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OnVideo's Weekly Guide to Home Video Releases
April 17
Endings, Beginnings: In present day Los Angeles, Daphne (Shailene Woodley), a thirtysomething woman, navigates love and heartbreak over the course of one year, during which she will unlock the secrets to her life in a sudden turn of events and in the most surprising of places. (Digital now, VOD release: May 1)
The Quarry: After murdering a traveling preacher, a fugitive drifter (Shea Whigham) travels to a small town in the wilds of Texas and poses as the man he killed. (VOD only)
April 21
Time Warp: The Greatest Cult Films of All-Time Volume 1 Midnight Madness: From “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” to “The Big Lebowski” and everything in between, this fascinating deep-dive documentary begins its celebration of the greatest cult movies of all-time discussing the birth of the midnight movie. (Digital, VOD only)
April 24
1BR: After leaving behind a painful past to follow her dreams, Sarah scores the perfect Hollywood apartment but, unable to sleep, tormented by strange noises and threatening notes, her new life quickly starts to unravel. (Digital only)
To the Stars: Under small town scrutiny, a withdrawn farmer's daughter forges an intimate friendship with a worldly but reckless new girl in 1960s Oklahoma. (Digital only)
True History of the Kelly Gang: Legendary outlaw Ned Kelly (George MacKay) leads a band of rebel warriors to wreak havoc on their oppressors in this gritty and veracious Western thriller. (Digital, VOD only)
Alastair Sim's School For Laughter
Perhaps best remembered as Ebenezer Scrooge in "A Christmas Carol," Scottish character actor Alastair Sim became a leading star of British cinema after spending five years as a lecturer of elocution at the University of Edinburgh. One of the best-loved and most prolific actors in classic British comedy, Sim, who often appeared in multiple roles, starred in more than 50 films beginning in 1935 and was both critically acclaimed and unfailingly popular, regularly topping the cinema-goers popularity polls. This four-disc Blu-ray collection spotlights his most laughter-inducing film roles -- now digitally restored in HD for optimal viewing" "The Belles of St. Trinian's" (1954, directed by Frank Launder): The schoolgirls of St. Trinian's are more interested in men and mischief than homework and hockey, but even greater trouble beckons with the arrival of two new students. Features Sim playing dual roles as the headmistress, Miss Millicent Fritton, and her twin brother, Clarence. Based on the cartoons of Ronald Searle. "School for Scoundrels" (1960, directed by Robert Hamer): Henry Palfrey (Ian Carmichael) tries hard to impress but always loses out to the rotter Delauney (Terry-Thomas). Then he enrolls in the "College of Lifemanship" run by "Professor" Stephen Potter (Sim) and learns "how to win without actually cheating!" "Laughter In Paradise" (1951, directed by Mario Zampi): Famed practical joker Henry Russell (Hugh Griffith) leaves 50,000 pounds to his four surviving relatives, including his cousin, retired army officer Deniston Russell (Sim). There's just one stipulation - each of them has to undertake a task completely out of character for one month. Released in 1951, "Laughter In Paradise" was Britain's top-grossing film. Watch carefully and see a young Audrey Hepburn in a bit part as a cigarette girl. "Hue and Cry" (1947, directed by Charles Crichton): The first of the Ealing Studios "comedies." After discovering that his favorite comic is being used to send messages between a master criminal and his gang of thieves, teenager Joe Kirby (Harry Fowler) sets out to alert writer Felix Wilkinson (Sim) and turn the page on the crooks. Formats: Blu-ray. Extras: Trailers, featurettes, interviews. (Film Movement).
American Terrorist
(2020) Peter Cambor, Lacey Dorn, Tarek Bishara, John Buffalo Mailer, Essam Ferris, Scott Kluge. In the wake of the September 11th attacks, two brothers decide to take matters into their own hands. Embarking on a swath of vigilante justice, the two believe they have stopped a mass casualty event. But what if they were wrong? Where does the line between good and evil fall…
Formats: DVD, Digital. (Indican Pictures).
Bad Boys For Life
(2020) Will Smith, Martin Lawrence, Vanessa Hudgens, Alexander Ludwig, Charles Melton, Paola Nuñez, Kate del Castillo, Nicky Jam, Joe Pantoliano. Bad Boys Marcus and Mike have to confront new issues (career changes and midlife crises), as they join the newly created elite team AMMO of the Miami police department to take down the ruthless Armando Armas, the vicious leader of a Miami drug cartel. Formats: DVD, Blu-ray/DVD Combo, 4K Ultra HD/Blu-ray Combo, VOD, Digital. Extras: Extended & alternate scenes, outtakes & bloopers. Blu-ray adds "Ride or Die: Making Bad Boys for Life"; "Partners in Crime: Behind-the-Scenes"; "It’s About Time": 25 years of "Bad Boys" history with producer Jerry Bruckheimer, the cast and crew; Easter Eggs. (Sony).
