Kicking criminal butts and taking the law into his own hands, Danny Trejo (‘Machete’, “Sons of Anarchy”) ignites the screen in the gritty, violent and enthralling film ‘Bad Ass’, arriving on Blu-ray and DVD June 5 from Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment. Inspired by the viral video of a vigilante citizen taking action into his own hands, ‘Bad Ass’ also stars Ron Perlman (“Sons of Anarchy,” ‘Hellboy’) and Charles S. Dutton (‘Alien 3’).

Decorated Vietnam hero Frank Vega returns home only to get shunned by society leaving him without a job or his high school sweetheart. It’s not until 40 years later when an incident on a commuter bus, where he protects an elderly black man from a pair of skin heads, makes him a local hero and he’s suddenly celebrated once again. But his good fortune suddenly turns for the worse when his best friend Klondike is murdered and the police aren’t doing anything about it.

Directed by Craig Moss (‘The 41 Year Old Virgin Who Knocked Up Sarah Marshall And Felt Superbad About It’), ‘Bad Ass’ is inspired by the Epic Beard Man video that captured two men’s highly charged verbal and brutal physical altercation on a public bus in Oakland, California. Posted to YouTube, the video spread like wildfire and the heroic elder bearded man was anointed Epic Beard Man. The video has garnered more than five million views.

The ‘Bad Ass’ Blu-ray and DVD has a featurette and audio commentary. Both the Blu-ray and DVD are now available for pre-order.

The second big DVD release coming from Twentieth Century Fox is more Noir than a straightforward action flick, though it still promises to deliver on the excitement front.

Hailed as “a crime twist worthy of Hitchcock and dialogue worthy of the Coen Brothers” (Screen Daily), ‘Thin Ice’ arrives on Blu-ray and DVD June 12 from Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment. Starring Oscar-nominee Greg Kinnear (‘As Good As It Gets’, ‘Little Miss Sunshine’), Academy Award winner Alan Arkin (‘Little Miss Sunshine’), Billy Crudup (‘Almost Famous’, ‘Jesus’ Son’) and Lea Thompson (‘Back To The Future’), this intriguing caper premiered to critical praise at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year.

Mickey Prohaska (Kinnear) is a small-time insurance agent looking for a way to jump-start his business, reunite with his estranged wife (Thompson) and escape the frigid Wisconsin weather. This self-proclaimed master of spin believes that salesmanship is about selling a story — all he needs is a sucker willing to buy it. He hits pay dirt with a lonely retired farmer (Arkin) who is sitting on something much bigger than an insurance commission. But Mickey’s attempt to con the old man spins out of control when a nosy, unstable locksmith (Crudup) with a volatile temper dramatically ups the stakes, trapping him in a spiral of danger, deceit and double-crossing.

The Thin Ice Blu-ray and DVD offers three bonus features including a behind-the-scenes featurettes, deleted scenes and a look at the Sundance premiere. The Blu-ray will feature both the theatrical and Director’s cuts of the film.

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Netflix announced it was planning to split its DVD/Blu-Ray rent by mail and online streaming services back in early September. The mail delivery service was branded as Qwikster and video games would be made available for rent as well. Since then the plan was called off and entry into the video game rental market was put on hold as many customers opposed the split.

Subscribers did not like the idea of having to visit a different website and mange a second account to rent movies or video games. Netflix’s stock price has been steadily dropping since the 60% price hike in July and loss of 800,000 subscribers in the last quarter despite the firm’s profits.

Shareholders were also not happy as Netflix would have to spend millions to launch Qwikster when consumers have already established Netflix as a rent by mail service under the Netflix brand. With Netflix’s missteps that leaves one begging the question, is there a legitimate alternative to Netflix?

Angry Netflix users have been on the lookout for something new and there might just be a replacement depending on their viewing habits. Online streaming services like iTunes and VUDU have no monthly fee but the bill will quickly add up from just a few purchases as each rental will cost around $0.99 to $5.99 depending on what it is.

The content per dollar ratio is probably not what Netflix users are looking for. Amazon Prime Instant video and Hulu Plus are much more viable alternatives as they allow unlimited streaming for a monthly fee.

Amazon Prime has the smallest selection but also has the lowest price at $79 a year, and offered a discounted price for college students that subscribed earlier this year, but Amazon has not stated if it will offer that deal year after year. Amazon Prime also has content for rental much like VUDU and iTunes.

Hulu concentrates more on what is current on television offering a free option that allows users to see five episodes of a show’s current season, movies, and in standard definition. Hulu Plus gives access to full seasons, a better selection of movies, and in high definition for $7.99 a month. Hulu uploads episodes a day after it airs on television giving it an edge over Netflix’s usual 28 day wait.

There really is no widely accepted alternative to Netflix at the moment. For $7.99 a month Netflix offers the biggest online streaming selection in movies and television. Hulu Plus is definitely better than Netflix for television fans but it is the other way around for movie buffs.

As much as people argue which is better to have Hulu Plus or Netflix (even though they have some of the same content available) at the moment they should be considered compliments and not substitutes of each other.

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