From the Big Screen:

The Exorcist: Believer

(2023) Since his wife’s death, Victor (Leslie Odom Jr.) has raised his daughter Angela (Lidya Jewett) alone. After Angela and her friend (Olivia O’Neill) return from a three-day disappearance with missing memories, they begin displaying frightening behavior. Victor’s best hope is to find the only person who has seen anything like this before: Chris MacNeil (Ellen Burstyn), whose haunting experience with her daughter Regan may be the key to combating ultimate evil. Vitals: Director: David Gordon Green. Stars: Leslie Odom, Jr., Lidya Jewett, Jennifer Nettles, Norbert Leo Butz, Ann Dowd, Ellen Burstyn. CC, MPAA rating: R, 111 min., Horror, North American box office gross: $65.537 million, worldwide $135.809 million, Universal. Formats: DVD, Blu-ray/DVD Combo + Digital Code, 4K Ultra HD/Blu-ray Combo + Digital Code, VOD, Digital. Extras: “Making a Believer” behind-the-scenes featurette; “Ellen And Linda: Reunited – The Exorcist: Believer”; “Stages of Possession” special makeup FX featurette; “The Opening”; “Editing an Exorcism – The Exorcist: Believer”: “Matters of Faith” featurette; commentary with co-writer/director David Gordon Green, executive producer Ryan Turek, co-writer Peter Sattler, and special makeup FX designer Christopher Nelson. Read more here

This Week’s Best Bets:

“The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet: The Official Restored Complete Series” is a 50-disc set with all 435 episodes. For a record-breaking fourteen seasons and 435 episodes, “The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet” aired on ABC-TV from 1952 through 1966, becoming one of the most cherished cultural touchstones of the 20th century. The gentle humor of the prolific and popular sitcom was brought to the screen by the real-life Nelson family: Ozzie and wife Harriet with their sons David and Rick, all portraying themselves in a trend-setting blend of fact-meets-fiction comedy. “The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet” comedically chronicled the daily lives of the Nelson family as David and Ricky grew up before millions of weekly viewers. For the very first time, in association with the Nelson family, the entire series has been digitally restored from the original film negatives for superior picture quality. On DVD from MPI. Read more here … Director Yuzo Kawashima, mentor of Shohei Imamura and a major influence on the Japanese New Wave, makes magnificent widescreen use of the single apartment setting to deliver a ferocious satire on Japan’s post-war economic miracle in “Elegant Beast” (1962 — Japan), starring Hideo Takamatsu, Yunosuke Ito, Shôichi Ozawa, Ayako Wakao, Manamitsu Kawabata, Chôchô Miyako and Yuko Hamada. In their humble two-room apartment, the Maeda family seem ever so self-effacing – but their modest façade hides another truth. Daughter Tomoko is the mistress of a bestselling author with well-lined pockets. Son Minoru embezzles funds with his lover Yukie, who has her own hidden agenda. And father Tokizo is a former military man who swears he will never return to the poverty he knew during the war, no matter what the cost. One after another, those affected by the Maedas’ schemes show up on their doorstep. But these visitors all have their own duplicitous agendas. With each knock on the door, the gamesmanship reaches a whole new level. “Elegant Beast” was adapted by Kaneto Shindo from his own stage play. New 4K restoration. On Blu-ray from Radiance.

Buzzin’ the ‘B’s:

In “Deliver Us” (2023 — US/Estonia), starring Jelena Rajapu, Anil Kapur and Kätlin Hallik, according to an ancient prophecy, a woman will give birth to identical twin boys; one the Messiah, the other the Antichrist. After a Russian nun claims to have immaculately conceived twins, the Vatican sends a priest to investigate. </aThere he discovers a secret society, Vox Dei, that plans to kill the Nun and her children. From Magnolia Home Entertainment. Read more here … In “Pet Sematary: Bloodlines” > (2023), it’s 1969 and a young Jud Crandall has dreams of leaving his hometown of Ludlow, Maine behind, but soon discovers sinister secrets buried within and is forced to confront a dark family history that will forever keep him connected to Ludlow. Stars Jackson White, Forrest Goodluck, Jack Mulhern, Henry Thomas, Natalie Alyn Lind, Isabella Star LaBlanc, Pam Grier, David Duchovny and Samantha Mathis. On DVD, Blu-ray from Read more here … In “The Wandering Earth II” (2023 – China), starring Wu Jing, Wang Zhi, Li Xuejian, Ning Li, Andy Lau, Zhu Yanmanzi and Zhang Yi, in the near future, after learning that the sun is rapidly burning out and will obliterate Earth in the process, humans build enormous engines to propel the planet to a new solar system, far out of reach of the sun’s fiery flares. However, the journey out into the universe is perilous, and humankind’s last shot at survival will depend on a group of young people brave enough to step up and execute a dangerous, life-or-death operation to save the earth. Prequel to the 2019 blockbuster Chinese Sci-Fi hit. On Blu-ray from Well Go USA.

