This week’s home entertainment releases include four films that will appeal to serious moviegoers including the highbrow horror film, Hereditary, the romantic survival saga Adrift, plus the final season of Pendleton Ward’s brilliant animated series Adventure Time, the most recent season of Mike Judge’s Silicon Valley, and a timely biography of TV personality Fred Rogers.
Theatrical Releases
None of this week’s movie releases earned more than $44 million at the domestic box office, but there are some real treats for discerning moviegoers including Ari Aster’s
Hereditary (Lionsgate, “R,” $29.98, BD $39.99, 4K $42.99), a highbrow horror film that benefits from a terrific performance from Toni Collette.
Hereditary has a superb 89% positive rating on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, but those who enjoy the visceral shocks of slasher films, etc., should stay away (the film earned a lousy “D+” CinemaScore from mainstream horror movie fans), but viewers who enjoy old school psychological horror are in for a treat.
Balthasar Kormakur’s
Adrift (Universal, “PG-13,” $29.98, BD $34.98) combines two genres, romance and survival at sea in a story of a young couple that find themselves (after a storm) adrift in the Pacific without a radio. Shailene Woodley shines in this somewhat predictable drama that managed to snag a 73% positive rating on RT, largely due to the efforts of its young stars and the visual flair of its director.
Also interesting (but primarily for those who enjoy psychological thrillers) is Michael Pearce’s Beast (Lionsgate, “R,” $19.98, BD $21.98), which is set in a lonely U.K. community where a young girl is torn between her repressive family and her attraction to a young outsider, who is suspected of horrific crimes.
For those who enjoy documentaries, or those who grew up with
Sesame Street and
Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood, there is
Won’t You Be My Neighbor? (Universal, “PG-13,” 94 min., $29.98, BD $29.98), a heartfelt portrait of the TV host, whose quiet, unassuming, rational, and empathetic demeanor appears like a beacon of serenity in the morass of disgusting, hate-filled, narcissistic bloviating that characterizes the current state of public speech in America.
TV on DVD
This week’s top release is the final season of the brilliant series created by Pendelton Ward,
Adventure Time: The Final Seasons (Cartoon Network, 655 min., DVD Only $24.98). While this series is an absolute “must have” for series fans, it will apparently not be available in Blu-Ray in spite of the fact that the first six seasons of the show were released in the high def format--just another sign of the decline of “hard copy” formats in the age of streaming, but a disappointment for fans nonetheless.
Other series of potential interest to geek viewers are: Mike Judge’s trenchant and increasingly relevant
Silicon Valley: Season 5 (HBO, $19.980; the Big Bang Theory spin-off,
Young Sheldon: Season One (Warner Bros., 436 min., $39.98, BD $44.98); the final season of the time-traveling NBC series,
Timeless: Season Two (Sony, 430 min., $35.99); the British/German teen fantasy drama
Wolfblood: Season 4 (Cinedigm, 412 min., $19.98); the long-running dark fantasy
Supernatural: Season 13 (Warner Bros., 1,012 min., $49.97, BD $54.98); and the CBS jury-manipulation series
Bull : Season 2 (Paramount, 954 min., $49.99).
Other contemporary series due on Tuesday include: the well-made family comedy, The Goldbergs: Season 5 (Sony, 475 min., $26.99); the revived Hawaii Five-O: The Eighth Season (Paramount, 1074 min., $49.99); the tedious police procedural Law and Order: Special Victims Unit: Season 19 (Universal, 880 min,, $29.98); and the comedy Superstore: Season 3 (Universal, $29.98).
This week’s lone overseas offering is the warmhearted UK medical drama set in rural India,
The Good Karma Hospital: Series 2 (Acorn Media, 288 min., $39.99, BD $39.99), which stars Amanda Redman, who was brilliant in the UK police procedural
New Tricks.
Anime
This week’s new releases include the second seasons of two fascinating TV anime, the 2016 series from Bones,
Bungo Stray Dogs: Season Two (Funimation, “TV-14,” 325 min., BD/DVD Combo $64.98), which is based on the supernatural/mystery/action manga written by Kafka Asagiri and published here by Yen Press; and
New Game!!: Season Two (Funiamtion, “TV-14,” 300 min., BD/DVD Combo $64.98), a 2017 series from Doga Kobo, which is based on the four-panel manga series by Shotaro Tokuno that is set in the world of video game creation and character design
Also due on Tuesday is Premium Box Set version of the Armed Girl Machiavellism Complete Collection (Sentai Filmworks, “TV-14,” 350 min., BD Premium Box $99.98). Check here for a description of the property (the regular set was released last week). The Premium Box Set includes a 240-page booklet, six art cards, and six 4”x 6” sticker sets.
