DISCussion: New on DVD and Blu-ray (12.3.2013)

Hugh Jackman is back as everyone's favorite X-Man and his second solo feature is our Recommendation of the Week. The Blu-ray release of The Wolverine comes with a number of documentaries and behind the scenes featurettes, including one for X-Men: Days of Future Past whilst the 3D Blu-ray has the extended edition of the movie. First Release - The Wolverine (DVD and Blu-ray) - The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones (DVD and Blu-ray) - The Smurfs 2 (DVD and Blu-ray) - The Hangover Trilogy (Blu-ray) Re-Release - Argo (2012) (DVD and Blu-ray) - The Jack Ryan Collection (DVD and Blu-ray) - Investigations of a Citizen Above Suspicion (1970) (Blu-ray) - Serpico (1973) (Blu-ray) - Frenzy (1972) (Blu-ray) - Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004) (Blu-ray) - Eurotrip (2004) (Blu-ray) - Terms of Endearment (Blu-ray) The Wolverine (DVD and Blu-ray) *Recommendation of the Week* Directed by James Mangold Written by Mark Bomback, Scott Frank (screenplay), Chris Claremont, Frank Miller (comic) Starring: Hugh Jackman, Tao Okamoto, Rila Fukushima, Hiroyuki Sanada, Sventlana Khodchenkova, Famke Janssen Following the disaster that was X-Men Origins: Wolverine the filmmakers involved wisely decided to ignore the most hated of X-Men movies and instead make the adaptation of the Japanese arc as a sequel to X-Men: The Last Stand. Darren Aronofsky and The Usual Suspects writer Christopher McQuarrie were involved before Walk the Line's James Mangold took over the project. Following the events of X-Men: The Last Stand Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) has been suffering grief and guilt after killing Jean Grey (Famke Janssen). Living alone in the Canadian wilderness an assassin, Yukio (Rila Fukushima) take Wolverine to Toyko where Yashida (Haruhiko Yamanouchi) a dying industrialist who he saved during the bombing of Nagasaki offers to take away his powers and make him mortal. But when Wolverine refuses his powers are taken anyway and he is forced to project Yashida's granddaughter, Mariko (Tao Okamoto) from the Yakuza, a clan of ninjas and a mutant scientist called the Viper (Sventlana Khodchenkova, Tinker Tailor Solider Spy). Critics Rating (Rotten Tomatoes): 68% (good) Metacritic Rating: 60/100 (good) Entertainment Fuse Score: 7.0/10 (read our review) DISC DETAILS DVD Special Features: Closed Caption; Inspiration: a ronin's journey Additional Blu-ray Special Features: The Wolverine second screen app; X-Men: Days of Future Past set tour; Design: mastering the arc; Execution: a killer team; Hugh Jackman: the man behind the mutant; Reflections: the evolution of Wolverine Amazon Price: $15.99 (DVD), $19.96 (Blu-ray), $29.99 (3D Blu-ray) The other major releases of the week include the fantasy movie The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones and The Hangover Trilogy. Whilst there are a range of comedies and thrillers being re-released. The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones (DVD and Blu-ray) Directed by Harald Zwart Written by Jessica Postigo Paquette (screenplay), Cassandra Clare (novel) Starring: Lily Collins, Jamie Campbell Bower, Robert Sheehan Cassandra Clare's The Mortal Instruments series is popular series fantasy novels and was a path of the influx of young adult film adaptations. Clary Fray (Lily Collins, Mirror Mirror) is a typical New York teenager who is thrown into an extraordinary world when she finds out she is a shadowhunter, a half-angel who fights demons and a part of the only force that protect us mere mortals. Soon Clary is thrown into a parallel world that features witches, warlocks, vampires and werewolves as Clary and a group of shadowhunters try and find the mortal cup before a shadowhunter turned evil can find it. My 13-year-old niece loves this film. Critics Rating (Rotten Tomatoes): 12% (awful) Metacritic Rating: 33/100 (poor) Entertainment Fuse Score: 6.0/10 (read our review) DISC DETAILS DVD Special Features: Bringing them to life - Filmmakers and Cast discuss the characters of The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones; Descendants of the Cup - A look at the stunts and the cast's transformation into Shadowhunters; Deleted