New on DVD and Blu-ray

Attack the Block

(Sony, $31)

Troublemaking kids defend their British housing project from an alien invasion in this smart debut from writer/director Joe Cornish, said the New York Daily News. Cornish nicely mixes “dry British humor and social satire” in this low-budget thriller, and “the cast is splendid.”

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy

(Acorn, $50)

Produced in 1979, this six-hour BBC adaptation of the John le Carré novel features a “brilliant” star turn by Alec Guinness, said the Salt Lake City Deseret News. Guinness plays ex-spy George Smiley, who’s been coaxed out of retirement to find a mole. The set includes an interview with Le Carré.

The Conversation

(Lionsgate, $25)

“The Conversation is a stone-cold classic,” said the Bergen County, N.J., Record. Gene Hackman stars as a surveillance expert who gets in over his head in this “masterful” thriller, which Francis Ford Coppola wrote and directed in between Godfather films. Available on Blu-ray for the first time.