From the Big Screen:

Nosferatu

(2024) Remake of F. W. Murnau’s 1922 film “Nosferatu,” in turn inspired by Bram Stoker’s 1897 “Dracula.” Vitals: Director: Robert Eggers. Stars: Bill Skarsgård, Nicholas Hoult, Lily-Rose Depp, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Emma Corrin, Willem Dafoe. CC, MPAA rating: R, 132 min., Horror, Theatrical release date: December 25, 2024, North American box office gross: $91.741 million, worldwide $158.06 million, Universal. Formats: DVD, Blu-ray + Digital Code, 4K Ultra HD/Blu-ray Combo + Digital Code, VOD, Digital. Extras: Extended cut; six-part documentary “Nosferatu: A Modern Masterpiece”; deleted scenes; feature commentary with writer-director Robert Eggers. Read more here.

The Order

(2024) In 1983, a series of increasingly violent bank robberies, counterfeiting operations and armored car heists frightened communities throughout the Pacific Northwest. As baffled law enforcement agents scrambled for answers, a lone FBI agent (Jude Law), stationed in the sleepy, picturesque town of Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, came to believe the crimes were not the work of traditional, financially motivated criminals but a group of dangerous domestic terrorists, inspired by a radical, charismatic leader (Nicholas Hoult), plotting a devastating war against the federal government of the United States. Vitals: Director: Justin Kurzel. Stars: Jude Law, Nicholas Hoult, Tye Sheridan, Jurnee Smollett, Alison Oliver. CC, MPAA rating: R, 116 min., Crime Drama, Theatrical release date: December 8, 2024, North American box office gross: $1.953 million, worldwide $2.102 million, Vertical Entertainment. Formats: DVD, Blu-ray, VOD, Digital. Read more here.

This Week’s Highlights:

Joan Micklin Silver’s wonderfully affectionate spin on the romantic comedy, “Crossing Delancey” (1988), infuses the genre with a fresh, personal perspective, following an unmarried Jewish woman’s search for fulfillment in New York City. Happily independent bookstore manager Izzy (a luminous Amy Irving) isn’t looking for love, but she’s forced to reevaluate her desires when she catches the eye of two very different men: a self-centered novelist (Jeroen Krabbé) and the mild-mannered Lower East Side pickle seller (Peter Riegert) with whom her old-fashioned bubbie (scene-stealing Yiddish-theater star Reizl Bozyk) sets her up. A love letter to 1980s Manhattan shot in beautifully burnished, autumnal tones, “Crossing Delancey” gracefully captures the magic of a city where disparate cultures, generations, and traditions both clash and connect. On 4K UHD + Blu-ray Combo, Blu-ray, with new 4K digital restoration, supervised and approved by cinematographer Theo van de Sande, with 2.0 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack. In the 4K UHD edition: One 4K UHD disc of the film presented in Dolby Vision HDR and one Blu-ray with the film and special features. Read more here. From The Criterion Collection … Gus Van Sant’s dreamy, drifty, deadpan second feature — “Drugstore Cowboy” (1989) — an addiction drama based on James Fogle’s autobiographical novel, captures the zonked-out textures and almost surreal absurdity of a life lived fix to fix. Swinging between dope-fueled disconnection and edgy paranoia, Matt Dillon plays the leader of a ragtag crew (also featuring Kelly Lynch, Heather Graham, and James Le Gros) that robs pharmacies for pills, coasting across the 1970s Pacific Northwest while trying to outrun sobriety and fate. With a brilliant supporting turn from counterculture high priest William S. Burroughs and a lyrical feeling for the streetscapes of Van Sant’s hometown of Portland, Oregon, “Drugstore Cowboy” cemented the director’s status as a preeminent poet of outsiderhood. On 4K UHD + Blu-ray Combo, Blu-ray, with new 4K digital restoration, supervised and approved by director Gus Van Sant and director of photography Robert Yeoman, with uncompressed stereo soundtrack. 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.

“Buzzin’ the ‘B’s:

Alexander Calvert, Caylee Cowan and Kahyun Kim star in “Double Exposure” (2024), a supernatural thriller about a bride competing with a beautiful influencer who comes back from the dead to steal her husband. On DVD, VOD, Digital, form Freestyle Digital Media. Read more here … In “A Weekend in Taipei” (2024) starring Luke Evans, Sung Kang, Gwei Lun-mei and Wyatt Yang, committed DEA agent John Lawlor fell in love with Joey Kwang, a Taipei-based transport driver working in the criminal underworld, but was forced to flee due to tragic circumstances. Now, the duo reunites when Lawlor blows his cover as a chef and takes an off-the-books weekend mission to Taipei to bring down a billionaire dru, from Ketchup Entertainment. Read more here.

