Shiver me timbers! October is roaring in with some swashbuckling and sensational DVD and Blu-ray releases that you’ll want to walk the plank for. (Not that you’ll have to go to such extreme measures!) Instead, just take a look at the diverse array of blockbuster smashes, indie faves, and under-the-radar flicks that you may have missed that are now available! Arrrrrrrrr matey!
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales
Captain Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) sets sail for a fifth effects-filled swashbuckler, now on a quest for the Trident of Poseidon and the ultimate power it can bestow. However, he’ll have to outrace young Henry Turner (Brenton Thwaites), who’s looking to free father Will (Orlando Bloom) from the Flying Dutchman’s curse…and outpace the vengeance hunt of the undead Captain Salazar (Javier Bardem). Geoffrey Rush, Kaya Scodelario, and Keira Knightley co-star.
A musician (Casey Affleck) lived a quiet life with his spouse (Rooney Mara) in their Texas flatlands home…or did, until he perished in a car accident. Returning to the abode as a ghost–a white-sheet-with-eyeholes ghost, mind you–he finds himself condemned to observe the property’s occupants over the generations to follow, and bear silent witness to the ongoing cycle of love and loss. Writer-director David Lowery’s provocative romantic fable co-stars Kesha, Will Oldham, Liz Franke, Brea Grant.
Brian Cox offers a magnetic tour de force as Winston Churchill in this singular portrait focusing on the final days before the Battle of Normandy, as the venerable statesman wrestled with the human toll that even a successful campaign would extract, and his frustrations as his operational input was waved off by Eisenhower (John Slattery) and Montgomery (Julian Wadham). Miranda Richardson, James Purefoy, Ella Purnell also star.
Readily distracted single mom Susan Carpenter (Naomi Watts) got a pass on her parenting deficiencies, insofar as how much the household was actually run by her precocious and giving 11-year-old son Henry (Jaeden Lieberher). However, after unexpected tragedy strikes–and Susan uncovers Henry’s journals, where he carefully chronicled his suspicions of how the neighbor girl (Maddie Ziegler) had been abused–she finds herself having to become the grownup. Offbeat family drama co-stars Jacob Tremblay, Sarah Silverman, Lee Pace, Dean Norris.
Robert De Niro stars as notorious Ponzi scheme perpetrator Bernie Madoff in this enthralling HBO movie from director Barry Levinson. The architect of the largest financial fraud in U.S. history–one that involved thousands of victims and billions of dollars–Madoff’s 2008 arrest and conviction would take a devastating toll on his relationships with his wife Ruth (Michelle Pfeiffer) and two sons (Alessandro Nivola, Nathan Darrow), eventually tearing the family apart. Hank Azaria co-stars.
With the world wracked by plague, a lone man (Martin McCann) had singlehandedly eked out an isolated forest existence for seven years, growing his own food and prepared to use lethal force against outsiders. When a middle-aged mother (Olwen Fouere) and her daughter (Mia Goth) arrived on his threshold, looking to barter the younger woman for shelter and sustenance, his continued survival might meet its biggest threat, in this gripping post-apocalyptic chiller.
One round of gloves-dropping too many sent once-dreaded minor-league hockey tough guy Doug Glatt (Seann William Scott) into retirement, and that’s how relieved spouse Eva (Alison Pill) wanted it. However, when the Highlanders start spiraling in the standings because of their selfish new star (Wyatt Russell), can anything stop Doug the Thug from getting back on his blades? Funny follow-up co-stars Liev Schreiber, T.J. Miller, Elisha Cuthbert, and Jay Baruchel (who directed and co-wrote).
Death Valley Days: Season Thirteen: The Ronald Reagan Years
A long-running anthology series of true tales from the Old West, this 1952-70 syndicated program is fondly remembered for its opening bugle call, 20 Mule Team Borax tie-ins, and the folksy hosting style of the Old Ranger (Stanley Andrews). Ronald Reagan, Rosemary DeCamp, Robert Taylor, and Dale Robertson also served as host over the show’s 18-year run. This season’s guest stars include Tom Skerritt, Denver Pyle, Phyllis Coates, James Best, June Lockhart, and Leonard Nimoy. 26 episodes from the series’ 13th season are featured in this four-disc set.
Yes Virginia, There Is a Santa Claus
“Yes, Virginia, There is a Santa Claus” DVD – year-old Virginia O’Hanlon wrote a letter to the editor of New York’s Sun, and the quick response was printed as an unsigned editorial Sept. 21, 1897. The work of veteran newsman Francis Pharcellus Church has since become history’s most reprinted newspaper editorial, appearing in part or whole in dozens of languages in books, movies, and other editorials, and on posters and stamps. The story behind this holiday staple is told in this enchanting family film starring Richard Thomas, Edward Asner, and Charles Bronson.
Gene Roddenberry’s Andromeda: Season 1
Revived after centuries of suspended animation after an invasion throws the intergalactic Commonwealth into chaos, heroic Captain Dylan Hunt (Kevin Sorbo) brings a ragtag crew on board his sentient starship, the Andromeda Ascendant, in a quest to restore order. Laura Bertram, Keith Hamilton Cobb, and Lisa Ryder co-star; created by “Star Trek” guru Gene Roddenberry. All 22 episodes from the debut season
are included in this six-disc set.