Welcome to another busy edition of new releases on Blu-ray and DVD. There’s plenty on offer this time out, including a high-profile release, as well as some fascinating indie flicks. So, since you likely can’t go out to the movies this week, be sure to give one of these titles a try!
Big New Releases!
1275 Days – This documentary tells the story of a teenager from Indiana who got involved with the wrong crowd. One evening, he and his four friends attempted to break in to a home they believed was unoccupied. The group were met with gunfire. A youth was killed and the subject of this film was shot in the leg. Despite actually being unarmed and one of those shot, he and the others were convicted of Felony Murder and sentenced to 55 years in jail. A crew interviews the remorseful teen and follows his family and local community for 3½ years as they attempt to appeal the conviction and get his prison term reduced. The movie investigates the failings of the juvenile incarceration system. It is debuting on disc, so there aren’t any reviews available as of yet.
Animation Outlaws – While animated shorts and feature films are common across the world, this documentary details a different time when there wasn’t a lot to choose from besides whatever Disney was releasing. The flick tells the life story or two men named Craig “Spike” Decker and Mike Gribble who founded an animation showcase under the Spike & Mike banner. It allowed audiences to see all kinds of creative work in the field that wasn’t finding wide distribution. Their outlet helped establish the careers of pioneers like Nick Park, Bill Plympton, Peter Lord, Mike Judge, Andrew Stanton and many others. Reviews were good, stating that it was a pleasant ode to underground animation and the work of these two men in getting helping it reach an audience. Besides the names listed above, Seth Green, Weird Al Yankovic and many others provide their comments about the brand.
Bacurau – Set in Brazil in the near future, this narrative feature involves a woman whose grandmother dies. She returns home to her backcountry matriarchal village in order to pay her respects. Upon her arrival, the protagonist is shocked to discover that the town’s water supply has been cut off by enemies. Soon, their entire community disappears from satellite maps, leaving the locals on their own to face off against this dangerous threat. Critics were very impressed with this Portuguese-language action/thriller, which won several awards at film festivals last year. They called it a bloody, bizarre and compelling modern-day western that also served as an interesting examination of gun-culture and the current political climate in the country itself. The cast includes Barbara Colen, Sonia Braga, Thomas Aquino, Udo Kier and Jonny Mars.
Bloodshot – The latest from action star Vin Diesel is a comic-book adaptation. The plot follows a soldier who is killed in action, but is resurrected by a corporate entity. Given the name Bloodshot, he comes back with remarkable powers of strength and the ability to heal instantly from any injury. Now a super-soldier, the title character decides to go after the man who murdered his wife. However, the hero soon begins to question his own memories and wonders if they haven’t been implanted by those who created him. The press was not very taken with this picture. A few said that it delivered some dopey thrills and at least followed the source material closely. Still, the vast majority stated that the movie didn’t take advantage of its concept and offered nothing that was new or exciting. It also stars Elza Gonzalez, Sam Heughan, Toby Kebbell and Guy Pearce.
Book Week – An arrogant, alcoholic high school English teacher and aspiring novelist thinks his life is finally about to change course after his latest work finds a publisher and is set to be released. However, in the week leading up to the big day, a situation arises at school and his professional writing pursuits begin to go awry until things begin falling apart. This dark comedy from Australia won an award in its homeland for Best Indie Film and played at numerous film festivals over the past year. Word about the flick has been mostly positive. A few have complained that it was painful and frustrating to watch the lead get himself into so much trouble. Still, most noted that the performances from all involved were excellent and there were compliments directed at the film’s comedic use of incredibly awkward situations. Alan Dukes headlines the movie.
Castle in the Ground – This drama opens with a teenager losing his mom and grieving. He befriends a charismatic but troubled neighbor, who introduces the youngster to the dangerous world of opioids. While the drug initially provides the protagonist with some escape from his personal troubles, he becomes addicted and finds himself slowly being drawn in to a violent and threatening world. This feature received slightly more positive notices than negative ones. The downbeat write-ups stated the movie was well-intentioned but poorly plotted and didn’t detail anything about the epidemic that viewers weren’t already familiar with. Still, the consensus was that the performers were excellent and accurately detailed how easily one could fall prey to a deadly addiction. The cast includes Alex Wolff, Imogen Poots, Tom Cullen, Keir Gilchrist, Neve Campbell and Kiowa Gordon
Enter the Fat Dragon – A Hong Kong Police Special Task Force agent has a really rough few months in this action/comedy. After being dumped by his fiancé, the muscle-ripped hero begins eating in despair for weeks on end. When he’s assigned to transport a well-known criminal to Japan for trial, those around him (including the bad guys) are surprised by his sudden weight gain. The protagonist is forced to do his job and face obstacles with a rounder and less threatening appearance. Reaction was split towards this foreign-language martial arts remake of the 1978 Sammo Hung flick. About half thought that while the star’s make-up made him almost unrecognizable, the movie wasn’t as good as the original and resorted to tired, juvenile gags. Just as many admired the fight choreography and performances, calling it an amusing, fun-filled lark. It stars Donnie Yen, Niki Chow, Teresa Mo and Jing Wong.
