Home Market Releases for January 17th, 2017

January 17, 2017

Long Way North

The are not many major releases on this week’s home market release list. The Girl on the Train is the biggest, but it is not the best. It is not even close to being the best. The race for best was mostly a two-way race between Long Way North and Ouija: Origin of Evil, with Ixcanul and Train to Busan being close behind. In the end, I went with Long Way North on Blu-ray Combo Pack as the Pick of the Week, but all four are worth owning.

12 Monkeys: Season Two - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
If you look at this show's reviews on Rotten Tomatoes, you would think the show suddenly got a lot better over season 2. However, while its Tomatometer score rose from 62% positive to 86% positive, that’s because the number of critics went from 34 to 7. This means most of the critics who reviewed the show the first season didn’t bother to review season two. That’s pretty much all you need to know.

Death Race 2050 - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray Combo Pack
The second remake of Death Race 2000, but this one is produced by Roger Corman. The previous remake lost a lot of the B-movie charm. Is it back? And is the overall quality the same? Read our review for my opinion.

Fairy Tail: Collection Six - No Reviews - Buy from Amazon: Blu-ray Combo Pack
This week, there are not one, but two Anime titles selling well enough to be included on this list.

Fatima - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD
A single mom living in Paris is trying to provide for her two daughters when she is injured in a fall. The reviews are stunning, but the film struggled in limited release. This explains why it isn’t getting a Blu-ray release. This is a shame, as it really deserves to be seen by more.

The Girl on the Train - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD, Blu-ray Combo Pack, 4K Ultra HD Combo Pack
Video on Demand
One of the bigger hits from this past October. It earned mixed reviews, but did well enough worldwide that it might already be profitable. The extras are okay, but nothing special. There’s an audio commentary track, a couple of making of featurettes, and some deleted scenes. Call it a rental, maybe a soft purchase, if you are a fan of the book and / or the cast.


Ixcanul - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
Video on Demand
A film about a 17-year old girl whose parents have arranged a marriage for her, but she runs away with the young man she loves. The reviews are 100% positive, while the extras are good for a foreign-language film (making of featurette and a essay in a booklet). It is definitely worth picking up and a clear contender for Pick of the Week.


Keeping Up with the Joneses - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD, Blu-ray Combo Pack, and 4K Ultra HD Combo Pack
Great cast. Terrible movie. Moving on.


Long Way North - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray Combo Pack
An animated film about a young aristocrat living in Russia who learns her grandfather was an explorer, who was lost trying to claim the North Pole for Russia. When she then learns he might still be alive, so she decides to mount a rescue party. The film’s reviews are nearly 100% positive, while the extras are good, especially compared to most limited releases. There is a making of featurette and an interview featurette, with a combined running time of over an hour, plus a few short extras. It is certainly worth picking up and a contender for Pick of the Week.


The Love Boat: Season Three - Buy from Amazon: DVD
The Love Boat: Season Three, Volume Two - Buy from Amazon: DVD
Two points. One, these two DVDs are selling better than I would have expected. Two, the theme song will be stuck in my head for the rest of the day.

Naruto Shippuden Uncut: Set 29 - No Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD
One of the longest running shows of all time. Although at this point, the show jumped the shark so long ago that the shark-jumping moment is almost closer to the beginning than it is to the episodes in this set.

NYPD Blue: The Final Season - No Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD
One of two TV shows ending their TV on DVD runs this week. NYPD Blue is a classic, but it never got a lot of love on DVD.


Ouija: Origin of Evil - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
Video on Demand
It isn’t that uncommon for a sequel to be vastly different from the original film in terms of quality. However, usually this happens when a classic movie gets a vastly inferior sequel. Strangely, this time around the original movie was terrible, but the sequel is amazing. Sadly, the sequel didn’t do as well at the box office. I fear studios will learn a bad lesson here, that is that quality doesn’t help the box office. The real lesson is, a bad film that is a financial success isn’t a great film to make a sequel to, as those burned by the first film avoid the second, regardless of the reviews. Fortunately, the extras are good with the usual audio commentary track, making of featurette, deleted scenes, etc. Definitely worth picking up and a contender for Pick of the Week. Also coming out this week is a Two-Movie Collection, but as I said before, the first movie is garbage.


