New Releases On Blu Ray & DVD: 10/29/13

This week, one of last summer’s biggest hits shares its home video release date with one of the summer’s biggest bombs: Dan Scanlon’s Pixar prequel MONSTER’S UNIVERSITY, which grossed over $700 million, and Robert Schwentke’s supernatural spoof R.I.P.D., which barely made back 10% of its $130 million budget. MONSTER’S UNIVERSITY, featuring Billy Crystal and John Goodman reprising their roles as Mike and Sullivan from 2002’s MONSTER’S, INC., is available in a 3 disc Blu ray edition (Blu-ray 3D + Blu-ray + DVD + Digital Copy), and on a single disc DVD. Special Features include a bunch of featurettes, Art Galleries, Promo Picks, the 7 minute animated short BLUE UMBRELLA, and a audio commentary with co-writer/director Scanlon, producer Kori Rae and story supervisor Kelsey Mann.

Amid lots of critic's cracks that it looked like a lame remake of MEN IN BLACK, I skipped R.I.P.D. along with the rest of civilization when it briefly played in theaters last July. The flop comedy starring Jeff Bridges and Ryan Reynolds as deceased policemen patrolling the afterlife is now out in spiffy 2 disc Blu ray (Blu-ray + DVD + Digital HD with UltraViolet) and 1 disc DVD editions. Special Features: Alternate Openings, Alternate/Deleted Scenes, over 30 minutes of featurettes, and Gag Reel.

Baille Walsh’s acclaimed 2012 rock doc about The Boss and his fans, SPRINGSTEEN & I, drops today in single disc Blu ray and DVD editions. Special Features include Springsteen’s Hard Rock Calling 2012 performance, in which Paul McCartney joins in with Bruce on “I Saw Her Standing There,” and “Twist and Shout”; 28 minutes of Fan Submissions, and over 10 minutes of “Meet the Fans.” Yep, this release is really fan-centric.

Also out today: Neil Jordan’s British-Irish Vampire film BYZANTIUM, Justin Kreutzmann’s concert film of tribute: Move Me Brightly: Celebrating Jerry Garcia's 70th Birthday, and Henry Saine’s sci-fi thriller BOUNTY KILLER.

On the older film out today front, there’s the Criterion Collection edition of Michelangelo Antonioni's 1961 classic LA NOTTE, Brian De Palma's 1978 cult horror flick THE FURY, Harold Cronk's Christmas comedy SILVER BELLS, and another title from the Pixar franchise division, CARS 3D: The Ultimate Collector's Edition.

TV series sets releasing this week: Christopher Guest's Family Tree: The Complete First Season, Degrassi Season 12, Line of Duty: Series 1, Damages: The Complete Series, and Agatha Christie's Poirot: Series 9.

More later...