New Releases On Blu Ray & DVD: 10/1/13

One of the raunchiest and funniest films of this year, Evan Goldberg and Seth Rogen’s THIS IS THE END tops the list of new releases this week on Blu ray and DVD. The film, which features Rogen and his fellow graduates of Apatow High (and I do mean *High*), including James Franco, Jonah Hill, Craig Robinson, Danny McBride, and Jay Baruchel deal with doomsday while partying at Franco’s fortress of a homestead in the Hollywood Hills, is available in a Two Disc Combo (Blu-ray / DVD + UltraViolet Digital Copy) and a single disc DVD.

A bunch of Special Features enhance the package: Audio commentary with Goldberg and Rogen, a smattering of featurettes (“Directing Your Friends,” “Meta-Apocalypse,” “Let’s Get Technical,” “Party Time,” “The Cannibal King,” “The Making of "The Making of Pineapple Express 2”), the original “Jay & Seth vs. The Apocalypse” short that inspired the film, Line-O-Rama segments, “This is the Gag Reel,” deleted scenes, and “This is the Marketing,” a collection of satirical shorts promoting the movie.

Kirk De Micco and Chris Sanders’ prehistoric family comedy from DreamWorks Animation, THE CROODS, featuring the voices of Nicholas Cage, Emma Stone, and Ryan Reynolds, releases today in a Blu-ray 3D + Blu-ray + DVD + UltraViolet edition, a Blu-ray / DVD + Digital Copy + Toy edition, and a stand-alone DVD. Special Features include “Belt’s Cave Journal,” “Croods Cuts (Lost Scenes),” “World of DreamWorks Animation,” “Be An Artist!,” “The Croods Coloring & Storybook Builder App,” and “The Croodaceous Creatures of Croods!”

Other new titles out today: Scott Walker’s straight-to-Blu ray thriller THE FROZEN GROUND starring John Cusack as a serial killer and Nicholas Cage in non-animated form as the cop on his trail, the wilderness documentary miniseries North America narrated by Tom Selleck, and Luc Besson’s 2010 French fantasy film THE EXTRAORDINARY ADVENTURES OF ADELE BLANC-SEC, based on Jacques Tardi’s acclaimed series of historical fantasy comic books.

On the older films new to Blu ray front, there’s the 75th Anniversary Limited Collector’s Edition of THE WIZARD OF OZ (Blu-ray 3D / Blu-ray / DVD / UltraViolet + Amazon Exclusive Disc Drive), THE LITTLE MERMAID (Two-Disc Diamond Edition: Blu-ray / DVD + Digital Copy), and Fred Zinneman’s 1953 classic FROM HERE TO ETERNITY, the Vincent Price classic HOUSE OF WAX (also 1953) available in both 3D and standard formats, and the 1925 silent World War I epic THE BIG PARADE.

Also out this week: THE AMITYVILLE HORROR Trilogy box, which contains Stuart Rosenberg's 1979 original, starring James Brolin and Margot Kidder, packaged with the first ever Blu ray releases of AMITYVILLE II: THE POSSESION and AMITYVILLE 3-D - 2 movies that the horror community will be thrilled to finally have on the fancy format, right?

TV season sets releasing today: How I Met Your Mother: Season Eight, Beauty & the Beast: The First Season, Glee: The Complete Fourth Season, New Girl: The Complete Second Season, and the late '80s Vietnam war drama China Beach Season 1.

More later...