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OnVideo's Weekly Guide to Home Video Releases
Autumn Road: Halloween-flavored horror drama follows a young woman who returns to her hometown ten years after her sister vanished trick-or-treating and becomes wrapped up with two brothers who run a haunted house. (Digital, VOD only)
Clerk.: An extensive all access documentary examining the life and career of indie filmmaking icon Kevin Smith. Featuring never before seen interviews with friends, family, filmmaking peers, and icons of the film, comedy and comic worlds. (Digital only)
Copshop: On the run from a lethal assassin, a wily con artist devises a scheme to hide out inside a small-town police station -- but when the hitman turns up at the precinct, an unsuspecting rookie cop finds herself caught in the crosshairs. (DVD, Blu-ray release: December 7)
Dear Evan Hansen: Ben Platt steps back into Evan Hansen’s shoes one last time with an incredible final performance in the powerful film adaptation of the remarkable generation-defining Broadway musical (DVD, Blu-ray release: December 7)
Pups Alone: Get ready for hilarious canine holiday hijinks. While everyone is away on a company ski trip, a jealous inventor hires two thieves to break into his co-worker’s house and steal his top secret new creation. But they are no match for a mischievous pack of neighborhood pups. (DVD release: Day & date)
Raging Fire: Bong (Donnie Yen) is a highly respected hardline cop with a long history of success on dangerous cases. His past unexpectedly comes back to haunt him when a sting operation is attacked by a mysterious group of criminals led by Ngo (Nicholas Tse), Bong's former protégé, a talented former officer who had once respected and admired him. (DVD, Blu-ray release: Day & date)
Venom: Let There Be Carnage: Tom Hardy returns to the big screen as the lethal protector Venom, one of MARVEL’s greatest and most complex characters. One year after the events of the previous movie, Eddie Brock is struggling to adjust to a shared life with his symbiote Venom. (DVD, Blu-ray release: December 14)
Welcome to the Show: An invitation to a mysterious theatre piece, “The Show,” sends four best friends down a rabbit hole of mistrust and confusion as they try to figure out who are the actors, who is the audience, who is doing this to them, and why. (Digital, VOD only: Comcast, Amazon Prime Video, Peacock, Spectrum, Apple TV, Dish, Google Play, and DirecTV)
American Night
(2021) Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Emile Hirsch, Paz Vega, Jeremy Piven, Anastacia. Art and life collide in this neo-noir thriller. When a highly coveted Andy Warhol painting suddenly surfaces, it triggers a chain reaction of danger-filled events for a colorful group of characters including: a forger turned art dealer (Rhys Meyers); a mobster and painter (Hirsch) with a penchant for scorpions; a seductive museum conservator (Vega); and a stuntman and wannabe ninja (Piven). Filled with daring double-crosses and surprising twists and turns.
Formats: DVD, Blu-ray, VOD, Digital. (Lionsgate). Read more here
Apache Junction
(2021) Trace Adkins, Stuart Townsend, Scout Taylor-Compton, Thomas Jane, Ed Morrone, Danielle Gross. Apache Junction is an outpost of lawlessness, a haven for thieves and cold-blooded killers. After big-city reporter Annabelle Angel (Taylor-Compton) arrives to write an article on the town, she becomes a target when notorious gunslinger Jericho Ford (Townsend) comes to her aid. Now Annabelle must entrust her future to a man with a deadly past, as Jericho heads toward a tense showdown in this thrilling Western that unloads a double-barreled blast of action. Formats: DVD, Blu-ray + Digital. Extras: "True Western: Making Apache Junction," commentary with cast and crew. (Lionsgate).
