This is a pretty dismal week for DVD releases, and there’s not even that much new coming on to Instant Watch this week, but you’ll note a whole bunch of stuff is due to expire off Instant Watch on April 1st. The balance between new ones and expiring ones looks scarier than it is, though, because I only go out one week on new releases, but two weeks on expirations – the influx of new titles for April 1st will be in next week’s column. Of particular note on the expiration side are just about all of the Fox TV series, and a lot of MGM titles, including all of Woody Allen’s films. Expiration data is gathered from InstantWatcher, and often changes quickly (some titles that expired on the 16th are already back as of the 20th), so take that info with a grain of salt, but if there’s anything you particularly want to watch, it’s not a bad idea to check it out soon just in case.

BUY

The Riddick Collection Blu-ray
Kind of a blah week in general, but if you have money burning a hole in your pocket and you’re still looking to upgrade that DVD collection, you could do worse than both of the Riddick films on Blu-ray. For B-level sci-fi/action moviemaking, I had a lot of fun with both of these films.
Pitch Black – 2000 USA. Director: David Twohy. Starring: Vin Diesel, Claudia Black.
The Chronicles of Riddick – 2004 USA. Director: David Twohy. Starring: Vin Diesel, Thandie Newton.
Amazon Blu-ray

 
 

RENT

Our Hospitality
I know I’ve seen this Buster Keaton film (barely a feature at 75min), but I can’t actually remember much about – but that doesn’t stop me from recommending it unequivocally, because I’ve never seen anything of Keaton’s that wasn’t awesome. This new edition marks its first blu-ray release, and also includes a rare alternate edit, a documentary, the two-reeler The Iron Mule, and a new score by Carl Davis.
1923 USA. Director: Buston Keaton, Jack Blystone. Starring: Buster Keaton, Natalie Talmadge.
Amazon DVD | Amazon Blu-ray | Netflix (different edition)

The Tourist
I always hope for good things from foreign directors heading to Hollywood, and I’m usually disappointed – this time it’s The Lives of Others director Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, and based on the reviews, I’m pretty sure I’m in for disappointment. But I’m still curious, against my better judgement.
2010 USA. Director: Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck. Starring: Johnny Depp, Angelina Jolie.
Amazon DVD | Amazon Blu-ray | Netflix

Skyline
The low-budget, early release competitor to Battle: LA ended up getting pretty poor reviews, so this is pretty low down on my rental list, but I won’t take it off completely – I’m still a sci-fi junkie at heart, and I usually find some enjoyment even out of bad ones.
2011 USA. Director: Greg and Colin Strause. Starring: Eric Balfour, Donald Faison.
Amazon DVD | Amazon Blu-ray | Netflix

 
 

SKIP

How Do You Know
Actually, I didn’t even know this was a thing until the week it hit theatres, and even after I found out about it, I wasn’t that excited. Looks like a fairly run-of-the-mill romcom, probably decent if you like that sort of thing (Brooks has done some great stuff in the past), but not remotely interesting to me.
2010 USA. Director: James L. Brooks. Starring: Reese Witherspoon, Owen Wilson, Paul Rudd, Jack Nicholson.
Amazon DVD | Amazon Blu-ray | Netflix

Yogi Bear
And this is a little thing I like to call ripping up my childhood, stomping up and down on it, and then trying to put it back together when superglue and computers. I couldn’t even make it through the trailer for this. The only thing even remotely interesting was that one poster. You know the one.
2010 USA. Director: Eric Brevig. Starring: Dan Aykroyd, Justin Timberlake.
Amazon DVD | Amazon Blu-ray | Netflix

 
 

WATCH INSTANTLY

Dirty Dancing
Nobody puts baby in a corner! I heard that line dozen of times in other contexts before I saw Dirty Dancing a couple of years ago – I’m always late to the party on ’80s movies, and though I do suffer my general ’80s malaise with Dirty Dancing, it generally won me over.
1987 USA. Director: Emile Ardolino. Starring: Jennifer Grey, Patrick Swayze.

Le Cercle Rouge
More Jean-Pierre Melville on Instant Watch will ALWAYS make me happy – and this is one I haven’t seen yet, a later crime drama by the master of French crime cinema, reuinted with Le samourai star Alain Delon. I’m really looking forward to sitting down with this.
1970 USA. Director: Jean-Pierre Melville. Starring: Alain Delon, Yves Montand, Paul Crauchet.

Talk to Her [also Canada]
One of the best films in Pedro Almodóvar’s excellent filmography – emotionally devastating, flamboyantly colorful, deeply disturbing, unfailingly romantic, and at times rather surreal. I don’t love it quite as much as I love All About My Mother, but it is very close.
2002 Spain. Director: Pedro Almodóvar. Starring: Javier Cámara, Darío Grandinetti, Rosario Flores, Leonor Watling.

