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OnVideo's Weekly Guide to Home Video Releases
September 14:
The Angel: The true story of Ashraf Marwan, who was Egyptian President Nasser's son-in-law, and special advisor and confidant to his successor Anwar Sadat, while simultaneously one of Israeli Intelligence's most precious assets of the 20th century. (Netflix only)
Armed: A former U.S. Marshal has fallen on hard times after he led his team of undercover agents on a raid that went horribly wrong. As he struggles to get his life back on track, a former colleague reappears in his life and explains that all of the survivors from his unit are suffering the same symptoms ... and that there may be a larger conspiracy at hand. (Digital, VOD only)
Solo: A Star Wars Story: Backstory for Han Solo explores his first encounters with future friend and copilot Chewbacca and notorious gambler Lando Calrissian. (DVD, Blu-ray release: September 25)
September 17:
Diane: The story of a wounded veteran and the beautiful corpse he stumbles across that leads him down a rabbit hole. (VOD)
September 18:
Damsel: An affluent pioneer (Robert Pattinson) in the late 1800s ventures across the American frontier to marry the love of his life (Mia Wasikowska), only not everything goes quite as planned. (DVD, Blu-ray release: Day & date)
The First Purge: America's third political party, the New Founding Fathers of America, comes to power and conducts an experiment: any crime (including murder) can be committed for 12 hours on Staten Island. No one has to stay on the island, but $5,000 is given anyone who does. Thus The First Purge is created. (DVD, Blu-ray release: October 2)
A Greater Society: Documentary follows a group of retirees in a community of 7500 who vote in Broward County, Florida. At first glance, it’s just another retirement community where elders go to enjoy their golden years relaxing by the pool and taking ceramics classes, but look further and you’ll see that the people who live in this community share something unique: the power to have a real impact on national politics. (Streaming only)
Saving Faith: When the historic Ritz Theater is on the brink of foreclosure, the theater’s owner Faith Scott and her Uncle Donny decide to host a Christmas themed show, in June, to help save the building. Dove Foundation approved. (DVD release: Day & date)
Siberia: A U.S. diamond merchant (Keanu Reeves) begins an intense love affair with a local Russian woman and finds himself falling deeper into the treacherous world of the diamond trade. (DVD, Blu-ray release: Day & date)
Sicario: Day of the Soldado: Benicio Del Toro and Josh Brolin give explosive performances as they reprise their characters from "Sicario" to battle cartels across the border. (DVD, Blu-ray release: October 2)
The Toybox: An estranged family takes a trip to the desert in their used RV but become stranded and isolated in the scorching terrain. They soon learn their RV holds terrible, haunting secrets, and it starts killing them off one by one. (DVD, Blu-ray release: Day & date)
September 21:
Little Italy: Former childhood pals Leo (Hayden Christensen) and Nikki (Emma Roberts) are attracted to each other as adults but their feuding parents’ rival pizzerias puts a chill on their sizzling romance. (VOD)
An American Murder Mystery Collection
(2016-17) Three-disc set. Through riveting interviews and real-life footage, this collection reopens the files of seven sensational cases that captivated the nation. Explore the mysteries of Casey Anthony, Scott Peterson, JonBenét Ramsey, Jodi Arias, Chandra Levy, and Natalie Wood in this compelling set that delivers stunning revelations from beginning to end. Formats: DVD. (Lionsgate).
Damsel
(2017) Robert Pattinson, Mia Wasikowska, Robert Forster. Samuel Alabaster (Pattinson), an affluent pioneer, ventures across the American frontier to marry the love of his life, Penelope (Wasikowska). As his group traverses the West, not everything goes quite as planned, and the once-simple journey grows treacherous, blurring the lines between hero, villain, and damsel. Formats: DVD, VOD, Digital. (Lionsgate).
Fahrenheit 451
(2018) Michael B. Jordan, Michael Shannon Imagine a society where books are outlawed and “firemen” have been tasked to burn and destroy any remaining literature, erasing history right before our eyes. Based on Ray Bradbury’s classic sci-fi novel of the same name, the thought-provoking parable depicts a frighteningly plausible future where media is an opiate, history is purged and dissent is outlawed. The dystopian thriller centers on Montag (Jordan), a young fireman who forsakes his world and struggles to regain his humanity as he battles his mentor, fire captain Beatty (Shannon).
Formats: DVD, Blu-ray, VOD, Digital. Extras: "Behind the Fire" featurette. (HBO).
