It’s time for another look at some of this week’s Blu-ray and DVD highlights. This is another busy edition, packed with Hollywood blockbusters and interesting independent fare. So, if you can’t or shouldn’t be heading out to the movies right now, be sure to give one of these titles a try!
BIG NEW RELEASES!
BLACK WIDOW – The latest Marvel comic book adaptation is a prequel of sorts that follows the popular Russian super soldier Black Widow. Following the events of Captain America: Civil War, the Avengers have been temporarily disbanded. Black Widow goes on the run, returning to her homeland to reunite with her surrogate family. She also squares off against the sinister general who raised and trained her to be a killer. Overall, reaction to the feature was positive. About a quarter of reviewers complained the film felt formulaic, wasn’t focused enough on the title character and didn’t generate the required thrills. However, the majority described the movie as an entertaining popcorn flick that benefitted from amusing bickering between the lead and her eccentric family members. It stars Scarlett Johansson, Florence Pugh, David Harbour, Olga Kurylenko, Ray Winstone and Rachel Weisz. To read this site’s review of the feature, click here.
THE BOSS BABY: FAMILY BUSINESS – This sequel to the 2017 animated hit is set 30 years after the previous film. The infants from the original story are now adults. One day, protagonist and new dad Tim discovers his infant is another boss baby, just like his brother was. He calls his sibling in for assistance, but the family member has no memory of his sinister past. The two end up consuming a special formula that makes them babies again – they attempt to thwart the powerful little girl’s villainous plans. Response towards this follow-up was split. Roughly half of the press called it a cute and funny sequel that delivered plenty of amusing gags for the whole family. However, just as many found it to be a tiring sugar rush that didn’t strike the same emotional chord as the original. The voice cast includes Alec Baldwin, James Marsden, Eva Longoria, Jeff Goldblum, Ariana Greenblatt, Jimmy Kimmel and Lisa Kudrow.
CATCH THE BULLET – A US Marshall gets more than he bargained for after a criminal he arrested years ago is released from prison. Vowing to take revenge, the outlaw and his gang return and kidnap the lawman’s son. In order to find his boy, the desperate lead recruits an Indian scout and a bigoted town deputy. Together, the trio rides into the desert and hunts for the group, exchanging gunfire with the antagonists. It looks like this western is premiering on Blu-ray and DVD (and presumably on streaming platforms too). As a result, no one has seen the film and there is no consensus on the its quality. Curious parties will have to venture into the wild without knowing exactly what they are in for. It features Jay Pickett, Peter Facinelli, Tom Skerritt, Mason McNulty and Cody Jones.
CENSOR – A film censor is a person who watches movies for the general public, putting a rating on the content and occasionally demanding cuts if they deem the material too graphic or offensive. This chiller film details one such figure, a woman with a mysterious past who spends her days imposing edits on horror pictures. She sits down to watch her latest assignment and is chilled by the plot’s similarity to a real and traumatic past event involving her sister. The censor’s grasp on reality slowly begins to erode. Critics were appropriately disturbed by this British feature. A small contingent said the movie emphasized form over content and believed that the payoff wasn’t satisfying. Still, the majority were gripped by the story, calling it eerie, original and very clever. They also said the tale was bolstered by some fine performances by the cast. The movie stars Niamh Algar, Michael Smiley, Nicholas Burns and Vincent Franklin.
CRAZY FIST – A mixed-martial arts fighter decides to give up his career after an opponent dies in the ring during an intense battle. Vowing never to harm another person, the man disappears from public view and attempts to live a quiet life running the family business. However, he is forced to reassess his plan after he learns that a close friend and fellow fighter has died under similar circumstances. In order to learn the truth and find the responsible party, the hero comes out of retirement to take on new opponents. This production was shot in China and has been available on the Hi-Yah! streaming service for some time, but is now arriving on disc. At present, there are barely any reviews for the film available. The cast includes Guo Qing, Steve Yoo, Liu Mengke, Collin Chou, Wang Wei and Kai Greene.
