{"id":20349,"date":"2020-04-20T16:53:32","date_gmt":"2020-04-20T23:53:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/?p=20349"},"modified":"2020-04-20T16:53:32","modified_gmt":"2020-04-20T23:53:32","slug":"blu-ray-dvd-roundup-for-april-21st-2020","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/?p=20349","title":{"rendered":"Blu-ray\/DVD Roundup for April 21st, 2020"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

It\u2019s time for another look at some highlights that are arriving\non Blu-ray and DVD. There are plenty of high profile hit titles in this\nedition, as well as a great selection of independent features. So, since you\ncan\u2019t make it out to the movies this week, be sure to give one of these titles\na try!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

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Bad Boys for Life<\/em> \u2013 The third film in this action\/comedy series reunites the original stars for another adventure after a 17-year hiatus. When a Miami drug-running outfit run by a mother and son create chaos in the city, two familiar police detectives are assigned to a special task force tasked with putting a stop to the criminal empire. The two bicker and shoot their way through town as they take down the villains. Response towards this follow-up was generally positive. A small group said that while it was nice to see the two leads reunited, there wasn\u2019t much about the latest story that was unique or original, and noted that the action scenes didn\u2019t quite measure up. However, most thought that the script focused on the entertaining onscreen chemistry between the leads, resulting in an enjoyable thrill ride. It stars Will Smith, Martin Lawrence, Vanessa Hudgens, Alexander Ludwig and Joe Pantoliano. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Blood & Flesh: The Reel Life & Ghastly Death of\nAl Adamson<\/em> \u2013 Al Adamson was a low-budget genre filmmaker known among cult\nmovie aficionados for his incredibly cheesy flicks that include Psycho a\nGo-Go<\/em>, Blood of Ghastly Horror<\/em>, Dracula vs. Frankenstein<\/em>, some\nnudie films, and even a bizarre kid\u2019s feature about a talking chimp called Carnival\nMagic<\/em>. Eerily enough, Adamson was brutally murdered by an associate in 1995,\nwho then tried to hide his body from authorities. This documentary examines his\ncareer and the famous persons whose careers he helped launch, as well as his\nuntimely end. Notices were excellent for the feature. Reviewers stated that the\nmovie was fascinating as it detailed the man\u2019s life and career, telling one wild\nand outrageous story after another in an enlightening way. They also mentioned\nthat the doc makes his sudden end seem like even more of a tragedy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Budapest Noir<\/em> \u2013 Using the film noir genre as\ninspiration, this Hungarian picture is set in Budapest in 1936 during the rise\nof Adolph Hitler. According the plot synopsis, a young beautiful girl is found\ndead and no one wants to investigate the crime, except for a reporter who has a\ngut feeling that things are not what they seem. He soon discovers that his\ninstincts are correct, ultimately putting his own life at risk in the process.\nThe movie played at several film festivals a couple of years ago and received a\nfew awards for its musical score. However, it didn\u2019t get a very wide release in\nthis part of the world, and is now making its debut on disc. The only review around\nhere that it received was from a Variety reporter, who wrote that while it was\na watchable thriller, it could have used a few more original story elements or\ntwists to make a bigger impact. The movie features Kriszti\u00e1n Kolovratnik, R\u00e9ka\nTenki and Franciska T\u00f6r\u0151csik.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The Gentlemen<\/em> \u2013 In between his various big studio features, writer\/director Guy Ritchie has an inclination to make dark comedies set in the UK about the criminal underworld. Such titles have included Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels<\/em> and Snatch<\/em>. His latest is the story of an American expat in London who runs a highly profitable marijuana business. After deciding to sell his shares and retire, the lead finds himself under attack by all sides as various parties attempt to take his empire. The majority of press members gave this movie a recommendation. There was a minor group who found it crass, ugly and couldn\u2019t relate to any of the characters. However, everyone else found the feature clever and amusing, building momentum with its eccentric characters and eventually winning viewers over. The cast includes Matthew McConaughey, Charlie Hunnam, Henry Golding, Michelle Dockery, Colin Farrell and Hugh Grant. To read this site\u2019s review, click here<\/a>.\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Ip Man 4: The Finale<\/em> \u2013 The legend of famous martial\nartist Ip Man has been the subject of many a movie over the years. This sequel\nis part of a recent series starring Donnie Yen as the famous hero. Following\nthe death of his wife, Ip Man learns that he has throat cancer. Hoping to\nprovide a future for his rebellious child, he travels to San Francisco to one\nof his training studios in order to try and make plans for the youngster\u2019s\nfuture. He also attempts to ease deep tensions between his instructors and\ntheir brightest pupil, Bruce Lee. Critics were very upbeat about this chapter\nin the franchise. They wrote that while a bit overcrowded character and story-wise,\nthe drama still worked. And of course, they also raved that it was an\nincredible action film featuring some of the best fight choreography in the\nentire series. In addition to Yen, Wu Yue, Vanness Wu, Scott Adkins and Kent\nCheng headline the film.