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OnVideo's Weekly Guide to Home Video Releases
Alternate ending; deleted scene; six extended scenes; two featurettes: "Real Bunny Montage" and "Making Underwater"; commentary.
April 14
Bias: "Bias" challenges us to confront our hidden biases and understand what we risk when we follow our gut. Through exposing her own biases, award-winning documentary filmmaker Robin Hauser highlights the nature of implicit bias, the grip it holds on our social and professional lives, and what it will take to induce change. (Digital, VOD only)
Green Rush: A cannabis farmer and his pregnant lover fight for their lives when ruthless criminals invade their property. (Digital, VOD only)
Fantasy Island: The enigmatic Mr. Roarke (Michael Peña) makes the secret dreams of his lucky guests come true at a luxurious but remote tropical resort in this reimagining of the iconic 1970s TV series. But when the fantasies turn into nightmares, the guests have to solve the island’s mystery in order to escape with their lives. (DVD, Blu-ray release: May 12)
The Legend of Swee-Pea: Documentary tells the story of NBA player Lloyd "Swee' Pea" Daniels, whose professional debut happened at age 25, with bullets still lodged in his chest and a body ravaged by years of crack-cocaine addiction. (Digital, VOD only)
The Rhythm Section: Stephanie Patrick (Blake Lively) is an ordinary woman on a path of self-destruction after her family is tragically killed in a plane crash. When Stephanie discovers that the crash was not an accident, she enters a dark, complex world to seek revenge on those responsible and find her own redemption. (VOD, DVD, Blu-ray release: April 28)
The Sharks: Fourteen-year-old Rosina lives in a beach resort rumored to be plagued by sharks. Upon meeting the older Joselo, she feels a desire to bridge the distance between their bodies and begins to circle him, as if inspired by the mysterious predators. From Uruguay. (VOD; DVD release: April 28)
Underwater: A crew of aquatic researchers work to get to safety after an earthquake devastates their subterranean laboratory. But it turns out that they have more than the ocean seabed to fear. (DVD, Blu-ray release: Day & date)
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)
Agent Toby Barks
(2020) Voices Jon Lovitz, Dean Cain, Charlotte Ciano, Jonah Coppolelli. Is America’s greatest super-spy living in your backyard? Bret and Kate don’t think so until they learn that their beloved pet dog Toby is a secret agent working for the U.S. government. The two teen kids must join forces with their talking, fighting, computer-hacking pooch to rescue their beloved Auntie B—who’s also a spy—from a mad villain who wants to use B’s crazy inventions to rule the world. Formats: DVD, VOD, Digital. (Lionsgate).
Balthazar, Series 1
(2018 -- France) Two-disc set with six episodes of the mystery procedural that follows the suave, smart, and somewhat strange, Raphaël Balthazar, who can make the dead speak like no one else. As a forensic pathologist in Paris, he works with chief inspector Hélène Bach to solve the city's most disturbing crimes. But there's one case that continues to haunt him--the murder of his wife over a decade ago. Formats: DVD. (Acorn Media).
Final Kill (2020) Billy Zane, Randy Couture, Ed Morrone, Dr. Drew Pinsky, Danny Trejo, Johnny Messner. Action-packed thriller about a mercenary hired to protect a couple hiding out in Central America from a ruthless crime family. This final assignment as a protector quickly turns deadly as a group of mafia henchman descend on the tranquil Costa Rican village. Soon the agent learns that the job is far more than it seems, and it will take all his experience to get them out alive. Formats: DVD, Blu-ray, VOD, Digital. (Cinedigm). Goldie (2019) Goldie (Supermodel Slick Woods) is a star -- well, not quite yet, but at least in the eyes of her little sisters Sherrie and Supreme she is. The rest of the world is bound to take note soon too. Her big break surely awaits, she's just got to pick up that golden fur coat she's had her eye on first. And land a role as a dancer in a hip-hop video. And keep child welfare services from separating her from Sherrie and Supreme, after their mother is locked up. Holding onto those dreams isn't easy when fate has placed such daunting obstacles in her path. Dutch director Sam de Jong has delivered a real New York film: raw and glamorous, unflinchingly realistic and relentlessly optimistic, with a ton of heart and at least as much attitude. Formats: DVD, Digital. Extras: Bonus Short Film: "We Love Moses," directed by Dionne Edwards (United Kingdom, 15 minutes. When Ella was twelve, she discovered sex. Now eighteen, Ella reflects on how her obsession with her older brother's best friend, Moses, left her with a secret she still carries. (Film Movement).
