This Week on Blu-ray and DVD - June 26, 2012

Why, I do believe that I'M the fairest of them all. As long as that darned dog stays off-camera.

James

Plath

First online:

Sunday, June 24, 2012 - 7:25pm

Mirror mirror on the wall, who’s the baddest-ass quasi high school students of them all . . . and how would they fare against the mythological Titans?

That’s almost a moot question, because, while each of the other 2012 releases this week has its fans, “The Artist” (review) beats “Mirror Mirror” (trailer), “21 Jump Street” (review), and “Wrath of the Titans”(review)—no contest.

“The Artist”—which won five Oscars last year, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor and Best Original Score—comes out on Blu-ray combo pack and DVD (trailer). It’s a captivating story about a silent movie star (Jean Dujardin) whose life changes abruptly when talking pictures become popular and a young woman he helped (Bérénice Bejo) makes the transition, while he’s left behind. Oh yeah. Then there’s this dog, who probably wouldn’t have made it out of any of the other three movies without being harmed.

And in “Deliverance,” which gets a Blu-ray digibook release this week, the little canine might have been forced to squeal like a pig. Based on the novel by the late James Dickey, “Deliverance” charts a rough course through culture-clash waters, and arrogance loses. Burt Reynolds, Jon Voight, and Ned Beatty star as the Georgia back country river rafters.

I can’t imagine Christopher Nolan fans not already having these titles on Blu-ray, but procrastinators get rewarded this week with a “Christopher Nolan Director’s Collection” containing five films—“Batman Begins,” “The Dark Knight,” “Inception,” “Memento,” and “Insomnia”—in a Blu-ray collection. Currently selling for $29.99 at Amazon, that’s just six bucks per film.

Fans of Samurai films get Hiroshi Inagaki’s “Samurai Trilogy” in a Criterion edition Blu-ray, featuring the films “Musashi Miyamoto,” “Duel at Ichijoji Temple,” and “Duel at Ganryu Island,” starring the legendary Toshiro Mifune. Then Criterion strikes again, this time hitting Hitchcock fans in the wallet with a Blu-ray edition of “The 39 Steps.” Previously the espionage thriller had been available only as a Region B import.

Finally, the sleeper of the week is “Once upon a Time in Anatolia,” a crime drama about a group of men who search the Anatolian steppes for the dead body in a murder case and have pithy conversations along the way. Great cinematography and taut storytelling make it a winner—available on both Blu-ray and DVD after being delayed.

But Mirror Mirror on the wall, who’s the fairest and baddest-ass of them all? Uh, she’s not on home video yet. That would be Merida, the Disney princess-slash-archer in “Brave,” which grossed $24.5 million its opening day this past weekend in theaters (trailer).

Here are select new releases for the week of June 26, 2012:

BLU-RAY

Artist, The (+ UV Digital Copy) (2011 Best Picture winner)
Bullhead (2011 crime drama)
Christopher Nolan Director’s Collection (Batman Begins / The Dark Knight / Inception / Memento / Insomnia)
Decoy Bride, The (2011 dramedy)
Deliverance (Blu-ray Book) (1972 drama)
Dr. Seuss’s Green Eggs and Ham and Other Stories
Father’s Day (4-disc Ltd. Ed. Numbered + DVD + CD) (2011 horror comedy)
Hedgehog, The (2009 drama)
Little Lord Fauntleroy (Kino Classics) (1936 family drama)
Mirror Mirror (+ DVD + Digital Copy) (2012 comedy)
Once upon a Time in Anatolia (2011 crime drama)
Pink Floyd: The Story of Wish You Were Here (2012 music documentary)
Samurai Trilogy, The (Criterion) (Musashi Miyamoto / Duel at Ichijoji Temple / Duel at Ganryu Island)
Spirit Is Willing, The (1967 horror comedy)
Tales of Vesperia –The Movie (+ DVD) (2008 anime)
Tales that Witness Madness (1973 comedy-horror)
39 Steps, The (Criterion) (1935 mystery-thriller)
Thousand Words, A (+ UV Digital Copy) (2012 dramedy)
Towano Quon (Complete Collection) (anime)
21 Jump Street (+ UV Digital Copy) (2012 action comedy)
Wrath of the Titans (+ UV Digital Copy) (2012 fantasy adventure)
Wrath of the Titans (+ DVD + UV Digital Copy)

Mars in 3D: Images from The Viking Mission (+ Blu-ray)
Sector 7 (2011 horror)
Wrath of the Titans (+ Blu-ray + DVD + UV Digital Copy) (2012 fantasy adventure)

RECENT RELEASES

Artist, The (2011 Best Picture winner)
Mirror Mirror (2012 comedy)
21 Jump Street (+ UV Digital Copy) (2012 action comedy)
Wrath of the Titans (2012 fantasy adventure)

CATALOG TITLES

Hangman, The (1959 Western)
Night of the Grizzly, The (1966 Western drama)
TCM Greatest Classic Legends: Humphrey Bogart (They Drive by Night / Across the Pacific / Passage to Marseille / Action in the North Atlantic)
TCM Greatest Classic Legends: Joan Crawford (Humoresque / Mildred Pierce / The Damned Don’t Cry / Possessed)
39 Steps, The (Criterion) (1935 mystery-thriller)
Triple Feature: Taking Care of Business / Mr. Destiny / Hello Again
Triple Feature: Stella / The Doctor / Roommates

FAMILY/CHILDREN

Dora the Explorer: Dora’s Rescue in Mermaid Kingdom
Dr. Seuss’s Green Eggs and Ham and Other Stories

TV-ON-DVD

Agatha Christie’s Poirot: Series 5
Beck: Episodes 1-3
Casablanca: Complete Series
Damages: Season 4
Ed McBain’s 87th Precinct: Complete Series
Iron Man: Armored Adventures – Season 2, Vol. 1
Law & Order: Criminal Intent – Season 7
Lego Ninjago: Masters of Spinjitzu - Season 1
Love & Hip Hop: Season 1
Love in a Cold Climate (BBC miniseries)
RuPaul’s Drag Race: Season 4
Tyler Perry’s Meet the Browns: Season 6

INDIE/ART-HOUSE/FOREIGN

Ator the Fighting Eagle (1982 fantasy-adventure)
Blue Briefs (gay film shorts)
Breakaway (2011 sport comedy)
Bullhead (2011 crime drama)
Decoy Bride, The (2011 dramedy)
Globe Theatre On Screen: Henry IV, Pt. 2
Hedgehog, The (2009 drama)
Ici et Ailleurs (1976 Jean-Luc Godard war documentary)
Numero deux (1975 Jean-Luc Godard drama)
Once upon a Time in Anatolia (2011 crime drama)
Oranges and Sunshine (2010 drama)
Perfect Family, The (2011 dramedy)
Pink Floyd: The Story of Wish You Were Here (2012 music documentary)
Samurai Trilogy, The (Criterion) (Musashi Niyamoto / Duel at Ichijoji Temple / Duel at Ganryu Island)
Sector 7 (2011 horror)
Sound of Noise (2010 crime comedy)
Spirit Is Willing, The (1967 horror comedy)
Tales that Witness Madness (1973 comedy-horror)