Once again, it’s time to take a look at all of the new releases coming to Blu-ray and DVD. This is an incredibly busy week with plenty of flicks both new and old. In fact, there should be something here for just about everyone. As always, you can click on any links you see to read full reviews. So if you can’t make it to the movies this week, be sure to give one of these titles a try!
Big New Releases!
American Animals – Based on a real incident, this heist feature involves a group of unhappy Kentucky university students. Some are looking for creative inspiration, others excitement, while a few just want to rebel. They plot an elaborate heist to steal valuable books from a school library and sell them to a black market dealer. Reviews were generally strong. There were a few who didn’t appreciate the characters or the scenario, but more found that there were enough character tweaks to the crime movie formula to make it entertaining. The cast includes Evan Peters, Ann Dowd, Barry Keoghan, Blake Jenner and Udo Kier.
Book Club – Four lifelong friends form a book club to discuss literature and chat about their lives. All are going through some sort of personal turmoil. One of the ladies is recently widowed, another is struggling with a messy divorce and other problems are addressed. After reading the novel Fifty Shades of Grey, each use it as inspiration to deal with their issues. This effort split the press. Half thought it was amusing and were happy to see a sex-comedy featuring women in their 60s, while others suggested the great cast couldn’t elevate the familiar jokes and sentimentality. It stars Diane Keaton, Jane Fonda, Candice Bergen, Mary Steenburgen, Andy Garcia, Craig T. Nelson and Don Johnson.
A Kid Like Jake – This family drama involves a couple who trying to pick out a primary school for their 4-year-old boy, who seems more interested in princesses and fairies than sports and cars. The family must figure out how to address the many complications that arise from the situation in choosing (or guessing) what is best for their child. Again, there was no definite consensus as this film earned both positive and negative response. Some criticized it for being too genial and not dealing with its subject matter directly. The rest appreciated what is was attempting to deal with, even if it didn’t quite hit every mark. The movie features Claire Danes, Jim Parsons, Octavia Spencer and Priyanka Chopra.
Mary Shelley – The famous author is the subject of this biopic. It details her early life, including her burgeoning, passionate relationship with poet Percy Shelley. Some time after they elope, the two arrive at friend Lord Byron’s guesthouse in Geneva. There, the host challenges his guests to write a horror story. Shelly comes up with Frankenstein, but faces difficulty due to prejudiced views of female authors. This feature also got mixed notices, with more negative reaction than positive. Some thought that the lead was strong enough to hold viewer interest, but a few more complained that events were presented in a slow-moving and tame fashion. Elle Fanning, Maisie Williams, Douglas Booth and Bel Powley headline the movie.
RBG – 84-year-old U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is the subject of this documentary. The picture attempts to reveals her life story and career rise in a field dominated by men, as well as her legal legacy. The movie also features interviews with many familiar faces in government and pop culture who have been in contact, worked together with her or have been inspired by her actions. Critics enjoyed the feature greatly. One or two thought the material was presented in a very formal and unexciting way, but almost all found the subject of the picture extremely likable and her work remarkable, as well as being an inspiration to all.
Tag – The children’s schoolyard game gets an update in this comedy based on a true story. For one month every year, a group of adults continue a game of tag that they began decades earlier. When the most difficult-to-catch member of the group decides to get married, the others see it as a perfect opportunity to nab him. This flick got mixed notices, although overall there were a few more recommendations than critiques. While a portion found the events too tonally haphazard and grew tired of the chase, more referred to it as enjoyable adult slapstick with some hilarious physical gags. The cast includes Jeremy Renner, Ed Helms, Hannibal Buress, Jake Johnson, John Hamm, Rashida Jones, Isla Fisher and Leslie Bibb. To read a full review, click here.
Upgrade – After a man is paralyzed and his wife is killed by muggers, he is offered the opportunity to walk again by having artificial intelligence implanted to his spine. The lead finds that he can suddenly move around and sets out for revenge on those responsible for the tragedy. Unfortunately, an inquisitive police detective the AI itself begin getting in his way. This low-budget action sci-fi effort earned a lot of praise during its run. A few thought the film was clichéd and too violent, but the vast majority commented that it was stylish, exciting and offered plenty of interesting twists. It features Logan Marshall-Green, Melanie Vallejo, Steve Danielsen, Betty Gabriel and Benedict Hardie. To read a review of the movie, click here.
