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.
Live Die Repeat: Edge of Tomorrow (Doug Liman)
Edge of Tomorrow, Tom Cruise’s latest summer action vehicle, fits nicely into the group of recent blockbusters concerned with altering a distant past. Like X-Men: Days of Future Past or Godzilla, Edge of Tomorrow is also adapted from existing material, this time a Japanese science-fiction novel titled All You Need Is Kill. Created by Hiroshi Sakurazaka, it’s the backbone for director Doug Liman’s tent-pole about an unfortunate military major trapped in a perpetual time loop. Cruise has crafted a body of work consisting of drastic and bold characters; he has taken his star persona and flirted with physical and emotional recklessness to craft memorable moments in films as diverse as Magnolia and Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol. These characteristics are notably absent at the start of Edge of Tomorrow, as Cruise plays Major William Cage, a figurehead used to sell a war to the public against an invading alien species. – Zade C. (full review)
Foreign Correspondent (Alfred Hitchcock)
In 1940, Alfred Hitchcock made his official transition from the British film industry to Hollywood. And it was quite a year: his first two American movies, Rebecca and Foreign Correspondent, were both nominated for the best picture Oscar. Though Rebecca prevailed, Foreign Correspondent is the more quintessential Hitch film. A full-throttle espionage thriller, starring Joel McCrea as a green Yank reporter sent to Europe to get the scoop on the imminent war, it’s wall-to-wall witty repartee, head-spinning plot twists, and brilliantly mounted suspense set pieces, including an ocean plane crash climax with astonishing special effects. Foreign Correspondent deserves to be mentioned alongside The 39 Steps and North by Northwest as one of the master’s greatest adventures. – Criterion.com
Obvious Child (Gillian Robespierre)
Obvious Child does well in tackling big issues that all women face without a wink or a shrug. And while writer/director Gillian Robespierre offers some political views throughout, she thankfully avoids the soapbox. Small in stature but big in laughs, this film announces comedian leading lady Jenny Slate, a talent we will hopefully see much more of in the near future. If Paul Feig‘s Bridesmaids can be credited for commercializing the female gross-out comedy of this day and age, Obvious Child does well in bringing it back down to earth within a more contained, personal environment. Robespierre’s film is unafraid to tackle big issues that all women face without a wink or a shrug, and while the political views presented throughout the film may turn off a certain conservative viewership, the film thankfully avoids a soapbox. The jokes and opinions and decisions these characters make accurately reflect the world they are living in. We believe and engage in the realm Robespierre has built, and, most importantly, understand these people fully. – Dan M. (full review)
Rent:
Recommended Deals of the Week
(Note: new additions are in red)
The American (Blu-ray) – $6.00
Amelie (Blu-ray) – $6.94
Animal Kingdom (Blu-ray) – $7.08
Beyond the Black Rainbow (Blu-ray) – $9.99
The Big Lebowski (Blu-ray) – $9.24
The Cabin in the Woods (Blu-ray) – $7.88
Casino (Blu-ray) – $9.68
Drag Me To Hell (Blu-ray) – $8.49
Gangs of New York (Blu-ray) – $7.88
Goodfellas (Blu-ray) – $7.99
Gone Baby Gone (Blu-ray) – $6.00
Gravity (Blu-ray) – $12.00
Greenberg (Blu-ray) – $5.42
The Grey (Blu-ray) – $9.49
Hanna (Blu-ray) – $7.88
Heat (Blu-ray) – $8.48
High Plains Drifter (Blu-ray) – $9.96
Hot Fuzz (Blu-ray) – $8.99
Hugo (Blu-ray) – $7.97
Inglorious Basterds (Blu-ray) – $8.00
I Saw the Devil (Blu-ray) – $9.99
Jackie Brown (Blu-ray) – $5.00
Knocked Up (Blu-ray) – $8.82
Looper (Blu-ray) – $9.99
Lost In Translation (Blu-ray) – $9.63
MacGruber (Blu-ray) – $7.69
Melancholia (Blu-ray) – $10.49
Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol (Blu-ray) – $8.58
No Country For Old Men (Blu-ray) – $4.50
Observe & Report (Blu-ray) – $6.74
Office Space (Blu-ray) – $9.99
Pain & Gain (Blu-ray) – $9.99
The Perks of Being a Wallflower (Blu-ray) – $9.99
Persepolis (Blu-ray) – $7.93
The Place Beyond the Pines (Blu-ray) – $7.99
Public Enemies (Blu-ray) – $9.49
Prisoners (Blu-ray) – $9.99
Reality Bites (Blu-ray) – $9.96
The Secret In Their Eyes (Blu-ray) – $7.99
Seven (Blu-ray) – $7.25
Shutter Island (Blu-ray) – $7.99
A Single Man (Blu-ray) – $7.49
Snowpiercer (Blu-ray pre-order) – $14.96
The Spectacular Now (Blu-ray) – $12.74
Spring Breakers (Blu-ray) – $9.96
Source Code (Blu-ray) – $5.00
There Will Be Blood (Blu-ray) – $8.98
Vanilla Sky (Blu-ray pre-order) – $8.64
Waltz With Bashir (Blu-ray) – $6.85
The Wrestler (Blu-ray) – $7.76
What are you picking up this week?