{"id":17818,"date":"2019-02-18T23:24:48","date_gmt":"2019-02-19T07:24:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/?p=17818"},"modified":"2019-02-18T23:24:48","modified_gmt":"2019-02-19T07:24:48","slug":"dvd-blu-ray-roundup-for-february-19th-2019","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/?p=17818","title":{"rendered":"DVD\/Blu-ray Roundup for February 19th, 2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

It’s time for another look at highlights arriving on Blu-ray\nand DVD. There are more Oscar nominees\narriving as well as plenty of genre fare; essentially, lots to choose from. So\nif you can’t make it out to the movies this week, be sure to give one of these\ntitles a try!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Big New Releases!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Backtrace<\/em> – A bank robber suffers a brain injury,\ndevelops amnesia and ends up locked away for years in a psychiatric\ninstitution. After a doctor gives the man a serum that begins to heal his\nbroken mind, the criminal breaks out and heads out to retrieve the cash. As he\ndoes so, he’s chased by staff members, a cop and the FBI, all of whom also want\nto find the stolen goods. Critics were disappointed by this thriller. One or two\nliked the lead performance and thought some of the action was well handled, but\nmost felt that the story didn’t make much sense or provide enough tension to\nrecommend. It stars Sylvester Stallone, Matthew Modine, Ryan Guzman and\nChristopher MacDonald. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Can You Ever Forgive Me?<\/em> – Based on a true story,\nthis feature follows Lee Isreal, a biographer of celebrities who finds work\ndrying up. She discovers a growing market of collectors who buy letters from\nfamous authors and personalities and so she begins forging correspondence.\nThese actions are initially profitable but begin attracting the attention of\nauthorities. The press were taken with this effort, which has been nominated\nfor three Academy Awards. They admired the work of the cast in making these difficult\nand ill-tempered people endlessly fascinating. Despite the accolades, it looks\nas though the title is only being released on DVD\nthis week… hopefully a Blu-ray will follow. It features Melissa McCarthy,\nRichard E. Grant, Dolly Wells, Jane Curtin and Ben Falcone. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Captain Morten and the Spider Queen<\/em>  – This Estonia\/Belgium\/Ireland\/UK stop-motion\nanimated feature for family audiences is premiering exclusively on DVD\nthis week. The story involves a young boy who lives in a resort beachside town\na dreams of being the captain of a ship, just like his absentee father. In\nbetween his visions of a life on the sea, he attempts to avoid the clutches of\nhis potentially sinister aunt. The movie was nominated for several awards in Europe,\nbut is premiering in this part of the world on disc. So as of yet, there\nhaven’t been any reviews posted. The all Irish voice-cast includes Ciar\u00e1n\nHinds, Brendan Gleeson, Michael McElhatton and Susie Power. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Duke<\/em> – Two brothers who grow up in a reformatory find\nthemselves fighting to survive wherever they go. When the pair arrive in Los\n Angeles, one decides to become a detective, while the\nother becomes obsessed with John Wayne movies. All of their interests and\nobsession come into play when a dangerous individual returns to their\ncommunity. This independent drama has played various film festivals but hasn’t\nbeen written up or critiqued as of yet, so curious parties will just have to\nthrow caution to the wind and give it a chance. Carmine Giovinazzo, Hank Harris\nand Richard Roundtree headline the feature.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Iceman: The Time Traveler<\/em> – An officer of the Ming\nDynasty is hunted down by sinister forces, who battle but are then frozen for\nmore than 400 years. After thawing out, they begin their fight once again, much\nto the surprise of modern day Hong Kong. This is\nactually a sequel to a 2014 film that continues the story and resolves the\nfates of the characters involved. Unfortunately, notices for the feature\nhaven’t been particularly noteworthy. Many thought that the first film was jumbled\nand had story issues – reportedly the latest film underwent retooling and took\nlonger to hit cinema screens than intended. Reaction was much the same, with\nmost stating the script was nonsensical and the efforts of the talented star\ncouldn’t save it. It features Donny Yen, Baoqiang Wang and Shengyi Huang.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Overlord<\/em> – This period war\/horror movie is set in 1944 and follows a group of US soldiers making advances into Europe who crash their plane in a Nazi-occupied village. Once there, they try to complete their mission of taking down a radio tower, but discover sinister experiments being conducted by enemy forces that involve raising the dead. Overall, critics gave the movie good marks. Some didn’t think that the concept was developed to its fullest or offer enough chills to stand out. However, the consensus was that the movie offered fun and entertaining B-movie thrills. It stars Jovan Adepo, Wyatt Russell, Mathilde Ollivier and Pilou Asbaek. To read a full review from this site, click here<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Robin Hood<\/em> – The legend of Robin Hood gets yet\nanother retelling in this version of the classic fable. It introducers Robin as\na young man and shows how he comes up against the actions of Sheriff\nNottingham, choosing to train himself and fight the authority. Along the way,\nhe befriends a group of men and women in the woods who join his cause. This\naction adventure was roundly panned by members of the press. One or two thought\nit provided a bit of dumb fun, but almost everyone else described it as a\ncheesy update that flops on all counts and simply doesn’t work. It was recently\nnominated for several Golden Razzie awards, including Worst Picture. The cast\nincludes Taron Egerton, Jamie Foxx, Ben Mendelsohn, Eve Hewson, Jamie Dornan\nand F. Murray Abraham.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Sgt. Will Gardner<\/em> – An Iraq\nwar veteran suffering from traumatic brain injury from his time on the\nbattlefield attempts to reintegrate with society. When things go poorly and he\nbegins to suffer from horrific memories, the man decides to get on a bike and\ndrive across America\nto deal with the pain and begin the healing process. A few complimented it as\nbeing well-intentioned, but in general the press didn’t find much to recommend\nto audiences. They all thought its heart was in the right place and admired\nwhat was being attempted by the filmmakers, but felt that the screenplay came\nacross as extremely clich\u00e9d and corny. It features Max Martini, Omari Hardwick,\nLily Rabe, Dermot Mulroney, Robert Patrick and JoBeth Williams. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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A Star is Born<\/em> – This third remake of the 1937 musical\nfollows a successful musician who discovers a young talent and helps to get her\ncareer started. The two fall for each other, but as their relationship becomes more\nserious, the new artist’s success and other’s deeper problems begin to take\ntheir toll. This newest edition earned plenty of praise from reviewers. While a\nsmall grouping didn’t think that the story avoided being formulaic and amounted\nto little outside of its musical numbers, the majority were impressed by the\nperformances and felt that this was a worthy updating with a strong emphasis on\ncharacters. It has been nominated for several Academy Awards including Best\nPicture. The movie stars Lady Gaga, Bradley Cooper, Sam Elliott, Andrew Dice\nClay and Dave Chappelle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


