Home Market Releases for August 28th, 2018

August 29, 2018

It is a very busy week with a flood of TV on DVD releases. Because of that, each entry has to be a little shorter than usual, especially the TV on DVD releases. There are some titles that are worth more attention, like American Animals, Bound, RBG, and others. It was a close race for Pick of the Week, but in the end I went with Bound on Blu-ray.

American Animals - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
Video on Demand
A real life crime caper about a group of four young men who decide to steal rare books from the library at the university two of them go to. The reviews were great and it did well at the box office, for a limited release. The extras on the DVD / Blu-ray include audio commentary track, featurettes, deleted scenes, and more. That’s enough to be worth picking up and even enough to be a contender for Pick of the Week.

Book Club - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
Video on Demand
This film only managed mixed reviews, but it did really well at the box office compared to its $10 million production budget. If it hasn’t already broken even, it will do so very shortly. There are plenty of extras, so if you are in the target audience, it is worth picking up.

Bound - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: Blu-ray
A Neo Noir crime thriller from 1996. The reviews are excellent, but it never found an audience in theaters. This special edition is loaded with extras and it is easily worth picking up. In fact, it is a contender for Pick of the Week.

Brooklyn Nine-Nine: Season Five - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD
A comedy about a cop precinct in Brooklyn. The show has always earned amazing reviews, but struggled in the ratings. It was canceled last season, but NBC has picked it up as a midseason replacement. The only extras are some deleted scenes, but that’s enough to be worth picking up.

Chicago Fire: Season Six - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD
The show earned mediocre reviews during its first season and not enough critics have bothered to review it since then for it to get a Tomatometer Score. Frankly I have no interest in this show, or any in the Chicago franchise.

Chicago Med: Season Three - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD
The show earned mediocre reviews during its first season and not enough critics have bothered to review it since then for it to get a Tomatometer Score. Frankly I have no interest in this show, or any in the Chicago franchise.

Child’s Play Franchise
Child’s Play 2 - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: Blu-ray
Child’s Play 3 - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray Combo Pack
Bride of Chucky - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray Combo Pack
Seed of Chucky - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray Combo Pack
The first movie is really good. Not all of the sequels are worth picking up, on the other hand.

Code Geass: Lelouch of Rebellion - The Complete Series - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: Blu-ray
An Anime series set in a world where the U.K. invades and swiftly defeats Japan as their first step in establishing a global empire. However, the exiled Prince of Britannia gets magical powers and wants revenge on those who exiled him. The reviews on My Anime List are stellar, while the Blu-ray has amazing extras. And I don’t mean amazing compared to the average Anime release, as the average Anime release has very few extras. I’m mean amazing compared to a lot of special releases. There are 18 audio commentary tracks, as well as interviews with the English-language cast, and more. It is easily worth picking up and a contender for Pick of the Week.

Criminal Minds: The Thirteenth Season - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray Combo Pack
I’ve reviewed a couple of seasons of this show, but stopped doing so when it became just too predictable.

The Flash: The Complete Fourth Season - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
This show’s reviews are starting to suffer. Granted, it earned a Tomatometer Score of 75% positive for the most recent season, but that’s down from more than 90% positive for the first two seasons. The extras are good, but not great, so it is still worth picking up for fans. However, if the show doesn’t turn around during season five, many fans will abandon the show.

The High Chaparral: Season One - No Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD
A Western TV series from the late 1960s to the early 1970s. It only lasted four seasons, but this DVD is selling really well.

Lucifer: The Third and Final Season - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD
This show earned mixed reviews during its first season. Granted, it did get 100% positive reviews for seasons two and three, but those two seasons only had 11 reviews combined, so even most critics who liked the first season didn’t bother to review seasons two and three. The show has been canceled and this is called the final season, but it is being revived for one season on Netflix.

Mind Game - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: Blu-ray Combo Pack
Video on Demand
An animated movie about a young man who is killed by a gangster. When he arrives in the afterlife and God welcomes him to heaven, he runs the other way and returns to Earth. The reviews are 100% positive, but there are less than 10 of them on Rotten Tomatoes and the film struggled at the box office. Lack of extras prevent it from being a Pick of the Week contender.

Naruto Shippuden: Uncut: Set 35 - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD
One of the most popular Anime series in North America. However, it has run for so long and there are so many DVD releases that I’ve long since run out of things to say about them.

NCIS: Los Angeles: The Ninth Season - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD
There are too many police procedurals on TV and even as a fan of the genre, I’ve grown tired of them.

No Game, No Life: Zero - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
An Isekia Anime series about a brother and sister transported to a world where all conflicts are settled through games of skill. On the one hand, it is great show when it comes to writing and the show would be a Pick of the Week contender, except for one problem. It’s an ecchie show, which means it has a lot of fan service, and I mean the jiggly kind. That in itself wouldn’t be a problem, but the sister in the brother and sister duo is just 11 years old and she’s introduced in the opening credits with a panty shot. Skip it.

Once Upon a Time: Season Seven - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray Combo Pack
The show started out as a monster hit, but its a high-concept show and those tend to have short lives on TV. This one did last seven years, but it lost 70% of its opening season audience by the final season.

