This week’s Blu-ray breakdown consists of movies involving couples sleeping together, some butt-kicking martial arts action, dead preppy kids, little blue creatures in New York City, vampires, a pizza delivery guy, a superhero, and an idiot – basically like a family reunion (minus the superhero).
There are 36 films released on Blu-ray this week and we have listed 10 possible choices for you to add to your ever growing catalog of films. Below you will find the synopsis for each film, our score if we reviewed the film, as well as, the score from Rotten Tomatoes and IMDB – all to help you make the decision whether to purchase, rent or skip. Or you could just read our final verdict on each one and base your decision on that.
Let’s get to it…
NEW RELEASES
The Smurfs
Click the Image to buy it on Amazon.com
Synopsis: When the evil wizard Gargamel chases the tiny blue Smurfs out of their village, they tumble from their magical world and into ours — in fact, smack dab in the middle of Central Park. Just three apples high and stuck in the Big Apple, the Smurfs must find a way to get back to their village before Gargamel tracks them down.
Special Features:
- Audio Commentary with Director Raja Gosnell
- Audio Commentary with Producer Jordan Kerner, VFX Supervisor Richard Hoover, and Writers J. David Stem, David N. Weiss, Jay Scherick, and David Ronn
- Deleted & Extended Scenes – Goat Man, Gargamel Throws Azrael Through Door, Gargamel Enters FAO Schwarz, Girl Talk — Extended, and Original Lullaby.
- The Smurfs – Comic Book to the Big Screen
- Smurf Speak – Meet the Cast
- Going Gargamel
- Blue-Pers – A brief gag reel that sadly consists of only two shots.
- Happy Music Montage – Scenes from the movie set to music.
- Progression Reels – Smurf-olution, Growing a Village: Generating Complexity for a Smurf-Sized World, Building and Lighting a CG Smurf, Image-Based Set Reconstruction and Lighting, and Anatomy of a Portal: Effects and Lighting.
- The Smurfs Fantastic Adventure Game
- Previews – Arthur Christmas, The Pirates! Band of Misfits, and Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs
Screen Rant Score: 2 out of 5 Stars – Rotten Tomatoes Score: 23% Fresh – IMDB Rating: 5.2/10
VERDICT: Rent It (if you have young children)
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Smallville Season 10
Click the Image to buy it on Amazon.com
Synopsis: The last season of the cult CW television program, this season of Smallville finds young Clark Kent (Tom Welling) undergoing a final struggle to realize his destiny as costumed hero Superman.
Special Features:
- Commentaries on 2 episodes
- Unaired scenes
- Smallville: Coming Home featurette about the show’s 200th episode
- My Fathers, My Son featurette about Clark’s different fathers/son relationships
- “How Do We Do” music video
VERDICT: A must OWN for all fans of the show
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Friends with Benefits
Click the Image to buy it on Amazon.com
Synopsis: While trying to avoid the clichés of Hollywood romantic comedies, Dylan (Justin Timberlake) and Jamie (Mila Kunis) soon discover however that adding the act of sex to their friendship does lead to complications.
Special Features:
- A Pop-Up Trivia Track – Random trivia
- Audio Commentary with Writer/Director Will Gluck and Actors Justin Timberlake and Mila Kunis
- Deleted Scenes – Superheroes on Hollywood Blvd, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, Creative Meeting, GQ Party, Let’s Stay Friends, Shower Cap, Hollywood Tour, Princess and the Pony, Dylan Tries to Call Jamie, and Twin Pythons
- Outtakes
- On Set with Friends with Benefits Cast
- In a Flash – Choreographing a Mob
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 71% Fresh – IMDB Score: 6.6/10
VERDICT: Rent It (and watch it with a date)
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30 Minutes or Less
Click the Image to buy it on Amazon.com
Synopsis: Two fledgling criminals (Danny McBride & Nick Swardson) kidnap a pizza delivery guy (Jesse Eisenberg), strap a bomb to his chest, and inform him that he has mere hours to rob a bank or else.
Special Features:
- Picture-in-Picture Video Commentary with Director Ruben Fleischer and Actors Jesse Eisenberg, Aziz Ansari, Danny McBride, and Nick Swardson
- Blowing Up with the Cast & Crew of 30 Minutes or Less
- The Perfect Crime – Action and Comedy in 30 Minutes or Less
- Deleted Scenes – Christopher Fires and Then Rehires Nick, Nick Wakes Up Late/Rear View Mirror, Dwayne and Travis Raid the Fridge, Dwayne’s Dream Sequence, Nick Throws-Up at Side of Road, Nick and Chet Leave School/Chet Calls in Excuse, Chango F&(@$ Juicy, Nick Chases Chet, Dwayne Finds Major Wounded, and Vito’s Commercial
- Outtakes – Travis Thinks the Major is Jacked, Chet Tells Nick Worse Ways to Die, and Dwayne and Travis Talk Tanning Codes
Screen Rant Score: 2.5/5 Stars – Rotten Tomatoes Score: 44% Fresh – IMDB Score: 6.3/10
VERDICT: Rent It
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Tucker & Dale vs. Evil
Click the Image to buy it on Amazon.com
Synopsis: Tucker (Alan Tudyk) and Dale (Tyler Labine) are two best friends on vacation at their dilapidated mountain getaway who are mistaken for murderous backwoods hillbillies by a group of obnoxious, preppy college kids. When one of the students gets separated from her friends, the boys try to lend a hand, but as the misunderstanding grows, so does the body count.
Special Features:
- Audio Commentary with Director Eli Craig and actors Tyler Labine and Alan Tudyk Making of Tucker and Dale Vs. Evil
- Tucker and Dale ARE Evil: The College Kids’ Point of View
- Outtakes
- Storyboards – A remote-controlled gallery with 97 storyboard drawings.
- HDNet – A Look at Tucker & Dale Vs. Evil – A shorter version of the making-of documentary
- Theatrical Trailer
Screen Rant Score: 4 Stars – Rotten Tomatoes Score: 86% Fresh – IMDB Score: 7.6/10
VERDICT: Buy It (and watch it over and over)
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Our Idiot Brother
Click the Image to buy it on Amazon.com
Synopsis: Every family has one: the sibling who is always just a little bit behind the curve when it comes to getting his life together. For sisters Liz (Emily Mortimer), Miranda (Elizabeth Banks) and Natalie (Zooey Deschanel), that person is their perennially upbeat brother Ned (Paul Rudd), an erstwhile organic farmer whose willingness to rely on the honesty of mankind is a less-than-optimum strategy for a tidy, trouble-free existence.
Special Features:
- Audio Commentary with Director Jesse Peretz
- Deleted & Extended Scenes – Ned Takes the Subway, Ned Waits for John, Ned in Prison, and Alternate Ending
- The Making of Our Idiot Brother
Screen Rant Score: 4 Stars - Rotten Tomatoes Score: 69% Fresh – IMDB Score: 6.7/10
VERDICT: Buy It (and watch it with a sibling)
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One Day
Click the Image to buy it on Amazon.com
Synopsis: After one day together – July 15th, 1988, their college graduation – Emma (Anne Hathaway) and Dexter (Jim Sturgess) begin a friendship that will last a lifetime. For the next two decades, key moments of their relationship are experienced over several July 15ths in their lives. Somewhere along their journey, they realize what they were searching and hoping for had been there for them all along.
Special Features:
- Audio Commentary with Director Lone Scherfig
- Em and Dex Through the Years
- Anne Hatheway: Bringing Emma to Life
- The Look of One Day: Making a 20-Year Love Story, Creating Emma with Anne and Dexter’s Transformation
- Deleted Scenes
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 37% Fresh – IMDB Score: 6.7/10
VERDICT: Rent It
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The Art of Getting By
Click the Image to buy it on Amazon.com
Synopsis: George (Freddie Highmore) is a lonely and fatalistic teen who’s made it all the way to his senior year without ever having done a real day of work, who is befriended by Sally (Emma Roberts), a beautiful and complicated girl who recognizes in him a kindred spirit.
Special Features:
- Audio commentary with director Gavin Wiesen
- New York Slice of Life featurette
- On Young Love featurette
- Fox Movie Channel featurette – In Character with Freddie Highmore
- HBO First Look – The Making of The Art Of Getting By
- Theatrical trailer
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 17% Fresh – IMDB Score: 6.4/10
VERDICT: Rent It (if you’re bored)
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Jackie Chan 4 Film Multi-Feature
Click the Image to buy it on Amazon.com
The acrobatic, comedic, martial arts journeyman Jackie Chan has been making films for nearly half a decade with a filmography well over 100 films. Four of those films from the 80s and 90s are now together on one Blu-ray disc. Short on story but high on butt-kicking martial action with plenty of Chan’s trademark clown-style kung-fu mixed in these four films should satisfy most fans of Chan’s work.
Titles Included:
- Operation Condor
- Operation Condor 2: The Armour Of God
- Jackie Chan’s Project A
- Jackie Chan’s Project A2
VERDICT: Not the strongest four films from Chan’s film vault but hardcore fans will want to own them.
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From Dusk til Dawn Series Collection
Click the Image to buy it on Amazon.com
Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino scored a cult hit with the first From Dusk til Dawn film telling a story about two psychopath brothers trapped in a vampiric bar with a vacationing family – after that the series became mostly forgettable. Still, having them all in one place might appeal to some people and the full length “making of” documentary Full-Tilt Boogie might interest some of the more entrenched fans.
