The summer is over. I know, bummer, right? But that doesn’t mean there isn’t plenty to look forward to as you return to school and work today. Fall is around the corner, then the holidays, then rinse and repeat. (Cue “The Circle of Life”). While you may be sad that the season is over, take some solace in the fact that this week’s new DVD and Blu-ray offerings are packed with whatever kind of movie you need to keep the post-summer blues at bay. Check out what titles are now available!
Bridesmaids meets Very Bad Things in this raucous comedy about a bachelorette party gone horribly and hilariously awry. When a pre-wedding celebration for bride-to-be Jess (Scarlett Johansson) ends with a dead male stripper, she and her friends (Kate McKinnon, Jillian Bell, Ilana Glazer, Zoë Kravitz) engage in a series of wild misadventures as they attempt to dispose of the body. But is the guy they “killed” who they thought he was? With Paul W. Downs and Demi Moore.
While investigating the disappearance of a ship in the Bermuda Triangle, a British journalist (Michael Caine) and his son (Jeffrey Frank) are forced to crash land on a secluded island, the haven for a band of pirates, who take the pair prisoner and subject them to horrendous acts of torture. With David Warner, Angela Punch McGregor; based on the novel by Peter Benchley.
An ex-British army officer (George C. Scott) is entrusted with a list of 11 men by his friend, Adrian Messenger (John Merivale). After Messenger’s abrupt and brazen murder, can he deduce what links the listed, and stop the killer before there’s any further carnage? John Huston’s stylish, gripping mystery also features Dana Wynter, Clive Brook, Herbert Marshall, Gladys Cooper, and a slew of surprising star cameos.
After seven years in the Michigan state pen, all Ernest “Stick” Stickley (Burt Reynolds, who directed) wanted was to go home to Miami and try and keep his nose clean. When an old buddy becomes a casualty of the drug-trade street wars, he sets out to nail those responsible, and winds up being targeted by all sides. Elmore Leonard co-scripted this take on his best-selling crime thriller; Candice Bergen, George Segal, Charles Durning co-star.
They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?
A grueling dance marathon in 1930s Chicago is the setting for this acerbic and compelling drama that follows with increasing desperation the struggles of the contestants. Gloria (Jane Fonda) and Robert (Michael Sarrazin) are strangers brought together for the contest. Sydney Pollack directs this adaptation of Horace McCoy’s 1935 novel that co-stars Susannah York, Bonnie Bedelia, Bruce Dern, Red Buttons, and Best Supporting Actor Oscar-winner Gig Young as smarmy MC Rocky.
An early directorial effort by William Friedkin, this moody and darkly funny adaptation of the 1957 Harold Pinter play stars Robert Shaw as Stanley Webber, a piano player living at a run-down British seaside resort. His landlady (Dandy Nichols) holds a joyless birthday party for Stanley, and two unexpected guests (Sidney Tafler, Patrick Magee) appear, with only Stanley knowing who they are and why they’re there. With Moultrie Kelsall, Helen Fraser.
Diane Lane shines in this frothy comedy as Anne, the neglected wife of successful movie producer Michael (Alec Baldwin). With Anne unable to fly for medical reasons, and Michael suddenly forced to go to Budapest, his business partner Jacques (Arnaud Viard) offers to drive Anne from Cannes to Paris. The car ride soon becomes an unexpectedly breezy and fun road trip as Jacques introduces Anne to fabulous food and wine, reawakening her zest for life. Elise Tielrooy co-stars.
You’d think that Orthodox bride-to-be Michal (Noa Kooler) would be devastated when her fiancé (Erez Drigues) backed out of the nuptials with a month to go. Far from it, as she’s convinced it’s God’s plan for her to be married on that date…and to that end, she starts auditioning potential grooms ahead of the deadline! Charming effort also stars Amos Tamam, Oz Zehavi, Irit Sheleg
Band Aid
With their tragedy-marred married life at an impasse, Anna (Zoe Lister-Jones, who wrote and directed) and Ben (Adam Pally) are all out of kind words for one another. At the behest of their rock drummer neighbor (Fred Armisen), they find a outlet for their hostility when they set their incessant bickering to music–and maybe find some catharsis with the head-banging. Clever comedy-drama co-stars Susie Essman, Colin Hanks, Brooklyn Decker, Retta, Jamie Chung.
A year after his patently autobiographical literary debut fell flat, Fenton Dillane (Shiloh Fernandez) came home to Manhattan in a bid to mend fences with family and friends. With his hospitalized author dad (Christopher Noth) chasing co-eds, his mom (Mary-Louise Parker) buying weed from his bestie (Josh Peck), and his ex (Ashley Benson) set to marry another guy, should he have bothered? Incisive comedy-drama co-stars Addison Timlin, Sean Cullen.
A vivid portrait of controversial rapper Tupac Shakur (Demetrius Shipp, Jr.) is painted in this engaging biopic. The film chronicles Tupac’s troubled childhood, his massive success as one of hip-hop’s most respected and prolific artists, a stint in prison, his association with Death Row Records mogul Suge Knight (Dominic L. Santana), and the murder that ended his life at the age of 25. With Danai Gurira, Kat Graham, Annie Illonzeh, Lauren Cohan, and Hill Harper.
Sean Penn directed this powerful drama starring Charlize Theron as Dr. Wren Petersen, the director of an international aid organization started by her late father. In Africa, Wren falls for charming physician Miguel Leon (Javier Bardem), but the atrocities that surround them in the war-torn regions they work in every day begin to take a toll on their relationship. With Adèle Exarchopoulos, Jean Reno, Jared Harris.
Shunted off to the veterinary school that had been her parents’ alma mater, bright but reticent Justine (Garance Marillier) was unprepared for the surprisingly cruel hazing rituals of the upperclassmen. Pushed into eating raw rabbit offal, the lifelong vegetarian discovers she has a hankering for uncooked flesh…and not just that of animals. Writer/director Julia Ducournau’s stunning, controversial opus co-stars Ella Rumpf, Rabah Nait Oufella, Laurent Lucas, Joana Preiss
On a hunting trip, Wall Street broker Will (Hayden Christensen) and his son Danny (Ty Shelton) run afoul of a pair of bank robbers, forcing Will to kill one in self defense. When the dead man turns out to be a cop, and the surviving crook (Gethin Anthony) kidnaps Danny, Will has no choice but to help him retrieve the stolen cash while staying a step ahead of Police Chief Howell (Bruce Willis). Megan Leonard co-stars in this gripping crime thriller.
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
Based on the true story chronicled in Rebecca Skloot’s nonfiction book, this powerful HBO movie focuses on Henrietta Lacks (Renée Elise Goldsberry), a poor African-American woman diagnosed with cervical cancer in the 1950s. Unknown to her, Henrietta’s cells form the basis for the first immortal human cell line, a profound breakthrough in cancer research, the effects of which are still felt to this day. Oprah Winfrey, Rose Byrne, Courtney B. Vance also star.