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OnVideo's Weekly Guide to Home Video Releases
August 22:
All Eyez on Me: Tells the true and untold story of prolific rapper, actor, poet and activist Tupac Shakur. (DVD, Blu-ray release: September 5)
August 25:
Deep: When a playful octopus named Deep gets his undersea fish colony in trouble, the tribe’s stern leader Kraken orders Deep to go find help. (Day & Date)
Ash vs Evil Dead: Season 2
(2016) TV series continuation of the "Evil Dead" franchise. Ash has spent the last 30 years avoiding responsibility, maturity and the terrors of the Evil Dead until a Deadite plague threatens to destroy all of mankind and he becomes mankind's only hope. Loaded with the same twisted humor and gory kill scenes fans of the franchise are used to, “Ash vs Evil Dead: Season 2" continues the chainsaw-slicing, shotgun-blasting fun from the first season. Stars Bruce Campbell, Lucy Lawless, Ray Santiago, Dana DeLorenzo, as well as this season’s introduction of Lee Majors as Ash’s father. Formats: DVD, Blu-ray Disc, VOD, Digital, UltraViolet (cloud). Extras: Audio commentaries, "Season 2 First Look," fatality mash-up, eight featurettes. (Lionsgate).
A Blast
(2014 -- Greece) Maria (Angeliki Papoulia, who came to prominence with her role in the acclaimed "Dogtooth") started her adult life with the best of intentions. But 10 years after, no matter where she looks, her world is cracking. Greece's ongoing financial crisis has forced people everywhere to reevaluate their expectations of the world, and she's having none of that. Unwilling to reconcile with a life of unreturned care, lost dignity and a broken-down desire to live, Maria wants out, attacking her past, the people she loves, her country and the perception of her sex in a relentless battle to find truth, both in her and around her. Once she was a caring mother, a loving wife, a responsible daughter. Now she has gone rogue. The sophomore feature from Greek director Syllas Tzoumerkas ("Homecoming"), the festival favorite drama was nominated for Best Film at the Hellenic Film Academy Awards and the Sarajevo Film Festival, as well as the New Director's Showcase Award at the Seattle International Film Festival. Formats: DVD, VOD. (IndiePix).
Blue Bloods: The Seventh Season
(2016-17) Six-disc set with 22 episodes. Featuring an all-star cast including Tom Selleck, Donnie Wahlberg, Bridget Moynahan and Will Estes, the Reagan family delivers justice once again in this drama about a multigenerational family of cops dedicated to New York City law enforcement. Frank Reagan (Selleck) is the New York Police Commissioner and heads both the police force and the Reagan brood. He runs his department as diplomatically as he runs his family, even when dealing with the politics that plagued his unapologetically bold father, Henry (Len Cariou), during his stint as Chief. A source of pride and concern for Frank is his eldest son, Danny (Wahlberg), a seasoned detective, family man and Iraq War vet who on occasion uses dubious tactics to solve cases with his partner, Detective Maria Baez (Marisa Ramirez). The Reagan women in the family include Erin (Moynahan), a New York Assistant D.A. who also serves as the legal compass for her siblings and father, as well as a single parent to her teenage daughter, Nicky (Sami Gayle); and Linda (Amy Carlson), Danny's supportive wife. Jamie (Estes) is the youngest Reagan, a Harvard Law graduate and the family's "golden boy." Unable to deny the family tradition, Jamie decided to give up a lucrative future in law and follow in the family footsteps as a cop. He's found a friend and ally in Eddie (Vanessa Ray), his young and eager female partner, who keeps him on his toes, but has very different reasons than the Reagans for joining the police force. Formats: DVD. Extras: "Anatomy of a Scene: The Greater Good" in-depth look into the staging of the dramatic car crash in the season premiere; Blue Bloods 150th episode celebration; "The Story of the Reagans: Season 7" highlights; gag reel; deleted scenes. (CBS/Paramount).
