This is the End

Including films that achieve the correct button-mashing combo to earn fancy kudos and are positively lauded, there are only a select few from the whole bunch that have the significance of “definitive.”

We’re back! Just in time to detail the most interesting Blu-ray, DVD, and streaming releases from the last week. Comedy, Shakespeare, Sci-fi, TV, and, of course, because it’s October, horror. What will you find on New Releases shelves at your favorite store? What could you order on iTunes this week? What should you check out and what should you avoid? Here’s your latest primer for What to Watch, in the order we think you should check ‘em out.

CHICAGO – The summer movie season has barely begun, and I’m already sick to death of the apocalypse. It seems to have pervaded every mainstream genre, from action-packed thrillers to raunchy comedies. I’ll take a hilarious mess like “This Is the End” over grim sci-fi junk like “Oblivion” and “After Earth” any day, simply because it delivers its cautionary message with tongue-in-cheek exuberance.

CHICAGO – When David Gordon Green’s “Your Highness” hit fans of its writer/director and talented stars like a really bad pot hangover, its creators admitted that the project began life as a stoned what-if scenario. “Hey, let’s make a pot-laced fantasy movie, dude.” Seth Rogen & Evan Goldberg’s “This is the End” clearly had similar origins.