Foreign Films:

The “Legend of the Eight Samurai” (1983 — Japan) was a Japanese boxoffice sensation directed by the revered Kinji Fukasaku (“Battle Royale”); the film brings together an impressive ensemble cast, including Hiroko Yakushimaru, Hiroyuki Sanada, Sonny Chiba and Etsuko Shihomi in a sweeping epic that blends fantasy with historical drama. The Satomi Clan have been all-but wiped out by their mortal enemies, the ghoulish members of the undead Hikita Clan. The last Satomi survivor is Princess Shizu (Yakushimaru), who goes into hiding to avoid meeting the same fate as her family. Left to wander on her own, she eventually becomes entangled with farmer-turned-soldier Shinbei (Sanada) and then a pair of warrior monks who reveal themselves to be two of eight fabled Hakkenden – or “Dog Warriors” – who can lift the curse that has been placed upon her family. Together, they must find the rest of the Hakkenden and take on the leader of the Hikita Clan: the evil Tamazusa (Mari Natsuki). Following “Message from Space,” which transported the story to a science fiction setting, “Legend of the Eight Samurai” is Fukasaku’s second loose adaptation of Toshio Kamata’s Shin Satomi Hakkenden, itself an adaptation of Kyokutei Bakin’s earlier epic novel “Nanso Satomi Hakkenden.” The Masters of Cinema series is proud to present the film on Blu-ray for the first time in North America from a new 4K restoration. On Blu-ray from Eureka Entertainment/MVD Entertainment … After a decade-long absence, Catherine Breillat triumphantly returns with “Last Summer” (2023 — France), an exploration of the themes that have made her one of cinema’s most rousing and controversial directors: the ecstasies and wounds of sexuality, and its power to unsettle. A remarkably inscrutable Léa Drucker plays Anne — an attorney advocating for abused minors — who enjoys an enviable lifestyle with her husband, Pierre (Olivier Rabourdin), a milquetoast businessman and ineffectual father to Théo (newcomer Samuel Kircher), his troubled teenage son from a previous marriage. Compelled by her stepson’s Apollonian beauty, Anne embarks on an affair that threatens the stability of her household, along with her professional integrity, as she faces a choice between accountability and deception. On DVD, Blu-ray, from Janus Contemporaries … Soon after legendary kung fu star Jackie Chan is invited to adopt a beloved zoo panda named Hu Hu, a notorious international crime syndicate sets its sights on the bear and offers a massive bount and, Han Yambo. Faced with this sudden crisis, Jackie enlists the help of his agent and Hu Hu’s fiercely dedicated caretaker, leading the trio on an outrageous and unforgettable adventure as they seek to outsmart — and outkick — the bad guys at every turn. On DVD, Blu-ray, VOD, Digital, from Well Go USA. Read more here … In “100 Yards” (2024 — China), starring Jacky Heung, Andy On, Bea Hayden Kuo, Tang Shiyi and Li Yuan, in volatile 1920s Tianjin, a mere decade after China’s last imperial dynasty was overthrown, a clandestine martial arts circle arose to deter crime and maintain peace between rival martial arts schools. But after a renowned master dies and names his apprentice — rather than his son — as his successor, he unwittingly kicks off a fierce power struggle that will bring the entire city to the brink of chaos. On> DVD, Blu-ray, VOD, Digital, from Well Go USA.

Special Interest:

On the morning of July 16, 1945, in the desert of New Mexico, the Manhattan Project culminated in the Trinity test, the detonation of the first nuclear bomb. In an instant shrouded in secrecy, the world was forever changed. What followed – the dropping of atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, thousands of nuclear tests, and a Cold War arms race – further clarified the new danger. Mankind now had the power to destroy all life on Earth. “Trinity” (2024) is a philosophical movie about the birth of the nuclear age and the silences that surround it. Filmed over six days, it captures mysterious sights from the atomic Southwest: a dark obelisk marking ground zero; an owl-themed bar haunted by ghosts of nuclear scientists; Trinitite for sale at a local rock shop. Through first-person accounts from downwinders, uranium miners, and witnesses to the Trinity blast, it highlights what has been left out by official histories – about New Mexico, Navajo Nation, and Japan. Weaving together interviews with archival footage, camcorder recordings, and haunting music, the film juxtaposes government narratives about the nuclear age with the lived reality of citizens, leaving viewers to meditate on the ironies that emerge. On DVD, VOD, Digital, from First Run Features. Read more here … “Dinner With Leatherface” (2023) is a documentary about Gunnar Hansen, the actor who portrayed Leatherface in “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre” (1974). Friends, colleagues, filmmakers, and fellow actors share personal stories and discuss the dichotomy between the maniacal chainsaw-wielding character he played on-screen and the very intelligent, creative, soft-spoken man he actually was in real life. On DVD, Blu-ray, from Anchor Bay/MVD Entertainment … “Without Arrows” (20is is a poignant feature documentary that chronicles three generations of a Lakota family as Delwin Fiddler Jr., an acclaimed grass dancer, returns to his ancestral home on the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe Reservation in South Dakota. After 11 years of living in Philadelphia, he leaves his big city life behind, aiming to reconnect with his mother and father and learn more about their family history. A portrait of the Fiddlers, “Without Arrows” begins as Delwin works to rebuild his life and sense of identity while navigating within his family and within the larger culture of the reservation. Delwin experiences struggles and frustrations as he attempts to rekindle an interest in traditional Lakota lifeways while healing from the trauma that caused him to leave home in the first place. Through tenderness and tragedy Without Arrows celebrates the emotional arcs and hidden longings of the Fiddler family as they strive to carry on the legacy of their ancestors to the next generation. On DVD, VOD, Digital, from First Run Features. 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.