Effects
(2016) Cobbled together with loose change by George Romero's friends, "Effects" is a mesmerizing do-it-yourself horror movie starring Tom Savini ("Dawn of the Dead"), Joe Pilato ("Day of the Dead"), and John Harrison ("Tales From the Darkside: The Movie"). A group of coked-up filmmakers -- including Savini and Pilato -- gather in Pittsburgh to make a slasher called "Duped: The Snuff Movie." As filming begins and "accidents" happen, it's clear that something isn't right. And no one can be trusted. Landing somewhere between Michael and Roberta Findlay's "Snuff" and a student film by John Carpenter, "Effects" is a meta-enhanced takedown on the philosophy of horror that doubles as a sleazy and terrifying movie on its own. A new 4K transfer from the only theatrical print in existence by the American Genre Film Archive (AGFA), a non-profit that preserves the legacy of genre films. Formats: Blu-ray Disc. Extras: "After Effects" documetary; "Ubu" short film; "Beastie" short film; archival commentary track with John Harrison, Dusty Nelson, and Pasquale Buba; liner notes by Joseph A. Ziemba of AGFA and Bleeding Skull! (MVD Entertainment Group).
Kiki
(2016) More than 25 years after "Paris Is Burning" introduced the art of voguing to the world, this eye-opening documentary revisits New York City's thriving underground ballroom scene. It's a larger-than-life world in which LGBTQ youths of color are empowered by staging elaborate dance competitions that showcase their dynamic choreography, fabulous costumes and fierce attitude. It's also a safe haven for struggling, at-risk teens who find acceptance, support and friendship within the Kiki community. Granted intimate access to the scene, filmmaker Sara Jordenö introduces viewers to some of Kiki culture's most prominent personalities, going beyond the glamour of the balls to highlight the serious challenges facing queer black and Latino young people. Formats: DVD. (IFC Films).
Kill Switch
(2017) Dan Stevens, Bérénice Marlohe, Charity Wakefield. In the near future, a physicist’s experiment to harness unlimited energy goes wrong. Chased by drones and soldiers, pilot Will Porter must race through an imploding world and retrieve the Redivider box to save his family -- and all of humanity. Formats: DVD, Blu-ray Disc, VOD, Digital, UltraViolet (cloud). Extras: "The Visual Effect: Inside the Director’s Process” featurette, audio commentary with director Tim Smit. (Lionsgate).
La poison
(1951 -- France) The writer, actor, and director Sacha Guitry emerged from the theater to become one of France’s best-known and most inventive filmmakers, and "La poison" marked his first collaboration with another titan of the screen, the incomparably expressive Michel Simon. With Guitry’s witty dialogue and fleet pacing, the black comedy is the quintessential depiction of a marriage gone sour: after 30 years together, a village gardener (Simon) and his wife (Germaine Reuver) find themselves contemplating how to do away with each other, with the former even planning how he’ll negotiate his eventual criminal trial. Inspired by Guitry’s own post–World War II tangle with the law -- a wrongful charge of collaborationism -- "La poison" is a blithely caustic broadside against the French legal system and a society all too eager to capitalize on others’ misfortunes. On DVD and Blu-ray, with new high-definition digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray. Extras: New interview with filmmaker Olivier Assayas on director Sacha Guitry’s influence on French cinema; "On Life On-screen: Miseries and Splendour of a Monarch," a 60-minute documentary from 2010 on the collaboration of Guitry and Michel Simon; an essay by film scholar Ginette Vincendeau and a 1957 obituary for Guitry by François Truffaut. (The Criterion Collection).
The Love of a Woman
(1953 -- France) "The Love of a Woman (L'amour d'une femme)" was the final feature of the great French filmmaker Jean Grémillon, concluding a string of classics that included such greats as "Remorques," "Lumière d'été" and "Pattes blanches." Marie, a young doctor, arrives on the island of Ushant to replace its retiring physician. She experiences prejudice from the mostly male population, but also love in the form of engineer André. Starring Micheline Presle, whose impressive career has encompassed French, Italian and Hollywood cinema, and Massimo Girotti, best-known for his performance in Luchino Visconti's "Ossessione," "The Love of a Woman" is a sad, beautiful, romantic masterpiece. Formats: Blu-ray/DVD Combo with original French mono audio (uncompressed LPCM on the Blu-ray). Extras: "In Search of Jean Grémillon," a feature-length documentary on the filmmaker from 1969, containing interviews with director René Clair, archivist Henri Langlois, actors Micheline Presle and Pierre Brasseur, and others; reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Jennifer Dionisio. First pressing only: Illustrated collector's booklet featuring new writing on the film by critic Ginette Vincendeau. (Arrow Academy/MVD Entertainment).
