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OnVideo's Weekly Guide to Home Video Releases
April 25:
Fifty Shades Darker Unrated: Sequel to "Fifty Shades of Grey." While Christian wrestles with his inner demons, Anastasia must confront the anger and envy of the women who came before her. (DVD, Blu-ray release: May 9)
Animal Kingdom: The Complete First Season
(2016) All 10 episodes. Inspired by the critically acclaimed 2010 Australian movie by the same name, the series centers on 17-year-old "J" Cody, who moves in with his freewheeling relatives in their Southern California beach town after his mother dies of an overdose.
Headed by boot-tough matriarch "Smurf" Cody and her right-hand Baz, who runs the business and calls the shots, the clan also consists of Pope, the oldest and most dangerous of the Cody boys; Craig, the tough and fearless middle son; and Deran, the troubled, suspicious "baby" of the family. It isn't long before J is pulled into the family's life of indulgence and excess, but he soon discovers that it's all being funded by criminal activities. Joining the family comes with more danger and excitement than he might be ready to handle. Formats: Three-disc DVD, two-disc Blu-ray, VOD, Digital, UltraViolet (cloud). Extras: Deleted scenes; six featurettes: "Inside Animal Kingdom," "Animal Kingdom: Stunts," "Meet the Codys," "Getting Into Character," "Setting the Stage," "Family Comes First." (Warner).
Catfight
(2017) Sandra Oh, Anne Heche, Alicia Silverstone. An outrageously madcap and political dark comedy follows the rivalry between one-time college pals Veronica (Oh) and Ashley (Heche), whose old wounds are violently ripped open after an unexpected reunion at a cocktail party. Teeth are bared, roles are reversed, and blood is drawn as each woman jockeys for dominance and refuses to go down without a fight. Formats: DVD, Blu-ray Disc. (Dark Sky Films/MPI).
Detour
(2016) Tye Sheridan, Emory Cohen, Bel Powley Harper. A naive young law student (Tye Sheridan) blindly enters into a pact with a volatile grifter who offers to kill his stepfather, whom he feels is responsible for the accident that sent his mother into a coma. Complicating matters is the man's stripper companion, Cherry. Formats: DVD, Blu-ray Disc, Digital. Extras: "A Detour With the Cast and Crew: The Characters & Filmmaking," interviews with writer-director Christopher Smith and actor Tye Sheridan, theatrical trailer. (Magnolia Home Entertainment).
La La Land
(2016) Ryan Gosling, Emma Stone, John Legend, Rosemarie DeWitt, J.K.
Simmons. Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling star as Mia and Sebastian, an
actress and a jazz musician pursuing their Hollywood dreams — and
finding each other — in a vibrant celebration of hope, dreams, and
love. Formats: DVD, Blu-ray/DVD Combo, 4K Ultra HD/Blu-ray Combo,
VOD, Digital,
UltraViolet (cloud). Extras: Audio Commentary with
writer-director Damien Chazelle and composer Justin Hurwitz; “Another
Day of Sun: They Closed Down a Freeway” featurette; “La La Land's Love
Letter To Los Angeles” featurette; “Ryan and Emma: Third Time’s the
The Marine 5: Battleground
(2017) Mike “The Miz” Mizanin, Curtis Axel, Bo Dallas, Maryse, Naomi, Heath Slater, Anna Van Hooft. The fifth installment of the Marine franchise. After returning stateside and now working as an EMT, Jake Carter (Mike "The Miz" Mizanin) finds himself trapped with an injured, marked man he's sworn to save. As a ruthless biker gang bent on revenge gains speed, Carter must use his killer Marine instincts to end the rampage. Formats: DVD, Blu-ray Disc, Digital. Extras: Two featurettes: "Superstar Studded” and “Evening the Odds.” (Sony).
Mifune: The Last Samurai
(2015) Documentary explores the accidental movie career of Toshiro Mifune, one of the true
Peanuts by Schulz: Go Team Go!
(2017) New collection features sports-themed cartoons from the newly
launched "Peanuts" cable television series. Two-disc DVD set includes
19 episodes. The new cartoons are based directly on original Peanuts print comics,
which are brought to life via beautifully animated vignettes that
recreate the look and feel of Schulz’s iconic strip.
Formats: DVD. (Warner).
