DVD and Blu-ray Releases for May 19th, 2020

May 20, 2020

I think it’s a great week on the home market for a few reasons, one of which is selfish. Amazon finally got its act together and upcoming releases are appearing on the site so I can pre-plan weeks, which makes my job easier. It also is making my wallet very scared, because there are a number of amazing releases coming out soon. This includes several new releases this week that are worth picking up like Buffaloed, Emma., Justice League Dark: Apokolips War, etc. and those aren’t even the contenders for Pick of the Week. That list is limited to The Good Place: The Complete Series Blu-ray and The Quintessential Quintuplets: Season 1. In the end I went with The Good Place, which I think will have a wider appeal.

Brahms: The Boy II - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD, Blu-ray Combo Pack - Rent from Redbox: Blu-ray
Video on Demand
As I’ve mentioned countless times before, there was an absolute flood of low-budget horror films at the beginning of the year. Nearly all of them bombed, and most earned terrible reviews. This one is arguably the worst of the group. Avoid at all costs.

Buffaloed - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD, Blu-ray - Rent from Redbox: DVD
Video on Demand
I previously reviewed this film when it hit VOD and really liked it. It’s not a perfect movie and the satire is not as sharp as it could have been. Also, the lead character arguably has too many moral lapses to be truly sympathetic; however, Zoey Deutch’s performance makes up for the character’s failings. It is worth picking up, but with only three featurettes, the DVD / Blu-ray are not Pick of the Week contenders.

Emma. - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray Combo Pack
Video on Demand

Emma. is the latest adaptation of the Jane Austen novel of the same name. It was previously adapted a number of times, arguably most famously as Clueless back in 1995. The film earned excellent reviews and opened well in limited release, but it struggled when it tried to expand and was all but gone from theaters the weekend after. However, it also opened just as the Covid-19 pandemic became a serious threat in the United States and its box office numbers were obviously negatively impacted by those events. Is it worth checking out for fans of period pieces? Or would it have struggled even under better circumstances? Check out my review to find out.

The Good Place - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: The Final Season DVD The Complete Series Blu-ray
This is one of the best sitcoms to come out in recent years. The first season ended with one of the best surprise twists I’ve seen on TV and maintained its high quality throughout. This is partly due to its limited nature. It was planned for a four-season run and each season was only 13 episodes per season, so there was no filler episodes. There are not a ton of extras on the Blu-ray box set, but there are enough that it is a clear Pick of the Week contender.

Justice League Dark: Apokolips War - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: Blu-ray Combo Pack or 4K Ultra HD Combo Pack
Video on Demand
There’s only one movie in the D.C.E.U. that I like, Wonder Woman. On the other hand, the D.C. Animated Univserse has had consistently high quality. There have been some missteps, especially when they try to go darker, but this film appears to have avoided the pitfalls. It’s worth picking up, but the lack of extras prevents it from being a Pick of the Week contender.

Promare - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray Combo Pack
This anime release was a massive hit in theaters, at least compared to most limited-release animated films. It also earned excellent reviews and the DVD / Blu-ray has better extras than most imports get, but not enough to be a Pick of the Week contender.

The Quintessential Quintuplets: Season 1 - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: Blu-ray Combo Pack
An anime harem comedy, but before you roll your eyes and walk away, it’s a wholesome harem story. I would compare it to Definitely, Maybe, which was about a father telling his daughter the story of how he met her mother, but he doesn’t tell her which of the three women in the story is her mother. Likewise, this series starts on the wedding day of the protagonist, Fuutarou Uesugi, before it flashes back to when he was in high school and hired to be a tutor for the five Nakano sisters. We know he marries one of them, but we don’t know which one. The reviews are excellent and it is worth picking up for fans of harem genres in particular, but it has a lot of crossover appeal for fans of anime in general. The extras are better than most imports with audio commentary track on the pilot, a game, etc., while the Special Edition has some physical extras as well.

