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OnVideo's Weekly Guide to Home Video Releases
March 25:
O.G.: Filmed in Indiana's Pendleton Correctional Facility, an active maximum-security prison, "O.G." follows Louis (Jeffrey Wright), once the head of a prominent prison gang, in the final weeks of his 24-year sentence. His impending release is upended when he takes a new arrival, who is being courted by gang leadership, under his wing. (HBO Digital only)
March 26:
Capernaum: Winner of the Grand Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival, this new film by Nadine Labaki depicts the journey of a clever, gutsy 12-year-old boy, Zain, who survives the dangers of the city streets by his wits. He flees his parents and, to assert his rights, takes them to court, suing them for the “crime” of giving him life. (DVD, Blu-ray release: Day & date)
A Dog's Way Home: The film chronicles the heartwarming adventure of Bella, the brave and adventurous dog that embarks on an epic 400-mile journey home after she is separated from her beloved human. Based on the bestselling novel by W. Bruce Cameron. (DVD, Blu-ray release: April 9)v
Jane Fonda in Five Acts: Girl next door, sex kitten, activist, fitness tycoon: Oscar-Winning Jane Fonda has lived a life marked by controversy, tragedy and transformation, and she’s done it all in the public eye. (HBO Digital only)
King of Thieves: A star-studded cast (Michael Caine, Jim Broadbent, Tom Courtenay, Charlie Cox, Michael Gambon, Ray Winstone) pulls off one of the biggest bank heists in history when a band of misfit criminals plot an unprecedented burglary at the Hatton Garden Safe Deposit. The thieves, all in their 60s and 70s except for one, manage to escape with allegedly £200. (DVD, Blu-ray release: Day & date)
Nancy Drew and the Hidden Staircase: Nancy Drew -- a bit of an outsider struggling to fit into her new surroundings -- and her pals set out to solve a mystery, make new friends, and establish their place in the community. Based on the best-selling teen book series. (DVD, Blu-ray release: April 2)
On the Basis of Sex: The inspiring and spirited true story that follows young lawyer Ruth Bader Ginsburg as she teams with her husband Marty to bring a groundbreaking case before the U.S. Court of Appeals and overturn a century of gender discrimination. (DVD, Blu-ray release: April 9)
Stan & Ollie: In the 1930s and 1940s, Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy were one of the most popular comedy acts in movies, helplessly bumbling their way through one "fine mess" after another. But by the 1950s, they were has-beens, struggling with health problems and trying to find a way back into the movie business. They embarked on a tour of small theaters in Britain to perform their own material, and possibly re-ignite their old friendship. (DVD, Blu-ray release: Day & date)
Welcome to Marwen: Based on the true story of Mark Hogancamp, the survivor of a vicious attack who found peace and recovery through an unusual creative outlet. (DVD, Blu-ray release: April 9)
March 29:
The Highwaymen: The outlaws made headlines. The lawmen made history. This drama follows the untold true story of the legendary detectives who brought down Bonnie and Clyde. When the full force of the FBI and the latest forensic technology aren't enough to capture the nation's most notorious criminals, two former Texas Rangers (Kevin Costner and Woody Harrelson) must rely on their gut instincts and old school skills to get the job done. (Theatrical/Netflix)
White Chamber: In a dystopian post-Brexit Britain torn apart by civil war, a woman with a questionable past finds herself the latest subject of a futuristic prison pod. (VOD only)
March 30:
Justice League vs. The Fatal Five: The Earth’s future hangs in the balance when the Justice League faces a powerful new threat – the Fatal Five. Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman seek answers as the time-traveling trio of Mano, Persuader and Tharok terrorize Metropolis in search of budding Green Lantern, Jessica Cruz – whom they need to free remaining Fatal Five members Emerald Empress and Validus in order to carry out their sinister plan. (DVD, Blu-ray release: April 16)
March 31:
Breaking the Limits: Biopic of Jerzy Gorski, an alcoholic and drug addict, who despite all odds turns his life around to become winner of the Ironman Triathlon and a Polish sports legend. (VOD only)
April 1:
Lifeline: A sensational Spanish thriller series that centers on a doctor’s insatiable drive to become the best surgeon in Europe -- no matter what the cost. (PBS MASTERPIECE Prime Video Channel)
Mrs. Wilson: At the outset of World War II, Alison McKelvie took a secretarial job with the Secret Intelligence Service. There, she fell in love with an older man—Major Alexander Wilson, a popular author of spy novels, then doing real intelligence work for the war effort. Ruth Wilson stars as her own grandmother, Alison, in the true story of a woman’s search for her husband’s real identity. (PBS MASTERPIECE Prime Video Channel
Aquaman
(2018) Jason Momoa, Amber Heard, Dolph Lundgren, Nicole Kidman, Patrick Wilson, Randall Park, Willem Dafoe, Graham McTavish, Djimon Hounsou, Temuera Morrison, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Leigh Whannell. Arthur Curry, the human-born heir to the underwater kingdom of Atlantis, goes on a quest to prevent a war between the worlds of ocean and land. Formats: DVD, Blu-ray/DVD Combo, 3D/Blu-ray Combo, 4K Ultra HD/Blu-ray Combo, VOD, Digital. Extras: "Becoming Aquaman," "Going Deep Into the World of Aquaman," "James Wan: World Builder," "Dark Depths of Black Manta," "The Heroines of Atlantis," "Villainous Training," "A Match Made in Atlantis," "Atlantis Warfare," "Creating Undersea Creatures," "Aqua Tech," "Scene Study Breakdown: The Submarine," "Scene Study Breakdown: Sicily Showdown," "Scene Study Breakdown: The Trench," "Kingdoms of the Seven Seas." (Warner).
Blood Hunger: The Films of Jose Larraz
One of the most underrated and oft-neglected genre filmmakers of his generation, Spanish-born director José Ramón Larraz finally receives his due with this collection of his work, the first of its kind, bringing together a fascinating cross-section of films from the first half of his lengthy cinematic career. In Larraz's debut feature, the hitherto ultra-rare "Whirlpool" (1970), Vivian Neves stars as Tulia, a young model invited to a photographer's secluded country home for what purports to be a quiet weekend retreat -- but soon transpires to be anything but. 1974's "Vampyres" -- perhaps the best known and most widely-released of all José Larraz's films -- sees a duo of blood hungry female vampires prowling the British countryside, from where they lure unsuspecting male motorists back to their imposing, dilapidated mansion for draining... in more ways than one. Meanwhile, in 1978's "The Coming of Sin (La Visita del Vicio)," a young gypsy girl experiences a violent sexual awakening as her dreams of a naked young man on horseback become reality. By turns terrifying, titillating, artful and scandalous, these three films collected here -- all newly restored from original film elements, with "Whirlpool" and "The Coming of Sin" making their Blu-ray world premieres -- collectively offer film fans a unique perspective on the fascinating, highly-varied career of one of the horror genre's most overlooked auteurs. Formats: Blu-ray. Extras: Featurettes, image galleries, trailers, interviews, 80-page perfect bound book featuring new writing by Jo Botting, Tim Greaves and Vanity Celis. (Arrow Video/MVD Entertainment).
The Body Snatcher BLU-RAY DEBUT
(1945) The two titans of horror, Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi, come together in their last on-screen pairing. Karloff plays the title role in the Val Lewton adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson's fictional short story "The Body Snatcher," directed with subtle calculation by versatile Robert Wise ("West Side Story," "The Sound of Music"). A doctor (Henry Daniell) needs cadavers for medical studies and Karloff is willing to provide them one way or another. New 4K scan of the original camera negative. Extras: New "You’ll Never Get Rid of Me: Resurrecting The Body Snatcher," audio commentary with director Robert Wise and writer-film historian Steve Haberman, "Shadows in the Dark: The Val Lewton Legacy" documentary, still galleries: posters, lobby cards, movie stills. (Scream Factory).
Brighton Beach Memoirs BLU-RAY DEBUT
(1986) Jonathan Silverman, Blythe Danner, Bob Dishy, Judith Ivey. Fifteen-year-old Eugene Jerome (Silverman) is desperately trying to uncover life’s mysteries, but his family keeps hiding the clues. Even so, he manages to keep his priorities -- baseball and girls -- firmly in order. Neil Simon’s hilarious adaptation of his Broadway smash about growing up in Brooklyn is a wonderful, semi-autobiographical comedy with heart, wit and hysterical insights into family life and growing up just a little off-center. Extras: Theatrical trailer. (Shout! Factory).
Capernaum
(2018 -- Lebanon) Zain Al Rafeea. Winner of the Grand Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival, "Capernaum" (“Chaos”), a new film by Nadine Labaki, depicts the journey of a clever, gutsy 12-year-old boy, Zain, who survives the dangers of the city streets by his wits. He flees his parents and, to assert his rights, takes them to court, suing them for the “crime” of giving him life. Formats: DVD, Blu-ray, VOD, Digital. Extras: Commentary with director-writer Nadine Labaki and composer-producer Khaled Mouzanar; Q&A with Labaki, Mouzanar and actor Zain Al Rafeea; “Making of” featurette. (Sony).