Gonjiam: Haunted Asylum
(2018 -- South Korea) Wi Ha-Jun, Park Sung-Hun, Lee Seung-Wook, Oh Ah-Yeon, Park Ji-Hyun, Yoo Je-Yoon. Based on the local legends and stories of people who’ve visited the real-life abandoned hospital, this horror thriller follows the crew of a horror web show who plan to stream live from inside the asylum. To attract more viewers, the show’s host arranges some scares for the team, but as they move further into the nightmarish old building, they begin to encounter much more than expected. Formats: DVD, Blu-ray/DVD Combo. (Well Go USA).
The Hired Hand
(1971) Peter Fonda, Warren Oates, Verna Bloom. Having been at the forefront of America's here-and-now with "Easy Rider" and the counterculture movies of Roger Corman, Peter Fonda retreated to the past and the American West for his directorial debut. Fonda plays Harry, a man who deserted his wife and child to explore the wide-open plains with his best friend Archie (Oates). "Tired of the life" he decides to finally return home in order to rekindle his marriage and reacquaint himself with his daughter. Scripted by Alan Sharp, shot by Vilmos Zsigmond and with a standout score by folk musician Bruce Langhorne, "The Hired Hand" is a beautiful, elegiac picture that ranks alongside "The Outlaw Josey Wales" and "Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid" as one of the finest Westerns the seventies had to offer. Formats: Blu-ray. Extras: Audio commentary by actor-director Peter Fonda; "The Return of The Hired Hand," a 2003 documentary containing interviews with Fonda, cinematographer Vilmos Zsigmond, composer Bruce Langhorne, actor Verna Bloom and others; deleted scenes; interview with Martin Scorsese; "Warren Oates and Peter Fonda at the National Film Theatre," an audio recording of the actors’ appearance at the NFT in 1971; stills gallery; trailers;
TV spots; radio spots; reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Sean Phillips. (Arrow Academy).
Horrors of Malformed Men
(1968 -- Japan) Cult director Teruo Ishii presents a nightmarish, hallucinogenic tale drawn from the feverish pen of Japan's celebrated pioneer ofero-guro ("erotic grotesque") literature, Edogawa Rampo. Medical student Hirosuke Hitomi slips out of the asylum in which he has been wrongfully confined and stealthily assumes the identity of a recently deceased nobleman with whom he bears an uncanny resemblance. Hirosuke eases his way into the nobleman's household and his dead double's marital bed. But as long-repressed memories begin to bubble to the surface, he soon finds himself drawn to a remote isle where he is confronted by a mad scientist and his malformed men, and discovers the key that will unlock some long-suppressed mysteries of his own. A dark labyrinth of the monstrous and perverse that fuses mystery and horror while incorporating motifs from a myriad of Rampo's tales, "Horrors of Malformed Men" boasts astonishing carnivalesque art design and haunting performances. Withdrawn from cinemas by its own studio after its original scandalous release nearly 50 years ago, the film is among the very best screen interpretations of the author's macabre brand of horror-fantasy fiction, and a unique oddity of Japanese cult cinema. Formats: Blu-ray. Extras: Two audio commentaries by Japanese cinema experts Tom Mes and Mark Schilling; "Malformed Movies," a new video interview with Toei exploitation movie screenwriter Masahiro Kakefuda; "Malformed Memories": filmmakers Shinya Tsukamoto and Minoru Kawasaki on the career of director Teruo Ishii; "Ishii in Italia": Ishii and Mark Schilling visit the Far East Film Festival; poster gallery; theatrical trailer; reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Dan Mumford; FIRST PRESSING ONLY: Collector's booklet featuring new writing by Jasper Sharp, Tom Mes and Grady Hendrix. (Arrow Video/MVD Entertainment).
Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom
(2018) It's been three years since theme park and luxury resort, Jurassic World was destroyed by dinosaurs out of containment. Isla Nublar now sits abandoned by humans while the surviving dinosaurs fend for themselves in the jungles. When the island's dormant volcano begins roaring to life, Owen (Chris Pratt) and Claire (Bryce Dallas Howard) mount a campaign to rescue the remaining dinosaurs from this extinction-level event. Formats: DVD, Blu-ray/DVD Combo, 4K Ultra HD/Blu-ray Combo. VOD, Digital. Extras: "On Set with Chris & Bryce"; "Birth of the Indoraptor"; "Death by Dino"; "Monster in a Mansion"; "Rooftop Showdown"; "Malcolm’s Return" behind the scenes with Jeff Goldblum; "VFX Evolved"; "Fallen Kingdom: The Conversation"; "A Song for the Kingdom": Justice Smith sings for the cast and crew; Chris Pratt’s Jurassic Journals; "Jurassic Then and Now": Key moments from the Jurassic saga that tie into "Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom." Blu-ray adds "The Kingdom Evolves" in which the filmmakers discuss how the second chapter in the "Jurassic World" trilogy pushes the franchise in a new direction; "Return to Hawaii"; "Island Action": "Aboard the Arcadia"; "Start the Bidding!" behind-the-scenes look at the auction scene.
