New Releases On Blu Ray & DVD: 9/24/13

Shane Black’s IRON MAN 3, one of the few big ass summer blockbusters I actually liked, heads the pack of new releases on Blu ray and DVD today. The Robert Downey Jr. comedy disguised as a superhero action epic is available in a plethora of different packages including a Three-Disc Blu-ray 3D / Blu-ray / DVD + Digital Copy edition, a Two-Disc Blu-ray / DVD + Digital Copy edition, a Blu-ray / DVD Combo Pack, and a single disc DVD + Digital Copy.

Special Features: the interactive “Restore the Database Second Screen Experience,” a 15 minute featurette “Marvel One-Shot: Agent Carter,” audio commentary with Director/co-writer Shane Black and co-writer Drew Pearce, a 11 minute behind-the-scenes featurette “IRON MAN 3 Unmasked,” an almost 10 minute featurette called “Deconstructing the Scene: Attack on Air Force One,” 16 minutes of deleted and extended scenes, “Exclusive Look at THOR: THE DARK WORLD” (2 minutes), and a gag reel.

Several new notable independent films hit home video this week: Jordan Vogt-Roberts’ coming-of-age teen comedy THE KINGS OF SUMMER, Paul Andrew William’s British comedy drama UNFINISHED SONG, Olivier Assayas’ 2011 French drama SOMETHING IN THE AIR, Rama Burshtein’s 2012 Israeli drama FILL THE VOID, François Ozon’s darkly comic IN THE HOUSE, and Rodney Ascher’s ROOM 237, the buzzed about 2012 documentary about the crazy theories surrounding Stanley Kubrick’s 1980 classic THE SHINING.

Halloween may be over a month away, but out this week on the older films front is a bunch of titles getting a head start on the scary holiday: new to Blu ray releases of HALLOWEEN: 35TH Anniversary Edition, PSYCHO II & III, PRINCE OF DARKNESS: Collector’s Edition, and Steven R. Monroe’s new sequel to one of the most disgusting movies ever, I SPIT ON YOUR GRAVE 2.

In the non-scary new to Blu ray release department is the Criterion Collection release of 3 Films By Roberto Rossellini Starring Ingrid Bergman which consists of STROMBOLI (1950), EUROPE ’51 (1952), and JOURNEY TO ITALY (1952). As with all Criterion deluxe editions, The three feature films are enhanced by many Special Features including interviews (both new and archival), documentaries, short films, lengthy visual essays, an extensive booklet, and a audio commentary by scholar Laura Mulvey on JOURNEY TO ITALY. 

Also out today is a Blu ray/DVD combo of Stuart Rosenberg’s 1976 war drama VOYAGE OF THE DAMNED, and THE DARK KNIGHT TRILOGY: Ultimate Collector’s Edition.

TV season sets releasing today: Hannibal: Season One, Modern Family: The Complete Fourth Season, South Park: The Complete Sixteenth Season, Family Guy: Volume Eleven, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit - The Fourteenth Year, Doctor Who: The Complete Seventh Series, American Dad! Volume Eight, and for those who are gluttons for punishment, Two and a Half Men: The Complete Tenth Season.

More later...