This Week in Blu-ray / DVD Releases: Maggie, House of Cards, The Jinx

July 7th 2015, 12:46am

Last Updated on August 2, 2021

This Week: An undead downer with Arny, meeting the new prez in House of Cards, and the crazy true crimes of The Jinx.

► Arnold Schwarzenegger does some honest-to-God emoting in Henry Hobson’s MAGGIE, and it’s not nearly as awkward as you’d think. That’s because this thoughtful, subtly scary flick puts him to perfect use as a beaten-down dad whose daughter (Abigail Breslin) is slowly turning into a…well, zombie, though no one uses that word. She was bitten by someone infected, and has a few weeks before she turns. You could substitute her condition with cancer, AIDS, or any other dreaded disease, and the film would strike the same, sad notes. It’s a movie about a dad and his daughter saying goodbye to each other – depressing as hell, but deftly handled. Don’t make the mistake of thinking it’s a horror film, however. It has some eerie moments, including the creepiest zombie kid I’ve ever seen, but this leans closer to a grim tearjerker. Certainly the best thing Arny has done since leaving office.

► The Underwoods move into the White House for Season 3 of HOUSE OF CARDS, which just means Frank’s problems are presidential size now. His party is starting to doubt him, the press is against him, and worst of all his marriage is starting to splinter. Watching Kevin Spacey and Robin Wright square off is both the highlight and reason for so many complaints during this divisive season.

► Simon Pegg goes bad guy in the black comedy KILL ME THREE TIMES, playing a hit man hired to knock off the wife of a rich hotel guru. Problem is, once he goes to do the deed he realizes he wasn’t the only one hired for the job. We then get flashbacks to show how, exactly, everyone ended up here. Feels like something from the mid ‘90s, when everyone thought they could out-Tarantino each other.

► Ever since that final jaw-dropping episode of HBO’s documentary mini-series THE JINX, I’ve been waiting to hear it was a bunch of staged bullshit. But nope – it happened, and it appears it will be enough to be put nutty millionaire killer Robert Dirst away for good. After seeing the 2010 movie All Good Things, inspired by Durst’s sordid life as the son of a real estate tycoon accused of killing his wife, Durst contacted director Andrew Jarecki to set the record straight. Only, he never knew when to shut up. And as Jarecki gathered evidence of other murders he was linked to, Durst kept digging his hole, culminating in his arrest the day before the final episode aired. Despite the ’crime series’ approach to the material, this is fascinating stuff and creepy as hell. You’ll likely watch all six episodes in one gulp.

► ‘The Simpsons’ gets most of the credit for putting Fox on the map, but I beg to differ. It was MARRIED…WITH CHILDREN in the late ‘80s which first brought attention to the fledgling network with the sort of crass, raunchy sitcom network TV had never seen before. Despite so-so ratings, it was a buzz show which gave Fox its first real audience. Nearly 30 years later, the show is like a crude museum piece, but believe me, back then this sitcom about an obnoxious shoe salesman (Ed O’Neil), his grating wife (Katey Sagal) and their two idiot kids (Christina Applegate and David Faustino) was alternative TV. Mill Creek Entertainment’s fat-ass boxed set includes all 262 episodes from the 11-season run. And yes, this includes the original theme song.

► The Oscar-bait true story WOMAN IN GOLD has Helen Mirren as an elderly Jewish woman in L.A. who seeks to reclaim an iconic painting of her aunt confiscated by the Nazis in Vienna. But when the Austrian government doesn’t want to hand it over, her lawyer (Ryan Reynolds) files a claim which goes to the Supreme Court. Tatiana Maslany, Katie Holmes and Charles Dance co-star.

► Based on Kelley Armstrong’s ‘Women of the Otherworld’ series, the Canadian-made series BITTEN has Laura Vandervoort as a female werewolf splitting time between her boyfriend in Toronto, and her wolfey duties in upstate New York. For Season 2, she and her pack team up with a coven of witches (who always show up in shows like this) to take on the latest threat to the Otherworld. On Space (Canada’s version of SyFy), this is the network’s top-rated original series.

► Criterion throws together two versions of Ernest Hemingway’s short story THE KILLERS, about two hit men paid handsomely for an easy job, who then dig into the past of the man they just killed. The 1946 version, directed by Robert Siodmak, was Burt Lancaster’s movie debut, while Don Siegel’s 1964 version was originally supposed to be the very first made-for-TV movie, but NBC thought it was too violent. It was Ronald Reagan’s last movie before entering politics, and the first in which he played a villain (he regretted it later, not happy with having to slap around Angie Dickinson). Blu-ray has digital restorations of both versions and plenty of Hemingway-related extras.

Also out this week: