It’s an eclectic batch of titles this week, top-lined by a pair of excellent foreign language films: the French drama The Secret Of The Grain (about an unemployed Tunisian immigrant who tries to launch a restaurant) and the operatic Italian history-play Vincere (about the rise of Benito Mussolini and the corresponding fall of the woman who secretly married him). The former comes from Criterion; the latter from IFC (and not Criterion, oddly). Criterion is also releasing a collection of ‘30s French comedies directed by and starring Sacha Guitry; we’ll have a full review of that in the near future.
On the TV-on-DVD front, it’s a great week for those who dig television history, whether it be the classic sitcom The Phil Silvers Show (review coming soon) or the crimefighting adventures produced by Stephen J. Cannell. For a real chestnut, check out the complete two-season run of the late ‘60s sitcom The Mothers-In-Law, with Eve Arden and Kaye Ballard as best friends who squabble when their children marry. And on the geek-friendly front, this week offers the kung fu biopic Ip Man, the Warner Animation feature Batman: Under The Red Hood, and the unusual Night Of The Living Dead: Reanimated, in which multiple animators take on scenes from George Romero’s horror classic. Again, look for reviews of some of the above in our regular DVD section, soonish.
Accidents Happen
Image, $27.98; Blu-ray, $29.98
Appointment With Danger
Olive, $24.95
The Art Of The Steal
MPI, $24.98
The Australian Story
VCI, $19.99
Batman: Under The Red Hood
Warner, $19.98/$24.98; Blu-ray, $33.63
The Black Arrow: The Complete Series
VCI, $24.99
Clash Of The Titans
Warner, $28.98; Blu-ray, $35.99
Crack In The World
Olive, $24.95
Dark City (1950)
Olive, $24.95
Deadly Shift
E1, $19.98
Death Kappa
Tokyo Shock, $19.99; Blu-ray, $24.99
Don’t Look Up
E1, $24.98; Blu-ray, $24.98
Eclipse Series 22: Presenting Sacha Guitry (The Story Of A Cheat/The Pearls Of The Crown/Desire/Quadrille)
Criterion, $59.95
Emerson, Lake & Palmer: Pictures At An Exhibition 1970
Fontana, $14.98
FIFA World Cup DVD Collection 1930-2006
Topics, $89.99
G.I. Joe: The Movie
Shout! Factory, $16.97; Blu-ray, $26.97
Hannie Caulder
Olive, $24.95
Home
Kino, $29.95; Blu-ray, $34.95
Hunter: The Complete Series
Mill Creek, $99.98
I Need That Record!: The Death (Or Possible Survival) Of The Independent Record Store
MVD, $14.95
Ip Man
Well Go USA, $19.98/$24.98; Blu-ray, $26.98
Joan Mitchell: Portrait Of An Abstract Painter
Arthouse/New Video, $29.95
Johnny Handsome
Lionsgate Blu-ray, $19.99
Joy
Severin, $29.95
The Kansas City Royals 1985 World Series Collector’s Edition
A&E, $69.95
Life After People: The Complete Season Two
A&E, $29.95; Blu-ray, $39.95
Lock Up
Lionsgate Blu-ray, $19.99
The Missing Lynx
Phase 4, $19.99; Blu-ray, $29.99
The Mothers-In-Law: The Complete Series
MPI, $39.98
Night Of The Living Dead: Reanimated
Wild Eye, $16.95
The Only Way
VCI, $14.99
Operation: Endgame
Anchor Bay, $29.97; Blu-ray, $34.98
Paranormal State: Season Two
A&E, $24.95
Pawn Stars: Season Two
A&E, $24.95
The Phil Silvers Show: The First Season
Paramount, $39.98
Poirot, The Classic Collection: Set Four
Acorn, $49.99
Prime Time Crime: The Stephen J. Cannell Collection
Mill Creek, $29.98
The Prowler
Blue Underground Blu-ray, $29.98
Rambo: The Complete Collector’s Set
Lionsgate Blu-ray, $54.99
Ray Bradbury’s Chrysalis
E1, $24.98
Repo Men
Universal, $29.98; Blu-ray, $39.98
Ringo Starr & His All Starr Band: Live At The Greek Theater 2008
Hip-O, $14.99
Sabrina The Teenage Witch: The Final Season
Paramount, $39.98
The Secret Of The Grain
Criterion, $39.95; Blu-ray, $39.95
Skateboard
Scorpion, $19.95
Speaking In Code
Microcinema, $19.95
Stephen Fry In America
BFS, $29.98; Blu-ray, $39.98
Steve Byrne: The Byrne Identity
Image, $14.98; Blu-ray, $17.98
Trouble In The Sky
VCI, $19.99
21 Jump Street: The Complete Series
Mill Creek, $69.98
The Uninvited
MPI, $24.98
Union Station
Olive, $24.95
Vincere
IFC, $24.98