This is BY FAR the most dismal week I’ve seen in terms of DVD releases. There isn’t a single major Hollywood or indie release, outside of Criterion’s release of Blow Out. A few older TV shows also hit DVD, so check out the MOVIES AND MORE section for those. There are a couple of new things out on Instant Watch, but not many. The next major influx of titles will be May 1st, which I’ll detail next week.

BUY

Moguls and Movie Stars: A History of Hollywood
This is the American film history series that TCM aired last year – I saw two or three segments of it, and they were all really good. Just about the right amount of detail for viewers just getting into film history, and with some really great film historians and critics along for the ride. I’ll probably be picking up this set to finish out watching the series.
2010 USA. Produced by TCM. Narrated by Christopher Plummer.
Amazon DVD

Invitation to the Dance
Technically I’d put this under “rent,” since I haven’t seen it myself and it’s likely only for die-hard Kelly fans, but it’s from the Warner Archive, so you actually can’t rent it. In any case, this film is the natural culmination of Kelly’s ballet-heavy trajectory seen in An American in Paris and Singin’ in the Rain – a movie with three stories told fully in dance. I’ve been wanting to see this for some time; looks like this may be the best chance.
1956 USA. Director: Gene Kelly. Starring: Gene Kelly, Tamara Toumanova.
Amazon DVD

RENT

Blow Out Criterion
Drawing on such surveillance paranoia stories as Blow-up and The Conversation, De Palma here envisions a sound man (Travolta) out capturing ambient noises who accidentally records what may be a coverup for a murder. Though it owes a lot to those earlier films, Blow Out is a solid entry in its own right, and I’m sure Criterion has done right by it with this release.
1981 USA. Director: Brian De Palma. Starring: John Travolta, Nancy Allen.
Amazon DVD | Amazon Blu-ray | Netflix

WATCH INSTANTLY

Easy A
One of the smarter recent takes on the high school comedy, due partially to a deft script playing on The Scarlet Letter, but mostly to Emma Stone’s snarky performance as well as great backup from Clarkson and Tucci as her parents. Everyone’s spot on here, making what could’ve been merely passable entertainment into something more memorable.
2010 USA. Director: Will Gluck. Starring: Emma Stone, Patricia Clarkson, Stanley Tucci.

Salt
I wanted to indulge the “big stupid action movie” side of me when Salt came out last year, but scheduling prevented me. I’m still more than down for it, though – the trailer looked like a whole lot of fun.
2010 USA. Director: Phillip Noyce. Starring: Angelina Jolie, Liev Schreiber, Chiwetel Ejiofor.

All Good Things [4/28]
This came out in theatres about the time everyone was raving about Gosling’s performance in Blue Valentine; this doesn’t look nearly as good as that, but I trust Gosling, and it looks like it could be an enjoyable little thriller.
2010 USA. Director: Andrew Jarecki. Starring: Ryan Gosling, Kirsten Dunst, Frank Langella.

Gojira [also Canada]
The original Japanese Godzilla movie returns to Instant Watch! It was gone for a while; but I’m of the opinion that Instant Watch needs all the monster movies it can get, so I’m glad to see it back.
1954 Japan. Director: Ishirô Honda. Starring: Akira Takarada, Momoko Kochi, Akihiko Hirata

Purple Rain [4/29]
Semi-autobiographical Prince film, following a young musician through his personal and family struggles. The score won both Oscars and Grammys, which is pretty danged impressive.
1984 USA. Director Albert Mganoli. Starring: Prince, Apollonia, Clarence Williams III, Morris Day.

The Sorcerer’s Apprentice [4/30]
Well, I’ll say this for The Sorcerer’s Apprentice – Instant Watch is pretty much the only possible way I’d ever watch it. Still not sure I can drum up the interest, though – the trailers had me wanting to run for the exit.
2010 USA. Director: Jon Turteltaub. Starring: Nicolas Cage, Jay Baruchel, Alfred Molina.

EPIRING SOON FROM INSTANT WATCH

Going out a couple of weeks on expirations reveals a few major titles the first week of May, including Spielberg’s first blockbuster Jaws, solid animated comedy Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, action sci-fi hit District 9, and zany cartoon series Rocky & Bullwinkle. Last time Rocky & Bullwinkle was set to expire, it didn’t, so my fingers are crossed, but I’m not too hopeful this time.

Hover over an image to see title and date of expiration.

Other Releases

MOVIES AND MORE
Growing Pains: Season 2 (1986 USA, creator Neal Marlens, stars Alan Thicke, Joanna Kerns, Kirk Cameron; Netflix)
Human Planet (2011 USA, stars John Hurt; Blu-ray; Netflix)
The Lucy Show: Season 4 (1965 USA, creator Lucille Ball, stars Lucille Ball, Vivian Vance; Netflix)
Naruto Shippuden Box Set 6 (2010 Japan, creator Masashi Kishimoto, stars Junko Takeuchi, Chie Nakamura, Kazuhiko Inoue)
Sniper Reloaded (2010 USA, dir Claudio Fah, stars Billy Zane, Chad Michael Collins; Blu-ray, Netflix)
South Park: Season 13 (2010 USA, creator Matt Stone, Trey Parker, stars Trey Parker, Matt Stone, Isaac Hayes; Amazon Blu-ray; Netflix)