Blood & Flesh: The Real Life & Ghastly Death of Al Adamson
(2010) "Horror Film Director Found Slain, Buried Under Floor," screamed the 1995 headlines read around the world. But the truth behind the wild life of Al Adamson -- including the production of such low budget classics as "Satan's Sadists," "Dracula vs. Frankenstein" and "The Naughty Stewardesses" -- and his grisly death reveals perhaps the most bizarre career in Hollywood history. Told through over 40 first-person recollections from friends, family, colleagues and historians -- plus rare clips and archival interviews with Adamson himself -- this documentary is the award-winning chronicle of bikers, go-go dancers, porn stars, aging actors, freak-out girls, Charles Manson, Colonel Sanders, alien conspiracies and homicidal contractors. Formats: Blu-ray; DVD due June 2. Extras: "Beyond This Earth" promo reel, trailer, bonus film "The Female Bunch," "The Bunch Speaks Out" featurette, "The Female Bunch" trailers. (Severin Films).
Carnival Magic
(1981) Al Adamson’s (see above) first children’s movie, a delightful tale of alcoholism, domestic violence, a talking chimp with a brassiere fetish, vivisection, suicide, "The Freak-Out Girl" Regina Carrol – in her final performance – flaunting an array of skintight/low-cut outfits, and not a single role for children. Don Stewart and Joe Cirillo co-star in the infamous ‘80s oddity that has been hailed as “Possibly the worst kiddie movie ever made.” Scanned from the only surviving pre-print 35mm elements. Includes his last complete feature, the Sandra Dee starrer "Lost" that reveals Aldamson's bizarre kiddie matinee legacy. Formats: Blu-ray; DVD due June 2. Extras: "A Boom to Science" critical appreciation by Zack Carlson and Lars Nilsen; audio commentary with producer Elvin Feltner; outtakes; TV Spot; trailer; "The Happy Hobo" rushes for a promo from unproduced Adamson kids film; "Lost" trailer. (Severin Films).
The Cremator
(1969 -- Czechoslovakia) Czechoslovak New Wave iconoclast Juraj Herz’s terrifying, darkly comic vision of the horrors of totalitarian ideologies stars a supremely chilling Rudolf Hrušínský as the pathologically morbid Karel Kopfrkingl, a crematorium manager in 1930s Prague who believes fervently that death offers the only true relief from human suffering. When he is recruited by the Nazis, Kopfrkingl’s increasingly deranged worldview drives him to formulate his own shocking final solution. Blending the blackest of gallows humor with disorienting expressionistic flourishes — queasy point-of-view shots, distorting lenses, jarring quick cuts—the controversial, long-banned masterpiece ."The Cremator" is one of cinema’s most trenchant and disturbing portraits of the banality of evil.
Formats: DVD, Blu-ray Disc with new 4K digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray.
Extras: High-definition digital transfer of "The Junk Shop," director Juraj Herz’s 1965 debut short film; short documentary from 2011 featuring Herz visiting filming locations and recalling the production of T"he Cremator"; new interview with film programmer Irena Kovarova about the style of the film; documentary from 2017 about composer Zdenek Liška featuring Herz, filmmakers Jan Švankmajer and the Quay Brothers, and others; interview with actor Rudolf Hrušínský from 1993; trailer; an essay by film scholar Jonathan Owen. (The Criterion Collection).
The Gentlemen
(2019) Matthew McConaughey, Charlie Hunnam, Michelle Dockery, Jeremy Strong, Colin Farrell, Henry Golding, Hugh Grant, Jason Wong. An American expat tries to sell off his highly profitable marijuana empire in London, triggering plots, schemes, bribery and blackmail in an attempt to steal his domain out from under him. Formats: DVD, Blu-ray/DVD Combo, VOD, Digital. Extras: "Best Gentlemanly Quips," "Glossary of Cannabis," "Behind the Scenes of The Gentlemen," photo gallery. (Universal).
Infinity Train: Book One
(2019) Single disc with all 10 of the episodes of Cartoon Network’s mysterious and critically acclaimed series. Join Tulip on a mind-bending journey aboard the mysterious Infinity Train, alongside her companions Atticus, the canine king of Corginia, and One-One, a robot with dueling personalities. With puzzles and perils awaiting them in every car, and the relentless Steward on their trail, will Tulip ever find a way off the train and return home? Formats: DVD, Digital. Extras: Animatics, Infinity Train gallery, commentary, the mix of the final episode, "The Train 4" documentaries. (Warner).
