A wide array of TV shows and movies have been released on video this week, led by the vintage Carol Burnett Show.
The Best of the Carol Burnett Show: 50th Anniversary Edition (Time Life, 1967-78, six discs, 17 episodes, featurettes, bloopers). Guest stars galore, Burnetts famous Tarzan yells and lots of laughs are contained in 12 complete, never-before-released episodes, plus four that are considered classics and the shows two-hour finale. Featuring Harvey Korman, Vicki Lawrence and Tim Conway.
When Calls the Heart: Year Four: The Television Movie Collection (Shout!, 2017, six discs, six episodes, featurette). These are feature-length episodes of the gentle Canadian series about life in early 20th century Hope Valley, featuring Erin Krakow, Daniel Lissing, Jack Wagner and Lori Loughlin. (A new Christmas episode will air in December, and season five will begin in February 2018 on the Hallmark Channel.)
Churchill (Cohen, 2017, PG, featurette, trailer). Brian Cox gives a powerhouse performance as Winston Churchill in the days leading up to the Allied invasion of Normandy, which was a pivotal moment in World War II. Also featured are Miranda Richardson as Churchill's wife and John Slattery as Dwight Eisenhower.
A Ghost Story (Lionsgate, 2017, R for language and violent imagery, deleted scene, audio commentary, featurettes). This soft-R-rated supernatural tale is about a man (Casey Affleck) who dies, returns as a ghost wearing a sheet and spends years observing his grieving widow (Rooney Mara) until she moves away, and then he watches others who move in. This quirky, artsy piece is engaging, though nearly wordless, and definitely a matter of taste.
The Son: The Complete First Season (Anchor Bay, 2017, three discs, 10 episodes, deleted scenes). A grizzled Pierce Brosnan stars in this epic western series about a Texas oil baron, with episodes jostling between 1849 and 1915. (Season two will be shown on AMC next spring.)
2 Broke Girls: The Complete Sixth & Final Season (Warner, 2016-17, two discs, 22 episodes, deleted scenes, bloopers). Cupcake queens Kat Dennings and Beth Behrs bid their dirty-joke sitcom farewell.
AHS: Roanoke (Fox, 2016, three discs, 10 episodes). This sixth season of American Horror Story is a faux paranormal documentary series about a haunted house in North Carolina starring Kathy Bates, Sarah Paulson and Cuba Gooding Jr. (Season seven, Cult, is now showing on FX.)
Vikings: Season 4, Volume 2 (MGM, 2017, three discs, 10 episodes, deleted scenes, audio commentaries, featurettes). Special effects highlight this second half of Season 4 as Ragnar battles the Saxons. (Season five begins Nov. 29 on the History Channel.)
Timeless: Season One (Sony, 2016-17, four discs, 16 episodes, deleted scenes, bloopers). A professor, a soldier and a scientist pursue a time-traveling criminal through the past to prevent him from altering history. (An abbreviated season two will be shown next year on NBC.)
iZombie: The Complete Third Season (Warner, 2017, three discs, 13 episodes, deleted scenes, featurette). Theres a secret zombie army living in Seattle. That explains a few things. Liv (Rose McIver) and friends investigate in this comic-horror series. (Season four will be shown next year on The CW.)
Loch Ness: Series 1 (aka The Loch, Acorn, 2017, two discs, six episodes, featurettes, photo gallery). In Scotland, a small-town police detective (Laura Fraser) investigates a body found at the bottom of a cliff, and then more bodies turn up. (No word yet on a second season.)
Legend of Bruce Lee: Volume Three (Well Go, 2008, three discs, 10 episodes). Danny Chan returns as Bruce Lee in this final set, which focuses on the ill-fated martial arts stars time in Hollywood.
The Book of Henry (Universal, 2017, PG-13, featurettes). Naomi Watts is a single working mother whose genius 11-year-old son is running the household when he observes that child molestation is going on next door. What happens next is one of those bizarre, twisted, are-you-kidding? stories that will make you wonder what the filmmakers were thinking.