In Bright Axiom – It’s a busy week for non-fiction film enthusiasts. This “documentary/fantasy” feature details a bizarre social experiment in which a group of subjects are given an invitation to a specific location. Those who show up are put through a series of dark mazes and puzzles in which truth and fiction become indistinguishable. Eventually, it all leads to The Latitude Society… whatever that might be. Critics were generally more upbeat than negative about the film. About a quarter complained that they didn’t buy into what was being shown and thought that large portions of the movie were staged, making all the narration unreliable. The rest commented that they weren’t sure exactly what they were seeing or if it was convincing, but the bizarre approach to the material had kept their attention.
Reborn – In this independent horror picture, a stillborn baby is stolen by a morgue attendant and brought back to life using electro-kinetic power. The infant grows up in captivity and on her 16th birthday, finally decides to leave her quarters and find her birth mother. Of course, this leads to all sorts of strange people trying to stop her, resulting in bloodshed as the teen makes her way back home. This effort played at various film festivals over the past year and divided audiences and reviewers. Half described it as a poor man’s take on Carrie and suggested that it wasn’t very tense or scary. Just as many admired it as a campy and enjoyably nutty fun B-picture that played homage to various genre classics. Kayleigh Gilbert, Barbara Crampton, Michael Pare and Rae Dawn Chong headline the feature, along with an appearance by Peter Bogdanovich.
Suburban Wildlife – If you want to focus on Australian films this week, you can add a second title to the list. This drama follows four long-time friends from the suburbs who graduate from high school and realize that all of their lives are about to change. They decide to embark on a road trip through smaller sections of the country and come to terms with what will transpire and how it might affect their relationships. This title played was screened in its homeland and was even a Best Feature nominee at the 2019 Sydney Film Festival, but hasn’t really played in this part of the world. That means that interested parties will have to take part in the journey with limited knowledge of what they might encounter. The cast includes Maddy McWilliam, Hannah Lehmann, Priscilla Douelhy and Madeleine Jurd.
The Swing of Things – A groom planning a grand wedding for his bride decides to surprise her by setting up the ceremony, reception and honeymoon in Jamaica. Unfortunately, he neglects to read the fine print and as the couple arrives, they realize that they are at a resort for swingers. Goofiness ensues as the couple find themselves interacting with and being propositioned by eccentric vacationers. This flick is making its debut on streaming platforms and on disc. Right now, there are absolutely no reviews for it, suggesting that the distributor may not be all that excited or interested in what the press has to say about it. One or two online postings from those who managed to get a peek aren’t good, calling the movie badly edited and unfunny. It stars Chord Overstreet, Olivia Culpo, Adelaide Kane, Luke Wilson and Jon Lovitz.
The Taking of Deborah Logan – In this found-footage horror flick, a young student doing her PhD thesis film on Alzheimer’s disease makes arrangements to follows an elderly woman suffering from the condition and her daughter, who serves as a caregiver. The 3-month shoot begins, and strange behavior is quickly witnessed. In fact, the matriarch starts acting in inconsistent and disturbing ways, leading the filmmakers to believe that she may not be suffering from dementia. The feature received decent notices from the horror-related press publications. One or two critiqued the movie for having too many implausible elements and feeling like a run-of-the-mill scare flick. Yet most admired the picture for its performances and moody atmosphere. The cast includes Jill Larson, Anne Ramsay, Michelle Ang and Brett Gentile.
VHYes – Some fans of 1980s flicks are really willing to go all-in to perfectly recreate the era. This independent comedy is shot entirely on Beta and VHS. It follows the exploits of a 12-year-old who decides to record his favorite late-night programs. He soon learns that he has accidentally taped over his parent’s wedding video, leaving him in a lot of trouble if he can’t figure out what to do about it. In the meantime, viewers are treated to comedic, 80s-set recreations of home shopping clips, art-specials, censored pornography, and nefarious true-crime tales. Response toward this flick was very upbeat. A contingent did assert that it tried too hard and that the segments and wraparound were uneven. Still, the majority appreciated most of the skits and enjoyed its unpredictable, experimental approach to the material. It stars Kerri Kenney, Thomas Lennon, Charlyne Yi, Mason McNulty, Mark Proksch, Tim Robbins and Susan Surandon.
Blasts from the Past!
