Welcome back to another look at highlights arriving on Blu-ray and DVD. Like the past few edition, this one is chock full of variety, with plenty of features both new and old vying for your attention. So, since you likely can’t make it out to movies this week, be sure to check out some of these titles!
Big New Releases!
The Invisible Man – Here’s another title that went directly from theaters to streaming several weeks ago for a pricey sum. Now, it’s being made available on disc. This revisionist take on the classic Universal monster tale follows an abused woman trying to escape her husband’s wrath. Unfortunately for her, he’s a scientist who appears to have developed the secret to invisibility. He uses it to torment her after she tries to start a new life. Reviews were very upbeat for this sci-fi/horror update. There was a small contingent who thought the film was hampered by too many plot holes and felt it ultimately resorted to typical genre film clichés. However, all were impressed by the lead performance and the technical skills on display during the attacks, calling the movie an interesting update on the famous character. It stars Elizabeth Moss, Aldis Hodge, Storm Reid, Michael Dorman and Oliver Jackson-Cohen. To read this site’s review, click here.
Isolani – In this independent thriller from the UK, a 17-year-old single mother witnesses a murder. She is quickly pressured by the prosecutor to testify at the trial, but is suspicious of a police detective. Additionally, the lead finds those connected to the killing making equally persuasive arguments and threats. The young parent, feeling like a pawn and concerned for the safety of her child, must decide how to proceed while keeping her family safe. This film is debuting on disc in this part of the world, so there aren’t many write-ups available. Still, it has played at numerous film festivals. It was nominated for several prizes at these screenings, even winning some awards for its cinematography and performances. The cast includes Kate McLaughin, Catriona Evans, Jim Sweeney and Gianni Capaldi.
I Will Make You Mine – The intertwining lives of three different woman are followed in this LA-set drama. Viewers are introduced to a wife living in luxury who must endure a cheating husband, a university professor trying to balance her busy career while caring for her children, as well as a struggling musician. These ladies all share one commonality, a past relationship with a famous singer-songwriter. When he arrives in town and tries to reconnect with all of them, their pasts come roaring back. This little feature earned plenty of praise from critics. In fact, there currently aren’t any negative notices for it presently. All of the reviews state that this is a well-acted, sensitively handled drama with believable characters. It features Lynn Chen, Yea-Ming Chen, Ayako Fujitani and Goh Nakamura.
The Man Standing Next – This foreign-language historical drama from South Korea is set in the 1970s when the country was under the authority of President Park. Park also ran the KCIA, a specially created government agency with complete autonomy over all other branches. When a former director of the KCIA decides to speak out and release his information and recordings about the organization to the public, it creates seismic ripples across the country. Most members of the press in North America haven’t seen the film, but those who have managed to check it out have been positive. They have written that this is a solid political drama film that plays like a South Korean version of All the President’s Men or The Parallax View. Byung-hun Lee, Sung-min Lee, Kwak Do-won and Hee-joon Lee headline the feature.
Once Were Brothers: Robbie Robertson and The Band – Musician Robbie Robertson is the subject of this documentary. It focuses in on his early life and the beginnings of his career, including his developing friendships with others in the industry, leading to the formation of The Band. The feature includes archival footage and photography, scenes of the group in concert, as well as interviews with the man himself and many others he spent time with. Consensus on the picture was very strong. There was a minor group who thought that the filmmakers were too in awe of their subject and that the 1978 feature The Last Waltz distilled The Band more effectively. Still, almost everyone stated that Robertson was a fascinating character, the footage included was great, and that this was an interesting and informative doc. Besides Robertson and The Band, you’ll also get new interview footage of Bruce Springsteen, Eric Clapton, Taj Mahal, Van Morrison, Bob Dylan and David Geffen.
