What We Do in the Shadows (Paramount, Blu-ray, DVD) takes the mockumentary approach to the vampire film, though that hardly describes the deadpan absurdity of this comedy of ancient European vampires in New Zealand, who after centuries of unlife haven’t gotten any smarter. It’s written and directed by Jemaine Clement and Taika Waititi, who previously collaborated on the films Eagle vs Shark (2007) and Boy (2010) and the TV show Flight of the Conchords, and they star as two of the four eternals living in a rundown house on the outskirts of Wellington where a camera crew (armed with crucifixes) has been invited to see how creatures of the night roll. The joke is that the so-called glamor of eternal life and supernatural power turns out to be a dull, mundane existence of petty squabbles, unfinished chores, and a nightlife that ends up in the same lifeless haunts. It’s tough when you can’t enter any domicile without an invitation and you are too uncool to be welcomed.
Clement, the biggest star of the otherwise unknown cast (at least to American audiences), gets the most flamboyant role as the Goth-styled veteran (he’s 800 year old) still getting by on tired party tricks and the delusion that he’s darkly attractive in his centuries-out-of-fashion get-up while Waititi (dolled up like an 18th century dandy and sporting a goofy smile) plays the guy trying to nudge them into action. Like doing the dishes that have been sitting in the sink for five years and being more careful about getting blood on the furniture. They’re quite literally the roommates from Hell whose fiery passions have long been doused in boredom and triviality. The most excitement they can muster is baiting the local werewolf pack during their 12-Step meetings. Clement and Waititi bring the deadpan silliness of Flight of the Conchords to the pumped-up egos and deflated results of these toothless monsters, while they find an oddball sweetness to their dysfunctional camaraderie.
Features commentary by filmmakers Jemaine Clement and Taika Waititi, featurettes, interviews, and deleted scenes among its supplements.
Love Unto Death / Life is a Bed of Roses (Cohen, Blu-ray, DVD), a double feature of Alain Resnais films of the early 1980s, are not new to disc—they were released on DVD back in 2008—but make their respective Blu-ray debuts in newly restored editions.
“Life is a Fairy Tale” is a more accurate translation of the original French title of Life is a Bed of Roses, Resnais’ 1983 mix of drama, romance, fantasy and musical. The imaginative story of love and imagination is told in parallel stories set in a castle built by an idealistic count (Ruggeri Raimondi), who emerges from the shadow of World War I bankrupt and disillusioned but determined to create his utopia for the woman he lives (Fanny Ardant). In the present day, it’s the site of a teacher’s symposium where a straightlaced grade-school teacher (Sabine Azéma, Resnais’ muse and, later, his wife) becomes the target of a romantic plot by an eccentric education maverick (Geraldine Chaplin). In between these worlds is a fantasy of kings and dragons summoned by the children of the castle, which weaves a playful, whimsical streak through the adult stories.
His very next film, Love Unto Death (1984), reunited four of his stars (Azéma, Ardant, Pierre Arditi, and Andre Dussolier) for a more serious, heavier film, a meditation on life, love, morality, and death. Arditi as an archeologist who comes back from the dead (or so he thinks) and becomes obsessed with returning with his lover (Azéma), much to the surprise of their best friends (Ardant and Dussolier), who are ministers and argue faith and religion with atheists Arditi and Azéma. This lacks the light touch and creativeness of his best films of the era.
Both films feature commentary by film critics Wade Major and Andy Klein trailers from their 2014 re-release.
Also new and notable: 
Cemetery Without Crosses (Arrow / MVD, Blu-ray+DVD), a spaghetti western with a French director and stars and Italian producers, gets a full review in a later post.
My Beautiful Laundrette (Criterion, Blu-ray, DVD), the breakthrough film from British director Stephen Frears, is also the film that launched playwright Hanif Kureishi as a screenwriter and Daniel Day-Lewis as one of the most talented actors of his general. It gets the Criterion treatment this week.
I, Madman (Scream Factory, Blu-ray) is a 1989 cult horror film about a horror-loving bookstore clerk (Jenny Wright) who finds the plot of the novel she’s reading play out in real life. The Blu-ray debut includes filmmaker commentary and a new featurette along with archival behind-the-scenes footage.
Monte Walsh (Kino Studio Classics, Blu-ray), a lovely autumnal western starring Lee Marvin and Jack Palance as aging cowboys facing the closing of the frontier, is the directorial debut of the great cinematographer William A. Fraker.
Digital / VOD / Streaming exclusives:
Chris Evans makes his directorial debut with the romantic comedy Before We Go (VOD) and stars with Alice Eve as uncommonly beautiful strangers who meet after a missed train at Grand Central Station and spend the night walking and talking through the streets of New York City. It comes to VOD well in advance of its September theatrical opening.
Much kinkier and weirder is Felt (Amplify, Digital, VOD), about an artist who battles her traumas by channeling her anger and confusion into art. On select cable systems and VOD services. Not rated but features adult material.
Available Friday, July 24, same day as select theaters, is Unexpected (VOD) a comedy with Cobie Smulders and Anders Holm, and 10 Cent Pistol (eOne, VOD).
Available for digital purchase in advance of disc:
The Divergent Series: Insurgent (Lionsgate, Digital HD)
Child 44 (Summit, Digital HD)
Veep: Season 4 (HBO, Digital HD)
Classics and Cult:
She Must Be Seeing Things (First Run, DVD, Digital)
Committed (First Run, DVD, Digital)
House of 1,000 Dolls (Kino Studio Classics, Blu-ray)
Madhouse (Kino Studio Classics, Blu-ray, DVD)
Black Sabbath (AIP Version) (Kino Studio Classics, Blu-ray)
Scooby-doo! and KISS: Rock and Roll Mystery (Warner, Blu-ray, DVD)
Sweet Trash / The Hang Up (Vinegar Syndrome, DVD)
TV on disc:
Seeds of Yesterday (Lionsgate, DVD)
The Road to Fame (PBS, DVD)
Star Talk with Neil Degrasse Tyson (National Geographic, DVD)
More releases:
Kung Fu Killer (Well Go, Blu-ray, DVD)
Dark By Noon (Olive, DVD)
The Jokesters (Cinedigm, DVD, Digital HD, VOD)
Relentless Justice (Olive, DVD, VOD, Digital HD)
72% (Cinedigm, DVD, VOD)
Sharknado: Feeding Frenzy (Cinedigm, DVD)
Calendar of upcoming releases on Blu-ray, DVD, Digital, and VOD