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<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\nBABY ASSASSINS 2 \u2013 Also known as Baby Assassins 2 Babies<\/em> (which is a pretty confusing title) this Japanese action\/comedy is a sequel to the 2021 original, which was a hit in its homeland. After the events of the first movie, the two young female hired killers find themselves being banned from their organization for breaking rules of conduct. To make ends meet, they have to take part-time jobs in the service industry. When assassins come after them, the pair fight back while trying to keep their identities a secret from the public. Like the original film, reaction to this follow-up was upbeat. A small number complained that the pacing was slow and that it simply delivered more of the same. However, the majority stated that the leads were charming and the film was funny, building on the ideas of its predecessor in new and exciting ways. It stars Akari Takaishi, Saori Izawa and Joey Iwanaga.<\/p>\n\n\n\n BERMUDA ISLAND \u2013 A commercial flight to Puerto Rico gets\ninto trouble over the Bermuda Triangle and crashes on a small remote island.\nThe survivors include a criminal, FBI agents and a group of passengers. They\nargue amongst themselves while they attempt to form a plan for survival, until\nbizarre monsters appear and begin picking them all off one by one. In order to\nbeat the creatures, they have to get over their differences and fight back. Not\nmany have seen this independent, low-budget action\/horror picture and reviews\nhave been mixed. Some have stated that for such a little film, it does a decent\njob of developing characters, has some interesting twists and provides fun\nmonster mayhem. A similar number thought the story was confusingly presented,\ndidn\u2019t care for the characters and called it unmemorable. The cast includes Tom\nSizemore, Noel Gugliemi, John Wells and Sarah French.<\/p>\n\n\n\n CHRISTMAS COLLISION \u2013 Run out of Hallmark movies to watch\nand are looking for a Christmas-themed romance? This independent production was\ncompleted and released on the internet during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021. It\nis now appearing on Blu-ray and DVD. The film tells the story of a cold-hearted\nbusinesswoman who is tasked with foreclosing a farm in Ohio over the holidays.\nAfter she takes a fall on the property, the owner allows her to stay there and\nromance blooms between them. At present, few critics have reviewed the\nfeature. One commented that for this type of film it was decent and did its job\neffectively enough to recommend. Others thought that plot elements were silly,\nthe running time was too long and the story overly familiar. It features Sebrina\nScott, John Wells, Vernon Wells and Michael Pare.<\/p>\n\n\n\n THE CHRISTMAS DANCE \u2013 If you want to make it a holiday\ndouble-bill, this effort from the same distributor is also being made\navailable. A city girl with a hectic career returns home after her brother gets\ninto a car accident (while talking on the phone with her). She meets various\nfaces from her past, including a single handyman\/tree farmer\/musician who asks\nher to help with the town\u2019s Christmas program. They soon fall in love. There is\nonly one review available for the movie. It is from a faith-based site that\nenjoyed the picture and its message. Online reviews suggest that while the cast\nis good, the screenplay is silly ( especially the reason for the lead\u2019s\naversion to the holiday). They also state that the movie begins to get\nuncomfortably preachy as it nears its finale. Kristen Vaganos, Carson Nicely,\nMiles Faber and Richard Karn headline the picture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n EASTER BLOODY EASTER \u2013 The mythical Jackalope (essentially\nan oversized jackrabbit with antelope horns) is the central monster in this\nhorror\/comedy. The beast and its army of bunnies run riot over a small town,\ngorging on citizens over the Easter holiday. A protagonist who is searching for\nher missing husband ends up teaming with an old friend to get to the bottom of\nthe mystery and save the locals. Again, few have seen this low-budget\nindependent picture and the response from online reviewers is varied. Some call\nthe film a wasted opportunity, finding the humor immature and stating it has\ntrouble nailing down its tone. Slightly more liked the monsters and believe\nthat enough of the silly gags work to earn the film a recommendation. It stars\nDiane Foster (who also directed), Kelly Grant, Allison Lobel, Zuri Starks and\nD’Andre Noir\u00e9.