Well, it’s been an unusual week, hasn’t it? Entertainment options in public spaces will be considerably slimmer (or nonexistent) for the next little while, but at least it gives us all a chance to catch up at home on films and programs that we may have missed. There are also plenty of new releases arriving on Blu-ray and DVD, and the highlights are right here. So, if you can’t (or, more likely, don’t want to) make it out to the movies this week, be sure to give one of these titles a try!
Big New Releases!
Abigail – A massive epidemic seals off a small town from the rest of the world and results in numerous citizens being mysteriously taken away by government authorities. Some years later, a young girl who has lost her father in the process sets out to find him. She soon learns that her city was targeted because it is full of magic, and she decides to begin using fantastic powers to accomplish her goal. There haven’t been all that many reviews for this English-language Russian production and the ones that have appeared aren’t spectacular. Most say that while the film utilizes some nifty special effects on a modest budget, the story and characters are poorly written. It features Tinatin Dalakishvili, Eddie Marsan and Rinal Mukhametov.
Bakerman – Loosely inspired by films like Falling Down, this Danish foreign-language effort follows an introverted baker who suffers a break-in and ends up killing one of the invading thugs in the fracas. This experience pushes him over the edge of sanity and changes him, causing the man to go on a rampage as a vigilante and take down anyone in his past who has irked him. This feature was shot a few years ago and is only now making its way to this part of the world. It played in film festivals across Europe (and one of two in the US) and word was positive, even winning some prizes at a few shows. Still, most critics haven’t seen it yet, so curious viewers will have to go in cold. The cast includes Mikkel Vadsholdt, Brian Hjulmann and Slir Tilif.
Black Christmas – The original Black Christmas came out in 1974 and is considered a cult classic. A 2006 remake wasn’t nearly as successful critically or commercially, but it seems that hasn’t stopped producers from trying to resurrect the property once again. The latest reimagining involves another group of female students who are stalked and murdered by an unknown stranger over their Christmas break. The ladies decide to fight back and identify their pursuer. Notices weren’t as terrible this time around, although they weren’t great either. A small group admired the movie’s attempts to empower the students and thought it was a fun, updated slasher. Far more commented that there were serious issues in execution. Some even noted that the original had already subtly emasculated its male characters, and stated that while this movie’s intentions were noble it didn’t offer any insight or deliver any scares. The movie stars Imogen Poots, Aleyse Shannon, Lily Donoghue, Brittany O’Grady and Carey Elwes.
A Bluebird in My Heart – In this independent drama, an ex-con tries to live a quiet and reformed life after getting out of prison. He is permitted to make a new start by staying at and helping out in a nearby motel. The lead befriends the manager, a single mother, as well as her daughter. But when one of his newfound friends is assaulted, the man begins to feel rage and is forced to face his inner demons. This little film is actually an English-language France/Belgium co-production. It received very good notices during its limited run. There were a few who stated that the story itself was predictable and mimized its impact. However, the majority appreciated the skills shown by the lead actor and thought it all worked as an intimate character study. Roland Møller, Lola Le Lann and Veerle Baetens headline the feature.
The Dustwalker – The plot of this Australian genre film begins with a strange, alien object that crashes to Earth. Some unfortunate locals come into contact with it and become, according the official synopsis, lifeless and deformed. The number of monsters slowly increase as more come into contact with the object and it soon becomes clear that the now possessed victims are targeting kids. A sheriff and some locals attempt to protect the town’s children from the new threat. They eventually find themselves teaming up with another alien visitor in order to fight the invaders off. This little picture is debuting on disc and there are absolutely no reviews for it as of yet, so B-movie fans who are curious about the feature will have to go in cold. The cast includes Jolene Anderson, Stef Dawson and Talina Naviede.
A Hidden Life – Filmmaker Terrence Malick is known for a number of well-regarded arthouse films including Badlands, Days of Heaven, The Thin Red Line and The Tree of Life (among many others). His latest tells the true story of Franz Jägerstätter, an Austrian farmer who became a conscientious objector when Nazi forced took over his country and tried to force him to serve in their army. The man and his entire family are forced to deal with death threats and fallout after he refuses to fight. Overall, the press greatly admired the work, although those who appreciate the filmmaker will also know that those who dislike his pictures… really dislike them. A minority couldn’t get on its wavelength and found it slow and tedious. However, most thought it was one of Malick’s best, calling it gorgeously photographed, moving and emotional as it detailed one man’s inner struggle and personal sacrifice. It stars August Diehl, Valerie Pachner, Maria Simon, Matthias Schoenaerts, Franz Rogowski and Michael Nyquist.