(Universal).
The Looming Tower
(2018) Two-disc set with all 10 episodes of the Hulu series that chronicles the events that led to the deadliest terrorist attacks ever to take place on American soil. The series traces the rising threat of Osama Bin Laden and Al-Qaeda in the late 1990s and how at the time, the FBI and the CIA may have inadvertently set the path for the tragedy of 9/11. The series follows members of the I-49 Squad in New
York and Alec Station in Washington D.C., the counter terrorism divisions of the FBI and CIA, respectively, as they travel the world fighting for ownership of information. Adapted from the best-selling, Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Lawrence Wright. Stars Jeff Daniels, Peter Sarsgaard, Tahar Rahim, Michael Stuhlbarg, Bill Camp, Wrenn Schmidt.
Formats: DVD, Blu-ray. Extras: "Across Three Continents: Creating The Looming Tower" featurette; "Ali Soufan: In His Own Words" featurette; "The Looming Tower: Divided We Fail" featurette;
"The Complexities of Character" featurette; audio commentaries on the pilot and finale episodes.
(Warner).
Madam Secretary: Season Four
(2017-18) Six-disc set with 22 episodes. It's never politics as usual for Secretary of State Elizabeth McCord (Téa Leoni). In Season 4, McCord faces everything from international issues to personal upheavals. Whether she's being accused of murdering a foreign diplomat, trying to contain a smallpox outbreak, or sending her daughter off to college, there's no crisis she can t handle. Her husband, CIA Agent Henry (Tim Daly), stirs controversy by recruiting a former member of the Russian military to work for the Agency. She continues to advise President Conrad Dalton (Keith Carradine), even as she goes toe-to-toe with the White House Chief of Staff Russell Jackson (Zeljko Ivanek). Navigating the complicated twists and turns of the D.C. machine gets even more challenging when loyal State Department insider Nadine Tolliver (Bebe Neuwirth) decides to retire. Formats: DVD. Extras: Deleted and extended scenes. (CBS/Paramount).
My Man Godfrey
(1936) Carole Lombard and William Powell dazzle in this definitive screwball comedy, directed by Gregory La Cava -- a potent cocktail of romantic repartee and Depression-era social critique. Irene (Lombard), an eccentric Manhattan socialite, wins a society-ball scavenger hunt after finding one of the "items" on the list, a "lost man" (Powell), at a dump. She gives the man she believes to be a down-and-out drifter work as the family butler, and soon falls head over heels in love. Her attempts to both woo Godfrey and indoctrinate him in the dysfunctional ways of the household make for an unbeatable series of madcap hijinks. La Cava's deft film was the first to garner Oscar nominations in all four acting categories, and it is one of Hollywood's greatest commentaries on class and the social unrest of its time.
Formats: DVD, Blu-ray Disc with new high-definition digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray. Extras: New piece about the film with jazz and film critic Gary Giddins; new discussion about director Gregory La Cava with critic Nick Pinkerton; outtakes; Lux Radio Theatre adaptation of the film from 1938, starring actors William Powell, Carole Lombard, Gail Patrick, and Mischa Auer; newsreels from the thirties documenting the class divide during the Great Depression; trailer; an essay by critic Farran Smith Nehme. (The Criterion Collection).
Nana
(2016) The story of an Auschwitz survivor who spent her life fighting intolerance. Born in Poland, Maryla Michalowski-Dyamant survived Ravensbruck, Malchow and Auschwitz, where she was the forced translator for the "Angel of Death," Josef Mengele. Maryla dedicated her life after the war to publicly speaking about her survival to younger generations. Directed by her 25-year-old granddaughter, "Nana" documents Serena's journey with her mother Alice as they retrace her grandmother's story. They explore how Maryla's outspoken activism continues today, in a world where survivors are disappearing, and intolerance, racism and antisemitism are on the rise. Formats: DVD, Digital. (First Run Features).