Ip Man 4: The Finale
(2019 -- China) Donnie Yen, Scott Adkins, Kwok-Kwan Chan, Vanness Wu. The Kung Fu master travels to the U.S. where his student has upset the local martial arts community by opening a Wing Chun school. Formats: DVD, Blu-ray/DVD Combo, 4K Ultra HD/Blu-ray, VOD, Digital. Extras: Making-of" featurette. (Well Go USA).
The Last Full Measure
(2019) Sebastian Stan, Christopher Plummer, William Hurt, Peter Fonda, Diane Ladd, Amy Madigan, Bradley Whitford, Ed Harris, Samuel L. Jackson. Thirty-four years after his death, Airman William H. Pitsenbarger, Jr. ("Pits") is awarded the nation's highest military honor, for his actions on the battlefield. Formats: DVD, Blu-ray, VOD, Digital. Extras: “The Women of The Last Full Measure” featurette, “Medal of Honor Ceremony Shoot” featurette, “The Others May Live: Remembering Operation Abilene” featurette, “USAF Museum Screening With Veterans & Pitsenbarger Family” featurette, “The Music of The Last Full Measure” featurette, “William Pitsenbarger Tribute” photo gallery. (Lionsgate).
Like a Boss
(2020) Tiffany Haddish, Rose Byrne, Salma Hayek, Jennifer Coolidge, Billy Porter. Best friends Mia and Mel (Haddish and Byrne) are living their best lives, running their own cosmetics company until a villainous beauty mogul (Hayek) conspires to steal it from under them. Formats: DVD, Blu-ray/DVD Combo, VOD, Digital. Blu-ray extras: "With Coworkers Like These, Who Needs Friends?" featurette, “Get Some With Ron and Greg," deleted scenes. (Paramount).
The Love of Jeanne Ney
(1927) Edith Jehanne, Fritz Rasp, Brigitte Helm, Uno Henning. An epic of the Weimar cinema, "The Love of Jeanne Ney" follows a young French woman's struggle for happiness amid the political turbulence and corruption of post-World War I Europe. A tour-de-force for director G.W. Pabst ("Diary of a Lost Girl," "Pandora's Box"), the silent film blends a variety of cinematic approaches as it weaves its complex narrative of moral chaos and political upheaval: the American Style, evocative of the Hollywood studio blockbuster; the avant-garde techniques of Soviet montage; as well as the eerie moving camerawork and shadowy perspectives typical of German Expressionism. The result is a stunning cinematic experiment that never fails to surprise the viewer as it races towards its exhilarating conclusion. Restored German release version with music adapted and orchestrated by Bernd Thewes; U.S. release version with music by Andrew Earle Simpson. Formats: DVD, Blu-ray. Extras: Audio commentary by film historian Eddy von Mueller. (Kino Classics).
Pandora and the Flying Dutchman
(1951) New 4K restoration of Albert Lewin's sumptuous Technicolor masterpiece. Lewin, who specialized in fine literary adaptations ("The Picture of Dorian Gray," "The Moon and Sixpence"), based this 1951 film on the legend of the Flying Dutchman, a 17th-century ghost ship doomed to sail the oceans forever. However, here the Flying Dutchman is not a ship, but a man with a sinister yet romantic mission. A yacht arrives in the Spanish seaport of Esperanza carrying just one person, the mysterious captain Hendrick van der Zee (James Mason). There he meets American nightclub singer Pandora Reynolds (Ava Gardner), a beauty who men will kill and die for but who has never loved anyone. The stage is set for a swooning tale of ultimate love and sacrifice. This delirious drama reveals Lewin to be one of mid-century cinema's greatest stylists. It is also one of the finest achievements by cinematographer Jack Cardiff, legendary for his work with the team of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger ("The Red Shoes," "Black Narcissus," "A Matter of Life and Death") as well as such classics as "The African Queen" and "The Barefoot Contessa." Formats: DVD, Blu-ray, Digital. Extras: Includes as a bonus director Albert Lewin's final film, 1957's "The Living Idol," an adventure thriller starring Steve Forrest Liliane Montevecchi; the original "Pandora" trailer; a Hedda Hopper trailer; restoration trailers; alternate opening; restoration comparison; 1957 Playhouse 90 episode "The Death of Monolete," about the Spanish bullfighting hero. (Cohen Film Collection).
