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OnVideo's Weekly Guide to Home Video Releases
April 16:
"Opening Night: A failed Broadway singer who now works as a production manager must save opening night on his new production by wrangling his eccentric cast and crew. Stars Topher Grace, Anne Heche, Rob Riggle, Taye Diggs, Paul Scheer and Alona Tal. (VOD)
April 17:
Learning to See: The World of Insects: One man's transformational journey to find the Amazon's strangest creatures. (Digital)
Winchester: Ensconced in her sprawling California mansion, eccentric firearm heiress Sarah Winchester believes she is haunted by the souls of people killed by the Winchester repeating rifle. (DVD, Blu-ray release: May 1)
April 20:
Mary Jane: A Musical Potumentary: Mary Jane leaves the wreckage of the Summer of Love and lands in northern California’s Humboldt County, where the hippie becomes a back-to-the-land farmer and helps establish the largest cannabis-producing region in the U.S. As she comes to terms with her life as grower and now mother – and on the eve of federal legislation – she must face down a corporate raider with limitless capital who plans to take over the industry. (VOD)
Peter Rabbit: Peter's feud with farmer Mr. McGregor escalates to greater heights than ever before as they rival for the affections of the warm-hearted animal lover who lives next door. (DVD, Blu-ray release: May 1)
The Accident (L’accident)
(2016 -- France) Two-disc set with six episodes. Kindhearted construction boss Gabriel Cauvy lives with his wife, Rebecca, and daughter, Luna, in Sainte Lune, a picturesque but struggling village in Brittany, France. One day, Gabriel notices his wife behaving strangely, and hours later she is killed in a car wreck. Amid his grief, Gabriel also contends with the bizarre circumstances of the crash. Why was Rebecca’s car stopped in the middle of the road, facing the wrong way? Why did she have an empty bottle of vodka in the passenger seat when she didn’t drink liquor? Was it truly an accident? Or could it have been something more sinister? When the police and the rest of Sainte Lune blame Rebecca for the crash, Gabriel determines to clear her name. But as he starts his own investigation, the residents of his quaint little town all seem to be hiding something -- and the search for the truth is more dangerous than he could have imagined. Formats: DVD. (Acorn Media).
Aloha, Bobby and Rose BLU-RAY DEBUT
(1975) Paul le Mat, Dianne Hull, Robert Carradine, Tim McIntire, Edward James Olmos, Noble Willingham. Written and directed by Floyd ("The Hollywood Knights," "American Hot Wax") Mutrux, "Aloha, Bobby and Rose" sets its sights on the good-looking titular twosome: Bobby (Le Mat), who has a souped-up ‘68 Camaro and a dead-end job; and Rose (Hull), who’s got a 5-year-old son and a nowhere life. The two meet and quickly fall in love, which gives way to Rose’s fantasy of leaving the Hollywood streets behind and saying “aloha” to life in exotic Hawaii. But when a seemingly safe attempt to rob a liquor store to bankroll their journey goes tragically awry, Bobby and Rose find themselves on the run from the law ... and for their lives. Barreling across nighttime L.A. in a bid to make it to the tropics, the young lovers learn that “aloha” can also mean “goodbye.” Remastered in high definition transfer with extensive color correction. Extras: Interviews with actors Le Mat and Hull and writer-director Floyd. (Doppelgänger Releasing/Scorpion Releasing).
Claws: The Complete First Season
(2017) Three-disc set with all 10 episodes of the midnight-dark, wickedly funny meditation on female badness set in a South Florida nail salon. It follows the rise of five diverse and treacherous manicurists working at the Nail Artisan of Manatee County salon, where there is a lot more going on than silk wraps and pedicures. Claws is about good women caught in bad places with worse men. It's the story of hardworking women trying to get by in this economy, set against the surreal, bright, gritty landscape of Florida and the luscious, absurd, extreme excesses of the crime world. Formats: DVD, Digital. (Warner).
The Happys
(2018) Melissa McBride, Janeane Garofalo, Stephen Guarino, Rhys Ward, Tim Abell, Jack DePew, Brian Jordan Alvarez, Arturo Del Puerto. Twenty-one year old Tracy walks in on her newly minted "movie star" boyfriend having sex with a man and, after assessing her limited options, she returns to him with a deal -- if he agrees to marry her, she’ll forget the whole thing ever happened. Their relationship quickly deteriorates, but Tracy’s world blossoms when she befriends the quirky residents in her Los Feliz (The Happys) neighborhood. As she discovers her sense of self and true passion for cooking, she's a catalyst that forces everyone around her to grow and connect in unforeseen ways. Features an original score by Patrick Sansone (Wilco). Formats: DVD, VOD, Digital. (Indican Picture).
