Happy Labor Day From the Crew at OnVideo

From the Big Screen:

The Flash

(2023) Worlds collide when Barry Allen/The Flash uses his superpowers to travel back in time in order to change the events of the past. But when his attempt to save his family inadvertently alters the future, Barry becomes trapped in a reality in which General Zod has returned, threatening annihilation, and there are no Super Heroes to turn to. That is, unless Barry can coax a very different Batman out of retirement and rescue an imprisoned Kryptonian … albeit not the one he’s looking for. Ultimately, to save the world that he is in and return to the future that he knows, Barry’s only hope is to race for his life. But will making the ultimate sacrifice be enough to reset the universe? Vitals: Director: Andy Muschietti. Stars: Ezra Miller, Sasha Calle, Michael Shannon, Ron Livingston, Maribel Verdu, Kiersey Clemons, Antje Traue, Michael Keaton. CC, MPAA rating: PG-13, 144 min., Action, North American box office gross: $105.5 million, worldwide $262.3 million, Warner. Formats: DVD, Blu-ray + Digital Code, 4K Ultra HD + Digital Code, VOD, Digital. Extras: “The Flash: Escape the Midnight Circus” podcast, six-part original scripted audio series featuring Max Greenfield as The Flash; “The Flash: Escape the Midnight Circus Behind the Scenes”; deleted scenes; “Saving Supergirl” featurette: “The Bat Chase” featurette; “Battling Zod” featurette; “Fighting Dark Flash” featurette; “The Flash: The Saga of the Scarlett Speedster” featurette (Amazon digital exclusive); “Making the Flash: Worlds Collide” featurette; “Let’s Get Nuts: Batman Returns, Again” featurette; “Supergirl: Last Daughter of Krypton” featurette; “Flashpoint: Introducing the Multiverse” featurette. Read more here

No Hard Feelings

(2023) Maddie (Jennifer Lawrence) thinks she’s found the answer to her financial troubles when she discovers an intriguing job listing: wealthy helicopter parents looking for someone to “date” their introverted 19-year-old son, Percy, and bring him out of his shell before he leaves for college. But awkward Percy proves to be more of a challenge than she expected, and time is running out. She has one summer to make him a man or lose it all. Vitals: Director: Gene Stupnitsky. Stars: Jennifer Lawrence, Andrew Barth Feldman, Laura Benanti, Matthew Broderick, Natalie Morales, Scott MacArthur. CC, MPAA rating: R, 103 min., Comedy, North American box office gross: $50.167 million, worldwide $84.863 million, Sony. Formats: DVD, Blu-ray + Digital Code, VOD, Digital. Extras: Outtakes & bloopers; “A Motley Crew: Meet the Characters”; “A Little Wrong: Making No Hard Feelings.” Read more here

This Week’s Highlights:

By the release of “The Spanish Dancer” in 1923, Pola Negri (“The Wildcat”) was already an international star. Antonio Moreno (“The Searchers”) was her equal in terms of talent and sex appeal. The director Herbert Brenon (“Beau Geste”) was one of the greatest directors of his day and he was assisted by the legendary cinematographer, James Wong Howe. Cast members Wallace Beery and Adoph Menjou’s brilliant performances add to the pure joy of the film. Together, cast and crew created one of the great romance epics of the silent era. Restored by Eye Filmmuseum and archivist Rob Byrne using material from archives around the world, “The Spanish Dancer” is a joy to behold. The film is action-packed, witty, and romantic with huge sets and a cast of thousands. Brenon keeps the adventure going full steam ahead while Negri and Moreno show why they were huge stars of their day. Negri, a trained dancer from her days at Warsaw’s Imperial Ballet, was happily matched with famed choreographer Ernest Belcher (father of Marge Champion and mentor to Gwen Verdon, Cyd Charisse, and Maria Tallchief) to create dance pieces unlike any others of the silent era. On Blu-ray from Milestone Film & Video. Read more here … Almost five years after breaking all Hong Kong box office records with the instant classic “Fist of Fury,” his last collaboration with the late Bruce Lee, director Lo Wei got to work on a sequel, “New Fist of Fury Limited Edition” (1976 — Hong Kong). It would be the first major leading role for Lo’s latest discovery, a young actor who had been a stuntman on the original film but would soon be as massive a star as Lee. His name: Jackie Chan. Shanghai, 1910. With the Jing Wu martial arts school in shambles and pressure from the Japanese armies to suppress a Chinese uprising after Chen Zhen’s martyrdom, Chen’s fiancée Li Er (Nora Miao, reprising her role from “Fist of Fury”) escapes to Japanese-occupied Taiwan to hide at her grandfather’s school. Despite her attempts to lay low, she runs afoul of karate master Okimura (Chan Sing, “The Iron-Fisted Monk”), who plans to take over all of the Chinese-run schools in Taiwan. Amidst all of this, a young aimless thief, known only as Ah Long (Jackie Chan), befriends Li Er after unknowingly stealing the nunchaku once wielded by the late Chen. Will he give into his fears, or will he learn the martial arts of Jing Wu and fight alongside Li Er against the Japanese? Considered to be one of the few “official” sequels to a Bruce Lee film, and now freshly restored in two different versions, “New Fist of Fury” is the first spark that would eventually lead Jackie Chan to becoming the worldwide star he is today. New 2K restoration from the original negatives by Fortune Star; High Definition (1080p) Blu-ray transfers of the 120-min Original Theatrical Cut and the 82-min 1980 Re-release Cut. On Blu-ray from Arrow Video/MVD Entertainment. Read more here … A rediscovered treasure of 1990s DIY filmmaking, Cauleen Smith’s “Drylongso” (1998) embeds an incisive look at racial injustice within a lovingly handmade buddy movie/murder mystery/romance. Alarmed by the rate at which the young Black men around her are dying, brash Oakland art student Pica (Toby Smith) attempts to preserve their existence in Polaroid snapshots, along the way forging a friendship with a woman in an abusive relationship (April Barnett) and experiencing love, heartbreak, and the everyday threat of violence. Capturing the vibrant community spirit of Oakland in the nineties, Smith crafts both a rare cinematic celebration of Black female creativity and a moving elegy for a generation of lost African American men. On DVD, Blu-ray, with new 4K digital restoration, approved by director Cauleen Smith, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack. From The Criterion Collection. Read more here … Troma Entertainment, the longest-running independent movie studio in North America, celebrates their 50th anniversary this year with the release of all four of their groundbreaking Toxic Avenger films, presented in TROMAzing Ultra High Definition. “The Toxic Avenger Collection” comes to home video featuring a new 4K scan and restoration of each film from the original camera negatives, presented in the original 1.85:1 aspect ratio in HDR with English DTS 2.0 stereo audio; new introductions for each film from the president of Troma Entertainment and creator of The Toxic Avenger, Lloyd Kaufman; and a collectible Toxic Avenger postcard, all compacted into one MONSTROUS, TROMArific 8-Disc TOX SET oozing with TOXIC bonus features. Melvin (Mark Torgl) lives the regular life of a 98-pound janitor at a gym, constantly bullied by the meathead members. The gym and Tromaville, NJ will never be the same when Melvin – after falling into toxic waste – becomes the Toxic Avenger! Toxie, armed with justice on his side, keeps the residents of Tromaville safe from the crime and evildoers that would tarnish the town he loves. In 4K Ultra HD/Blu-ray Combo. From Troma. Read more here.