Tampopo
Those Left Behind
(2017) Daphne Zuniga, Michael Hogan, Debra Mooney, Jack Griff. A family finally comes to terms with the grief over their son's suicide 25 years earlier. Formats: DVD, VOD, Digital. (Random Media).
Underworld: Blood Wars
(2017) Kate Beckinsale, Theo James, Lara Pulver, Alicia Vela-Bailey, Charles Dance, Tobias Menzies. Vampire death dealer Selene (Kate Beckinsale) fights to end the eternal war between the Lycan clan and the Vampire faction that betrayed her. Formats: DVD, Blu-ray Disc, 4K Ultra HD/Blu-ray Combo, VOD, Digital, UltraViolet (cloud). Extras: Two featurettes: "Old and New Blood" and "The Evil Evolved." Blu-ray adds two additional featurettes: "The Evolution of Selene" and "Building a Blood War." (Sony).
The Vampire Bat
(1933) Lionel Atwill, Fay Wray, Melvyn Douglas, Dwight Frye. When corpses drained of blood begin surfacing in the small European village of Kleines Schloss, town elders suspect a vampire is on the loose, but policeman Karl Brettschneider doubts the existence of such blood-sucking creatures. Arguing the contrary is mad scientist Dr. Otto von Niemann, who is caring for the patients and terrifying his lab assistant, Brettschneider’s love interest Ruth Bertin. Amid mass hysteria, fingers point at the village idiot, Herman Gleib, who has a creepy affinity for bats. But after local vigilantes eliminate him from the picture, the killings continue -- and Brettschneider tries to keep a cool head as he reluctantly starts searching for supernatural answers. Digitally mastered from new 35mm film elements preserved by the UCLA Film & Television Archive. Formats: DVD, Blu-ray Disc. Extras: Melvyn Douglas featurette with his son, Gregory Hesselberg; audio commentary by film historian Sam Sherman. (The Film Detective).
La La Land
"La La Land" was the exhilarating widescreen musical that set hearts thumping in the latter part of 2016, just in time to ameliorate (somewhat) a presidential election that tore the country apart. From the original and creative opening dance number staged on a freeway overpass during Los Angeles rush hour traffic to the alternative, dreamlike film ending, this original, post-modern musical was a breath of fresh air with gorgeous visuals, flashy dance sequences, catchy songs, and jazzy score -- not to mention terrific performances by Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling (who woulda thought he could be so cute AND sing and dance). The storyline -- kind of "New York, New York" meets "The Umbrellas of Cherbourg" -- follows Stone and Gosling as Mia, an aspiring actress, and Sebastian, a dedicated jazz musician, who are struggling to make ends meet in a city known for crushing hopes and breaking hearts; it's an uplifting movie about everyday life that explores the joy and pain of pursuing your dreams. Winner of six Academy Awards (Stone won for Best Actress) and a record-breaking seven Golden Globes.
Vitals: Director: Damien
Chazelle. Stars: Ryan Gosling, Emma Stone, John Legend, Rosemarie
DeWitt, J.K. Simmons.
2016, CC, MPAA rating: PG-13, 128 min., Musical, Box office gross: $148.644
million, Lionsgate.
Extras: Audio Commentary
with writer-director Damien Chazelle and composer Justin Hurwitz;
“Another Day of Sun: They Closed Down a Freeway” featurette; “La La
Land's Love Letter To Los Angeles” featurette; “Ryan and Emma: Third
Time’s the Charm” featurette; song selection. Blu-ray adds “La La Land's Great Party”
featurette; "Ryan Gosling: Piano Student” featurette; "Before
Whiplash: Damien Chazelle's Passion Project” featurette; "The Music of
La La Land” featurette; “John Legend's Acting Debut” featurette; “The
Look of Love: Designing La La Land” featurette; “Epilogue: The Romance
of the Dream” featurette that explores the unusual ending to the film;
"Damien & Justin Sing: The Demo." 
Underworld: Blood Wars
The next installment in the "Underworld" franchise (the fifth) follows Vampire death dealer Selene (Kate Beckinsale) as she fends off brutal attacks from both the Lycan clan and the Vampire faction that betrayed her. With her only allies, David (Theo James) and his father Thomas (Charles Dance), she must stop the eternal war between Lycans and Vampires, even if it means she has to make the ultimate sacrifice.
