This week’s home entertainment offerings include the big horror film hit of the year so far (Jordan Peele’s Us), the animated Wonder Park, the second season of the award-winning Killing Eve, a brilliant performance by Benedict Cumberbatch as a dissipated aristo in Patrick Melrose, and the debut of the English language dub of the final season of the Sailor Moon anime series.
Theatrical Films
This week’s biggest release is Jordan Peele’s Us (Universal, “R,” 117 min., $29.98, BD $34.98). Peele’s second horror film may be less overtly about race (the central theme of Peele’s first film Get Out), and more about social revolt and the revenge of the repressed, represented here by doppelgangers of the film’s core family of protagonists. Other offerings this week include the undistinguished animated feature Wonder Park (Paramount, “PG,” 85 min., $29.98, BD $39.98), which is suitable for the 5-10 year-old crowd, but few others; The Beach Bum (Universal, “R,” 95 min., $22.98, BD $34.98), Harmony Korine’s controversial film starring Matthew McConaughey that provided the Oscar winner with his lowest debut total ever; the “real-life” terrorist thriller Hotel Mumbai (Universal, “R,” 124 min., $29.98, BD $34.98); the Mexican comedy film No Manches Frida 2 (Lionsgate, Not Rated, $19.98, BD $24.98), which was the third highest-grossing film at the Mexican box office; and Under the Silver Lake (Lionsgate, “R,” 139 min., $19.98, BD $24.98), a stylish (at times) neo-noir with some good performances (Andrew Garfield) that nevertheless is torpedoed by its ridiculous conspiracy theory plot.TV on DVD
This week’s top offering is the British spy thriller Killing Eve: Season 2 (BBC, 360 min., $24.98, BD $29.98). This multi-award winning spy series stars Sandra Oh and has been a big hit with younger audiences in both the U.K. and the U.S.Other series out this week include the USA legal drama Suits: Season 8 (Universal, 692 min., $39.98) and the sitcom Will and Grace: The Revival Season 2 (Universal, 367 min., $29.98, BD $34.98).
{MAGE_5}The best offering from overseas is the Emmy-nominated Patrick Melrose (Acorn Media, 302 min. $39.99, BD $39.98), which stars Benedict Cumberbatch in black humor filled saga that traces the arc of a contemporary aristocrat from a privileged, but highly traumatic childhood to a drug-addled adolescence to something that resembles recovery.
Anime
This week’s top release is Sailor Moon Sailor Stars: Season 5, Part 1 (Viz Media, “TV-PG,” 425 min., $39.98, BD $69.98, LE $79.98), which includes the first 17 episodes of the fifth and final season of the classic magical girl anime series presented here with an English dub on disc for the very first time. The Limited Edition includes a 96-page booklet as well as both the DVD and BD discs. Those who enjoy Studio Ghibli films should take a look at Modest Heroes: Ponoc Short Films Theater (ShoutFactory, “PG,” 54 min., BD $24.97), an anthology film that includes three 15-minute short films, each by a different director—and all three episodes are well worth watching.Also due on Tuesday are Love Tyrant (Funimation, 300 min., BD/DVD Combo $64.98), a 12-episode 2017 series that is based on the romantic comedy manga by Megane Mihoshi that is a sort of romcom version of Death Note that centers around a magical notebook called Kiss Note, which can confer romantic relationships on people who have their names written together in the book; and One Piece: Adventure in Nebulandia (Funimation, “14+,” 107 min., BD/DVD Combo $34.98), the third One Piece TV special that was originally aired in Japan in 2015.