Ouija Shark – In the mood for an uber-cheesy, no-budget B-movie? Then this title might present some laughs for genre movie fans. The plot involves a cadre of teenagers who find a Ouija board washed up on a beach. They decide to use it and accidentally summon a ghost shark that begins feasting on the local population. Thankfully, one of their dads is a spiritualist who decides to enter the spiritual realm and fight back against the toothy menace. The filmmakers are clearly going for laughs over scares. Some of the reviews that have popped up online state that it knows it’s extraordinarily dopey and tries to do the best it can with its limited resources. Still, might be fun to see a supernatural showdown between a ghost shark and an occult expert. The cast includes Steph Goodwin, Peter Whittaker and John Migliore.
Pain Warriors – The promotional synopsis for this documentary states that the film examines another Opioid Crisis affecting thousands of US and Canadian citizens… that of undertreated chronic pain. A synopsis for the film suggests that it investigates those who suffer from the condition and how they are negatively impacted due to regulations, a lack of insurance coverage and the inability to diagnose their condition properly (causing a recent rise in suicides). The filmmakers look at other cultures and offer suggestions on how to develop a more appropriate response to the issue. This picture has played a few small film festivals, but is generally making its debut on disc, so there aren’t any detailed reviews of the title available yet. Interested parties will just have to try it out without a recommendation.
Redemption – This foreign-language feature from Israel is about a retired rock band front-man who has completely given up his old life and settled down. Now a devoutly religious father to a six-year-old girl, the man gets horrible news where he learns that his daughter has contracted cancer. The condition forces him to consider reuniting with his bandmates for a reunion tour to earn cash, forcing him to come to grips with the breakup and the fact that his previous career may not have been so terrible. This film was released as Geula in its homeland and was nominated for several awards there. Critics here were also positive about the drama. They stated that while the concept itself provided nothing unexpected, it was well-acted and the characters were more intimate and believable here than in many films of its Ilk. It features Moshe Folkenflick and Emily Granin.
Wildlife – Released at the end of 2018 to critical acclaim and awards consideration, this drama was picked up by Criterion for its Blu-ray debut. It has taken them quite a while to put it out, but the film is finally appearing on disc this week. Set in the early 1960s, it follows a small-town boy forced to adapt to an uncomfortable family dynamic when his parents become estranged, leaving him in the middle of their conflict. As mentioned, response was very enthusiastic towards this feature, with the cast receiving a great deal of praise. One or two did find it too gloomy and downbeat to recommend. The majority stated that it authentically and expertly depicted a picturesque American family going up in flames, and allowed for all of the characters involved to behave imperfectly, adding great drama to the proceedings. Carey Mulligan, Jake Gyllenhaal, Ed Oxenbould and Bill Camp headline the film.
Blasts from the Past!
Wow, it has been hard to keep up with all of the catalog releases getting high definition upgrades recently, and this week is no exception. Arrow Video are getting the ball rolling with a Blu-ray of Blood Tide (1982) aka Bloodtide. This is a horror flick about a treasure hunter in Greece doing battle with a sea monster. It stars James Earl Jones, Jose Ferrer, Lila Kedrova and Martin Kove. The movie has been given a new restoration from a 4K scan of the original camera negative and it looks pretty darn sharp. Besides seeing a cheesy creature with crystal clear picture quality, you’ll also get an audio commentary with director/co-writer Nico Mastorakis (Island of Death, The Zero Boys) and an interview with the producer/co-writer. It may all be a little bit silly, but the flick certainly has it fans and should provide plenty of B-movie monster mayhem entertainment for those in the right frame of mind.
They also have the box set Blu-ray, Solid Metal Nightmares: The Films of Shinya Tsukamoto. It contains The Adventure of Denchu-Kozo (1987), Tetsuo: The Iron Man (1989), Tetsuo II: Body Hammer (1992), Tokyo Fist (1995), Bullet Ballet (1998), A Snake of June (2002), Vital (2004), Haze (2005), Kotoko (2011) and Killing (2018). In total, there are 10 movies contained from the filmmaker. The flicks have been given upgraded presentations and come with Japanese film expert commentaries, a career spanning interview with Tsukamoto, multiple featurettes on the artist’s style and his use of make-up and visual effects and more. Frankly, there’s so much here it’s impossible to list it all here, but if you’re into the moviemaker’s visually striking and unique body-horror features, you’ll be pleased with this release.
