Welcome to another installment of This Week on Blu-ray, where I tell you what the big releases are and whether they’re worth getting. It’s a big week, everyone! We’ve got equal parts garbage and greatness. But let’s get the bad stuff out of the way first.
There is a ton of bad TV this week. From the first season of DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, all the way to the sixth season of the bafflingly highly watched The Walking Dead. I can’t speak for the second season of The Strain, but I haven’t heard anything too encouraging. Another show is the initially promising Narcos. If, for some reason, you’re not able to use Netflix, you can now buy the Blu-ray. I don’t want to alarm any of you, but Ash vs Evil Dead is finally getting its release. I’m a HUGE Evil Dead fan and I can never get enough.
Before we get to the really good stuff, I have to finish up the bad. We’ve been blessed with the prequel to Snow White and the Huntsman, The Huntsman: Winter’s War. You can attempt to trick us into thinking a movie will be good just based on cast alone, but I like to think we’re smarter than that. However, the cast is really damn impressive. Emily Blunt, Chris Hemsworth, Jessica Chastain, Charlize Theron; I don’t blame the fooled people. I don’t know if anyone is interested, but Ratchet and Clank has been made into a movie. Yeah, it doesn’t really interest me either. You’re probably better off playing the game that’s based off the movie that’s based off the game…
I’d like to think that I’m a pretty big Robert De Niro fan, but if someone were to say that Midnight Run was one of his best films, the majority of people probably wouldn’t know what that movie was. I’m here to tell you that it’s a damn masterpiece. It’s funny, adventurous and exciting. There’s very few things better than Charles Grodin whining and Robert De Niro telling him to shut the fuck up. Kudos goes to Shout Factory and their Shout Select label. You can also pick up Maggie’s Plan if you like. Looks a little too Noah Baumbach for my taste, but Ethan Hawke is a good selling point.
We’re getting films from the Criterion Collection again! I forgot to mention last week’s Ingrid Bergman: In Her Own Words, my apologies. But I’m here to make up for it with two releases (thanks for covering my ass, Criterion). A Taste of Honey is a film from 1961, directed by Tony Richardson. Made within the British New Wave movement, this seems like a movie that was picked up more for its cultural significance than for its quality. I can’t confirm that it’s bad, but most New Wave movements produce bad movies—the kinds of bad movies that film school students rave on about. To make up for it, we have Woman in the Dunes. Director Hiroshi Teshigahara was nominated for Best Director at the 1965 Academy Awards for this erotic drama. Woman in the Dunes is complicated, Japanese and black and white. Count me in.
We finally get the Blu-ray release for Shane Black’s amazing film, The Nice Guys. Black directs another superb action/comedy with all the right quirks in all the right places. It’s wonderfully perverse and intelligent to boot. Despite all my love for The Evil Dead, this is the movie I’m going to be recommending this week, and I’ll be recommending it all year as well. That’s it for This Week on Blu-ray. Next week it’s Me Before You as we talk about The Night Manager and possibly bring up The Jungle Book. Until next time, let us know what you will be watching.