New to View: Oct. 16
By Bob Bloom
The following titles are being released on Tuesday, Oct. 16, unless otherwise noted:
Ant-Man and the Wasp (Blu-ray + digital)
Details: 2018, Marvel Studios
Rated: PG-13, science fiction action and violence
The lowdown: “Ant-Man and the Wasp” is a fun respite, especially after the harrowing events in “Avengers: Infinity War.”
“Ant-Man and the Wasp” is a movie you can simply sit back and enjoy. It’s tethered to Earth — no aliens nor supervillains within a light year of the film.
It’s more action-comedy than a superhero saga.
The movie is confident and steady, a pleasant mixture of thrills, laughs and CGI, with a likable cast — mainly Paul Rudd as Scott Lang a k a Ant-man — and a straightforward storyline to hold your interest — at least till next year’s “Captain Marvel” and “Avengers” sequel.
Critics thought so as well, giving the movie an 88 percent fresh rating at Rottentomatoes.com.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 2.39:1 widescreen picture; English 7.1 DTS-HD Master Audio and 2.0 descriptive audio and French and Spanish 5.1 Dolby digital; English SDH, French and Spanish subtitles.
Don’t miss: Bonus materials include a featurette with Rudd as Lang both on and off the set, a gag reel, deleted scenes, a behind-the-scenes look at how some of the Wasp’s stunts were brought to life, a featurette on Michael Douglas and Michelle Pfeiffer and their characters, Hank Pym and Janet van Dyne, a featurette on the movie’s visual effects and an introduction by director Peyton Reed.
Elvis Presley: The Searcher (DVD + digital)
Details: 2018, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: This 3-plus-hour HBO documentary looks at Elvis Presley’s creative journey and the influences that shaped his music.
The move features never-before-seen footage, some from private collectors around the world, photos taken inside Graceland and interviews with his ex-wife Priscilla Presley, other musicians, session players, friends, producers and engineers who knew and worked with Elvis.
The movie, which focuses on Elvis’ constant search for self-expression, also features comments from Bruce Springsteen, the late Tom Petty and Emmylou Harris.
This DVD is a must for Elvis fans.
Technical aspects: 2.39:1 anamorphic widescreen picture; English 5.1 Dolby digital; English SDH and French subtitles.
Don’t miss: A conversation with Priscilla Presley, director Thom Zimmy, executive producer Jerry Schilling and Grammy Museum executive director Scott Goldman.
Eighth Grade (Blu-ray + digital)
Release date: Oct. 9
Details: 2018, Lionsgate Home Entertainment
Rated: R, language, sexual material
The lowdown: Writer-director Bo Burnham’s insightful look at adolescence follows Kayla (Elsie Fisher), a 13-year-old suffering through her last week of eighth grade.
Kayla is on the cusp of her teenage years, womanhood and, most importantly, high school.
The movie feels and sounds right, as it avoids many of the clichés found in similar projects.
Some of it may make you feel uncomfortable, but the film does touch on the impact of social media, not only on raising children, but on the interactions of teens amongst each other.
The movie was hailed by critics who gave it an impressive 99 percent fresh rating at Rottentomatoes.com.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 1.85:1 widescreen picture; English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio; English SDH and Spanish subtitles.
Don’t miss: Extras include deleted scenes, a commentary track with Burnham and Fisher, a featurette about the movie and a music video.
Don’t Worry, He Won’t Get Far on Foot (Blu-ray + digital)
Release date: Oct. 9
Details: 2018, Lionsgate Home Entertainment
Rated: R, language, sexual content, nudity, alcohol abuse
The lowdown: John Callahan was a talented individual.
He also was one beset by demons. Given up at birth by his mother, he turned to drink early in life to compensate for his feelings of abandonment and rejection.
Callahan was drunk as a passenger in a car driven by a friend who also was drunk.
They were in an accident in which the driver walked away with just a few bruises and scratches, while Callahan was paralyzed. Overnight, he became a quadriplegic.
The movie covers Callahan’s rough and winding road from alcoholism to sobriety, while exorcising his devils along the way.
On his journey to self-awareness, Callahan discovers he has a knack for drawing edgy, irreverent, sometimes politically incorrect cartoons that slowly begin to bring him recognition.
“Don’t Worry, He Won’t Get Far on Foot” is not a typical rags-to-riches biopic. Rather, it’s a case study of Callahan’s search for redemption and forgiveness.
Like most alcoholics, Callahan is selfish and self-centered, primarily thinking of where he is going to get his next drink.
After the car accident, he continues drinking, lying to himself that it is out of self-pity.
Finally, though, he enters Alcoholics Anonymous, where he begins to discover that he is the master of his own destiny.
Joaquin Phoenix as Callahan adds another strong performance to his resume. He again subjugates himself to the character, burying himself in the role.
Quite honestly, Callahan is rather unlikable in the beginning. But as the movie progresses, you begin to understand and like him more.
And while you may not absolve him from all his excesses, you can at least applaud his efforts in changing his life for the better.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 1.78:1 (16×9 enhanced) widescreen picture; English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio; English SDH and Spanish subtitles.
Don’t miss: Extras include behind-the-scenes looks inside the accident and hospital sequences.
City Slickers: Collector’s Edition (Blu-ray)
Details: 1991, Shout! Factory
Rated: PG-13, language, violence
The lowdown: Veteran Jack Palance won a supporting actor Academy Award for his performance in this comedy about a group of city folk who visit a New Mexico ranch to play cowboy and drive a herd of cattle.