The Heart Guy, Series 4 (2019) Three-disc set with all 10 episodes of the series, akin to an Aussie "Doc Martin" with its fish-out-of-water premise and eccentric characters, that follows Hugh Knight, a rising star in the Sydney heart-surgery ranks. Hugh is gifted, charming, and seemingly infallible, but after an incident involving drugs and alcohol, he’s forced to practice as a GP in his rural hometown and deal with his complicated family situation. Formats: DVD. (Acorn Media). Infernum (2020) Suziey Block, Clinton Roper Elledge, Sarah Schoofs, Michael Barbuto, Abby Wathen, Sarah Zinsser. There is a real-world phenomenon where strange, mysterious sounds ring across towns or regions heralding the arrival of something otherworldly. These haunting sounds happen across the globe and when heard, people disappear or die. Camille Williams has been hunting this phenomenon since the disappearance of her parents, and now that she has tracked the sound down, all hell breaks loose. Formats: DVD, Digital. (Indican Pictures).
Lycanimator (2018) Cayt Feinics, Joel D. Wynkoop, Briana Wyman. A group of friends break into an abandoned house for a weekend of partying only to discover a mad scientist in hiding ... who just happens to need subjects to try out his new monster-making formula. When some of that serum turns one of the group into a hungry, murderous were-beast, all hell breaks loose and everyone is on the menu. Formats: DVD. Extras: "Behind-the-scenes featurette, making-of Featurette, short film: "Fleshflower." (Wild Eye Releasing/Music Video Distributors).
Ricordi? (2018 -- Italy) Luca Marinelli, Linda Caridi, Giovanni Anzaldo. A long love story, seen through the memories of one young couple: recollections altered by moods, their different perspectives, and time itself. The journey through the years of two individuals, united, divided, happy, unhappy, deeply in love, or in love with others, in a single stream of emotions and shades of feeling. Over the course of the film, he learns that love can indeed last, while she learns to live with nostalgia. Their memories, as well, change over time: fading or else bursting with happiness, in a present that fast slips away, becoming memories. Formats: DVD. (Icarus Films). The Righteous Gemstones: The Complete First Season (2019) Two-disc set with all nine episodes of the series that centers on the Gemstones, a celebrity televangelist family behind a popular megachurch that is also a major money-making enterprise. Danny McBride stars as Jesse Gemstone, the eldest of three grown Gemstone children, who sees himself as a maverick in the ministry game but, as the series begins, receives a blackmail video that could put his reputation at risk. Getting caught up in the hunt for the blackmail culprits are Jesse’s sister Judy (Edi Patterson), who is secretly “living in sin” with her fiancé and dreams of escaping the Gemstone compound, and Jesse’s youngest sibling Kelvin (Adam Devine), a pseudo-hipster who always finds a way to get under his brother’s skin. Formats: DVD, Digital. Extras: "Invitation to the Set" featurette. (Warner).
V: The Final Battle (1984) Two-disc set. Is there life out there? Finally, we know. Because they are here. Alien spacecraft with humanlike passengers have come to Earth. They say they come in peace for food and water. The water they find in our reservoirs. The food they find walking about everywhere on two legs. That saga that began with "V" now culminates in a struggle to save the world in V: The Final Battle. Sci-fi film stalwarts Marc Singer, Robert Englund and Michael Ironside head a large cast in this tense adventure that leaps from the stunning revelation of reptilian beings concealed by human masks to the birth of the first human/alien child to the harrowing countdown to nuclear doomsday. The future begins or ends here. Formats: Blu-ray. (Warner).
