Doctor Who: The Complete Sixth Series - Buy from Amazon
I'm not sure if this is coming out or not. Amazon.com has it there, but its sales rank is 377,000 and change. If it sold even one copy it should be higher than that.

Escape Plan - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray Combo Pack
Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger team up in this prison escape movie. Can it live up to their career heights in the 1980s? Or has it been too long? Check out our review to find out.

Family Matters: Complete Fourth Season - Buy from Amazon
Why is the release schedule for this show so slow? Once a show is off the air, TV on DVD releases should come no later than six months apart. Three or four months would be better.

Free Birds - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray Combo Pack
Two turkeys travel back in time to the first Thanksgiving to change the menu and protect turkeys throughout history. It's a high concept kids film, but the execution is really bad. It still managed $55 million at the box office, which is how much it cost to make. There are not a lot of extras on the DVD or the Blu-ray, so unless your kids loved the movie in theaters, you can probably give this one a pass.

The Inevitable Defeat of Mister and Pete - Buy from Amazon
This film earned reviews that were outstanding, but it missed the Mendoza Line during its opening weekend. Hopefully it will find an audience on the home market, because it deserves to.

Joanie Loves Chachi: Complete Series - Buy from Amazon
A really, really bad show. It's no wonder it lasted only one shortened season.

Justice League: War - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray Combo Pack
The latest D.C. Comic direct-to-DVD animated movie. These movies are usually really good, but this film has only two reviews so far, and they are both negative. Disappointing.

Laverne & Shirley: Seventh Season - Buy from Amazon
A great show, but it has been a while since I've seen it.

Midsomer Murders, Set 23 - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
According to Amazon.com, this is the seventh best selling new release of the week. It is a great show and fans of British police procedurals should pick it up. However, it shouldn't be the seventh best selling new release, unless it is a very slow or shallow week.

My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic: Season Three - Buy from Amazon
Still waiting for the screener. I've liked the episodes of the show I've reviewed in the past, so I'm looking forward to seeing this one.

Night of the Demons - Blu-ray - Buy from Amazon
According to Amazon.com, this is the eighth best selling new release of the week. It is a low-budget horror film from the 1980s that earned mostly bad reviews. It shouldn't be the eighth best selling new release, unless it is a very slow or shallow week.

Romeo and Juliet - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
One of countless numbers of adaptations of William Shakespeare's most famous play. I really likes Hailee Steinfeld in True Grit (Who didn't?) so I was hoping this film was good. It is not. The extras include a quartet of featurettes, but even if you love, love, love this story, there are better options out there.

The Tick: The Complete Series - Buy from Amazon
I love this show. It is absolutely worth picking up if you don't own it already, especially at the bargain price of $10. On the other hand, the original release has audio commentary tracks.

The White Queen: Season One - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
A British TV mini-series about the Wars of the Roses. The ten-episode mini-series cost 25 million pounds to make. That's $40 million for ten episodes. The series earned good reviews, for the most part, and did pick up three Golden Globe nominations. There are enough extras on the DVD and the Blu-ray that it is worth picking up, but it is not Pick of the Week material. I've seen too many bad reviews mixed in with the good reviews to recommend it that much.

Wings - Buy from Amazon
The second release on this week's contest.


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Filed under: DVD and Blu-ray Releases, Home Market Releases, Night of the Demons, Dallas Buyers Club, Escape Plan, Free Birds, Romeo & Juliet, About Time, Baggage Claim, Cutie and the Boxer, The Inevitable Defeat of Mister and Pete, Justice League: War, Blood Brother, Rachel McAdams, Bill Nighy, Paula Patton, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sylvester Stallone, Domhnall Gleeson, William Shakespeare, Hailee Steinfeld, Ushio Shinohara, Noriko Shinohara