Welcome to another look at some of the Blu-ray and DVD highlights that are arriving on store shelves. This edition is jam-packed with a variety of big titles and well-received independent fare. So, if you can’t or shouldn’t be heading out to the movies just yet, so you need to get a DVD player, a good TV, a tv wall mount full motion, and be sure to give one of these titles a try!
BIG NEW RELEASES!
13 MINUTES – This independent disaster movie begins with a massive tornado heading towards a small, midwestern farming town. With only 13 minutes warning, four families in the area who don’t get along must not only prepare for and survive the storm, but also deal with the after effects and devastation. Critics weren’t particularly thrilled by this picture. About a quarter of them were engrossed in what they saw and appreciated that the story was focused on the characters rather than epic scenes of destruction. However, the majority stated that the story copied all the usual disaster-movie tropes and offered no surprises. They also called the writing and dialogue corny. It features Amy Smart, Thora Birch, Peter Facinelli, Trace Adkins, Paz Vega and Anne Heche.
BROADCAST SINGAL INTRUSION – In this chiller, a young man at a TV station logging old broadcast tapes makes a disturbing discovery. He sees a bizarre figure onscreen related to a television signal hijacking that occurred decades earlier. The man quickly becomes obsessed with this unsolved mystery, using the tapes to investigate and dig deeper into what occurred. Reviewers gave this independent feature more positive reviews than it did negative ones. Those who disliked it said the story wasn’t adequately resolved and that the movie fell apart after a setting up an interesting premise. Still, most commented that even if some elements were flawed, this was a moody, fascinating picture that kept their attention throughout and sent shivers down the spine. The cast includes Harry Shum Jr., Kelley Mack and Chris Sullivan.
COPSHOP – A con artist learns that a powerful figure he once stole from has put a contract on his head. The thief decides to get himself arrested and hide out in a smalltown police station. Unfortunately, a lethal assassin soon shows up at the site to kill the crook. A rookie police officer finds herself caught in the crosshairs and must make a choice to either protect the con artist or allow him to be murdered. This action picture from writer/director Joe Carnahan (The A Team, The Grey) earned strong notices from the press. A small contingent complained that there was no one to root for in this movie and that it didn’t hold their attention. Still, the consensus was that this was an effective and entertaining B-movie with a charismatic cast and some fun twists and turns. It stars Gerard Butler, Frank Grillo, Alexis Louder, Toby Huss and Chad L. Coleman.
CRY MACHO – The latest from Clint Eastwood is a period piece set in 1979. He plays a cash-strapped ex-rodeo star and washed-up horse breeder who accepts a dangerous job from an ex-employer. The senior is forced to head into Mexico and take the man’s son from his alcoholic mother. The lead does find the young man and tires to sneak him away without drawing attention. As they travel, the old man makes an unlikely connection with the boy. Notices for this feature appeared to be split. Almost half thought the tale was predictable and thought the screenplay became too sentimental and clumsy as it progressed. Others called it old-fashioned but effective and said they appreciated seeing a 91-year-old Eastwood playing a character who reflects on his life and regrets. Eastwood, Eduardo Minett, Dwight Yoakam, Natalia Traven and Fernanda Urrejola headline the picture.
DEAR EVAN HANSEN – Based on the hit Broadway musical, this film adaptation tells the story of an isolated high school outcast with a social anxiety disorder who crosses paths with a troubled figure at his school. The two don’t get along, but when the stranger ends his life, people mistakenly begin to think the pair were friends. Pleased with the newfound popularity, the protagonist makes new friends and attempts to keep the ruse going. Response to the picture was extreme. A small group suggested that the movie was reasonably faithful to the stage show and had catchy musical numbers, as well as a strong cast. However, most hated it, calling the film miscast, schmaltzy, painful to endure and schizophrenic in tone. Some even ranked it among the biggest misfires of the year. It stars Ben Platt, Amy Adams, Julianne Moore, Kaitlyn Dever, Amanda Stenberg and Nik Dodani. Read a full review of the movie here.
FILM ABOUT A FATHER WHO – Ira Sachs Sr. has been described as a hippie businessman and developer who fathered nine children by six different women. This documentary was made by one of his adult children, who is now a renowned independent filmmaker attempting to better understand her father and his strange behavior. To do so, she presents footage of the man shot on various formats over a period of 35 years and narrates her experiences with him. Reaction towards this title was uniformly positive. The group all said that the different source material spliced together created an appropriately hectic feel to the movie. They also noted that it was fascinating to witness the moviemaker try to understand her dad and make sense of his wild eccentricities, even when he seemed selfish and uncaring in his personal relationships.
