After a flurry of theatrical-to-disc releases last week, no major theatrical releases are arriving this week. Next week, however, is another matter: There’s Arcadian, Back to Black, The Fall Guy Extended Cut and The Strangers – Chapter 1.

 

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This Week’s Best Bets:

“Perfect Days”

(2023 — Germany): A perfect song that hits at just the right moment, the play of sunlight through leaves, a fleeting moment of human connection in a vast metropolis: the wonders of everyday life come into breathtaking focus in this profoundly moving film by Wim Wenders. In a radiant, Cannes-award-winning performance of few words but extraordinary expressiveness, Koji Yakusho plays a public-toilet cleaner in Tokyo whose rich inner world is gradually revealed through his small exchanges with those around him and with the city itself. Channeling his idol Yasujiro Ozu, Wenders crafts a serenely minimalist ode to the miracle that is the here and now. On 4K UHD + Blu-ray, Blu-ray, DVD with 4K digital master, approved by director Wim Wenders, with 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack. Read more here. From The Criterion Collection … Myth, mysticism, and revolution collide in “Black God, White Devil” (1964 — Brazil), a blistering existential western from Glauber Rocha, a pioneer of Brazil’s socially committed Cinema Novo movement. After killing his swindling boss, ranch hand Manoel (Geraldo Del Rey) goes on the run with his wife, Rosa (Yona´ Magalha~es). In the stark hinterlands, they join forces with armed bandits and pledge allegiance to a self-styled holy man who preaches revolt against rich landowners while perpetrating unspeakable acts of violence against the innocent. Suffused with antiauthoritarian fervor and the intensity of life in the desert, this landmark work of radical cinema is a scorched-earth allegory about mindless fanaticism and the allure of dead-end ideologies. On Blu-ray, DVD with New 4K digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack. Read more here. From The Criterion Collection.

Buzzin’ the ‘B’s:

In “Valleyheart” (2024), starring Kathryne Isabelle Easton, Anthony Goes, Jeremy S. Walker, Jack Herholdt, Mary O’Neil, Maiya Reaves, Rib Hillis, Robert Ramirez, it’s the middle of a blazing hot San Fernando Valley summer, and Jane Francis must decide how far she is willing to go to help her small-time criminal brother Tommy out of a jam with the Russian mob. Jane calls on her ex-cop and former husband to get them both out of California alive or die in a brutal fashion when the mob catches up to them. From Indican Pictures. Read more here … In “The Last Stop In Yuma County” (2023), starring Jim Cummings, Jocelin Donahue, Sierra McCormick, Nicholas Logan, Michael Abbott Jr. and Connor Paol, while awaiting the next fuel truck at a middle-of-nowhere Arizona rest stop, a traveling young knife salesman is thrust into a high-stakes hostage situation by the arrival of two similarly stranded bank robbers with no qualms about using cruelty — or cold, hard steel — to protect their bloodstained, ill-begotten fortune. On Blu-ray from Well Go USA. Read more here.

Special Interest:

“Have You Got It Yet?”

(2023) is a compelling dive into the life and genius of Syd Barrett, of Pink Floyd fame. Directed by award-winning filmmaker Roddy Bogawa and the late, acclaimed album cover designer Storm Thorgerson (Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Paul McCartney, and Black Sabbath), the feature length documentary has garnered praise for its candid glimpse into the prismatic character and artistry of Pink Floyd founder Syd Barrett. Visionaries behind prog rock and British psychedelic music, Pink Floyd chartered a monolithic legacy in both music and cultural history. Syd, who gave the group their moniker by combining the names of two obscure blues players – Pink Anderson and Floyd Council, played a crucial role in igniting that history, then left the group before they met stardom. Due July 19 on Blu-ray/DVD Combo, from Mercury Studios. Read more here.

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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.