<\/p>\n\n\n\n FIORETTA \u2013 In this documentary, a Los Angeles-based lawyer\ndecides to look into his own family history with his son. The individual knows\nthat he is the grandson of Austrian-Jewish composer Arnold Schoenberg, but as\nhe delves deeper, the trail leads even further back some 500 years into the\npast. As the pair travel together across Europe, they are fascinated by what\nthey learn and where they both have come from. Critical response to the picture\nwas uniformly positive. While a few admitted that the movie didn\u2019t delve too\ndeeply into their history and at times felt like a travelog, they all thought\nthe movie was intriguing. Reviews also suggested that it did an excellent job\nof showing a man and his son connecting during the journey over their family\u2019s\nshared past.<\/p>\n\n\n\n FOUR DAUGHTERS \u2013 Here\u2019s another non-fiction effort that may\nbe of interest to documentary enthusiasts. A Tunisian woman tells viewers about\nher four daughters. She explains that while her two youngest still live at\nhome, the eldest disappeared years ago and have presumably been radicalized\ninto an Islamic fundamentalist group. The women are interviewed and then actors\nappear playing the vanished daughters. This is used to both show some family\nevents and allow the film\u2019s subjects to voice their thoughts over what has\noccurred. This picture received mostly raves and was nominated for Best\nDocumentary at the Academy Awards. A tiny contingent didn\u2019t think the\ninteractions between the actors and real people worked effectively and made\nevents feel manipulated. However, the vast majority called the movie powerful\nand thought that it blended elements well and expertly showed how someone might\nfind themselves being influenced by an extremist group, as well as the effects\nit has on their family.<\/p>\n\n\n\n HOME \u2013 This English-language international co-production was\nreleased in Europe in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic. It took some time to\nfind its way to North America, debuting in limited release and on streaming\nplatforms at the end of 2021 before being picked up for Blu-ray distribution\nthis year. It\u2019s about a teenager who commits a violent act and is sentenced to\nprison for 20 years. After being released, he returns home hoping to make\namends for his act. Unfortunately, locals still remember his crime and are\nless-than-eager to forgive. The press generally liked this picture. Nearly\none-third did call the story familiar and didn\u2019t care for the European\nfilmmaker\u2019s critique of American problems. Still, most complimented the move as\nbeing understated but effective, with an excellent cast keeping the tale\ninteresting and engaging. The cast includes Jake McLaughlin, Kathy Bates,\nAisling Franciosi, Derek Richardson, James Jordan, Lil Rel Howery and Stephen\nRoot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n LANCASTER \u2013 When this writer was growing up, he often\ncrossed paths with an elderly neighbor who flew a Lancaster bomber during World\nWar II. The man was incredibly friendly and could always look directly up into\nthe sky at a moment\u2019s notice and deliver a 100% accurate weather forecast (I\nsuppose his life used to often depend on predicting weather conditions). This\ndocumentary uses archival material and flying footage to tell the story of the\nBritish four-engine heavy bomber from its development, to its successful use in\nthe second half of the conflict. Response towards the picture was entirely\npositive. All notices stated that it efficiently tells the story with great\nimagery and terrifying stories from several pilots, clearly depicting what the\nplane meant to the young pilots who served onboard. Charles Dance narrates the\nmovie.<\/p>\n\n\n\n THE MANSON BROTHERS MIDNIGHT ZOMBIE MASSACRE \u2013 Those who\nenjoy horror\/comedy pictures may be interested in this tale of aging wrestlers.\nDesperate for work, the siblings take a job fighting a cage match on Halloween.\nAfter getting inside and throwing down against their opponents, a zombie virus\nturns most of the audience into undead flesh eaters. Those not immediately\ninfected must team up to fight their way to safety. This is another picture\nthat debuted on streaming services in late 2021 and is now appearing on\nBlu-ray. More online critics appear to have liked the flick than disliked it.