Rizzoli & Isles: Season Seven - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD
This show started off with mixed reviews, but grew into a good summer series. Granted, summer series have lower expectations than shows that run from fall through spring, so keep that in mind. Also coming out this week is a Complete Series Megaset on DVD.

Scarlett: The Mini-series Event - No Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD
A TV mini-series from 1994. It is selling surprisingly well, especially since this isn’t its DVD debut.

Surf's up 2: Wave Mania - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD
Video on Demand
This is one of the best-selling new releases of the week. This is surprising to me. I don’t see a large crossover audience between professional wrestling and surfing penguins.


Train to Busan - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
Video on Demand
A South Korean zombie movie that takes place on a train traveling to a resort town. The film’s reviews are well over 90% positive, while the extras are okay for a foreign-language import. Sadly, it sold so well that it is now out of stock on Amazon, but it is worth ordering now so you can get it as soon as they get more copies.


Zero Days - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD
Video on Demand
This is good timing, as this documentary could earn an Oscar nomination next week. For those interested in political documentaries, it is certainly worth picking up.


Blu-ray Releases - Buy from Amazon:
Ali - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: Blu-ray
Bad Day at Black Rock - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: Blu-ray
Come and Find Me - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
Fox and Friends (The Criterion Collection) - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
The Hollow Point - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
Resident Evil - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: Blu-ray
Resident Evil Apocalypse - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: Blu-ray
Resident Evil: Extinction - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: Blu-ray
Resident Evil: Afterlife - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: Blu-ray
Resident Evil: Retribution - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: Blu-ray
Revenge of the Blood Beast - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: Blu-ray
Slumber Party Massacre II and III - No Reviews - Buy from Amazon: Blu-ray
Something Wild (The Criterion Collection) - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
Takashi Miike's Black Society Trilogy - No Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
The Whole Truth - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
The previous films in the Resident Evil are being re-released on Blu-ray this week, just in time for the The Final Chapter’s release next week.

3D Blu-ray Releases - Buy from Amazon:
No 3D releases this week, again.

4K Blu-ray Releases - Buy from Amazon:
Battleship - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: 4K Ultra HD Combo Pack
The Girl on the Train - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: 4K Ultra HD Combo Pack
Keeping Up with the Joneses - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: 4K Ultra HD Combo Pack
Resident Evil: Afterlife - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: 4K Ultra HD Combo Pack
Resident Evil: Afterlife gets a 4K release, while the rest of the films in the franchise are only coming out on Blu-ray.

TV on DVD Megasets - Buy from Amazon:
Rizzoli & Isles - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD
The Untouchables - No Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
The Untouchables is a mess. The DVD came out on Friday, but the Blu-ray doesn’t come out until March.

Video on Demand - Buy from Amazon:
All Things Valentine - No Reviews - Video on Demand Anything for Love - No Reviews - Video on Demand
Appetite for Love - No Reviews - Video on Demand
Barbie Video Game Hero - No Reviews - Video on Demand
Below the Surface - No Reviews - Video on Demand
Come and Find Me - Reviews - Video on Demand
Dater’s Handbook - No Reviews - Video on Demand
The Free World - Reviews - Video on Demand
The Hollow Point - Reviews - Video on Demand
Jack Reacher: Never Go Back - Reviews - Video on Demand
Masterminds - Reviews - Video on Demand
Storks - Reviews - Video on Demand
A Street Cat Named Bob - Reviews - Video on Demand
The Whole Truth - Reviews - Video on Demand
Windstorm - Reviews - Video on Demand
The only secondary VOD release I’m interested in is A Street Cat Named Bob. It was almost good enough to thrive in limited release, but it wasn’t that lucky.

Filed under: DVD and Blu-ray Releases, Home Market Releases, Masterminds, Ouija: Origin of Evil, Keeping Up with the Joneses, The Hollow Point, Storks, The Girl on the Train, Jack Reacher: Never Go Back, The Whole Truth, A Street Cat Named Bob, Zero Days, Tout en haut du monde, Busanhaeng, The Free World, Come and Find Me, Roger Corman’s Death Race 2050, Ostwind, Barbie: Video Game Hero, Below the Surface, Faustrecht der Freiheit, Resident Evil, Roger Corman