The big fall home entertainment releases are still a few weeks away, but this week the caper comedy Going in Style offers sheer entertainment, while the social media-examining The Circle raises plenty of interesting questions, the dark comedy Big Little Lies features a A-level cast in a prestige series that has been nominated for 14 Emmy Awards, while the BBC series Fortitude is a claustrophobic thriller set on the top of the world, and Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin is a 2015 retelling of the original Gundam TV anime based on a new manga.

Theatrical Movies

The critics didn’t like Going in Style (Warner Bros., “PG-13,” 120 min., $29.98, BD $35.99), a geriatric caper film starring Morgan Freeman, Allen Arkin, and Michael Caine, giving it just a 46% positive rating, but this remake of a 1979 film, which was directed by Zach Braff, is caper comedy that definitely has its moments, most of which arrive via the interplay between the three stars.  Theodore Melfi did a good job of updating the 1979 film and providing sufficient motivation for the larcenous actions of its trio of ordinary protagonists, but the primary reason to catch this entertaining film is the charm of its trio of vintage thespians.

The Circle (Lionsgate, “PG-13,” 110 min., $29.95, BD $39.99) also boast a fine cast (Tom Hanks, Emma Watson), but it fared even worse with the critics (just 15% positive on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes), in spite of tackling serious themes involving a hugely powerful, Facebook-like, social media empire.  The Circle raises all sort of interesting themes, but doesn’t do much with them.  It is a terrible movie, it just one of those that makes you think that it could have been a lot better than it was.

Other releases this week include the “found footage” science fiction thriller Phoenix Forgotten (Fox, “PG-13,” $29.95, BD $34.95), which purports to be a documentary cobbled together from footage shot by three Arizona teenagers who disappeared in the desert when chasing the mysterious UFO phenomenon known as the “Phoenix Lights” in 1997; the drug and magic tricks movie, Sleight (Universal, “R,” 180 min., $22.98, BD $29.98), and urban drama about a young street magician, who also deals drugs; and this week’s best reviewed film, Colossal (Universal, “R,” 220 min., $22.98, BD $29.98), a wild science fiction/monster/comedy that stars Anne Hathaway as a party girl, who thinks she has a strange connection with a monster that is destroying Seoul, Korea—and she’s right.  Writer/director Nacho Vigalando’s wild narrative wowed the critics (80% positive on RT), and those who enjoy “quirky” movies will find much to like here, though mainstream science fiction and horror film fans may find the film’s comic conceits a bit tedious.

TV on DVD

This week’s top release, the HBO miniseries Big Little Lies (HBO, $39.99, BD $49.99) typifies the current TV ‘”renaissance” that is largely driven by cable TV productions such as this dark comedy/mystery written by David E. Kelley and based on the novel by Liane Moriarty.  Ten years ago Moriarty’s novel might have been adapted into a serious movie, but now it’s an HBO miniseries with a cast that would do any film proud—Reese Witherspoon, Nicole Kidman, Shailene Woodley, Alexander Skarsgard, and Laura Dern.

HBO and other cable/streaming providers not only get top stars for their projects, they now get similarly successful behind-the-camera talent.  Case in point is Judd Apatow, who directed the pilot for the HBO series Crashing: The Complete 1st Season (HBO, 240 min., $19.98, BD $24.98).  This semi-autobiographical backstage comedy series follows comedian Pete Holmes, who is thrown out of his house by his wife, but is determined to continue his comedy career.

This week’s most interesting offering, at least for mystery fans, is the UK series Fortitude, a psychological thriller/mystery set in the Norwegian artic, which benefits from the brooding atmosphere of Nordic Noir, and an excellent cast that includes Stanley Tucci in his first role in a UK series.

Vintage TV releases include the 2005 BBC miniseries Blackbeard (Mill Creek, 171 min., $9.98), and the 2005 made-for-TV version of the disaster film The Poseidon Adventure (Mill Creek, 175 min., $9.98).

But the most interesting vintage offering is The Secret World of Alex Mack (Mill Creek, 1,903 min., $29.98), which includes all 78 episodes of the 1994-1998 Nickeodeon series about a girl who receives secret powers due to a chemical spill.  Only the first season of this proto-superhero saga has been released on disc before, so fans of this show will finally get a chance to revisit the entire series.

Anime

For mecha fans this week’s top offering is Mobile Suit Gundam the Origin: Chronicle of Char and Sayla Collection (Right Stuf, 243 min., $49.99, BD $59.99), which contains all four 60-minute episodes of the 2015 Sunrise series that is based on Yoshikazu Yazuhiko’s manga retelling of the classic 1979 MSG anime series.  These four episodes focus on the characters Char Aznable and his sister Sayla Mass.

Also of interest is a new Blu-ray edition of the classic shojo comedy anime Fruits Basket: The Complete Series Sweet Sixteen Edition (Funimation, 650 min., $69.98, BD $84.98), which contains all 26 episodes of the 2001 series produced by Studio Deen and based on the popular manga by Natsuki Takaya.

This week’s other release is Junjo Romantica: Season 2 Complete Collection (Right Stuf, 300 min., Subtitles Only, BD $54.99), which contains all 12 Season 2 episodes produced by Studio Deen in 2015 and based on the yaoi manga by Shungiku Nakamura.