HOWLING VILLAGE – Released in its homeland back in 2019, this Japanese chiller follows a young psychologist who receives word that her brother has vanished. She decides to travel to the last place he was seen, a strange little village in the middle of nowhere with a reputation for being cursed. It isn’t long before the woman unearths unsettling details about the town that are connected to her own family history. The press was split down the middle over this foreign-language feature. Half of them wrote that it was a good-looking but otherwise unremarkable creeper that didn’t send enough chills down the spine. Just as many thought that the atmosphere and visuals were provocative enough to keep them intrigued and involved in the story. Ayaka Miyoshi, Ryôta Bandô and Renji Ishibashi headline the feature.
THE HUMAN FACTOR – This documentary chronicles the United States’ 30-year-effort to try and secure peace between nations in the Middle East (specifically, Israel and its neighbors). Various negotiators are interviewed and give their perspectives on the last few decades, including their failures and successes on the job. They also discuss the future of the region and what needs to occur in order to create harmony between various opposing groups. Response towards this non-fiction feature was almost uniformly upbeat. There were a few who didn’t think the research presented was detailed enough and thought the filmmaker’s one-side viewpoint wasn’t to the benefit of the feature. Yet all others complimented the movie as being gripping and required viewing for those wanting to know more about the region and its complicated history.
HUNTERS – After a deadly virus ravages the world, a heroic soldier is assigned to protect a group of refugees who have been dropped off at his base. He does his best to share his dwindling supplies with the new arrivals, but all of their lives are put at risk by the sudden and unexpected arrival of mutant creatures. They try to fight off the assault and avoid being devoured until help arrives. At present, almost nothing is known about this independent genre picture. It’s debuting on disc this week via the Shout! Factory line, but no one has seen it yet and there are currently no write-ups for the feature. At least there is a familiar name in the cast with Ian Ziering (one of the stars of the TV-series Beverly Hills, 90210 and the lead in the Sharknado cable movie series) taking on the protagonist role. It also features Phil Burke and Nicole Craner.
MASQUERADE – An eleven-year-old is left at home for the evening with a babysitter after her wealthy, art broker parents head out for the evening. Later that night, masked home invaders break-in, intending to steal a priceless work of art. The child tries to avoid capture and delay their progress as she waits for her mom and dad to return home. This thriller sounds like Home Alone with a decidedly darker slant. Unfortunately, critics weren’t particularly taken by what they saw. A couple of reviewers thought that the cast were good and that the ending worked well enough to earn the movie a modest recommendation. Everyone else stated that the story was full of plot holes and was unable to generate any suspense. They also noted that it closed a ridiculous plot twist that was difficult to buy into. The feature stars Bella Thorne, Alyvia Alyn Lind, Skyler Samuels, Mircea Monroe and Austin Nichols.
OUT OF DEATH – A woman invites her ex-cop uncle out to a cabin to enjoy some relaxing scenery. One morning, she goes out for a jog and witnesses a pair of officers involved in a drug-trading operation. The cops immediately arrest and attempt to frame the lady for the killing. Thank goodness her uncle wanders in at just the right time, helping her to escape. The pair attempt to collect evidence that will not only take down the crooked cops, but the town mayor. At present, this action flick has been universally panned by the press. Reviewers thought that the concept had potential, but that the story ultimately progressed in a routine and dull manner. They also noted that it wasted a good cast and that the performers themselves looked bored by what they were doing. The movie stars Jaime King, Bruce Willis, Lala Kent, Kelly Greyson and Michael Snow.
STRAIGHT OUTTA NOWHERE: SCOOBY-DOO! MEETS COURAGE THE COWARDLY DOG – The title of this direct-to-DVD animated feature teams up two popular Warner Bros. children’s properties. After Scooby gets lost and arrives in the town of Nowhere, Kansas, he meets Courage the Cowardly Dog. The pooches begin seeing strange, supernatural figures…. specifically, giant cicadas rampaging through the town. Shaggy, Daphne, Fred and Velma soon arrive and try to determine why there are enormous insects and who is responsible for them. Alas, no one has seen this flick at present and so there are currently no reviews available for it. According to release details, the DVD may also include a few episodes from a recent Scooby-Doo! series. The voice cast includes Frank Welker, Grey DeLisle, Matthew Lillard, Kate Micucci, Marty Grabstein, Thea White and Jeff Bergman.
