June 11th, 2012
It's another strong week at the home market, at least for this time of year. Usually at this time of year we are dealing with January and February releases, which tend to be rather bad and are rarely big hits at the box office. However, we have the last of the winter blockbusters coming out this Tuesday. The Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows Blu-ray Combo Pack will be the best selling release of the week, and good enough to buy, but it is not Pick of the Week material. There were a couple others that came close, like Too Big to Fail on DVD or Blu-ray Combo Pack and In Darkness on DVD or Blu-ray. In the end, I went with Shallow Grave's Criterion Collection Blu-ray as the pick of the week, although Harold and Maude's Criterion Collection Blu-ray and Gold Rush's Criterion Collection Blu-ray are really close behind.
More...
June 10th, 2012
The Yankles was filmed in 2008, but while it toured more than a few film festivals in the following few years, it never got a theatrical release. Last week it came out on DVD, Blu-ray, and Video on Demand. It's not a big name release, but is it worth checking out? Or is it like too many direct-to-DVD releases in terms of quality?
More...
June 5th, 2012
While summer is usually the slowest time of the year on the home market, this week is fantastic with a lot of prime releases, including first-run, TV on DVD releases, classics and limited releases. Unfortunately, the largest single category is, "Screener is Late". You will see that phrase countless times on this list. (Perhaps it's because last week was a short week due to Memorial Day.) It is especially hard to select a Pick of the Week, because I don't like handing out that title when the screener is late. There are a few likely candidates, including Burn Notice: The Complete Fifth Season, Yellow Submarine on Blu-ray, but I went with Tomboy on DVD.
More...