This Week in DVD and Instant Watching Part 1

The longest-running semi-continuous feature...on this blog skipped a few weeks, but there wasn't much going on in the DVD realm. There is a lot of streaming news, though, so much that I'll make a separate post of it if there is enough DVD news to warrant a full post. Uh, let me go check on that point.

Yep, there are some DVDs coming out this week! Let's get to it. I warn you in advance that I might get a little distracted since it's really not a marquee release time.

Runner Runner: Let this be a lesson to you, Ben Affleck: You can make prestigious movies and get folks on your side again, but as soon as you get involved with a movie that also stars Justin Timberlake, we're all gonna go ahead and ignore it.

Thanks for Sharing: I don't know about you folks, but I hear the combo of sex addiction and Gwyneth Paltrow, and I just get kind of creeped out.

Tiger Eyes: This is some kind of YA flick about a girl coping with a tragedy along with her mother. What stands out to me is that I think Amy Jo Johnson is the mother! The pink Power Ranger! Yep, I'm old.

Closed Circuit: On the surface, this movie did a lot of things right. It assembled a solid cast including Eric Bana, Rebecca Hall, and Jim Broadbent; it focused on a story combining intrigue with topical nods to terrorism, it didn't give a role to Justin Timberlake...yet I'll be dadgummed if I can remember this even existing. Jeez, what happened to Eric Bana, anyway?

Barney Miller Season 4: Shout Factory continues one of its latest reclamation projects, and this looks like a solid. affordable release that should be welcomed by fans. Notable in this season: The retirement of Fish and the "promotion" of Steve Landesberg's Arthur Dietrich to a regular.

China Beach Season 2: You can get the whole series for a bazillion dollars from Time-Life/Star Vist, or you can wait and collect the individual seasons as they hit the retail market. Or you can watch your old VHS copies of "Tour of Duty," really. Hell, it doesn't matter to me. I'm just sayin'. One thing that interests is that on the Time Life website, the songs are a huge part of the marketing of the series, like, almost as if it's a jukebox that happens to have storylines. I know they want to boast (rightfully so) about clearing so much of the vintage music the show featured, but, gee, it's not like this is "Shindig," is it?

The Following Season 1: Hey, did anyone get any cool DVDs for Christmas? I did. Years after the DVD market peaked, there's still cool stuff coming out and things I never got. I never seem to get more time to watch them, though.

Maverick Season 4: Cover boy Roger Moore joins (as Beau) as James Garner bows out. Poor Jack Kelly. At least he got to share the Season 2 cover. It's nice that Warner Archive is finally cranking these out, especially considering I read that Cozi, which just added it to its weekday lineup, is butchering it.

Duck Dynasty Season 4: You know, I admit I got myself a few Christmas presents on DVD this year, only I got them several months beforehand and just kind of sat on them for a while. Not a bad way to give yourself a little extra merriment for the season.