With five Tuesdays in April we have the dreaded “five-week” effect that typically results in a very weak slate of home entertainment releases, in this case providing only a well-constructed survival thriller (Arctic), a “Collector’s Edition” of all 8 seasons of Pendleton Ward’s Emmy-winning Adventure Time, and Catherine Hardwicke’s remake of the 2011 Mexican cartel shoot-‘em-up Miss Bala.

Theatrical Movies

This week’s best theatrical offering is the one that made the least movie, Joe Penna’s survival film Arctic (Universal, “PG-13,” 98 min., $22.98, BD $21.74).  A white-knuckle struggle for survival that stars Mads Mikkelsen and takes place near the Arctic Circle, Arctic, a spare and grueling film photographed in Iceland, earned an excellent 89% positive rating on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes.

Less successful was Catherine Hardwicke’s Miss Bala (Sony, “PG-13,” 104 min., $30.99, BD $34.99), a remake of a 2011 Mexican film, about a woman who trains to take down a drug cartel to avenge a friend.  In spite of some excellent action set pieces and a strong performance from Gina Rodriguez, Miss Bala has just a 23% positive rating on RT, primarily because critics liked the Mexican film better, and found too many holes in the remake’s plotline.

The narrative through line of Serenity (Universal, “R,” 107 min., $29.98, BD $34.98), a neo-noir starring Matthew McConaughey and Anne Hathaway, is even more confused, resulting in a lousy 19% critical rating on RT, and just $7.5 million at the box office in spite of an excellent cast and the best efforts of director Steven Knight.

TV on DVD

This week’s major domestic release of interest is a collector’s edition of Adventure Time: The Complete Series Limited Edition (Warner Bros., 3,268 min., $112.99), which contains all 238 episodes of the Emmy Award-winning, D&D-infused Cartoon Network series plus a 25-page storybook with pop-up, and a bonus disc with documentaries and other items of interest.

Also out his week is The Pink Panther Cartoon Collection: Volume 5 (KL Studio Classics, 160 min., BD $19.99), which contains Pink Panther theatrical cartoons released from 1976-1978 that contains a bunch of classic PP toons, including perhaps Robert McKimson’s best Panther cartoon, “Sherlock Pink.”

The only other TV on disc offerings are from overseas.  Amy Huberman’s Finding Joy (Acorn Media, 156 min., $34.98) is an often hilarious 6-episode Irish comedy that manages to be sexy, funny, and racy all at the same time, while Wire in the Blood: The Complete Collection (Acorn Media, 1,922 min., $89.99) is a gritty crime series featuring Robson Green (Grantchester) as a clinical psychologist called in by the police to help track down serial killers.

Anime

This week’s new anime release include High School DxD Hero: Season 4 Complete Collection (Funimation, “17+,” 325 min., BD/DVD Combo $64.98, Ltd. Ed. $84.98), which contains episodes 0-12 of the fourth season of the anime based on the fan service-filled supernatural harem comedy light novels written by Ichiei Ishibumi.  The Limited Edition comes in a chipboard box and includes an art book, a translation book, a fabric poster, and art cards.

Also out on Tuesday is the Hoshin Engi: Complete Collection (Funimation, “14+,” 575 min., BD $79.98), a 23-episode 2018 anime from C-Station based on the manga from Ry Fujisaki (inspired by the classic Chinese fantasy novel Investiture of the Gods) that previously was the source for the Soul Hunter anime series from Studio Deen that was released here back in 2001.

The slice-of-life comedy Mitsuboshi Colors: Complete Collection (Sentai Filmworks, “TV-14,” 300 min., BD $69.98) contains a 12-episode 2018 series from Silver Link based on the manga by Katsuwo about three young girls who form a secret organization to keep the peace in their town.

Now available in Blu-ray is the classic 1970s anime Gatchaman Collector’s Edition (Sentai Filmworks,
TV-PG,” 2,880 min., BD $149.98), which includes the original 105-episode anime series that spawned the U.S. series Battle of the Planets, 3 OVAs and the Gatchaman Movie along with a 48-page artbook).