From the Big Screen:

Jesus Revolution

(2023) The true story of a national spiritual awakening in the early 1970s and its origins within a community of teenage hippies in Southern California. Young Greg Laurie (Joel Courtney) is searching for all the right things in all the wrong places: until he meets Lonnie Frisbee (Jonathan Roumie), a charismatic hippie-street-preacher. Together with Pastor Chuck Smith (Kelsey Grammer), they open the doors of Smith’s languishing church to an unexpected revival of radical and newfound love, leading to what Time Magazine dubbed a “Jesus Revolution.” Vitals: Director: Jon Erwin, Brent McCorkle. Stars: Joel Courtney, Jonathan Roumie, Kimberly Williams-Paisley, Anna Grace Barlow, Kelsey Grammer, Nic Bishop. CC, MPAA rating: PG-13, 120 min., Drama, North American box office gross: $49.898 million, worldwide $49.898 million, Company. Formats: DVD, Blu-ray, VOD, Digital. Read more here

Triangle of Sadness

(2022 — Sweden) Master of social discomfort Ruben Östlund trains his unsparing lens on the world of wealth, beauty, and privilege in this audacious, Palme d’Or–winning satire of our status-obsessed culture. A model-influencer couple (Harris Dickinson and Charlbi Dean) get a ticket to the luxe life when they’re invited aboard an all-expenses-paid cruise alongside a coterie of the rich and ghoulish — but an act of fate turns their Insta-perfect world upside down. Pushing each provocative set piece to its outré extreme, Östlund maps the shifting social hierarchies with the irreverence of a modern-day Luis Buñuel and the incisiveness of a cinematic anthropologist. Vitals: Director: Ruben Östlund. Stars: Thobias Thorwid, Harris Dickinson, Charlbi Dean. CC, MPAA rating: R, 147 min., Drama, North American box office gross: $4.608 million, worldwide $25.585 million, The Criterion Collection. Formats: DVD, Blu-ray, 4K UHD + Blu-ray special edition with new 4K digital master, approved by director Ruben Östlund, with 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack. One 4K UHD disc of the film and one Blu-ray with the film and special features. Read more here

This Week’s Highlights:

“The Green Hornet” (1940) was a fictional masked crime fighter, originally created by George W. Trendle for an American radio program in the 1930s. The character has appeared in two Universal serials. In the first 13-episode serial, the city is faced with rising crime and increased racketeering activity. Intrepid newspaper editor Britt Reid (Gordon Jones) becomes the crime fighter the Green Hornet to take on the bad guys. As far as the police are concerned, the Hornet himself is a criminal. This misunderstanding enables Reid to operate “outside the law” to battle evil and injustice. Working alongside the Hornet is the brilliant inventor/sidekick Kato (Keye Luke), the only person who knows the true identity of the Hornet. Watch as our heroes fight an infamous racket and put an end to the menace infecting their city. Includes 13 episodes. On Blu-ray from VCI Entertainment/MVD Entertainment … “The Jackie Chan Collection Volume 2 (1983-1993)” is an eight-disc set with “Winners and Sinners,” “Twinkle, Twinkle Lucky Stars,” “Wheels On Meals,” “Armour of God,” “Armour of God II,” “The Protector,” “Crime Story” and “City Hunter.” On Blu-ray from Shout! Factory. .. With the five films that make up his Small Axe anthology “Small Axe: Five Films by Steve McQueen” (“Mangrove,” “Lovers Rock,” “Red, White and Blue,” “Alex Wheatle” and “Education”), director Steve McQueen offers a richly evocative panorama of West Indian life in London from the 1960s through the ’80s — a time defined for the community by the terror of police violence, the empowering awakening of political consciousness, and the ecstatic escape of a vibrant reggae scene. Ranging in tone from the tenderly impressionistic to the devastatingly clear-eyed, these powerfully performed portraits of Black resistance, joy, creativity, and collective action—all sumptuously shot by Shabier Kirchner -— form a revolutionary counterhistory of mid-twentieth-century Britain at a transformational moment. Three-Blu-ray special edition with new high-definition masters of all five films, approved by director Steve McQueen, with 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtracks from The Criterion Collection. Read more here.

Buzzin’ the ‘B’s:

