By David Weiner
1:31 PM PDT, May 27, 2014
Wes Anderson's quirky underwater adventure The Life Aquatic gets the Criterion treatment; The Bob Newhart Show: The Complete Series is finally available; Alex Pettyfer's sexy Endless Love; How to Train Your Dragon Collector's Edition and more.
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New Blu-ray Buzz: This Week's Picks
Criterion Collection
Wes Anderson's quirky underwater adventure The Life Aquatic gets the Criterion treatment; The Bob Newhart Show: The Complete Series is finally available; Alex Pettyfer's sexy Endless Love; How to Train Your Dragon Collector's Edition and more.
The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou on Criterion
Criterion Collection
Wes Anderson's creative 2004 follow-up to The Royal Tenenbaums gets the Criterion treatment! Bill Murray plays the title character, an eccentric Jacques Cousteau-type oceanographer who commands a rag-tag crew, makes documentaries and aims to get revenge on the "Jaguar Shark" that killed his partner. Co-written with Noah Baumbach, the film boasts some interesting devices, such as a balladeer in the form of Seu Jorge performing acoustic versions of David Bowie songs in Portugese, and stop-motion-animated fish (the Jaguar Shark, Crayon Ponyfish and Sugar Crabs) designed by Henry Selick (The Nightmare Before Christmas). Cate Blanchett, Anjelica Huston, Willem Dafoe, Jeff Goldblum, Michael Gambon, Noah Taylor, Seu Jorge and Bud Cort round out the cast.
The new, restored director-approved transfer includes new interviews with Murray, Dafoe and Goldblum;commentary by Anderson and Baumbach; the behind-the-scenes doc This Is an Adventure; Mondo Monda, an Italian talk show featuring an interview with Anderson and Baumbach, hosted by Antonio Monda; interview with composer and Devo member Mark Mothersbaugh; deleted scenes, Seu Jorge performances; an insert featuring a cutaway view of The Belafonte and more!
The new, restored director-approved transfer includes new interviews with Murray, Dafoe and Goldblum;commentary by Anderson and Baumbach; the behind-the-scenes doc This Is an Adventure; Mondo Monda, an Italian talk show featuring an interview with Anderson and Baumbach, hosted by Antonio Monda; interview with composer and Devo member Mark Mothersbaugh; deleted scenes, Seu Jorge performances; an insert featuring a cutaway view of The Belafonte and more!
Endless Love
Universal
Brit heartthrob and Magic Mike star Alex Pettyfer stars in this sexy new take on the classic '80s flick, starring opposite Gabriella Wilde as a privileged girl and a charismatic boy whose instant desire sparks a love affair made only more reckless by parents trying to keep them apart. Directed by Shana Feste, Endless Love co-stars Robert Patrick, Bruce Greenwood, Rhys Wakefield, Dayo Okeniyi, Emme Rigby and Joely Richardson. Contains an extended ending and deleted/extended/alternate scenes.
The Bob Newhart Show: The Complete Series
Shout Factory
The comedy classic is back in the ultimate box set for fans of smart comedy: The Bob Newhart Show ran on CBS from 1972 to 1978, following Bob's Chicago psychologist, Dr. Robert Hartley, who finds himself surrounded by some unusual and neurotic characters on the job and at home. All 142 episodes are here in a 19-disc set that contains new interviews with Bob Newhart, Jack Riley, Bill Daily, Peter Bonerz, and Michael Zinberg; the original, unaired pilot; a gag reel; audio commentaries (Bob Newhart, Marcia Wallace, David Davis, Peter Bonerz, Fred Willard, Jim Burrows, Suzanne Pleshette, Tom Poston and Jack Riley); The Bob Newhart Show 19th Anniversary from 1991; a 40-page book including an essay by Vince Waldron and more.
How to Train Your Dragon Collector's Edition
Paramount Home Media
The fire-breathing family adventure is back with an all-new Collector's Edition! Get primed for the highly anticipated sequel, out June 13, by catching up on the saga: Jay Baruchel voices Hiccup, an eccentric Viking teen who just doesn't feel like battling dragons the way his villagefolk have for generations. When he unwittingly stumbles upon a downed dragon and befriends it, he must convince his people that there's more to dragons than meets the eye. The family adventure also features the vocal talents of Gerard Butler, Kristen Wiig, America Ferrera, Jonah Hill, Christopher Mintz-Plasse and Craig Ferguson. Special features include the kick-off episode of DreamWorks Dragons: Riders of Berk; the animated short Legend of the Boneknapper Dragon; deleted scenes; filmmaker commentary; behind-the-scenes footage and insightful interviews; How to Draw a Dragon tutorial; Gobber's Training Secrets and much more.
Jack Irish, Set 2
Acorn Media
Guy Pearce is back as the brooding antihero Jack Irish, a former lawyer who has reinvented himself as a part-time private investigator and debt collector with a knack for getting into trouble. Filled with smart performances and dark humor, the new tale is based on the novel Dead Point, which finds Jack grappling with more personal and professional drama as he continues to investigate crimes in Melbourne’s seedy underbelly.
Also available from Acorn: Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries, Series 2
Also available from Acorn: Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries, Series 2
Red River on Criterion
Criterion Collection
John Wayne delivers a commanding performance in this Howard Hawks classic – the director's first western -- now on Criterion! Wayne plays an embittered, tyrannical Texas rancher whose tensions with his independent-minded adopted son (Montgomery Clift) reach epic proportions during a cattle drive to Missouri. Contains the newly restored, rarely presented original theatrical release version as well as the longer, prerelease version of the film; and new interview with filmmaker Peter Bogdanovich, critic Molly Haskell and film scholar Lee Clark Mitchell about the film and western genre; audio excerpts including a 1972 conversation between Hawks and Bogdanovich; Lux Radio Theatre adaptation of Red River from 1949, featuring John Wayne, Joanne Dru, and Walter Brennan; an essay by critic Geoffrey O’Brien and more.
Sleepaway Camp Collector's Edition
Shout Factory
The grisly '80s slasher classic is back, courtesy of Scream Factory! At Camp Arawak, teens learn to experience the joys of nature, as well as each other. But, of course, someone is having as much fun, and the happy campers begin to die in a series of horrible "accidents," making it a summer to "dismember." Yuk Yuk. Contains all-new interviews and commentary; the short film Judy; Princess music video; Camp Arawak Scrapbook; a collectible cover and more.