Never Let Go
(2015) Angela Dixon, Rami Nasr, Nigel Whitmey, Lisa Eichhorn. A single mother desperately searches for her missing child in a beautiful, but unfamiliar land, following an apparent abduction. Trusting no one, and stopping at nothing, as she weaves her way through the murky backstreets and barren landscapes, now implicated in the murder of a seemingly innocent man, her connections back in the US begin to reveal that there is much more at stake than first meets the eye. Formats: DVD, VOD, Digital. (Sony).
Sid & Nancy
(1986) With the lacerating love story "Sid & Nancy," Alex Cox reimagines the crash-and-burn affair between punk’s most notorious self-destructive poster children: Sex Pistols bassist Sid Vicious and his girlfriend, Nancy Spungen -- brought to visceral life by brilliant performances from Gary Oldman and Chloe Webb. Cox turns his anarchic filmmaking style on the explosive energy of the London punk scene and the degenerate streets of seventies New York, making for an eviscerating depiction of excess and addiction. Through the lens of cinematographer Roger Deakins, the imagery goes from swooning to grimy, and the film’s bleakness is balanced with surreal humor and genuine tenderness, making for an affecting, music-fueled vision of doomed love. On DVD and Blu-ray, with new 4K digital restoration, with uncompressed stereo soundtrack on the Blu-ray; alternate 5.1 surround soundtrack, presented in DTS-HD Master Audio on the Blu-ray. Extras: Two audio commentaries: one from 1994 featuring co-writer Abbe Wool, actors Gary Oldman and Chloe Webb, cultural historian Greil Marcus, filmmakers Julien Temple and Lech Kowalski, and musician Eliot Kidd; the other from 2001 featuring co-writer-director Alex Cox and actor Andrew Schofield; "England’s Glory," a 1987 documentary on the making of "Sid & Nancy"; infamous 1976 Bill Grundy interview with the Sex Pistols on British television; rare telephone interview from 1978 with Sid Vicious; interviews with Vicious and Nancy Spungen from the 1980 documentary "D.O.A.: A Right of Passage"; archival interviews and footage; an essay by author Jon Savage and a 1986 piece compiled by Cox about Vicious, Spungen, and the making of the film. (The Criterion Collection).
Supergirl: The Complete Second Season
(2016-17 Five-disc DVD, four-disc Blu-ray set with all 22
episodes. Having left the safety of being Cat Grant’s assistant at
Catco Worldwide Media in order to figure out what she really wants to
do, Kara Danvers continues to work with Hank Henshaw aka Martian
Manhunter and her adoptive sister Alex at the DEO as Supergirl –
protecting the citizens of National City and searching for her missing
father Jeremiah and the secret research lab Cadmus. Along the way, she
will team up with her Kryptonian cousin Kal El – aka Superman – to
battle new Super-Villains both terrestrial and extraterrestrial.
Formats: DVD, Blu-ray Disc, Digital. Extras: Supergirl: 2016 Comic-Con Panel,
"Supergirl: Alien Fight Night," "Aliens Among Us," "A Conversation
with Andrew Kreisberg and Kevin Smith," "Supergirl Lives" Audio
Commentary featuring Andrew Kreisberg and Kevin Smith, "Did You Know
Facts for Fans." (Warner).
The Walking Dead: The Complete Seventh Season
(2016-17) Five-disc set with all 16 episodes. In season seven, Rick
and his group's world becomes even more brutal due to Negan's deadly
example of what happens if they don't live under his rules. Everyone
must begin again.
Formats: DVD, Blu-ray Disc, VOD, Digital,
UltraViolet (cloud). Extras: Audio commentaries, deleted & alternate scenes, "Inside The Walking Dead" featurette, "The Making of The Walking Dead featurette, "In Memorium" featurette "A Larger World" featurette, "Breaking & Rebuilding" featurette, "A New Chapter of Fear" featurette, "Top Walkers" featurette, "Warrior Women" featurette, "The Writers of The Walking Dead\" featurette. (Anchor Bay Entertainment/Lionsgate).
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