© 1996 -- 2020 OnVideo. All rights reserved April 12, 2020 (ISSN 1094-3676). |
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The crew of the Kepler undersea mining rig knew there would be hardships on their current mission, but nothing prepared them for the terrors they're about to face. The adventure begins when a devastating earthquake damages the rig, including its communication devices and escape vehicle. Although the quick-thinking mechanical engineer manages to temporarily stave off imminent disaster, the need to evacuate escalates quickly. Their only hope is to walk across the ocean floor to an abandoned vessel, in hopes that its communication equipment still works. As if their journey isn't treacherous enough, they begin to sense that they're not alone in the murky ocean depths.
Vitals: Director: William Eubank. Stars: Kristen Stewart, T.J. Miller, Vincent Cassel, Jessica Henwick, John Gallagher Jr., Mamoudou Athie, Gunner Wright.
2020, CC, MPAA rating: PG-13, 95 min., Action Thriller, Box office gross: $17.247 million, Fox.
Extras: Blu-ray extras:
Powerful true story follows young lawyer Bryan Stevenson (Michael B. Jordan) and his history-making battle for justice. After graduating from Harvard, Bryan had his pick of lucrative jobs. Instead, he heads to Alabama to defend those wrongly condemned or who were not afforded proper representation, with the support of local advocate Eva Ansley (Brie Larson). One of his first, and most incendiary, cases is that of Walter McMillian (Jamie Foxx), who, in 1987, was sentenced to die for the notorious murder of an 18-year-old girl, despite a preponderance of evidence proving his innocence and the fact that the only testimony against him came from a criminal with a motive to lie. In the years that follow, Bryan becomes embroiled in a labyrinth of legal and political maneuvering and overt and unabashed racism as he fights for Walter, and others like him, with the odds - and the system - stacked against them.
Vitals: Director: Destin Daniel Cretton. Stars: Brie Larson, Rafe Spall, Michael B. Jordan, Jamie Foxx, O'Shea Jackson Jr., Tim Blake Nelson.
2019, CC, MPAA rating: PG-13, 136 min., Drama, Box office gross: $35.489 million, Warner.
Destry Rides Again
(1939) Marlene Dietrich and James Stewart ride high in this superb comedic western, both a boisterous spoof and a shining example of its genre. As the brawling, rough-and-tumble saloon singer Frenchy, Dietrich shed her exotic love-goddess image and launched a triumphant career comeback, while Stewart cemented his amiable everyman persona, in his first of many Westerns, with a charming turn as a gun-abhorring deputy sheriff who uses his wits to bring law and order to the frontier town of Bottleneck. A sparkling script, a supporting cast of virtuoso character actors, and rollicking musical numbers — delivered with unmatched bravado by the magnetic Dietrich — come together to create an irresistible, oft-imitated marvel of studio-era craftsmanship.
Formats: DVD, Blu-ray Disc with new 4K digital restoration by Universal Pictures in collaboration with The Film Foundation, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray.
Extras: New interview with critic Imogen Sara Smith; new interview with Donald Dewey, author of "James Stewart: A Biography"; illustrated audio excerpts from a 1973 oral-history interview with director George Marshall conducted by the American Film Institute; "Lux Radio Theatre" adaptation of the film from 1945, featuring actors James Stewart and Joan Blondell; an essay by critic Farran Smith Nehme.
(The Criterion Collection).
