New Releases: Third time is charming in 'Before Midnight'

Sony, $30.99; Blu-ray, $35.99

Available on VOD beginning Oct. 22

Outside of television and action-movie tentpoles, it's rare to see characters age and evolve on-screen the way that Ethan Hawke's Jesse and Julie Delpy's Céline have over the course of writer-director Richard Linklater's trilogy "Before Sunrise," "Before Sunset" and now "Before Midnight." In the latest film, the restless twentysomethings who met in 1995 and reconnected in 2004 are in their 40s and married with kids but are still having the same old arguments about personal values and whether it's possible to retain individual will in the context of a long-term romantic relationship. The beauty of this series is how Linklater has allowed the audience to gain the perspective of time that Jesse and Céline lack, always living in the moment. The "Before Midnight" DVD and Blu-ray explore this idea further via featurettes and a Linklater-Hawke-Delpy commentary track.

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The Conjuring

Warner Bros., $28.98; Blu-ray, $35.99

Available on VOD beginning Oct. 22

"Saw" co-creator James Wan has lately been proving himself to be more than a one-trick pony, winning over horror fans with the atmospheric ghost stories "Insidious" and "The Conjuring." The latter film stars Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga as paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren (the real-life couple who looked into the Amityville Horror case), who get called to a remote Rhode Island farmhouse to help a family terrorized by the spirit of a long-dead witch. There's nothing original about "The Conjuring," but it's polished, well acted (with good supporting turns by Ron Livingston and Lili Taylor), and it delivers the scares. The DVD and Blu-ray add featurettes.

I Give It a Year

Magnolia, $26.98; Blu-ray, $29.98

Sacha Baron Cohen's longtime writing partner, Dan Mazer, tries to balance his flair for shock-humor and his desire to make a realistic romantic comedy in his feature-directing debut. While he doesn't quite pull it off, he does come up with something that's frequently hilarious and occasionally insightful. Rose Byrne and Rafe Spall play a mismatched young couple who get married in a rush and then spend the next year stubbornly trying to prove to their family and friends that they didn't make a huge mistake, even after they each run into the people they should be with (played by Simon Baker and Anna Faris). Mazer explores their growing panic honestly and amusingly, but he also works in moldy sitcom-level jokes and broad characters, as though trying to repurpose old sketches he had in a drawer. A movie so evenly split between highs and lows should play well on DVD and Blu-ray, where it's bolstered by extra scenes and outtakes.

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The Way Way Back

20th Century Fox, $29.98; Blu-ray, $39.99

"The Descendants" screenwriting team of Nat Faxon and Jim Rash (both skilled comic actors to boot) make their directorial debut, starring Sam Rockwell as a water-park manager who helps a depressed, lonely teenager (Liam James) survive a summer vacation with his indifferent mother (Toni Collette) and her jerky boyfriend (Steve Carell). Though overly quirky and familiar, "The Way Way Back" is quietly moving, especially when it dwells on the particulars of low-rent resort-living and the intense feeling of summer relationships. The DVD and Blu-ray include deleted scenes and featurettes.

And…

Bruce Lee: The Legacy Collection

Shout! Factory Blu-ray, $119.99

The Internship

20th Century Fox, $29.96; Blu-ray, $39.99

Only God Forgives

Starz/Anchor Bay, $29.98; Blu-ray, $34.99

The Vincent Price Blu-ray Collection

Scream! Factory Blu-ray, $79.97

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