Paterno - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD
Video on Demand
I had a chance to review this TV movie, but I knew I would be too busy to get to it this week, so I passed. It arrived anyway. Maybe I’ll get to it in a few weeks, but there are some late screeners that I actually requested that I have to get to first.

Psycho Franchise
Psycho II - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray Combo Pack
Psycho III - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray Combo Pack
Psycho IV - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray Combo Pack
The three Psycho sequels are coming out on Blu-ray this week. They are worse than the original film, but two of them are not as bad as they could have been. They’ve already been released as part of a box set, so I see no reason to buy these.

RBG - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
It’s been a great year for documentaries and this one is one of the biggest and the best. Even if the DVD / Blu-ray had no extras, it would be a contender for Pick of the Week. It doesn’t have a lot of extras, but it does have extra interviews and other deleted and alternative scenes.

Scandal: Seasons Six and Seven - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD
An amazing show that is ending after seven seasons. Or six seasons spread over seven years. (It was a midseason replacement for its first season and its last two seasons were shortened, so it only had a little under six seasons worth of episodes.) Fortunately, the show’s reviews for the last season was just as good as the first season, so fans will want to complete their collection.

Star Wars: Rebels: Season Four - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
The fourth and final season of Star Wars: Rebels came out a couple of weeks ago, but the screener arrived late. Is it worth the wait? Did the show end in a satisfying way? Or does it just end? Read our review to find out.

Tag - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
Video on Demand
A movie based on a real life multi-year game of tag a group of friends played. When one of them is getting married and wants to retire as the undefeated champion, the others realize his wedding will be the last chance they have of tagging him. It’s a high-concept comedy, which is a risky proposition to make. However, it was a solid midlevel hit in theaters. As for the DVD / Blu-ray, extras include a featurette on the real people, deleted scenes, and outtakes. Call it a solid rental.

Tucker: The Man and His Dream - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: Blu-ray
Based on the real-life story of Preston Tucker, or should I say inspired by the real-life story. There are a lot of liberties taken with the story to make Tucker seem more sympathetic and to create a more cinematic movie. Keeping that in mind, it is worth checking out. Extras include an audio commentary track, deleted scenes, intro, and more. A couple of these are new to the special edition, but I’m not sure that’s enough to warrant an upgrade.

Universal Monsters Complete Collection - No Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray Combo Pack
You can get the complete collection, or some of the smaller collections or individual films, including: Abbott and Costello Meet the Invisible Man, Creature From the Black Lagoon: Complete Collection, and The Invisible Man: Complete Legacy Collection.

Upgrade - Reviews Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
Video on Demand
An action film with a cyberpunk / body horror feel to it. It earned excellent reviews, but it struggled at the box office. Unfortunately, its box office troubles resulted in a featureless DVD / Blu-ray. It is still worth picking up, but it is not a Pick of the Week contender.

Woman Walks Ahead - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
Video on Demand
This smells like busted Oscar bait. It’s cast has earned a number of major Awards Season nominations over their collective careers and it is a period piece based on real life events. All of this should interest Awards Season voters, but the reviews are just mixed, so it won’t go anywhere during Awards Season.

Blu-ray Releases - Buy from Amazon:
Angel Cop OVAs - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: Blu-ray
Aura Battler Dunbine - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: Blu-ray
Brainscan - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray Combo Pack
Bram Stroker’s Shadowbuilder - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray Combo Pack
Cardcaptor Sakura Movie 2: The Sealed Card - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
Cat Girl Nuku Nuku Complete Collection - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: Blu-ray
Devilman: Complete OVA Series - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
Hentai Heaven Vol. 4 - No Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray Combo Pack
The Horror of Party Beach - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
Knight’s & Magic - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: Blu-ray Combo Pack
Memories of Underdevelopment: Criterion Collection - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
A Minute to Pray, A Second to Die - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
My First Girlfriend is a Gal - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: Blu-ray
The Naked and the Dead - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray Combo Pack
Vinegar Syndrome's 5 Films 5 Years: Volume 3 - No Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray Combo Pack
The Vision of Escaflowne - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: Blu-ray
Zatoichi: Darkness His Ally - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray Combo Pack
There are a number of Anime titles on this list, including some really good titles like Cardcaptor Sakura Movie 2: The Sealed Card... Warning, Hentai Heaven Vol. 4 Blu-ray is Hentai, i.e. porn. Normally I would skip these titles, but it is selling really well, well enough that I couldn’t completely ignore it.

4K Ultra HD Releases - Buy from Amazon:
While there are many titles on this week’s list, none of them were released on 4K.

TV on DVD Megasets - Buy from Amazon:
There are several TV on DVD releases that came out this week, but they are all single-season sets and not Megasets.

C.S.Strowbridge

Filed under: DVD and Blu-ray Releases, Home Market Releases, Bound, Tag, A Kid Like Jake, Public Disturbance, Woman Walks Ahead, Mary Shelley, Book Club, Superfly, Mind Game, Upgrade, American Animals, RBG, The Padre, Calling All Earthlings, Paterno, The Naked and the Dead, Un minuto per pregare, un istante per morire, Pale Trees, Idle Thoughts, Scooby-Doo! and the Gourmet Ghost, Child's Play, Psycho

Home Market Releases for August 28th, 2018

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