Party Hard, Die Young
(2018) Elisabeth Wabitsch, Michael Glantschnig, Valerie Huber, Ferdinand Seebacher. Sun, sand, sex and all-night dancing at a beautiful island resort is the perfect graduation celebration for a group of young friends looking for one last taste of freedom before they go their separate ways. But the dancing and drinking comes to a halt when people start disappearing, and a masked murderer sends the ominous message ... this party will be their last.
Formats: DVD, Blu-ray, VOD, Digital. (RLJE Films).
Tigers Are Not Afraid
(2017 -- Mexico) Paola Lara, Juan Ramón López, Ianis Guerrero, Rodrigo Corte. A haunting horror fairytale set against the backdrop of Mexico’s devastating drug wars, the film follows a group of orphaned children who are unexpectedly given three magical wishes. As they run from the cartel that murdered their parents and the ghosts that haunt them, they must decide how to use this special gift to save their own lives and the people they love. Formats: DVD, Blu-ray/DVD Steelbook. Extras: "The Making of Tigers Are Not Afraid," director's commentary, deleted scenes, casting sessions, photo galleries. Blu-ray adds Interview with Guillermo del Toro and Issa López at Toronto International Film Festival. (RLJE Films).
The Turning
(2020) Mackenzie Davis, Finn Wolfhard, Brooklynn Prince, Mark Huberman, Karen Egan. A young governess is hired by a man who has become responsible for his young nephew and niece after their parents' deaths. A modern take on Henry James' novella "The Turn of the Screw." Formats: DVD, Blu-ray/DVD Combo, VOD, Digital. Extras: Alternate ending, deleted scenes, "Behind The Turning." (Universal).
When the Wind Blows
(1986) “There have been enough post-holocaust nuclear winter films to constitute a genre,” says Time Out, “but there has never been anything quite like this.” Three decades after it first shattered audiences worldwide, the animated classic about an elderly couple - voiced by John Mills and Peggy Ashcroft – attempting to survive the aftermath of a nuclear war returns. Directed by Jimmy T. Murakami ("Heavy Metal," "Battle Beyond the Stars"), adapted by Raymond Briggs from his acclaimed graphic novel, and featuring an original score by Roger Waters with the title song by David Bowie, experience what Rock! Shock! Pop! calls “A fascinating achievement in filmmaking, and one that remains timeless more than 30 years after its creation.” Formats: DVD, Blu-ray. Extras:
"Jimmy Murakami: Non Alien" feature-length documentary about the film’s director; "The Wind and The Bomb" making-of featurette; audio commentary with first assistant editor Joe Fordham and film historian Nick Redman; an interview with Raymond Briggs; "Protect and Survive" public information film designed to be broadcast when a nuclear attack was imminent; isolated music and effects audio track; trailers.
(Severin Kids).
Why Don't You Just Die!
(2018 -- Russia) Shades of early Tarantino, Edgar Wright and Sam Raimi abound in this violent, stylish and riotously entertaining slice of family life, Moscow style. Matvey (Aleksandr Kuznetsov) has just one objective: to gain entry to his girlfriend's parents' apartment and kill her father Andrey (Vitaliy Khaev) with a hammer to restore her honor. But all is not as it initially seems, and Matvey's attempts to bludgeon the family patriarch to death don't quite go to plan as Andrey proves a more formidable -- not to mention ruthless -- opponent than he anticipated ... and Matvey, for his part, proves stubbornly unwilling to die. Making his feature debut, writer-director Kirill Sokolov presents a rousing tale of family, modern relationships and the dark places they can take you to when things turn sour. Featuring a soundtrack that veers between Ennio Morricone-esque Western riffs and toe-tappingly catchy pop numbers, "Why Don't You Just Die!" delivers laughs, shocking twists and copious quantities of blood and gore, and establishes Sokolov as one of cinema's brightest rising stars. Formats: Blu-ray. Extras: New interview with author and critic Kim Newman, exploring "Why Don't You Just Die!" within the context of the long-standing tradition of single location cinema' exclusive behind-the-scenes footage from rehearsals and the film set; four short films by Kirill Sokolov: "Could Be Worse," "The Outcome," "The Flame" and the award-winning "Sisyphus Is Happy" (Best Director and Gold Frame awards, 2013 Unprecedented Cinema International Festival of Short Film); theatrical trailer; Kirill Sokolov's complete original storyboard for the film (BD-ROM content); reversible sleeve featuring two choices of artwork; FIRST PRESSING ONLY: Illustrated collector's booklet featuring new writing by Neil Mitchell. (Arrow Video/MVD Entertainment).
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