Billy Crystal, Daniel Stern and Bruno Kirby star as three friends who have shared many adventures and decide to spend some time in the wide-open spaces among the tumbling tumbleweeds.
Of course, they get more than they bargained for — especially in Palance’s Curly, their tough trail boss, who offers them some valuable life lessons along the way.
The movie is a winning combination of sentiment and laughs, highlighted by the deadpan Palance.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 1.85:1 widescreen picture; English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio; English SDH subtitles.
Don’t miss: Bonus offerings include a quartet of featurettes — “Back in the Saddle: ‘City Slickers’ Revisited, “Bringing in the Script — Writing ‘City Slickers’ ” “A Star Is Born: An Ode to Norman” and “The Real ‘City Slickers’ ”; deleted scenes; and a commentary track.
The Affair: Season Four
Details: 2018, CBS DVD-Showtime Entertainment-Paramount Home Entertainment
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: A four-disc set featuring all 10 episodes of the Showtime series that looks at an affair and the toll it took on two marriages.
In this season, the four protagonists — Noah, Allison, Helen and Cole — are living separate lives, looking for new relationships and fresh starts.
But their pasts continue to haunt them, especially as the lives of the four still intersect.
The series is an adult drama about new beginnings and forgiveness.
Technical aspects: 16:9 full-screen picture; English 5.1 Dolby digital surround; English SDH subtitles.
Don’t miss: Character profiles and a featurette about the series are the major extras.
Schlock (Blu-ray)
Details: 1973, Arrow Video
Rated: PG
The lowdown: Filmmaker John Landis made his debut as a director, writer and actor in this low-budget spoof of horror movies shot over 12 days on a very small budget.
This very strange love story centers on the prehistoric ape, Schlocktropus (Landis), who emerges from hiding and begins a full-scale rampage across a quiet Southern California suburb.
The police and army are powerfulness to stop the mighty simian. But, Mindy (Eliza Garrett), a blind young woman, softens Schlock’s heart and offers the ape a road to redemption.
“Schlock” not only launched Landis’ career, but that of legendary makeup artist Rick Baker.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 1.85:1 widescreen picture; English LPCM monaural; English SDH subtitles.
Don’t miss: Extras include interviews with cinematographer Bob Collins, author and critic Kim Newman and Landis as well as a commentary track with Landis and Baker.
Dust 2 Glory (Blu-ray)
Details: 2017, Magnolia Home Entertainment
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: A documentary that focuses on the world’s toughest point-to-point desert race, the SCORE Baja 1000.
The movie, by filmmaker Dana Brown (“Step into Liquid,” “Highwater”), follows ATVs, motorcycles, trophy trucks and other vehicles as they race through the Baja Peninsula.
The race tests the endurance of drivers and their machines.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 1.78:1 widescreen picture; English Dolby Atmos; English SDH and Spanish subtitles.
Don’t miss: Supplemental offerings include interviews with Dana Brown and his father, Bruce Brown.
Buybust (Blu-ray + DVD)
Details: 2018, Well Go USA Entertainment
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: A thriller about an anti-narcotics special operative who survives a drug raid in which dirty cops tipped off her team resulting in the deaths of her fellow officers.
The operative, Nina Manigan (Anne Curtis), is chomping at the bit to go after the drug cartels that hold the city of Manila in their vise.
Her new mission in the city’s most dangerous slum goes wrong, and the angry citizens there turn on her new squad.
The officers are trapped between a bloodthirsty mob and lethal drug gang members. Their only option is to fight their way to freedom.
This is an action-packed, violent feature that will grab and hold you.
Technical aspects: Blu-ray: 1080p high definition, 2.35:1 (16×9 enhanced) widescreen picture; Filipino and English DTS-HD Master Audio; English subtitles; DVD: 2.35:1 (16×9 enhanced) widescreen picture; Filipino and English Dolby digital; English subtitles.
Don’t miss: Extras include a making of featurette and a 2018 Comic-Con panel discussion.
Other titles being released on Tuesday, unless otherwise indicated:
Around the World in 80 Anthems (Random Media)
Everything Is Wonderful (Random Media)
Generation Wealth (Lionsgate Home Entertainment)
Longing (DVD + VOD) (Breaking Glass Pictures)
Bonehill Road (Wild Eye Releasing, Oct. 9)
No Postage Necessary (Blu-ray) (Two Roads Picture Co., Oct. 2)
FOR KIDS
Nick Jr.: Snow Awesome (Nickelodeon-Paramount Home Entertainment)
DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, STREAMING or VOD
Johnny Gruesome (Uncork’d Entertainment)
The Queen of Hollywood Boulevard (Dark Star Pictures)
The Spy Who Dumped Me (Lionsgate Home Entertainment)
A Place to Call Home: Season 6, The Final Season, Episode 9 (Acorn TV, Oct. 22)
Rake: Season 5, The Final Season (Acorn TV, Oct. 22)
Young, Gifted & Classical: The Making of a Maestro (Acorn TV, Oct. 22)
I am a member of the Indiana Film Journalists Association. I review movies, Blu-rays and DVDs for ReelBob (ReelBob.com), The Film Yap and other print and online publications. I can be reached by email at bobbloomjc@gmail.com. You also can follow me on Twitter @ReelBobBloom and on Facebook. My movie reviews also can be found at Rottentomatoes: www.rottentomatoes.com.