Phantasm III: Lord of the Dead BLU-RAY DEBUT
(1994) A. Michael Baldwin, Bill Thornbury, Reggie Bannister, Angus Scrimm. The Tall Man is back with a vengeance. Fifteen years after the original horror classic, writer-director Don Coscarelli reunites brothers Mike and Jody to help their friend Reggie destroy The Tall Man (Scrimm) once and for all. Is the ultimate of evil any match for a bald, former ice cream vendor with a 70 Hemicuda and a four-barrel shotgun? An insane sequel packed with violence and gore galore that takes the Phantasm series to a whole new dimension. Extras: Commentary with A. Michael Baldwin and Angus Scrimm, featurette: “Phantasm III: Behind-the-Scenes,” deleted scene, trailer. (Well Go USA).
Phantasm IV: Oblivion BLU-RAY DEBUT
(1996) Mike (A. Michael Baldwin) has once again escaped from the Tall Man (Angus Scrimm) who had begun to transform him. Leaving Reggie (Reggie Bannister) and his spherical brother, Jody (Bill Thornbury), he travels through various dimensions and time in order to discover more about his nemesis and find out what really happened the night his brother died. Extras: Commentary with director Don Coscarelli and Reggie Bannister and Angus Scrimm, featurette: “Phantasm IV: Behind-The-Scenes,” trailer. (Well Go USA).
The Pink Panther Cartoon Collection Volume 3 (1968-69)
This collection includes 22 Pink Panther cartoon from 1968 to 1969. By the end of the 1960s, The Pink Panther had achieved the status of iconic cartoon character, and the cosmopolitan cat left his big-city habitat and began crossing into more universal comedy settings: a military base ("G.I. Pink"), caveman times ("Prehistoric Pink" and "Extinct Pink") and Olde England ("Pink Valiant" and "Pinkcome Tax"). But the panther never completely changed his stripes. In color-splashed urban landscapes (a hallmark of the DePatie-Freleng studios), the sublime feline continued to engage in duels of wits-with the establishment "Little Man" as well as the occasional inanimate object (a cuckoo clock in "In The Pink of the Night"). Formats: DVD, Blu-ray. Extras: Audio commentaries for selected films, by author Mark Arnold, historian Jerry Beck, filmmaker Greg Ford, cartoon writer William Hohauser and animator Mike Kazaleh; "Behind the Feline: The Cartoon Phenomenon." (Kino Lorber Studio Classics).
The Pyjama Girl Case
(1977) Ray Milland, Dalila Di Lazzaro, Michele Placido, Howard Ross. Throughout the late 1960s and into the 70s, the Italian giallo movement transported viewers to the far corners of the globe, from swinging San Francisco to Soviet-occupied Prague. Only one, however, brought the genre's unique brand of bloody mayhem as far as Australia: director Flavio Mogherini's tragic and poetic "The Pyjama Girl Case." The body of a young woman is found on the beach, shot in the head, burned to hide her identity and dressed in distinctive yellow pyjamas. With the Sydney police stumped, former Inspector Timpson (Milland) comes out of retirement to crack the case. Treading where the "real" detectives can't, Timpson doggedly pieces together the sad story of Dutch immigrant Glenda Blythe (Di Lazzaro) and the unhappy chain of events that led to her grisly demise. Inspired by the real-life case which baffled the Australian police and continues to spark controversy and unanswered questions to this day, "The Pyjama Girl Case" is a uniquely haunting latter-day giallo from the tail end of the genre's boom period. Formats: Blu-ray. Extras: New audio commentary by Troy Howarth, author of "So Deadly, So Perverse: 50 Years of Italian Giallo Films"; new video interview with author and critic Michael Mackenzie on the internationalism of the giallo; new video interview with actor Howard Ross; new video interview with editor Alberto Tagliavia; archival interview with composer Riz Ortolani; image gallery; Italian theatrical trailer; reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Chris Malbon; FIRST PRESSING ONLY: Collector’s booklet featuring new writing by Alexandra Heller-Nicholas. (Arrow Video/MVD Entertainment).
Saving Faith
(2018) Donny Richmond, Jenn Gotzon, Jim Chandler, Henry Cho, Amy Grant, Vince Gill, Victoria Jackson. In this gospel-driven drama, poor Faith is ready to give up hope. Her struggling small-town theater is about to get foreclosed by the bank -- when her charming Uncle Donny convinces his famous friends to play live and save the business. But when a local developer decides to sabotage the concert, it’ll take a miracle to make the show go on.
Formats: DVD, VOD, Digital. Extras: “Making Saving Faith” featurette, “Not Alone” music video by Jimmy DeTalente and The Electric Revival, outtakes. (Lionsgate).
