From the Big Screen:

Living

(2022) The story of an ordinary man, reduced by years of oppressive office routine to a shadow existence, who at the eleventh hour makes a supreme effort to turn his dull life into something wonderful. In 1950s London, a humorless bureaucrat decides to take time off work to experience life after receiving a grim diagnosis. Vitals: Director: Oliver Hermanus. Stars: Bill Nighy, Aimee Lou Wood, Alex Sharp, Tom Burke. CC, MPAA rating: PG-13, 102 min., Drama, North American box office gross: $3.000 million, worldwide $11.368 million, Sony. Formats: DVD, Blu-ray, VOD, Digital.

This Week’s Highlights:

Lifelong friends since they met as boys at Peking Opera school, Jackie Chan and Sammo Hung conquered the Hong Kong film industry side-by-side in the 1970s and 1980s. One of their greatest collaborations sees the two “brothers” playing actual brothers for a change: 1985’s “Heart of Dragon,” a film that combines heart-rending drama with pulse-pounding action. Tat (Chan) is a hotshot cop with more stresses than he can bear: if he’s not on the verge of getting beaten up on his day job, he’s looking out for his mentally handicapped brother Dodo (Hung), who needs constant supervision in case his naïve, kind nature gets taken advantage of. Tat wants nothing more than to escape his obligations and see the world; but when Dodo accidentally winds up in the line of fire, Tat must run into danger and make the ultimate sacrifice to save his brother. More serious and emotionally driven than many of their prior films, Hung and Chan made sure not to skimp on jaw-dropping stunts and high-velocity violence while showing a broader depth to their talents than audiences had seen before. The result is one of the jewels of 80’s Hong Kong action cinema, now restored with additional fight scenes filmed especially for the Japanese market. 2K restoration from the original negative by Fortune Star. High Definition (1080p) Blu-ray presentations of the 91-minute Hong Kong Theatrical Cut and the 99-minute Extended Japanese Cut via seamless branching. Original lossless Cantonese and English mono audio on both cuts, plus Mandarin on the Theatrical Cut and Cantonese with alternate score on the Extended Cut. Read more here. From Arrow Video/MVD Entertainment.

Buzzin’ the ‘B’s:

Having taken control of a maximum-security prison and recruited the other prisoners as his army, a criminal mastermind and former LAPD explosives expert faces off against a rogue hostage negotiator and a retired Black Ops agent who had been visiting his incarcerated son in “Breakout“ (2023), starring Tom Sizemore, Louis Mandylor, Kristos Andrews, Brian Krause, Noel Guglielmi, Victor DiMatta and Jose Guapo. From Uncork’d Entertainment. Read more here … In “Infinity Pool” (2023), starring Alexander Skarsgard, Mia Goth, Cleopatra Coleman, Dunja Sepcic, Adam Boncz, Alan Katic and Thomas Kretschmann, while staying at an isolated island resort, James (Skarsgård) and Em (Coleman) are enjoying a perfect vacation of pristine beaches, exceptional staff, and soaking up the sun. But guided by the seductive and mysterious Gabi (Goth), they venture outside the resort grounds and find themselves in a culture filled with violence, hedonism, and untold horror. From Neon.

On the Indie Front:

In “Chrissy Judy” (2023), starring Todd Flaherty, Wyatt Fenner, Joey Taranto, Kiyon Spencer and James Tison, Judy’s a free spirit, a day dreamer, a boy-crazy hot mess. But this is going to be the summer it all comes together for this ambitious, 30-something drag queen/cater-waiter and his best friend, Chrissy. That is, until Chrissy’s priorities suddenly shift, forcing a disillusioned Judy to examine his life and priorities as a queer artist, and rediscover himself in the process. This dark comedy explores the universal pain of breaking up with your best friends and questions, “What do you do when your chosen family no longer chooses you?” On DVD, Blu-ray, from Dark Star Pictures. Read more here.

Foreign Films:

Inspired by the backstage Hollywood musicals of the 1930s, this later period Jacques Rivette film, “Up, Down, Fragile” (1995 — France), starring Nathalie Richard, Marianne Denicourt, Laurence Côte and Anna Karina, recounts the adventures of three young women in Paris, each at a turning point in her life – and with a musical number (or two). On Blu-ray from Cohen Film Collection … “AmnesiA” (2001 — Dutch), starring Fedja van Huêt, Carice van Houten, Theo Maasen, and Sacha Bulthuis, is a psychological mystery thriller in which a photographer, Alex, (van Huêt) receives word from his twin brother Aram (also van Huêt) that their mother (Bulthuis) is gravely ill and will not survive much longer. Alex returns home to AmnesiA, the family estate, to in some way ease the panic and dread that continues to plague him and his photography. As he confronts the past he left behind, his deep-rooted psychological turmoil is laid bare. Restored in 4K from the original camera negative. On DVD, Blu-ray, from Cult Epics.

Special Interest:

Discover the vast and strangely beautiful places where things go to die and meet the people who collect, restore, and recycle the world’s “Scrap” (2022). The film scratches beneath flaking paint and rusting metal to reveal the beauty and pathos in what we leave behind. The film focuses on artists around the world who are transforming scrap or are working with it in other ways, employing their creativity to help solve environmental problems. For example, sculptor John Lopez uses old farm equipment to make huge sculptures of bison and animals that used to roam the Plains where he lives; architect Tchely Shin makes buildings out of old ships, like the discarded ocean liner he turned into an art installation that is now a cafe located in Seorak-myeon, Korea. From First Run Features). Read more here … Two literary legends — writer Robert Caro and his longtime editor, Robert Gottlieb — have worked together to create some of the greatest non-fiction books in history. Now 86, Caro is determined to complete the final volume of his masterwork, “The Years of Lyndon Johnson”; Gottlieb, 91, wants to edit it. With humor and insight, “Turn Every Page: The Adventures of Robert Caro and Robert Gottlieb” (2022), is a unique double portrait that reveals the work habits, peculiarities, and professional joys of these two ferocious intellects as they attempt to finish the final masterstroke in their lives’ work. From Sony.

All DVDs and Blu-rays are screened on a reference system consisting of an Oppo BDP-83 Blu-ray Disc Player w/SACD & DVD-Audio, a Rotel RSX-972 Surround Sound Receiver, and Phase Technology 1.1 (front), 33.1 (center), and 50 (rear) speakers, and Power 10 subwoofer.