DISCussion: What’s New on DVD/Blu-ray (7.24.12)

The Criterion Collection has released Whit Stillman’s The Last Days of Disco and is our Recommendation of the Week. Like other Criterion Collection rereleases, this one offers the usual array of features, including commentaries, deleted scenes and a film essay.

First Release
- Silent House (DVD and Blu-ray)
- The Deep Blue Sea (DVD and Blu-ray)
- My Way (DVD and Blu-ray)
- Footnote (DVD and Blu-ray)
- Jiro Dreams of Sushi (DVD and Blu-ray)
- On the Inside (DVD and Blu-ray)
- Treasure Island (2012) (DVD and Blu-ray)
- Brake (DVD and Blu-ray)
- Meeting Evil (DVD)
- Monitor (DVD)

Re-Release
- The Last Days of Disco (1998) (DVD and Blu-ray)
- Mystery Men (1999) (Blu-ray)
- Superman vs. The Elite (2012) (DVD)


*Recommendation of the Week*
The Last Days of Disco (1998) (Blu-ray)

Written and directed by Whit Stillman
Starring: Chloë Sevigny, Kate Beckinsale, Chris Eigeman, Mackenzie Astin

What’s the Deal?
From the Criterion Collection this week is the rerelease of the Whit Stillman’s (Metropolitan) indie movie The Days of Disco, the second part of his Bourgeois-in-Love series. Set in the early '80s, The Last Days of Disco focuses on a group of friends searching for love or something different.

Critics Rating (Rotten Tomatoes): 71% (good)
Player Affinity Score: 8.0/10

DISC DETAILS

DVD Special Features: Restored high-definition digital transfer, supervised and approved by director; Audio commentary featuring Stillman and actors Chloe Sevigny and Chris Eigeman; Four deleted scenes with commentary by Stillman, Eigeman, and Sevigny; Audio recording of Stillman reading a chapter from The Last Days of Disco; Behind-the-scenes featurette; Stills gallery with captions by Stillman; Original theatrical trailer; Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing; PLUS: An essay by novelist David Schickler

Amazon Price: $27.99 (Blu-ray)

Score (DVDTalk.com): Content: 4 stars, Video 4 stars, Audio 4 stars, Extras 4 stars, Replay 4 stars (out of 5). Highly Recommended.



There are 10 new releases out his week, ranging from the horror movies Silent House and Monitor to foreign language entries in the form of My Way and Footnote to the critically acclaimed documentary Jiro Dreams of Sushi. Two superhero movies have earn a rerelease, the comedy Mystery Men and the animated feature Superman vs. the Elite.


Silent House (DVD and Blu-ray)

Directed by Chris Kentis, Laura Lau
Written by Laura Lau (screenplay), Oscar Estevez (original movie)
Starring: Elizabeth Olsen, Adam Trese, Eric Sheffer Stevens

What’s the Deal?
After her great debut performance in Martha Marcy May Marlene, the horror movie Silent House was promoted partly on the fact Elizabeth Olsen stars in it. The other key element was the movie was filmed as one long continuous shot and played in real time.

Silent House is a remake of the Uruguayan horror movie The Silent House. Sarah (Olsen) is a young woman helping her dad repair their isolated lake house when they are attacked, and it becomes a fight for survival for our young heroine.

Critics Rating (Rotten Tomatoes): 41% (poor)
Player Affinity Score: 6.0/10 (read our review)

DISC DETAILS

DVD Special Features: N/A

Amazon Price: $19.99 (DVD), $24.99 (Blu-ray)

Score (DVDTalk.com): Content: 3 stars, Video 3.5 stars, Audio 4.5 stars, Extras 1.5 stars, Replay 2.5 stars (out of 5). Rent It.


The Deep Blue Sea (DVD and Blu-ray)

Directed by Terence Davies
Written by Terence Davies (screenplay), Terence Tattigan (play)
Starring: Rachel Weisz, Tom Hiddleston, Simon Russell Beale

What’s the Deal?
Not to be confused with the Samuel L. Jackson shark movie of a similar name, The Deep Blue Sea is a romantic drama based on Terence Tattigan’s 1952 play. British thesps Rachel Weisz and Tom Hiddleston (Thor, The Avengers) star in this drama as the wife of a judge and an RAF pilot embark on a self-destructive love affair.

