Brace your bank accounts, it’s time to see what’s Now Available to Own for the week of October 6, 2015. Every Tuesday we run down new movie, television, and video game releases that you can enjoy in the comfort of your own home, as well as some slick deals that can save you some coin. New on shelves this week are Magic Mike XXL, Insidious: Chapter 3, Penny Dreadful (Season 2), The Leftovers (Season 1), and more.
Source: BuzzFeed
Movies on Blu-ray
Magic Mike XXL (Gregory Jacobs) Rated R [115 min] – Three years after Mike bowed out of the stripper life at the top of his game, he and the remaining Kings of Tampa hit the road to Myrtle Beach to put on one last blow-out performance. Starring Channing Tatum, Joe Manganiello, Matt Bomer, Adam Rodriguez, Kevin Nash, and Amber Heard [Watch the trailer]
Magic Mike XXL stands out as one of the better films of the year simply because it has an acute ability to balance character drama with silly, entertaining charm. This Magic Mike isn’t as dark and brooding as its predecessor. XXL is the film moviegoers were hoping for the first time around. There are moments that feel like the movie is dragging, but overall it’s quite enjoyable.
Special features include:
- The Moves of Magic Mike XXL
- Extended Malik Dance Scene
- Georgia
Me and Earl and the Dying Girl (Alfonso Gomez-Rejon) Rated PG-13 [105 min] – High schooler Greg, who spends most of his time making parodies of classic movies with his co-worker Earl, finds his outlook forever altered after befriending a classmate who has just been diagnosed with cancer. Starring Thomas Mann, RJ Cyler, Olivia Cooke, Nick Offerman, and Connie Britton
Another great film from earlier this year. Me and Earl and the Dying Girl is an incredible cinematic experience. And after you’ve seen it, despite the sadness of it all, there’s a revelatory moment at the end that makes repeat viewing more enjoyable with every watch.
Special features include:
- Deleted Scenes with Optional Commentary by Alfonso Gomez-Rejon
- This is Where You Learn How The Movie Was Made
- Abstract: Movie for Rachel
- A Conversation with Martin Scorsese and Alfonso Gomez-Rejon
- Greg Gaines and Earl Jackson Productions (Shorts Montage)
- Audio Commentary by Director Alfonso Gomez-Rejon
- Greg’s Trailer, Gallery
- And more!
Insidious: Chapter 3 (Leigh Whannell) Rated PG-13 [97 min] – A prequel set before the haunting of the Lambert family that reveals how gifted psychic Elise Rainier reluctantly agrees to use her ability to contact the dead in order to help a teenage girl who has been targeted by a dangerous supernatural entity. Starring Lin Shaye Dermot Mulroney, Stefanie Scott, Angus Sampson, and Leigh Whannell [Watch the Trailer]
As a big step up from Insidious: Chapter 2, Chapter 3 does an OK job at filling in character gaps of our ghost hunters. Unfortunately, there isn’t as much time devoted to team building as one would hope because most of the time is dedicated to haunting our protagonist. There are some good frights, but Insidious: Chapter 3 still fails to capture the magic of the first Insidious.
Special features include:
- Origin Story: Making Chapter 3 Featurette
- Deleted Scenes (Blu-ray exclusive)
- Being Haunted: A Psychic Medium Speaks Featurette (Blu-ray exclusive)
- Macabre Creations Featurette (Blu-ray exclusive)
- Stunts: The Car Crash Featurette (Blu-ray exclusive)
- Cherry Glazerr: Tiptoe Through the Tulips Featurette (Blu-ray exclusive)
We Are Still Here (Ted Geoghegan) Not Rated [84 min] – In the cold, wintery fields of New England, a lonely old house wakes up every thirty years – and demands a sacrifice. Starring Barbara Crampton, Andrew Sensenig, and Lisa Marie
It’s been a good while since I’ve seen a haunted house story that I haven’t been bored to tears by. Not since The Conjuring has anything really worked for me. We Are Still Here is not groundbreaking, but it is a solid B-movie flick that has a unique story surrounding the origins of the house that kept my interest engaged. It also has a bloody good finale.
Special features include:
- Commentary with Writer-Director Ted Geoghegan and Producer Travis Stevens
- Behind the Scenes – Geoghegan and Stevens discuss the genesis of the project and the challenges and successes of bringing the script to life.