Kino have plenty of interesting releases as well. You can pick up a Blu-ray of the offbeat Gene Hackman/Barbara Streisand comedy All Night Long (1981), which comes with publicity materials and a new interview with screenwriter W.D. Richter (who also wrote the 1976 version of Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Big Trouble in Little China, and was the director of The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension).
Also available is a Blu-ray of the Steve Guttenberg coming-of-age comedy, The Chicken Chronicles (1977). It comes with a film historian audio commentary. Additionally, they are making the Christopher Lee narrated documentary In Search of Dracula (1975) available on Blur-ray with a new film historian bonus audio track.
Additionally, Kino are presenting the heist comedy A Man, a Woman and a Bank (1979) on disc. This feature stars Donald Sutherland and Brooke Adams. It comes with a director and producer commentary, a film historian track and publicity materials. Those lucky enough to own a 3D TV can purchase Taza, Son of Cochise (1954). This western has been remastered in 2K and contains a regular Blu-ray and 3D Blu-ray. Bonuses include a film historian and 3D authority commentary and a trailer for the movie. The distributor also has a Blu-ray of the more recent period drama, Thousand Pieces of Gold (1991). It comes with a director interview and commentary track, as well as publicity materials.
Dark Force have been putting out high quality versions of low-budget genre flicks for some time. Often, they find obscure movies and literally save them from vanishing forever, assembling new transfers from the best materials available. Their latest releases include a Collector’s Edition Blu-ray of Ator, the Fighting Eagle (1982). You can also pick up a Collector’s Edition of the horror pic, Breeders (1997), on disc. And they are releasing a Drive-in Double Feature Blu-ray that contains The Gates of Hell (1980) aka City of the Living Dead, along with Psycho from Texas (1975).
Blue Underground are another great distributor specializing in independent horror pictures. This week, they’re offering the slasher film Maniac (1980) as a 4K Ultra HD Special Edition Blu-ray. It comes with multiple audio commentaries, interviews, deleted scenes and more. Frankly, there’s simply too many extras here to list. Rest assured that it you enjoy the film, then this is a must own. The same goes for their 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray of Lucio Fulci’s Zombie (1979). Now you can see the undead battle a shark underwater in crystal clarity. As far as extras go, this Special Edition is equally packed with two commentaries, more cast and crew interviews, promo materials and even an introduction from writer/director Guillermo del Toro (The Shape of Water, Pan’s Labyrinth). It’s essential viewing for all zombie movie enthusiasts.
Shout! always have plenty on offer. This week sees a new Blu-ray of the crime/thriller Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead (2007). It’s about two brother who decide to rob a little jewelry store run by… their own parents. Of course, things don’t go according to plan. The disc comes with an Ethan Hawk interview in which he discusses working with co-star Phillip Seymour Hoffman. It also features a discussion with the screenwriter, a featurette on director Sidney Lumet, an audio commentary with Lumet, as well as a trailer.
If you’re looking for a war drama, you can now pick up a 2-disc Collector’s Edition of the Best Picture Oscar-winner, The Deer Hunter (1978). The first Blu-ray presents the movie in 4K with an archived audio commentary from director of photography Vilmos Zsigmond (Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Blow Out). A second Blu-ray provides the film with the commentary, and adds new interviews with various cast and crew, deleted and extended scenes, a critical analysis of the picture, publicity materials and more.
And Shout! have yet another Collector’s Edition coming your way that will please fans of John Carpenter. Escape from L.A. (1996) is the director’s sequel to his 1981 futuristic sci-fi classic, Escape from New York. It finds antihero Snake Plissken tasked with retrieving the President’s daughter from the penal colony island of Los Angeles (which has been separated from the US mainland by an earthquake). Some of the early digital effects used look really dodgy today, but it’s still a fun ride with plenty of one-liners and amusing cameos. You’ll get a new 4K scan of the film from the original negative, interviews with the visual effects and practical make-up effect teams, the cast and crew (including Bruce Campbell), as well as publicity materials (of course, it includes that fantastic teaser trailer for the flick). The only thing it appears to be missing is a Carpenter/Kurt Russell commentary track.