The Best of the Carol Burnett Show: 50th Anniversary Edition (Time Life, 1967-78, six discs, 17 episodes, featurettes, bloopers). Guest stars galore, Burnetts famous Tarzan yells and lots of laughs are contained in 12 complete, never-before-released episodes, plus four that are considered classics and the shows two-hour finale. Featuring Harvey Korman, Vicki Lawrence and Tim Conway.
When Calls the Heart: Year Four: The Television Movie Collection (Shout!, 2017, six discs, six episodes, featurette). These are feature-length episodes of the gentle Canadian series about life in early 20th century Hope Valley, featuring Erin Krakow, Daniel Lissing, Jack Wagner and Lori Loughlin. (A new Christmas episode will air in December, and season five will begin in February 2018 on the Hallmark Channel.)
Churchill (Cohen, 2017, PG, featurette, trailer). Brian Cox gives a powerhouse performance as Winston Churchill in the days leading up to the Allied invasion of Normandy, which was a pivotal moment in World War II. Also featured are Miranda Richardson as Churchill's wife and John Slattery as Dwight Eisenhower.
A Ghost Story (Lionsgate, 2017, R for language and violent imagery, deleted scene, audio commentary, featurettes). This soft-R-rated supernatural tale is about a man (Casey Affleck) who dies, returns as a ghost wearing a sheet and spends years observing his grieving widow (Rooney Mara) until she moves away, and then he watches others who move in. This quirky, artsy piece is engaging, though nearly wordless, and definitely a matter of taste.
The Son: The Complete First Season (Anchor Bay, 2017, three discs, 10 episodes, deleted scenes). A grizzled Pierce Brosnan stars in this epic western series about a Texas oil baron, with episodes jostling between 1849 and 1915. (Season two will be shown on AMC next spring.)
2 Broke Girls: The Complete Sixth & Final Season (Warner, 2016-17, two discs, 22 episodes, deleted scenes, bloopers). Cupcake queens Kat Dennings and Beth Behrs bid their dirty-joke sitcom farewell.
AHS: Roanoke (Fox, 2016, three discs, 10 episodes). This sixth season of American Horror Story is a faux paranormal documentary series about a haunted house in North Carolina starring Kathy Bates, Sarah Paulson and Cuba Gooding Jr. (Season seven, Cult, is now showing on FX.)
Vikings: Season 4, Volume 2 (MGM, 2017, three discs, 10 episodes, deleted scenes, audio commentaries, featurettes). Special effects highlight this second half of Season 4 as Ragnar battles the Saxons. (Season five begins Nov. 29 on the History Channel.)
Timeless: Season One (Sony, 2016-17, four discs, 16 episodes, deleted scenes, bloopers). A professor, a soldier and a scientist pursue a time-traveling criminal through the past to prevent him from altering history. (An abbreviated season two will be shown next year on NBC.)
iZombie: The Complete Third Season (Warner, 2017, three discs, 13 episodes, deleted scenes, featurette). Theres a secret zombie army living in Seattle. That explains a few things. Liv (Rose McIver) and friends investigate in this comic-horror series. (Season four will be shown next year on The CW.)
Loch Ness: Series 1 (aka The Loch, Acorn, 2017, two discs, six episodes, featurettes, photo gallery). In Scotland, a small-town police detective (Laura Fraser) investigates a body found at the bottom of a cliff, and then more bodies turn up. (No word yet on a second season.)
Legend of Bruce Lee: Volume Three (Well Go, 2008, three discs, 10 episodes). Danny Chan returns as Bruce Lee in this final set, which focuses on the ill-fated martial arts stars time in Hollywood.
The Book of Henry (Universal, 2017, PG-13, featurettes). Naomi Watts is a single working mother whose genius 11-year-old son is running the household when he observes that child molestation is going on next door. What happens next is one of those bizarre, twisted, are-you-kidding? stories that will make you wonder what the filmmakers were thinking.