Critics Rating (Rotten Tomatoes): 80% (very good)
Player Affinity Score: 6.5/10

DISC DETAILS

DVD Special Features: Collector's booklet; Audio commentary; Interviews with Rachel Weisz, Tom Hiddleston and Terence Davies; Terence Davies' master class; The look of The Deep Blue Sea

Amazon Price: $26.96 (DVD), $28.29 (Blu-ray)

Score (DVDTalk.com): N/A



My Way (DVD and Blu-ray)

Directed by Kang Je-gyu
Written by Kim Byung-in, Na Hyun, Kang Je-gyu
Starring: Jang Dong-gun, Joe Odagiri, Fan Bingbing

What’s the Deal?
From the director of the excellent war movie Brotherhood, Kang Je-gyu revisit’s the themes of friendship, rivalry and war with My Way. Inspired by a true story, Jun-shik Kim (Jang Dong-gun) is a Korean man in Japanese-occupied Korea who dreams of being a marathon runner at the Olympics. He forms a rivalry with Tatsuo (Joe Odagiri), a Japanese man. But when Japan enters into the Second World War, both men are conscripted and embark into an extraordinary journey from China to the Soviet Union, Germany and Normandy.

Critics Rating (Rotten Tomatoes): 21% (bad)
Player Affinity Score: N/A

DISC DETAILS

DVD Special Features: Making of; Behind the Scenes; Cast Interviews; Director Interview; New English Dub

Amazon Price: $23.20 (DVD), $19.99 (Blu-ray)

Score (DVDTalk.com): N/A



Footnote (DVD and Blu-ray)

Written and directed by Joseph Cedar
Starring: Shlomo Bar’aba, Lior Ashkenazi

What’s the Deal?
The Israeli movie Footnote was nominated for an Academy Award for the Best Foreign Language Film and the Best Screenplay Award at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival. This drama tells the rivalry between two professors at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, a father and son with different methods who are competing for the Israeli Prize.

Critics Rating (Rotten Tomatoes): 91% (excellent)
Player Affinity Score: N/A

DISC DETAILS

DVD Special Features: N/A

Amazon Price: $21.93 (DVD), $25.95 (Blu-ray)

Score (DVDTalk.com): Content: 4 stars, Video 4.5 stars, Audio 4.5 stars, Extras 3 stars, Replay 4 stars (out of 5). Highly Recommended.



Jiro Dreams of Sushi (DVD and Blu-ray)

Directed by David Gelb
Starring: Jiro Ono, Yoshikazu Ono

What’s the Deal?
Jiro Dreams of Sushi is a critically acclaimed documentary about Yoshikazu Ono, a world famous 85-year-old sushi chef in Tokyo who is searching to create the perfect sushi and his son Jiro who lives under his father’s shadow.

Critics Rating (Rotten Tomatoes): 98% (excellent)
Player Affinity Score: 7.0/10

DISC DETAILS

DVD Special Features: Deleted Scenes; Masters; Sushi Gallery; Commentary with Director David Gelb and Editor Brandon Driscoll-Luttringer; Theatrical Trailer; ; Closed Caption

Amazon Price: $23.92 (DVD), $20.86 (Blu-ray)

Score (DVDTalk.com): N/A



On the Inside (DVD and Blu-ray)

Written and directed by D.W. Brown
Starring: Nick Stahl, Dash Mihok, Olivia Wilde

What’s the Deal?
Allen Meneric (Nick Stahl, Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines) is a troubled college professor who is sent to a psychiatric institution after committing a brutal revenge murder. Allen is put into an experimental socialization program where he meets Mia (Olivia Wilde), a bipolar inmate with her own secrets.

Critics Rating (Rotten Tomatoes): N/A
Player Affinity Score: N/A

DISC DETAILS

DVD Special Features: N/A

Amazon Price: $20.83 (DVD), $24.99 (Blu-ray)

Score (DVDTalk.com): N/A



Treasure Island (2012) (DVD and Blu-ray)

Directed by Steve Barron
Written by Stewart Harcourt (screenplay), Robert Louis Stevenson (novel)
Starring: Eddie Izzard, Toby Regbo, Rupert Penry-Jone, Daniel Mays, Philip Glenister, Donald Sutherland, Elijah Wood

What’s the Deal?
The British TV miniseries Treasure Island is the most recent adaptation of the famous Robert Louis Stevenson novel. Toby Regbo stars as Jim Hawkins, who is taken on an adventure to find buried treasure, but the mysterious Long John Silver (Eddie Izzard) has his own motives.

