Well, I talk a lot about there being “scant” weeks for home video releases. If those weeks were scant, this one is nonexistent. It makes sense, studios would’ve released the titles they thought would do well during the holidays so that more people than very last-minute shoppers would have the chance to buy them. And, honestly, last-minute shoppers would probably turn their noses up at the titles available this week. Scream Factory at least tries a little this week, releasing two schlock-horror classics, Nightmares and The Brain That Wouldn’t Die. Warner Bros. shows exactly how it feels about Joe Wright’s Pan (coming soon to the cinematographers series) bombing catastrophically with its release date, and Universal shows exactly how much it cares about Edward Zwick’s Pawn Sacrifice likewise. I saw the latter of those two films (what can I say, it was shot by Bradford Young), and it’s not very good outside of Young’s cinematography and some strong supporting performances (especially the one by Liev Schreiber as Bobby Fischer’s chess opponent Boris Spassky).

12 Rounds 3: Lockdown (Lionsgate)
The Brain That Wouldn’t Die (Shout Factory)
Defiance: Season Three (Universal)
Dominion: Season Two (Universal)
Dragon Blade (Lionsgate)
Nightmares (Shout Factory)
Pan (Warner Bros.)
Pawn Sacrifice (Universal)
War Room (Sony)