Inside Out 2

(2024) Teenager Riley’s mind headquarters is undergoing a sudden demolition to make room for something entirely unexpected: new Emotions! Joy, Sadness, Anger, Fear and Disgust, who’ve long been running a successful operation by all accounts, aren’t sure how to feel when Anxiety shows up. And it looks like she’s not alone. Vitals: Director: Kelsey Mann. Stars: Voices of Amy Poehler, Phyllis Smith, Lewis Black, Diane Lane, Kyle MacLachlan, Liza Lapira, Maya Hawke, Tony Hale, Ayo Edebiri, Adèle Exarchopoulos, Paul Walter Hauser. CC, MPAA rating: PG, 96 min., Family Animated Comedy, Theatrical release date: , North American box office gross: $631.5 million, worldwide $1.560 billion, Pixar/Disney. Formats: DVD, Blu-ray/DVD Combo + Digital Code, Limited-Edition Collectable Steelbook 4K Ultra HD/Blu-ray Combo + Digital Code, VOD, Digital. Extras: “New Emotions” featurette; “Unlocking the Vault” featurette; deleted scenes. Read more here.

Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 1

(2024) Follows the story of how the Old West was won — and lost — through the blood, sweat and tears of many. Spanning 15 years before, during and following the Civil War from 1859 to 1874, the film is an emotional journey across a country at war with itself, experienced through the lens of families, friends and foes all attempting to discover what it truly means to be the United States of America. Vitals: Director: Kevin Costner. Stars: Kevin Costner, Sienna Miller, Sam Worthington, Jamie Campbell Bower, Luke Wilson, Thomas Haden Church, Jena Malone. CC, MPAA rating: R, 181 min., Western, Theatrical release date: June 28, 2024, North American box office gross: 28.008 million, worldwide $32.018 million, Warner. Formats: DVD, Blu-ray + Digital Code, 4K Ultra HD + Digital Code, VOD, Digital. Read more here.

Late Night With the Devil

(2024) Jack Delroy is a popular late-night television host in the 70s … but not THE most popular and in order to boost his ratings, has the idea to host an actual exorcism – bringing along believers and skeptics – but something goes terribly wrong in the process and evil in its purest form is awakened to television screens nationwide. Vitals: Director: Cameron Cairnes, Colin Cairnes. Stars: David Dastmalchian, Laura Gordon, Ian Bliss. CC, MPAA rating: R, 93 min., Horror, Theatrical release date: March 22, 2024, North American box office gross: $10.001 million, worldwide $12.454 million, RLJ. Formats: DVD, Blu-ray, Digital, VOD.

The Fabulous Four

(2024) A group of life-long friends (Susan Sarandon, Megan Mullally, and Sheryl Lee Ralph) travel to Key West, Florida, to be bridesmaids in the surprise wedding of their best college girlfriend Marilyn (Bette Midler). Over the course of one outrageous trip, sisterhoods are rekindled, the past resurfaces, and there are enough sparks, raunch, and romance to change all their lives in unexpected ways. Vitals: Director: Jocelyn Moorhouse. Stars: Susan Sarandon, Bette Midler, Megan Mullally, Sheryl Lee Ralph, Timothy V. Murphy, Bruce Greenwood, Michael Bolton. CC, MPAA rating: R, 98 min., Comedy, Theatrical release date: July 26, 2024, North American box office gross: $2.585 million, worldwide $2.604 million, Decal Bleecker. Formats: DVD, Blu-ray, VOD, Digital. Read more here.

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This Week’s Highlight:

A metaphysical exploration of queer love and loneliness, familial grief and healing, this delicate but audacious chamber drama, “All of Us Strangers” (2023), confirms director Andrew Haigh’s gift for bringing complicated emotions to the screen. Isolated in a seemingly empty new high-rise, London screenwriter Adam (Andrew Scott) finds his solitary existence upended when he begins a passionate romance with the impulsive Harry (Paul Mescal), then reconnects with his parents (Jamie Bell and Claire Foy) in a reunion that pushes beyond the limits of time and space. Putting a deeply personal imprint on a novel by Japanese writer Taichi Yamada, Haigh reaches cosmic heights while never losing sight of the story’s achingly human heart. On 4K UHD + Blu-ray, Blu-ray, with 4K digital master, with 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio and uncompressed stereo soundtracks. In the 4K UHD edition: One 4K UHD disc of the film presented in Dolby Vision HDR and one Blu-ray with the film and special features. Read more here. From The Criterion Collection.

