This week on home video, we’ve got a a sci-fi spectacle from Disney, a big disaster film starring Dwayne Johnson, and the complete set of one of the most talked about dramas of the last decade. Then we’ve got an acclaimed indie coming-of-age comedy, a couple more complete series sets, and a couple of choices from the Criterion Collection. Read on for the full list:
Britt Robertson stars as Casey, a smart, idealistic teenager who experiences a vision of a magical, futuristic realm and teams up with Frank (George Clooney), a fallen scientific wunderkind, who can help to transport her to the place of her dreams. Extras include a making-of doc hosted by director Brad Bird, videos on the cast and score, an animated short, production diaries, deleted scenes, and more.
Dwayne Johnson plays Ray Gaines, a soon-to-be-divorced LAFD helicopter pilot who finds himself racing up the California coast to save his wife (Carla Gugino) and daughter (Alexandra Daddario) when the titular fault line erupts in a massively destructive earthquake. Bonus features include a profile of the real San Andreas Fault, deleted scenes, a gag reel, a stunt reel, and more.
Relative newcomer Shameik Moore impressed a lot of folks with his star turn in this Certified Fresh indie comedy about a smart, 1990s hip-hop-obsessed inner-city high schooler who winds up in possession of a bag full of drugs and hatches a scheme with his two best friends to get rid of it. Just two extras to be found here: a profile of the film’s themes and characters, and a look at the iconic music that makes up much of the soundtrack.
The final chapter in the story of “Don Draper” and his exciting life has finally aired, and those of you looking to own the whole shebang are now free to buy it in one large package (which comes with a pair of tumblers and a ton of special features). The rest of you who have been collecting individual seasons over the years can still pick up part 2 of the final season, which is being sold separately.
If Mad Men wasn’t your thing, and you’d prefer to have a commemorative flask instead of a couple of tumblers, then you can always pick up the complete set of this Certified Fresh FX drama about a maverick lawman (Timothy Olyphant) serving up justice in Kentucky. In addition to the flask, you’ll get all six seasons of the show, all the previous bonuses, an extra disc full of brand new special features, and a book.
The third season of A&E’s dramatic prequel to Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho catches up with Norman Bates (Freddie Highmore) as he enters high school. Mother Norma (Vera Farmiga) chooses to homeschool him, and things get a little creepy to say the least. Bonus features include deleted scenes and a look a the relationship between mother and son.
The Following was unfortunately cancelled this year, but if you want to own all three seasons of the serial killer/detective show starring Kevin Bacon and James Purefoy, it’s available in a box set. The third season is also available individually.
In this found-footage thriller, a group of high school students decide to revive a play that killed its lead actor onstage twenty years earlier, and spookiness ensues. The film wasn’t received well, but if you’d like to own it, special features include a full, feature-lengh “original version,” behind-the-scenes featurettes, deleted scenes, and more.
The first of two Criterion Collection releases this week, this supernatural thriller from David Cronenberg tells the parallel stories of a disturbed woman undergoing radical psychotherapy and her daughter, who is tormented by childlike demons. The new package includes a doc on the making of the film, cast interviews, and more.
The second offering from Criterion stars Sophia Loren and Marcello Mastroianni in a drama about a housewife and a radio journalist who bond with each other on the day that Italy welcomed Adolf Hitler to Rome in 1938. Bonuses include a short film from 2014 starring Loren, an interview with Loren and director Ettore Scola, and more.
