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<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\nAVATAR: THE WAY OF WATER \u2013 After its theatrical release at the end of 2022, the third-highest grossing film of all time worldwide (behind the original Avatar<\/em> and Avengers: Endgame<\/em>) is finally arriving on a variety of formats. In fact, there\u2019s a 4K Ultra HD and Blu-ray edition, a Best Buy exclusive in 4K Ultra HD and Blu-ray, and a 3D Blu-ray and regular Blu-ray version. This sequel is set many years after the previous installment, where main characters Jake Sully and Ney’tiri have nurtured a family. When invading military forces arrive on Pandora once again, the leads move to a water-based community on the other side of the planet in order to protect their children. But they can only hide for so long and are eventually forced to face the villains in direct combat. The movie was generally well-received by critics and earned Oscar nominations in numerous categories, including Best Picture. One-quarter of reviewers stated that the movie was too long and predictable with characters that weren\u2019t particularly interesting. However, the majority called the movie visually spectacular, action-packed and that the end result was the definition of epic filmmaking. They also appreciated the film\u2019s environmental themes. It stars Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Sigourney Weaver, Stephen Lang, Cliff Curtis, Joel David Moore, CCH Pounder, Edie Falco, Jemaine Clement and Kate Winslet. Read a full review of the movie here.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n THE EXORCIST: BELIEVER \u2013 Those looking for holiday counter-programming may be interested in this horror sequel. A photographer and widower panics after learning that his daughter has disappeared with a friend from school. The two are eventually located, but have no memory of what occurred and begin exhibiting strange behavior. Soon enough, the initially skeptical protagonist begins to believe that his daughter may have been possessed by a demonic force. He ends up receiving help on how to proceed from a face that will be familiar to fans of the original. The press largely panned this effort. Less than one-quarter of notices were upbeat. They commented that the movie effectively delivered chills and enjoyed the message about various faiths working together to exorcise evil forces. All others wrote that the movie was a cheaply produced and ineffective knock-off of a classic with an absurd story. Most importantly, they stated that the film didn\u2019t frighten them. The cast includes Leslie Odom Jr., Ellen Burstyn, Ann Dowd, Lidya Jewett, Olivia O\u2019Neill and Raphael Sbarge. Read this site’s review of the movie by clicking this link.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n THE GHOST STATION \u2013 A train station attendant becomes\nfearful after a series of horrible accidents and workplace death occur. The\nindividual contacts a reporter and friend, asking them to look into the\nincidents. Before long, the pair become certain that something supernatural is\noccurring at the station and begin to learn some disturbing secrets that may\nhave caused the hauntings. Very few critics in North America have seen this\nforeign-language South Korean effort and reaction to it has been weak. One reviewer\ncalled it unoriginal, but well-paced and stylishly made. The writer who panned\nthe film commented that its lack of any new or original elements made it feel\nlike an uneventful and unnecessary ghost yarn. The movie features Kim Bo-ra,\nKim Jaehyun and Shin So-yul.<\/p>\n\n\n\n ONYX THE FORTUITOUS AND THE TALISMAN OF SOULS \u2013 This\nindependent horror\/comedy involves an \u201caverage joe\u201d struggling within his\ncommunity of Satanists. He agrees to attend a ritual by a powerful leader,\nhoping it will inspire him. However, the protagonist discovers that the\nimportant figure may actually be using his followers and planning to do\nsomething horrible to all of them. The lead must find a way to stand up to the\nthreat and protect the other attendees. Reaction towards this picture was\nslightly more positive than negative. Those who disliked it weren\u2019t taken by\nthe main character and thought that the filmmakers failed to land many of the\npotentially humorous beats. Still, the majority liked the movie\u2019s quirkiness\nand called it both amusing and charming, saying it managed to amuse on a small\nbudget. Andrew Bowser, Arden Myrin, Jeffrey Combs, Olivia Taylor Dudley, Rivkah\nReyes and Terrence \u201cT.C.\u201d Carson headline the picture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n PET SEMATARY: BLOODLINES \u2013 And there\u2019s more horror arriving\nthis week. This tale is a prequel inspired by the famous Stephen King novel and\nfilms. It is set in 1969 and features a young Jud Crandall (the senior who\nlived next to the leads in the 1989 and 2019 adaptations and advised them that,\n\u201cSometimes dead is better.\u201d). After he and other teens discover the\nresurrecting power of the titular location, they do everything in their power\nto protect their town from undead forces. This follow-up was initially made\navailable for streaming on Paramount+ and is now arriving on disc. Notices were\nquite poor for the title. A small handful thought the movie presented an\ninteresting backstory that would entertain fans of the original films. However,\nthe consensus was that the flick never felt scary or delivered anything\nmemorable, coming across like a missed opportunity at expanding on the source\nmaterial. It stars Jackson White, Natalie Alyn Lind, Forrest Goodluck, Isabella\nLaBlanc, Henry Thomas, David Duchovny, Samantha Mathis and Pam Grier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n THE RETIREMENT PLAN \u2013 A woman and her daughter get into\ntrouble with a local criminal organization. Fearing for their lives, they\ndecide to hide out with the mother\u2019s estranged and retired father, who is now a\nbeach bum living in the Cayman Islands. When the villains suddenly arrive and\nthreaten to kill the entire family, the dad surprises everyone by jumping into\naction. As it turns out, he has a secret past that his family never knew about.