House on Haunted Hill
One of the landmark haunted house movies, with Price inviting a group of people to his creepy mansion – whoever stays all night will get a sizeable cash prize. Director Castle is fabulous at creepy camp, and this is one of his best-known films.
1958 USA. Director: William Castle. Starring: Vincent Price, Elisha Cook Jr., Carol Ohmart, Alan Marshal, Richard Long.

Charlie Chaplin Collection: Shorts
I have no idea what the quality on these is like – most if not all of them are public domain, so getting good prints for stuff like this can be difficult. In any case, there are some 35 shorts here, including some of Chaplin’s best – One A.M., The Cure, The Tramp, The Rink, The Pawnshop and The Immigrant are all great.
1914-1920ish. Director: Charles Chaplin. Starring: Charlie Chaplin, Edna Purviance, etc.

Escape from New York
New York has been turned into a maximum security prison, with the inmates largely left to fend for themselves – a fine place for the US president to have to crash land. Thank goodness hardened criminal Kurt Russell is on hand to navigate the urban wasteland and rescue him.
1981 USA. Director: John Carpenter. Starring: Kurt Russell, Donald Pleasence.

Eat Pray Love
Not a film I have a particular interest in, except insofar as it looks like a lovely travelogue through Europe, but it is relatively high-profile new release for Instant, and those are always good to have.
2010 USA. Director: Ryan Murphy. Starring: Julia Roberts, James Franco, Richard Jenkins.

Wristcutters: A Love Story [also Canada]
A quirky little coming of age story, set in a purgatory-esque place where suicides go. Patrick Fugit is making his way there, but then Shannyn Sossamon shows up and swears she didn’t commit suicide and he tries to help her make it back to where she’s supposed to be. Surprisingly sweet and funny, but with great dark undertones.
2006 USA. Director: Goran Dukic. Starring: Patrick Fugit, Shannyn Sossamon.

Syriana
A mult-plotted political thriller centered on America’s need for Midde Eastern oil – it got kind of middling reviews, as I recall, but i’m still interested in check it out, especially now that it’s easy to do on Instant.
2005 USA. Director: Stephen Gaghan. Starring George Clooney, Matt Damon, Amanda Peet.

Trigun: The Complete Series
I’m woefully uneducated on anime, but reading the description of this sounds awesome – bounty hunters, outlaws, Old West-ish planet, future tech. I’m so there.
1998 Japan. Creator: Yasuhiro Nightow. Starring: Mona marshall, Jeff Nimoy, Matthew Mercer.

The Experiment [3/25]
An American remake of a great German film from a few years back (Das Experiment), though both are based on a real-life social experiment that designated some participants as prisoners and others as guards and then studied their interactions. I haven’t seen this one, but the German one is fantastic. But not available on Netflix right now. So this one might have to suffice.
2010 USA. Director: Paul Scheuring. Starring: Forest Whitaker, Adrien Brody.

Children of a Lesser God [also Canada]
Marlee Matlin won an Oscar for her portrayal of a deaf woman who resists being helped by speech teacher William Hurt. I haven’t seen it, and it sounds rather like a typical “disability Oscar-bait role”, but hey – benefit of the doubt and all that.
1986 USA. Director Randa Haines. Starring: Marlee Matlin, William Hurt, Piper Laurie.

Dinner for Five
Haven’t seen this series, with Jon Favreau inviting Hollywood personalities to dinner and a chat about whatever, but it kind of sounds intriguing.
2001 USA. Creator: Jon Favreau. Starring: Jon Favreau.

 
 

EPIRING SOON FROM INSTANT WATCH

All the ones after The Age of Innocence (including all the Woody Allen films and TV shows) expire on April 1st, so you have a bit over a week on those. The ones before that expire between 3/23 and 3/31. All the Criterions expire on April 3rd.

 
 

OTHER RELEASES

MOVIES AND MORE
Bleach Uncut Box Set 8 (2004 Japan, creator Tite Kubo, stars Johnny Yong Bosch, Michelle Ruff, Stephanie Sheh)
The Venture Bros.: Season 4, Vol. 2 (2010 USA, creator Christopher McCulloch, stars Christopher McCulloch, James Urbaniak, Michael Sinterniklaas; Netflix)

NEW ON BLU-RAY
Anastasia (1997 USA, dir Don Bluth, Gary Goldman, stars Meg Ryan, John Cusack)
Elizabeth/Elizabeth: The Golden Age Double Feature (1998/2007 USA, dir Shekhar Kapur, stars Cate Blanchett, Geoffrey Rush)
Random Hearts (1999 USA, dir Sydney Pollack, stars Harrison Ford, Kristin Scott Thomas)
Robots (2005 USA, dir Chris Wedge, Carlos Saldanha, stars Robin Williams, Ewan McGregor)
The Sandlot (1993 USA, dir David M. Evans, stars Tom Guiry, Mike Vitar, Patrick Renna)
Stand By Me: 25th Anniversary Edition (1986 USA, dir Rob Reiner, stars Wil Wheaton, River Phoenix, Corey Feldman)
The Venture Bros.: Season 4 (2009-2010 USA, creator Christopher McCulloch, stars Christopher McCulloch, James Urbaniak, Michael Sinterniklaas)