Escape From Death Block 13
(2021) Robert Bronzi, Nicholas Turturro, Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs, Chris Hahn, Debbie Scaletta. After the death of his brother, Mick Kovacs travels to America to seek justice. Framed for attempted murder, he is sent to the notorious Pleasant Hill Penitentiary where survival is an everyday struggle. Seeking revenge after discovering the truth behind his brother’s death, Mick’s rage ignites an explosive riot as he makes a daring escape. Formats: DVD, VOD. (Uncork’d Entertainment). Read more here
Pups Alone
(2021) Voices of Jerry O’Connell, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Rob Schneider, Dolph Lundgren, Tyler Hollinger, Isadora Swann, Nicholas Turturro with Eric Roberts, Danny Trejo, Keith David and Malcolm McDowell. Get ready for hilarious canine holiday hijinks. While everyone is away on a company ski trip, a jealous inventor hires two thieves to break into his co-worker’s house and steal his top secret new creation. But they are no match for a mischievous pack of neighborhood pups, who set up tricks and traps to protect the home and save Christmas. Formats: DVD, VOD, Digital.(Paramount). Read more here
The Sesame Street: Wonderful World of Friends
(2021) Contains over 2 hours of fun. With songs and segments from the show, kids will celebrate cultural traditions and meet international visitors on Sesame Street: Friends from around the world gather for an international food festival; Telly and Zoe help Leela celebrate the Indian holiday Rakhi; and Rosita shares what being Mexican means to her. Special guests Alessia Cara, Billy Porter, Josh Groban, and John Legend join in this special celebration of friendship. Formats: DVD, Digital. Extras: "A Very Sesame Thanksgiving," "The Magical Wand Chase: A Sesame Street Special." (Sesame Workshop/Shout! Kids).
The Thin Man Goes Home BLU-RAY DEBUT
(1944) William Powell, Myrna Loy, Lucile Watson, Gloria De Haven, Anne Revere. William Powell and Myrna Loy reunite as amateur sleuths Nick and Nora Charles in this penultimate 5th entry to the beloved, long-running series of mystery comedies that began a decade earlier. Outlaws come and go in Nick and Nora’s lives. Now it’s time to meet the in-laws. The debonair sleuths leave little Nicky Jr. at boarding school, grab Asta and head to Nick’s boyhood home of Sycamore Springs. Of course, wherever they go, murder has a way of showing up on the doorstep. Nick can show off his gumshoe talents for his parents when an artist is killed. And he’ll do it without customary liquid inspirations… because Nick is on the wagon. Formats: Blu-ray. Extras: Classic M-G-M Robert Benchley short “Why, Daddy?,” classic M-G-M Tex Avery cartoon “Screwball Squirrel,” original theatrical trailer. (Warner Archive).
November 23
Citizen Kane
(1941) In the most dazzling debut feature in cinema history, 25-year-old writer-producer-director-star Orson Welles synthesized the possibilities of sound-era filmmaking into what could be called the first truly modern movie. In telling the story of the meteoric rise and precipitous fall of a William Randolph Hearst–like newspaper magnate named Charles Foster Kane, Welles not only created the definitive portrait of American megalomania, he also unleashed a torrent of stylistic innovations -- from the jigsaw-puzzle narrative structure to the stunning deep-focus camera work of Gregg Toland -- that have ensured that "Citizen Kane" remains fresh and galvanizing for every new generation of moviegoers to encounter it.
Formats: 4-disc 4K UHD/Blu-ray combo and 3-disc Blu-ray, with new 4K digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack. In the 4K UHD edition: One 4K UHD disc of the film is presented in Dolby Vision HDR and three Blu-rays with the film and special features Extras: Three audio commentaries: from 2021 featuring Orson Welles scholars James Naremore and Jonathan Rosenbaum, from 2002 featuring filmmaker Peter Bogdanovich, and from 2002 featuring film critic Roger Ebert; "The Complete Citizen Kane,” (1991), a rarely seen feature-length BBC documentary; new interviews with critic Farran Smith Nehme and film scholar Racquel J. Gates; new video essay by Orson Welles scholar Robert Carringer; new program on the film’s special effects by film scholars and effects experts Craig Barron and Ben Burtt; interviews from 1990 with editor Robert Wise, actor Ruth Warrick, optical-effects designer Linwood Dunn, Bogdanovich, filmmakers Martin Scorsese, Henry Jaglom, Martin Ritt, and Frank Marshall, and cinematographers Allen Daviau, Gary Graver, and Vilmos Zsigmond; new documentary featuring archival interviews with Welles; interviews with actor Joseph Cotten from 1966 and 1975; "The Hearts of Age," a brief silent film made by Welles as a student in 1934; television programs from 1979 and 1988 featuring appearances by Welles and Mercury Theatre producer John Houseman; program featuring a 1996 interview with actor William Alland on his collaborations with Welles; selection of The Mercury Theatre on the Air radio plays featuring many of the actors from "Citizen Kane"; trailer. (The Criterion Collection).