There is an incredible variety this week of older films being updated and upgraded to Blu-ray. The first comes from La-La Land Entertainment and is a 20th Anniversary Limited Edition for the superhero comedy, The Specials (2000). Don’t remember this title? Well, that’s perfectly understandable, since this feature received a very limited release and didn’t make much of an impact during its original run. The story follows a group of heroes with eccentric abilities and focuses on infighting within the group that is leading to a potential break-up. It has gained a cult following over the years, likely because it features some incredible talent in front of and behind the camera. Most notably, the movie was written by and co-stars James Gunn (Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 1 & 2) and is directed by Craig Mazin (creator and writer of the award-winning HBO series, Chernobyl). You’ll get the film remastered in 2K and receive bonuses including two remarkable commentary tracks recorded in 2000 and 2004 from Gunn, the crew and some of the cast. You’ll also get a special effects featurette, deleted scenes, the full wedding video and toy commercial from the feature, as well as behind-the-scenes photos and the trailer. There’s plenty of crazy material included and you can read a full review of the disc here.
Arrow Academy are putting out a Special Edition Blu-ray of the chilling and disturbing war drama, Hiroshima (1953). Using eye-witness accounts from child survivors of the atomic blast, it depicts a story of endurance involving a school impacted by the detonation. Many of those who lived through the event appear in the movie. Extras include an archived interview with one of the stars, a powerful feature-length documentary called Hiroshima Nagasaki Download (2011) with an introduction from the director, as well as a video essay on the film.
MVD are offering up plenty of genre films. This week’s selections include the French “Nazisploitation” flick, Nathalie: Escape from Hell (1978). They also have the feature film debut of Pamela Anderson in the steamy B-movie thriller, Snapdragon (1993). There isn’t much information about these releases and so its currently uncertain whether or not any bonuses will be included.
Shout! Factory are releasing a Collector’s Edition Blu-ray of the Hammer vampire flick, Kiss of the Vampire (1963). It’s a piece about newlyweds whose car breaks down. Unfortunately for them, they’re taken in by a family of vampires and have to resists their hypnotic charms and try to escape. The film interpositive has been scanned in 2K and is presented in two aspect ratios (1.85:1 and 1.66:1). You’ll get a new film historian commentary track, as well as two specials on the composer of the film’s score and the production designer. Additionally, the release comes with a previously recorded cast member commentary, a TV cut with optional movie expert commentary, additional scenes, and publicity materials.
They also have The Missing (2003) on Blu-ray. This period thriller with western elements from Ron Howard involves a family living in the wilderness of New Mexico being tormented by a hooded phantom. It stars Cate Blanchett, Tommy Lee Jones and Evan Rachel Wood. You’ll get both the theatrical and extended cuts of the movie (the latter has an additional 17 minutes of footage), as well as a director commentary, deleted scenes, an alternate ending, outtakes, behind-the-scenes featurettes, some short films by Ron Howard and a trailer.
Kino also have a great many discs coming your way. There’s a box set called Film Noir: The Dark Side of Cinema IV (1946 – 1955). This one has the titles Calcutta (1946), An Act of Murder (1948) and Six Bridges to Cross (1955). Each film arrives with a movie historian commentary track, archival TV promos and trailers.
Truth be told, they have another classic film noir for purchase on Blu-ray. You can pick up the Burt Lancaster effort, Kiss the Blood Off My Hands (1948). The movie has been given a 2K restoration and also comes with an expert audio track giving background information about the production and a trailer. They also have the early German romance film, Madchen in Uniform (1931), which also contains a critic commentary. If you like classic comedy, you can pick up a Blu-ray of the W.C. Fields flick, Never Give a Sucker an Even Break (1941). This slapstick effort follows the star playing an actor getting into all sorts of trouble while working on an outrageous Hollywood feature. It also comes with a commentary a vintage documentary on Fields and some trailers.
Additionally, they are delivering a Special Edition Blu-ray of the Bob Hope/Jane Russell wild west comedy The Paleface (1948). It’s about a timid dentist gets married and then learns that his new bride is Calamity Jane and that she’s using him as a cover for her illegal activities. It comes with a film historian audio track, footage of Hope entertaining troops and a command performance from 1945, a sing-along feature and a trailer. And they have western auteur John Ford’s first feature, the silent film, Straight Shooting (1917). This disc has a commentary featuring a Ford authority, a fragment of the director’s follow-up to this film (which is considered lost) and a video essay on the picture.