scenes; Music video: "Almost Never Enough" by Ariana Grande ft. Nathan Sykes Additional Blu-ray Special Features: Interactive lineage tracker; Deadly attraction - Lily Collins & Jamie Campbell Bower on their roles as Clary Fray & Jace Wayland; Entering the shadow world - creating the extraordinary creatures of the shadow world; Into the shadows: from book to screen Amazon Price: $17.99 (DVD), $22.99 (Blu-ray) The Smurfs 2 (DVD and Blu-ray) Directed by Raja Gosnell Written by J. David Stem, David N. Weiss, Jay Scherick, David Ronin, Karey Kirkpatrick (screenplay), J. David Stern, David N. Weiss, Jay Scherick, David Ronn (story), Peyo (comics) Starring: Neil Patrick Harris, Brendan Gleeson, Jayma Mays, Katy Perry, Hank Azaria The Smurfs are out for a second live action outing with critically panned sequel as the evil Gargamel (Hank Azaria, The Simpsons) kidnaps Smurfette (Katy Perry) and convert her with the Naughties. It is up to the Smurfs and their human friends to save her. Critics Rating (Rotten Tomatoes): 14% (awful) Metacritic Rating: 34/100 (poor) DISC DETAILS DVD Special Features: Daddy's little girl: the journey of Smurfette; Animating Azrael; Deleted scenes Additional Blu-ray Special Features: Evolution of the naughties; The puurrfect companion: Azrael's tail; The naughties! the tale of Hackus and Vexy; Smurf-O-Vision 2 App: ; play Smurftastic activities with your favorite Smurfs and sync with your Blu-Ray to unlock more fun!; Includes The Smurfs mini-movie "The Legend Of Smurfy Hollow" Amazon Price: $17.96 (DVD), $22.96 (Blu-ray), $29.99 (3D Blu-ray) The Hangover Trilogy (Blu-ray) The Hangover (2009) Directed by Todd Phillips Written by Jon Lucas, Scott Moore Starring: Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, Zach Galifianakis, Heather Graham, Justin Bartha, Jeffrey Tambor The Hangover Part II (2011) Directed by Todd Phillips Written by Scot Armstrong, Craig Mazin, Todd Phillips (screenplay), Jon Lucas, Scott Moore (characters) Starring: Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, Zach Galifianakis, Ken Jeong, Jeffrey Tambor The Hangover Part III (2013) Directed by Todd Phillips Written by Todd Phillips, Craig Mazin (screenplay), Jon Lucas, Scott Moore (characters) Starring: Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, Zach Galifianakis, Ken Jeong, Heather Graham, Jeffrey Tambor, Justin Bartha, Jamie Chung, John Goodman The Hangover Trilogy is a highly successful trilogy that suffered from diminishing returns as we follow the Wolf-pack and their shenanigans in Las Vegas and Bangkok. The Hangover (2009) Critics Rating (Rotten Tomatoes: 79% (very good) Metacritic Rating: 73/100 (good) Entertainment Fuse Score: 7.6/10 The Hangover Part II (2011) Critics Rating (Rotten Tomatoes: 34% (bad) Metacritic Rating: 44/10 (poor) Entertainment Fuse Score: 3.7/10 (read our review) The Hangover Part III (2013) Critics Rating (Rotten Tomatoes: 19% (awful) Metacritic Rating: 30/100 (poor) Entertainment Fuse Score: 3.5/10 (read our review) DISC DETAILS DVD Special Features: Wolfpack Only: The Hangover Retrospective; The definitive outrageous story: including Zach's unlikely audition as "Alan," the truth behind Ed Helms' missing tooth, the casting of a drug-dealing monkey and the wildly improbable rendezvious with a former president. As revealing and hilarious as the movies themselves Amazon Price: $39.99 (Blu-ray) Argo (2012) (Blu-ray) Directed by Ben Affleck Written by Chris Terrio (screenplay), Antonio J. Mendez (book ‘The Master of Disguise’), Joshuah Bearman (article ‘The Great Escape’) Starring: Ben Affleck, Bryan Cranston, Alan Arkin, John Goodman Argo has been a critical and box office hit and dominated the 2012 awards scene. It has won the Best Film and Best Director awards at the Golden Globes and BAFTA and is nominated for seven Oscars. But somehow Ben Affleck was not nominated for the Best Director award at the Oscars. The year is 1979 and the Iranian Hostage Crisis has started with Iranian students overtaking the American embassy in Tehran. Six American embassy staff escape to the Canadian Ambassador’s (Victor Garber, Alias) home. As the CIA explore their options to get them out of the hostile nation they discover that usual cover