Honor Up
(2018) Damon Dash, Cam’ron, Murda Mook, Blackface, Smoke DZA, Nicholas Turturro.
OG is a drug lord’s lieutenant struggling to maintain the code of honor -- protect the family -- within his unruly crew after a Harlem shootout. The film reveals a deadly underworld where beats pound as bullets fly, and even outlaws must live by the code.
Formats: DVD, Blu-ray Disc, VOD, Digital. Extras: Commentary with director-actor-producer Damon Dash and producer-actress Raquel M. Horn. (Lionsgate).
Killing for Love
(2016) March 30, 1985: Derek and Nancy Haysom are discovered brutally murdered at their home in Lynchburg, Virginia. The arrest and conviction of the couple's daughter Elizabeth, a scholarship student at the University of Virginia, and her boyfriend Jens Söring, the brilliant son of a German diplomat, set off a media frenzy, becoming the first trial of its kind to be nationally televised. But what if the justice system got it all wrong? This gripping true crime documentary untangles the web of romantic obsession and betrayal that may have led an innocent man to make the ultimate sacrifice for love: take the fall for a murder he didn't commit. Features the voices of Daniel Brühl and Imogen Poots. Formats: DVD. (IFC Films).
Rave Party Massacre (aka DeadThirsty
(2017) Sara Bess, Evan Taylor Williams, Melissa Kunnap. On the eve of an abandoned hospital’s demolition, evil walks its empty corridors to the pulsating echo of 150 beats per minute. It’s 1992, an uncertain time of uprising, of violent revolution against the so-called New World Order. When Rachel, Branson, and others attend an illegal rave party held in the facility, they encounter the malevolent presence lurking within. Formats: DVD, VOD. (Breaking Glass Pictures).
Russian Doll
(2016) Melanie Brockmann Gaffney, Kristine Sutherland, Sarah Hollis, Marem Hassler, Jason T. Gaffney. Veteran lesbian police detective Viola Ames (Gaffney) is assigned to investigate the case of a missing woman who uncovered a murder plot set in the theatre world, behind the scenes of a play called "The Russian Doll." As the play moves towards opening night, Viola and her police partner uncover a complicated and enigmatic series of twists and turns to uncover the identity of the kidnapper as well as a surprising murder suspect. At the same time that Viola deciphers clues to solve the case, Viola's tough and emotionally closed world begins to change as she falls for a new woman in her life, Faith. Formats: DVD, VOD. (Wolfe Video).
The Post
This historical drama is based on the events surrounding the release of the Pentagon Papers, documents that detailed the history of the United States' political and military involvement in Vietnam. A thrilling drama about the unlikely partnership between The Washington Post's Katharine Graham (Streep), the first female publisher of a major American newspaper, and editor Ben Bradlee (Hanks), as they race to catch up with The New York Times to expose a massive cover-up of government secrets that spanned three decades and four U.S. Presidents. The two must overcome their differences as they risk their careers -- and their very freedom -- to help bring long-buried truths to light
Vitals: Director: Steven Spielberg. Stars: Tom Hanks, Meryl Streep, Alison Brie, Sarah Paulson, Bradley Whitford, Carrie Coon, Jesse Plemons, Michael Stuhlbarg, Bruce Greenwood, David Cross, Matthew Rhys, Bob Odenkirk.
2017, CC, MPAA rating: PG-13, 116 min., Drama, Box office gross: $81.423
million, Fox.
Extras: "The Style Section: Re-Creating an Era," "Stop the Presses: Filming The Post," "Arts and Entertainment: Music for The Post." Blu-ray adds "Layout: Katharine Graham, Ben Bradlee & The Washington Post," "Editorial: The Cast and Characters of The Post."
The Commuter
Liam Neeson plays an insurance salesman, Michael, on his daily commute home, which quickly becomes anything but routine. After being contacted by a mysterious stranger, Michael is forced to uncover the identity of a hidden passenger on his train before the last stop. As he works against the clock to solve the puzzle, he realizes a deadly plan is unfolding and is unwittingly caught up in a criminal conspiracy. One that carries life and death stakes for himself and his fellow passengers.
Vitals: Director: Jaume Collet-Serra. Stars: Liam Neeson, Vera Farmiga, Patrick Wilson, Jonathan Banks, Sam Neill, Elizabeth McGovern.
2017, CC, MPAA rating: PG-13, 105 min., Suspense-Action, Box office gross: $36.242 million, Lionsgate.
Extras: “End of the Line” featurette, “Off the Rails” featurette.
