New DVD and Blu-ray Releases — December 2013
Looking for stocking stuffers or last minute gift ideas this holiday season? Or maybe you're just looking to splurge on a gift for yourself -- there's no shame in that! There's plenty of great movies heading to DVD and Blu-ray this December, ranging from huge hits to indie favorites and everything in between. Read on for our guide what's headed to home media this month!
December 3
'The Wolverine' -- Directed by James Mangold. Starring Hugh Jackman, Hiroyuki Sanada, and Rila Fukushima. When Wolverine is summoned to Japan by an old acquaintance, he is embroiled in a conflict that forces him to confront his own demons.
'The Smurfs 2' -- Directed by Raja Gosnell. Starring Neil Patrick Harris, Jayma Mays, and Katy Perry. The Smurfs team up with their human friends to rescue Smurfette, who has been kidnapped by Gargamel since she knows a secret spell that can turn the evil sorcerer's newest creation - creatures called the Naughties - into real Smurfs.
'The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones' -- Directed by Harald Zwart. Starring Lily Collins, Jamie Campbell Bower, and Robert Sheehan. When her mother disappears, Clary Fray learns that she descends from a line of warriors who protect our world from demons. She joins forces with others like her and heads into a dangerous alternate New York called Downworld.
'Drinking Buddies' -- Directed by Joe Swanberg. Starring Jake Johnson, Olivia Wilde, and Anna Kendrick. Luke and Kate are co-workers at a Chicago brewery, where they spend their days drinking and flirting. They're perfect for each other, except that they're both in relationships.
'Good Ol' Freda' -- Directed by Ryan White. A documentary in which Freda Kelly looks back at her career as lifelong secretary for The Beatles.
'All the Boys Love Mandy Lane' -- Directed by Jonathan Levine. Starring Amber Heard, Anson Mount, and Whitney Able. A group of high-schoolers invite Mandy Lane, a good girl who became quite hot over the summer, to a weekend party on a secluded ranch. While the festivities rage on, the number of revelers begins to drop quite mysteriously.
December 10
'Despicable Me 2' -- Directed by Pierre Coffin and Chris Renaud. Starring Steve Carell, Kristen Wiig, and Benjamin Bratt. Gru is recruited by the Anti-Villain League to help deal with a powerful new super criminal.
'Fast and Furious 6' -- Directed by Justin Lin. Starring Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, and Dwayne Johnson. Hobbs has Dom and Brian reassemble their crew in order to take down a mastermind who commands an organization of mercenary drivers across 12 countries. Payment? Full pardons for them all.
'Battle of the Year' -- Directed by Benson Lee. Starring Josh Holloway, Laz Alonso, and Josh Peck. Battle of the Year attracts all the best teams from around the world, but the Americans haven't won in fifteen years. Dante enlists Blake to assemble a team of the best dancers and bring the Trophy back to America where it started.
'The Ultimate Life' -- Directed by Michael Landon Jr. Starring Logan Bartholomew, Peter Fonda, and Ali Hillis. A billionaire with questionable priorities re-examines his life after discovering his grandfather's journal.
'The Hunt' -- Directed by Thomas Vinterberg. Starring Mads Mikkelsen, Thomas Bo Larsen, and Annika Wedderkopp. A teacher lives a lonely life, all the while struggling over his son's custody. His life slowly gets better as he finds love and receives good news from his son, but his new luck is about to be brutally shattered by an innocent little lie.
'Salinger' -- Directed by Shane Salerno. An unprecedented look inside the private world of J.D. Salinger, the reclusive author of The Catcher in the Rye.
'Adore' -- Directed by Anne Fontaine. Starring Naomi Watts, Robin Wright, and Xavier Samuel. A pair of childhood friends and neighbors fall for each other's sons.
'Man of Tai Chi' -- Directed by Keanu Reeves. Starring Keanu Reeves, Iko Uwais, and Tiger Hu Chen. A young martial artist's unparalleled Tai Chi skills land him in a highly lucrative underworld fight club.
'Sightseers' -- Directed by Ben Wheatley. Starring Alice Lowe, Kenneth Hadley, and Steve Oram. Chris wants to show girlfriend Tina his world, but events soon conspire against the couple and their dream caravan holiday takes a very wrong turn.
