From the Big Screen:
Gran Turismo
This Week’s Best Bets:
“The Buster Keaton Collection Volume 5: Three Ages and Our Hospitality” (1923): “Three Ages” was Keaton’s first foray into feature film production after a successful string of shorts. This hilariously inventive satire of D.W. Griffith’s “Intolerance” follows the age-old story of misadventures on the road to finding love, retold in three separate eras, a structure that cleverly allowed Keaton to recut the film into three separate shorts if it failed as a feature. For this restoration, five elements were compared, with a second-generation duplicate negative being used for the majority. “Our Hospitality” is perhaps Keaton’s most nuanced comedy and again finds Buster recreating a bygone era. In it, he plays a 19th-century New Yorker who returns to the antebellum South to claim his inheritance, but finds himself also inheriting a longstanding multi-generational feud between his family and that of the woman he loves (played by Buster’s real-life spouse, Natalie Talmadge). For this restoration, a total of 17 film elements were compared, with a first-generation nitrate positive held at the Library of Congress being the main element used. On Blu-ray from Cohen Film Collection …
Buzzin’ the ‘B’s:
“Lifetime’s A Very Merry Movie Collection: Volume 5” (2019-2022) offers 12 family films from Lifetime at a bargain price: $24.98: “Cloudy with a Chance of Christmas,” “A Show-Stopping Christmas,” “Sweet Navidad,” “Merry Textmas,” “Serving Up the Holidays,” “A New Orleans Noel,” “Merry Swissmas,” “Scentsational Christmas,” “Well Suited for Christmas,” “A Country Christmas Harmony,” “The Holiday Dating Guide,” “Merry Liddle Christmas.” From Lionsgate …
On the Indie Front:
After a devastating loss, Tana (Lily Gladstone) packs up her grandmother’s Cadillac and hits the open road to South Dakota, reconnecting with family, finding closure, and making unexpected connections along the way in “The Unknown Country” (2022). A personal reverie summoned from a beguiling mix of fact and fiction, “The Unknown Country” is an arresting debut feature from Morrisa Maltz. On DVD, Blu-ray, from Music Box Films.
Foreign Films:
“A Bullet for Sandoval” (1970 — Spain), starring George Hilton, Ernest Borgnine, Alberto de Mendoza, Leo Anchóriz and Annabella Incontrera, has been restored from a new 4K scans of the 35mm negatives. Civil War Corporal John Warner (Hilton) deserts the Army to be with the woman he loves and raise the child they’re expecting. A series of tragedies unfold, and Warner turns to vengeance against his lover’s father, Don Pedro Sandoval (Borgnine), who blames Warner for the loss of his daughter. On DVD, Blu-ray, from VCI Entertainment.
Special Interest:
“There Goes the Neighborhood” (2022): Gentrification is not a new phenomenon. In fact, New Yorkers have been talking about gentrification ever since the term was first coined in the
From TV to Disc:
“The Good Fight: The Complete Series” (2017-2022) is an eight-disc set with all six seasons, 60 episodes and over two hours of special features, including exclusive deleted and extended scenes, gag reels and more. From Paramount … “South Park: The Complete Twenty-Sixth Season” (2023) is a single disc with all six episodes. The boys are back as South Park returns with its 26th season. Join Stan, Kyle, Cartman and Kenny as they learn the wonders of Japanese toilets, grapple with latest developments in A.I. technology, re-open an iconic Colorado restaurant, and meet a couple who feel the need to share the importance of their Privacy with the world. For them, it’s all part of growing up in South Park. On DVD, Blu-ray, from Paramount … The town of South Park is in peril when both Part 1 and Part 2 of “South Park: The Streaming Wars” (2022), this made-for-streaming movie, comes to disc. In Part 1, Cartman locks horns with his mom in a battle of wills, while an epic conflict unfolds and threatens South Park’s very existence. In Part 2, a drought has brought the town of South Park to the brink of disaster. On DVD, Blu-ray, from Paramount … The limited edition individually numbered 54-Disc Blu-ray collection of “Star Trek: The Picard Legacy Collection” features one of a kind packaging that houses every series and film featuring Jean-Luc Picard. Along with over 35 hours of special features, films and series include “Star Trek: The Next Generation – Seasons 1-7,” “Star Trek: Picard – Seasons 1-3,” “Star Trek: Generations,” “Star Trek: First Contact,” “Star Trek: Nemesis” and “Star Trek: Insurrection.” This limited set also includes an exclusive edition of The Wisdom of Picard featuring brand new artwork and quotes, along with a one-of-a-kind deck of playing cards, a magnet sheet featuring all of Captain Picard’s badges and four custom Chateau Picard drink coasters. On Blu-ray from Paramount.
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.