THE JESUS MUSIC – This documentary focuses on the rise of Christian music from the 1960s to present day. The filmmakers follow the genre’s rise in popularity and how its artists eventually broke into the mainstream and found themselves on Top 40 radio. Musicians like Amy Grant, Michael W. Smith, TobyMac, Kirk Franklin, and Lauren Daigle share their memories of recording their music, unexpectedly finding millions of fans in the process. Critics gave the movie more positive write-ups than negative ones. Those who didn’t care for it stated that it glossed over its subject without revealing any insight. They also stated that it wouldn’t appeal to anyone who wasn’t already a Christian music fan. Slightly more complimented it as being enlightening. They liked that it showed some of the difficulties and hard times the performers went through being during their careers after scoring a few chart hits.
LAST SHOOT OUT – A newlywed gets a shock at the beginning of this western when she learns that her new husband was responsible for murdering her father. She decides to flee their ranch home and hides out with a gunman at a remote outpost. By the time the husband appears to reclaim his wife, the two fugitives decide to take revenge the woman’s murdering spouse for his acts. This picture looks to be primarily debuting on streaming platforms and on disc, so there aren’t many reviews online for the picture. Of those that have appeared, one believed that it would please western enthusiasts, while the other called it a dull and predictable effort that should be avoided. The movie features Brock Harris, Skylar Witte, Peter Sherayko, Jay Pickett, David DeLuise and Bruce Dern.
THE MONKEY KING REBORN – The Monkey King is a famous mythical figure who has appeared in Chinese literature for hundreds of years, as well as numerous films in recent history. The latest feature to use this character is an animated family feature. The title prankster causes problems and offends the monstrous Demon King. The sinister creature then kidnaps the lead’s master and threatens the world. The protagonist must quickly learn some demonology to save the planet and accept a few lessons about his bad behavior. There aren’t many notices for this title, but a couple that have appeared online suggest it is impressively animated and reasonably entertaining. The disc contains both the original Mandarin language track and an English dub of the movie.
ONE NIGHT IN MIAMI – This Amazon Original drama released at the end of 2020 was nominated for three Academy Awards, but failed to make any sort of appearance on Blu-ray or DVD afterward. This was no doubt done to lure people into subscribing to the retailer’s streaming service, but now the movie is finally arriving on disc via the Criterion line. This is a fictional account of real-life figures Malcolm X, Muhammad Ali, Jim Brown and Sam Cooke, who meet at a hotel and discuss the trials and tribulations in their lives. Critics generally loved the movie. A couple of them complained that the main characters were simplified versions of the actual figures, but all others thought the film was beautifully acted and perfectly captured the people and feelings of the era. It stars Kingsley Ben-Adir, Eli Goree, Aldis Hodge and Leslie Odom Jr. and Lance Reddick.
ONE SHOT – An elite squad of Navy SEALs and a junior CIA analyst investigating a potential terrorist threat in Washington D.C. decide that the only person who can help them is an inmate at a CIA black site prison. After the warden refuses their request, they decide to break this figure out, only to encounter and square off against the terrorists that they’re looking for. According to reports, the entire feature flows together in a single shot and the technique seemed to resonate with reviewers. A sizable group of them did feel that the single-shot approach was gimmicky and didn’t make-up for the routine story. However, more were impressed with the camerawork and called it a tense and better-than-average B-movie with a good cast. Scott Adkins, Ashley Greene, Ryan Phillippe and Emmanuel Imani headline the feature.
RON’S GONE WRONG – An awkward middle-school student decides to try out a digitally-connected device that promises to be his best friend. The two get on immediately, but the program appears to be glitchy, causing hilarious malfunctions that send the two on a wild and crazy adventure. This animated family feature received solid reviews upon its release at cinemas. A small contingent opined that the movie didn’t really address the ill-effects of modern media with any savvy and even whiffed on some of the attempts at humor. Still, the majority though the film was entertaining, good-natured and funny, addressing both the positive and negative effects of modern technology on our lives. The voice cast includes Jack Dylan Grazer, Zach Galifianakis, Ed Helms, Olivia Colman, Rob Delaney and Justice Smith. The movie is available in a 4K Ultra HD and Blu-ray set or a Blu-ray only edition.