Buzzin’ the ‘B’s:

“Dark Night of the Scarecrows: Ultimate Collector’s Edition Double Feature”

is a two-disc set from VCI Entertainment. “Dark Night of the Scarecrow” (1981) tells of the murder of a young girl, Marylee Williams (Tonya Crowe), and the vicious mob justice wrongly enacted on Marylee’s innocent, mentally challenged friend Bubba Ritter (Larry Drake). A cover-up by the murderous mob, led by Otis P. Hazelrigg (Charles Durning), results in a strange turn of events. Soon, one by one, the guilty are stalked and served a specific kind of justice by an unknown figure. When it made its premiere the week of Halloween in 1981, “Dark Night of the Scarecrow” was one of the highest rated TV movies of all time. Forty years in the making, “Dark Night of the Scarecrow 2” (2022) picks up with Chris (Amber Wedding) and her young son Jeremy (Aiden Shurr), moving to the small town where the events of the first film took place. Chris finds a tattered scarecrow amongst the cornfields of her new home and tells the effigy her secret: the real reason she has come to this small town. Soon after, a mysterious figure begins to roam the fields of their new home … stalking them or protecting them from unknown threats? On Blu-ray, 4K Ultra HD … “My Love Affair With Marriage” (2023), with the voices of Dagmara Dominczyk, Matthew Modine, Cameron Monaghan and Stephen Lang, is a humorous exploration of one woman’s quest for perfect love and lasting marriage in this groundbreaking animated feature film. The award-winning animated feature, about a spirited young woman determined to find love in the bewildering world, follows Zelma on her 23-year quest for perfect love and lasting marriage. Told from a woman’s point of view, the film blends historical, biological, societal, and emotional arcs with a lively sense of humor and musical numbers. On DVD, Blu-ray, from MVD Visual … The horror film “Wineville” (2024), starring Brande Roderick, Carolyn Hennesy, Texas Battle and Casey King, is set in the 70s and follows a woman who, after escaping her abusive father as a teen, is forced to return to the family vineyard to settle his affairs upon his death. She discovers that the dark secrets she left behind have only grown more sinister over the decades, fermenting into violence and death. From Dark Star Pictures. Read more here.

On the Indie Front:

“Bo Nan Za”

(2022), starring Simona Filipova, Stoyan Dimitrov, Aleksandra Spasova, Biser Marinov and Tony Sulzata, is a dialogue-free surreal social drama-western. What happens when a dignified urban drifter explores and remaps the common roads of a sleeping city? A string of solitary figures grope their way through the sun-drenched wilderness. Misguided by hopes and driven by shadows, they silently fall into a creeping dependency. Some of these spectral characters coexist in a “nowadays” world of different limits. Embarking on a day and night quest through the desolate streets, they end up caught in a bizarre procession of personal rituals. The highs and lows of urban life might ultimately be transcended. From Freestyle Digital Media … “Intensely Independent: The Micro-Budget Films of Blake Eckard” is a double-feature DVD that features two of Blake Eckard’s most startling and harrowing films: “Bubba Moon Face” and “Coyotes Kill for Fun.” In the searing familial dark drama Bubba Moon Face (2011), a down-on-his-luck drifter named Horton Bucks (Tyler Messner) faces an impossible situation: caring for his brother’s newborn baby in a uniquely hostile environment. Shot over five days, “Bubba Moon Face” shows Eckard at his most resourceful, even using his own newborn child in the film. Coyotes Kill for Fun (2017) tells the tale of a backwoods babysitter who helps a mother escape from her abusive boyfriend – only to have the boyfriend’s psychotic brother come back to town with violent intentions. In contrast to “Bubba Moon Face’s” breakneck production pace, “Coyotes Kill for Fun” was filmed over three years in Missouri, Montana and L.A. with multiple cinematographers (including Jon Jost). Despite its inconsistent production and locations, Eckard shows complete visual control. The result is a darkly violent, unified vision of terror in the rural south. From Synapse Films).

Foreign Films:

In “Tótem” (2023 — Mexico), starring Naíma Sentíes, Montserrat Marañon, Marisol Gasé, Saori Gurza, a bustling Mexican household sweeps up seven-year-old Sol in the whirlwind of preparations for her terminally ill father’s birthday party. As the day builds to an event both anticipated and dreaded, Sol and her family begin to understand the gravity of this year’s celebration. Lila Avilés (“The Chambermaid”) directs a dynamic ensemble cast in this stunning sophomore effort — a warmly observed, poignantly funny, and emotionally expansive study of the ways we cope with grief. On DVD, Blu-ray, from Janus Contemporaries.

Special Interest:

“The Grab”

(2024)is a global thriller documentary combining hard-hitting journalism from The Center for Investigative Reporting that takes you around the globe from Arizona to Zambia, to reveal one of the world’s biggest and least known threats. Quietly and seemingly out of sight, governments, private investors and mercenaries are working to seize food and water resources at the expense of entire populations. These groups are establishing themselves as the new OPEC, where the future world powers will be those who control not oil, but food. And it’s all beginning to bubble to the surface in real time. Global food prices have hit an all-time high, threatening chaos and violence. From Magnolia Home Entertainment. Read more here.

From TV to Disc:

“Rick and Morty: The Complete Seasons 1-7”

(2013-23) is a 14-disc set with all 71 episodes. “Rick and Morty” is the critically acclaimed, half-hour animated hit comedy series on Adult Swim that follows a sociopathic genius scientist who drags his inherently timid grandson on insanely dangerous adventures across the universe. Rick Sanchez is living with his daughter Beth’s family and constantly bringing her, his son-in-law Jerry, granddaughter Summer, and grandson Morty into intergalactic escapades. From Adult Swim/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.