Vitals: Director: Anna Foerster. Stars: Kate Beckinsale, Theo James, Lara Pulver, Alicia Vela-Bailey, Charles Dance, Tobias Menzies.
2017, CC, MPAA rating: R, 91 min., Horror Thriller, Box office gross: $30.317
million, Sony.
Extras: Two featurettes: "Old and New Blood" and "The Evil Evolved." Blu-ray adds two additional featurettes: "The Evolution of Selene" and "Building a Blood War."
Caltiki the Immortal Monster
(1959 - Italy) Arrow Video presents a collaboration between two giants of Italian cult cinema -- Riccardo Freda ("The Vampires," "The Horrible Dr Hichcock") and Mario Bava ("Five Dolls for an August Moon," "Blood and Black Lace"). A team of archaeologists led by Dr John Fielding (John Merivale) descends on the ruins of an ancient Mayan city to investigate the mysterious disappearance of its inhabitants. However, the luckless explorers get more than they bargained for when their investigation of a sacrificial pool awakens the monster that dwells beneath its waters -- the fearsome and malevolent god Caltiki. Though Riccardo Freda received sole directing credit, a significant portion of the film was in fact the work of Mario Bava, who also served as its cinematographer and was responsible its striking special effects. Drawing on a diverse array of influences, from "The Quatermass Experiment" to the works of HP Lovecraft, "Caltiki the Immortal Monster" is a unique and unforgettable sci-fi chiller which showcases these two legendary filmmakers at their most inventive. Presented here for the first time in a newly restored high definition transfer: a new 2K restoration of the film from the original camera negative. Formats: Blu-ray/DVD Combo. Extras: New audio commentary by Tim Lucas, author of "Mario Bava: All the Colors of the Dark"; new audio commentary by Troy Howarth, author of "The Haunted World of Mario Bava" and "So Deadly, So Perverse: 50 Years of Italian Giallo Films"; "From Quatermass to Caltiki," a new discussion with author and critic Kim Newman on the influence of classic monster movies on "Caltiki"; "Riccardo Freda, Forgotten Master," an archival interview with critic Stefano Della Casa; "The Genesis of Caltiki", an archival interview with filmmaker Luigi Cozzi; archival introduction to the film by Stefano Della Casa; alternate opening titles for the U.S. version; reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Graham Humphreys. (Arrow Video/MVD Entertainment).
Django Prepare a Coffin
(1968 - Italy) Django the drifter returns in this classic sixties Spaghetti Western from Ferdinando Baldi ("Texas Addio," "Comin' At Ya!"), starring Terence Hill ("They Call Me Trinity") as the wandering gunslinger, hired as executioner to a corrupt local politician who is framing innocent men, sending them to hang in an evil scheme to take hold of their land. But Django has other ideas and, cleverly faking the deaths of the condemned men, he assembles them into a loyal gang who'll help him take down the boss, a man who had a hand in the death of Django's wife years before. New High Definition digital transfer of the film in the original 1.66:1 aspect ratio. Formats: Blu-ray/DVD Combo. Extras: "Django Explained," a new interview with Spaghetti Western expert and author Kevin Grant; original trailer. (Arrow Video/MVD Entertainment).
Charm” featurette; song selection. Blu-ray adds “La La Land's Great Party” featurette; "Ryan
Gosling: Piano Student” featurette; "Before Whiplash: Damien
Chazelle's Passion Project” featurette; "The Music of La La Land”
featurette; “John Legend's Acting Debut” featurette; “The Look of
Love: Designing La La Land” featurette; “Epilogue: The Romance of the
Dream” featurette that explores the unusual ending to the film;
"Damien & Justin Sing: The Demo."
(Lionsgate).
giants of world cinema. Mifune made 16 remarkable films with director Akira Kurosawa during the Golden Age of Japanese Cinema, including "Rashomon," "Seven Samurai" and "Yojimbo." Together they thrilled audiences and influenced filmmaking around the world, providing direct inspiration for not only "The Magnificent Seven" and Sergio Leone and Clint Eastwood’s breakthrough, "A Fistful of Dollars," but also George Lucas’ "Star Wars." Narrated By Keanu Reeves and with interviews with Martin Scorsese and Steven Spielberg. Formats: DVD. (Strand Releasing).