Critics Rating (Rotten Tomatoes): N/A
Player Affinity Score: N/A

DISC DETAILS

DVD Special Features: N/A

Amazon Price: $14.99 (DVD), $19.99 (Blu-ray)

Score (DVDTalk.com): N/A



Brake (DVD and Blu-ray)

Directed by Gabe Torres
Written by Timothy Mannion
Starring: Stephen Dorff, Chyler Leigh, JR Bourne, Tom Berenger

What’s the Deal?
Brake is an action-thriller about Jeremy Reins (Stephen Dorff, Blade), a Secret Service agent who is kidnapped and held captive by terrorists. He is forced to endure physical and mental torture so he can reveal the location of the Oresident of the United States’ secret bunker.

Critics Rating (Rotten Tomatoes): 45% (average)
Player Affinity Score: N/A

DISC DETAILS

DVD Special Features: N/A

Amazon Price: $13.00 (DVD), $18.94 (Blu-ray)

Score (DVDTalk.com): N/A



Meeting Evil (DVD)

Directed by Chris Fisher
Written by Chris Fisher (screenplay), Thomas Berger (novel)
Starring: Luke Wilson, Samuel L. Jackson

What’s the Deal?
Based on Thomas Berger’s novel, the psychological thriller Meeting Evil tells how John (Luke Wilson), a weak-willed family man meets the mysterious Richie (Samuel L. Jackson), who takes John on a murderous rampage around the countryside. John must do anything to protect his family.

Critics Rating (Rotten Tomatoes): N/A
Player Affinity Score: N/A

DISC DETAILS

DVD Special Features: N/A

Amazon Price: $19.85 (DVD)

Score (DVDTalk.com): N/A


Monitor (DVD)

Written and directed by Pål Sletaune
Starring: Noomi Rapace, Kristoffer Jone, Vetle Qvenild Werring

What’s the Deal?
Noomi Rapace has become a big star since her starring roles in The Millennium Trilogy, Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows and Prometheus, and now, the Norwegian horror-thriller, Monitor (Babycall in some nations). Despite the stigma against the horror genre, Rapace won the Best Actress Award at the Rome Film Festival.

Anna (Rapace) has finally escaped an abusive relationship with her 8-year-old son Andres (Vetle Qvenild Werring). Fearful that her husband would return, Anna places a baby monitor in her son’s room. But soon strange sounds are heard from the monitor. She needs to figure out is Andres is in real danger or if she is losing her sanity.

Critics Rating (Rotten Tomatoes): 75% (very good)
Player Affinity Score: N/A

DISC DETAILS

DVD Special Features: N/A

Amazon Price: $24.99 (DVD)

Score (DVDTalk.com): N/A


Mystery Men (1999) (Blu-ray)

Directed by Kinka Usher
Written by Neil Cuthbert (screenplay), Bob Burden (comics)
Starring: Ben Stiller, Hank Azaria, William H. Macy, Eddie Izzard, Greg Kinnear, Geoffrey Rush

What’s the Deal?
Loosely based on Bob Burden's independent comic book series Flaming Carrot Comics, the superhero misfit comedy Mystery Men features an all-star cast including Ben Stiller, William H. Macy, Hank Azaria, Janeane Garofalo and Geoffrey Rush.

Champion City is defended by Captain Amazing (Greg Kinnear), but when he is captured by his nemesis, Casanova Frankenstein (Rush), seven loser superhero wannabes have to protect the city.

Critics Rating (Rotten Tomatoes): 61% (good)
Player Affinity Score: 5.0/10

DISC DETAILS

DVD Special Features: Deleted Scenes; Spotlight on Location: The Making of Mystery Men; Feature Commentary with Director Kinka Usher; Theatrical Trailer

Amazon Price: $14.85 (Blu-ray)

Score (DVDTalk.com): N/A


Superman vs. The Elite (2012) (DVD)

Directed by Michael Chang
Written by Joe Kelly
Starring: George Newbern, Pauley Perrette, Robin Atkin Downes, David Kaufman

What’s the Deal?
Based on the “What’s So Funny About Truth, Justice and the American Way?” Superman Arc, Superman vs. The Elite is the latest animated adventure from Warner Premier as Superman takes on a dangerous team of super-powered anti-heroes whose methods he finds too extreme.

Critics Rating (Rotten Tomatoes): N/A
Player Affinity Score: N/A

DISC DETAILS

DVD Special Features: Disc One With Movie; A Sneak Peek at Batman: The Dark Knight Returns: Part 1 (Coming Fall 2012); The Upcoming Dark Knight Rises Theatrical Release Photo Gallery; ; Disc Two Special Features; The Elite Unbound: No Rules. No Mercy; Alan Burnett's Top Picks - Superman: The Animated Series - Brave New Metropolis and Warrior Queen

Amazon Price: $19.29 (2-Disc DVD)

Score (DVDTalk.com): N/A