INSTANT WATCH
The Apartment (1996 France, dir Gilles Mimouni, stars Monica Bellucci, Vincent Cassel)
Buena Vista Social Club (1999 Germany, dir Wim Wenders) [also Canada]
The Good Guy (2009 USA, dir Julio DePietro, stars Scott Porter, Alexis Bledel) [3/26]
The Pebble and the Penguin (1995 USA, dir Don Bluth, Gary Goldman, stars Tim Curry, Martin Short, James Belushi) [3/25]
Road to Bali (1952 USA, dir Hal Walker, stars Bing Crosby, Bob Hope, Dorothy Lamour)
Vanity Fair (2004 USA, dir Mira Nair, stars Reese Witherspoon, James Purfoy) [also Canada]

EXPIRING SOON FROM INSTANT WATCH
St. Elmo’s Fire (1985 USA, dir Joel Schumacher, stars Demi Moore, Rob Lowe) [3/23]
The Ugly Truth (2009 USA, dir Robert Luketic, stars Gerard Butler, Katherine Heigl) [3/25]
About Last Night… (1986 USA, dir Edward Zwick, stars Rob Lowe, Demi Moore) [3/26]
Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (1994 USA, dir Kenneth Branagh, stars Robert De Niro, John Cleese, Helena Bonham Carter) [3/26]
Showgirls (1995 USA, dir Paul Verhoeven, stars Elizabeth Berkley, Gina Gershon) [3/26]
The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965 USA, dir George Stevens, David Lean, Jean Negulesco, stars Max von Sydow, Charlton Heston, John Wayne) [3/28]
Inglorious Bastards (1978 Italy, dir Enzo G. Castellari, stars Bo Svenson, Fred Williamson) [3/30]
The Dark Corner (1946 USA, dir Henry Hathaway, stars Lucille Ball, Mark Stevens) [3/31]
8 1/2 Women (1999 Australia, dir Peter Greenaway, stars John Standing, Toni Collette) [4/1]
Battle of the Bulge (1965 USA, dir Ken Annakin, stars Henry Fonda, Charles Bronson) [4/1]
Child’s Play (1988 USA, dir Tom Holland, stars Brad Dourif, Alex Vincent, Catherine Hicks) [4/1]
Creepshow (1982 USA, dir George A. Romero, stars Leslie Nielsen, Hal Holbrook) [4/1]
Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (1988 USA, dir Frank Oz, stars Steve Martin, Michael Caine) [4/1]
The Madness of King George (1994 USA, dir Nicholas Hytner, stars Nigel Hawthorne, Helen Mirren, Ian Holm) [4/1]
Proof of Life (2000 USA, dir Taylor Hackford, stars Meg Ryan, Russell Crowe) [4/1]
Space Cowboys (2000 USA, dir Clint Eastwood, stars Clint Eastwood, Tommy Lee Jones) [4/1]
Tank Girl (1995 USA, dir Rachel Talalay, stars Malcolm McDowell, Lori Petty, Naomi Watts) [4/1]
Tin Cup (1996 USA, dir Ron Shelton, stars Kevin Costner, Rene Russo, Don Johnson) [4/1]
Eraser (1996 USA, dir Charles Russell, stars Arnold Schwarzenegger, Vanessa L. Williams) [4/2]
Executive Decision (1996 USA, dir Stuart Baird, stars Steven Seagal, Kurt Russell) [4/2]

Disclaimers

• Amazon links use my affiliate account, and will kick a small percentage of your purchase back to me. You pay the same price you would anyway.
• Not all new releases are available on Netflix immediately. Some studio films have a 30-day release window before Netflix can rent them, and some smaller releases are not picked up by Netflix immediately. Add them to your “saved” queue if you’re interested; that tells Netflix there is demand for the disc.
• Not all new Blu-ray releases are available on Netflix – Netflix usually buys both DVD and Blu-ray editions of new releases, but if a DVD has already been released, they don’t always get the Blu-ray when it comes out later.
• Instant Watch releases are not always 100% accurate – often the data from the API is not fully accurate until the actual day of release. I always check on release day to make sure things actually do hit Instant Watch, but for things that come out later than Tuesday when I publish this post, I won’t be able to tell.
• Instant Watch expirations are not always 100% accurate – sometimes they don’t expire after all, sometimes things expire with little advance warning. I always check to make sure the data is accurate to the best of my knowledge when I publish the post, but things could still change, especially since I’m giving expiration warnings up to two weeks in advance.
• I rely on Box Office Mojo and InstantWatcher for the majority of the data for these posts, so thank you to them for the work they do.