New DVD and Blu-ray Releases for the Week of April 16
Sadly, There Are No Major Theatrical Releases Arriving on Disc This Week
This Week’s Best Bet
The mesmeric parable of societal collapse, “Werckmeister Harmonies” (2000 — Hungary), is an enigma of transcendent visual, philosophical, and mystical resonance. Adapted from a novel by László Krasznahorkai, “Werckmeister Harmonies” unfolds in 
an unknown time in an unnamed village, where, one day, a mysterious circus—complete with an enormous stuffed whale and a shadowy, demagogue-like figure known as the Prince—arrives and appears to awaken a kind of madness in the citizens that builds inexorably toward violence. In thirty-nine hypnotic long takes engraved in ghostly black and white, auteur Béla Tarr and codirector-editor Ágnes Hranitzky conjure an apocalyptic vision of dreamlike dread and fathomless beauty. On DVD, Blu-ray, 4K UHD, in a new 4K digital restoration, supervised and approved by director Béla Tarr, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the 4K UHD disc and the Blu-ray. In the 4K UHD edition: One 4K UHD disc of the film and one Blu-ray with the film and special features. Read more here. From The Criterion Collection.
Foreign Films:
In “The Peasants” (2023 — Poland), starring Kamila Urzedowska, Robert Gulaczyk and Miroslaw Baka, Jagna is a young woman determined to forge her own path within the confines of a late 19th century Polish village — a hotbed of gossip and ongoing feuds, held together, rich and poor, by pride in their land, adherence to colorful traditions and deep-rooted patriarchy. When Jagna finds herself caught between the conflicting desires of the village’s richest farmer, his eldest son, and other leading men of the community, her resistance puts her on a tragic collision course with the community around her. The Peasants is based on the Nobel Prize-winning novel of the same name. On DVD, Blu-ray, from Sony. Read more here
From TV to Disc:
“Star Trek: Lower Decks: Season 4” (2023) is a two-disc set with all 10 animated episodes. The U.S.S. Cerritos is back in action with a season that’s bigger, funnier and Star 
Trekkier than ever before. In Season Four, an unknown force is destroying starships and threatening galactic peace. Luckily, the crew of the U.S.S. Cerritos isn’t important enough for stuff like that. Instead, Ensigns Mariner, Boimler, Tendi, Rutherford and Provisional Ensign T’Lyn are keeping up with their Starfleet duties and avoiding malevolent computers – all while encountering new and classic aliens along the way.On DVD, Blu-ray, from Paramount … “Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan: The Final Season” (2023) is a three-disc set with all six episodes of the fourth and final season of the explosive TV drama starring John Krasinski as CIA analyst Jack Ryan. Ryan is promoted to the new CIA Acting Deputy Director position and finds himself on his most dangerous mission yet: to unearth internal corruption. On DVD, Blu-ray, from Paramount … “Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan: The Complete Series” (2018-2023) is an eight-disc set with all 30 episodes of all four seasons of the John Krasinski-Jack Ryan TV series. On DVD, Blu-ray, 4K Ultra HD from Paramount.
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.