stories are not viable options. One officer, Tony Mendez (Affleck) comes up with an extraordinary idea, pretend the Americans are all members of a Canadian film crew for a sci-fi movie. However, to make the cover work he has to go through the whole pre-production process. Critics Rating (Rotten Tomatoes): 96% (excellent) Metacritic Rating: 86/100 (excellent) Entertainment Fuse Score: 8.9/10 (read our review) DISC DETAILS DVD Special Features: 64-page behind-the-scenes photo book; 14"x20" map with notes on scenes from the film; 14"x20" mini poster; Theatrical version and extended edition; Replica ID badge prop; ; Argo declassified: learn the story behind the CIA's decision to publicly honor Tony Mendez and his daring operation for its 50th anniversary celebration; Ben Affleck's balancing act: see how the filmmaking team managed to combine drama, comedy and suspense while dividing the story between locales as diverse as Hollywood, Iran and Washington D.C.; Argo "@$*%" yourself: enjoy an all-star mashup of Argo's classic line; ; Also includes: ; A discussion with the cast of Amazon Price: $36.49 (Blu-ray) The Jack Ryan Collection (DVD and Blu-ray) The Hunt for Red October (1990) Directed by John McTiernan Written by Larry Ferguson, Donald E. Stewart (screenplay) Tom Clancy (novel) Starring: Sean Connery, Alec Baldwin, Scott Glenn, James Earl Jones, Sam Neill Patriot Games (1992) Directed by Phillip Noyce Written by W. Peter Iliff, Donald E. Stewart, Steven Zaillian (screenplay), Tom Clancy (novel) Starring: Harrison Ford, Anne Archer, Patrick Bergin, Sean Bean, Thora Birch, James Earl Jones, Richard Harris Clear and Present Danger (1994) Directed by Phillip Noyce Written by Donald E. Stewart, Steven Zaillian, John Millius (screenplay), Tom Clancy (novel) Starring: Harrison Ford, Willem Dafoe, Miguel Sandoval, Belita Moreno, Joaquim de Almeida, James Earl Jones The Sum of All Fears (2002) Directed by Phil Alden Robinson Written by Paul Attansio, Daniel Pyne (screenplay), Tom Clancy (novel) Starring: Ben Affleck, Morgan Freeman, James Cromwell, Liev Schreiber, Bridget Moynahan, Ciarán Hinds Tom Clancy has recently passed away and his famous Jack Ryan character is able to have a reboot. Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit is set to hit theaters in January now is a good time to catch up on the series as well watch CIA analyst Jack Ryan help a Soviet Submarine Captain defect to the United States, battle an ultra-left splinter group of the IRA, the Columbian Drug Cartels and a neo-Nazi group who want to start World War III. The Hunt for Red October (1990) Critics Rating (Rotten Tomatoes): 95% (excellent) Metacritic Rating: 58/100 (average) Entertainment Fuse Score: 7.5/10 Patriot Games (1992) Critics Rating (Rotten Tomatoes): 74% (good) Entertainment Fuse Score: 7.8/10 Clear and Present Danger (1994) Critics Rating (Rotten Tomatoes): 82% (very good) Metacritic Rating: 74/100 (good) Entertainment Fuse Score: 7.8/10 The Sum of All Fears (2002) Critics Rating (Rotten Tomatoes): 59% (average) Metacritic Rating: 45/100 (average) Entertainment Fuse Score: 7.5/10 DISC DETAILS Amazon Price: $34.99 (Blu-ray) Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion (1970) (Blu-ray) Directed by Elio Petri Written by Elio Petri, Ugo Pirro Starring: Gian Maria Volonté, Florinda Bolkan From the Criterion Collection this week is the Italian crime drama Investigation of a Citizen About Suspicion. Gian Maria Volonté plays a police inspector who murders his mistress and deliberately leaves clues to test his police force. Critics Rating (Rotten Tomatoes): 100% (excellent) Metacritic Rating: 93/100 (excellent) DISC DETAILS DVD Special Features: New 4K digital restoration by the Film Foundation, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray; Archival interview with director Elio Petri, conducted by critic and filmmaker Alexandre Astruc; Elio Petri: Notes About a Filmmaker (2005), a ninety-minute documentary on the director’s career, featuring interviews with friends, collaborators, and filmmakers; New interview with film scholar Camilla Zamboni; Investigation of a Citizen Named Volonté (2008), a fifty-minute documentary about actor Gian Maria Volonté; Music in His Blood, an