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Chicago – Neither flat-out depressing nor mawkishly sentimentalized, Lasse Hallström’s 1985 Swedish classic, “My Life as a Dog,” avoids all the mistakes routinely committed by filmmakers working within the coming-of-age genre. It doesn’t view events through a treacly nostalgic haze and doesn’t condescend to its characters as if they were all quirky eccentrics ripe for satirizing.

The world as seen through the eyes of twelve-year-old Ingemar (Anton Glanzelius) feels so achingly real that it might cause some viewers to wince out of recognition. His lack of coordination and tireless energy cause him to create a great deal of trouble, particularly when goaded by his older brother. The household’s escalating stress proves to take a toll on Ingemar’s ailing mother (Anki Lidén), whose maternal instincts have vanished along with her health.

Blu-Ray Rating: 4.5/5.0

It’s not long before the boys are split up and sent to live with relatives,...

Rank the week of September 13th’s Blu-ray and DVD new releases against the best films of all-time: New Releases Thor

(Blu-ray & DVD | PG13 | 2011)

Flickchart Ranking: #227

Win Percentage: 58%

Times Ranked: 18033

Top-20 Rankings: 90

Directed By: Kenneth Branagh

Starring: Chris Hemsworth • Natalie Portman • Anthony Hopkins • Jeremy Renner • Kat Dennings

Genres: Action • Adventure • Based-on-Comics • Comic-Book Superhero Film • Fantasy • Fantasy Adventure

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Conan O’Brien Can’T Stop

(Blu-ray & DVD | Nr | 2011)

Flickchart Ranking: #5260

Win Percentage: 54%

Times Ranked: 719

Top-20 Rankings: 5

Directed By: Rodman Flender

Starring: Conan O’Brien

Genres: Comedy • Documentary

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Incendies

(Blu-ray & DVD | Nr | 2010)

Flickchart Ranking: #4296

Win Percentage: 51%

Times Ranked: 947

Top-20 Rankings: 8

Directed By: Denis Villeneuve

Starring: Lubna Azabal • Mélissa Désormeaux-Poulin • Maxim Gaudette • Rémy Girard • Abdelghafour Elaaziz

Genres: Drama • Foreign Language Film

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The Tempest

(Blu-ray & DVD | PG13 | 2010)

Flickchart Ranking: #7784

Win Percentage: 37%

Times Ranked: 385

Top-20 Rankings: 2

Directed By: Julie Taymor

Starring: Helen Mirren • Djimon Hounsou • Alfred Molina...

Your Weekly Source for the Newest Releases to Blu-Ray Tuesday, September 13th, 2011

The 10th Victim (1965)

Synopsis: It is the 21st Century, and society’s lust for violence is satisfied by “The Big Hunt,” an international game of legalized murder. But when the sport’s two top assassins (Marcello Mastroianni and Ursula Andress) are pitted against each other, they find that love is the most dangerous game of all. As the world watches, the hunt is on. Who will become The 10th Victim? The 10th Victim is the international cult classic whose wild action and sexy style has influenced a generation of movies, from The Running Man to the Austin Powers series. Remastered from original archival negative materials, this outrageous satire is presented here in its original Italian language with optional English subtitles. — highdefdigest.com

Special Features:

Marcello: A Sweet Life (2006) (102 Mins.) Theatrical Trailer

3 Women: The Criterion Collection (1977)

Synopsis: In a dusty,...

The beloved 1985 Swedish film My Life as a Dog by Oscar-nominated filmmaker Lasse Hallström (Dear John) will be issued on Blu-ray by Criterion on September 13 for the list price of $39.95.

Anton Glanzelius (r.) enjoys his childhood in a country village in My Life as a Dog.

The foreign language comedy-drama My Life as a Dog (or Mitt liv som hund in its native Swedish) tells the story of Ingemar (Anton Glanzelius), a 12-year-old boy from a working-class family sent to live with his uncle in a country village when his mother falls ill. While there, Ingemar finds both refuge from his misfortunes and unexpected adventure with the help of the town’s warmhearted eccentrics. The Blu-ray edition will feature a high-definition, director-approved digital transfer with an uncompressed monaural soundtrack

Criterion released a DVD edition of My Life as a Dog back back in 2003 and the new Blu-ray version will import...

Penguins, Nicole Kidman and Narnia – Paul Howlett picks his film highlights

Christmas Eve

Over the Hedge

(Tim Johnson, Karey Kirkpatrick, 2006) 4.25pm, BBC1

A DreamWorks animated adventure in which Rj, the cynical racoon (laconically voiced by Bruce Willis) teaches a burrowful of innocent woodland animals to forage off the waste of an encroaching housing estate rather than rely on boring old natural food, before inevitably seeing the error of his ways. Plenty of good slapstick fun for kids and cine-literate gags for adults, although it all seems a bit glib compared to Shrek and co.

Corpse Bride

(Tim Burton, Mike Johnson, 2005) 6pm, ITV1

Life, in Burton's typically weird and ghoulish fantasy, is a dull, grey affair: death is much more colourful and fun, as young Victor (voiced by Johnny Depp) discovers when he is whisked into the underworld by the maggoty Corpse Bride (Helena Bonham Carter). Trouble is, he's in love...