The Awful Truth
(1937) In this Oscar-winning farce, Cary Grant (in the role that first defined the Cary Grant persona) and Irene Dunne exude charm, cunning, and artless affection as an urbane couple who, fed up with each other's infidelities, resolve to file for divorce. Try as they each might to move on, the mischievous Jerry can't help but meddle in Lucy's ill-matched engagement to a corn-fed Oklahoma businessman (Ralph Bellamy), and a mortified Lucy begins to realize that she may be saying goodbye to the only dance partner capable of following her lead. Directed by the versatile Leo McCarey, a master of improvisation and slapstick as well as a keen and sympathetic observer of human folly, "The Awful Truth" is a warm but unsparing comedy about two people whose flaws only make them more irresistible.
Formats: DVD, Blu-ray Disc with new 4K digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray. Extras: New interview with critic Gary Giddins about director Leo McCarey; new video essay by film critic David Cairns on actor Cary Grant's performance; illustrated 1978 audio interview with actor Irene Dunne; Lux Radio Theatre adaptation of the film from 1939, starring actor Claudette Colbert and Grant; an essay by film critic Molly Haskell. (The Criterion Collection).
The Color of Pomegranates
(1969 -- Russia) A breathtaking fusion of poetry, ethnography, and cinema, Sergei Parajanov's masterwork overflows with images and sounds that burn into the memory. In a series of tableaux that blend the tactile with the abstract, "The Color of Pomegranates" revives the splendors of Armenian culture through the story of the 18th-century troubadour Sayat-Nova, charting his intellectual, artistic, and spiritual growth through iconographic compositions rather than traditional narrative. The film's tapestry of folklore and metaphor departed from the realism that dominated the Soviet cinema of its era, leading authorities to block its distribution, with rare underground screenings presenting it in a restructured form. This edition features the cut closest to Parajanov's original vision, in a restoration that brings new life to one of cinema's most enigmatic meditations on art and beauty. In Armenian, Azerbaijani, and Georgian with English subtitles.
Formats: DVD, Blu-ray Disc with new 4K digital restoration, undertaken by The Film Foundation's World Cinema Project in collaboration with the Cineteca di Bologna, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray. Extras: New audio commentary featuring critic Tony Rayns; new video essay on the film's symbols and references, featuring scholar James Steffen; new interview with Steffen detailing the production of the film; "Sergei Parajanov: The Rebel," a 2003 documentary about the filmmaker, featuring him and actor Sofiko Chiaureli; "The Life of Sayat-Nova," a 1977 documentary about the Armenian poet who inspired "The Color of Pomegranates"; an essay by film scholar Ian Christie. (The Criterion Collection).
The Commuter
(2017) Liam Neeson, Vera Farmiga, Patrick Wilson, Jonathan Banks, Sam Neill, Elizabeth McGovern. Liam Neeson stars as an insurance salesman whose commute home suddenly takes a dangerous turn. Formats: DVD, Blu-ray/DVD Combo, 4k Ultra HD/Blu-ray Combo, VOD, Digital. Extras: “End of the Line” featurette, “Off the Rails” featurette. (Lionsgate).
Doris Day: A Sentimental Journey
(1991) A celebration of one of Hollywood's biggest and most beloved stars. Doris Day began her legendary career as a big band singer in the 1940s, made her motion picture debut in 1948 and became box office magic for the next two decades in musicals, comedies and dramas such as "Calamity Jane," "The Man Who Knew Too Much," "The Pajama Game," "Please Don't Eat the Daisies," "The Thrill of It All" and three iconic romantic comedies with Rock Hudson, including her Oscar-nominated "Pillow Talk." In the late 1960s, Doris moved to television with her top-10 self-titled sitcom followed by music specials in the 1970s and "Doris Day's Best Friends" in the 1980s. Since retiring from show business, Day has devoted herself to her first love with the Doris Day Animal Foundation.This documentary details her dramatic life story and career, guided by Doris along with famous friends (Betty White, Clint Eastwood) and admirers (film critics Roger Ebert and Molly Haskell). Also featured is rare footage and archival materials from the star's own collection. Formats: DVD. (Dark Sky Films/MPI).
Humor Me
(2017) Jemaine Clement, Elliott Gould,Ingrid Michaelson, Annie Potts, Bebe Neuwirth. With an interminable case of writer’s block and a personal family crisis, playwright Nate (Clement) is forced to move into his father’s (Elliott Gould) retirement community. But a chance encounter with the local community theatre group may help turn his life around -- or signal the end of his once promising career for good. Formats: DVD, Blu-ray, VOD. Extras: Commentary with writer-director Sam Hoffman and producer Courtney Potts, deleted scenes, trailer. (Shout! Factory).