Buzzin’ the ‘B’s:

“The Last House on the Left Limited Edition” (2009) is a vicious and efficient updating of the 1972 controversial graphic shocker of the same name, produced by its original director-producer pairing of Wes Craven and Sean Cunningham. When athletic teen Mari Collingwood (Sara Paxton) opts to hang out with her friend Paige in town rather than spend an evening in with her parents vacationing at the family’s remote lake house, it marks the beginning of a night no one is going to forget. The two girls wind up in the company of escaped convict Krug (Garret Dillahunt) and his makeshift family of vile career criminals, who kidnap and brutally assault them before leaving them for dead. Fleeing from the scene of their violent crime during a storm, the thugs inadvertently seek refuge with Mari’s parents, anxious as to why their daughter hasn’t come home yet and primed to unleash the full forces of hell on anyone who would dare to touch so much as a hair on her head. Energetically directed by Dennis Iliadis from a new script by Carl Ellsworth (“Red Eye,” “Disturbia”), this remake of horror cinema’s seminal tale of bloody revenge has been described by Stephen King as “the best horror movie of the new century.” Co-stars Aaron Paul, Monica Potter and Tony Goldwyn. Two versions of the film: the original Theatrical Version and the Unrated Version. A 4K UHD/Blu-ray combo will be released September 12. On Blu-ray from Arrow Video/MVD Entertainment. Read more here.

From TV to Disc:

“Blue Bloods: The Thirteenth Season” (2022-23) is a six-disc set with all 21 episodes. In Season 13, Eddie and Jamie deal with a domestic violence case associated with an investigation led by Danny and Baez. Frank and Archbishop Kearns go on a mission to avail themselves to an unfiltered look at the city; and Erin is presented with a surprising offer by her ex-husband, Jack Boyle, regarding her run for District Attorney. From Paramount … “The Flash: The Ninth and Final Season” (2022) is a three-disc set with all 13 episodes. After defeating the Reverse Flash once and for all, the ninth season of “The Flash” picks up one week after their epic battle, and Barry Allen aka The Flash and Iris West-Allen are reconnecting and growing closer than ever. When a deadly group of Rogues descend on Central City, led by a powerful and unknown new threat, The Flash and his team including Meta-Empath Cecile Horton, the light-powered meta, Allegra Garcia, brilliant tech-nerd Chester P. Runk and reformed cryogenics thief Mark Blaine, must once again defy the odds to save the day. But as The Rogues are defeated, a deadly new adversary rises to challenge Barry Allen’s heroic legacy. In their greatest battle yet, Barry and Team Flash will be pushed to their limits, to save Central City one last time. On DVD, Blu-ray, from Warner … “Smiling Friends: The Complete First Season” (2022) includes all eight episodes of the quarter-hour animated series. Who are the Smiling Friends? They’re Pim, Charlie, Allan, and Glep and they star in a fantastic, odd, beautiful, sometimes scary, but always amazing world. Plus, they go to Brazil in a special bonus episode. On DVD, Blu-ray, from Adult Swim/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.