Foreign:

After a young reporter covers a suspicious accident, she learns from police that her source was supposedly already dead at the time of their interview in “The Ghost Station” (2022 — South Korea), starring Kim Bo-Ra, Kim Jae-Hyun and Shin So-Yul. As more mysterious deaths occur, she and her partner dig deeper into the case and come face to face with a horrifying truth. On DVD, Blu-ray, from Well Go USA … In “Life is Cheap… But Toilet Paper is Expensive” (1989), starring Wan Kin Cheng, John Chan and Kwan-Min Cheng, a man is hired by a group of people he believes to be gangsters to escort a briefcase from America to Hong Kong. When he arrives, however, his contact is nowhere to be found. New 4K restoration from the original 35mm color interpositive. 1000 copy limited edition slipcase with gold foil design on Colorplan paper. On Blu-ray, with a 12-page booklet with new essay “Missing Link” by Aliza Ma. From Arbelos Films … Warning: not for the faint of heart! “Men Behind the Sun” (1988 — Hong Kong) exposes the stomach-churning horrors of Unit 731, Japan’s most secret, nightmarish military prison during World War II. In this infamous epoch, a youth squad is indoctrinated to believe the prisoners are disposable as scrap wood, their only use as human guinea pigs for brutal chemical and biological warfare research. This is one of the most controversial films of all time, in its full uncut version. Newly restored from its original camera negatives, with newly translated English subtitles, the film blurs the line between historical drama and gruesome exploitation. Followed up with “Men Behind the Sun 2: Laboratory of the Devil” (1992 — Hong Kong) in which a young, idealistic doctor practicing in WWII Japan, Morishima, discovers Unit 731 and is horrified by the treatment of the captives, who are brutalized and subject to torturous experimentation. In the name of science, of course. There’s only one solution for Morishima – he must liberate them all. This is the controversial sequel to the notorious and disturbing “Men Behind the Sun.” This uncut, newly restored version is compiled from the original camera negative, with video inserts for missing scenes. That film was followed by “Men Behind the Sun 3: A Narrow Escape” (1994 — Hong Kong), set during the shut down and destruction of the Japanese test camp 731 in Manchuria. A soldier becomes infected with a virus developed during the camp’s testing and risks spreading it into Japan on the train ride home. All three titles are issued separately on Blu-ray by Massacre Video.

Special Interest:

Does the most widely used weed killer in the world cause cancer? “Into the Weeds:” Dewayne “Lee” Johnson vs. Monsanto Company” (2022) follows the story of groundskeeper Lee Johnson and his fight for justice against agrichemical giant Monsanto (now Bayer, which bought the company in 2018), the manufacturer of the weed killer, Roundup. In 2015, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), a branch of the World Health Organization, classified glyphosate – the active ingredient in Roundup – as “probably carcinogenic to humans.” A year later, Lee Johnson filed a lawsuit claiming that Ranger Pro, a commercial-grade variant of Roundup, was a substantial contributing factor in causing his Non- Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Johnson’s was the first “bellwether” case in a mass tort against Monsanto involving tens of thousands of plaintiffs. Blending interviews, trial footage, news coverage and vérité, the film follows the progression of this groundbreaking trial, while also telescoping out to understand both ubiquity of use and its global repercussions. The opening night film of the 2022 Hot Docs film festival. From Film Movement … An essential memoir of fashion pioneer Bethann Hardison, the documentary “Invisible Beauty” (2023) shines a spotlight on the singular and unapologetic Hardison, one of the fashion industry’s most influential icons who, as a pioneering Black model, modeling agent and entrepreneur, has pushed the boundaries of fashion culture and has been at the forefront of progress throughout her career. In her lifetime, Hardison has seen the pendulum swing toward and away from the Black model. At every setback, she spoke up and rallied her colleagues and clients in the industry to advance change. Now in her 70s, the Brooklyn native is writing her memoir, taking stock of her own legacy at a moment when the fashion industry was shaken by discrimination. The film traces her impact on fashion from runway shows in the 1970s to roundtables about the lack of racial diversity in the early 2000s. Featuring intimate interviews with luminaries including Iman, Tyson Beckford, Tracee Ellis Ross, Zendaya, Fran Lebowitz, Pat Cleveland, Naomi Campbell, and Stephen Burrows, “Invisible Beauty” is an absorbing record of the racial evolution of fashion and an original From Magnolia Home Entertainment. Read more here.

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.