NEW ON BLU-RAY
Daylight (1996 USA, dir Rob Cohen, stars Sylvester Stallone, Amy Brenneman, Viggo Mortensen)
El Topo (1970 Mexico, dir Alejandro Jodorowsky, stars Alejandro Jodorowsky, Brontis Jodorowsky)
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas Criterion (1998 USA, dir Terry Gilliam, stars Johnny Depp)
The Girl Who Leapt Through Time (2006 Japan, dir Mamoru Hosoda, stars Riisa naka, Takuya Ishida, Mitsutaka Itakura)
The Holy Mountain (1973 Mexico, dir Alejandro Jodorowsky, stars Horacio Salinas, Alejandro Jodorowsky)

INSTANT WATCH
Bunny and the Bull (2009 UK, dir Paul King, stars Edward Hogg, Simon Farnaby)
Dead Awake (2010 USA, dir Omar Naim, stars Nick Stahl, Rose McGowan, Amy Smart) [4/28]
Summer Lovers (1982 USA, dir Randal Kleiser, stars Peter Gallagher, Daryl Hannah) [4/28]

EXPIRING SOON FROM INSTANT WATCH
Jack (1996 USA, dir Francis Ford Coppola, stars Robin Williams, Diane Lane) [4/27]
Management (2008 USA, dir Stephen Belber, stars Jennifer Aniston, Steve Zahn) [4/27]
Stranded: I’ve Come from a Plane That Crashed on the Mountains (2007, dir Gonzalo Arijon, stars Jose Pedro Algorta, Roberto Canessa) [4/28]
My Lucky Star (1938 USA, dir Roy Del Ruth, stars Sonja Henie, Richard Greene) [4/30]
Sink the Bismark (1960 UK, dir Lewis Gilbert, stars Kenneth More, Dana Wynter) [4/30]
Way Down East (1935 USA, dir Henry King, stars Henry Fonda, Rochelle Hudson) [4/30]
Alexandra (2007 Russia, dir Aleksandr Sokurov, stars Galina Vishnevskaya, Vasily Shevtsov) [5/1]
Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever (2002 USA, dir Wych Kaosayananda, stars Antonio Banderas) [5/1]
Cobra (1986 USA, dir George P. Cosmatos, stars Sylvester Stallone, Brigitte Nielsen) [5/1]
Coma (1978 USA, dir Michael Crichton, stars Michael Douglas, Geneviève Bujold) [5/1]
The Commish: S 1-2 (1991-1992 USA, creator Stephen J. Cannell, Stephen Kronish, stars Michael Chiklis, Theresa Saldana) [5/1]
The Crime of Padre Amaro (2002 Mexico, dir Carlos Carrera, stars Sancho Gracia) [5/1]
Eddie Izzard: Live from Wembley (2009 UK, stars Eddie Izzard) [5/1]
The Good Life 2007 USA, dir Stephen Berra, stars Mark Webber, Zooey Deschanel) [5/1]
Grumpier Old Men (1995 USA, dir Howard Deutch, stars Jack Lemmon, Walter Matthau) [5/1]
Itty Bitty Titty Committee (2007 USA, dir Jamie Babbit, stars Melonie Diaz, Nicole Vicius) [5/1]
Look Who’s Talking Too (1990 USA, dir Amy Heckerling, stars Kirstie Alley, John Travolta) [5/1]
The Majestic (2001 USA, dir Frank Darabont, stars Jim Carrey, Martin Landau) [5/1]
The Mummy’s Curse (1944 USA, dir Leslie Goodwins, stars Peter Coe, Lon Chaney, Jr.) [5/1]
The Mummy’s Hand (1940 USA, dir Christy Cabanne, stars Dick Foran, Wallace Ford) [5/1]
My Bloody Valentine (1981 USA, dir George Mihalka, stars Paul Kelman, Lori Hallier) [5/1]
Othello (1995 UK, dir Oliver Parker, stars Kenneth Branagh, Laurence Fishburne) [5/1]
Paycheck (2003 USA, dir John Woo, stars Ben Affleck, Uma Thurman, Aaron Eckhart) [5/1]
The Russia House (1990 USA, dir Fred Schepisi, stars Sean Connery, Michelle Pfeiffer) [5/1]
Stuck (2007 USA, dir Stuart Gordon, stars Mena Suvari, Stephen Rea) [5/1]
They Call Me Mr. Tibbs (1970 USA, dir Gordon Douglas, stars Sidney Poitier, Martin Landau) [5/1]
Throw Momma From the Train (1987 USA, dir Danny DeVito, stars Billy Crystal) [5/1]
Valley Girl (1983 USA, dir Martha Collidge, stars Nicolas Cage, Deborah Foreman, Martha Coolidge) [5/1]
The Year of Living Dangerously (1983 USA, dir Peter Weir, stars Mel Gibson) [5/1]
Lorna’s Silence (2008 France, dir Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne, stars Arta Dobroshi, Jeremie Renier, Fabrizio Rongione) [5/5]
Above the Rim (1994 USA, dir Jeff Pollack, stars Tupac Shakur, Duane Martin) [5/6]

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.