DVD and Blu-ray Releases for September 17th, 2013
September 17, 2013
It's kind of a bad week for screeners, as there are four or so that either didn't arrive on time, or still are not here. This includes the biggest release of the week, World War Z, as well as a number of other releases I'm really looking forward to (Behind the Candelabra, Nashville: The Complete First Season, Sofia the First: Ready to Be a Princess, etc.). World War Z should lead the charts, both on DVD and on Blu-ray, but I'm not sure if I will agree with the pros or the cons on this one. Fortunately, some screeners did arrive, including the final season of Leverage. While I'm not happy this is the final season of the show, I'm very happy with the quality level for Season Five and it is the Pick of the Week.
Arrow: The Complete First Season - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray Combo Pack
Bates Motel: Season One - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray Combo Pack
Behind the Candelabra - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray Combo Pack
The Bling Ring - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
Blu-ray Releases - Buy from Amazon: Autumn Sonata (Criterion Collection), Day Of The Dead (Collector's Edition), The Devil Bat, Dracula: Prince of Darkness, Letter to Three Wives: 65th Anniversary, Michiko & Hatchin: Complete Series, Part 1, Michiko & Hatchin: Complete Series, Part 2, Peter Gabriel: Live in Athens 1987, Scenic Route, Slacker (Criterion Collection), and Tremors Four-Movie Pack
3D Blu-ray Releases - Buy from Amazon: Space Junk (IMAX) and World War Z
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation: The 13th Season - Buy from Amazon
Disconnect - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
Doctor Who - Buy from Amazon: Story 39: The Ice Warriors and Scream of the Shalka (Animated)
The East - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
Future Diary: Part One - Buy from Amazon
Grimm: Season Two - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
The Hollow Crown: The Complete Series - Buy from Amazon
It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia: Season Eight - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
Letter to Three Wives: 65th Anniversary - Blu-ray Buy from Amazon
The Mentalist: The Complete Fifth Season - Buy from Amazon
Nashville: The Complete First Season - Buy from Amazon
Sofia the First: Ready to Be a Princess - Buy from Amazon
Thomas & Friends: King of the Railway the Movie - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
Vegas: The DVD Edition - Buy from Amazon
Waking the Dead: Season 8 - Buy from Amazon
World War Z - Buy from Amazon: DVD, Blu-ray Combo Pack, or 3D Combo Pack
WWE: Summerslam 2013 - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
This show is amazingly popular, both with kids and with a number of adults. It isn't the only cartoon with a large crossover audience, but how well does it compare to other such shows? Read our review to find out.
A superhero TV series that looked like it would have more in common with your typical CW soap opera than the comics. Fortunately, the reviews were a lot better than expected. I think it's main demographic is still teenagers (it picked up five Teen Choice Awards nominations) so keep that in mind. Extras include a lot of deleted scenes, a trio of featurettes, and outtakes. It's worth picking up for fans.
Freddie Highmore stars as Norman Bates in this prequel to the Psycho films. The series premiere earned record ratings for the network, A&E, and it did a really good job maintaining those ratings throughout the season. Extras are limited to some deleted scenes and a Q&A session, but without audio commentary tracks, I can't be enthusiastic in my recommendation. It is worth checking out for most, picking up for many.
One of the best TV movies of the year and it might clean up at the Emmys this coming weekend. I really want to see it, but the screener is late. There's not a lot of extras on the DVD or Blu-ray, just a making of featurette, but I think the quality might be high enough that it will be a Pick of the Week contender, even without extras.
This film had a lot of pre-release buzz. It was written and directed by Sofia Coppola. It had an impressive young cast. It was based on real life events. This could have been an Awards Season player. Instead, it was okay. There's some great acting in the movie, but we really never learn anything about these characters, so it is hard to care. It is still worth checking out, but I would go with a rental first.
There are quite a few really good secondary Blu-ray releases this week, especially if you are into horror films.
Just two 3D releases this week, but one of them is the biggest release of the week. I might get a screener to review, but I'm not counting on it.
It has been years since I've watched this show. I did review a few seasons and they were always good and had plenty of extras.
An ensemble drama that focuses on some of the darker aspects of the internet. The film earned good reviews, but not great reviews. It did well at the box office, but wasn't a breakout hit. It is worth checking out, but a rental will probably be enough.
Two Doctor Who DVDs coming out this week, including one that was originally a internet animated series. Neither are classics, but both have their share of fans.
The screener just arrived. I'll get to the review ASAP, but there are a couple of other late reviews ahead of it.
An Anime title that is on the first page of the best-selling new releases. There are some great DVD and Blu-ray releases coming out this week, but the list is not very deep.
One of two fairytales in the real world shows that started a couple seasons ago. Once Upon a Time is the better show, but this one is good enough to be worth checking out. There are plenty of extras on the DVD, including extras that are exclusive to the Blu-ray.
A four-part British TV series adapting four Shakespeare plays. The reviews were amazing and it earned a number of awards in Britain. There are also a good amount of extras on the four-disc set.
This show is about five friends... not really friends. Acquaintances, who spend their time together doing stupid things, because they are stupid. However, they are also very funny. Can the show continue to generate laughs? Or is it beginning to lose steam? Check out our review to find out.
I might get this screener to review, but it is late.
Sadly, Leverage ended after five seasons due to low ratings. However, did it at least get a good send-off? Or did it stumble towards the finish line? Check out our review for my opinion.
I really liked this show during the first couple of seasons, but I don't think it grew as well as Castle, so I dropped the show from the list of ones I watch.
I'm still waiting for the screener for this release, but I'm looking forward to seeing it. Not only do I like the two leading ladies, the show features Lennon and Maisy, who are Canadian, and I have a well-known pro-Canada bias.
The third DVD release for this show includes the last few episodes of season one plus the two-parter that started season two. Is it worth checking out if you are a fan of the show? Read our review to find out.
I really liked the first DVD release and I'm looking forward to this one, but the screener is late.
This is selling really, really well according to Amazon.com. There are no reviews, so it is clearly hoping to draw in fans of the franchise rather than new fans. Without reviews, it is really hard to say if it is worth it.
This show premiered with nearly 15 million viewers, but by the time the last episode aired, its ratings were barely above 7 million. No wonder it was canceled.
Fans of British police procedurals know what to expect here. This is a great show, but the price-per-minute is high compared to most TV on DVD releases.
There was a huge amount of buzz regarding this movie. It was based on a very popular book and stars one of the biggest movie stars around. However, there were also rumors of significant changes to the book and weak test screeners. The overall reviews are good, but not great. I'm still waiting for the screener to show up, but hopefully it will show up soon and it will be better than its overall score.
It's a wrestling DVD. That's all I have to say.
Filed under: DVD and Blu-ray Releases, Home Market Releases, World War Z, The East, Disconnect, The Bling Ring, Psycho, Brad Pitt, Sofia Coppola, Freddie Highmore