DVD/Blu-ray for Week of January 31st

It’s a strong week of DVD/Blu-ray releases – after over a month of just one or two good offerings each week. Drive, The Thing, and In Time are all well worth considering with Drive being the standout as far as critical success goes.

Drive (Buy at Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray)
Ryan Gosling stars as a Los Angeles wheelman for hire, stunt driving for movie productions by day and steering getaway vehicles for armed heists by night. Though a loner by nature, Driver can’t help falling in love with his beautiful neighbor Irene (Carey Mulligan), a vulnerable young mother dragged into a dangerous underworld by the return of her ex-convict husband Standard (Oscar Isaac). After a heist intended to pay off Standard’s protection money spins unpredictably out of control, Driver finds himself driving defense for the girl he loves, tailgated by a syndicate of deadly serious criminals. But when he realizes that the gangsters are after more than the bag of cash in his trunk-that they’re coming straight for Irene and her son-Driver is forced to shift gears and go on offense.

The Thing (Buy at Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray/DVD combo)
Paleontologist Kate Lloyd (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) has traveled to the desolate region for the expedition of her lifetime. Joining a Norwegian scientific team that has stumbled across an extraterrestrial ship buried in the ice, she discovers an organism that seems to have died in the crash eons ago. But it is about to wake up. When a simple experiment frees the alien from its frozen prison, Kate must join the crew’s pilot, Carter (Joel Edgerton), to keep it from killing them off one at a time. And in this vast, intense land, a parasite that can mimic anything it touches will pit human against human as it tries to survive and flourish. The Thing serves as a prelude to John Carpenter’s classic 1982 film of the same name.

In Time (Buy at Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray)
When Will Salas is falsely accused of murder, he must figure out a way to bring down a system where time is money – literally – enabling the wealthy to live forever while the poor, like Will, have to beg, borrow, and steal enough minutes to make it through another day.

Treasure Buddies (Buy at Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray/DVD combo)
Everyone’s favorite canine film series continues with this installment following five chatty pups as they venture to Egypt in search of a mythical jewel that was once the treasure of Cleocatra’s collection. Upon learning that the famed Cat’s Eye jewel is hidden somewhere in Egypt, Rosebud, Budderball, B-Dawg, Mudbud, and Buddha set out on the adventure of a lifetime. But they’re not the only ones racing to procure the Cat’s Eye, because a treacherous feline named Ubasti seeks to harness the gemstone’s power to gain the ultimate advantage in the eternal war between cats and dogs. Perhaps with a little help from a friendly camel named Cammy and an artful orangutan named Babi, our four-legged heroes can track down the Cat’s Eye first, and prevent a true catastrophe from disturbing the balance in the animal kingdom.

The Big Year (Buy at Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray)
Steve Martin, Jack Black and Owen Wilson are at a crossroads — one is experiencing a mid-life crisis, another a late-life crisis, and the third, a far from ordinary no-life crisis. From David Frankel, the director of The Devil Wears Prada and Marley & Me, comes a sophisticated comedy about three friendly rivals who, tired of being ruled by obligations and responsibilities, dedicate a year of their lives to following their dreams. Their big year takes them on a cross-country journey of wild and life-changing adventures.

The Double (Buy at Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray)
In The Double, the mysterious murder of a US senator bearing the distinctive trademark of the legendary Soviet assassin “Cassius,” forces Paul Shepherdson (Richard Gere), a retired CIA operative, to team with rookie FBI agent, Ben Geary (Topher Grace), to solve the crime. Having spent his career chasing Cassius, Shepherdson is convinced his nemesis is long dead, but is pushed to take on the case by his former supervisor, Tom Highland (Martin Sheen). Meanwhile, Agent Geary, who wrote his Master’s thesis on Shepherdson’s pursuit of the Soviet killer, is certain that Cassius has resurfaced. As Shepherdson and Geary work their way through crimes both past and present, they discover that Cassius may not be the person they always thought him to be, forcing both to re-examine everything and everyone around them.

Dream House (Buy at Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray)
Successful publisher Will Atenton (Daniel Craig) quit a job in New York City to relocate his wife, Libby (Rachel Weisz), and two girls to a quaint New England town. But as they settle into their new life, they discover their perfect home was the murder scene of a mother and her children. And the entire city believes it was at the hands of the husband who survived. When Will investigates the tragedy, his only lead comes from Ann Paterson (Naomi Watts), a neighbor who was close to the family that died. As Will and Ann piece together the disturbing puzzle, they discover that the story of the last man to leave Will’s dream house will be just as horrifying to the one who came next.

Transformers: Dark of the Moon (Buy at Amazon: Blu-ray 3D/Blu-ray/DVD Combo)
*Previously released on regular Blu-ray/DVD combo.* Shia LaBeouf returns as Sam Witwicky in Transformers: Dark of the Moon. When a mysterious event from Earth’s past erupts into the present day it threatens to bring a war to Earth so big that the Transformers alone will not be able to save us.

Transformers: Collector’s Trilogy Boxed Set (Buy at Amazon: Blu-ray/Blu-ray 3D/DVD)
Includes all three Transformers movies on DVD and Blu-ray and Transformers: Dark of the Moon on Blu-ray 3D. Loaded with over 10 hours of bonus features and packaged in exclusive trophy display packaging . Features a movie plaque signed by director Michael Bay with images from all three films. Limited quantity.