Titles Included:
- From Dusk Till Dawn
- From Dusk Till Dawn 2: Texas Blood Money
- From Dusk Till Dawn 3: The Hangman’s Daughter
- Full Tilt-Boogie
VERDICT: Fans of the entire From Dusk til Dawn series (those exist?) might want to pick this up – the rest of us will want to skip it.
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Follow me Twitter (@Walwus) and tell me which movies you plan to own.
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“but it”? For ‘Our Idiot Brother’… Come on SR where is the editing. Second mistake in 1 day. Plus, what’s going on with the new format for this? I miss the old one… Where it was simply: rent it, buy it, skip it. And you didn’t just give a description and stuff.
Wake up on the wrong side of the bed?
And this …”Plus, what’s going on with the new format for this? I miss the old one… Where it was simply: rent it, buy it, skip it. And you didn’t just give a description and stuff.” … made absolutely no sense.
What doesn’t make sense there? I don’t see the need for Rotten Tomatoe and IMDB ratings. And all they said was the description of the movie and what’s featured on the disc(s)… They’ve always had the disc features, but they used to have a mini review paragraph too. This was replaced with the synopsis, which would be okay if it had the review too… And the “rent it”, “buy it” or “skip it” has always been there but they added stupid puns and stuff in parentheses… And some don’t even have either one of these. I just dislike the format now and don’t understand why sites change stuff. If its not broken don’t fix it, right??
This is my opinion as someone who has been coming here and talking on the forums for years now.
Sin,
First, no need to be an ass when pointing out typos. If all we had were two typos out of the thousands of words we published on the day this went live, I’d say that’s pretty damned good. A “hey guys, you have a typo” would be appreciated.
Second, we had someone else write this and he was trying out a new format.
Third, these take a TON of time to write and put together and they get very FEW page views, so actually you might not have to worry about typos and formatting much longer because I’m debating discontinuing this column.
Have a nice day.
Vic
Vic,
I honestly wasn’t trying to be a prick about it. I was frustrated over the format and it may have came off as being an ass. I am sorry about that. Don’t discontinue it. I think it should be left how it was. I thought it was perfect, personally. It’s nice to see the top movies coming out on DVD/Blu-Ray, as a viewer of the site. I enjoy it most on this site.
Sorry if I came off as an ass, Vic. It wasn’t my intention. I never look for typos but the two I pointed out were right there and we’re kind of important.
-Matt (Sin)
Matt,
It takes about 3 hours to put these together and they only get about 1700 page views, which makes them totally not worth doing.
Vic
Vic,
That’s insane, only 1700? I don’t understand that. They’re usually well written and very interesting to read. But that’s 1700 views that the site wouldn’t have. I don’t see a point in discontinuing an article that people do take interest in. Maybe I don’t really know the ins and outs of it though, since I do not have my own website. It’d be a pity to lose the DVD/Blu-Ray column.
-Matt (Sin)
“I don’t see a point in discontinuing an article that people do take interest in.”
A feature that takes 3 hours+ to write every week and earns 1/10th of what I pay to have it written. Every week.
8)
Vic
Lol well put Vic.
-Matt(Sin)
INK, maybe I’m just upset and bias because, after repeated efforts over the past year or two, they have never responded once to my many emails regarding writing for SR. I wrote a test article once in my senior year of high school 4 years ago and admittedly didn’t write it too well. But I never received feedback regarding that article from Paul or Vic about it and any effort to try again has failed. I’m 4 years older, I have written for a few sites including my own and still have had zero responses.
I love this site. I always have. I have almost always seen eye to eye with each review and each piece of news (unlike many other websites). And this article could have been written by my 14 year old brother the way it’s layout is… No offense to Paul at all. Just theres not much personalization and not much to it other than writing what it’s about and what’s on the discs…
Don’t hurt me Vic.
@sin – Mike used to write these articles and being a single guy had the time (usually) to watch all the features and put up a personal review. I’m not sure I understand your point though – you complain there is no personalization but then complain when I personalize the Verdict section?
Btw, you sent me one article in 2009 and are still currently friends with me on FB.
Paul
I apologized to Vic and I’ll apologize to you, Paul. I’m sorry. I overreacted and I admit it.
I just didn’t like the layout at all. But, I understand now.
-Matt(Sin)
SMALLVILLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Jacky Chans Movie not the Strongest ????
How opinions can split apart !
Operation Condor and Project A & B are the best Chan Movies next to Police Story ! Unbelievable Stunts,long one take shots..with no cuts during action scenes,you see the whole action, pure adrenalin action,recommend to every action film Lover !
Nothing beats Legend of Drunken Master. NOTHING.
I can’t believe they don’t have Tom Welling wearing glasses for the cover of Smallville season 10.