Deep Blues BLU-RAY DEBUT
(1992) In 1990, commissioned by award-winning musician, songwriter, producer, innovator and Eurythmics co-founder Dave Stewart, veteran music film director Robert Mugge and renowned music scholar Robert Palmer ventured deep into the heart of the North Mississippi Hill Country and Mississippi Delta to seek out the best rural blues acts currently working. Starting on Beale Street in Memphis, they headed south to the juke joints, lounges, front porches, and parlors of Holly Springs, Greenville, Clarksdale, Bentonia, and Lexington. Along the way, they visited celebrated landmarks and documented talented artists cut off from the mainstream of the recording industry. The resulting film expresses reverence for the rich musical history of the region, spotlighting local performers, soon to be world-renowned, thanks in large part to the film, and demonstrating how the blues continues to thrive in new generations of gifted musicians. Digitally restored in 4K. Formats: DVD, Blu-ray. Extras:
New audio commentary by director Robert Mugge, "Deep Blues Behind-the-Scenes." (Film Movement).
Menace II Society
(1993) Directors Albert and Allen Hughes and screenwriter Tyger Williams were barely into their twenties when they sent shock waves through American cinema and hip-hop culture with this fatalistic, unflinching vision of life and death on the streets of Watts, Los Angeles, in the 1990s. There, in the shadow of the riots of 1965 and 1992, young Caine (Tyrin Turner) is growing up under the influence of his ruthless, drug-dealing father (Samuel L. Jackson, in a chilling cameo) and his loose-cannon best friend, O-Dog (Larenz Tate), leading him into a spiral of violent crime from which he is not sure he wants to escape, despite the best efforts of his grandparents and the steadfast Ronnie (Jada Pinkett). Fusing grim realism with a propulsively stylish aesthetic honed through the Hughes brothers’ work on rap videos, "Menace II Society" is a searing cautionary tale about the devastating human toll of hopelessness.
Formats: 2-disc 4K UHD/Blu-ray Combo, Blu-ray, with new 4K digital restoration of the directors’ cut of the film, supervised by cinematographer Lisa Rinzler and co-director Albert Hughes, with 7.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack. In the 4K UHD edition: One 4K UHD disc of the film presented in Dolby Vision HDR and one Blu-ray with the film and special features. Original 2.0 surround soundtrack, presented in DTS-HD Master Audio. Extras: Two audio commentaries from 1993 featuring directors Albert and Allen Hughes; "Gangsta Vision," a 2009 featurette on the making of the film; new conversation among Albert Hughes, screenwriter Tyger Williams, and film critic Elvis Mitchell; new conversation among Allen Hughes, actor and filmmaker Bill Duke, and Mitchell; interview from 1993 with the directors; deleted scenes; film-to-storyboard comparison; trailer; an essay by film critic Craig D. Lindsey. (The Criterion Collection).
Phantom of the Mall: Eric's Revenge [Limited Edition}
(1989) With numerous interpretations of Gaston Leroux's classic novel "The Phantom of the Opera" having been turned out over the years, it was only a matter of time before the slasher genre decided to take a stab at the tale - step forward 1989's "Phantom of the Mall: Eric's Revenge"! High school sweethearts Eric Matthews and Melody Austin are so in love, but their youthful romance is cut tragically short when Eric apparently dies in a fire that engulfs his family home. One year later and Melody is trying to move on with her life, taking up a job at the newly built Midwood Mall along with her friends. But the mall, which stands on the very site of Eric's former home, has an uninvited guest - a shadowy, scarred figure that haunts its airducts and subterranean passageways, hellbent on exacting vengeance on the mall's crooked developers. Directed by Richard Friedman ("Scared Stiff," "Doom Asylum"), and featuring star turns from Pauly Shore and Morgan Fairchild. Includes three versions of the feature: Original Theatrical Cut, TV Cut and bonus Integral Fan Cut. Formats: Blu-ray. Extras: 60-page fully-illustrated perfect-bound book featuring new writing by Daniel Budnik and Amanda Reyesl; large fold-out double-sided poster featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Justin Osbourn; six postcard-sized lobby card reproductions; limited edition packaging with reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Justin Osbourn; audio commentary with director Richard Friedman, moderated by filmmaker Michael Felsher; new audio commentary with disc producer Ewan Cant and film historian/author Amanda Reyes; "Shop Til’ You Drop!: The Making of Phantom of the Mall"; "The Vandals Go to the Mall" interview with Joe Escalante of The Vandals on the creation of the "Phantom of the Mall" theme song; alternate and deleted scenes from the TV cut; domestic and international trailers; image gallery; Scott J. Schneid and Tony Michelman's original script and associated special effects storyboards by Alec Gillis and Tom Woodruff, Jr. [BD-ROM Content]. (Arrow Video/MVD Entertainment). Read more here.