Greasy Strangler (Special Director's Edition)
(2017) Michael St. Michaels, Sky Elobar, Elizabeth De Razzo, Darrell Keith Harris. When Big Ronnie and his son Brayden meet female tourist Janet on Big Ronnie's Disco Walking Tour -- the best and only disco walking tour in the city -- a fight for Janet's heart erupts between father and son, and the infamous "Greasy Strangler" is unleashed. Formats: Blu-ray. Extras: Audio commentary with director Jim Hosking and actors Michael St. Michaels and Sky Elobar; exclusive Cast and crew interviews; original theatrical trailer; red band trailer; teaser trailer. (Filmrise).
I Wanna Hold Your Hand
(1978) On February 9, 1964, the Beatles made their first live appearance on American television on "The Ed Sullivan Show," ratcheting up the frenzy of a fanbase whose ecstatic devotion to the band heralded an explosive new wave of youth culture. "I Wanna Hold Your Hand" looks back to that fateful weekend, following six teenagers, each with their own reasons for wanting to see the Fab Four, from New Jersey to Manhattan on a madcap mission to meet the band and score tickets to the show. With this rollicking first feature, director Robert Zemeckis and co-writer Bob Gale established themselves as a filmmaking team par excellence, adept at mining America’s cultural memory for comedy and adventure with a winning mixture of sweet nostalgia and playful irreverence. On DVD and Blu-ray, with new 4K digital restoration, approved by director Robert Zemeckis and co-writer Bob Gale, with 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack on the Blu-ray.
Extras: New conversation among Zemeckis, Gale, and executive producer Steven Spielberg; new interview with actors Nancy Allen and Marc McClure; audio commentary from 2004 featuring Zemeckis and Gale; "The Lift" (1972) and "A Field of Honor" (1973), two early short films by Zemeckis; trailer; an essay by critic Scott Tobias; more.
(The Criterion Collection).
Japón
(2002 -- Mexico) In this preternaturally assured feature debut by Carlos Reygadas, a man (Alejandro Ferretis) travels from Mexico City to an isolated village to commit suicide; once there, however, he meets a pious elderly woman (Magdalena Flores) whose quiet humanity incites a reawakening of his desires. Recruiting a cast of nonactors and filming in sublime 16 mm CinemaScope, Reygadas explores the harsh beauty of the Mexican countryside with earthy tactility, conjuring a psychic landscape where religion mingles with sex, life co-exists with death, and the animal and spiritual sides of human experience become indistinguishable. A work of soaring ambition and startling visual poetry, "Japón" is an existential journey through uncharted cinematic territory that established the singular voice of its director. On DVD and Blu-ray, with new 2K digital restoration, supervised by director Carlos Reygadas, with 2.0 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack on the Blu-ray.
Extras: New conversation between Reygadas and filmmaker Amat Escalante; video diary shot by actor Alejandro Ferretis during the film’s production; "Adulte," a short film directed by Reygadas in 1998; deleted scene; trailer; a new essay by novelist Valeria Luiselli.
(The Criterion Collection).
King of Thieves
(2018) Michael Caine, Jim Broadbent, Tom Courtenay, Charlie Cox, Michael Gambon, Ray Winstone. A star-studded cast pulls off one of the biggest bank heists in history when a band of misfit criminals plot an unprecedented burglary at the Hatton Garden Safe Deposit. The thieves, all in their 60s and 70s except for one, manage to escape with allegedly £200. Formats: DVD, Blu-ray, VOD, Digital. Extras: “King of Thieves: A Bloody Good Idea” featurette. (Lionsgate).
Life After Flash
(2017) Documentary looks at the roller coaster life of Sam J. Jones since his role as Flash Gordon, his struggles and successes, and the aftermath of when he went up against one of the most powerful producers in Hollywood. Features Melody Anderson, Brian Blessed, Topol, Peter Wyngarde, Richard O'Brien, Deep Roy, Brian May, Peter Duncan, Howard Blake, Stan Lee and Brian May.
Formats: DVD. (Cleopatra Entertainment).
Nemesis 2/Nemesis 3/Nemesis 4: Triple Feature
Sue Price, Chad Stahelski, Tim Thomerson, Andrew Divoff, Nicholas Guest. Three sequels to 1992's "Nemesis," about cyborgs fighting humans in the near future. "Nemesis 2: Nebula" (1995) takes place 73 years later; humans have lost the Cyborg Wars and they are now slaves to the cyborg masters. Rebel scientists have developed a new DNA strain, which could signal the end of the cyborgs, and it is injected it into a pregnant volunteer. When the cyborgs learn of the woman and her baby, both are listed for termination. To escape, the woman steals a cyborg ship and is transported back in time to East Africa in 1980, where the mother is killed, but the baby -- named Alex -- is saved. In "Nemesis 3: Time Lapse" (1996), Alex has grown up and discovers she has 20 half-sisters who are waiting for her to return to the year 2077. In "Nemesis 4: Death Angel" (1996), Alex is making a living in the future working as a cybernetically-enhanced assassin but, when she accidentally targets the wrong man and kills the son of a major crime syndicate head, she finds herself on the run once again as every assassin in town comes to collect the bounty on her. Formats: Blu-ray. (MVD Rewind).