\nThis independent action\/comedy earned decent reviews from the press. A\nsizable number did comment that the story was convoluted and that the action\nand jokes could have been handled with more skill. Still, more suggested that\nthe cast was excellent and that once the picture veered away from action and\nfocused comedy elements, it improved significantly. Nicolas Cage, Ron Perlman,\nAshley Greene, Jackie Earle Haley, Grace Byers and Ernie Hudson headline the\nfeature. <\/p>\n\n\n\n RUMBLE THROUGH THE DARK \u2013 A cash-strapped ex-fighter living\nin the Mississippi Delta is desperate to save the family home of his dying\nfoster mother. When he loses cash to a powerful figure in town, the lead is\nforced to take part in bare-knuckle cage fighting in order to pay off the debt.\nA fight is eventually arranged with a particularly intimidating foe, and those\nclosest to the hero beg him not to go through with the match. Reaction was more\npositive than negative for this independent action feature. Some critics called\nall the characters unlikeable and couldn\u2019t get into the story, complaining that\nit was formulaic. But the majority complimented the lead performance. They\nnoted that the star\u2019s work made an impression and that he got them through the\npredictable plot elements. The movie features Aaron Eckhart, Bella Thorne,\nRitchie Coster, Marianne Jean-Baptiste and Viginia Newcomb. <\/p>\n\n\n\n THE WANDERING EARTH II \u2013 The 2019 Chinese science-fiction\nepic The Wandering Earth<\/em> followed a group of astronauts and scientists\ntasked with finding a new planet for humanity after ours ends up on a collision\ncourse with Jupiter. This prequel begins with the Earth facing another threat\nafter the leads discover that the sun is dying out. The group must find a way\nto reignite the star and save the world. Surprisingly, reaction to this\nfollow-up was a little more upbeat than it was for the original film. A few\nreviewers did sound off that the movie was overlong and heavy-handed in its depiction\nof the world on the brink of disaster. But the vast majority admitted that the\nproduction was an entertaining spectacle. They wrote that the special effects\nwere impressive and that the feature did a good job of developing characters so\nthat viewers would be invested in their plight. It stars Andy Lau, Jinh Wu and\nXuejian Li.<\/p>\n\n\n\n WHAT HAPPENS LATER \u2013 This romantic comedy catches up with a\npair of ex-lovers who cross paths at an airport. When they get snowed in and\nhave to spend the night in each other\u2019s company, they start bickering once\nagain. But as the time passes, the two discuss their past and begin to figure\nout why their relationship might have gone wrong. It leads them both to wonder\nif they could reconcile and perhaps even start anew. The press was split right\ndown the middle about this feature. Exactly half felt that the comedy wasn\u2019t\nquite up to snuff and that there was so much conflict between the leads that\nwatching the character reunite wasn\u2019t much fun. Yet the same number thought the\nleads were great and had chemistry. They also appreciated the focus on older\ncharacters and thought it added something fresh and new to the mix, ultimately\nwinning them over. The cast includes Meg Ryan and David Duchovny.<\/p>\n\n\n\n BLASTS FROM THE PAST!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n If you\u2019re looking for something a little older, you\u2019ve got\nsome great options as well. The Warriors<\/em> (1979) is one of those unusual\ncult films in that it was actually a big hit during its original theatrical\nrun. It follows a gang from Coney Island who are set-up by a rival group for a\nmurder they didn\u2019t commit. The leads must travel across Manhattan and get home\nbefore other outfits wipe them out. The film garnered a lot of public\nattention, but the studio began to pull it out of theaters because of a few\nincidents of gang violence at screenings. Critics didn\u2019t take to the movie at\nthe time either.<\/p>\n\n\n\n They were wrong though. The movie is fast-paced, stylish and\ndynamic with solid work from its young cast and several iconic lines and\nsequences. The movie was released on DVD, but went out-of-print soon after. In\n2005, Paramount reissued the movie in a new director\u2019s cut, first on DVD and\nlater in Blu-ray with added visual effects that made the picture resemble a\ncomic book. Many fans (myself included), didn\u2019t like the changes. After years\nin limbo, Arrow Video is now presenting the original cut of the movie and the\ndirector\u2019s cut in either a \u201cLimited Edition\u201d 2-disc 4K Ultra HD set, or a\n\u201cLimited Edition\u201d 2-disc Blu-ray.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It comes with a 4K remaster from the original camera negative of both cuts. You\u2019ll also get a film expert commentary track, a new interview with director Walter Hill (The Long Riders, Southern Comfort, 48 Hrs., Streets of Fire, Red Heat, Trespass, Last Man Standing<\/em>), a lengthy roundtable discussion in which Josh Olson (co-writer of A History of Violence<\/em>) and directors Lexi Alexander (Green Street<\/em>) and Robert D. Kryzkowski (The Man Who Killed Hitler and then Bigfoot<\/em>) discuss their love of The Warriors<\/em> and the work of Walter Hill. There\u2019s a new interview with the editor, the costume designer, as well as the costume designs, an appreciation piece on the score and a look at the locations used. There are a ton of archived extras included from the 2005 release as well that are wonderful. Additionally, it comes with a 100-page book on the movie, special packaging, a double-sided fold-out poster with original and newly commissioned artwork, 6 postcard-sized art-cards and gang logo stickers. Click here to read a full review of the set. <\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Arrow is also releasing the Blu-ray box set Savage Guns: 4 Classic Westerns<\/em>, which contains the four spaghetti westerns I Want Him Dead (<\/em>1968), El Puro<\/em> (1969), Wrath of the Wind<\/em> (1970) and The Four of the Apocalypse<\/em> (1975). The set contains 2K restorations of all movies from their original camera negatives. It also comes with two different versions of El Puro and Wrath of the Wind, film historian audio commentaries on every title, cast and crew interviews, publicity materials and much, much more. Read a full review of this Blu-ray box set right here.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/DVD-Exorcist-Believer-fixed.jpg\")
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