interview with composer Ennio Morricone from 2010, conducted by film critic Fabio Ferzetti; Trailers; New English subtitle translation; One Blu-ray and two DVDs, with all content available in both formats; PLUS: A booklet featuring an essay by film scholar Evan Calder Williams and excerpts from a 2001 book by author and screenwriter Ugo Pirro Amazon Price: $34.99 (Blu-ray) Serpico (1973) (DVD and Blu-ray) Directed by Sidney Lumet Written by Waldo Salt, Norman Wexler (screenplay), Peter Maas (book) Starring: Al Pacino Serpico is based on the true story of Frank Serpico, an honest NYPD officer who has to turns whistleblower, exposing the extend of corruption in New York's police in the late 60s and early 70s. Critics Rating (Rotten Tomatoes): 90% (excellent) Metacritic Rating: 87/100 (excellent) Entertainment Fuse Score: 7.5/10 DISC DETAILS DVD Special Features: Serpico: from real to reel; Inside Serpico; Serpico: favorite moments; Photo gallery with commentary by Sidney Lumet; Theatrical trailer Amazon Price: $14.99 (Blu-ray) Frenzy (1972) (Blu-ray) Directed by Alfred Hitchcock Written by Anthony Shaffer (screenplay), Arthur La Bern (novel 'Goodbye Piccadilly, Farewell Leicester Square') Starring: Jon Finch, Alec McCowen, Barry Foster Frenzy was Alfred Hitchcock's penultimate movie before his death and his big release to the British film industry after a 22-year absence. The streets of London are being plagued by the Neck-tie Killer, a serial rapist/murderer who strangles women with neckties. Richard Blaney (Jon Finch) is a barman with anger issues is wrongly suspected of being the killer after his ex-wife is murdered. Critics Rating (Rotten Tomatoes): 87% (excellent) Entertainment Fuse Score: 8.0/10 DISC DETAILS Amazon Price: $16.99 (Blu-ray) Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004) (Blu-ray) Directed by Adam McKay Written by Will Ferrell, Adam McKay Starring: Will Ferrell, Christina Applegate, Paul Rudd, Steve Carell, David Koechner, Fred Willard Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues is set to hit theaters soon, so the original movies is being released onto Blu-ray as we see a mid-70s news team in San Diego led by Ron Burgundy (Will Ferrell) face their greatest challenge to their macro world, a smart and ambitious woman. Critics Rating (Rotten Tomatoes): 66% (good) Metacritic Rating: 63/100 (good) Entertainment Fuse Score: 7.6/10 DISC DETAILS DVD Special Features: 36 Deleted and Extended Scenes; Ron’s personal 32-page diary - “The Many Months of Burgundy”; Set of 12 Trading Cards Amazon Price: $16.98 (Blu-ray) Eurotrip (2004) (Blu-ray) Directed by Jeff Schaffer Written by Jeff Schaffer, Alec Berg, David Mandel Starring: Scott Mechlowicz, Jacob Pitts, Michelle Trachtenberg, Travis Wester, Jessica Boehrs The other comedy of the week is Eurotrip, a teen comedy who follows two American High School graduates, Scott (Scott Mechlowicz) and Cooper (Jacob Pitts) who go to Europe to find Scott's German penpal after he is dumped by his girlfriend. Critics Rating (Rotten Tomatoes): 46% (average) Metacritic Rating: 45/100 (average) Entertainment Fuse Score: 7.2/10 DISC DETAILS DVD Special Features:  Filmmakers' commentary by Alec Berg, Jeff Schaffer and David Mandel; Deleted scenes with optional commentary; Alternate ending with optional commentary; Scotty Doesn't Know sing-along; Scotty Doesn't Know music video; Theatrical trailer; Gag reel Amazon Price: $14.99 (Blu-ray) Terms of Endearment (1983) (Blu-ray) Directed by James L. Brooks Written by James L. Brooks (screenplay), Larry McMurtry (novel) Starring: Shirley MacLaine, Debra Winger, Jack Nicholson, Danny DeVito, Jeff Daniels, John Lithgoq Last but certainly not least is the comedy-drama Terms of Endearment, a movie that earned 11 Oscar nominations and won the awards for Best Director, Best Picture, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actress and Best Adapted Screenplay. Based on a novel by Larry McMurtry Terms of Endearment follows the relationship between Aurora Greenway (Shirley MacLaine) and her daughter Emma (Debra Winger) over a 30 year period. Critics Rating (Rotten Tomatoes): 87% (excellent) Metacritic Rating: 79/100 (very good) DISC DETAILS Amazon Price: $16.98 (Blu-ray)