As unlikely as it seemed that Sony would bury the assassination comedy The Interview forever, it’s still surprising how quickly the company about-faced from canceling all screenings to releasing the movie in independent cinemas and on VOD—and now on DVD and Blu-ray, in what’s being somewhat obnoxiously dubbed the “Freedom Edition.” Divorced from the controversy, The Interview is just a hit-or-miss comedy, but regardless, it’s good that it’ll be available to be seen widely. This week also brings two movies that are controversial for different reasons. Birdman and The Theory Of Everything, two likely big winners at the Academy Awards this coming Sunday, each have their fair share of detractors, who see the films as examples of the Academy either congratulating itself or rewarding blatant awards-bait. Both have a lot of supporters, too, who’ll be happy for the chance to watch them again at home.
Lastly, season four of Game Of Thrones is out today, in time to get the show’s fans (myself included) primed for 10 more hours in Westeros. Let’s all sing the theme song together: “Iiit’s… aaaaa… gaaaaaame of… game of thrones….”
DVD and Blu-ray (* = combo pack)
Animal (Scream! Factory)
Beach Blanket Bingo (Olive)
Birdman (20th Century Fox)
Caveman (Olive)
Cult Of The Damned (Kino/Redemption)
Dumb And Dumber To (Universal)*
Dying Of The Light (Lionsgate)
Game Of Thrones: The Complete Fourth Season (HBO)
The Homesman (Lionsgate)
How To Murder Your Wife (Olive)
The Interview: Freedom Edition (Sony)
Kiss Me, Stupid (Olive)
Lady Chatterley’s Lover (Olive)
Life Itself (Magnolia)
Motivational Growth (Parade Deck)
Muscle Beach Party (Olive)
1969 (Olive)
No Tears For The Dead (CJE)
The Perfect Wave (Starz/Anchor Bay)
Le Pont Du Nord (Kino Lorber)
Psych-Out (Olive)
The Road To Hong Kong (Olive)
Skating To New York (Well Go USA)
St. Vincent (Starz/Anchor Bay)
The Tale Of Princess Kaguya (Universal)*
The Theory Of Everything (Universal)*
V/H/S: Viral (Magnolia)
The Wild Angels (Olive Films)
The World Made Straight (Millennium)
DVD
All Saint’s Eve (Wild Eye)
Altar (Cinedigm)
American Justice (Hannover House)
Beyond (Screen Media)
Bikini Beach Race (Cheezy)
The Casebook Of Eddie Brewer (E1)
The Chair: The Complete First Season (Anchor Bay)
The Coffee Shop (Shami)
A Darker Fifty Shades: The Fetish Set (Wild Eye)
Dick: The Documentary (Indiepix)
Draining Lizards (Push)
The Eternal Return Of Antonis (Brink)
Forty Years From Yesterday (Brink)
Gladiators Of Rome (Paramount)
Hillbilly Horror Show (Leomark)
Hollywood Chaos (Breaking Glass)
Jake Squared (Freestyle)
A Killer Conversation (World Wide Multimedia)
Kung Fu Grindhouse Theatre (World Wide Multimedia)
The Last House On Cemetery Lane (4 Digital)
Malignant (Avenet)
Massage Parlor Of Death (SRS Cinema)
The Mother Grain (Janson)
90210 Shark Attack (Rapid Heart)
Not Cool (Anchor Bay)
Overload (R Squared)
Point And Shoot (Team Marketing)
Purgatorio: A Journey Into The Heart Of The Border (Kino/Alive Mind)
Scalped (Tomcat)
Survivor (XLrator)
Terms And Conditions May Apply (Anderson)
Tuff Luck (Velocity)
Twilight Hunters (Tomcat)
Watchers Of The Sky (Music Box)
Where Cars Don’t Dare (Leomark)
Blu-ray
The Andromeda Strain (Universal)
An Autumn Afternoon (Criterion)
From A Whisper To A Scream (Scream! Factory)
Munich (Universal)
The Phantom Of the Opera (1989) (Scream! Factory)
Sneakers (Universal)