This Week on Blu-ray and DVD - July 24, 2012
If this were a podcast, I’d begin with a moment of silence for the victims of the Colorado movie theater massacre. It’s sad when you can’t even go to the movies without some nut job opening fire.
Ironically, the best release this week is also dark and full of violence. “Game of Thrones: Season 1” quickly sold out in March and is being reissued by HBO Studios, so if you got shut out the first time, you still have a chance to pick up the mythical/medieval series on Blu-ray or DVD.
Then there’s the acclaimed “Boss” TV series starring Kelsey Grammer as the mayor of Chicago who, like Tony Soprano, has a condition (and conscience) to fight as well as minions and opponents. Grammer made the leap from Fraser Crane to Tom Kane without breaking a sweat, picking up a Golden Globe for Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series.
Fans of film noir might check out “They Made Me a Fugitive,” on Blu-ray from Kino Classics. Trevor Howard plays a RAF veteran who finds civilian life so dull that he falls in with a gang that specializes in break-ins. By Tom Kane’s standards, that’s small potatoes, but “They Made Me a Fugitive” (aka “I Became a Criminal”) is fun to watch because it’s London underworld we glimpse, not American urban crime.
Finally, if you want to totally distance yourself from violence and crime this week there’s the Criterion Blu-ray release of “Metropolitan,” a 1990 comedy-drama about a group of young Manhattanites who do the debutante ball thing almost mechanically until a new kid on the block shakes things up a bit.
Here are select new releases for the week of July 24, 2012:
BLU-RAY
- Beautiful Planet: England and the Low Countries
- Beautiful Planet: Germany and Austria
- Big Easy Express (2012 musical documentary)
- Boss: Season 1
- Brake (2012 crime thriller)
- Clannad: After Story – Complete Collection (anime)
- Deep Blue Sea, The (2011 romance)
- Footnote (2011 drama)
- Game of Thrones: Season 1
- Island of Dr. Moreau, The (Unrated Director’s Cut) (1996 horror/sci-fi)
- They Made Me a Fugitive (aka I Became a Criminal) (Kino Classics) (1947 film noir crime drama)
- Jiro Dreams of Sushi (2011 documentary)
- Last Days of Disco, The (Criterion) (1998 musical dramedy)
- Last of England, The (1988 drama)
- Life (1999 comedy)
- Masterpiece Mystery: Endeavor
- Metropolitan (Criterion) (1990 period dramedy)
- My Way (aka Mai wei) (2011 Korean-language war drama)
- Mystery Men (1999 comedy-fantasy)
- NHL Stanley Cup Champions 2012
- On the Inside (2011 crime drama)
- Queen & Country (PBS)
- Silent House (2011 horror-thriller)
- Star Trek: The Next Generation – Season 1
- Treasure Island (2012 TV movie)
RECENT RELEASES
- NHL Stanley Cup Champions 2012
- Superman vs. The Elite (2012 direct-to-video animation)
- 2012 NBA Champions: Heat
CATALOG TITLES
- Katarina’s Nightmare Theater: The Hearse / Blood of Dracula’s Castle
FAMILY/CHILDREN
- Pippi Longstocking: Best of Pippi
TV-ON-DVD
- Boss: Season 1
- Dave’s World: Season 3
- Drew Peterson: Untouchable (2012 TV movie)
- Game of Thrones: Season1
- Hey Arnold! Season 2, Pt. 2
- Masterpiece Mystery: Endeavor
- Masterpiece Mystery: Inspector Lewis, Series 5
- Michael Wood’s Story of England
- Queen & Country (PBS)
- Tanya X: Season 1
- Touched by an Angel: Season 5
- Treasure Island (2012 TV movie)
- Untouchables, The: Season 4, Vol. 1
- Untouchables, The: Season 4, Vol. 2
INDIE/ART-HOUSE/FOREIGN
- Bathory: Countess of Blood (2008 bio-fantasy-drama)
- Corridor, The (2010 horror)
- Eclipse Series 34: Jean Gremillon During the Occupation (Remorques / Lumiere d’ete / Le ciel est a vous) (Criterion)
- Footnote (2011 drama)
- Jiro Dreams of Sushi (2011 documentary)
- La ardilla roja (1993 dramedy)
- Last of England, The (1988 drama)
- Meeting Evil (2012 crime drama)
- Monitor, The (aka Babycall) (2011)
- My Way (aka Mai wei) (2011 Korean-language war drama)
- On the Inside (2011 crime drama)
- Port City (2009 comedy)
- Silent House (2011 horror-thriller)
ANIME
- Ai Yori Aoshi: Complete Box Set
- Armitage III (Classic Movie Collection)