Intrigo: Death of an Author – This mystery flick is based on a global bestseller and involves a translations writer who decides to bump off his wife. He seemingly succeeds in his goal, although her body is never actually recovered. While working on a book translation of a deceased author, he begins to note similarities between his life and the story he’s working on. The lead slowly becomes convinced that his wife is not actually dead and is instead seeking revenge. Critics were not at all impressed with this feature. One or two liked the beautiful locations and called it an interesting little flick. Still, most commented that the feature didn’t do its source material justice, never built up much dramatic tension and lacked the required thrills. Ben Kingsley, Tuva Novotny, Benno Furmann and Michael Byrne headline the flick.
Jumanji: The Next Level – The 2017 remake of Jumanji was a massive hit with audiences and reviewers. This sequel to the film picks up where the original left off. Once again, a group of kids enter a video game world using a series of character avatars. When one of the group members needs to be rescued, the others try to locate their friend, noting that the game has changed and the challenges have become even more difficult. Most were generally positive about this follow-up. There was a contingent who said that this was a quick cash-in that just offered more of the same gags and took too long to find its footing. Still, the consensus was that while it was repetitive, the cast were still charming and the movie a fun ride that would entertain the entire family. It stars Dwayne Johnson, Kevin Hart, Jack Black, Karem Gillan, Awkwafina and Nick Jonas.
Nefarious – This UK-produced independent horror movie is about a group of youths living in poverty in a social housing development. After losing their only source of income and having a gangster threaten their lives unless they offer up cash, the gang decide to rob the home of a wealthy man across town (who has spent time helping out one member of the crew). The home invasion begins, but as more info is revealed, things don’t end up progressing as planned. There aren’t a lot of write-ups yet about this low-budget feature, although one of two have popped up online. One claimed that this was an effective little chiller that would appeal to genre fans. Another complained that it was far too clumsy in execution to recommend to viewers. The cast includes Jon Vangdal Aamaas, Arron Thomas Ward, Nadia Lamin and Tony Sands.
Richard Jewell – Richard Jewell is the subject of this biopic that details his involvement in the 1996 bombing at the Olympic Games in Atlanta. In the film, the security guard identifies and reports a dangerous package that explodes, only to be vilified by a journalist as the responsible party. Jewell must ask a lawyer whom he once knew to represent him in court. The press gave the movie decent marks, although had some serious caveats. Most thought that while the film had problems, the lead performance was excellent. Those who panned it didn’t think it offered much insight into the man and had serious issues with the fictionalized portrayal of a reporter in the movie. In fact, they suggested that it was wrong for a movie that decries character assassination to essentially do the same thing to one of the real figures being portrayed onscreen. It features Paul Walter Hauser, Sam Rockwell, Kathy Bates, Jon Hamm and Olivia Wilde. To read this site’s review, click here.
Superman: Red Son – Superman gets an alternate history in this animated feature that was made for the direct-to-video market. In this reimagining, the spaceship of the baby superhero lands in the USSR and ends up raised with completely different ideologies. While Superman becomes a cultural icon and leader in the Soviet Union, he also finds himself at odds with other superheroes. After Lex Luthor takes control of America, it leads to a major conflict between the two leads. Critics really enjoyed this take on the character, giving it uniformly positive reviews. They thought it was unique and exciting, appreciating its moral ambiguity and suggesting that the movie had a lot of say about how governments and national identities shape us. The voice cast includes Jason Isaacs, Amy Acker, Tara Strong, Diedrich Bader, Vanessa Marshall, Phil Morris and Paul Williams.
Blasts from the Past!
There are a great many older movies also arriving this week with spiffy, new high definition transfers. Shout! Factory are debuting a Blu-ray of American International Pictures’ How to Make a Monster (1958). This is a creature feature about a make-up man who learns that his studio employers have decided to switch focus and make more musicals. He goes mad, creates a real chemical formula and ultimately uses the production house’s stars, turning them into zombie killers and hoping to enact revenge on the executives. It’s a great concept and is a well-liked monster movie, receiving plenty of good reviews during its original release, as well as many additional ones from horror fans over the following decades.