Raging Fire
(2021 -- Hong Kong) Donnie Yen, Nicholas Tse, Patrick Tam, Kenny Wong, Deep Ng, Jeana Ho, Lui Leung Wai, Simon Yam. Bong (Yen) is a highly respected hardline cop with a long history of success on dangerous cases. However, his past unexpectedly comes back to haunt him when a sting operation is attacked by a mysterious group of criminals led by Ngo (Tse), his former protégé, a talented former officer who had once respected and admired Bong. However, a terrible mistake years prior landed him in prison, quickly turning the once rising star into a furious man with a grudge, and the will to destroy everyone who had wronged him -- including his former mentor. With a new English dub. Formats: DVD, Blu-ray, VOD, Digital. (Well Go USA). Read more here
forced to grow up quickly when her father dies and she finds herself next in line as the boss of a moribund yakuza clan. Wrenched from the security of her classroom and thrust into the heart of the criminal underworld, she must come to terms with the fact that her actions hold the key to the life or death of the men under her command as they come under fire from rival gangs. Presented in both its original theatrical and longer complete versions, and the first time one of Somai's films has been released on home video in the West, this landmark work from his early career was responsible for launching teen talent Hiroko Yakushimaru as the iconic face of a generation, with the catchy theme song she performs indelibly etched into the zeitgeist of early-1980s Japan. High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentations of the original theatrical version and the 1982 complete version (kanpeki-ban) re-issue of the film, restored by Kadokawa Pictures from a 4K scan of the original negative. Formats: Blu-ray. Extras: "Girls, Guns and Gangsters: Shinji Somai & Sailor Suit & Machine Gun," an exclusive new 50-minute documentary; original trailers and TV spots for both versions; image gallery; reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Michael Lomon; *FIRST PRESSING ONLY: Illustrated collector's booklet featuring new writing on the film by Aaron Gerow and Alex Zahlten, and a discussion between the film's star Hiroko Yakushimaru and acclaimed director Kiyoshi Kurosawa, who was an assistant on the film. (Arrow Video/MVD Entertainment). Read more here.
The Snake Girl and the Silver-haired Witch
(1968 -- Japan) Yûko Hamada, Kazuo Umezu, Mariko Fukuhara, Yachie Matsui. A classic horror manga comes to life. A fantastically phantasmagorical slice of twisted tokusatsu terror ostensibly made for children that will irreparably traumatize any child that sees it. A young girl named Sayuri is reunited with her estranged family after years in an orphanage - but trouble lurks within the walls of the large family home. Her mother is an amnesiac after a car accident six months earlier, her sullen sister is confined to the attic and a young housemaid dies inexplicably of a heart attack just before Sayuri arrives ... is it all connected to her father's work studying venomous snakes? And is the fanged, serpentine figure that haunts Sayuri's dreams the same one spying on her through holes in the wall? Making its worldwide Blu-ray debut and its home video premiere outside Japan, this rarely-screened, nightmarishly disorienting creepshow not only displays a seldom-seen side of kaiju auteur Noriaki Yuasa, but its skilful blending of director Kazuo Umezu's comics (published in English-language markets as Reptilia) arguably anticipates many of the trends seen in J-horror decades later. Formats: Blu-ray. Extras: New commentary by film historian David Kalat; "This Charming Woman," a newly filmed interview with manga and folklore scholar Zack Davisson; theatrical trailer; image gallery; reversible sleeve featuring new and original artwork by Mike Lee-Graham; FIRST PRESSING ONLY: Illustrated collectors’ booklet featuring new writing by Raffael Coronelli.(Arrow Video/MVD Entertainment).