Woman Walks Ahead – This period drama is set in the 1880s and is based on true events. It tells the story of a widowed artist who travels from New York to North Dakota in order to paint a portrait of Sitting Bull. Once there, she faces aggression from a US officer battling with the subject of her painting. Reaction was split towards this drama. One group believed that while well-intentioned, the movie didn’t develop much dramatic momentum. Others admitted the approach was overly syrupy but found the that the main relationship between the central characters was engaging. The movie stars Jessica Chastain, Michael Greyeyes and Sam Rockwell.
Blasts from the Past!
You simply would not believe the number of older titles being upgraded to high definition this week. In fact, it might be a record, so let’s get right to it. The MVD Rewind Collection are putting out a Blu-ray of Bram Stoker’s Shadowbuilder (1998) aka Shadow Builder, a made-for-video effort about a demonic force terrorizing a small town. An angry, well-armed priest played by Michael Rooker arrives with the intention of stopping the threat. It’s a silly little B-movie, but it does feature a couple of fun, over-the-top moments that may make of interest to horror fans. You can read a full review of the disc here.
The MVD Marqueen Collection is the arm of the company that handles bigger features, and they have a Blu-ray of the Richard Gere/Winona Ryder romance, Autumn in New York (2000).
The distributor also has the action picture, Blast (1997). This one is about terrorists taking over a swimming complex during the Olympic Games. A trapped janitor is forced into trying to save the visitors. It features Linden Ashby as the heroic custodian, Andrew Divoff, Rutger Hauer and Tim Thomserson. They also have Crazy Six (1997), a gangster flick with Rob Lowe, Burt Reynolds, Ice-T and Mario Van Peebles. These two titles could provide some amusement for action fans.
Bound (1996) is a neo-noir thriller and the first film from the Wachowskis (The Matrix series, Cloud Atlas). The feature involves two women (Jennifer Tilly and Gina Gershon) who fall for each other and plot to steal money from a mobster (played by Joe Pantoliano). This great little movie is being released on Blu-ray as part of the Olive Signature line. It comes with cast and crew commentary, new featurettes on the movie and other bonuses. You can read a great, big detailed review of the movie and the Blu-ray release right here.
Arrow Academy are releasing some interesting world cinema titles with the Blu-ray box set, Akio Jissoji: The Buddhist Trilogy. It includes the films This Transient Life (1970), Mandara (1971), Poem (1972) along with some bonus features. Additionally, they are also putting out Mohsen Makhmalbaf: The Poetic Trilogy. The Blu-ray box set includes the well regarded Iranian arthouse features, Gabbah (1996), The Silence (1998) and The Gardener (2012).
Shout! Factory have the goofy horror picture, Brainscan (1994). It’s about a teen who orders an interactive CD-Rom video game (which is already dating the movie). The monstrous Trickster from the game decides to make a mess of the kid’s life, climbing out of the computer and playing tricks with the kid’s mind. The Blu-ray comes loaded with a behind-the-scenes footage, featurettes on the production, a deleted scene and publicity materials. It also comes with new interviews with the film’s composer, the screenwriter, the actor who plays the Trickster and make up team. You’ll also get a exclusive commentary track with the assistant to the film’s director (who passed away some years back).
And Lionsgate are releasing a 30th anniversary Blu-ray of Tucker: The Man and His Dream (1988). If memory serves, this effort from Francis Ford Coppola (The Godfather, The Conversation, Apocalypse Now among many others) is pretty strong, telling the story of the man who created the Tucker automobile and the attempts by the auto industry to shut him down. The film has been newly remastered, features an introduction from the filmmaker and a deleted scene (with optional comments from Coppola), a making-of and a promo film from 1948 about the inventor and his vehicle. Sounds like a disc worth catching up with.
Kino have several releases on Blu-ray as well. They include the Jessica Lange drama Country (1984), which comes with a film historian commentary. The distributor also has a Blu-ray of the Spaghetti Western, A Minute to Pray, A Second to Die (1968), starring Alex Cord.
I’m most excited about revisiting Straight to Hell (1987) on Blu-ray. This very, very eccentric modern day western follows a group of bank robbers who find themselves in a ramshackle desert town filled with bizarre, thuggish, coffee-addicted desperados. This flick from Alex Cox (Repo Man, Sid & Nancy) has an incredible cast that includes Sy Richardson, Joe Strummer of The Clash, Courtney Love, Dick Rude, The Pogues (playing the nasty group of town outlaws), Elvis Costello, Xander Berkeley, Dennis Hopper, Grace Jones and Jim Jarmusch. It’s weird beyond words and probably only appeal to fans of the musicians featured, but they may get a laugh or two out of it. The opening sequence of the flick is pretty great and the soundtrack is excellent too.
