Home Market Releases for June 9th, 2015

June 8, 2015

It is a good week, but not a great week on the home market. There's really only one major release to talk about, Kingsman: The Secret Service. It is also one of the best releases of the week and one of a trio of Pick of the Week contenders that earned between 70% and 80% positive reviews. The other two are The Duff and The Sisterhood of Night. All three are worth picking up, but the winner of the Pick of the Week title is Red Army on DVD or Blu-ray / Video on Demand.

Blu-ray Releases - Buy from Amazon: 101 Dalmatians II: Patch's London Adventure, Bonnie's Kids / Centerfold Girls, Coffy, Dodge City, Foxy Brown, Friday Foster, The Golden Years Collection (1939), Hammer, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Hyperdimension Neptunia: Animation, Knights of Sidonia: Season 1, The Last Unicorn, Mardock Scramble: The Trilogy, Melissa Etheridge: A Little Bit Of Me: Live in L.A., Miss Marple: Volume Three, Ninotchka, Oniai: The Complete Series, The Pillow Book, The Sadistic Baron Von Klaus, Der Samurai, She-Devil, Sleepaway Camp II: Unhappy Campers, Sleepaway Camp III: Teenage Wasteland, Spider Baby, The Strain: Season 1: Premium Edition, Thunderbirds: The Complete Series, and Der Todesking
There are a lot of secondary Blu-ray releases this week, including four Blaxploitation flicks, three of which star Pam Grier.

3D Blu-ray Releases - Buy from Amazon: Back to the Jurassic
There's only one 3D release this week and it is a second-tier kids movie.

Cas and Dylan - Buy from Amazon: DVD
Video on Demand
I swear this film has come out on DVD a couple of times already. It is a Canadian road trip movie with a good cast but a cliché script. Rent it on VOD.

The Duff - Reviews
Video on Demand
Mae Whitman, age 26, plays Bianca, a high school student who learns she's a DUFF: A Designated Fat Friend. She then turns to her former friend, Robbie Amell, age 27, to help her go out with her crush, Nick Eversman, age 29. There's one person who doesn't want her to rise above the DUFF label, the the Queen Bee of the school, Bella Thorne, age 17. ... Anyone else reminded of the Sesame Street song, "One of These Things". It is actually unusual when an actor playing a high schooler is still young enough to be in high school. I call it the Stacey Dash Rule. In the Clueless TV series, there was an episode where the kids were given a writing assignment about what they will be doing in ten years. Dion said, "In ten years, we will be 28 years old, almost old enough to play high schoolers on TV." At the time that episode was filmed, she was 32. There are some exceptions to this rule; Kat Dennings was a teenager when she starred in Raising Dad. As for this film, it earned very good reviews, but didn't really find an audience in theaters. It will need help on the home market to thrive. Sadly, the extras are only okay (featurettes, red carpet event, outtakes). It is worth picking up, and since it is a slow week, it is a contender for Pick of the Week.

The Facts Of Life: Season 6 - Buy from Amazon: DVD
This show lasted nearly a decade starting in 1979. It must have had a lot of fans at the time, but shows from the 1980s don't always age very well.

Hart To Hart: The Final Season - Buy from Amazon: DVD
A fun P.I. show from the 1980s. It was about a rich and glamorous married couple who solved crimes for fun. I remember liking the show when it was on, but I'm not sure how well it has aged.

Kingsman: The Secret Service - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray Combo Pack
Video on Demand
Kingsman: The Secret Service is based on a comic book by Mark Millar and Dave Gibbons. Mark Millar previously made Kick-Ass, which was also turned into a movie. Expectations for this film were high, both critically and commercially. Fortunately, it is one of the better wide releases of the year, it was also a better than expected hit at the box office. This success has led to a fully loaded DVD and Blu-ray with an audio commentary track, making of featurettes, and more. It isn't the Pick of the Week, but it was a contender for that title.

Last of the Summer Wine: Vintage 2004 - Buy from Amazon: DVD
I've lost track of the number of DVD releases for this show and I ran out of things to say about it years ago.

The Last Ship: Season One - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
Video on Demand
This TV show is about a virus that has killed 80% of the world's population and the only uninfected population is on a single destroyer, the titular last ship. The reviews are good, but not great. Additionally, the extras are also good, but not great. If you love the show, then the DVD or Blu-ray is worth picking up. If you haven't seen it yet, then rent it on VOD first.