\nThose who didn\u2019t care for the movie said that it wouldn\u2019t impress anyone who\nwasn\u2019t a fan of low-budget genre cinema. Of course, the rest described it as a\nfun B-movie that delivers sharp horror and comedy in equal measure thanks to\nits talented cast. Chris Margetis, Mike Carey, David B. Meadows, Randy Couture\nand D.B. Sweeney headline the picture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n THE REAPER MAN \u2013 After a woman suffers a horrible tragedy,\nshe begins taking solace in unusual places When she discovers that a voodoo\npriestess can communicate with the deceased, the lead asks the spiritualist to\ntry and contact her loved one. This individual resurrects the person whom the\nprotagonist lost, but they are not the same, solely focused on taking revenge.\nNaturally, this causes the guilt-ridden lead to regret her actions. So far,\nthere have only been online reviews for this very low-budget picture and they\nhave been mixed. A few have commented that the budget just isn\u2019t enough to\neffectively tell this story and that it feels overlong. Just as many admired\nthe film\u2019s emphasis on grief over horror and thought that it was well-acted and\ncompelling. It features Jessica Jai Johnson, Coley Bryant, Brandon Russell and\nTarsha Gibson.<\/p>\n\n\n\n SKIN DEEP \u2013 In this German effort, a couple struggling with\ntheir relationship accept an invitation to a remote island by an acquaintance.\nThings immediately become strange when they are soon offered the opportunity to\nexchange bodies and see the world through the eyes of someone else. One of the\npair finds themselves so happy in their new body that they refuse to return to\ntheir old one. As a result, things quickly spiral out of control. This\nforeign-language film earned nothing but positive reviews from the press. They\nwere impressed by the unique story and stated that it went places and asked\nquestions that they didn\u2019t anticipate. Some called it a hidden gem that had\nplenty of ambitious goals and managed to achieve many of them. For the time\nbeing, this is a DVD-only release. Jonas Dassler, Mala Emde and Edgar Selge\nheadline the film.<\/p>\n\n\n\n BLASTS FROM THE PAST!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n If you\u2019re looking for something a little older, there are\nplenty of options. If you missed Radiance Films\u2019 \u201cSpecial Edition\u201d of the cult\nchiller Messiah of Evil<\/em> (1973), a \u201cStandard Edition\u201d is now available.\nOne expects that it will contain all of the previously noted extras, just\nwithout the 80-page booklet and box packaging.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Criterion is releasing a 4K Ultra HD and Blu-ray set of the\nFrench drama La Haine<\/em> (1995). The black-and-white film follows 24 hours\nin the lives of three young men after a violent riot in the streets. Bonuses\ninclude a 2007 director commentary, an introduction to the film from Jodie\nFoster (who helped popularize the movie in North America), trailers, a still\ngallery, deleted and extended scenes, raw footage from one crucial moment in\nthe film and a featurette on how the leads researched their roles. There is\nalso a discussion with sociologists on the messages present, a feature-length documentary\nabout the real-life event that inspired the picture and an illustrated booklet\nwith writing on the movie.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Disney is rereleasing some of their Marvel films as 4K Ultra\nHD and Blu-ray Steelbook Exclusives at Walmart. You can pick up Black\nPanther<\/em> (2018), Doctor Strange<\/em> (2016) and Guardians of the Galaxy<\/em>\n(2014) in the highest possible quality and special packaging.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Handgun<\/em> (1983) aka Deep in the Heart<\/em> is\narriving on Blu-ray from Fun City Editions. This drama follows a woman who is\nraped at gunpoint and then seeks vengeance on those who attacked her. It is\nreported that the well-received movie is an attack on the easy availability of\nguns in the US and the violence it can cause. The movie has been given a 4K\nrestoration from the original camera negative and comes with a film expert\ncommentary, an archival interview with the director, as well as publicity\nmaterials, a booklet with an essay on the movie, and a \u201cLimited Edition\u201d\nslipcover with newly commissioned art for the film.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Imprint is an Australian label who are making several\n\u201cLimited Edition\u201d Blu-ray titles available for purchase in North America. Only\n1500 copies of each title will be made available.