Finally, they have another drama in the form of A Thousand Acres (1997) with Jessica Lange and Michelle Pheiffer. This disc includes a director commentary.
Universal have some horror flicks coming your way on Blu-ray. This includes an individual Blu-ray of the comedy Abbott and Costello Meet the Invisible Man (1951). However, their most impressive release is the box set Universal Classic Monsters: Complete 30 Film Collection. It pretty much contains all of the famous monster movies created by the studio during the 30s through the 50s. This includes all of the flicks featuring Dracula, Frankenstein, Mummy, Invisible Man, Wolfman and Creature from the Black Lagoon (as well as a few other monsters). It arrives with loads of bonuses and a 48-page book. If you’ve got the cash and want the high definition upgrade, you can’t go wrong. They’re also re-releasing all of the Child’s Play and Psycho sequels on Blu-ray. These discs feature no extras, but are relatively inexpensive.
Vinegar Syndrome have some high definition oddities as well. They include Blu-rays of the obscure horror film, Dear Dead Delilah (1972), which features a killer taking down visitors in an old mansion full of people looking for a lost fortune. On the action front, you can pick up Shot (1973) aka Death Shot, an independently produced, ultra-low budget film inspired by The French Connection. The distributor are also putting out Wonder Women (1973), about an investigating into the disappearance of athletes carried out by an all-lady army of kung-fu killers.
You can also pick up the Blu-ray box set Vinegar Syndrome’s 5 Films 5 Years: Volume 3 (1975-1985). This contains are series of rare independent genre flicks including Dracula Sucks, Corporate Assets, Vixens of Kung-Fu, Tropic of Desire and Baby Rosemary. They’ve even given a new 2K scan and restoration on Vixens of Kung-Fu. The company are also putting out a second set this week called Vinegar Syndrome’s 5 Films 5 Years: Volume 4 (1969-1987). The titles in this collection are Cry Wilderness (which was recently featured on the newest season of MST3K), Vampire Hookers, Evil Come, Evil Go, The Cut-Throats and Teenage Seductress. Apparently, all the films are scanned and restored in 2K from various sources. Both releases are limited editions of 2500.
And there’s more! Severin have the creature feature The Horror of Party Beach (1964) coming your way on Blu-ray. It’s a goofy Connecticut-set horror/musical that features nuclear waste, an amusing looking rubber monster, and a band playing tunes on the beach between all the attacks. The release comes with a documentary on the production, an archival interview with the director, a piece on “rock ‘n roll/monster movies” of the era and an interview with the musicians featured in the movie.
Criterion are releasing a Blu-ray of the Cuban drama, Memories of Underdevelopment (1968). It’s told from the point-of-view of a Havana local and set against the Bay of Pigs conflict as the lead character tries to process what is occurring and sees family members flee the area. The disc includes a new 4K digital restoration of the feature, interviews with critics and the novelist whose work the movie was based on. There’s also a feature length documentary on the film’s director and numerous other bonuses.
Classicflix are putting out a Blu-ray of the romantic comedy, Merrily We Live (1938). And on a completely different note, Tokyo Shock are putting out Zatoichi: Darkness Is His Ally (1989). The Zatoichi series involves a wandering, blind swordsman whom you don’t want to mess with. In this, the 26th and final movie featuring the original actor, the character gets caught in the middle of a Yakuza clan fight and chops up a lot of people.
Finally, Warner Archive are releasing a Blu-ray of the WWII flick, The Naked and the Dead (1958), starring Aldo Ray and Cliff Robertson. Whew, that was a lot of stuff!
You Know, For Kids!
Here are some features kids may be interested in.
Freedom Fighters – The Ray
On the Tube!
And these are the week’s TV-themed releases.
Brooklyn Nine-Nine: Season 5
Chicago Med: Season 3
The Flash: Season 4
The High Chaparral: Season 1
Lucifer: Season 3
Once Upon a Time: Season 7
Paterno (HBO Movie)
Scandal: Season 6 and 7
S.W.A.T.: Season 1