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The Last Full Measure<\/em> – Vietnam War hero William H.\nPitsenbarger is the subject of this biopic that is set during two different time\nperiods. When a Pentagon staff member receives a request to award Pararescue\nteam member Pitsenbarger a medal, he finds out about the medic\u2019s selfless efforts\nin the war, staying in the line of fire and rescuing 60 men from certain death.\nThe official also learns of a nasty cover-up by officials preventing the serviceman\nfrom receiving public recognition. Write-ups were generally good for this\neffort. A percentage did think that jumping back and forth between eras minimized\nsome of the suspense and felt the movie was a little predicable. Still, the\nmajority stated that the cast was incredible and were pleased that the feature\navoided jingoism. It stars Jeremy Irvine, Sebastian Stan, Christopher Plummer,\nWilliam Hurt, Ed Harris, Samuel L. Jackson, Peter Fonda, Diane Ladd, Amy\nMadigan and Bradley Whitford. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Like a Boss<\/em> \u2013 Two best friends running a homegrown cosmetics line begin to find themselves overwhelmed by the job and developing different priorities. One is a practical, hard-worker, while the other wants to live a lavish lifestyle. When the head of a big cosmetics company comes in and offers a buyout payment for their business, the two begin to disagree over whether to keep their brand or lose control of the business they\u2019ve built from the ground up. The comedy didn\u2019t elicit a positive reception from the press. A small number of reviewers thought that onscreen talent made up for the familiarity of the material, finding the flick sweet and pleasing. Unfortunately, the overwhelming consensus was that the script was forgettable and formulaic, and that the movie simply wasn\u2019t funny enough to earn a pass. It features Tiffany Haddish, Rose Byrne, Selma Hayek, <\/a>Billy Porter and Jennifer Coolidge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The Long Shadow<\/em> \u2013 This suspense film follows a new\npolice detective in a rural Louisiana town. When the woman she loves, a local\nlawyer, dies under very strange and mysterious circumstances, the cop takes it\nupon herself to determine who is responsible. Her investigation eventually undercovers\nseedy and nefarious activities by the wealthy and most affluent residents,\nincluding a railroad conglomerate\u2019s attempts to buy up all of the local\nproperty in the area. As of right now, there has only been one article written\nabout the film, calling it a reasonably effective little thriller.\nUnfortunately, little else is known about the movie at this point in time, so\nthose curious will have to step into this mystery cold. The cast includes Aasha\nDavis, Teri Wyble, Tess Harper, Yetide Badaki and Jim Klock.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Track: Search for Australia\u2019s Bigfoot<\/em> \u2013 Even Australia has its own bigfoot, at least according to this documentary. The creature is reported to live in the Blue Mountains and this feature follows a cyptozoologist determined to prove that the legendary sasquatch is real. He also claims that he has had his own strange encounter with what must be the beast and shows what he captured with his camera. A team of cameramen move with the expert as he travels into the wild, looking for more evidence. Along the way, he talks to other researchers who suggest that the creature may have also been sighted across the countryside. As you might have imagined, this little Aussie non-fiction feature has played a few film festivals in its homeland, but hasn\u2019t yet garnered a lot of attention in this part of the world. As a result, no one can say just yet what exactly the feature manages to uncover. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The Turning<\/em> \u2013 This horror flick uses the famous Henry\nJames novella, The Turn of the Screw<\/em>, as inspiration. It follows a young\nteacher who is offered a position as a governess to a young girl on a lavish\nestate. While initially excited to be making more money, the job becomes\nconsiderably tougher after the unexpected arrival of the child\u2019s \u201cdegenerate\u201d\nbrother. As the guardian tries to continue with her duties, she becomes certain\nthat something within the household is not right. Critics also suggested that\nthere was plenty going here that was, well, just wrong. While a small number\ncommented that the cast was good and the themes presented were intriguing, the\noverwhelming consensus was that this film was plodding and the jolts didn\u2019t\nwork, making it a poor reworking of its source material. It stars Mackenzie\nDavis, Finn Wolfhard, Brooklynn Prince and Joely Richardson.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Why Don\u2019t You Just Die!<\/em> \u2013 A Russian detective with\nsome personality issues and whom his own family claim is abusive decides to open\nhis doors and allow visitors to drop by and say hello. Numerous unsavory\nattendees arrive, including his daughter, various violent criminals, and a very\nnasty co-worker. It seems that everyone wants revenge on the cop for one reason\nor another, but as the confrontations escalate, it becomes clear that all may\nnot be as it initially appears. Known as Papa, Sdokhni<\/em> in its homeland,\nthis foreign-language thriller received high marks from the press. In fact,\nonly one reviewer found the material not to their liking, stating that the film\nwas too repetitive for their tastes. Everyone else called it an amusingly crazy\nand cutting black comedy with plenty of style that would surprise and shock\ngenre fans. The cast includes Aleksandr Kuznetsov, Vitaliy Khaev and Elena\nShevchenko.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

