DVD / Blu-ray New Releases: November 5, 2013: WHITE HOUSE DOWN

Hobbit favorite Bilbo Baggins travels with a band of dwarves from the Lonely Mountain on a journey to reclaim the treasure stolen by the dragon Smaug in The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. This extended director’s cut increases the running time from 169 minutes to a whopping 183 minutes adding in deleted and other expository scenes. Based upon the book The Hobbit, author Tolkien’s appendices, and additional writings by Guillermo del Toro and Philippa Boyens, and Fran Walsh, the story of their travels is told in a series of flashbacks (some nested within others) of a younger Bilbo Baggins entreatied by Gandalf the Grey into joining a group of dwarves to reclaim their kingdom’s right. We watch Bilbo blossom into a leader as we pass through all the lush, fascinating, and diverse kingdoms of Middle Earth. The extended edition of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey is available as a multiformat (BD+DVD+UV), and a 5-disc DVD set (DVD+UV).

White House Down delivers on the promises of summer action blockbusters while providing eye candy to boot. A young police officer (Channing Tatum) with ambitions of joining the Secret Service finds himself in the unique position of body man for the President of the United States Jamie Foxx) after a heavily armed terrorist group attempts to take the White House and kidnap the president for their own financial and political means. Jamie Foxx turns in a credible performance as the POTUS while Channing Tatum injects a human element into his otherwise beefcake performance as a single father trying to reconnect with and provide a better life for his estranged daughter. White House Down is available as a Blu-ray combo pack (BD+DVD+UV) or a single-disc DVD.

November 22, 1963 will be etched forever into the American consciousness. Parkland attempts to recount the chaos, sadness, and shock of that day through the perspectives of observers often overlooked in traditional historical retellings of the events of President John F. Kennedy’s assassination. The (fictional) film follows Lee Harvey Oswald’s brother as he attempts to piece his family and life back together, doctors and nurses in the Dallas Parkland hospital, the cameraman who captured the most famous most watched minutes in film history, FBI agents on the case, JFK’s security team, and the Dallas head of the Secret Service. All these stories are interwoven to convey the unprecedented feelings of a nation and to perhaps shed some new light on that fateful day. Parkland is available as a Blu-ray+DVD combo and as a single disc DVD.

In Brian DePalma‘s Passion, two women jockey for position in their corporate and private lives with deadly consequences. Christine (Rachel McAdams), Isabelle’s (Noomie Rapace) boss at a posh Berlin ad agency, ruins their close friendship and possible budding romance by stealing credit for Isabelle’s pitch to an advertising client. To make amends, Christine showers her with gifts and a trip to London which has the unintended consequences of beginning an affair between Isabelle and Christine’s lover Dirk (Paul Anderson). Thus begins a game of cat and mouse involving intense manipulation, corporate embezzlement, kinky sex games, and murder. Passion is light on extras, offering only the theatrical trailer and interviews with the two female stars and the director.

The corporate comedy Syrup takes a lighter, sweeter take on corporate machinations, trust, and greed. A young marketing graduate, Scat, thinks up a potentially lucrative idea but must convince his beautiful company boss, 6, it’s worth the effort and trust her to back him. He soon learns trust is secondary to image and success in that business as he struggles to get both the girl and the goods.

Other notable releases today include:

Jimi Hendrix: Hear My Train A Comin’

Mad Men: Season Six

Dr. Who Series 1-7 (Limited Edition)

Lovelace

Girl Most Likely

Renoir

Game of Thrones Seasons 1-2 Pack with 3 Exclusive Funko Pop Vinyls

The Best Years of Our Lives

Grown Ups 2

Yes: Close to the Edge

A Christmas Story 30^th Anniversary Edition

Winnie the Pooh: A Very Merry Pooh

Scrooged 25^th Anniversary Edition

Surviving Christmas (Blu-ray)

Mickey’s Christmas Carol 30^th Anniversary Edition

The Bishop’s Wife (1947) (Blu-ray)

Elf 10^th Anniversary Edition (Steelbook)

Clear History

Magic City: The Complete Second Season

Weeds: The Complete Collection (Limited Edition)

Dexter: The Complete Series 1-8 Collection

Farscape the Complete Series (Blu-ray)

Twilight Forever: The Complete Saga

The Right Stuff 30^th Anniversary Edition

East of Eden (Digibook)

Giant (Digibook)

Rebel Without A Cause (Digibook)

James Dean Ultimate Collector’s Edition

Under the Dome (Limited Collector’s Edition)

The Three Faces of Eve (Blu-ray)

The Best Man (Blu-ray)

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