Second Act
(2018) Jennifer Lopez, Leah Remini, Vanessa Hudgens, Annaleigh Ashford, Charlyne Yi, Treat Williams, Milo Ventimiglia. A big box store worker (Lopez), struggling with the frustrations of not having achieved more in life, reinvents her life and her life-story and shows Madison Avenue what street smarts can do. Formats: DVD, Blu-ray/DVD Combo, VOD, Digital. Extras: "Connecting with Milo Ventimiglia" behind-the-scenes piece; "The Empowering Women of Second Act" featurette; "Friendship On and Off Screen" with best friends Jennifer Lopez and Leah Remini; "Working with the Ones You Love." (Universal).
Stan & Ollie
2018) In the 1930s and 1940s, Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy were one of the most popular comedy acts in movies, helplessly bumbling their way through one "fine mess" after another. But by the 1950s, they were has-beens, struggling with health problems and trying to find a way back into the movie business. They embarked on a tour of small theaters in Britain to perform their own material, and possibly re-ignite their old friendship. Formats: DVD, Blu-ray, VOD, Digital. Extras: Four featurettes: “Making Stan & Ollie,” “Playful Prosthetics,” “The Dancing Duo” and “Q&A with Cast and Crew”; three deleted scenes. (Sony).
The Street Fighter Collection
(2018) Contains all three "Street Fighter" films with uncut versions and new 2K scans of the original film elements. Meet the meanest and most lethal karate master ever to rule the streets. He’s Sonny Chiba, one of the greatest martial arts actors to ignite the screen. In "The Street Fighter," Chiba stars as Terry Tsurugi, a mercenary who has been hired by both the yakuza and the mafia to kidnap a wealthy heiress, but when he isn’t paid, a violent clash ensues. Chiba is back in "Return of the Street Fighter." This time Tsurugi is hired by the mob to kill two informants, but when he realizes one is an old friend, he refuses, and he becomes the one being hunted. When Tsurugi is double crossed by the Ôwada clan, he takes off with something they want in "The Street Fighter’s Last Revenge." Soon he's being chased by a group of deadly assassins. Formats: Blu-ray. Extras: New "Street Fighting Man" interview with Sonny China, new "Cutting Moments: The Street Fighter Trailer" interview with filmmaker Jack Shoulder, trailers, galleries. (Shout! Factory Select).
The Tarnished Angels
(1958) Dir.: Douglas Sirk; Rock Hudson, Robert Stack, Dorothy Malone, Jack Carson, Troy Donahue, Robert Middleton, Alan Reed, William Schallert. Set in the 1930s Depression era during Mardi Gras in New Orleans, "The Tarnished Angels" covers three days in the lives of a trio of flying-circus performers, headlined by former WWI fighter-pilot hero Roger Shumann (Stack) and his beautiful blonde wife, LaVerne (Malone). Romantic complications arise when newspaper reporter Burke Devlin (Hudson) falls in love with LaVerne while covering their daredevil aerial show. Legendary filmmaker Douglas Sirk ("Magnificent Obsession," "All That Heaven Allows," "Written on the Wind," "Imitation of Life") directed this masterpiece based on a novel by William Faulkner, adapted for the screen by George Zuckerman. Features Troy Donahue in one of his earlier roles. Formats: Blu-ray. Extras: New audio commentary by film historian Imogen Sara Smith, theatrical trailer. (Kino Lorber Studio Classics).
The Vault
(2017) James Franco, Taryn Manning, Francesca Eastwood, Scott Haze . Two estranged sisters are forced to rob a bank in order to save their brother. The heist begins smoothly, but mayhem ensues when the defiant bank manager sends them to a basement-level vault -- home to something truly evil. Formats: DVD, Blu-ray. (Filmrise).
Warning Sign BLU-RAY DEBUT
(1985) Sam Waterston, Kathleen Quinlan, Yaphet Kotto. In the rolling Utah countryside, a small town is host to a fortress-like research facility that the townspeople believe is developing new advancements in agriculture. But deep within is a top-secret project to create a bioweapon that turns anyone exposed to it into a raging, psychotic killer. When the unthinkable happens and the facility is locked down, Sheriff Cal Morse (Waterston) must choose between keeping the town safe and rescuing his wife Joanie (Quinlan), who is trapped inside. But for Major Connolly (Kotto), there is only one remorseless solution: contain the deadly virus ... at all costs. Extras: New interview with director/co-writer Hal Barwood, new interview with producer Jim Bloom, audio commentary track with Barwood, TV spot,theatrical trailer, still gallery. (Scream Factory).
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