Every week we dive into the cream of the crop when it comes to home releases, including Blu-ray and DVDs, as well as recommended deals of the week. If we were provided screener copies, we’ll have our own write-up, but if that’s not the case, one can find official descriptions from the distributors. Check out our rundown below and return every Tuesday for the best films one can take home. Note that if you’re looking to support the site, every purchase you make through the links below helps us and is greatly appreciated.
A Hijacking (Tobias Lindholm)
A Hijacking revolves around the unraveling of the mystique of bravery and its risks and rewards. To be brave does not mean to be smart. When Danish cargo ship MV Rozen, with seven crewmembers, is hijacked by Somali pirates, an outside consultant is hired by the corporation that owns the boat to help in negotiations and tactics. As the days wore on, I could feel the stunned awe of the audience around me. This is truly a journey you begin to empathize with. Through the intensity of the situation and the way Asbæk and his two comrades play it, you begin to get a sense for the hell they are going through. Is the cruelty to them beneficial to the negotiations? You don’t get those answers and you never would. Yet, with subtlety and care, A Hijacking provides a stomach-churning and hold-your-breath cinematic ride. – Bill G.
See Also: [Review] A Hijacking
Eyes Without a Face (Georges Franju)
At his secluded chateau in the French countryside, a brilliant, obsessive doctor (Pierre Brasseur) attempts a radical plastic surgery to restore the beauty of his daughter’s disfigured countenance—at a horrifying price. Eyes Without a Face, directed by the supremely talented Georges Franju, is rare in horror cinema for its odd mixture of the ghastly and the lyrical, and it has been a major influence on the genre in the decades since its release. There are images here—of terror, of gore, of inexplicable beauty—that once seen are never forgotten. – Criterion.com
High Plains Drifter (Clint Eastwood)
After conquering the western genre, thanks to Sergio Leone, with his The Man with No Name persona, Clint Eastwood jumped behind the camera with his second directorial effort, High Plains Drifter. The classic western, following our star as he helps protect townspeople from some baddies, arrives for the first time on Blu-ray today, digitally remastered and restored from the 35mm original film. Unfortunately, extras are seriously lacking — only the film’s trailer is included — but thankfully the film itself makes this one worth an upgrade, or initial purchase. – Jordan R.
In the Mouth of Madness (John Carpenter)
Best-selling author and Stephen King contemporary Sutter Cane’s newest novel is literally driving his readers insane. When the author inexplicably vanishes, an insurance investigator named John Trent (Sam Neill) is hired by Arcane Publishing director Jackson Harglow (Charlton Heston) to track the author down. But Trent, along with Cane’s editor Linda Styles (Julie Carmen), soon finds himself crossing the barrier between fact and fiction, and entering a terrifying world of evil and madness from which there is no escape.
Rent: Drug War, The Heat, Maniac, Pacific Rim
Recommended Deals of the Weeks
(Note: new additions are in red)
Alfred Hitchcock: The Essentials Collection (Rear Window, Vertigo, North by Northwest, Psycho and The Birds) (Blu-ray) – $37.99
The American (Blu-ray) – $6.14
Cape Fear (Blu-ray) – $8.99
Children of Men (Blu-ray) – $7.96
Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs (Blu-ray) – $9.99
Cool Hand Luke (Blu-ray) – $8.49
Contact (Blu-ray) – $6.49
Dark City (Blu-ray) – $8.49
Goodfellas (Blu-ray) – $7.99
Halloween (Blu-ray) – $8.79
Hugo (Blu-ray) – $9.49
Inception (Blu-ray) – $9.98
Indiana Jones: The Complete Adventures (Blu-ray) – $44.88
Memento (Blu-ray) – $9.98
Once Upon a Time in the West (Blu-ray) – $8.99
No Country For Old Men (Blu-ray) – $9.97
The Shining (Blu-ray) – $7.99
Side Effects (Blu-ray) – $12.49
Spring Breakers (Blu-ray) – $9.99
Sunshine (Blu-ray) – $8.99
Terminator 2: Judgement Day (Blu-ray) – $7.79
There Will Be Blood (Blu-ray) – $9.49
The Truman Show (Blu-ray) – $8.99
Wanderlust (Blu-ray) – $7.35
Winter’s Bone (Blu-ray) – $9.97
Zodiac (Blu-ray) – $9.49
What are you picking up this week?