Scream for Help BLU-RAY DEBUT
(1984) Rachael Kelly, Marie Masters, David Allen Brooks. Terror invades an upper-class New York community as 17-year old Christie Cromwell cleverly uncovers her stepfather’s horrifying plot to murder her wealthy mother. She’s on to him, yet no one will believe her because she’s just a kid: smart, imaginative, maybe she’s just taken a crazy idea to the limit. Suspense builds when a series of shocking events confirms her worst fears. Alone, afraid and helpless, terrified Christie and her mother are held prisoner in their own home at the mercy of ruthless killers. New 2K scan from the original film elements. Formats: Blu-ray. Extras: Audio commentary by the Hysteria Lives, new "Cruel Intentions" interview with writer Tom Holland, new "Stepfather of the Year" interview with actor David Allen Brooks, theatrical trailer. (Scream Factory).
Siberia
(2018) Keanu Reeves, Ana Ularu, Pasha D. Lychnikoff, Dmitry Chepovetsky, James Gracie, Eugene Lipinski. In Russia to sell rare jewels to a businessman with underworld connections, U.S. diamond merchant Lucas Hill (Reeves) falls into a torrid affair with Katya (Ana Ularu), a local café owner. When the deal suddenly goes south, Lucas and Katya are caught in a deadly crossfire between the buyer and Russian agents, as Lucas takes up arms in a furious fight to save Katya and himself. Formats: DVD, Blu-ray, VOD, Digital. Extras: “Passion and Intrigue: Bringing Siberia to Life” featurette. (Lionsgate).
The Source: The Story of the Beats and the Beat Generation
(1999) When Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg and William Burroughs met at Columbia University in the 1940s, they spawned a movement, then called the Beats, that set precedents for the political, hippie and spiritual movements of the 1960s and 70s. This comprehensive portrait of the Beat Generation includes interviews with virtually every surviving figure from this period. Johnny Depp, Dennis Hopper and John Turturro perform dramatized readings of works by Kerouac, Burroughs and Ginsberg. The Source is the definitive film portrait of the Beat Generation and the countercultural movements that followed, directed with flair by Academy Award- winner Chuck Workman.
Formats: DVD. (Kino Lorber).
Supergirl: The Complete Third Season
(2017-18) All 23 episodes. In Season Three, Kara Danvers grapples with the sacrifices she’s made personally while saving National City as Supergirl. She even considers covering up her human identity altogether. As Kara struggles with her path forward, she continues to work with Hank Henshaw and her sister, Alex, at the Department of Extranormal Operations to battle all threats to National City, including new villains Morgan Edge, and the “Worldkiller,” known as Reign.
Formats: Five-disc DVD, four=-disc Blu-ray, Digital. Extras: The Best of DC TV’s Comic-Con Panels San Diego 2017; "Inside the Crossover: Crisis on Earth-X"; "She Will Reign!" featurette; gag reel; deleted scenes.
(Warner).
The ToyBox
(2018) Denise Richards, Mischa Barton, Jeff Denton, Brian Nagel. Jennifer (Richards) and her family go on a summer road trip in a used RV with her husband's estranged father and brother. Along the way, they find Samantha (Barton) and her brother, broken down on the side of the highway. After driving into the middle of nowhere, the RV takes on a mind of its own, crashing and stranding them in the scorching and isolated desert. Little by little, the unsuspecting group of travelers is blindsided by the terrible secrets within the walls of the RV and find themselves fighting to survive. Formats: DVD, Blu-ray, VOD, Digital.
(Skyline Entertainment/Uncork'd Entertainment).
The X-Files Season 11
(2018) The next chapter of "The –X-Files" is a three-disc, 10-episode installment of the classic, mind-bending series. David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson return as FBI agents Fox Mulder and Dana Scully, investigating unsolved cases rife with government conspiracies, unexplainable mysteries, and alien cover-ups. Mulder and Scully’s pursuit of the truth continues with a search for their long-lost son, William. But they aren’t the only ones looking for him; dark forces gather, and the very fate of the world could be at stake. One thing is certain: secrets will be revealed… and the truth may finally be within reach. Formats: DVD, Blu-ray. Extras: Gag reel, "Conversation on the Fox Lot," "The Scully Effect," "Green Production," commentary on “Kitten,” commentary on “My Struggle IV." Blu-ray adds "Solve for X: Constructing Season 11," "Implanted Memories: 25 Years of The X-Files." (Fox).
© 1996 -- 2018 OnVideo. All rights reserved September 17, 2018 (ISSN 1094-3676). |
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