SWIMMING OUT TILL THE SEA TURNS BLUE – This documentary from China was made by filmmaker Jia Zhang Ke (Ash is Purest White, A Touch of Sin). It attempts to capture Chinese society since 1949 using interviews with three prominent authors as source material. Jia Pingwa, Yu Hua, and Liang Hong were born in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s and all share their experiences growing up, including the rough conditions they witnessed growing up in rural areas. They also detail how things have changed since then. The press was generally upbeat about the picture. There was a sizable group who didn’t respond to the feature, finding the final product overlong and less-than-subtle in its overall message. Still, many thought that the stories and storytellers were interesting and that their tales felt authentic and moving.
WEREWOLVES WITHIN – A new forest ranger arrives to start his first day of work in a small town, only to encounter a series of unexpected difficulties. The residents are extremely eccentric, many of them are battling over a proposed pipeline being built under the ground… and there’s a ravenous werewolf murdering locals. When a snowstorm hits, the forest ranger has to calm the nerves of the panicky residents and keep as many as he can from being slaughtered. Notices were great for this independent horror/comedy. A small contingent couldn’t get on the film’s wavelength and found the caricatures on display unamusing. Yet the vast majority argued that the movie was laugh-out-loud funny and had an excellent cast who eked every laugh they could out of the material. Some even felt the movie was certain to become a cult classic among horror movie enthusiasts. Sam Richardson and Milana Vayntrub headline the feature. Here is a full review of the feature.
BLASTS FROM THE PAST!
Arrow Video are always good for some unusual European cult titles and this week is no exception. The Giallo Essentials Collection Vol. 2 is their latest Blu-ray box set, containing the over-the-top Italian thrillers Torso (1973), What Have They Done to Your Daughters? (1974) and Strip Nude for Your Killer (1975). The distributor has released them all before on Blu-ray, but never together in a single package. As you might have already guessed, extras include all of the same features from Arrow’s previous individual discs.
Action movie enthusiasts may get a kick out of the cheesy B-movie Final Justice (1988), arriving courtesy of the MVD Rewind Collection. Joe Don Baker stars as a Texas sheriff assigned to escort a killer from the US back to Italy. During a stopover in Malta, things get wild. The criminal escapes and the lead must hunt him down. This disc includes a feature-length making-of with the cast and crew, an audio commentary with podcasters from “Hack the Movies”, a trailer and a collectable mini-poster.
Shout! are presenting a Collector’s Edition 4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray of Krampus – The Naughty Cut (2015). Apparently, when Krampus was originally released at theaters, it was cut down significantly to receive a PG-13 rating. This is the complete cut of the movie with more gruesomeness and bad language included. Besides the image quality upgrade, it comes with new interviews with the writer/director, the producer, as well as cast members David Koechner, Allison Tolman and Emjay Anthony. You’ll also get discussions with crew members who worked on the special effects and a talk with the man who composed the score for the movie. Additionally, all of the bonuses from the regular Blu-ray (including the filmmaker commentary, gag reel, extended ending, deleted scenes and publicity materials) are included too.
Kino are putting out some interesting Blu-rays as well. 21 Hours at Munich (1976) is a dramatization of the “Black September” story starring William Holden and Franco Nero. The disc contains the film in two aspect ratios, a film historian commentary and a trailer. They also have a Blu-ray with a 2K restoration of the Lionel Barrymore WWI drama, Broken Lullaby (1932). It also comes with a critic commentary.
Busting (1974) with Elliott Gould and Robert Blake is a cop picture made in the mold of The French Connection. It’s about two cops who will do just about anything, legal or illegal, to catch their man. The feature has become something of a cult film and so Kino are presenting a Blu-ray “Limited Edition Reissue” of the title. It comes with a director commentary and a second audio track featuring star Elliott Gould. The release also includes a trailer.
If music from the 1980s is to your liking, you may want to check out Get Crazy (1983). It’s about an independent music promoter trying to put on a concert, while a big-time agent attempts to stop him from succeeding. This flick stars Malcolm McDowell, Allen Garfield and Daniel Stern. It features tons of music from bands like Ramones and a theme song by Sparks. The movie has been given a 2K restoration approved by the director. The Blu-ray includes a filmmaker commentary, a feature-length documentary on the production featuring most of the cast and crew, music videos for some of the original tunes in the flick and more.