\nBlasts from the Past!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Wow, it’s an incredibly busy time for classic releases being\nupdated for Blu-ray. Arrow Video have previously released a Hershell Gordon\nLewis box set, but have slowly been putting out each individual title\nseparately. This week sees the release of Color Me Blood Red<\/em> (1965).\nIt’s about an artist who becomes a success after using real blood to paint his\nworks. The disc comes with an introduction to the film with the director as\nwell as multiple commentary tracks feature Lewis and other crew members. It\nalso comes with shorts, interviews and talks with film scholars about the\nproduction as well as a bonus feature from the director called Something\nWeird<\/em> (1967). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Arrow Academy,\nthe same distributor’s arthouse line are releasing My Name is Julia Ross<\/em>\n(1945) on Blu-ray. This was a Hitchcockian thriller made by Columbia\nas a B picture on a double-bill. However, it came out so well that it was\nupgraded to an A-list release. It is a London-set mystery about a kidnapped\nsecretary struggling to escape her employer. The release includes a film expert\ncommentary, a background and analysis piece on the feature, as well as\npublicity materials. They also have So Dark the Night<\/em> (1946), another\nmovie from the same director about a Parisian cop who vacations to the\ncountryside and is recruited to help solve a series of disappearances.\nApparently, it’s a great film noir thriller and this Blu-ray comes with film\ncritic commentary and a feature presenting an detailed analysis of the story as\nwell as other bonuses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The musical drama Backbeat <\/em>(1994) is also arriving on\nBlu-ray courtesy of Shout! Select. This biopic tells the story of The Beatles\nbefore they were famous and a stopover in Hamburg,\n Germany that threatens to\ntear the group apart. This disc features deleted scenes, an interview with\ndirector Iain Softley, another interview with the filmmaker for the Sundance\nchannel, casting sessions, featurettes, a talk with the photographer that part\nof the story is based is and a group commentary with Softley and some of the\ncast.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