Sonic the Hedgehog - Buy from Amazon: DVD, Blu-ray Combo Pack, or 4K Ultra HD Combo Pack
Video on Demand or Video on Demand (4K Ultra HD)
I previously reviewed this film when it came out on VOD early as a result of the Covid-19 outbreak. I wasn’t impressed with the movie, as I found both Sonic and Dr. Robotnik irritating. That said, I’m not in the target audience and I can see its appeal to kids or adults who grew up playing the Sonic games. This week, the film comes out on DVD / Blu-ray / 4K, so it’s time to look at the extras.

The main extra is an audio commentary track with the director, Jeff Fowler, and the voice of Sonic, Ben Schwartz. Up next is a roughly two-minute long doodle animated short about Sonic traveling the world. There are 13 minutes of deleted scenes, with intro by the director, two minutes of outtakes, and a music video. There are also a trio of featurettes with a total running time of 14 minutes. Also, there’s a mini-comic that came with the Blu-ray. Overall, this isn’t a bad selection of extras, but perhaps one could argue it doesn’t live up to its box office success. It is enough to be worth picking up for fans of the movie, but not enough to get really excited about.

The Way Back - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
Video on Demand
This film earned excellent reviews, but it hit theaters just as the Covid-19 pandemic hit the States. The extras on the DVD / Blu-ray are limited to just a couple of featurettes. This is not surprising given its box office numbers, but I would have hoped the studio would have taken the mitigating circumstances into account and done more.

TV on DVD Releases - Buy from Amazon:
Berenstain Bears: Tree House Tales, Volume 3 - No Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD
The Brokenwood Mysteries: Series 6 - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
Call the Midwife: Season Nine - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD
Creepshow: Season 1 - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
Fear The Walking Dead: Season Five - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
Forever in My Heart - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD
Ken Burns Presents The Gene: An Intimate History - No Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD
The Loud House: Absolute Madness – Season 2, Volume 2 - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD
Love to the Rescue - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD
The Pink Panther Classic Cartoon Collection - No Reviews - Buy from Amazon: Blu-ray
There are some secondary TV on DVD releases that are worth picking up, including Creepshow: Season One and The Pink Panther Classic Cartoon Collection.

Blu-ray Releases - Buy from Amazon:
Alice in Wonderland - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: Blu-ray
American Madness - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: Blu-ray
Dance, Girl, Dance: Criterion Collection - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
Danger: Diabolik - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: Blu-ray
Driveways - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: Blu-ray
Enemies: A Love Story - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: Blu-ray
The Evil of Frankenstein - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: Blu-ray
Flashdance - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: Blu-ray
Lonely Are the Brave - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: Blu-ray
Mandy: Steelbook - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: Blu-ray Combo Pack
The Night My Number Came Up - No Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
Selena - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: Blu-ray
Senryu Girl: Complete Collection - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: Blu-ray
Sunday in New York - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: Blu-ray Combo Pack
Sydney White - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: Blu-ray
There are a few secondary Blu-ray releases that have my interest, including Dance, Girl, Dance, but none that truly jump out as must haves.

4K Ultra HD Releases - Buy from Amazon:
The Blues Brothers - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: 4K Ultra HD Combo Pack
Days of Thunder - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: 4K Ultra HD Combo Pack
Top Gun - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: 4K Ultra HD Combo Pack
War of the Worlds - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: 4K Ultra HD Combo Pack
The Blues Brothers is the only film on this list I’m interested in and you don’t need to see it in 4K to enjoy it. Top Gun is generating some interest though.

C.S.Strowbridge

Filed under: DVD and Blu-ray Releases, Home Market Releases, Sonic The Hedgehog, Buffaloed, Brahms: The Boy II, Emma., Promare, The Way Back, Justice League Dark: Apokolips War, Driveways, Love to the Rescue, Forever in My Heart, The Evil of Frankenstein, The Night My Number Came Up, DC Extended Universe, DC Animated Movie Universe, Jim Carrey, Abigail Breslin, Ryan Reynolds, Jane Austen, Ben Schwartz, Zoey Deutch, Jeff Fowler