This Week’s Best Bet

Joel and Ethan Coen’s career-long darkly comic road trip through misfit America began with “Blood Simple” (1984), a razor-sharp, hard-boiled neonoir set somewhere in Texas, where a sleazy bar owner releases a torrent of violence with one murderous thought. Actor M. Emmet Walsh looms over the proceedings as a slippery private eye with a yellow suit, a cowboy hat, and no moral compass, and Frances McDormand’s cunning debut performance set her on the road to stardom. The tight scripting and inventive style that have marked the Coens’ work for decades are all here in their first film, in which cinematographer Barry Sonnenfeld abandons black-and-white chiaroscuro for neon signs and jukebox colors that combine with Carter Burwell’s haunting score to lurid and thrilling effect. Blending elements from pulp fiction and low-budget horror flicks, “Blood Simple” reinvented the film noir for a new generation, marking the arrival of a filmmaking ensemble that would transform the American independent cinema scene. In a 4K UHD + Blu-ray combo edition. Restored 4K digital transfer, approved by cinematographer Barry Sonnenfeld and filmmakers Joel and Ethan Coen, with 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack. One 4K UHD disc of the film presented in Dolby Vision HDR and one Blu-ray with the film and special features. From The Criterion Collection. Read more here.

Foreign Films:

After a wicked plot to steal a hidden fortune results in the death of two renowned warriors, the map leading to the treasure’s rumored location inexplicably disappears in “The Flying Swordsman (aka The Hidden Fox)” (2022 — China), starring Huawei Zhao, Ray Lui, Yusi Chen, Shanshan Chunyu and Zihan Chen. But when the map is finally located a decade later, the eight assassins from the original plot re-emerge only to be challenged by a mysterious swordsman. From Well Go USA.

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From TV to Disc:

“Magnum P.I.: The Final Season” (2023) is a five-disc set with all 20 episode. Thomas Magnum returns in the final season as Hawaii’s favorite detective, and takes on exciting new cases with his partner, Juliet Higgins, and friends Rick and TC. Whether they’re taking down Hawaii’s most dangerous criminals, solving impossible cases or just throwing back a few mai tais after work, the team has never been tighter – and the adventure has never been bigger.
From Paramount.

CAV Distributing Corp announced today that the following releases, originally scheduled for Tuesday, January 9, have been delayed:

Curse of the Dog God is now scheduled for January 23
The Inferno is now scheduled for January 23
Dard Divorce is now scheduled for January 30
BloodRayne is now scheduled for February 6

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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.