They also have a Blu-ray of The Return of the Vampire<\/em>\n(1944) starring Bela Lugosi. In it, he plays a Hungarian bloodsucker stalking\nvillagers in the English countryside. This release comes with three separate\nfilm historian audio commentaries as well as an 8mm version of the flick, and\npublicity materials. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Kino also have a trio of interesting flicks hitting high definition. Mad Dog and Glory<\/em> (1993) is a very entertaining little dark comedy with Robert DeNiro, Bill Murray and Uma Thurman about a cop’s unusual relationship with a mobster who moonlights as a stand-up comic. If memory serves, it’s quite effective and very funny. The Special Edition Blu-ray includes a director commentary as well as making-of documentary and a theatrical trailer. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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They also have a Special Edition Blu-ray of the Kim Basinger\nheist picture, The Real McCoy<\/em> (1993). She plays an ex-con forced against\nher will to pull off an $18 million dollar score. This release includes a new\ncommentary track with director Russell Mulcahy (Highlander<\/em>, Ricochet<\/em>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Finally, Kino have a Special Edition Blu-ray of the hockey\npicture, Youngblood<\/em> (1986). The story involves a young up-and-comer\nfighting for his chance to play in the NHL.\nIt stars Rob Lowe, Patrick Swayze, Cynthia Gibbs and Keanu Reeves and the disc\nincludes a director commentary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Year of the Dragon<\/em> (1985) is a crime thriller from\nMichael Cimino (The Deer Hunter<\/em>, Heaven’s Gate<\/em>) featuring Mickey\nRourke as a police captain attempting to take down a criminal enterprise\noperating out of Chinatown. The movie wasn’t well\nregarded upon its release but has since become a cult item. Warner Archive are\nnow releasing a Blu-ray of the feature. Apparently, it comes with a Cimino\ncommentary and a theatrical trailer. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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And there’s more. Mill Creek are releasing the notorious\nsci-fi flick, Barb Wire<\/em> (1996), which features Pamela Anderson as a mercenary\nin a dilapidated future world. The movie was nominated for several Razzie\nAwards including Worst Pictures. Now’s your opportunity to catch up with it on\nBlu-ray for a low price. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mill Creek also have several more older releases that are\nbeing repackaged with some cool 80s VHS box art covers. The titles coming this\nweek include The Legend of Billie Jean<\/em> (1985), Neighbors<\/em> (1981), Sheena<\/em>\n(1984) and Songwriter<\/em> (1984). I must admit, I really like these covers\nand they really have me considering ordering a few of their titles.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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And Twilight Time have some Blu-ray for order as well as\nLimited Editions. They include The Admirable Crichton<\/em> (1957) and the\nclassic comedy Bedazzled<\/em> (1967) with Peter Cook and Dudley Moore. The\ndistributor are also putting out the Oliver Stone drama, Talk Radio<\/em>\n(1988) and the Jayne Mansfield satirical comedy, Will Success Spoil Rock\nHunter?<\/em> (1957). Most of the titles include a few bonuses and can be ordered\nthrough the Twilight Time website.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Those who enjoy B-movie horror may be excited about the\nrelease of the Ted Raimi serial killer flick, Skinner<\/em> (1993). In it, he\nplays a psychopath who falls for a local housewife in between his murder\nsprees. Severin are putting out this Blu-ray and it includes interviews with\nthe cast and crew as well as extended takes and outtakes from the shoot. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Redemption are releasing a Double Bill Blu-ray of a couple\nof European flicks, Dracula’s Fiancee <\/em>(1989) and Lost in New York<\/em>\n(2002). Troma are giving Revenge of the Spacemen<\/em> (2014) the high definition\ntreatment as well. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Universal are re-releasing a stack of Blu-rays. Some of the\nmost notable titles include Cry-Baby<\/em> (1990), Hard Target<\/em> (1993)\nand the Frank Langella version of Dracula<\/em> (1979). I’d pay particular\nattention to John Woo’s Hard Target<\/em>, featuring Jean-Claude Van Damme.\nWhen the film was made, Woo put together a much longer cut of the film.\nUniversal disliked it and the director made a few more edits to try and appease\nthem. The story goes that, still unimpressed, the executives then took control,\nshortened it again and reedited several sequences. However, the previous\nversion managed to earn a release in Europe. No one has\nadvertised this, but the cut of Hard Target<\/em> that appeared on Blu-ray in\na recent Van Damme box set was actually the longer, European version.\nPresumably, this is the same disc that is now being released on its own. It is\nactually an improvement over the old US\nrelease and action fans will find it well worth checking out; in fact, it’s\nlikely the closest we’ll ever get to seeing Woo’s original version. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Finally, Criterion have the Brigitte Bardot film, La\nVerite<\/em> (1960). This well-regarded French drama arrives on Blu-ray with a 4K\ndigital restoration, a 60 minute documentary on the feature, as well as\ninterviews with the director and star. Additionally, you can pick up a Blu-ray\nof Death in Venice<\/em> (1971) an Italian\/French film about an artist\nvacationing in Venice who becomes\nobsessed with another visitor to the area. This feature has also been given a\n4K restoration and comes with documentaries, short films and more extras than\ncan possibly be listed in this area. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

You Know, For Kids!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here are some kid-friendly titles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Captain Morten and the Spider Queen<\/em>
Octonauts: Reef Rescue<\/em>
Scooby-Doo Spring Break Triple Feature<\/em>
VeggieTales<\/em> (there are about 8 different VeggieTales<\/em> releases arriving this week)S<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the Tube!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

And these are the week’s TV-themed releases. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 10th Kingdom<\/em> (2000 mini-series)
American Masters: Sammy Davis Jr. – I’ve Gotta Be Me<\/em> (PBS)
Candles on Bay Street<\/em> (2006 Hallmark TV movie)
Crossroads: A Story of Forgiveness<\/em> (Hallmark TV movie)
Damages<\/em>: The Complete Series
Doctor Who: Resolution<\/em>
Harvest of Fire<\/em> (Hallmark TV movie)
Five People You Meet in Heaven<\/em> (2004 mini-series)
Moby Dick<\/em> (1998 mini-series)
NOVA: Operation Bridge Rescue<\/em> (PBS)
The Odyssey<\/em> (1997 mini-series)
Wild Arctic<\/em> (National Geographic)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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