ZOLA – Based on a series of popular tweets, this comedy/drama follows a Detroit waitress who befriends one of her customers. The lead is invited to take a trip to Florida with the female patron and enjoy some dancing and partying. It all stars out as fun, but the situation rapidly deteriorates as the pair become mixed up with a pimp, an idiot boyfriend, Tampa-area gangsters and other bizarre figures. Most enjoyed this unique little independent effort. A small contingent complained that the movie was stylish, but that its characters weren’t well developed and that some of the scenarios missed the mark. Still, the general consensus was that the leads were engaging. They also thought the movie oozed charm and fun, while also providing the odd uncomfortable but effective shock. It features Taylour Paige, Riley Keough, Nicholas Braun, Ari’el Stachel and Nelcie Souffrant
Blasts from the Past!
It’s also a wonderful week for older features getting high-definition upgrades. If you enjoy goofy horror B-movies from the 1950s, Arrow Video have you covered with Cold War Creatures: Four Films from Sam Katzman. The set contains the entertainingly kooky picture, Creature with the Atom Brain (1955), which involves a mad scientist using atom-powered zombies to take over the world. The Werewolf (1956) is an engagingly silly lycanthrope film, while Zombies of Mora Tau (1957) is notable for having a story that features underwater zombies guarding a treasure aboard a sunken ship. The Giant Claw (1957) features a massive and amusingly ugly bird terrorizing planes in the sky. None of the flicks are amazing cinema, but all of them are great fun for cheesy movie fans!
You’ll get high-definition presentations with upgraded picture quality on all four titles, an 80-page collector’s book with new writing about the movies and two posters with newly commissioned artwork. The discs themselves include introductions to all the titles, as well as film historian commentary tracks. In addition, the set comes with a visual essay about each movie with interesting facts and an analysis of the themes and elements featured. Of course, this release also comes with publicity and advertising materials for the flicks. Additionally, there are abbreviated 8mm shorts of two of the movies. In all, this sounds like a great set worth picking up.
Shout! Factory are delivering a remarkable, fan-favorite horror picture that has been out-of-print for far too long and has never been released on Blu-ray. Alone in the Dark (1982) follows three lunatics (played by Jack Palance, Donald Pleasence and Martin Landau who escape from an asylum and go on the rampage, eventually targeting their new doctor. It’s actually an effective, darkly funny film and the lead actors are an absolute blast to watch. Most viewers likely won’t be able to stop saying, “I want the hat!” for a long while after watching this picture.
This Collector’s Edition Blu-ray arrives with a 2K scan of the inter-positive and features an interview with director Jack Sholder (who also served as the man behind the camera on A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge and the underrated sci-fi/action flick, The Hidden). It also comes with a featurette on the film locations, a movie critic commentary, an archived audio track with the director, an interview with the punk band who appear at the close of the film, a discussion with co-star Carol Levy and all kinds of trailers, TV spots, radio ads and stills.
A couple of weeks back, Shout! began re-releasing Blu-rays from Laika studios, who are responsible for some incredible animated features. This week, the distributor is presenting the Academy Award nominated fable, Kubo and the Two Strings (2016), in addition to ParaNorman (2012), a wonderfully cute, horror-themed tale. Both of these discs come with all the bonuses that were on previous discs, as well as some new featurettes that present all the storyboards for the feature. You’ll also get extras that detail the animator’s work on the characters and stop-motion puppets used in the production. Sounds like another excellent disc and hopefully we’ll get an upgraded Blu-ray of Missing Link (2019), Laika’s most recent title, in the near future.
The distributor is also presenting the Japanese animated cult feature Perfect Blue (1997) on Blu-ray. It’s about a pop star and TV actress whose reality begins to fracture as her popularity rises. You’ll get a new remastered presentation of the picture, a lecture on the movie and interviews with the voice cast. The disc also comes with footage from the recording sessions of some of the songs used in the feature. And this release features cast and crew interviews and publicity materials.
Kino also have some noteworthy Blu-rays coming your way. The thriller Arabesque (1966) stars Gregory Peck as a man hired to decipher a secret message sent to an oil magnate. Sophia Loren plays the female lead. This “Special Edition” provides a film historian commentary, a featurette on the movie’s score, multiple trailers and TV spots as well as a poster gallery. The company is also putting out Bluebeard (1963), an extremely dark French horror/comedy about a serial killer. Based on a shocking true story, the disc contains a 4K restoration from the original camera negative, a film expert commentary, as well as a few trailers.
