From the Big Screen:

We Live in Time

(2024) Almut (Florence Pugh) and Tobias (Andrew Garfield), an up-and-coming chef, are brought together in a surprise encounter that changes their lives. Through snapshots of their life together — falling for each other, building a home, becoming a family — a difficult truth is revealed that rocks its foundation. As they embark on a path challenged by the limits of time, they learn to cherish each moment of the unconventional route their love story has taken, in filmmaker John Crowley’s decade-spanning, deeply moving romance. Vitals: Director: John Crowley. Stars: Andrew Garfield, Florence Pugh, Grace Delaney, Lee Braithwaite, Aoife Hinds. CC, MPAA rating: R, 108 min., Romantic Drama, Theatrical release date: October 18, 2024, North American box office gross: $24.690 million, worldwide $32.149 million, A24. Formats: Blu-ray, VOD, Digital. Extras: Commentary with director John Crowley and writer Nick Payne; making-of featurette “A Whole Life: The Making of We Live in Time”; six collectible postcards featuring on set photography by Peter Mountain.

Saturday Night

(2024) At 11:30pm on October 11, 1975, a ferocious troupe of young comedians and writers changed television–and culture–forever. “Saturday Night” is based on the true story of what happened behind the scenes in the 90 minutes leading up to the first broadcast of Saturday Night Live. Full of humor, chaos, and the magic of a revolution that almost wasn’t, count down the minutes in real time until those famous words are uttered for the very first time Vitals: Director: Jason Reitman. Stars: Willem Dafoe, Dylan O’Brien, Ella Hunt, J.K. Simmons, Gabriel LaBelle, Rachel Sennott. CC, MPAA rating: R, 109 min., Comedy Drama, Theatrical release date: October 11, 2024, North American box office gross: $9.511 million, worldwide $9.796 million, Sony. Formats: DVD + Digital Code, Blu-ray + Digital Code, VOD, Digital.

This Week’s Highlight:

From The Criterion Collection this week: “Yojimbo / Sanjuro: Two Samurai Films By Akira Kurosawa”: Thanks to perhaps the most indelible character in Akira Kurosawa’s oeuvre, “Yojimbo” (1961) surpassed even “Seven Samurai” in popularity when it was released. The masterless samurai Sanjuro, who slyly manipulates two warring clans to his own advantage in a small, dusty village, was so entertainingly embodied by the brilliant Toshiro Mifune that it was only a matter of time before he returned in a sequel. Made just one year later, “Sanjuro” (1962) matches Yojimbo’s storytelling dexterity yet adds a layer of world-weary pragmatism that brings the two films to a thrilling and unforgettable conclusion. 4K digital restorations, with uncompressed monaural soundtracks. In a 4K UHD + Blu-ray combo, with two 4K UHD discs of the films and two Blu-rays with the films and special features. Optional DTS-HD Master Audio Perspecta 3.0 soundtracks, preserving the original simulated stereo effects. Read more here.

Buzzin’ the ‘B’s:

In “Things Will Be Different” (2024), starring Adam David Thompson, Riley Dandy, Chloe Skoczen and Sarah Bolger. two siblings, fleeing the police after a close call robbery, escape to a mysterious farmhouse that transports them to a different time. There they reckon with a sinister force that keeps them captive until its deadly demands can be met. On DVD, Blu-ray, VOD, and Digital, from Magnolia Home Entertainment/Magnet.

Foreign Films:

In “Rampo Noir” (2005 — Japan), four filmmakers from completely different backgrounds bring their radically personal takes to the stories of Japan’s celebrated master of the macabre, Edogawa Rampo (“Horrors of Malformed Men,” “Blind Beast”). In “Mars’s Canal”, by music video director and visual artist Suguru Takeuchi, a lone man encounters the other side of his psyche beyond the reflective surface of a circular pond set in a desolate landscape. Japanese New Wave auteur and longtime director of the Ultraman series Akio Jissoji (“This Transient Life,” “Mandala”) harnesses his distinctive stylistic sheen in his story of a mad mirror maker, “Mirror Hell”. “Caterpillar” sees the singular vision of cult director Hisayasu Sato (“The Bedroom,” “Naked Blood”) at its most grotesque, in his portrait of a wounded war veteran who returns from the frontline as little more than a bloody torso, helpless to defend himself against the increasingly perverted caprices of an embittered wife. Finally, a famous actor is subjected to the obsessive attentions of her limo driver in “Crawling Bugs”, the directorial debut of internationally acclaimed manga artist Atsushi Kaneko (“Bambi” and “Her Pink Gun”). Produced by the same team behind “Ichi the Killer” and “Uzumaki,” and with a cast featuring some of Japan’s top stars, including Tadanobu Asano and Ryuhei Matsuda, “Rampo Noir” is a stylistic tour-de-force that vividly evokes the “erotic grotesque” worlds created by Japan’s pioneering proponent of horror and mystery fiction. On Blu-ray. Read more here. From Arrow Video … In a world ravaged by a deadly virus, a young boy is faced with losing everything as he journeys through a shattered world, shrouded in silence and overtaken by the infected and the conflict-torn remnants of humanity in the award-winning sci-fi horror-thriller “Beyond the Wasteland (AKA M)” (2024 — Republic of North Macedonia), starring Matej Sivakov, Sashko Kocev, Aleksandar Nicovski, Kamka Tocinovski, Bojana Gregoric Vejzovic and Verica Nedeska. Deep in a secluded forest, Marko lives in isolation under the watchful eye of his overprotective father, who is determined to keep his young son safe from the Evil Ones. Deeply lonely, and increasingly curious about the outside world, Marko yearns to uncover the secrets of life beyond the forest and begins venturing further from home. But after a cruel turn of events grants his wish sooner than he ever imagined, Marko is forced to flee and embark on a grim journey filled with unknown dangers and a glimpse into a world forever changed. On Blu-ray, VOD, Digital. From Well Go USA. 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.