If you’re looking for more scary stuff, you can also pick up the Universal Horror Collection Volume 4 Blu-ray set, which includes the titles Night Key (1937), Night Monster (1942), The Climax (1944) and House of Horrors (1946), featuring the likes of Bela Lugosi and Boris Karloff. Three of the four movies have been upgraded with 2K scans from either a fine grain film element or the inter-positive itself. All of the films arrive with a film historian commentary as well as publicity materials and other goodies.
Kino have a ton of titles as well, including the Blu-ray discs, Alice Guy Blache Vol. 1: The Gaumont Years (1897 – 1907) and Alice Guy Blache Vol. 2: The Solax Years (1911 – 1914). She was an early pioneer in cinema who made a string of successful and popular silent pictures in France, expanding storytelling and editing techniques, ultimately helping to advance the format through its earliest years. Each volume contains 15 or more shorts that run the gamut between drama and comedy.
Getting back into horror pictures, you can also purchase a Blu-ray of the Italian effort, Cannibal Apocalypse (1980). This one is about an infection that turns average citizens into flesh-craving lunatics who run through the sewers of Atlanta. The uncut version of the feature is arriving with a new 4K restoration, an audio commentary with a film historian, an interview with one of the cast members, a video tour of the filming locations, as well as an alternate US opening and the European and Japanese trailers. If you enjoy cheesy, early 80s Italian horror flicks, you may want to check it out.
Kino also have a Special Edition Blu-ray of the World War II action film, Force 10 from Navarone (1978). It’s actually a sequel to the book and 1961 movie, The Guns of Navarone, and details a different team of commandos on a suicide mission as they are tasked with destroying a dam in order to take out a Nazi base. The movie has a great cast that includes Robert Shaw, a pre-stardom Harrison Ford, Carl Weathers, Franco Nero, Barbara Bach and Richard Kiel. The film has been given a new 2K master and arrives with a new film historian audio commentary and trailer.
The distributor has another Blu-ray called The Intrigue: The Films of Julia Crawford Ivers (1916). This is another set of important films from a female moviemaker in the early days of cinema. She worked for Paramount and directed several well-received shorts and features for the studio. The disc includes four of her efforts made during a single year. It arrives with a historian commentary track and an essay on the filmmaker and her work.
And there’s more. They also have a Blu-ray of Man in the Shadow (1957), an action-packed thriller starring Orson Welles and Jeff Chandler about a sheriff facing off against a murderous rancher. Speaking of thrillers, you can now pick up A Pure Formality (1994). This title involves a crime writer with amnesia who is found close to a dead body. A police interrogator who happens to be a fan of the author is tasked with interviewing the author and getting to the truth. This film from Guiseppe Tornatore (Cinema Paradiso) stars Gerard Depardieu and Roman Polanski and features a score by Ennio Morricone. They are also releasing the thriller, The Runner Stumbles (1979). It stars Dick Van Dyke as a priest accused of murdering a nun. All three of these Blu-rays arrive with movie expert commentary tracks and trailers.
Criterion are delivering another Spike Lee titles with their Blu-ray of Bamboozled (2000). It’s a satire that takes a look at racism in popular culture. The plot follows an African-American network producer who tries to bring back the practice of using blackface in order to stir up controversy and ratings. Thing do not go according to plan and the horrific stereotype begins proving more popular than anticipated. The well-reviewed feature has been given a 2K digital restoration approved by the cinematographer and director, as a 2001 filmmaker commentary track. The disc also includes a new conversation between Lee and a film critic, numerous interviews with cast and crew members, a piece on the history of Blackface and the Minstrel Show, a lengthy making-of, deleted scenes, music videos and loads of publicity materials.
Mill Creek are always an affordable option for movie enthusiasts, offering titles on Blu-ray at a low cost. This week, their releases include a Wesley Snipes Double Feature that contains The Fan (1996) and The Contractor (2007). The first film is definitely the more notable title of the two on the disc. In the movie, the actor portrays a baseball player who finds himself stalked by an obsessive fan. Robert De Niro plays the psychotic follower.
