This week’s home entertainment releases include the first film in a new Warner Bros. fantasy franchise that the studio hopes will replace its Harry Potter earnings, the solidly-made real-life drama Patriots’ Day, the over-the-top “dad vs. fiancé” film Why Him?, the DVD debut of the first season of the Static Shock cartoon that was based on the Milestone/DC superhero, the latest season of the adult cartoon series Archer, and the North American disc debut of the most popular Naruto film yet.

Theatrical Movies

This week’s highest-grossing release is Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (Warner Bros. “PG-13,” 132 min., $28.98, BD $34.98, 3D $44.98) marks the start of a new franchise from Warner Bros., and one of the studio’s few successes in 2016.  Created and written for the screen by J. K. Rowling, Fantastic Beasts is a prequel to the Harry Potter films that is set largely in New York City in the 1920s.  Potter fans and fantasy fans in general will enjoy this solidly entertaining film with its plethora of fascinating creatures that makes for a great night of family viewing.

The “Father vs. Fiance” film Why Him? (Fox, “R,” 111 min., $29.99, BD $39.99) didn’t do well with the critics (only 40% positive on Rotten Tomatoes), but it fared a bit better with audiences, who responded to the film’s broad humor and its excellent cast (Bryon Cranston, and a perfectly cringe-worthy James Franco).  Anyone who enjoys the “dad vs. dude” genre should find some enjoyment here, but others would be well-advised to steer clear of this one, unless trapped on an airliner or in some similar former of involuntary servitude.

A much better film that did only half as well at the box office ($28 million vs. $56 million for Why Him?) is the real-life drama Patriots’ Day (Lionsgate, “R,” 113 min., $29.95, BD $39.99, 4K $42.99), which was based on the Boston Marathon bombing.  Well-directed by Peter Berg and well-acted by a strong cast led by Mark Wahlberg, Patriots’ Day is well worth seeing.

Art movie lovers can choose from a trio of fine films that all received 80% or better ratings from review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, though none of them made more than $3.6 million at the box office here in North America.  In the future critics will likely characterize Martin Scorsese’s Silence (Paramount, “R,” $29.99, BD $39.99) as an austere masterpiece in the same way that the films of Robert Bresson are considered by many cinephiles today.  Silence, which features superb performances from Andrew Garfield, Adam Driver, Tadanobu Asano, and Liam Neeson, is a serious, thought-provoking film that fittingly caps a trilogy of religiously-themed movies from Scorsese that also includes The Last Temptation of Christ, and Kundun.

Liam Neeson also stars (via performance capture) in A Monster Calls (Universal, “PG-13,” 218 min., $29.98, BD $34.99), a superior coming-of-age saga about a young boy whose world is upended when his mother contracts a serious illness.  A Monster Calls is slow-moving, but emotionally powerful—and those who don’t mind being put through an emotional ringer will find much to like here.

Mike Mills’ 20th Century Women (Lionsgate, “R,” 118 min., $19.98, BD $24.98) stars Annette Bening, Greta Gerwig, Elle Fanning, and Lucas Zuman in yet another “coming-of-age” saga, though this one is set in the 1970s, and this time though Lucas Zuman plays the adolescent in question, the key role goes to Bening, who portrays a very different sort of mother in this comedy drama in which plot takes a backseat to a mélange of quirky and interesting characters.

TV on DVD

Not many TV on DVD releases this week, but there are some choice releases including the debut of Static Shock, the TV animated series based on the DC Comics character Static created by Milestone’s Dwayne McDuffie and Denys Cowan.  Static Shock: The Complete First Season (Warner Bros., 275 min., DVD-R, $24.99) contains the first 13 episodes of the 52-episode cartoon that debuted in 2000.  Only the first few episodes of the series are currently available on disc, which makes the release of this popular, groundbreaking series all the more desirable.

Also of great interest is the latest season of the adult animated series Archer that appears on the FX cable network.  Archer: The Complete Season 7 (Fox, 220 min., $39.98, BD $49.99).  The eighth season of this sexy spoof series, with its wealth of humorous anachronisms that largely stem from the eponymous hero’s slavish similarity to a cartoon James Bond, will debut next month on the FXX network.

Yet another series with strong geek appeal is Mystery Science Theater 3000: XXXVIII (Shout Factory, 480 min., $59.97), the 38th collection of grade Z movies made watchable by the hilarious running commentary from the MST3K crew.  This edition includes Invasion U.S.A., Colossus and the Headhunters, High School Big Shot, and Track of the Moon Beast.

I don’t normally bother with documentaries or reality shows, but the BBC series Planet Earth II (BBC, 360 min., $39.98, BD $44.95), which examines our world from the point of view of our animal brethren, is simply breathtakingly beautiful and worth purchasing in the high-def BD format.

The other excellent overseas offering is the Irish mystery series Jack Taylor: Set 3 (Acorn Media, 282 min., $49.99), which contains three feature length mysteries based on the novels of Ken Bruen.  Set in picturesque Galway, the Jack Taylor mysteries feature a whiskey-swilling, old school policeman-turned-private-detective protagonist, plus intriguing mysteries and superbly photographed backgrounds.

Anime

This week’s top two releases are anime feature films, Boruto Naruto: The Movie (Viz Media, 96 min., $19.98, BD/DVD Combo $29.98) was produced by Studio Pierrot in 2015 in Japan and became the highest-grossing film in the entire Naruto series; and Stein’s; Gate The Movie: Load Region of Deja Vu (Funimation, 90 min., BD/DVD Combo $34.98), a science fiction animated film produced by White Fox in 2013 that is the sequel to the 2012 TV anime series set in a future where people can send text messages to the past and thus change the course of events.

Also new this week is the Luck & Logic: Season 1 Collection (Funimation, 300 min., BD/DVD Combo $64.98), which collects the 12-episode 2016 anime TV series from Doga Kobo that is based on the multi-media franchise created by Bushiroad.  Although Bushiroad has cancelled the U.S. edition of the Luck & Logic Trading Card Game effective at the end of 2017 (see “Bushiroad Discontinues Luck & Logic”), the Luck & Logic anime has been greenlit for a second season in Japan.

Also new this week are Heavy Object: Part 2 (Funimation, 300 min., BD/DVD Combo $64.98), which contains the 12-episode second half of the 24-episode mecha action anime TV series from J.C. Staff that aired in 2015 and 2016; the 2015 fantasy action series from J.C. Sraff  Is It Wrong to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? Complete Collection (Sentai Filmworks, 360 min., $59.98, BD $69.98); and the 12-episode 2015 horror, comedy, harem mash-up Diabolik Lovers II More Blood: Complete Collection (Sentai Filmworks, 180 min., $29.98, BD $39.98).

Previously released material due on Tuesday includes the 23-episode (#143-164) Fairy Tail: Collection 7 (Funimation, 550 min., BD/DVD Combo $64.98); the first anime film directed by Isao Takahata, the innovative 1968 feature Horus, Prince of the Sun (Discotek Media, 82 min., $29.95); the 1992 OVA series Babel II: The Complete OVA Series (Discotek, 120 min., $24.95); the 2009-2010 OVA harem comedy Tenchi Muyo: War on Geminar (Funimation, 600 min., BD/DVD Combo $64.98), which takes place 15 years after the events of Tenchi Muyo GXP, and was previously released in two parts at double this cost; and the Inari Kon Kon: Complete Collection (Funimation, 275 min., BD/DVD Combo $29.98).