A few arthouse heavy hitters plus some blockbuster action this week, as well as the biggest hitter of them all – Star Wars on Blu-ray. A bunch of other great films get Blu-ray upgrades as well, and one of the best shows on TV comes to Instant Watch.

New Release Picks of the Week

Meek’s Cutoff
One of the best movies so far this year, with Reichardt turning to the old west, but not the old west of heroism and expansive vistas, but a constricted, oppressive, and almost hellish old west. It’s not a barrel of laughs, but it isn’t an experience you’ll soon forget, either.
2011 USA. Director: Kelly Reichardt. Starring: Michelle Williams, Bruce Greenwood.
Amazon DVD | Amazon Blu-ray | Netflix

Incendies
One of Canada’s major front-runners for last year’s award-season, I still haven’t managed to catch it myself, but it seems to be a huge favorite of everyone who has.
2010 Canada. Director: Denis Villeneuve. Starring: Lubna Azabal, Mélissa Désormeaux-Poulin.
Amazon Blu-ray/DVD | Netflix

Thor
After a terrible ad campaign, Thor actually ended up being quite enjoyable, certainly a good kick-off to summer blockbuster season and a fine lead-in to next year’s The Avengers.
2011 USA. Director: Kenneth Branagh. Starring: Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Anthony Hopkins.
Amazon DVD | Amazon Blu-ray | Netflix

The Tempest
The reviews for Taymor’s flamboyant version of Shakespeare’s final play weren’t particularly kind, but I’m still really interested in checking it out for myself.
2010 USA. Director: Julie Taymor. Starring: Helen Mirren, Russell Brand.
Amazon DVD | Amazon Blu-ray | Netflix

OTHER NEW RELEASES
Bill Cunningham New York (2011 USA, dir Richard Press; Netflix)
Conan O’Brien Can’t Stop (2011 USA, dir Rodman Flender, stars Conan O’Brien; Blu-ray/Netflix)
Hesher (2010 USA, dir Spencer Susser, stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Rainn Wilson; Blu-ray/Netflix)
Le Quattro Volte (2010 Italy, dir Michelangelo Frammartino, stars Giuseppe Fuda; Blu-ray/Netflix)
True Legend (2010 China, dir Yuen Woo Ping, stars Michelle Yeoh; Blu-ray/Netflix)
17 Miracles (2011 USA, dir T.C. Christensen, stars Jasen Wade, Nathan Mitchell; Blu-ray/Netflix)
Love Wedding Marriage (2011 USA, dir Dermot Mulroney, stars Mandy Moore; Netflix)

Classic / Older Picks of the Week

Athena
One of the weaker entries in the MGM catalog of musicals, but for fans of the genre, there are still pleasures to be found, as Powell and Reynolds play two of several daughters (all named for Roman goddesses) presided over by the always-watchable Louis Calhern.
1954 USA. Director: Richard Thorpe. Starring: Jane Powell, Debbie Reynolds, Edmund Purdom, Vic Damone.
Amazon DVD

The Unsinkable Molly Brown
Going from penniless backwoods girl to socialite and eventually to the Titanic, the story of Molly Brown sounds like fantasy, but is actually based in real biography. Debbie Reynolds plays Molly with unrelenting enthusiasm.
1964 USA. Director: Charles Walters. Starring: Debbie Reynolds, Harve Presnell.
Amazon DVD

OTHER CLASSIC / OLDER RELEASES
1991: The Year Punk Broke (1991 USA, dir David Markey, stars Sonic Youth, Nirvana)
Across the Pacific (1951 USA, dir William A. Wellman, stars Clark Gable, Ricardo Montalban)
The Gazebo (1960 USA, dir George Marshall, stars Glenn Ford, Debbie Reynolds)
Toward the Unknown (1956 USA, dir Mervyn LeRoy, stars William Holden, Lloyd Nolan)

Blu-ray Picks of the Week

Star Wars: Complete Saga
Yep, all six parts of Star Wars are on Blu-ray now, including another round of changes, which have already been debated ad nauseum by fanboys. Love ‘em or leave ‘em, it’s the only way you’re likely to get ‘em in high-def.
1977-2005 USA. Director: George Lucas, et al. Starring: Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Ewan McGregor, Hayden Christiansen, Natalie Portman.
Amazon Blu-ray

Citizen Kane
AFI calls it the greatest American movie ever made; it’s certainly been highly influential, and now it’s on Blu-ray in a 70th Anniversary edition (it’s also re-releasing on DVD, with at least some of the same special features from the previous release).
1941 USA. Director: Orson Welles. Starring: Orson Welles, Joseph Cotten.
Amazon Blu-ray | Amazon DVD