Andy Sidaris was an independent filmmaker known for his corny, low-budget action flicks made in the 1980s and 1990s. Mill Creek has slowly been releasing his titles on Blu-ray over the past year and this week are adding two new ones to their catalog. The first is Fit to Kill (1993) and it’s about a pair of female agents trying to protect a rare diamond from a sinister jewel thief. The second is Hard Hunted (1992). This title features more skilled ladies out to stop an international criminal from obtaining a missing nuclear-weapons trigger.
Those looking for something in the suspense genre can try The Nines (2007). It is a thriller about an actor holed up in a secluded mansion who begins experiences strange events. Soon, he even begins seeing visions of himself. He sets out to solve the mystery of what is happening. The feature stars Ryan Reynolds.
Finally, those who enjoy Japanese giant monster flicks can check out recent remakes of some classic properties. Ultraman is an enormous, robotic hero dating back to the 1970s who fights alien invaders and prehistoric creatures. The recent remakes, Ultraman Orb: The Movie (2017) and its sequel, Ultraman Geed: The Movie (2018) are both being made available on Blu-ray. I know absolutely nothing about these recent Japanese monster flicks, but fans can check them out and see if they match up with the original.
Dark Force Entertainment are releasing Freeway 2: Confessions of a Trickbaby (1999) on Blu-ray. This dark comedy is a sequel to the filmmaker’s 1996 cult hit, Freeway, in which a pedophile kidnaps a tough juvenile delinquent and gets far more than he bargained for. The sequel features Natasha Lyonne and Vincent Gallo and features a slightly different scenario. This time out, a teenage prostitute and serial killer team up and go on the rampage.
In addition, the distributor is putting out a Blu-ray of the action flick, Point Doom (2000). It involves a Hollywood talent agent whose new girlfriend thrusts him into a dangerous world of crime and drugs. The notable cast includes the likes of Richard Grieco, Andrew Dice Clay, Angie Everhart, Zach Galligan, Ice-T and Sebastian Bach.
You can also pick up Raw Courage (1984) on Blu-ray courtesy of Scorpion Releasing. Also known as Courage, this is a little suspense picture about marathon runners training in the New Mexico desert who are suddenly targeted by a right-wing militia. Naturally must fight (and presumably run) their way back to safety. It got an impressive cast that includes Ronny Cox, Art Hindle, M Emmet Walsh and Lois Chiles. The movie has been given a 2K remastering and includes an interview with Ronny Cox (who also wrote and produced the film).
Universal are releasing and re-releasing a great number of old catalog movies. They include the films About Time (2013), Couples Retreat (2009), Dumb and Dumber To (2014), Get on Up (2014), Moonrise Kingdom (2012), Nightcrawler (2014), Pillow Talk (1959), Silent House (2011), Sudden Death (1995) and Unfriended (2014). If I were to offer some recommendations, About Time is a really effective British rom-com involving time travel from writer/director Richard Curtis (he was writer/director on Love Actually, and also wrote Yesterday, Bridget Jones’s Diary and Four Weddings and a Funeral). The father and son relationship featured may even bring a tear to the eye.
Moonrise Kingdom from Wes Anderson (The Grand Budapest Hotel, Rushmore) is also a lot of quirky fun, and Nightcrawler is a very disturbing and incredibly effective piece about a broken mind attempting to make a career for himself in the world of news broadcasting. If you enjoy goofy action pics, Sudden Death is an amusingly over-the-top Jean-Claude Van Damme vehicle about an ex-fireman who not only saves the President from terrorists during the final game of the Stanley Cup playoffs, but also ends up on the ice trying to help his team win the big trophy.
Finally, Warner Archive has Blu-rays of the Gregory Peck western, The Stalking Moon (1968) and the cartoon Tom & Jerry: Golden Collection Volume 1 (1940 – 2005).
You Know, For Kids!
Here are some titles that might keep the kids entertained.
Jumanji: The Next Level
Tom & Jerry: Golden Collection Volume 1 (1940 – 2005)
Ultraman Geed: The Movie (2018)
Ultraman Orb: The Movie (2017)
On the Tube!
It’s a slow week for TV-themed releases, but here’s what you can pick up.
Crashing: Season 3
Take care out there and have fun watching stuff!