'Touchy Feely' -- Directed by Lynn Shelton. Starring Rosemarie DeWitt, Ellen Page, and Josh Pais. A massage therapist is unable to do her job when stricken with a mysterious and sudden aversion to bodily contact. Meanwhile, her uptight brother's floundering dental practice receives new life when clients seek out his healing touch.
'Jayne Mansfield's Car' -- Directed by Billy Bob Thornton. Starring Tippi Hedren, Kevin Bacon, and Ray Stevenson. Alabama; 1969: The death of a clan's estranged wife and mother brings together two very different families. Do the scars of the past hide differences that will tear them apart, or expose truths that could lead to unexpected collisions?
'Some Girl(s)' -- Directed by Daisy von Scherler Mayer. Starring Adam Brody, Kristen Bell, and Zoe Kazan. On the eve of his wedding, a successful writer travels across the country to meet up with ex-lovers in an attempt to make amends for past relationship transgressions.
December 17
'Elysium' -- Directed by Neill Blomkamp. Starring Matt Damon, Jodie Foster, and Sharlto Copley. In the year 2154, the very wealthy live on a man-made space station while the rest of the population resides on a ruined Earth. A man takes on a mission that could bring equality to the polarized worlds.
'The Lone Ranger' -- Directed by Gore Verbinski. Starring Johnny Depp, Armie Hammer, and William Fichtner. Native American warrior Tonto recounts the untold tales that transformed John Reid, a man of the law, into a legend of justice.
'Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters' -- Directed by Thor Freudenthal. Starring Logan Lerman, Alexandra Daddario, and Brandon T. Jackson. In order to restore their dying safe haven, the son of Poseidon and his friends embark on a quest to the Sea of Monsters to find the mythical Golden Fleece while trying to stop an ancient evil from rising.
'Kick-Ass 2' -- Directed by Jeff Wadlow. Starring Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Chloe Moretz, and Christopher Mintz-Plasse. The costumed high-school hero Kick-Ass joins with a group of normal citizens who have been inspired to fight crime in costume. Meanwhile, the Red Mist plots an act of revenge that will affect everyone Kick-Ass knows.
'Prisoners' -- Directed by Denis Villeneuve. Starring Hugh Jackman, Jake Gyllehnaal, and Paul Dano. When Keller Dover's daughter and her friend go missing, he takes matters into his own hands as the police pursue multiple leads and the pressure mounts. But just how far will this desperate father go to protect his family?
'The Family' -- Directed by Luc Besson. Starring Robert De Niro, Michelle Pfeiffer, and Dianna Agron. The Manzoni family, a notorious mafia clan, is relocated to Normandy, France under the witness protection program, where fitting in soon becomes challenging as their old habits die hard.
'One Direction: This is Us' -- Directed by Morgan Spurlock. A look at Niall, Zayn, Liam, Louis, and Harry's meteoric rise to fame, from their humble hometown beginnings and competing on the X-Factor, to conquering the world and performing at London's famed O2 Arena.
'Ain't Them Bodies Saints' -- Directed by David Lowery. Starring Casey Affleck, Rooney Mara, and Ben Foster. The tale of an outlaw who escapes from prison and sets out across the Texas hills to reunite with his wife and the daughter he has never met.
December 24
'Insidious Chapter 2' -- Directed by James Wan. Starring Patrick Wilson, Rose Byrne, and Barbara Hershey. The haunted Lambert family seeks to uncover the mysterious childhood secret that has left them dangerously connected to the spirit world.
December 31
'Don Jon' -- Directed by Joseph Gordon-Levitt. Starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Scarlett Johansson, and Julianne Moore. A New Jersey guy dedicated to his family, friends, and church, develops unrealistic expectations from watching porn and works to find happiness and intimacy with his potential true love.
'InAPPropriate Comedy' -- Directed by Vince Offer. Starring Adrien Brody, Lindsay Lohan, and Michelle Rodriguez. In this comedy film, a computer tablet full of the world's most hilariously offensive apps breaks through the borders of political correctness, stirring up cultural anarchy.
'CBGB' -- Directed by Randall Miller. Starring Alan Rickman, Malin Akerman, and Justin Bartha. A look at the New York City punk-rock scene and the venerable nightclub, CBGB.