From the Big Screen:

The Super Mario Bros. Movie

(2023) While working underground to fix a water main, Brooklyn plumbers and brothers Mario and Luigi are transported down a mysterious pipe and wander into a magical new world. But when the brothers are separated, Mario embarks on an epic quest to find Luigi. Vitals: Director: Michael Jelenic, Aaron Horvath. Stars: Voices of Chris Pratt, Charlie Day, Anya Taylor-Joy, Jack Black, Keegan-Michael Key, Seth Rogen, Fred Armisen, Khary Payton, Sebastian Maniscalco, Charles Martinet. CC, MPAA rating: PG, 92 min., Family Animation, North American box office gross: $570.162 million, worldwide $1,314.823 million, Universal. Formats: DVD, Blu-ray/DVD Combo + Digital Code, 4K Ultra HD/Blu-ray Combo + Digital Code, VOD, Digital. Extras: “Getting to Know the Cast”; “Leveling Up: Making The Super Mario Bros. Movie”; “The Super Mario Bros. Movie Field Guide”; “Leadership Lessons from Anya Taylor-Joy.” Read more here

John Wick: Chapter 4

(2023) John Wick (Keanu Reeves) uncovers a path to defeating The High Table. But before he can earn his freedom, Wick must face off against a new enemy with powerful alliances across the globe, and forces that turn old friends into foes. Vitals: Director: Chad Stahelski. Stars: Keanu Reeves, Donnie Yen, Bill Skarsgård, Laurence Fishburne, Hiroyuki Sanada, Lance Reddick, Rina Sawayama, Scott Adkins, lan McShane. CC, MPAA rating: R, 169 min., Action, North American box office gross: $180.582 million, worldwide $406.582 million, Action Thriller, Lionsgate. Formats: DVD, Blu-ray/DVD Combo + Digital Code, 4K Ultra HD/Blu-ray Combo + Digital Code, VOD, Digital. Extras: “Chad and Keanu: Through Wick and Thin,” “Train Like a Killer,” “Making a Killing,” “The Psychology of a Killer,” “The Blind Leading the Fight,” “Suit Up / Shoot Up,” “Packing a Punch,” “One Killer Shot,” “Killing at the Speed of Traffic,” “A Shot in the Dark,” “In Honor of the Dead,” trailers. Read more here

The Pope’s Exorcist

(2023) Inspired by the actual files of Father Gabriele Amorth, Chief Exorcist of the Vatican (Russell Crowe), the film follows Amorth as he investigates a young boy’s terrifying possession and ends up uncovering a centuries-old conspiracy the Vatican has desperately tried to keep hidden. Vitals: Director: Julius Avery . Stars: Russell Crowe, Daniel Zovatto, Alex Essoe, Franco Nero, Peter DeSouza-Feighoney, Laurel Marsden. CC, MPAA rating: R, 103 min., Horror, North American box office gross: $19.095 million, worldwide $66.193 million, Screen Gems. Formats: DVD, Blu-ray + Digital Code, VOD, Digital. Read more here

This Week’s Highlight:

“Shaw Brothers Classics Vol. 1” is jam-packed with epic kung-fu tales from the legendary Hong Kong studio, featuring 11 films from the influential filmmakers never before available on Blu-ray in North America. Showcasing classic tales of battles between good and evil fought by fabled heroes and larger than life villains, the set contains 11 films released from 1967-1969 including: “The Assassin,” “The Thundering Sword,” “The Golden Swallow,” “The Jade Raksha,” “The Bells of Death,” “The Sword of Swords,” “Killer Darts,” “The Invincible Fist,” “Dragon Swamp,” “The Flying Dagger” and “The Golden Sword.” The box set also comes loaded with new bonus features, including new audio commentaries from critics, authors and experts including David West, Gilbert Po, Brian Bankston, Frank Djeng and James Mudge; new interviews with author Leon Hunt, author and critic Kim Newman, actress Cheng Pei-Pei, critic Tony Rayns, dubber Peter Boczar, and more. On Blu-ray from Shout! Factory). Read more here

Buzzin’ the ‘B’s:

“Jurassic Shark 3: Seavenge” (2023) is the next outing in the cult hit shark series. The unstoppable Megalodon is back, stalking the inhabitants of a stranded boat off the coast of a small fishing community. A reporter, her cameraman and some thieves must work together to finally put an end to this legendary man-eater, but that won’t be easy as this aquatic serial killer has emerged to exact it’s own brand of revenge on them. From Wild Eye Releasing. Read more here … As sexually deranged as it is stylistically unhinged, “Dr. Caligari” (1989), starring Madeleine Reynal, Fox Harris, Laura Albert, Jennifer Balgobin, John Durbin, Gene Zerna, David Parry and Barry Phillips, is a psychedelic surrealist neo-noir reworking of the 1920 German expressionist classic. Dr. Caligari (Reynal) is the granddaughter of the original Doctor, whose own experiments in psychosexual therapy have led her to the brink of a radical treatment involving hormonal exchange. Having drugged and imprisoned Mrs. Van Houten’s sexually repressed husband, Caligari sets out to extract the brain fluid of an incurably nymphomaniac Mrs. Van Houten and inject it into the head of a cannibalistic serial killer (Durbin) addicted to electroconvulsive therapy. What could possibly go wrong? On Blu-ray from Mondo Macabro … Inspired by true events, “Sweetwater” (2023), starring Jeremy Piven, Everett Osborne, James Caan, Wood Harris, Eric Roberts, Cary Elwes, Jim Caviezel, Richard Dreyfuss, Burt Young, Mira Sorvino, Robert Ri’chard, Bruce McGill, Kevin Pollak, Gary Clark Jr., Ed Lauter and Louis Gossett Jr., is the extraordinary journey of Nat “Sweetwater” Clifton (Osborne), who made history as the first Black player to sign an NBA contract. At a time when segregation divided sports, New York Knicks coach Joe Lapchick (Piven) and team executive Ned Irish (Elwes) see the future of basketball in Sweetwater’s dazzling and unorthodox displays of entertaining athleticism. Together, they challenge convention and break through barriers that would change the game forever. On DVD, Blu-ray + Digital Code, from Universal … In “Bone Cold” (2022), starring Jonathan Stoddard, Matt Munroe, Trinity Bliss, Jennifer Khoe, Shaan Sharma, Elise Greene and Danielle Poblarp, after bad intel from headquarters results in a tragic civilian death, an elite sniper duo attempts to flee the area but can’t seem to shake a mysterious, inhuman creature stalking them from the shadows. On DVD, Blu-ray, from Well Go USA … In “The Witches Mountain” (1973 — Spain), starring John (Cihangir) Gaffari, Patty Shepard, Victor Israel, Monica Randall, and Ana Farra, after a bitter breakup with his girlfriend, a photojournalist takes an assignment to an area in the Pyrenees Mountains in northern Spain. On his way, he meets a beautiful freelance writer and convinces her to join him. They stop at an ancient hotel where they hear rumors that the nearby mountain is haunted by a coven of dangerous witches — but they proceed to go there anyway. Until now “The Witches Mountain” has been a difficult film to see in anything approaching the way its makers intended. For complicated reasons, fully explored in the extras on the disc, the film was banned in Spain. This led to a kind of urban legend that it was a violent and misogynistic film full of scenes of sex and depravity. Nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, it’s one of the most unique films of the 1970s Spanish horror boom. It’s atmospheric, mystical and elusive – a film that lingers in your mind long after you’ve seen it. On Blu-ray from Mondo Macabro.

On the Indie Front:

“Moko Jumbie” (2017), starring Vanna Girod, Jeremy Thomas, Sharda Maharaj, Dinesh Maharaj and Melvina Hazard, is a gothic punk Caribbean love story that arises in the ruins of a coconut plantation in rural Trinidad. Asha is drawn to Roger, the boy next door. Their taboo attraction grows despite family disapproval, political turmoil, a clash between Indians and Africans, and mysterious hauntings by unnaturally tall ancestral spirits. If you follow your heart in the Land of Sugar, you might find MOKO JUMBIE. Nominated for best film at the Los Angeles Film Festival. From Indiepix Classic.

Foreign Films:

On the subtropical Japanese island of Amami, traditions about nature remain eternal in “Still the Water” (2014 –Japan), starring Nijirô Murakami, Junko Abe and Miyuki Matsuda. During the full-moon night of traditional dances in August, 16-year-old Kaito discovers a dead body floating in the sea. His girlfriend Kyoko attempts to help him understand this mysterious discovery and, together, they learn to become adults by experiencing the interwoven cycles of life, death and love. One of acclaimed Japanese filmmaker Naomi Kawase’s early films. From Film Movement … In “Radiance” (2017 — Japan), starring Masatoshi Nagase, Ayame Misaki and Tatsuya Fuji, Misako is a passionate writer of film versions for the visually impaired. At a screening, she meets Nakamori, an older photographer who is slowly losing his eyesight. Misako soon discovers Nakamori’s photographs, which will strangely bring her back to her past. Together, they learn to see the radiant world that was invisible to her eyes. A modern romance from acclaimed Japanese filmmaker Naomi Kawase. From Film Movement … In the relentless heat of the grueling summer, cicadas emerge to sing their ear-shattering song in “The Sound of Summer” (2022 — Japan), starring Shinya Hankawa, Kaori Hoshino, Kiyomi Kametani, Shiori Kawai, Kuromi Kirishima, Keita Kusaka and Yuina Nagai. Months of continued exposure are enough to make anyone start to feel insane, except the oddity the locals call “The Cicada Man.” As the heat starts to get to one young woman, real life and delusion begin to mix and spiral into extreme paranoia and self-mutilation. On Blu-ray from Unearthed Films. Read more here … Based on the classic wuxia novel “Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils” by Louis Cha (known worldwide by his pen name Jin Yong), “Sakra” (2023 — China) stars Donnie Yen as Qiao Feng, the respected leader of a roving band of martial artists. After he is wrongfully accused of murder and subsequently exiled, Qiao Feng goes on the run in search of answers about his own mysterious origin story–and the unknown enemies working to destroy him from the shadows. Co-stars Yuqi Chen and Cya Liu. On DVD, Blu-ray, from Well Go USA.

From TV to Disc:

“Fear the Walking Dead Seasons 1-7” (2015-22), the first spin-off of the smash hit “The Walking Dead,” is a gritty drama that starts with a family’s response to an apocalyptic virus before quickly widening its scope. Over seven seasons, from California to Mexico to Texas, the fate of humanity rests in the hands of our bold and determined survivors. From Lionsgate). Read more here … “The Venture Bros.: The Complete Series” (2003-2018) is a 14-disc set with 82 episodes from the seven seasons of the Adult Swim series that follows the bizarre escapades of pseudo-heroic scientist Dr. Rusty Venture, his competent, high-strung bodyguard, and his two over enthusiastic sons. From Warner.

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.