Project Almanac - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray Combo Pack
Video on Demand
A Found Footage Sci-fi film aimed at teenagers. It isn't terrible, if you are part of that target demographic, but the crossover appeal is limited. Extras are even more limited with just some alternative / extended / deleted scenes. Worth a rental, but that's it.

Red Army - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
Video on Demand
A documentary about one of the best-run hockey programs in the world. At least it looked great from the outside. Because the Soviet Union used its sports success as a proxy war with the United States, they treated their stars as heroes, unless those stars wanted something more. The reviews are as good as the Red Army was. It is worth picking up for any fan of hockey. Additionally, the extras include an audio commentary track, deleted scenes, additional interviews, it is a clear contender for Pick of the Week.

Serena - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
Video on Demand
The quality vs. pedigree is so bad for this movie that I hoped I would get a screener, just so I could see where it went wrong. I'm certainly not willing to pay money just to do that. Maybe when it is free on Netflix it will be worth 109 minutes of my day.

The Sisterhood of Night - Buy from Amazon: DVD
Video on Demand
This film has a great young cast and its reviews are just as good. However, it debuted VOD, so it should come as no surprise that its box office numbers were weak. Sadly, they appear to be weak enough that the studio isn't even releasing the film on Blu-ray. It is still worth picking up and given the competition this week, it is even a Pick of the Week contender. That said, I would still have preferred a Blu-ray release.

Society - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
A low-budget horror film from 25 years ago that barely made a peep in theaters. Normally I wouldn't talk about a release like this; however, according to Amazon.com, it is in the top five best-selling new releases of the week. I don't think it will end up there on the sales chart, as the target demographic that goes to Amazon.com isn't the same as the one that goes to Walmart, and Walmart is a huge player when it comes to DVD and Blu-ray sales. The film's reviews are only mixed, but the 2-disc Blu-ray is loaded with extras and is certainly worth picking up for fans of the genre.

The Swirl - Buy from Amazon: DVD
Video on Demand
A documentary about interracial relationships. It came out on DVD-R just last month, so I'm a little confused about this DVD release. Regardless, a copy arrived and it will be part of this week's Box Office Prediction Contest.

Teen Wolf: Season 4 - Buy from Amazon: DVD
Video on Demand
When this show was first announced, I thought it would be a disaster. However, the reviews have been good throughout the first four seasons. If you are in the target demographic, then it is worth checking out. That said, I think VOD is the way to go.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - Buy from Amazon: Pulverizer Power, NYC Showdown, and The Search for Splinter
Three DVDs from two different installments of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. All three are featured on this week's Box Office Prediction Contest.

Transporter the Series: Season 2 - Buy from Amazon: DVD
Video on Demand
This is a show that I'm a little surprised even exists. The reviews are few and far between and not very positive. I've seen more than a few people complain about the gratuitous nudity. As I've said in the past, don't try and out-porn porn. It never works. Instead try and make a good show and only include nudity if it makes sense.

TV on DVD Full Series Megasets - Buy from Amazon: Thunderbirds
Thunderbirds is a classic show from the 1960s filmed with "Supermarionation". It's not the most cutting-edge looking show, but there's a lot of nostalgia built into the series.

Video on Demand - Buy from Amazon: Back to the Jurassic, Beautiful and Twisted, Comeback Dad, Free the Nipple, Get Hard, The Giant Spider Invasion, Lone Star Holy War, Madame Bovary, The Pillow Book, Red Army, Redeemer, Der Samurai, The Serbian Lawyer, Serena, Thomas & Friends: Whale of a Tale & Other Sodor Adventures, Tom and Jerry: Spy Quest, True Appaloosa, and While We're Young
Red Army is the best of the VOD releases this week, but it is also coming out on Blu-ray and it is worth picking up. On the other hand, While We're Young doesn't come out on Blu-ray till the end of the month, so it might be worth it to grab on VOD if you want to see it early.

- C.S.Strowbridge

Filed under: DVD and Blu-ray Releases, Home Market Releases, Kingsman: The Secret Service, Project Almanac, The DUFF, Red Army, Cas & Dylan, While We're Young, The Sisterhood of Night, Serena, Society, Stacey Dash, Kat Dennings, Pam Grier, Mae Whitman, Mark Millar, Dave Gibbons, Bella Thorne, Nick Eversman, Robbie Amell