If you enjoy Jean-Claude Van Damme pictures, then Hard Target (1993) is likely in your all-time top five. It appears to be one of Kino’s favorite titles too, as they are releasing a 4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray of the film (or you can also just pick up a Blu-ray only version). Besides a higher quality restoration of the unrated international cut (which is much better than the US theatrical version), it comes with new interviews with director John Woo, actor Lance Henricksen, actress Yancy Butler and the movie’s stunt coordinator. There’s also an audio commentary from a pair of action film historians included and a trailer.
The Long Goodbye (1973) is another Elliott Gould flick arriving on Blu-ray. Directed by Robert Altman (M*A*S*H*), this detective movie arrives from a 4K master that was sourced for this edition. It also comes with a film historian commentary, multiple featurettes on many of the cast and crew members. Additionally, it comes with plenty of publicity materials. The distributor has also used a 2K remaster to present an upgraded Blu-ray of the Charles Bronson action flick, Mr. Majestyk (1974). This disc also includes all of the extras from Kino’s previous version.
And Kino also have a Blu-ray of the Alfred Hitchcock thriller, Number Seventeen (1932). It follows a group of thieves being pursued by cops after a robbery. The disc contains a 4K restoration of the movie, a film critic commentary, audio interviews between the director and Francois Truffaut, and a documentary on Hitchcock’s early career and titles.
Code Red are presenting the goofy monster movie Blue Monkey (1987) aka Insect on Blu-ray. The plot features a giant big that grows in an unused floor of a hospital and begins attacking the staff and patients. The movie has been remastered from the original negative and arrives with multiple trailers and a “limited edition” card that fits around the case.
And they are putting out Checkered Flag or Crash (1977) on Blu-ray. This picture stars Joe Don Baker, Susan Sarandon, Larry Hagman and more competing in a wild off-road race. The disc includes a 2K restoration of the film and a newly remastered trailer.
Disney have decided to give one of their hit films an upgrade. Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988) is arriving in a 4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray package. For those too young to remember, the movie is set in a world where humans and cartoons interact. Bob Hoskins stars as a detective hired by the title character to help clear his name. The set contains loads of extras about the movie, including a director commentary, multiple making-of featurettes, deleted scenes and several short films featuring the animated characters from the film. You’ll also get a brand new short in this release. This 4K + Blu-ray edition will also be available in exclusive Steelbook packaging at Best Buy.
Mill Creek would like you to know that they have a Steelbook Blu-ray of the goofy Jean-Claude Van Damme picture Street Fighter (1994), which is a film adaptation of the arcade game.
Paramount are digging into the vaults to debut Beavis and Butt-Head Do America (1996) on Blu-ray. Celebrating the 25th anniversary of the animated movie, this disc includes a filmmaker commentary, a retrospective making-of, a featurette detailing how the score and music for the film was created and much, much more!
The special Paramount Presents line are releasing a Blu-ray of Harold and Maude (1971). This cult comedy (pictured above and to the right) was released 50 years ago and follows an unusual and amusing relationship between a troubled young man and an elderly woman. The film has received a 4K restoration including an extensive image clean-up. You’ll also get a commentary on the movie featuring fans/filmmakers Larry Karaszewski and Cameron Crowe, a discussion with Yusuf/Cat Stevens on the music, multiple trailers for the movie and collectable packaging featuring a fold-out of the movie poster.
Sony has decided to make a 4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray set available called The Karate Kid Collection. As you might have already guessed, it includes The Karate Kid (1984), The Karate Kid Part II (1986) and The Karate Kid Part III (1989). Essentially, it contains only the first three films in the franchise starring Ralph Macchio and Pat Morita. Besides the improved picture quality, you will also receive all extras that were present on previously released Blu-rays and DVDs.
Finally, Warner Archive are making the James Cagney flick Angels with Dirty Faces (1938) available as a made-to-order Blu-ray. You can purchase this title through Amazon.
YOU KNOW, FOR KIDS!
If you’re looking for something for the kids, there are plenty of options.
Avatar: The Last Airbender / The Legend of Korra – The Complete Collection (contains 1 Season, 6 Movies)
The Monkey King Reborn
Ron’s Gone Wrong
Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988) 4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray – Disney, also available as Best Buy Exclusive Steelbook
ON THE TUBE!
And here are all of the TV-themed releases coming your way.
The Andy Griffith Show: The Complete Series
Creepshow: Season 2
Gomorrah: Season 2
My Life is Murder: Series 2
Rick and Morty: Season 5
Ride with Norman Reedus: Season 2