In “Calamity of Snakes” (1982 — China), starring Yun-Peng Hsiang (Wan-Pang Heung), Yuen Kao and Ping-Ou Wei, a developer discovers a snake pit full of thousands of deadly serpents on the construction site of a new apartment building. To avoid any construction delays, the developer brutally exterminates the snakes. Believing the problem has been solved, he allows the new tenants to move into the building. However, not all the snakes have been killed and the many survivors and their kin are out to avenge their murdered brothers and sisters. Soon, all hell breaks loose, and the building’s new tenants come under vicious attack by a squirming army of angry and vengeful serpents. On DVD, Blu-ray, from Unearthed Films … “Invitation to a Murder” (2021), starring Mischa Barton, Chris Browning, Seamus Dever, and Bianca Santos, is an homage to Agatha Christie, set in England in the 1930s, in which an amateur detective finds herself caught up in a real-life whodunit! Miranda Green (Barton) is summoned to the remote mansion of billionaire Lewis Findley along with five mysterious strangers. What do they all have in common? What’s become of their absent host? And who just murdered one of the guests in cold blood? Now Miranda must hunt for hidden clues, interview witnesses, and find the killer — before she becomes the next victim. From Lionsgate. Read more here … In “The Assassination Bureau” (1969), anarchy reigns as Diana Rigg and Oliver Reed go head to head in a blackly comic caper that plays out against the colorful backdrop of Europe on the cusp of World War One. London, 1908. When feisty journalist and women’s rights campaigner Sonia Winter (Rigg) uncovers the headquarters of the Assassination Bureau Limited, a clandestine enterprise that has existed for decades by bumping off the rich and powerful – but only if there’s a good moral reason for it – she sets on a path of putting an end to its activities. Bankrolled by her press baron boss, Lord Bostwick (Telly Savalas), she commissions the organization to undertake the assassination of its very own chairman, Ivan Dragomiloff (Reed). Being the gentleman that he is, Dragomiloff responds to the assignment with glee, challenging his fellow board members to complete the contract. Only they’ll have to catch him first. “The Assassination Bureau” is based on an unfinished novel by Jack London published posthumously in 1963. Shot in glorious Technicolor by Geoffrey Unsworth (“2001: A Space Odyssey”), this penultimate work from the esteemed directing-producing team of Basil Dearden and Michael Relph (“Sapphire,” “Victim”) is a rip-roaring slice of Edwardian-set action-adventure fashioned with the same Swinging-Sixties blend of irony, stylishness and humor as “The Avengers” and the James Bond films. On Blu-ray from Arrow Video/MVD Entertainment. Read more here … If we knew how much longer we had to live, what would we choose to do with the time we have left? Set in a British hospital, “My Happy Ending” (2023), starring Andie MacDowell, Miriam Margolyes, Sally Phillips, Rakhee Thakrar, Tamsin Greig and Michelle Greenidge, follows poised and put-together Hollywood star Julia Roth, who seems to be in the sunset of her career, as she begins her journey with a critical medical issue. Preferring to be incognito, Julia is instead thrust into a room with three remarkable women who, with humor and camaraderie, help Julia take on the most important and challenging role she has ever played: herself. From Lionsgate … In “Lovers Lane” (1999), starring Matt Riedy, Erin J. Dean, Riley Smith and Anna Faris, passions are aroused and old wounds reopened in this sassy post-“Scream” teen slasher based on the urban legend of “The Hook.” A steamy secret tryst that was brutally cut short on Valentine’s Day an unlucky thirteen years ago comes back to haunt the teens who linger around the lovers lane where the double slaying took place. County Sheriff Tom Anderson has just about come to terms with the fact that it was his wife who died in another man’s car on that fateful night. His daughter Mandy, who as a four-year-old saw her mother’s corpse carried away from the scene, has a different take on things. It doesn’t help that her classmate Michael lost his father to the same hook-handed homicidal maniac in that night’s incident. To cap it all off, as another Valentine’s Day comes round, reports come through that the man arrested as “The Hook” has just bust out of his asylum. Prepare yourself for the ultimate hook up in a scream-a-minute rollercoaster that marked the film debut of Anna Faris (the “Scary Movie” series; “Lost in Translation”). Brand new 2K restoration from a 4K scan of the original 35mm camera negative. Two versions of the film: the widescreen 1.85:1 version and the full-frame 1.33:1 version. ON Blu-ray from Arrow Video/MVD Entertainment. Read more here.

Foreign:

“Kompromat” (2022 — France), starring Gilles Lellouche, Joanna KuligLouis and Do de Lencquesaing, is based on incredible true events; Jérome Salle’s gripping new espionage thriller depicts the remarkable story of a French public servant who unwittingly finds himself in conflict with one of the modern era’s most powerful and dangerous forces: Russia’s FSB. Mathieu, a gregarious and dedicated diplomat, accepts a posting to Irkutsk as the head of Siberia’s Alliance Francaise. He hopes the change will be good for his family and struggling marriage, but before long Mathieu’s staging of cultural events and support of artistic expression sees him fall afoul of local authorities. Accused of a terrible crime, he soon realizes someone has fabricated a case with Russia’s Federal Security Service – he has been framed. Arrested, imprisoned and isolated, Mathieu has nowhere to turn. Defending himself is impossible, the French authorities are helpless — it seems he has no choice: to try and escape. On DVD, Blu-ray, from Magnolia Home Entertainment/Magnet Label … “New Gods: Yang Jian” (2022 — China) is stunningly animated epic rich in ancient lore and Chinese mythology. Directed by Zhao Ji, this is the second installment of the “New Gods” series of animated action-fantasy epics inspired by Chinese mythological figures, following the 2021 feature “New Gods: Nezha Reborn.” Enter the New Gods universe where Chinese mythology is reimagined in a wildly original, steampunk-inspired world. Thirteen years after Yang Jian imprisoned his sister, the once-powerful hero also known as Erlang Shen now scrapes by as a poor bounty hunter. When a mysterious woman hires him, Yang Jian soon finds himself chasing down a familiar figure. He must stop Chenxiang, his long-lost nephew, who searches for a powerful, but dangerous artifact. As Yang Jian confronts his past, he must face treacherous vigilantes seeking to bring catastrophic destruction. In the original Chinese language cast and an English-dubbed cast. In Blu-ray/DVD Combo + Digital, from GKIDS/Shout! Factory … In “Return to Seoul” (2022 — South Korea), starring Park Ji-Min, Oh Kwang-Rok, Guka Han and Kim Sun-Young, a 25-year-old French woman returns to Korea, the country she was born in before being adopted by a French couple, for the very first time. She decides to track down her biological parents, but her journey takes a surprising turn. On DVD, Blu-ray from Sony.

From TV to Disc:

“His Dark Materials: The Complete Third Season” (2022) is a two-disc set with all eight episodes. In the third season of His Dark Materials, based on “The Amber Spyglass,” the final novel in Philip Pullman’s award-winning trilogy, Lyra, the prophesied child, and Will, the bearer of The Subtle Knife, must journey to a dark place from which no one has ever returned. As her father’s great war against the Authority edges closer, they will learn that saving the worlds comes at a terrible price. On DVD, Blu-ray, from Warner.

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.