The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes
(2023) 64 years before Katniss Everdeen volunteered as tribute, and decades before Coriolanus Snow became the tyrannical President of Panem, this prequel follows a young Coriolanus as he unites with Lucy Gray Baird in the 10th Hunger Games, and battles his instincts for both good and evil. Vitals: Director: Francis Lawrence. Stars: Tom Blyth, Rachel Zegler, Peter Dinklage, Hunter Schafer, Josh Andrés Rivera, Jason Schwartzman, Viola Davis. CC, MPAA rating: PG-13, 157 min., Action Thriller, North American box office gross: $160.542 million, worldwide $322.542 million, Lionsgate. Formats: DVD, Blu-ray/DVD Combo + Digital Code, 4K Ultra HD/Blu-ray Combo + Digital Code, VOD, Digital. Extras: Commentary with producer-director Francis Lawrence and producer Nina Jacobson; “Welcome Back to Panem”; “The Music of The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes”; “The Costumes of The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes”; “The Casting of The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes”; “The Hanging Tree” song by Rachel Zegler; “A Letter to the Fans.” Blu-ray adds “Predator or Prey: Making The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes” 8-part documentary.
The Marvels
(2023) Carol Danvers aka Captain Marvel has reclaimed her identity from the tyrannical Kree. When her duties send her to an anomalous wormhole, her powers are entangled with super-fan Kamala Khan, aka Ms. Marvel, and Carol’s estranged niece, astronaut Captain Monica Rambeau. Together, this unlikely trio must team up and work together to save the universe. Vitals: Director: Nia DaCosta. Stars: Brie Larson, Teyonah Parris, Iman Vellani, Zawe Ashton, Gary Lewis, Seo-Jun Park, Samuel L. Jackson. CC, MPAA rating: PG-13, 105 min., SciFi Action, North American box office gross: 84.500 million, worldwide $205.873 million, Marvel/Disney. Formats: DVD, Blu-ray/DVD Combo + Digital Code, 4K Ultra HD/Blu-ray Combo + Digital Code, VOD, Digital. Extras: “Entangled” behind-the-scenes featurette; “The Production Diaries”; deleted scenes; gag reel; commentary by co-writer/director Nia DaCosta and VFX Supervisor Tara DeMarco.
Priscilla
(2023) When teenage Priscilla Beaulieu meets Elvis Presley at a party, the man who is already a meteoric rock-and-roll superstar becomes someone entirely unexpected in private moments: a thrilling crush, an ally in loneliness, a vulnerable best friend. Through Priscilla’s eyes, Sofia Coppola tells the unseen side of a great American myth in Elvis and Priscilla’s long courtship and turbulent marriage, from a German army base to his dream-world estate at Graceland, in this deeply felt and ravishingly detailed portrait of love, fantasy, and fame. Based on the book “Elvis and Me,” by Priscilla Presley. Vitals: Director: Sofia Coppola. Stars: Cailee Spaeny, Jacob Elordi, Dagmara Dominczyk Ari Cohen, Tim Post. CC, MPAA rating: R, 113 min., BioDrama, North American box office gross: $20.864 million, worldwide $21.321 million, Lionsgate. Formats: Blu-ray/DVD Combo + Digital Code, VOD, Digital. Extras: “Brushed with Beauty: Creating Priscilla’s Story”; “The Making of Priscilla: A Film by Liv McNeil”; theatrical trailer.
Hypnotic
(2023) A detective finds himself spiraling down a rabbit hole while investigating a series of reality-bending crimes mysteriously connected to his missing daughter. Aided by a gifted psychic, he is pursued by a lethal specter who he believes holds the key to finding his daughter – only to discover more than he ever bargained for.Vitals: Director: Robert Rodriguez. Stars: Ben Affleck, Alice Braga, JD Pardo, Dayo Okeniyi, Jeff Fahey, Jackie Earle Haley.
CC, MPAA rating: R, 93 min., Action Thriller, North American box office gross: $4.5 million, worldwide $16.0 million, Roadshow Entertainment. Formats: DVD, Blu-ray, VOD, Digital.
This Week’s Best Bets
In “Twilight” (1990 — Hungary), starring Péter Haumann, János Derzsi and Judit Pogány, after discovering the murdered body of a young girl deep in a mountainous forest, a hardened homicide detective pushes himself to increasingly obsessive ends in his quest to catch the
Buzzin’ the ‘B’s:
“Strange Way of Life” (2023) is a short film by director Pedro Almodóvar. After twenty-five years, Silva (Pedro Pascal) rides a horse across the desert to visit his friend Sheriff Jake (Ethan Hawke). A lifetime after their shared stint as hired gunmen, they celebrate their reunion. However, the next morning, it is revealed the trip is not to revel in the memory of their friendship. On DVD from Sony. Read more here …
Foreign Films:
In 1977, fight choreographer Sammo Hung made one last film under his mentor, director Huang Feng (“Lady Whirlwind,” “Hapkido”) before graduating to the director’s chair himself with “The Iron-Fisted Monk.” That film was the rarely-seen martial arts ensemble thriller “The Shaolin Plot” (1977 — Hong Kong), which sees the pair reunite with Hong Kong heavy Chan Sing.
For the Family:
“The Canterville Ghost” (2023), with the voices of Stephen Fry, Hugh Laurie, Freddie Highmore, Emily Carey, David Harewood, Meera Syal, Miranda Hart, Toby Jones and Imelda Staunton, is a modern reimagining of Oscar Wilde’s popular literary classic. A modern American family moves to their recently purchased country home, Canterville Chase in England, only to find it is haunted by a ghost. Effectively, Sir Simon de Canterville (Fry) has been haunting the grounds of Canterville Chase successfully for over 300 years, but he meets his match, Virginia Otis (Carey) when he tries to scare out the new arrivals. From Shout! Kids/Shout! Studios. Read more here.
Special Interest:
Featuring revealing interviews with all the main players and unseen archive released for the first time, the documentary “The Stones & Brian Jones” (2023) explores the creative musical genius of Jones, key to the success of the band, and uncovers how the founder of what became the greatest rock ‘n’ roll band in the world was left behind in the shadows of history. On DVD, Blu-ray, from Magnolia Home Entertainment.
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.