Tuesday is July 4, which of course is the day the United States of America celebrates its independence. We shoot fireworks. We grill hamburgers. Lots of us get the day off. Except for retail and restaurants, those places stay open. Because nothing celebrates our independence like buying a bunch of crap and eating out. Apparently in all that shopping, we don’t buy a lot of DVDs and Blu-rays. Or at least that’s the conclusion I’m drawing from this week’s new releases. There aren’t very many. But I still managed to find a Pick of the Week.
Tintin is a comic book character created by the Belgian artist Hergé in 1929. He starred in a series of comic books through the 1930s and has since been adapted countless times for radio, the stage, novels, games, television, and movies. We’re big fans of the stories in my house and I’m always excited when there are new adaptations to enjoy.
Kino Lorber is releasing two Tintin adaptations this week (Tintin and the Golden Fleece and Tintin and the Blue Oranges) on one Blu-ray. Both are live-action French films from the early 1960s. Neither are based upon any of the original comics, but are original stories. From the still images and the reviews I’ve seen, they did a wonderful job of creating the look of the comics within a live-action setting. That’s enough for me to get excited about these films, and to make them this week’s pick.
Also, out this week that looks interesting:
Fighting Back (Arrow Video): Tom Skerritt stars in this Death Wish knockoff as a Philadelphia deli owner who fights back against neighborhood crime.
And that’s pretty much it. The Truman Show and Jaws 2 are both getting 4K UHD releases but neither has anything new to add in the extras department, but if you want the upgrade you can have it.
