It’s no secret that the stars are falling from the sky that the big title this week is Avengers: Age of Ultron. Despite dividing audiences slightly more than its predecessor (personally, I liked it when I watched it, but over time, I’ve grown more and more indifferent towards it, although I still love James Spader playing a Marvel villain as a variation on his usual dickweed roles), it still made the GDP of a medium-sized country theatrically and will make more money on home video and downloads. As for other new releases, there’s the Paul Feig-Melissa McCarthy comedy Spy and the sophomore effort from future Spider-Man director Jon Watts, Cop Car, but the big one likely for those reading this will be Peter Strickland’s The Duke of Burgundy, which received such a perfunctory release that this will be most’s first experience with it, the film that won raves from every critic worth paying attention to.
As for catalog titles, Criterion reissues Leonard Kastle’s The Honeymoon Killers, with a brand-spanking-new restoration and an updated set of features, and they get back in the Merchant-Ivory business with what’s still one of their best-known films, A Room with a View. Fans of the cult classic Forbidden Zone (these fans may or may not be decked out in hoods) should be pleased to know that it’s finally receiving a U.S. Blu-Ray release, containing both the black-and-white and color versions of the film. Those who don’t want to drop thirty-something dollars for a Blu-Ray of John Carpenter’s Christine will be pleased to know that Sony is releasing their own, nearly-identical, much-cheaper Blu-Ray of it this week. And if you’re region-free, I highly recommend BFI’s set of three Otto Preminger film noirs, each with a new commentary by master scholar Adrian Martin.
Aloft (Sony)
Avengers: Age of Ultron (Disney)
The Bear (25th Anniversary Collector’s Edition) (Shout Factory)
Christine (Sony)
The Connection (Drafthouse Films/Cinedigm)
Cop Car (Universal)
The Duke of Burgundy (Shout Factory)
Outlander: Season 1, Volume 2 (Sony)
Entourage (Warner Bros.)
Forbidden Zone (MVD/VSC)
Grimm: Season Four (Universal)
The Honeymoon Killers (Criterion)
Man with the Gun (Kino Lorber)
The Otto Preminger Film Noir Collection (Where the Sidewalk Ends/Fallen Angel/Whirlpool) (BFI, Region B-only)
Return to Sender (Image Entertainment)
Ride (Screen Media)
A Room with a View (Criterion)
Savage Weekend (Kino Lorber)
Sherrybaby (FilmRise)
Spy (Fox)
United (Screen Media)
The Wonderful Country (Kino Lorber)
Young Billy Young (Kino Lorber)