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There are also a great many older titles that are being\ngiven impressive Blu-ray upgrades. Shout! are releasing a Collector\u2019s Edition\nof the Hammer flick, The Curse of the Werewolf<\/em> (1961). This period flick\nstars the incomparable Oliver Reed as a Spanish man cursed with the condition.\nHe begins to control his violent wolfman transformations, but when he is\nprevented from being with the woman he loves, it causes the disorder to\nresurface. This movie has been given a brand new 4K scan from the inter-positive,\npresenting a sharper and clearer image than ever before. You\u2019ll also get an audio\ncommentary with actress Yvonne Romain, makeup effects artist Mike Hill, and composer\nLeslie Bricusse. A second track features two film historians discussing the\nmovie and its lasting impact. Additionally, there are new spots about the behind-the-scenes\ntalent who helped create the flick, and a lengthy making-of which includes\nactors, the film\u2019s art director, and other members of the crew. There is also a\nfeaturette on werewolf movies, a segment about how the movie was censored\nduring its original release, and a ton of publicity materials. Looks like a\ngreat disc!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Kino are also putting out a number of intriguing Blu-rays.\nThe first disc is for the Bette Davis\/Michael Redgrave drama, Connecting\nRooms<\/em> (1970), about two down-on-their-luck seniors who find friendship and\ncompassion while in a London boarding house. Additionally, they have the\nmade-for-TV Victorian period drama, Love Among the Ruins<\/em> (1975). This\none stars Katherine Hepburn and Lawrence Oliver about a barrister defending his\nex in court. The latter film has been transferred to Blu-ray with a new 2K\nmaster. Both titles include cinema historian commentary tracks.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

