Welcome back to another look at new releases arriving on Blu-ray and DVD. This another busy edition with some big and small films of interest. So, if you can’t make it out to the movies this week, be sure to give one of these titles a try!
Big New Releases!
The Battle of Jangsari – The Korean War serves as the backdrop of this movie. It follows a young and inexperienced battalion of South Korean fighters tasked with a secret mission to help liberate Incheon. The men enter the fray unprepared and with little food or supplies. An American war correspondent covers their trials in the hopes of getting attention from the international community. Reviews were divided on this war picture. Half stated that the movie had some good battle scenes but relied too much on over-the-top personal melodrama. Just as many took note of these problems, but found the excellent action sequences and interesting story enough to earn it a minor recommendation. The cast includes Kim Myung-min, Choi Min-ho and Megan Fox.
Harriet – This biopic tells the story of Harriet Tubman, who married a free man in the state of Maryland. When the owner of the plantation decides not to release Harriet and sells her instead, she fights for her freedom and becomes an abolitionist. Her escape and work with the Underground Railroad helped change the course of history and end slavery. The press liked the movie, although stopped short of raving about it. Those who criticized the picture liked the lead performance but stated that the subject’s life was overly simplified into a very conventional biopic structure. More said that while flawed, the performances were strong and that the story of this figure’s struggle was still worth watching. It stars Oscar-nominee Cynthia Erivo, Leslie Odam Jr., Joe Alwyn and Janelle Monáe.
Midnight Traveler – Afghan filmmaker Hussan Fazili unexpectedly becomes the subject of his own film after his previous non-fiction documentary on former Taliban commander Mullah Tur Jan ended up putting him on their most wanted list. Forced into becoming a refugee with his wife and children, the family recorded their entire, perilous three-year journey through the Balkan route using nothing but their cell phones. Critics were unanimously impressed with the images captured. They called it a stunning and accurate record of the experiences of refugees. In fact, they said it put a personal face and story to the individuals going through the process and recommended that everyone watch it.
Motherless Brooklyn – An employee at private detective firm suffering from Tourette’s Syndrome is rocked after his boss is killed while on the job. Determined to find out what happened and why, the protagonist begins to take on the investigation himself and ends up uncovering a massive conspiracy involving powerful figures within New York’s city council. This period drama earned slightly more positive reviews than negative ones. Those who didn’t like the film said that the message presented was a good one, but that the film was overlong, overacted and cliched. The more upbeat notices appreciated the attention paid to the characters and enjoyed the movie’s look and atmosphere. It features Edward Norton, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Alec Baldwin, Bobby Cannavale, Willem Dafoe and Bruce Willis. To read this site’s review of the picture, click here.
Ms. Purple – This independent drama tells the story of two grown children living in the Koreatown district of Los Angeles. Abandoned by their mother and raised by their dad, the pair are brought together after their father becomes terminally ill. Now estranged from his parent, the young man returns seeking closure, bringing up issues within the family that have bothered him for years. Response was enthusiastic for this little feature. A small contingent felt that the style of the film reminded them of better features and didn’t feel like the movie tied up the themes it raised in an appropriate manner. Still, the majority complimented the performances and found it to be a moving and bittersweet portrait of a troubled family. Tiffany Chu, Teddy Lee, Octavio Pizano and James Kang headline the feature.
My Name is Myeisha – Inspired by the 1998 police shooting of California teen Tyisha Miller, this unusual project begins with the lead character being shot. As this occurs, viewers are taken inside the youngster’s head as she relives experiences in her life and imagines what the future could have held for her. Interestingly enough, these visions are depicted using musical numbers, spoken word poetry and dance. Critics liked the movie a great deal. There was a little group who believed that the events played out much more effectively in the stage version than in the film, but the consensus was that the movie was unique and that the cast were excellent in performing the unusual material. The cast includes Rhaechyl Walker, John Merchant, Dominique Toney and Dee Dee Stephens.
Parasite – The Oscar frontrunner for the year’s Best Foreign-Language film is this South Korean feature about a lower-class family who fib on their resumes to gain employment with at the lavish household of a wealthy family. They do their best not to give their true identities away, but as they learn more about the people they work for, it becomes clear that the bosses may not be exactly as they appear either. This feature from writer/director Bong Joon Ho (The Host, Snowpiercer, Okja) earned rave reviews from the press, who called it a knockout and one of the year’s best movies. They complimented it as a gorgeously shot and tense film filled with timely and biting social commentary. It stars Kang-ho Song, Sun-kyun Lee, Yeo-jeong Jo and Woo-sik Choi.
Terminator: Dark Fate – Every time a character in this series thinks that they’ve set things right, another killer cyborg arrives from the future to mess things up. Such is the case with the latest sequel, which finds a new and improved liquid terminator arriving to exterminate a person who will cause the robots trouble in the future. Actually, the press was reasonably positive about the sixth flick in this franchise. Those who didn’t care for it wrote that while the action scenes were well orchestrated, it all felt like a rehash that didn’t add anything new to the formula. Still, a larger percentage thought this effort was better than the previous two sequels and enjoyed seeing the two original stars return to, well, blow a lot of things up. Linda Hamilton, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Mackenzie David, Natalia Reyes and Gabriel Luna headline the film.