Katharine Graham (Streep), the first female publisher of a major American newspaper, and editor Ben Bradlee (Hanks), as they race to catch up with The New York Times to expose a massive cover-up of government secrets that spanned three decades and four U.S. Presidents. Formats: DVD, Blu-ray/DVD Combo, 4K Ultra HD/Blu-ray Combo, VOD, Digital. Extras: "The Style Section: Re-Creating an Era," "Stop the Presses: Filming The Post," "Arts and Entertainment: Music for The Post." Blu-ray adds "Layout: Katharine Graham, Ben Bradlee & The Washington Post," "Editorial: The Cast and Characters of The Post." (Fox).
Seijun Suzuki: The Early Years. Vol. 2 Limited Edition
Boundary-breaking early crime thrillers, mob dramas and action movies from legendary cult director Seijun Suzuki. Includes: "Eight Hours of Terror" (1957), "The Sleeping Beast Within" (1960), "Smashing the 0-Line" (1960), "Tokyo Knights" (1961), "The Man with a Shotgun" (1961). Available for home-viewing for the very first time ever outside of Japan, this collection of bleak crime thrillers, brash mob dramas and exuberant action movies, made across the first five years of Seijun Suzuki's career within Nikkatsu's Borderless Action (mukokuseki akushon) line, presents a heady mix that laid the ground for what was to come. "The Sleeping Beast Within" (1960) is a gripping crime thriller that sees a newspaper reporter's search for his girlfriend's missing father lead him into heart of the criminal underworld of Yokohama's Chinatown. Its companion piece, "Smashing the 0-Line" (1960), follows two reporters' descent into a scabrous demimonde of drug and human trafficking. In "Eight Hours of Terror" (1957), a bus making its precarious way across a winding mountain road picks up some unwelcome passengers. In "Tokyo Knights" (1961), a college student takes over the family business in the field of organized crime, while "The Man with a Shotgun" (1961) marks Suzuki's first entry into the territory of the "borderless" Japanese Western. Formats: Blu-ray/DVD Combo. Extras: Audio commentary by critic and author Jasper Sharp on "Smashing the 0-Line"; "Tony Rayns on the Crime and Action Movies" in which the critic and historian discusses the background to the films, their place within Suzuki’s career and the talent involved with them; trailers; stills gallery; reversible sleeves featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Graham Humphreys; 60-page illustrated collector's book featuring new writing by Jasper Sharp. (Arrow Video/MVD Entertainment).
Sleeping Dogs
(1977) Adapted from C.K. Stead's novel "Smith's Dream," "Sleeping Dogs" almost single-handedly kickstarted the New Zealand New Wave, demonstrating that homegrown feature films could resonate with both local and international audiences, and launching the big-screen careers of director Roger Donaldson ("No Way Out," "Species") and Sam Neill ("Jurassic Park," "Possession"). Neill -- in his first lead role in a feature -- plays Smith, a man escaping the break-up of his marriage by finding isolation on an island off the Coromandel Peninsula. As he settles into his new life, the country is experiencing its own turmoil: an oil embargo has led to martial law and civil war, into which Smith reluctantly finds himself increasingly involved. Co-starring Warren Oates as the commander of a US army unit drawn into the conflict, "Sleeping Dogs" is simultaneously a political thriller, a personal drama and a true landmark in New Zealand cinema. Formats: Blu-ray. Extras: Commentary by writer-director Roger Donaldson, actor Sam Neill and actor-writer Ian Mune; "The Making of Sleeping Dogs' (2004), a 65-minute retrospective documentary on the film's production featuring interviews with Donaldson, Neill, Mune, Geoff Murphy; "The Making of Sleeping Dogs" (1977), a contemporary behind-the-scenes documentary featuring interviews with Donaldson and Neill; theatrical trailer; reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Sean Phillips; First Pressing Only: Illustrated collector's booklet featuring new writing on the film by Neil Mitchell, a contemporary review by Pauline Kael and the original press book. (Arrow Academy/MVD Entertainment).
A Taxi Driver
(2017 -- South Korea) Song Kang-Ho, Thomas Kretschmann, Yoo Hai-Jin, Ryu Jun-Yeol. In this powerful true story set in 1980, a down-on-his-luck taxi driver from Seoul is hired by a foreign journalist who wants to go to the town of Gwangju for the day. They arrive to find a city under siege by the military government, with the citizens, led by a determined group of college students, rising up to demand freedom. What began as an easy fare becomes a life-or-death struggle in the midst of the Gwangju Uprising, a critical event in the history of modern South Korea. South Korea's official entry in the 2018 Academy Awards best foreign-language film category. Formats: Blu-ray. (Well Go USA).
© 1996 -- 2018 OnVideo. All rights reserved
April 16, 2018
(ISSN 1094-3676).
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