This week’s home entertainment offerings include the most popular thriller released in 2014 as well as the final season of Boardwalk Empire, one of the best period gangster dramas ever produced for American TV, a 50th Anniversary edition of the Gerry Anderson Supermarionation saga Stingray, plus a quartet of interesting cable TV series including the hilarious Showtime series Episodes.

Theatrical Movies

This week’s top theatrical release is Gone Girl (Fox, “R,” 148 min., $29.98, BD $39.99), David Fincher’s adaptation of Gillian Flynn’s bestselling novel is a compelling neo-noir enlivened by excellent performances from Ben Affleck, Rosamund Pike, Neil Patrick Harris, and Tyler Perry.  The story unfolds like one of those Cornell Woolrich yarns about a man trapped inexorably in a web of circumstantial evidence, except that in this 2014 version there is a bit more attention paid to the “femme fatale’s” side of the equation.  Viewers who love a good “Hitchcockian” thriller should definitely check out Gone Girl, which is certainly the most stylish crime film of 2014.

Genre movie fans should check out Liam Neeson in A Walk Among the Tombstones (Universal, 228 min., $29.98, BD $34.98), an action-packed thriller based on the novels of Lawrence Block.  Though the pace of this film may upset those action movie fans with attention deficit disorder who have to have a chase scene every five minutes, there is plenty of R-rated action here, director Scott Frank just builds it up so that it actually has some importance when it occurs.  Here Neeson isn’t playing the total master of all the killing arts that he does in the more popular Taken films, but action movie fans who like grittier, more realistic fare, won’t be disappointed by A Walk Among the Tombstones.

Connoisseurs of bad, direct-to-DVD action films might want to check out The Scorpion King 4: Quest for Power (Universal, “PG-13,” 110 min., $29.98, BD $34.98), which features a nearly “actor-free” cast that includes fighters Roy “Big Country” Nelson, UFC grappler Royce Gracie, and kickboxer Don Wilson along with veteran thespian Lou Ferrigno.

TV on DVD

This week’s top release is Boardwalk Empire: Season 5 (HBO, 480 min., $59.95, BD $79.98), the final season of the award-winning period crime drama that has provided Steve Buscemi with the role of a lifetime as crooked pol, Nucky Thompson.  The final season manages to intertwine Nucky’s descent with images from the past revealing his rise to power—positioning the Boardwalk Empire saga in the grand tradition of “rise and fall” gangster narratives—but given the wonderful expansiveness of the TV miniseries format, the arc of Nucky’s demise is presented in wonderfully rendered detail.

Other hip cable series due out this week include the very funny UK/American sitcom Episodes: The Third Season (Showtime, 255 min., $29.98), which stars Matt LeBlanc, who plays himself in this workplace comedy about a couple of talented English writers (Stephen Mangan and Tamsin Greig) who bring their award-winning sitcom to the States where it is “Americanized” with hilarious results, as well as House of Lies: The 3rd Season (Showtime, 332 min., $39.98), which stars Don Cheadle and Kristen Bell in a saga about a group of ruthless management consultants who stop at nothing to get their business deals done, the FX series Tyrant: The Complete 1st Season (Fox, $39.98), a suspenseful, intrigue-filled saga about a Saddam Hussein-like Middle Eastern dictator, and The Bridge: The Complete Second Season (Fox, $39.98), the FX series that is based on the Danish/Swedish Nordic noir series Broen.

One of the ancillary benefits to Kevin Hart’s current stardom is the release of the 2004 TV series The Big House: The Complete Series (Olive Films, 130 min., $29.98).  This show lasted only six episodes on ABC, but it is actually a very clever mirror image of The Fresh Prince of Bel Air with Hart playing an upper middle class black kid from L.A., who is sent to live with his working class relatives back in Philly.

Geek viewers with a nostalgic streak might well be interested in Stingray: The Complete Series—50th Anniversary Edition (Timeless Media, 1014 min., $34.99), which includes all 39 episodes of Gerry Anderson’s SUPERMARIONATION stop-motion action/adventure series about the World Aquanaut Security Patrol (dig that crazy acronym!).

This week’s TV animated offerings include Steven Universe: Vol. 1, Gem Glow (Warner Bros., 132 min., $14.97), the first Cartoon Network Studios show that was created by a woman (Rebecca Sugar, who was a writer on Adventure Time), the stylish Gargoyles, Season 2: Vol. 2 (Disney, 595 min., $9.99), the equally inexpensive 27-episode Goof Troop, Vol. 2 (Disney, 672 min., $9.99), and Tail Spin: Vol. 3 (Disney, 251 min., $9.99).

Vintage series available on Tuesday include The Facts of Life: The Complete Series (Shout Factory, 4440 min., $199.99), and NYPD Blue: The Complete 8th Season (Shout Factory, 960 min., $34.99).

The best UK release available Stateside this week is Lovejoy: Series 4 (Acorn Media, 693 min., $49.99), which presents Ian McShane as the roguish antiques dealer, whose clever, outside the law, stratagems bring to mind the those employed by PI Jim Rockford on the U.S. series, The Rockford Files.

Anime

This week’s top anime release is the 2013 anime movie A Certain Magical Index the Movie: The Miracle of Endymion (Funimation, 90 min., BD/DVD Combo $34.98).  Produced by J.C. Staff, The Miracle of Endymion is based on an original story by Kazuma Kamachi (creator of the Certain Magical Index action/fantasy light novels published here by Yen Press) that features the main characters from both the Index and Railgun sagas along with some new characters, who were designed for the film by Kiyotaka Haimura, who has illustrated the Index and Railgun novels.

Another key release is One Piece: Season 6—Voyage Three (Funimation, 320 min., $39.98), which includes 13 more episodes of the long-running pirate saga.  Voyage Three includes a key portion of the “Thriller Bark arc” in which the Straw Hat pirates meet a very formidable foe indeed.

One Piece fans who are willing to wait, can buy the One Piece Collections, which contain twice as many episodes at slightly less than half the price.  One Piece: Collection 11 (Funimation, 640 min., $34.98) contains Voyage 5 from Season 4 along with Voyage 1 from Season 5.

New to Blu-ray this week is the Amagami SS Season One: Complete Collection (Sentai Filmworks, 600 min., BD $59.98), which was released on DVD here last March.

Fans of the dubbed Yu-Gi-Oh! anime TV series that drives sales of the YGO collectible card game, will want to check out the Yu-Gi-Oh! 5Ds: Season 1 Collection (Cinedigm, $44.99).

This week’s anime bargain reissue is the ChaoS;HEAd: Complete Collection (Funimation, BD/DVD $24.95).

--Tom Flinn

The opinions expressed in this column do not necessarily reflect those of the editorial staff of ICv2.com.