Autumn is here at last and there’s no better way to mark the occasion than by checking out this week’s edition of The Digital Wire….well, actually you could take a stimulating walk around your neighborhood on a brisk and sunny day, perhaps start getting your Halloween decorations and plans in order, or maybe make yourself a hot cup of tea and sit out on your porch as the most gorgeous of sunsets begins. When you’re done with all of that, check out this week’s edition of The Digital Wire because we’ve got a crowded field of horror, sci-fi, fantasy, and action releases on home video all battling for your attention and the funds you have stored away in that Christmas Club savings account.

Below you’ll find info on several future home video releases complete with technical specs, release dates, and links to pre-order at Amazon. We would greatly appreciate it if you use those links to order because a small percentage of each order helps keep this website running at max power. The cover art for certain titles has yet to be finalized.

The Counselor: Unrated Extended Cut
Blu-ray l DVD
Directed by Ridley Scott
Screenplay by Cormac McCarthy
Starring Michael Fassbender, Penelope Cruz, and Cameron Diaz
20th Century Fox Home Entertainment
Release Date: February 11, 2014

Of all the highly anticipated films released last year I don’t think any of them received the critical blanket party that greeted the opening of The Counselor, the pulpy drug world thriller that united influential filmmaker Ridley Scott (Blade Runner) and Pulitzer Prize-adorned author Cormac McCarthy (No Country for Old Men, Blood Meridian), the latter having penned his first original feature screenplay. To say that expectations were high for this film is an understatement on the level of the scene in Easy Rider where Peter Fonda tells Dennis Hopper, “We blew it.”

People hated this movie, man. Hated it. Obviously The Counselor had its share of defenders amongst the filmgoing public and the shadowy agents of the blogosphere, but they were mostly silenced or shouted down as the star-studded noir plummeted to a 34% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and a massively disappointing fourth opening at the box office. Scott has had his considerable share of theatrical flops that were later vindicated on home video in the form of extended and rejiggered director’s cuts. Not surprisingly, his latest film has received the same treatment and The Counselor may yet find the audience that either berated or ignored it on the big screen as twenty minutes have been added to this exclusive “unrated extended cut.”

Do these previously deleted scenes elevate Scott and McCarthy’s lurid, languid potboiler to the status of an underrated masterpiece? Is it possible that maybe, just maybe, the haters were hopelessly misguided? Well, let’s see…

A new trailer has been released for The Counselor, the new movie from director Ridley Scott and No Country For Old Men author Cormac McCarthy, who makes his feature screenwriting debut.

The movie tells the story of a lawyer who becomes involved in the dangerous world of drug trafficking, which quickly leads to everything spiraling out of control. It stars Michael Fassbender, Javier Bardem, Brad Pitt, Penelope Cruz, Cameron Diaz, Dean Norris, Rosie Perez, John Leguizamo, Natalie Dormer, and Goran Visnjic.

You can check out the new trailer for The Counselor, which will be released on October 25th, below.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Directed by David Fincher
Written by Steven Zallian
Starring Daniel Craig, Rooney Mara, Christopher Plummer, Stellan Skarsgard, Steven Berkoff, Robin Wright, Goran Visnjic, Joely Richardson
Release Date: December 20, 2011

Crusading journalist and magazine publisher Mikael Blomkvist (Daniel Craig) has just taken a major hit to his finances and reputation in a libel suit brought against him by billionaire businessman Hans-Erik Wennerström (Ulf Friberg). As he’s trying to figure out his next move while keeping his personal life afloat, Mikael is summoned by retired industrialist Henrik Vanger (Christopher Plummer) to his palatial estate on an island in the Swedish countryside. The older gentleman offers the disgraced Blomkvist a golden opportunity that will replenish his bank account and restore his reputation as an honest reporter if he will use his investigative skills to solve the mystery of the disappearance of Vanger’s great-niece Harriet, whom he believes was murdered four decades ago. Blomkvist is reluctant to take on such a task, but when Vanger also offers to give him the crucial evidence he needs to bring Wennerström to justice, the embattled writer accepts the job.