They are also releasing a Blu-ray of the well-regarded WWII picture, A Midnight Clear (1992), with Ethan Hawke, Gary Sinise, Kevin Dillon and Peter Berg. It comes with a new documentary on the flick that includes director Keith Gordon, as well as Hawke, Frank Whaley and Ayre Gross. You’ll also receive a Gordon/Hawke commentary on the film, deleted scenes and a trailer. Hopefully someday, someone will eventually get around to also releasing a Blu-ray of Keith Gordon’s effective 1988 movie adaptation of The Chocolate War.
For horror fans, the independent outlet Vinegar Syndrome just made the chilling pictures Dolly Dearest (1991) and Pale Blood (1990) available in lavish Blu-ray/DVD combo packages. The first film takes its cue from flicks like Child’s Play and involves a demonic stuffed toy with a very nasty visage. This flick has a notable cast that includes Denise Crosby, Sam Bottoms and Rip Torn. Besides the movie, Crosby and co-star Ed Gale provide bonus interviews. The second picture is a vampire flick that comes with a director and star interview extras. Both films have been newly scanned and restored in 2K.
Not to be outdone, Paramount Pictures are also digging into their vaults for some Blu-ray releases. They are presenting the drama Angela’s Ashes (1999) on Blu-ray. In addition, the Louis Malle romantic-thriller Atlantic City (1980) is also coming your way. That one stars Susan Sarandon and Burt Lancaster. If you’re looking for a British spy flick, you can’t go wrong seeing Michael Caine in Funeral in Berlin (1966), a sequel to the 1965 hit, The Ipcress File. He plays an agent trying to help a defector get across the Berlin Wall. And the studio is making On a Clear Day You Can See Forever (1970) available in high definition too, presumably to celebrate its 50th anniversary.
And there’s even more! B-movie distributor Severin have a few new Blu-ray titles too add to their catalog. The discs include Horrors of Spider Island (1960), Satan’s Slave (1982) and The Strange Vice of Mrs. Wardh (1971). All of the releases in question include swanky new extras and improved picture and sound quality.
Criterion have plenty of new Blu-rays to boast about too. Husbands (1970) is an independent film from indie maverick John Cassavetes. He stars along with Peter Falk and Ben Gazzara in a feature that details the inner lives of three masculine men attempting to deal frankly and directly with a changing world in the late 1960s. The film has been given a new 4K digital restoration and comes with a film critic audio commentary, an interview with the producer and a supporting cast member, as well as a video essay featuring a recording of Cassavettes, a tribute to the filmmaker, a television program featuring actor Ben Gazzara and cinematographer Victor J. Kemper, as well as more bonus features.
This one sounds interesting as well. It seems that Criterion have pulled together a collection of films called Scorsese Shorts (1963 – 1978). The Blu-ray includes five short titles made by the acclaimed Oscar-winning moviemaker at the beginning of his career. They’ve all received 4K transfers and the set come with a new interview with Scorsese as well as other directors and producers about these films. You’ll also see materials from the director’s archive from this point in his life. Sounds like a great way to see some rare, hard-to-locate projects from the beginning of his career.
And, of course, you can also pick up the more recent title Wildlife (2018) from the distributor, which was covered in the new release section.
Metrograph Pictures are making Susan Sontag’s Duet for Cannibals (1969) available on Blu-ray, as well as the Senegalese comedy, Hyenas (1992).
Finally, Warner Archive are bringing the Rex Harrison romantic comedy, The Reluctant Debutante (1958) to Blu-ray as part of their made-to-order program.
You Know, For Kids!
There isn’t a whole lot for kids, except for a Mill Creek release from a few weeks back that was delayed. It’s a Japanese TV-series about a heroic character fighting monsters, which is always fun.
Ultraman: Ace Mill (1972 – 1973) Mill Creek delayed, now available
On the Tube!
And here are all of the TV-themed discs coming your way.
Agatha Raisin: Series 3
A Beautiful Place to Die: A Martha’s Vineyard Mystery (Hallmark TV-movie)
From Friend to Fiancé (Hallmark TV-movie)