From the Big Screen:
“Deadpool,” “The Boy” and “Where to Invade Next.” For more information on other releases this week, see the Weekly Guide to Home Video Releases.
This Week’s Best Bet
Director Nicholas Ray’s treatise on Hollywood paranoia (at the height of the Hollywood anti-communist witch hunts in the entertainment industry), “In a Lonely Place” (1950), gets The Criterion Collection treatment this week. When a gifted but washed-up
From TV to DVD:
“Beauty & the Beast: Third Season” (2015) is a four-disc set with all 13 episodes of the last season. As Season Three begins, Cat (Kristin Kreuk) and Vincent (Jay Ryan) are able to focus on their love, finally free from Muirfield, manhunts and beasts. Formats: DVD. From CBS/Paramount … “The Jim Gaffigan Show Season One” (2015) is a two-disc
Buzzin’ the ‘B’s:
In “Regression” (2015), directed by Alejandro Amenába (“The Others”) and starring Ethan Hawke, Emma Watson, David Thewlis, Dale Dickey and Devon Bostick, a detective and a psychoanalyst uncover evidence of a satanic cult while investigating the rape of a young woman. On DVD, Blu-ray Disc from Dimension Films/Anchor Bay … In a near-future Brooklyn, an advertising executive working on a campaign for augmented reality glasses uses the glasses to create a life-like avatar of his best friend’s beautiful girlfriend — whom he’s obsessed with — but is not prepared for what happens when the line between reality and virtual reality begins to blur in “Creative Control” (2015), starring Benjamin Dickinson, Nora Zehetner, Dan Gill, Alexia Rasmussen, Reggie Watts, Gavin McInnes, Jake Lodwick. On DVD, Blu-ray Disc from Sony …
Foreign Films:
“Mustang” (2015 — Turkey) is a bracing and timely story about vibrant young women living in a world of sexual repression. It’s the last day of school in a coastal village in modern-day Turkey, and five orphaned sisters celebrate their summer freedom by innocently frolicking in the surf with some boys. But a stern neighbor reports their supposedly lewd behavior to their grandmother. Fearful that the sisters’ marriage chances have been harmed, the grandmother holds them as virtual prisoners in their home and brings in a parade of potential husbands. It falls to the youngest sister, 13-year-old Lale, to engineer the girls’ escape from their increasingly oppressive new existence. Academy Award nominee for Best Foreign Language Film. Stars Gunes Sensoy, Nihal G. Koldas and Doga Zeynep Doguslu. On DVD, Blu-ray/DVD Combo from Cohen Media Group.
For the Family:
“Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood: Daniel Goes to the Doctor” (2016) features nine stories from the hit PBS KIDS series. Preschoolers can climb aboard Trolley and join Daniel Tiger as he goes for a checkup, gets a shot, and helps Mom Tiger when she’s not feeling well. $12.99 from PBS Distribution … “Against the Wild 2: Survive the Serengeti” (2016), starring Jeri Ryan, Ella Ballentine, John Paul Ruttan and Ashley Dowds, is a Dove-family approved film about two kids and their dog who must use all their skills to survive in the African bush after a plane crash. From Anchor Bay …
Special Interest:
- “Bob Hope: Entertaining the Troops!”: The legendary Bob Hope, one of the greatest entertainers of the 20th century, was best known for his Christmas specials. Traveling with special guests, he visited U.S. troops in dozens of locations around the world, performing on battleships and battlefields — and sometimes even accompanied by the sound of fighter jets overhead. His missions were often dangerous,
his schedule brutal, yet for thousands of servicemen and women far from home there was no one like Hope for the holidays. This single disc brings together three TV Christmas Specials: a rare, never-before-released 1951 special from The Korean War Era, along with shows from 1970 and 1971 — two of the most-watched shows in TV history. The specials include Bob’s unforgettable monologues, hilarious comedy sketches, classic music performances, and guests Neil Armstrong, Johnny Bench, President Lyndon Johnson, Ursula Andress, Connie Stevens, Lola Falana and many more. Chesterfield Sound Off Time (Airdate: December 23, 1951): This rare, never-before-released special was filmed during the Korean War aboard the aircraft carrier the USS Boxer. Highlights include Hope and Connie Moore crooning “I Wanna Go Home (With You)”, the Nicholas Brothers performing their acrobatic style of tap dancing, and Hope, in an extended comedy sketch, taking command of the ship and sailing it on a secret mission. The Bob Hope Christmas Special: Around the World with the USO (Original Airdate: January 15, 1970): Hope and company embark on another Christmas tour to entertain the troops, starting with a send-off from the White House. The 16-day tour then continues through Germany, Italy, Turkey, Thailand, Vietnam, Taiwan, Guam, and on-board the USS Ranger and the USS Sanctuary. The Bob Hope Christmas Special: Around the Globe with the USO (Original Airdate: January 14, 1971): Hope visits U.S. military bases to entertain the troops and bring them Christmas cheer, starting with rehearsals at West Point and with stops in England, Germany, Thailand, Vietnam, Korea, Alaska, and to the USS John F. Kennedy in the Mediterranean, and the USS Sanctuary in the South China Sea. From Time Life. - “I Don’t Belong Anywhere: The Cinema of Chantal Akerman”: (2015) Documentary explores some of the Belgian filmmaker’s 40 plus films, and charts the sites of her peregrinations from Brussels to Tel Aviv, from Paris to New York. An experimental filmmaker and nomad, Chantal Akerman shared with director Marianne Lambert her cinematic trajectory, one that never ceased to interrogate the meaning of her existence. And with her editor and long-time collaborator, Claire Atherton, she examines the origins of her film language and aesthetic stance. The documentary includes excerpts from many films made throughout Akerman’s career, including “Jeanne Dielman, 23, Quai Du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles” (1975), “News from Home” (1976), “The Rendez-vous of Anna and Je, Tu, Il Elle” (1974), “South” (1998), “From the East” (1993), “From the Other Side” (2002), “Down There” (2006), and what would be her last film, “No Home Movie” (2015). From Icarus Films.
- “I Know a Woman Like That”: (2016) Having reached the age when many people are expected to retire or simply slow down, the remarkable women in this documentary are proof that being a senior citizen is no reason to stop living a full, energetic life. Directed by Emmy Award-winner Elaine Madsen and executive produced by Oscar-nominee Virginia Madsen, this critically acclaimed documentary provides a portrait of women between the ages of 64 and 94 and the extraordinary lives they lead at a time when the world expects women of this generation to be reclining in rocking chairs. Director Elaine Madsen (the mother of actress Virginia Madsen and “Reservoir Dogs” actor Michael Madsen) sits down with more than a dozen women, including Eartha Kitt, Lauren Hutton, Gloria Steinem and Rita Moreno, to reflect on the many challenges they faced while pursuing their dreams. Many of the interviewees, including a competitive water skier in her 90s, writers, artists and businesswomen, proudly proclaim life to be better now than when they were younger. From Virgil Films.