New DVD and Blu-ray Releases — December 2014

December is near and the holidays are quickly approaching—whether you want to buy a stocking stuffer for a loved one or just take home something awesome for yourself, there’s plenty of great, diverse options hitting the shelves in the coming month. The last few big blockbusters from this summer are finally making their way to DVD and Blu-ray, and who doesn’t want to take ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ home already? ‘Tis the season! Read on for our guide to what’s hitting DVD and Blu-ray this December.

December 2

‘Dawn of the Planet of the Apes’: Starring Andy Serkis, Gary Oldman, and Keri Russell. 10 years after a pandemic disease, apes who have survived it are drawn into battle with a group of human survivors.

‘The Hundred-Foot Journey’: Starring Helen Mirren, Om Puri, and Manish Dayal. The Kadam family leaves India for France where they open a restaurant directly across the road from Madame Mallory’s Michelin-starred eatery.

‘As Above, So Below’: Starring Perdita Weeks, Ben Feldman, and Edwin Hodge. When a team of explorers ventures into the catacombs that lie beneath the streets of Paris, they uncover the dark secret that lies within this city of the dead.

‘The Congress’: Starring Robin Wright, Harvey Keitel, and Jon Hamm. An aging, out-of-work actress accepts one last job, though the consequences of her decision affect her in ways she didn’t consider.

‘Gutshot Straight’: Starring George Eads, AnnaLynne McCord, and Stephen Lang. A gambler is drawn into a life of money and power to make a quick buck, but he quickly realizes he is part of a setup that could cost him his life.

‘Kite’: Starring Samuel L. Jackson, India Eisley, and Callan McAuliffe. When her cop father is killed, a young woman tracks the murder with the apparent help of his ex-partner.

December 9

‘Guardians of the Galaxy’: Starring Chris Pratt, Bradley Cooper, and Zoe Saldana. A group of space criminals must work together to stop the fanatical villain Ronan the Accuser from destroying the galaxy.

‘Frank’: Starring Michael Fassbender, Domhnall Gleeson, and Maggie Gyllenhaal. Jon, a young wanna-be musician, discovers he’s bitten off more than he can chew when he joins an eccentric pop band led by the mysterious and enigmatic Frank.

‘When the Game Stands Tall’: Starring Jim Caviezel, Alexander Ludwig, and Michael Chiklis. The journey of legendary football coach Bob Ladouceur, who took the De La Salle High School Spartans from obscurity to a 151-game winning streak that shattered all records for any American sport.

‘I Origins’: Starring Michael Pitt, Astrid Berges-Frisbey, and Brit Marling. A molecular biologist and his laboratory partner uncover evidence that may fundamentally change society as we know it.

‘Dolphin Tale 2': Starring Morgan Freeman, Ashley Judd, and Nathan Gamble. The team of people who saved Winter’s life reassemble in the wake of her surrogate mother’s passing in order to find her a companion so she can remain at the Clearwater Marine Hospital.

‘Calvary’: Starring Brendan Gleeson, Chris O’Dowd, and Kelly Reilly. After he is threatened during a confession, a good-natured priest must battle the dark forces closing in around him.

‘Dead Snow 2: Red vs. Dead’: Starring Vegar Hoel, Orjan Gamst, and Martin Starr. If the worst day of your life consisted of accidentally killing your girlfriend with an axe, chain-sawing your own arm off, and watching in horror as your closest friends were devoured by a zombified Nazi battalion, you’d have to assume that things couldn’t get much worse. In Martin’s case, that was only the beginning.

December 16

‘Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles’: Starring Megan Fox, Will Arnett, and William Fichtner. When a kingpin threatens New York City, a group of mutated turtle warriors must emerge from the shadows to protect their home.

‘The Maze Runner’: Starring Dylan O’Brien, Kaya Scodelario, and Will Poulter. Thomas is deposited in a community of boys after his memory is erased, soon learning they’re all trapped in a maze that will require him to join forces with fellow “runners” for a shot at escape.

‘This Is Where I Leave You’: Starring Jason Bateman, Tina Fey, and Jane Fonda. When their father passes away, four grown siblings are forced to return to their childhood home and live under the same roof together for a week, along with their over-sharing mother and an assortment of spouses, exes and might-have-beens.