Additionally, they have Blue Panther (1965), a French Eurospy romp inspired to some degree by the popularity of the James Bond character. This title involves a secret agent trying to prevent a mad doctor from releasing a deadly virus. The Blu-ray contains a 4K restoration of the film, a commentary with movie authorities and some trailers. And Kino are releasing a Blu-ray of Rififi in Paris (1966), aka The Upper Hand, a crime movie about gold smugglers. Despite the title, this does not appear to be a direct sequel to the legendary 1955 French crime film, Rififi.
Criterion are delivering the Oscar-nominated drama, Mona Lisa (1986) in high definition. Directed and co-written by Neil Jordan (The Company of Wolves, The Crying Game, Interview with the Vampire, Ondine, Byzantium, Greta), it stars Bob Hoskins as an ex-con who gets a job driving for a call girl. Eventually, he begins to develop affection towards the young woman. Jordan has supervised the Blu-ray transfer himself and the disc features an archival commentary and lengthy talk with the filmmaker and Hoskins. It also has a new conversation with the director and a discussion with the movie’s screenwriter.
Code Red always do a solid job at finding and presenting hard-to-find and obscure titles on Blu-ray. This week, they are presenting The French Conspiracy (1972) aka The Assassination, a French/Belgian/German political thriller about a North African rebel activist and leader who is being hunted by enemies from his homeland. This movie is arriving on disc with a 4K restoration and it includes the original French version and English dubbed cut of the film.
The Devil in Maddalena (1971) aka Maddalena is arriving courtesy of One 7 Movies. It is considered a controversial and hard-to-come-by Yugoslavian/Italian coproduction. The story details a woman who begins to torment and flirt with a priest, questioning his profession and vow of celibacy. The film’s score was composed by Academy Award-winner Ennio Morricone. This release doesn’t offer many extras, but the film has been fully restored from the original negative for Blu-ray.
On a completely different note, those who enjoy intentionally silly horror flicks may enjoy Paramount’s new 4K edition of Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters (2013), starring Jeremy Renner and Gemma Arterton as weapon-wielding adult versions of the famous fairy tale characters. In addition to a 4K Ultra HD version of the movie, the set includes a digital copy of the film and a regular Blu-ray of the title with all of the previously released extras.
Sony have a Blu-ray of Walk on the Wild Side (1962), a period drama with Jane Fonda and Laurence Harvey that is set during the 1930s. It’s about a man searching for his long-lost sweetheart, whom he suspects is now living in a New Orleans brothel. The protagonist is helped by a free-spirited young woman (played by Fonda) who begins to form a close bond with him.
Warner Bros. are presenting a new updated version of one of their most beloved titles. They have a 4K Ultra + Blu-ray + digital set of The Shawshank Redemption (1994), with improved picture quality on the 4K edition, along with the previously released regular 2008 2K Blu-ray with all of the excellent, if already familiar, bonuses. For those who weren’t around when the movie was originally released, it was nominated for 7 Oscars (although it didn’t end up winning any) and is currently the highest rated movie of all time by IMDB users.
Finally, the Warner Archive line of made-to-order Blu-rays (that are available to order through Amazon) have a new title being offered to customers. Santa Fe Trail (1940) is a war movie/western that stars Errol Flynn and Ronald Reagan as soldiers squaring off against a violent anti-abolitionist revolutionary. The feature was directed by Michael Curtiz (The Adventures of Robin Hood, Casablanca, Mildred Pierce, White Christmas).
You Know, For Kids!
Kids certainly have plenty of material to choose from this week.
Blue’s Clues & You! Story Time with Blue (Nickelodeon)
The Boss Baby: Family Business
Molly of Denali: Molly and the Great One (PBS Kids)
Straight Outta Nowhere: Scooby-Doo Meets Courage the Cowardly Dog
Ultraman 80: The Complete Series
The Ultraman: The Complete Series
On the Tube!
And here are all of the TV-themed titles arriving on store shelves.
Eli Roth’s History of Horror: Season 2
Exhumed: A History of Zombies (PBS)
Lucy Worsley’s Royal Myths and Secrets, Volume 2 (PBS)
Mare of Easttown (HBO series)
Masterpiece Mystery: Guilt (PBS)
Molly of Denali: Molly and the Great One (PBS Kids)
Sweet Autumn (Hallmark) DVD