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The first disc is for *batteries not included<\/em> (1987),\nproduced by Steven Spielberg. It\u2019s about the residents of a tenement who are\nbeing forced out of their home. Suddenly, small flying alien ships appear and\nattempt to help them out. The Blu-ray features new interviews with director\nMatthew Robbins (Dragonslayer<\/em>), writer Mick Garris, a featurette on\ncomposer James Horner and trailers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Green Ice<\/em> (1981) is an adventure film about\ncharacters hunting for emeralds in Columbia. It stars Ryan O\u2019Neal, Anne Archer,\nOmar Sharif and John Larroquette. The film is being presented on Blu-ray with a\n2K scan of the original negative. You\u2019ll also get a film authority commentary,\nan interview with the stunt coordinator and a trailer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Strange Invaders<\/em> (1983) is a cult film with Paul Le\nMat, Nancy Allen, Diana Scarwid, Michael Lerner, Louise Fletcher and Wallace\nShawn about a professor who believes his daughter is being targeted for an\nalien abduction. This Blu-ray comes with a commentary from co-writer\/producer\/director\nMichael Laughlin (Strange Behavior<\/em>) and co-writer Bill Condon (who would\nlater co-write\/direct Gods and Monsters<\/em> and win an Oscar for writing Chicago<\/em>)\nas well as other new extras.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Lionsgate is making several of their titles available as\nWalmart Exclusive Steelbooks that include 4K Ultra HD discs and Blu-rays. The\nfirst is the underrated and entertaining pirate movie Cutthroat Island<\/em>\n(1995) starring Geena Davis as a swashbuckler seeking treasure. It appears to\ninclude all bonuses (like a director commentary) from earlier versions. You can\nalso purchase the first and best Rambo feature, First Blood<\/em> (1982) in\nthe same package. Lionsgate is also making the recent sequel Rambo: Last\nBlood<\/em> (2019) with the same features. Also arriving is the RED: 2-Film\nCollection<\/em> which includes the 2010 original and 2013 follow-up, featuring\nBruce Willis, Helen Mirren, Morgan Freeman and John Malkovich. Again, expect\nall the old extras included in these sets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Bushman<\/em> (1971) is arriving on Blu-ray from Milestone\nFilms. The story involves a well-educated Nigerian immigrant adapting to life\nin San Francisco who is falsely accused of a crime he did not commit. Special\nfeatures on this critically acclaimed feature include a film historian\ncommentary, an archival audio interview with the star of the movie and a pair\nof hour-long films by the director.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Previously released by Shout! Factory and now out-of-print,\nthe Patricia Arquette horror film Stigmata<\/em> (1999) is being put out by\nMPI Home Video as a \u201cCollector\u2019s Edition Mediabook\u201d containing a Blu-ray and\nDVD of the film. The story involves a faithless woman who begins to experience\nmysterious stigmata. The Vatican soon gets involved. This title arrives with a\n24-page booklet on the movie, a director commentary, a making-of, deleted\nscenes, an alternate ending and a trailer (I believe most of these appeared on\nearlier editions).<\/p>\n\n\n\n Finally, Paramount is giving their hit baseball comedy Major League<\/em> (1989) a 25th<\/sup> Anniversary Edition. You\u2019ll get a 4K Ultra HD disc of the movie (no Blu-ray is included in this edition) and it can also be purchased in a Steelbook. The latter looks like a locker and comes with a set of magnets. No word on what, if any, bonuses might come with it.\u00a0 For those unfamiliar with the picture (pictured above and to the right), it\u2019s about a professional baseball team filled with misfits who are expected to do horribly and be sold to another city, but end up bonding and succeeding. The cast includes Charlie Sheen, Corbin Bernsen, Tom Berenger, Wesley Snipes, Dennis Haysbert and Rene Russo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n YOU KNOW, FOR KIDS!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Sorry, it looks like a slow edition for kids.<\/p>\n\n\n\n ON THE TUBE!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Below is a list of all the week\u2019s TV-themed releases.<\/p>\n\n\n\n American Experience: Fly With Me<\/em> (PBS) DVD<\/p>\n\n\n\n Funny Woman<\/em> (PBS) DVD<\/p>\n\n\n\n Hallmark 6-Movie Collection: Aloha Heart, Making Waves,\nNapa Ever After, Notes of Autumn, A Very Venice Romance and Field Day<\/em>\n(Hallmark) DVD<\/p>\n\n\n\n Inside Man<\/em>: Year One (BBC) DVD<\/p>\n\n\n\n Masterpiece: Nolly<\/em> (PBS) DVD<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/DVD-Bermuda-Island-fixed.jpg\")
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