Blasts from the Past!
Plenty of great older titles are making their Blu-ray debuts as well. Fans of 80s, straight-to-video slashers might be interested in Arrow Video’s new Special Edition release of Edge of the Axe (1988). It’s a Spanish slasher about an axe-wielding madman terrorizing a California community. Up until now, this movie has only been available on VHS. It’s making its disc debut with a 2K restoration of the film in widescreen and comes with two commentary tracks (one featuring the star and another with genre experts), as well as interviews with the leads and make-up effects man. If you’d like to know more about it, you can click on a full review of the release right here.
The company’s other line, Arrow Academy, are putting out the film-noir, Black Angel (1946). It’s a mystery about a nightclub singer who is murdered. All of the lady’s associates are suspected and so one of them teams up with the deceased’s ex-husband to try and prove their innocence as well as catch the real killer. The feature has been given a new restoration from the original film elements. It also comes with a movie scholar commentary, a video appreciation with a film historian and the trailer along with publicity still and other materials.
Shout! Factory have plenty of Blu-rays coming your way. The first is the horror flick, Body Parts (1991). It’s about a man who gets into a car accident and loses his arm. He gets a replacement limb thanks to a new, experimental procedure. However, he soon discovers that the donor was a maniac and finds that his arm has a life of its own. This Blu-ray comes with a number of extras, including an audio commentary with director Eric Red (who also wrote The Hitcher and Near Dark), and an interview with the filmmaker, as well as discussions with supporting cast members, deleted gore footage with optional commentary, trailers, TV spots and a still gallery.
Let’s Scare Jessica to Death (1974) is a creepy little film about a woman recovering after a nervous breakdown who begins having horrifying and disturbing visions of an undead girl. Is she imagining it, or are these supernatural events real? It’s an effective chiller and the Blu-ray provides a commentary track with the director and producer, an interview with the film’s composer, a discussion with a critic and film historian on its effectiveness. There’s also a featurette about the movie’s locations as well as publicity materials.
Some years ago, Shout! put out a Blu-ray of The Slumber Party Massacre (1982). This week, they’re re-releasing it as a special Steelbook. You’ll get the same disc packaged in an impressive case with new artwork.
And the distributor is also putting out a Blu-ray of the dark comedy, Very Bad Things (1998). In some respects, it has a similar plot to The Hangover, but goes to grimmer and gorier lengths for laughs. The all-star cast includes Christian Slater, Jon Favreau, Cameron Diaz, Jeremy Piven and Daniel Stern. This release comes with a film critic audio track, new interviews with co-stars Piven and Stern, a theatrical trailer and a still gallery.
Criterion have some interesting Blu-rays as well. The first is All About My Mother (1999) from Spanish filmmaker Pedro Almodovar (Pain and Glory), which won Best Foreign Language Film some twenty years ago. It’s about a who loses her son in a tragic accident and decides to search and reconnect with her child’s other parent. The disc includes a 2K digital restoration of the movie, a 52-minute documentary on the production, a television program from the year of release featuring the director and his own mother and a 48 minute Q&A session with Almodovar that occurred after a 2019 screening in Madrid.
They also have the Sidney Lumet war drama, Fail Safe (1964), which plays on the actions of behind-the-scenes government officials and their part in almost starting nuclear war. The film has been given a 4K restoration and the disc comes with a director commentary, an interview with a film critic about Cold War films, a short documentary about the feature from 2000 and an essay on its historical significance.
Sony are also releasing a pair of Blu-rays. The first is for the Jimmy Stewart/Kim Novak romantic comedy, Bell, Book and Candle (1958) about a modern day witch who fall in love with her neighbor. They also have the thriller, Trial by Jury (1994), which stars Joanne Whalley as a jury member in a mobster trial whose family is threatened if she doesn’t vote for acquittal.
Vinegar Syndrome have a series of 80s horror pictures hitting Blu-ray. The titles include Berserker (1987), Beyond the Door III (1989) and Flesh Eating Mothers (1988). Additionally, one of their earlier releases from a few weeks back, Tammy and the T-Rex (1994), ended up being delayed. It’s now arriving this week and includes the same extras mentioned previously. And the distributor is also making the horror/comedy Zombie Island Massacre (1984) available in high definition.
Finally, Warner Archive have added a couple of Blu-ray to their made-to-order release catalogue. They include the horror/comedy, Two on a Guillotine (1965). It which features a young woman who must stay in the house of a deceased magician if she wants to inherit his fortune. They are also presenting the Jane Russell action adventure film, Underwater (1955) on Blu-ray.
You Know, For Kids!
Here are the week’s releases geared towards young tykes.
4 Kid Favorites: Looney Tunes Movies (DVD)
On the Tube!
And these are the TV-themed releases.
Ballers: Season 5
Crossword Mysteries: Proposing Murder (Hallmark Mystery)
My Life is Murder: Series 1
NATURE: Bears (PBS)
NOVA: Dead Sea Scroll Detectives (PBS)