This Week in DVD and Instant Watching: Part 1 (The Discs)

Last week's marathon 3-parter left me a bit drained, but the presence of blockbusters like 47 Ronin energizes me! Let's do this, folks!

47 Ronin: Ah, no, I can't start with it. Save it for later.

Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues: Hopefully this under-the-radar sleeper gets a little promotion and can find an audience on home video.

The Bag Man: How bad can a crime flick be when it has John Cusack and Bobby De Niro? Has to be worth a shot, right?

The Little Rascals Save the Day: I had no idea they were doing a new Little Rascals movie. Probably a good thing. I like this line from an Amazon customer review:

Great for your kids to get off the computer or tablet to sit and watch a nice family movie with you.

"Hey, kids, I'm tired of you sitting around all day communicating with people on that thing! Come over here and stare at the television with me!"

The Pirate Fairy: I saw the title and smirked. Then I saw Christina Hendricks in the cast list, and I got a certain mental image and figured, "Well, it wouldn't hurt to see what it's about!" Then I saw it was a cartoon and was disappointed. Then I saw it was a Disney Fairies movie and realized, hey, my daughter might like it. What a roller coaster of emotion. If only the film itself can be so stimulating...

47 Ronin: OK, everyone knows this is a colossal bomb. I don't feel like dumping on Keanu Reeves, though. Is it his fault someone thought it would be a good idea to sink hundreds of millions on this? Keanu seems to mind his own business, and he's not hurting me any, so I am not gonna rip him. Do I want to see "47 Ronin"? Hell, no.

T.J. Hooker Seasons 1 and 2: You mean, Mill Creek is re-releasing the first two seasons in one package with a suggested retail price of 15 bucks? Is this some kind of cruel April Fool's joke? No, it's the truth!

Ultimate Warrior: WWE buried the guy in a previous documentary release titled "The Self-Destruction of the Ultimate Warrior." Now he's back in the fold long enough to accept a Hall of Fame induction and maybe make the company a few bucks, so here's a newer, presumably more "balanced" version of the story. That's showbiz!

Warner Archive brings us:

The Class: At first I thought this was the old Fox show Class of '96, which featured Kari Wuhrer. Remember that series? I do. I really liked Kari Wuhrer.

This is a short-lived sitcom from "Friends" co-producer David Crane, featuring a now-more-interesting-than-it-appeared-then cast of names like Jesse Tyler Ferguson (Modern Family), Jon Bernthal (The Walking Dead), and Lizzy Caplan (Masters of Sex). Here I'd like to remind fans of series like 77 Sunset Strip that the Archive is working on many different series, many of which have clearance or elements issues that are delaying their release, so don't put your foot through your computer just because they are issuing a failed 8-year-old show instead of one of those classics.

The Last Mrs. Cheyney: This is the Norma Shearer version of--wait, this movie just came out a few weeks ago, and it had Joan Crawford and William Powell. You mean to tell me...TWO movies with the same name? What manner of sorcery is this?

Her Cardboard Lover: Shearer's last role was this 1942 George Cukor feature, a romantic comedy way ahead of its time. In it, Shearer strikes up a bizarre romance with a cardboard cutout of Robert Taylor her daughter buys at Hot Topic.

Streaming news comes tomorrow!