O Brother Where Art Thou
A bunch of other Coen films came out on Blu-ray a couple of weeks ago, and now they’re joined by one of my personal favorites, the Bros’ Depression-era retelling of The Odyssey. Only goofier.
2000 USA. Director: Joel Coen. Starring: George Clooney, John Turturro.
Amazon Blu-ray | Amazon DVD

OTHER BLU-RAY RELEASES
3 Women (1977 USA, dir Robert Altman, stars Shelley Duvall, Sissy Spacek; DVD)
The 10th Victim (1965 Italy, dir Elio Petri, stars Marcello Mastroianni, Ursula Andress)
Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1992 USA, dir Fran Rubel Kuzui, stars Kristy Swanson; Blu-ray)
The Count of Monte Cristo (2002 USA, dir Kevin Reynolds, stars Jim Caviezel, Guy Pearce; DVD)
The Frighteners (1996 USA, dir Peter Jackson, stars Michael J. Fox, Peter Dobson; DVD)
Manhunter (1986 USA, dir Michael Mann, stars William Petersen, Brian Cox; DVD)
My Life as a Dog Criterion (1985 Sweden, dir Lasse Hallstrom, stars Anton Glanzelius; DVD)
Star Wars: Original Trilogy (1977-1983 USA, dir George Lucas et al, stars Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher)
Star Wars: Prequel Trilogy (1999-2005 USA, dir George Lucas, stars Ewan McGregor, Hayden Christiansen, Natalie Portman)

Television Picks of the Week

Sanctuary: Season 3
One of Syfy’s better original series, with Amanda Tapping as the head of an organization that takes care of issues arising from the presence of paranormal creatures in our world. Part sci-fi, part horror, and part fantasy.
2010 USA. Creator: Damian Kindler. Starring: Amanda Tapping, Robin Dunne.
Amazon DVD | Amazon Blu-ray | Netflix

Camelot: Season 1
Starz!’s version of the King Arthur legends has quite a few supporters, including some in the Third Row. I’ve yet to see more than a few isolated moments here and there, but I’m definitely intrigued.
2010 USA. Creator: Michael Hirst, Chris Chibnall. Starring: Joseph Fiennes, Eva Green.
Amazon DVD | Amazon Blu-ray | Netflix

OTHER TELEVISION
The Big Bang Theory: Season 4 (2010 USA, creator Chuck Lorre, Bill Prady, stars Jim Parsons; Blu-ray/Netflix)
Blue Bloods: Season 1 (2010 USA, creator Mitchell Burgess, Robin Green, stars Tom Selleck; Netflix)
Doctor Who: Day of the Daleks (1972 UK, dir Paul Bernard, stars Jon Pertwee; Netflix)
Ghost Hunters: Season 6, Part 1 (2010 USA, stars Grant Wilson, Jason Hawes; Blu-ray/Netflix)
Glee: Season 2 (2010 USA, creator Ryan Murphy, stars Lea Michele; Blu-ray/Netflix)
Grey’s Anatomy: Season 7 (2010 USA, creator Shonda Rhimes, stars Ellen Pompeo; Netflix)
Inspector Lewis: Series 4 (2010 UK, stars Kevin Whately, Laurence Fox; Blu-ray/Netflix)
It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia: Season 6 (2010 USA, creator Rob McElhenney, stars Charlie Day; Blu-ray/Netflix)
Outsourced: Complete Series (2010 USA, creator Ken Kwapis, stars Ben Rappaport; Netflix)
Private Practice (2010 USA, creator Shonda Rhimes, stars Kate Walsh, Tim Daly; Netflix)
Rescue Me: Season 6 (2010 USA, creator Denis Leary, stars Denis Leary, Daniel Sunjata; Netflix)
Spartacus: Gods of the Arena (2010 USA, creator Steven S. DeKnight, stars John Hannah; Blu-ray/Netflix)
Supernatural: Season 6 (2010 USA, creator Eric Kripke, stars Jared Padalecki, Jensen Ackles; Blu-ray/Netflix)

Instant Watch Picks of the Week

Breaking Bad
Ah, what a wonderful surprise to hit Instant out of nowhere this week – this AMC show about a straight-laced high school physics teacher who takes to cooking meth to pay for chemotherapy has gotten acclaim almost over and above its sibling Mad Men. I finished S1 on disc just before going streaming only, so it’s great to know I can jump right into S2 whenever I want.
2008-2010 USA. Creator: Vince Gilligan. Starring: Bryan Cranston, Aaron Paul.