And the company is making the German romance The Love of\nJeanne Ney<\/em> (1927) available on Blu-ray too. The disc includes the original,\nrecently restored German cut and the American release versions of the feature\n(each with a separate orchestral soundtrack), and it also comes with a film\nhistorian commentary. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Secret Ceremony<\/em> (1968), a psychodrama starring\nElizabeth Taylor and Mia Farrow, has been given an HD upgrade and is debuting\non Blu-ray. The release arrives with a movie historian audio commentary and\ntrailer. Additionally, Kino has the comic anthology Woman Times Seven<\/em>\n(1967), which features seven tales of infidelity from director Vittorio De Sica\n(Bicycle Thieves<\/em>, Umberto D.<\/em>). This movie has an incredible cast\nthat includes Shirley MacLaine (in multiple roles), Michael Caine, Alan Arkin\nand Peter Sellers. It also comes with a film expert commentary and trailer.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The new release section of this article drew attention to a documentary on low-budget, B-movie maverick Al Adamson. This week, Severin are releasing a Blu-ray\/DVD combo of the filmmaker\u2019s strange foray into family films, Carnival Magic <\/em>(1981). The bizarre feature details a friendship between a magician with real powers and his pal, a talking chimp. When one of their envious co-workers at a carnival decides to get rid of his competition by selling the primate to a lab for experimentation, the protagonist decides to fight back. The trailer calls it, “The most amazing thing you’ll ever see!” but one imagines that by today’s standards almost everything about it will be politically incorrect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite this being a kid\u2019s flick, it is said to be pretty odd\nand features a number of inappropriate references to alcoholism, domestic\nviolence, vivisection and suicide. Of course, these surreal bits are exactly\nwhat will make it fascinating to older viewers who enjoy what might be described\nas not-so-great film entertainment. The disc includes an audio commentary with\nthe producer, a couple of movie critics and fans who analyze of the picture\u2019s\nweirder elements. It also includes the director\u2019s second foray into kid\u2019s flicks,\nanother eccentric feature called Lost<\/em> (1989) about a little girl and her\ndog trudging endlessly through the desert (sounds like an earlier,\nfamily-friendly version of the Gus Van Sant movie Gerry<\/em>). If that and\nthe various promotional materials included wasn\u2019t interesting enough, you\u2019ll\nalso get rushes from an unfinished Adamson family movie called The Happy\nHobo<\/em>. Sounds like demented fun.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Speaking of disturbing entertainment, The Cremator<\/em> (1969) is an intentionally creepy foreign-language title from Czechoslovakia. It\u2019s about the manager of a crematorium in 1930s Prague who enjoys his job and position a bit too much. The movie skewers totalitarian regimes and the horrors they inspire. Despite being incredibly effective and chilling, this movie has been hard to locate for many decades. Thankfully, its elements have been restored and the picture is arriving on Blu-ray with 4K image quality, a 2011 documentary on the production, an interview with a film programmer about the stylistic devices on display, a piece about the score composer, a trailer, and an interview with one of the film\u2019s cast members. It\u2019s a disturbing but remarkable feature and this reviewer is pleased to see it finally getting a release. \u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Paramount also have a few curious high definition releases which\nthey are putting out under a banner called Paramount Presents. They all feature\nnew transfers, fancy packaging and other bonuses. Their first Blu-ray of the\nweek is a 4K remastered version of the popular thriller, Fatal Attraction<\/em>\n(1987). This hit is about a psychotic woman who pursues and targets the family\nof a man whom she has an affair with. The new disc includes an audio\ncommentary, rehearsal footage, and the original ending that was altered to pack\nmore of punch with audiences. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The second movie arriving on Blu-ray is the Elvis Presley\nclassic, King Creole<\/em> (1958). Remastered in 4K, this effort from Michael\nCurtiz (Casablanca<\/em>, White Christmas<\/em>) features Presley as a\nperformer singing his way through Louisiana and stopping a mobster (played by\nWalter Matthau) from ensnaring him in a life of crime. Besides the famous title\ntrack, the soundtrack also features the hit, \u201cHard Headed Woman\u201d. There\u2019s a\nfilmmaker focus featurette on the film and it comes with a trailer. You will\nable be able to pick out and watch specific songs from the feature.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Additionally, they are also putting out the Alfred Hitchcock\nclassic, To Catch a Thief<\/em> (1955), starring Cary Grant and Grace Kelly.\nIn addition to the new 4K remaster, the Blu-ray also comes with a Hitchcock\nexpert commentary track, a Leonard Maltin discussion on the film, and a look at\nthe careers of the film\u2019s two leads. The trailer is also included. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cohen Media Group are presenting a 4K restoration of Pandora\nand the Flying Dutchman<\/em> (1951), a romance picture with Ava Gardiner and\nJames Mason. The disc also includes a second feature from the director called The\nLiving Idol<\/em> (1957). You\u2019ll also receive original trailers, a restoration\ncomparison and trailer, as well as other bonuses. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Finally, Warner Archive are presenting a made-to-order Blu-ray\nof the western, Rachel and the Stranger<\/em> (1948). They\u2019ve also got a\n2-disc Special Edition of the romantic thriller, Reflections in a Golden Eye<\/em>\n(1967). This title was directed by John Huston (Key Largo<\/em>, The\nAfrican Queen<\/em>) and features Elizabeth Taylor and Marlon Brando. Two discs\nfeaturing different versions of the movie are included in this package. One\nincludes its original, full-color presentation at theaters, while the other\ndisplays the feature with a gold-color tint as originally intended (filmmaker\nHuston had lobbied for the feature to be released with this hue, but the studio\nrejected the idea).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

Only one title for youngsters this week and it comes with a\nbig word of warning. The movie is likely more than a bit disturbing and\ninappropriate for little kids. The young-at-heart may be more amused by the\nweirdness on display.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Carnival Magic<\/em> (1981)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

And here are this edition\u2019s TV-themed releases.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

30 Rock<\/em>: The Complete Series
Blood Sugar Rising: America\u2019s Hidden Diabetic Epidemic<\/em> (PBS)
China Beach<\/em>: The Complete Collection
Nature: Wild Florida<\/em> (PBS)
World on Fire<\/em>: Season 1 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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