(1983) In this deeply personal tale of estrangement and reconciliation
between two rebellious brothers, set in a dreamlike and timeless
Tulsa, Francis Ford Coppola gives mythic dimensions to intimate,
painful emotions. After releasing the classically styled "The
Outsiders" earlier the same year, the director returned to the work of
S. E. Hinton, this time with a self-described “art film for
teenagers.” Graced with a remarkable cast headed by Matt Dillon,
Mickey Rourke, Diane Lane, Dennis Hopper, Diana Scarwid, Vincent
Spano, Nicolas Cage and Chris Penn; haunting black-and-white visuals
that hark back to German expressionism and forward to Coppola’s own
"Tetro"; and a powerful, percussive score by Stewart Copeland that
underscores the movie’s romantic fatalism, "Rumble Fish" pulsates
throughout with genuine love and dread.
Formats: DVD and Blu-ray. New 4K digital restoration,
supervised by director of photography Stephen H. Burum and approved by
Coppola, with 2.0 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack on the
Blu-ray.
Extras: Alternate
remastered 5.1 surround soundtrack, presented in DTS-HD Master Audio
on the Blu-ray; audio commentary featuring Coppola; new interviews
with Coppola, author and co-screenwriter S. E. Hinton, and associate
producer Roman Coppola; new conversation between Burum and production
designer Dean Tavoularis; pieces from 2005 about the film’s score and
production; interviews from 1983 with actors Dillon, Lane, and
Vincent Spano and producer Doug Claybourne; French television
interview from 1984 with actor Rourke; "Locations: Looking for Rusty
James," a 2013 documentary by Alberto Fuguet about the impact of
"Rumble Fish"; new piece about the film’s existentialist elements;
"Don’t Box Me In” music video; deleted scenes; trailer; an essay by
critic Glenn Kenny. (The Criterion Collection)
(1985 -- Japan) The tale of an eccentric band of culinary ronin who
guide the widow of a noodle shop owner on her quest for the perfect
recipe, this rapturous “ramen western” by Japanese director Juzo Itami
is an entertaining, genre-bending adventure underpinned by a deft
satire of the way social conventions distort the most natural of human
urges, our appetites. Interspersing the efforts of Tampopo (Nobuko
Miyamoto) and friends to make her café a success with the erotic
exploits of a gastronome gangster and glimpses of food culture both
high and low, the sweet, sexy, and surreal "Tampopo" is a lavishly
inclusive paean to the sensual joys of nourishment, and one of the
most mouthwatering examples of food on film ever made.
Formats: DVD and Blu-ray. New 4K digital restoration, with
uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray.
Extras: "The Making of
Tampopo,” a 90-minute documentary from 1986, narrated by director Juzo
Itami; new interview with actor Nobuko Miyamoto; new interviews with
ramen scholar Hiroshi Osaki; food stylist Seiko Ogawa; and American
chefs Sam White, Rayneil De Guzman, Jerry Jaksich, and others' "Rubber
Band Pistol," Itami’s 1962 debut short film; new video essay by Tony
Zhou and Taylor Ramos on the film’s themes of self-improvement and
mastery of a craft; trailer; an essay by food and culture writer Willy
Blackmore. (The Criterion Collection)
We Are X
(2017) Transcendent and beautifully shot rock ‘n' roll story about the
Japanese band X Japan, one of the biggest rock bands in the world.
Under the enigmatic direction of Yoshiki, composer,
classically-trained pianist, drummer/percussionist, and the creative
force behind the group, X JAPAN has sold over 30 million singles and
albums combined, captivating such a wide range of admirers such as Sir
George Martin, Gene Simmons, Marilyn Manson, Stan Lee, and the
Japanese Emperor, while pioneering a spectacle-driven style of visual
rock called Visual Kei, a one-of-a-kind cultural phenomenon. WE ARE X
is an astonishingly intimate portrait of a deeply haunted – but truly
unstoppable – virtuoso and the music that has enthralled legions of
the world's most devoted fans. Formats: DVD, Blu-ray Disc, VOD, Digital. (Magnolia Home Entertainment).
© 1996 -- 2017 OnVideo. All rights reserved
April 24, 2017
(ISSN 1094-3676).
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