Carlos
Both the original miniseries cut and the shorter theatrical cut of Assayas’ epic look at terrorist Carlos the Jackal are now on Instant Watch. I’ve seen neither; any recommendations on which is better?
2010 France/Germany. Director: Olivier Assayas. Starring: Édgar Ramírez, Alexander Scheer.

The War Wagon
I’m always down for a solid western, and pairing John Wayne with Kirk Douglas seems likely to provide that.
1967 USA. Director: Burt Kennedy. Starring: John Wayne, Kirk Douglas.

Weird Science
This is a John Hughes movie I haven’t caught up with yet, but I’m definitely curious, despite not being able to quite love his stuff as much as most people (it’s an ’80s thing; I’m biased).
1985 USA. Director: John Hughes. Starring: Anthony Michael Hall, Kelly LeBrock.

Cypher
Any film by Vincenzo Natali is worth a look in my book; one that looks like a cyber-punk corporate espionage drama, even more so.
2002 USA. Director: Vincenzo Natali. Starring: Jeremy Northam, Lucy Liu.

OTHER INSTANT WATCHES
Airheads (1994 USA, dir Michael Lehmann, stars Adam Sandler, Brendan Fraser)
Autumn in New York (2000 USA, dir Joan Chen, stars Richard Gere, Winona Ryder)
Cleaner (2007 USA, dir Renny Harlin, stars Samuel L. Jackson, Ed Harris)
Comic Book: The Movie (2004 USA, dir Mark Hamill, stars Mark Hamill, Stan Lee)
Coogan’s Bluff (1968 USA, dir Don Siegel, stars Clint Eastwood, Don Stroud)
Father of the Bride 2 (1995 USA, dir Charles Shyer, stars Steve Martin, Diane Keaton)
The Flintstones (1994 USA, dir Briant Levant, stars John Goodman, Rick Moranis)
Halloween: H2O (1998 USA, dir Steve Miner, stars Jamie Lee Curtis, Michelle Williams)
Halloween: Resurrection (2002 USA, dir Rick Rosenthal, stars Jamie Lee Curtis, Tyra Banks)
Hollywood Homicide (2003 USA, dir Ron Shelton, stars Harrison Ford, Josh Hartnett)
The Man Who Cried (2000 USA, dir Sally Potter, stars Christina Ricci, Johnny Depp)
The Pope of Greenwich Village (1984 USA, dir Stuart Rosenberg, stars Eric Roberts)
Saw: The Final Chapter (2010 USA, dir Kevin Greutert, stars Tobin Bell, Sean Patrick Flannery)
Swingers (1996 USA, dir Doug Liman, stars Jon Favreau, Vince Vaughn)

See all new and upcoming titles.

Instant Watch Expiring Picks

Camille (2007 USA, dir Gregory Mackenzie, stars Sienna Miller, James Franco) [9/15]
Hoffa (1992 USA, dir Danny DeVito, stars Jack Nicholson, Danny DeVito) [9/15]
My Summer of Love (2005 UK, dir Pawel Pawlikowski, stars Emily Blunt, Natalie Press) [9/15]
Swept Away (1974 USA, dir Lina Wertmuller, stars Mariangela Melato, Giancarlo Giannini) [9/15]
Order of Chaos (2009 USA, dir Vince Vieluf, stars Milo Ventimiglia, Rhys Coiro) [9/16]
The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension (1984 USA, dir W.D. Richter, stars Peter Weller) [9/19]
The Life Before Her Eyes (2007 USA, dir Vadim Perelman, stars Uma Thurman) [9/19]
Supercop (1992 Hong Kong, dir Stanley Tong, stars Jackie Chan, Michelle Yeoh) – 9/19
The Catherine Tate Show (2004-2006 UK, creator Derren Litten, stars Catherine Tate) [9/23]
Doctor Who: The End of Time (2009 UK, creator: Russell T. Davies, stars David Tennant) [9/23]
Gavin & Stacey (2007 UK, creator James Corden, Ruth Jones, stars Joanna Page) [9/23]
MI-5: Vols 6 & 7 (2007-2008 UK, creator David Wolstoncroft, stars Rupert Penry-Jones) [9/23]
Red Dwarf: Series 9 (2009 UK, creator Rob Grant, Doug Naylor, stars Craig Charles) [9/23]
Radio (2003 USA, dir Michael Tollin, stars Ed Harris, Cuba Gooding Jr) [9/23]
Lynch (2007 USA, dir Søren Larsen, stars David Lynch) [9/26]
The Quiet American (2002 USA, dir Phillip Noyce, stars Michael Caine, Brendan Fraser) [9/26]

See all expiring titles.

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.