Two From Sergei Eisenstein: October & Alexander Nevsky
Born in Riga, Latvia in 1898, Sergei Eisenstein brought Russian history to life and to the masses through a blend of avant-garde filmmaking and Communist propaganda. A director and film theorist, he was perhaps best known for being the father of the film montage and despite his relatively small output, he’s regarded as one of cinema's chief architects whose influence transcended national and political boundaries. "October" (1928): Officially produced to commemorate the 10-year anniversary of the Russian Revolution, "October" quickly became another of Sergei Eisenstein's experiments in film form. As in his masterpiece, "Battleship Potemkin," Eisenstein uses explosive montage to create the spirit of revolution -- in this case, the events in St. Petersburg during the months leading up to the Bolshevik revolt. Given complete access to the city – including the Czar’s Winter Palace -- Eisenstein utilized non-actors to recount history from a political perspective. There is no main character in "October"; no one person, not Lenin not a minister or Bolshevik is singled out. The hero of the film, as Eisenstein saw it, is the proletariat. Its triumph, its victory, is the Revolution, and Eisenstein's insistence on speaking the language of pure film shoves his mad rush of images straight into the viewer's mind in an unforgettable way. "Alexander Nevsky" (1938): Ten years after "October," upon returning from Hollywood and Mexico, Eisenstein changed his cinematic approach, leaving behind the densely edited style of his celebrated silent films, turning instead to historical sources, contradictory audiovisuals, and theatrical sets for this grandiose yet subversive sound-era work. Eisenstein's landmark tale of Russia thwarting the German invasion of the 13th century was wildly popular and quite intentional, given the prevailing Nazi geopolitical advancement and destruction at the time. In 1242, Russia in being invaded by two sides: from the orient by the Mongols and from Europe by the German Teutonic Knights of the Holy Roman Empire. The last free city in Russia, Novgorod, calls the Prince Aleksandr Nevsky, who had defeated the Swedish in a previous battle, to defend the city. Featuring some of the most beautiful imagery ever put on film, a majestic music score from Prokofiev and a dazzling, climactic battle on a frozen lake. Formats: DVD, Digital. (Corinth Films). 
Uncut Gems
(2019) This jolt of pure cinematic adrenaline affirmed directors Josh and Benny Safdie as heirs to the gritty, heightened realism of Martin Scorsese and John Cassavetes. Adam Sandler delivers an almost maniacally embodied performance as Howard Ratner, a fast-talking New York jeweler in relentless pursuit of the next big score. When he comes into possession of a rare opal, it seems Howard’s ship has finally come in -- as long as he can stay one step ahead of a wife (Idina Menzel) who hates him, a mistress (Julia Fox) who can’t quit him, and a frenzy of loan sharks and hit men closing in on him. Wrapping a vivid look at the old-school Jewish world of Manhattan’s Diamond District within a kinetic thriller, "Uncut Gems" gives us a tragic hero of competing compulsions on a shoot-the-moon quest to transcend his destiny.
Formats: DVD, Blu-ray, 4K Ultra HD, with 4K digital transfer, with Dolby Atmos soundtrack on the Blu-ray. Extras: Audio commentary from 2019 featuring writer-directors Josh Safdie and Benny Safdie, writer and editor Ronald Bronstein, and producer Sebastian Bear-McClard; new interviews with cinematographer Darius Khondji, costume designer Miyako Bellizzi, and casting director Jennifer Venditti; documentaries from 2019 and 2020 on the making of the film and soundtrack; screen test featuring actors Adam Sandler and Julia Fox; "Goldman v. Silverman," a 2020 short film by the Safdies, featuring Sandler and Benny Safdie; “Question & Answer,” a 2020 short film featuring the Safdies, Sandler, actor Jason Bateman, and comedy writer Megan Amram; deleted and extended scenes, including a full performance of “The Morning” by the Weeknd; trailer; an essay by film critic J. Hoberman and, for the 4K UHD and Blu-ray, a 2020 discussion of the film by the editorial staff of Jewish Currents magazine. (The Criterion Collection). Read more here.
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November 21, 2021
(ISSN 1094-3676).
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