- Trailer
- Teaser
Final Girl (Tyler Shields) Rated R [90 min] [DVD Only] – A man teaches a young woman how to become a complete weapon. 13 years later, at 18 she will approach a group of sadistic teens who killed blonde women for unknown reasons. The hunting season begins. Starring Abigail Breslin, Wes Bentley, Logan Huffman, and Alexander Ludwig
On the other side of the coin, Final Girl is the purest example of how a promising B-movie can fail. The concept has all the best intentions and it could have been fantastic, but the acting and the characters are awful. And I’m surprised. With Breslin and Bentley at the forefront, Final Girl should succeed. I’d love to see this remade with a little more attention to detail and better direction.
- No special features listed
Eaters (Johnny Tabor) Rated R [90 min] [DVD Only] – After their friend goes missing, five road-tripping friends must confront a violent biker gang, but after they narrowly escape, their nightmare goes from bad to spine-chilling. Starring Marcelle Bowman, Robert Dean, and Tristan Parrish Moore
Nothing is more basic than Eaters. I like road trip thrillers as much as the next horror fan, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre is one of my favorites, but when there is no intensity or empathy for our protagonists then all is lost. Never did I care about any of the little rascals lost on their way to Timbuktu, or the bikers who are wrapped up in a contrived drug scheme. The folks they encounter that stir the pot are hardly frightening and have no depth to them to be afraid either.
- No special features listed
Rumble in the Bronx (Stanley Tong) Rated R [87 min] – A young man visiting and helping his uncle in New York City finds himself forced to fight a street gang and the mob with his martial art skills. Starring Jackie Chan, Anita Mui, and Françoise Yip [Watch the Trailer]
This is classic Jackie Chan. I remember growing up as a young lad and catching Rumble in the Bronx on TNT or some cable channel. I always stopped when I reached this point. It seemed to be on all the time. There’s something about the goofiness of the story, Chan’s incredible fight choreography, and the terrible dubbing that creates something magical.
- No special features listed
Jackie Chan’s First Strike (Stanley Tong) Rated PG-13 [107 min] – This installment of Chan’s Police Story series has our hero trying to locate a missing nuclear warhead. Starring Jackie Chan, Jackson Liu, and Annie Wu [Watch the Trailer]
But if you’re looking for a more serious Chan movie, First Strike is what you seek. A year after Bronx, Chan’s follow up feature is more hard-hitting, non-stop action. Of course the whole scenario the plot is wildly exaggerated like most Chan films, but that’s why we love them. Another fine Jackie Chan classic.
- No special features listed
What We Did on Our Holiday (Andy Hamilton and Guy Jenkin) Rated PG-13 [95 min] [DVD Only] – Doug and Abi take their kids on a family vacation. Surrounded by relatives, the kids innocently reveal the ins and outs of their family life and many intimate details about their parents. It’s soon clear that when it comes to keeping a big secret under wraps from the rest of the family, their children are their biggest liability. Starring Rosamund Pike, David Tennant, and Billy Connolly
What would happen if the psycho wife from Gone Girl and the tenth Doctor took a mini vacay as a family? What We Did on Our Holiday is your answer. Not quite as childish as the promotional images imply, WWDOOH does its best in teaching life-long, adult lessons through the perspective of precarious British children. And you can’t have any kind of family comedy without a kooky grandfather, right? There’s a lot that works here better than it should, and perhaps U.S. studios could learn a thing or two about family comedies from this foreign flick.
Special features include:
- Audio Commentary with Directors Andy Hamilton and Guy Jenkin
- “Creating Dysfunction: Making What We Did on Our Holiday” featurette
- Deleted Scenes
When Marnie Was There (Hiromasa Yonebayashi) Rated PG [103 min] – A young girl is sent to the country for health reasons, where she meets an unlikely friend in the form of Marnie, a young girl with flowing blonde hair. As the friendship unravels it is possible that Marnie has closer ties to the protagonist than we might expect. Starring Sara Takatsuki, Kasumi Arimura, Nanako Matsushima, and Susumu Terajima
Sadly, I missed this film in theaters and haven’t had a chance since to check it out. When Marnie Was There is a Studio Ghibli film in a post Hayao Miyazaki retirement world. So I am interested in seeing how it holds up without him.
Special features include:
- The Making of When Marnie Was There
- Yohei Taneda Creates the Art of When Marnie Was There
- Feature-Length Storyboards
- Behind the Scenes with the Voice Cast
- Foreign Trailers and TV Spots
- US Trailer
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