Criterion have a very exciting Blu-ray set called Bruce Lee: His Greatest Hits (1971 – 1978). What are the contents, you may ask? Well, you’ll get The Big Boss (1971), Fist of Fury (1972), The Way of the Dragon (1972), Enter the Dragon (1973) and Game of Death (1978). As far as Enter the Dragon goes, you’ll receive 2K restorations of the rarely seen theatrical version and the extended cut of the feature. All of the other titles have been given 4K upgrades. Those who pick up the set will receive multiple soundtracks in various languages, film expert audio commentaries on all the movies, a high definition presentation of Game of Death II (1981), a sequel to the last title in the set. There is a stack of interviews with the producers of these movies and a Lee biographer, as well as a program about how some of the flick were dubbed into English. Additionally, there’s a discussion about the “Brucesploiation” movement that followed, a documentary about the making of Enter the Dragon, multiple programs and docs about Lee, an interview with his widow and admirers and tons of promotional materials. There’s even more, but it can’t all be listed here. Looks like a phenomenal release.
If you enjoy the work of Preston Sturges (Sullivan’s Travels, Unfaithfully Yours), you’ll likely want to pick up Criterion’s new Blu-ray of The Lady Eve (1941), an Oscar-nominated screwball comedy with Barbara Stanwyck and Henry Fonda. The movie has been restored in 4K and arrives with a Peter Bogdanovich introduction, a film professor commentary, an interview with Sturges’ biographer and the director’s son, a video essay on the film, a look at the impressive costume designs, a radio adaptation of the movie and an audio recording of a song from a stage musical that was based on the film but never made it to the stage.
Moving back to genre pictures, Mill Creek have more Andy Sidaris B-movies featuring scantily clad, big-haired heroines taking down villainous organizations. This week’s titles include Day of the Warrior (1996) and Return to Savage Beach (1998).
Scorpion have put out some great Blu-rays of smaller genre films recently and the trend is continuing. Those interested should note that you are best off ordering their releases directly from the Ronin Flix website. This week’s releases include 3:15: The Moment of Truth (1986), in which a teenager played by Adam Baldwin leaves his gang at high school. The kid (who looks like he’s in his 20s) must fend for himself and fight his old friends off to survive. There are plenty of famous faces here in supporting roles. Should you decide to pick it up, you’ll get a new HD master of the movie, an interview with co-star Danny De La Paz and a trailer. The Cycle Savages (1969) stars Bruce Dern and features a wild gang of bikers terrorizing motorists and causing damage wherever they ride. This release comes with a bonus interview with co-star Maray Ayres.
If B-movie thrillers are more to your liking, you can check out Night Visitor (1989) on Blu-ray. It’s about a kid who witnesses his neighbor get murdered by a satanic killer (who happens to be a teacher at his high school). Elliott Gould and Richard Roundtree co-star. The movie has received a new HD master and includes interviews with writer Randal Viscovich, director Rupert Hitzig and editor Glenn Erickson, as well as a trailer. And those who couldn’t get enough thrills from the 1984 Cannon Pictures hit Missing in Action can enjoy David Carradine taking down some of the same bad guy extras in P.O.W. The Escape (1986). The production comes from the very same studio, who seemed to literally be ripping themselves off with this effort. Anyway, this Blu-ray offers a new HD master, interviews with director Gideon Amir, screenwriter James Bruner and stuntman Steve Lambert and plenty of cheesy thrills.
Massacre Video have a curious Blu-ray of Mr. No Legs (1978) aka Killers Die Hard. The flick stars Richard Jaeckel and features two cops trying to take down a well-armed mob enforcer who is confined to a wheelchair…with double-barreled shotguns built into its body. This crazy feature (which is probably in very poor taste) includes a wealth of extras. There’s a 2K restoration of a rare French print of the feature, a fully uncut version from a 35mm print, an interview with the director, an extensive stills gallery, trailers as well as “more surprises” from the press release.
Additionally, Paramount are offering a 25th Anniversary Edition of Clueless (1995). Unfortunately, it appears to be a repackaged version of the 2012 Blu-ray. This release includes a look at the cast then and now, a discussion about creative writing with writer/director Amy Heckerling, a featurette on the fashions, a bit on the movie’s use of language, a Driver’s Ed bit and stories from the cast and crew.
Finally, Film Movement is releasing the Italian period drama, L’Innocente (1976). The disc includes an HD restoration of the movie and this edition marks its first ever appearance on Blu-ray in North America.
You Know, For Kids!
If you’re looking for some kid-friendly material, here is what is arriving on store shelves.
Berenstain Bears: Bear Family Vacation (PBS Kids)
On the Tube!
And here are the week’s TV-themed releases.
12 Monkeys: The Complete Series
The Greatest Bond (PBS)
Legion of Superheroes: The Complete Series (2006 – 2008 animated series) (Warner Archive)
Love in the Sun (Hallmark TV-movie)
The Magicians: The Complete Series
The Magicians: Season 5
The Red Shadows: Exclusive Series (Sundance Channel)