This Week on DVD & Blu-ray (06-04-13)

Remember John McClane? Well, there may not be any semblance of the iconic character portrayed by Bruce Willis in “A Good Day to Die Hard”  the fifth movie in a series that often feels some of the like a cheap imitations that have been made since the original “Die Hard” was released back in 1988. That movie is now available after its disappointing theatrical run. The Melissa McCarthy/Jason Bateman crime comedy “Identity Thief” actually fared better, appearing at number one at the box office during its opening weekend as well as its third week out (which is quite rare). This means there’s still an audience for a raunchy and mean-spirited movie from the director of “Horrible Bosses”. How about a zombie love story? Jonathan Levine (“50/50”) fills the void in the zombie rom-com sub genre with “Warm Bodies” an odd and delightful love story told from the perspective of the undead. Now there’s a twist. These three movies couldn’t be more different from each other, which should provide some entertainment to a wide variety of viewers.

There are other notable releases out this week, such as “Brooklyn Castle”, a recent doc about a group of middle schoolers in Brooklyn who unite and thrive as they take part in a celebrated chess tournament. Another recent release is “Escape From Planet Earth” an animated feature that pretty much bombed in the theaters. No wonder. It looks quite dumb and unfunny. New to Blu-ray this week is “The Mad Max Trilogy”, the post-apocalyptic series directed by George Miller that made Mel Gibson’s career. Think what you want about Gibson, but like Willis made McClane a fan-favorite character, so did Gibson with Max.

That’s it for this week. Previous reviews are highlighted below. Enjoy the Rundown….

 

• 12 Rounds 2: Reloaded (DVD/Blu-ray)
• 23:59: Time to Die (DVD/Blu-ray)
• 4 Film Favorites: John Wayne (DVD)
• A Beautiful Mind / Cinderella Man Double Feature (Blu-ray)
• A Good Day to Die Hard (DVD/Blu-ray)
• Adventure Time: The Complete Second Season (DVD)
• Alfred Hitchcock: The Essentials Collection (Blu-ray)
• Battlestar Galactica: Razor / Battlestar Galactica: The Plan Double Feature (Blu-ray)
• Breaking Bad: The Fifth Season (DVD)
• Brooklyn Castle (DVD)
• Charlie Zone (DVD/Blu-ray)
• Clint Eastwood: 40 Film Collection (DVD/Blu-ray)
• Combat!: The Complete Third Season (DVD/Blu-ray)
• Creature From the Black Lagoon (Blu-ray)
• Curious George: The Complete Sixth Season (DVD/Blu-ray)
• Daniel Craig 007 Collection (Blu-ray)
• Dante’s Peak / Daylight Double Feature (Blu-ray)
• Dirty Mary Crazy Larry/Race with the Devil (Double Feature) (Blu-ray)
• Doom / Street Fighter Double Feature (Blu-ray)
• Earthquake (1974) (Blu-ray)
• Electra Glide in Blue (Blu-ray)
• Escape From Planet Earth (DVD/Blu-ray)
• Falling Skies: The Complete Second Season (DVD/Blu-ray)
• Green Zone / The Kingdom Double Feature (Blu-ray)
• Home Sweet Home (DVD/Blu-ray)
• Ice Road Truckers: Season 6 (DVD/Blu-ray)
• Identity Thief (DVD/Blu-ray)
• In Old Arizona (1928) (DVD/Blu-ray)
• The Invisible Man (Blu-ray)
• Joshua Tree, 1951: A Portrait of James Dean (DVD/Blu-ray)
• Land of the Lost / MacGruber Double Feature (Blu-ray)
• The Last Ride: A Story of Hank Williams (DVD)
• Leap Year/Love Happens Double Feature (Blu-ray)
• Mad Max Trilogy (Blu-ray)
• Major Crimes: The Complete First Season (DVD)
• Mental (DVD/Blu-ray)
• Miami Vice/Inside Man Double Feature (Blu-ray)
• Midway (1976) (Blu-ray)
• Mosquita y Mari (DVD)
• Mountain Men: Season 1 (DVD)
• The Mummy (1932) (Blu-ray)
• Nanny McPhee / Peter Pan Double Feature (Blu-ray)
• The Odd Couple (1968) (Blu-ray)
• Phantom of the Opera (1943) (Blu-ray)
• Pretty Little Liars: The Complete Third Season (DVD)
• Rawhide: The Sixth Season, Volume 1 (DVD)
• Rawhide: The Sixth Season, Volume 2 (DVD)
• Ring of Fire (2013) (DVD)
• Rope (1948) (Blu-ray)
• Sadako 3D (DVD/Blu-ray)
• Scent of a Woman / Sea of Love Double Feature (Blu-ray)
• The Shadow (Blu-ray)
• Shaun of the Dead / Hot Fuzz Double Feature (Blu-ray)
• Uncle Buck / Fletch Double Feature (Blu-ray)
• W.C. Fields Comedy Favorites Collection (DVD)
• War: 10-Movie Collection (DVD)
• Warm Bodies (DVD/Blu-ray)