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. Check out our rundown below and return every Tuesday for the best (or most interesting) 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.
Black Coal, Thin Ice (Yi’nao Diao)
Despite having won the Golden Bear last year at the Berlin Film Festival, writer and director Yi’nao Diao’s acclaimed new film, Black Coal, Thin Ice somehow didn’t receive U.S. theatrical distribution. However, it’s finally available on Blu-ray. The modern noir tells the story of an ex-cop and his old parter, who reunite to investigate the chain of murders that brought their careers to an end after a series of identical murders begins to start all over again. I had the great pleasure of seeing this last year at the Tribeca Film Festival and Yi’nao has crafted an incredibly dense picture that requires multiple views to fully comprehend. The lead performances from Wang Xuebing, Liao Fan, and Gwei Lun help elevate the film to another level, so there’s no excuse to not check it out now. – Patrick D.
The Duke of Burgundy (Peter Strickland)
Sometimes one just needs to cleanse their palette or expand their mind by checking out a film even the director says is all about the experience. So when Peter Strickland explains how he tried hard not to make us want to find metaphor or meaning beyond what’s onscreen, I’m going to take him at his word. He also admitted the title The Duke of Burgundy was a joke–which “ended too late to change it”–that was intentionally misleading considering a staunch period piece this most certainly is not. No, this depraved sex dream showcasing two female lovers who push each other to the brink of sanity is more of the cricket and butterfly persuasion, or at least it has crickets and butterflies. And mannequins. – Jared M. (full review)
Spy (Paul Feig)
You never knew you wanted an R-rated comedic take on the action spy genre until halfway through Spy and you’re caught wondering why it has never been done quite this well before. Despite some rough patches peppered throughout, Paul Feig‘s latest film manages to continue rolling without much care for its missteps. Years after her break-out in Bridesmaids (also from Feig) and many films later, you’re going to either despise Melissa McCarthy’s wild antics or you’ll roll with the punches. McCarthy plays CIA agent and analyst Susan Cooper who spends her time at a desk with a mic in the ear of the Bond-like covert operative Bradley Fine (Jude Law), helping guide him with numerous technologies like thermal vision and layouts of buildings. “There are three men rapidly approaching the door up ahead,” and various other tips and commands are given by her, but things go wildly astray when Fine is murdered and the various agents in the field are exposed. – Bill G. (full review)
Unexpected (Kris Swanberg)
Early on in Kris Swanberg‘s Unexpected, inner-city school teacher Samantha Abbott (Cobie Smulders) finds out that she’s pregnant. The timing’s off, as the Chicago public high school she works at is being shut down after graduation. At home, she’s got a loving boyfriend (Anders Holm) who is fully supportive of the situation, if a bit naive. The two are quickly married, much to the dismay of Samantha’s judgmental mother Carolyn (Elizabeth McGovern), and make a tentative decision for Samantha to stay at home with their baby once it’s born. Back at school, Samantha learns that Jasmine (Gail Bean), one of her most-promising students, is pregnant as well. – Dan M. (full review)
Also Arriving This Week
Aloft (review)
A Room with a View
The Connection (review)
Cop Car (review)
The Honeymoon Killers
Recommended Deals of the Week
(Note: new additions are in red)
Top Deal: A massive selection of The Criterion Collection titles are on sale, including the essential Apu Trilogy for 50% off.
Adaptation (Blu-ray) – $7.99
A Most Wanted Man (Blu-ray) – $9.60
A Separation (Blu-ray) – $8.69
The American (Blu-ray) – $9.49
Amelie (Blu-ray) – $6.58
Anna Karenina (Blu-ray) – $11.73
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (Blu-ray) – $9.69
Beginners (Blu-ray) – $6.80
Black Swan (Blu-ray) – $6.74
The Brothers Bloom (Blu-ray) – $8.23
The Cabin in the Woods (Blu-ray) – $7.88
Casino (Blu-ray) – $8.49
Captain Phillips (Blu-ray) – $7.11
Children of Men (Blu-ray) – $9.49
Cloverfield (Blu-ray) – $9.04
Collateral (Blu-ray) – $7.88
Drive (Blu-ray) – $7.99
The Fly (Blu-ray) – $5.96
Gangs of New York (Blu-ray) – $7.50
Goodfellas (Blu-ray) – $7.50
Good Will Hunting (Blu-ray) – $7.50
The Graduate (Blu-ray) – $8.19
The Grandmaster (Blu-ray) – $5.00
A History of Violence (Blu-ray) – $6.69
Hot Fuzz (Blu-ray) – $7.82
Inglorious Basterds (Blu-ray) – $7.99
In the Loop (Blu-ray) – $7.85
Interstellar (Blu-ray) – $9.99
It Follows (Blu-ray) – $12.99
Jane Eyre (Blu-ray) – $8.29
Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (Blu-ray) – $9.69
The Lady From Shanghai (Blu-ray) – $8.99
The Last of the Mohicans: Director’s Definitive Cut (Blu-ray) – $7.13
Looper (Blu-ray) – $9.99
Lost In Translation (Blu-ray) – $9.49
Lucy (Blu-ray) – $9.99
Magic Mike (Blu-ray) – $6.99
Magnolia (Blu-ray) – $9.69
Margaret (Blu-ray) – $8.99
Martha Marcy May Marlene (Blu-ray) – $4.99
Michael Clayton (Blu-ray) – $9.65
Never Let Me Go (Blu-ray) – $8.99
No Country For Old Men (Blu-ray) – $4.96
Observe & Report (Blu-ray) – $7.49
Pariah (Blu-ray) – $6.74
Persepolis (Blu-ray) – $6.49
Public Enemies (Blu-ray) – $8.49
Pulp Fiction (Blu-ray) – $7.88
Reality Bites (Blu-ray) – $8.72
Rear Window (Blu-ray) – $9.99
Road to Perdition (Blu-ray) – $9.69
The Secret In Their Eyes (Blu-ray) – $6.52
Selma (Blu-ray) – $9.99
Seven (Blu-ray) – $7.50
Seven Psychopaths (Blu-ray) – $7.99
The Shining (Blu-ray) – $9.99
A Single Man (Blu-ray) – $6.91
Singin’ in the Rain (Blu-ray) – $7.17
Snowpiercer (Blu-ray) – $9.96
Synecdoche, NY (Blu-ray) – $6.25
There Will Be Blood (Blu-ray) – $8.69
The Tree of Life (Blu-ray) – $6.81
The Truman Show (Blu-ray) – $7.84
They Came Together (Blu-ray) – $9.99
True Grit (Blu-ray) – $9.99
This is the End (Blu-ray) – $6.72
Under the Skin (Blu-ray) – $7.99
We Own the Night (Blu-ray) – $6.89
Where the Wild Things Are (Blu-ray) – $7.99
The Wrestler (Blu-ray) – $7.10
Zero Dark Thirty (Blu-ray) – $9.99
What are you picking up this week?