Weekly Digital Disc Picks – May 29, 2012

There aren’t a lot of door crashers this week, but there are a lot of notable smaller titles, particularly from the Warner archives. Note that a lot of the Warner classics are in Amazon’s DVD-R format and unavailable through other retailers.

Title Available Formats
Action
A Better Tommorrow 2012
A Korean re-make of John Woo’s classic heroic bloodshed film. This film is not directed by Woo, just produced by him, despite what the cover says.
Anime
Black Cat: The Complete Series (SAVE Edition)
Dragon Age: Dawn of the Seeker
Anime based on the popular video game series.
Gintama: The Motion Picture
Kenichi: The Mightiest Disciple – Season 2 (Anime Classics Collection)
Shiki Part 1
Comes with an art-box to hold parts 1 & 2. Murder mystery series.
Shiki Part 2
Art House
Summer Interlude (Criterion Collection)
Directed by Ingmar Bergman
Summer With Monika (Criterion Collection)
Directed by Ingmar Bergman
Biopic
Coriolanus
Sing Your Song: Harry Belafonte
Classics (Cult)
Abraham Lincoln vs. Zombies
Classics (Traditional)
Birth of a Nation – Diamond Classic Collection
Blaine: This was a monumental and controversial film in history. It is revered for creating the film epic genre, clocking in at 187 minutes when the average film was closer to 40. It is further revered for demonstrating that movies can be used to promote a social message. It is detested for the message it promotes: that the U.S. won the Civil War and the “good guys” lost.
Bridge to the Sun
Starring Carroll Baker and James Shigeta
Star of Midnight
Starring William Powell, Ginger Rogers, Paul Kelly and Gene Lockhart
Strange Love of Martha Ivers
Starring Kirk Douglas, Van Heflin and Barbara Stanwyck
This Could be the Night
Starring Jean Simmons, Paul Douglas and Joan Blondell. Directed by Robert Wise.
Comedy
Drop Dead Diva: The Complete Third Season
Monroe: Series 1
Royal Pains: Season Three – Volume Two
Three Stooges (1934-1959) – Diamond Classic Collection DVD Set
This is a 12 disc, 3204 minute set.
Drama
Degrassi Season 11: Part 1
Rookie Blue: Season Two
Blaine: I watched the first episode via iTunes and really enjoyed this Canadian police drama. Season three just started.
Too Late Blues
Fantasy
True Blood: Season One
  • Digital purchase: Amazon
  • DVD/Blu-Ray/Digital combo: Amazon
True Blood: Season Two
  • DVD/Blu-Ray/Digital combo: Amazon
True Blood: Season Three
  • DVD/Blu-Ray/Digital combo: Amazon
True Blood: Season Four
Mystery
Mudroch Mysteries Season 4
Science Fiction
A Trip To The Moon & The Extraordinary Voyage Deluxe Edition
The George Melies classic is here.
Wing Commander Academy – The Complete Series
Alex: I watched this religously as a kid, even though I didn’t have a computer that could run the games. While, on the one hand, I am kind of concerned that it won’t age well, it did use much of the games’ cast, including Malcolm McDowell & Mark Hammill.
Sports
Goon
WWE Presents Extreme Rules 2012
Brock Lesnar makes his return to the WWE with a match against John Cena.
Superhero
Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance
Suspense
Flareup
Starring Raquel Welch
Gone
Man on a Ledge
We Need To Talk About Kevin
War
Memorial Day
Western
Denver & Rio Grande
Starring Edmond O’Brien, Sterling Hayden, Dean Jagger and Lyle Bettger. Directed by Byron Haskin.
Maverick – The Complete First Season
Alex: I watched some of this on Netflix back when they had it streaming. I thought it was pretty good. Blaine: This is the series that made James Garner a star, despite the fact that the old school shooting schedules were so intense he was only in half the episodes.
Outlaw Josey Wales
Run For Cover
Silver City
Starring Edmond O’Brien, Yvonne De Carlo, Barry Fitzgerald, Richard Arlen and Michael Moore. Directed by Byron Haskin

Finally, the picks of the week. Alex says, “While I realize that this might not have aged as well as I’d like, I’m going with Wing Commander Academy.” Blaine says, “I’ve seen very few releases this week, but I have yet to see an Ingmar Bergman film I didn’t love, so I’d recommend either Criterion Collection release.”

4 replies on “Weekly Digital Disc Picks – May 29, 2012”

    • Yeah, Spirit of Vengeance was out in February in theatres. I haven’t seen it because every review I’ve read described it as being significantly worse than the original, which is a feat unto itself.

  1. Birth of a Nation goes further than that, and is a must-see if you want to understand film history. It brought together a number of techniques, codifying, in the words of Roger Ebert, the visual language of film.

    However, it presents a white racist view of history. Its handling of African-American characters was controversial even in its day. It lionized the old Ku Klux Klan, and was the major factor in reviving the then-defunct Klan.

    Think of it as the American cultural equivalent of Triumph of the Will, a beautiful, historic work of film made in service of ugly, horrific ideas.

  2. Interesting Netflix releases this week:

    Henry’s Crime – Keanu Reeves as the adorable bank robber.
    Tripping Forward – Low budget comedy in the vein of The Hangover. Some of the jokes fall flat but for the most part it’s a good tribute to the genre.
    Jack’s Back – 80s James Spader is the only true Spader.

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