‘Magic in the Moonlight’: Starring Colin Firth, Emma Stone, and Marcia Gay Harden. A romantic comedy about an Englishman brought in to help unmask a possible swindle. Personal and professional complications ensue.

‘The Skeleton Twins’: Starring Kristen Wiig, Bill Hader, and Luke Wilson. Having both coincidentally cheated death on the same day, estranged twins reunite with the possibility of mending their relationship.

‘The Devil’s Hand’: Starring Rufus Sewell, Alycia Debnam Carey, and Adelaide Kane. When young girls start to go missing within a religious cult, older followers fear a long-told prophecy while the younger members suspect abusive elders are killing them off.

‘At the Devil’s Door’: Starring Catalina Sandino Moreno, Naya Rivera, and Ashley Rickards. When ambitious young real estate agent Leigh is asked to sell a house with a checkered past, she crosses paths with a disturbed girl whom she learns is the runaway daughter of the couple selling the property. When Leigh tries to intervene and help her, she becomes entangled with a supernatural force that soon pulls Leigh’s artist sister Vera into its web—and has sinister plans for both of them.

‘Stonehearst Asylum’: Starring Kate Beckinsale, Jim Sturgess, and David Thewlis. A recent medical school grad who takes a position at a mental institution soon finds himself taken with one of his colleagues—though he has no initial idea of a recent, horrifying staffing change.

December 23

‘The Good Lie’: Starring Reese Witherspoon, Arnold Oceng, and Ger Duany. Sudanese refugees given the chance to resettle in America arrive in Kansas, where their encounter with employment agency counselor forever changes all of their lives.

‘The Trip to Italy’: Starring Steve Coogan, Rob Brydon, and Rosie Fellner. Two men, six meals in six different places on a road trip around Italy. Liguria, Tuscany, Rome, Amalfi and ending in Capri.

‘Pride’: Starring Bill Nighy, Imelda Staunton, and Dominic West. U.K. gay activists work to help miners during their lengthy strike of the National Union of Mineworkers in the summer of 1984.

December 30

‘The Equalizer’: Starring Denzel Washington, Chloe Grace Moretz, and Marton Csokas. A man believes he has put his mysterious past behind him and has dedicated himself to beginning a new, quiet life. But when he meets a young girl under the control of ultra-violent Russian gangsters, he can’t stand idly by—he has to help her.

‘Tusk’: Starring Justin Long, Michael Parks, and Haley Joel Osment. When podcaster Wallace Bryton goes missing in the backwoods of Manitoba while interviewing a mysterious seafarer named Howard Howe, his best friend Teddy and girlfriend Allison team with an ex-cop to look for him.

‘Last Weekend’: Starring Patricia Clarkson, Zachary Booth, and Joseph Cross. When an affluent matriarch gathers her dysfunctional family for a holiday at their Northern California lake house, her carefully constructed weekend begins to come apart at the seams, leading her to question her own role in the family.

‘Kelly and Cal’: Starring Juliette Lewis, Jonny Weston, and Josh Hopkins. Kelly, a punk-rocker turned suburban mom, is nostalgic for a life she can no longer have and uncertain of a future she doesn’t yet fit in. 17-year-old Cal is frustrated at his lack of control over the hand he’s been dealt. When the two strike up an unlikely friendship, it’s the perfect spark needed to thrust them both back to life.

‘A Good Marriage’: Starring Joan Allen, Anthony LaPaglia, and Stephen Lang. After 25 years of a good marriage, what will Darcy do once she discovers her husband’s sinister secret?

‘Elsa and Fred’: Starring Shirley MacLaine, Christopher Plummer, and Marcia Gay Harden. A story about two people in their twilight years who discover that it’s never too late to find love.

‘Reach Me’: Starring Lauren Cohan, Kyra Sedgwick, and Thomas Jane. A motivational book written by a mysterious man quickly gains popularity, inspiring a group of people that includes a journalist, his editor, a former inmate, a hip-hop mogul, an actor and an undercover cop to re-evaluate their choices and decisions by confronting their fears in hopes of creating more positive lives.