Thirty years after rising to global stardom in "The Wizard of Oz," showbiz legend Judy Garland (Renée Zellweger) arrives in London to perform a five-week sold-out run at The Talk of the Town. While preparing for the shows, Garland battles with management, reminisces with friends and adoring fans, and embarks on a whirlwind romance with soon-to-be fifth husband Mickey Deans — all while bravely struggling to overcome intensifying anxiety and physical decline. Featuring some of her best-known songs, the film celebrates the unyielding spirit and matchless talent of “the world’s greatest entertainer.”
Vitals: Director: Rupert Goold. Stars: Renée Zellweger, Jessie Buckley, Finn Wittrock, Rufus Sewell, Michael Gambon.
2019, CC, MPAA rating: PG-13, 119 min., Music Bio Drama, Box office gross: $22.920 million, Lionsgate.Extras: “From the Heart: The Making of Judy” featurette, "Judy" image gallery, theatrical trailer.
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This Week's Digital Releases
December 23
Gemini Man: Will Smith stars as retired hitman Henry Brogan, forced on the run by a young, highly skilled operative -- a clone of his younger self -- who will stop at nothing to eliminate his target. (DVD, Blu-ray release: January 14)
December 24
The Addams Family: The eccentrically macabre family moves to a bland suburb where Wednesday Addams' friendship with the daughter of a hostile and conformist local reality show host exacerbates conflict between the families in this new animated Addams Family adventure. (DVD, Blu-ray release: January 21)
Jexi: A comedy about what can happen when you love your phone more than anything else in your life. (DVD, Blu-ray release: January 14)
Zombieland: Double Tap: Columbus, Tallahassee, Wichita, and Little Rock move to the American heartland as they face off against evolved zombies, fellow survivors, and the growing pains of the snarky makeshift family 10 years after the apocalypse. (DVD, Blu-ray release: January 21)
Adopt a Highway
(2019) Ethan Hawke, Elaine Hendrix, Diane Gaeta, Mo McRae, Chris Sullivan, Betty Gabriel. Russ Millings has just been released from prison after serving 21 years for a 3rd strike conviction for possessing an ounce of marijuana. As he tries to adapt to a world he doesn’t recognize -- including trying to learn how to use the Internet -- he finds an abandoned baby in a dumpster behind the fast food restaurant where he works as a dishwasher. Unsure of what to do, and caught between impulses of kindness and panic, Russ soon realizes this could be his chance at redemption. Formats: DVD, Blu-ray. (RLJE Films).
The Gallows Act II
(2019) Ema Horvath, Chris Milligan, Brittany Falardeau. Sequel to 2015’s "The Gallows." When teenage vlogger and aspiring actress Auna Rue logs onto a sinister website, she’s trapped in the malevolent world of a cursed stage play, "The Gallows." After performing a passage from the play for her tiny online fan base, Auna instantly achieves the stardom she seeks — as well as a twisted challenge from a deadly spirit (The Hangman) in this nightmarish supernatural thriller. Formats: DVD, Blu-ray, Digital. Extras: Audio Commentary with writers and directors Travis Cluff & Chris Lofing, “Summoning the Hangman: Staging The Gallows Act II” featurette, deleted scenes. (Lionsgate).
Jim Allison: Breakthrough
(2019) The astounding, true story of one warm-hearted, stubborn man’s visionary quest to find a cure for cancer. Narrated by Woody Harrelson, the film traces Allison’s remarkable life from his school-boy days in Friday Night Lights, Creationist Texas all the way to Stockholm, Sweden where, in December of 2018, he accepted the Nobel Prize in Medicine. Today, Allison is a name to be reckoned with throughout the scientific world — he won the Nobel Prize for discovering the immune system’s role in defeating cancer. But for decades he waged a lonely struggle against the skepticism of the medical establishment and the resistance of Big Pharma. Using intimate interviews with Allison and a set of scientific leaders, paired with the use of graphics and archival material, the documentary takes us into the inspiring and dramatic world of cutting-edge medicine, and into the heart of a true American pioneer, in a film that is both emotionally compelling and deeply entertaining. Formats: DVD, VOD, Digital. (Giant Pictures).
Judy
(2019) Renée Zellweger, Jessie Buckley, Finn Wittrock, Rufus Sewell, Michael Gambon. Legendary performer Judy Garland (Renée Zellweger) arrives in London in the winter of 1968 to perform a series of sold-out concerts. While preparing for the shows, Garland battles with management, reminisces with friends and adoring fans, and embarks on a whirlwind romance with soon-to-be fifth husband Mickey Deans — all while bravely struggling to overcome intensifying anxiety and physical decline. Formats: DVD, Blu-ray/DVD Combo, VOD, Digital. Extras: “From the Heart: The Making of Judy” featurette, "Judy" image gallery, theatrical trailer. (Lionsgate).
The Kill Team
(2019) Alexander Skarsgård, Nat Wolff, Adam Long, Jonathan Whitesell, Rob Morrow. Based on a true story, The Kill Team follows Andrew Briggman (Wolff), a young soldier in the US invasion of Afghanistan who witnesses other recruits killing innocent civilians under the direction of a sadistic leader, Sergeant Deeks (Skarsgård). Andrew considers reporting them to higher-ups, but the heavily armed, increasingly violent platoon becomes suspicious that someone in their ranks has turned on them — and Andrew begins to fear that he’ll be the next target.
Formats: DVD, Blu-ray, Blu-ray/DVD Combo, VOD, Digital. Extras: ”The Reality of Courage: Making The Kill Team” featurette, deleted scenes, audio commentary with writer-director Dan Krauss. (Lionsgate).
Twin Flower
(2018 -- Italy) Anastasiya Bogach, Kallil Kone. In writer-director Laura Luchetti's strikingly photographed second feature, two teenage runaways forge a relationship haunted by their respective pasts. Anna is eluding a human trafficker for whom her father worked, and Basim is a refugee from the Ivory Coast in search of gainful employment. Together they embark on a dangerous trip across the tough but breathtaking terrain of Sardinia in the hopes of overcoming their personal demons. The remarkable chemistry between Bogach and Kone -- both nonprofessional actors -- carries Luchetti's powerful film about coming of age in the throes of the refugee crisis. Formats: DVD, VOD, Digital. Extras: Bonus short film: "Cerdita" (Written and directed by Carlota Pereda, Spain, 15 minutes): Sara is mercilessly bullied by her peers for being overweight but a turn of events will soon change everyone's fates in a most alarming fashion. (Film Movement).
Thirty years after rising to global stardom in "The Wizard of Oz," showbiz legend Judy Garland (Renée Zellweger) arrives in London to perform a five-week sold-out run at The Talk of the Town. While preparing for the shows, Garland battles with management, reminisces with friends and adoring fans, and embarks on a whirlwind romance with soon-to-be fifth husband Mickey Deans — all while bravely struggling to overcome intensifying anxiety and physical decline. Featuring some of her best-known songs, the film celebrates the unyielding spirit and matchless talent of “the world’s greatest entertainer.”
Vitals: Director: Rupert Goold. Stars: Renée Zellweger, Jessie Buckley, Finn Wittrock, Rufus Sewell, Michael Gambon.
2019, CC, MPAA rating: PG-13, 119 min., Music Bio Drama, Box office gross: $22.920 million, Lionsgate.
Extras: “From the Heart: The Making of Judy” featurette, "Judy" image gallery, theatrical trailer.