Jungle Queen
(1945) Thirteen-episode serial from the 1940s. First time on Blu-ray and produced from a new 2K scan of the 35mm nitrate fine grain studio masters. During World War II, the Nazi High Command sends agents into the African jungle to stir up the local Tongghili tribes against the British Allies. This allows them to plant Commander Elise Bork, posing as a scientist, and her subordinate, Lang, within the Tambosa Experimental Farm. Along with the help of Maati, an evil rival tribesman, they search for the legendary "Secret Sword," which has mysterious powers. Two Americans, Bob Elliott (Edward Norris) and Chuck Kelly (Eddie Quillan) arrive to aid the Allies and meet Pamela Courtney (Lois Collier), who is looking for her father, an explorer who mysteriously disappeared. Bork and Lang feign friendship with the trio in order to find out what they know, before trying several ways to kill them. Their attempts always fail though, due to the well-timed appearances of Lothel (Ruth Roman), the beautiful and mysterious Queen of the Jungle, Tongghili's spiritual leader. In desperation, the Nazis try to kill Lothel by letting loose wild animals, and setting fire to the jungle. Lothel, however, walks through the flames unharmed and seems to tame even the wildest beast. And in the end, she helps end the Nazi terror and return peace to the jungle, before vanishing into a sheet of flame. Formats: Blu-ray. (VCI Entertainment/MVD Entertainment).
Sixteen Candles
(1984) In his debut film as writer-director, John Hughes immediately cemented himself as the king of teen cinema with "Sixteen Candles," and in the process also introduced one of the most iconic faces of 80s Americana: Molly Ringwald. For high schooler Samantha Baker (Ringwald), her 16th birthday might be the worst day of her life. Her entire family has forgotten about it due to her older sister's impending wedding; her biggest crush, high school hunk Jake Ryan (Michael Schoeffling) has discovered an embarrassing "sex quiz" filled out by Sam in which she details how she is saving herself for him; and to make matters worse, she is hounded by a relentless nerd (Anthony Michael Hall) who won't take no for an answer. But Sam's sweet sixteen isn't over yet, and before the end of the night, all her birthday wishes could still come true... Taking the rude and crude humor of the teen sex comedies that came before it and placing it within the intimately portrayed perspective of a girl's mid-teenage-life crisis, "Sixteen Candles" is a bombshell of 80s pop culture that continues to be debated and beloved over three decades after its release. New restoration by Arrow Films from a 4K scan of the original negative. Formats: High Definition (1080p) Blu-ray presentation of the Theatrical Version of the film (92 mins), plus Blu-ray premiere Extended Version (94 mins), featuring the additional “cafeteria” scene newly remastered in high definition. Original lossless mono audio, plus 5.1 DTS-HD MA surround option. Extras: Alternate “home video” soundtrack prepared for VHS and laserdisc releases; option to watch additional scene from the Extended Version separately; "Casting Sixteen Candles," an all-new audio interview with casting director Jackie Burch; "When Gedde Met Deborah," a newly filmed conversation between actors Gedde Watanabe and Deborah Pollack; "Rudy the Bohunk," a newly filmed interview with supporting actor John Kapelos; "The In-Between," a newly filmed interview with camera operator Gary Kibbe; "The New Wave Nerd," a newly filmed interview with filmmaker Adam Rifkin, who shadowed John Hughes while working as an extra on set; "Music for Geeks,": a newly filmed interview with composer Ira Newborn; "A Very Eighties Fairytale," an all-new video essay written and narrated by writer Soraya Roberts, looking at the film from a contemporary feminist perspective; "Celebrating Sixteen Candles," an archive documentary featuring interviews with cast, crew and admirers, including stars Anthony Michael Hall, Paul Dooley, Justin Henry, Haviland Morris and Gedde Watanabe; theatrical trailers, TV spots and radio spots; image galleries; BD-ROM with PDF of the original shooting script; reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Sara Deck; FIRST PRESSING ONLY: Illustrated collectors’ booklet featuring new writing on the film by Nikki Baughan and Bryan Reesman. (Arrow Video/MVD Entertainment).
