New to View: April 16
By Bob Bloom
The following titles are being released
on Tuesday, April 16, unless otherwise noted:
Glass (Blu-ray + DVD + digital)
Details: 2019, Universal Studios Home Entertainment
Rated: PG-13, violence, disturbing and bloody images, language
The lowdown: M. Night Shyamalan’s “Glass” is less than half empty; it’s nearly drained.
This sequel to both his 2000 “Unbreakable” and 2016 “Split” is a total misfire in conception and presentation.
The premise had promise, bringing together Bruce Willis’ David Dunn and Samuel L. Jackson’s Elijah Price, alias Mr. Glass from “Unbreakable” and James McAvoy’s Kevin Wendell Crumb and his multiple personalities, as well as his surviving victim, Anya Taylor-Joy’s Casey Cooke from “Split.”
“Glass,” unfortunately, begins to crack after the first 20-plus minutes and shatters before the 129-minute fade-out, leaving behind shards of unfulfilled plot points, a convoluted story and a messy, lazy script that undercuts the few sound notions that writer-director Shyamalan devised.
The actors get little screen time together, which is unfortunate.
Overall, the movie is sloppy in concept and presentation.
The majority of critics believed the same, giving the movie a 37 percent fresh rating at Rottentomatoes.com.
Technical aspects: Blu-ray: 1080p high definition, 2.39:1 widescreen picture; English Dolby Atmos, English 2.0 DVS and French and Spanish 5.1 Dolby digital; English SDH, French and Spanish subtitles; DVD: 2.39:1 anamorphic widescreen picture; English, French and Spanish 5.1 Dolby digital and English 2.0 Dolby DVS: English SDH, French and Spanish subtitles.
Don’t miss: Bonus materials include an alternate opening, deleted scenes, a conversation with McAvoy and Shyamalan, a featurette on cast and crew members who have worked on several films with Shyamalan, an in-depth look at the face-off between Willis’ Dunn and McAvoy’s Beast, a featurette with Shyamalan revealing continuity secrets from the trilogy, a look at the movie’s stunts, a featurette exploring Shyamalan’s approach to the trilogy and the concept of creating a comic book movie grounded in reality; a look at Shyamalan’s approach to storytelling, a featurette on the movie’s musical score, a look at the special effects, a tour of Raven Hill Memorial Hospital and an examination of the storyboards.
The Kid Who Would Be King (Blu-ray + DVD + digital)
Details: 2019, Fox Home Entertainment
Rated: PG, fantasy action violence, scary images, bullying, language
The lowdown: The King Arthur legend is given a modern-day twist in this family-friendly feature that centers on Alex, a bullied kid who discovers the legendary sword, Excalibur.
He then begins training as a knight with the help of the wizard Merlin (Patrick Stewart).
One of Alex’s tasks is transforming his schoolyard antagonists into allies so he can become the leader who, with his new friends, can defeat the wicked Morgana and save the world.
This is a likeable and enjoyable feature that will enchant youngsters.
Critics fell under its spell, giving it a 90 percent fresh rating at Rottentomatoes.com.
Technical aspects: Blu-ray: 1080p high definition, 2.39:1 widescreen picture; English 7.1 DTS-HD Master Audio, English 5.1 descriptive audio and French and Spanish 5.1 Dolby digital; English SDH, French and Spanish subtitles; DVD: 2.39:1 widescreen picture; English 5.1 Dolby digital and 5.1 descriptive audio and French and Spanish 2.0 Dolby digital; English SDH, French and Spanish subtitles.
Don’t miss: Bonus options include an origin of the king featurette, deleted scenes, a knight school featurette, profiles of the young knights and a look at the two Merlins.
Escape at Dannemora
Details: 2018, Showtime Entertainment-Paramount Home Entertainment
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: Patricia Arquette won a Golden Globe award for her performance in this Showtime limited series based on the true story of a 2015 prison break in upstate New York.
Benicio Del Toro and Paul Dano play the two convicts whose escape was facilitated by a married female prison employee who became sexually involved with both inmates.
The prisoners’ escape launched a statewide manhunt.
The cast also includes Bonnie Hunt and David Morse. Ben Stiller, who produced the eight-part series, also directed.
Technical aspects: 16:9 full-screen picture; English 5.1 Dolby digital; English SDH subtitles.
Don’t miss: Extras include commentaries on seven of the eight episodes, a featurette that looks at the real-life circumstances of the prison break and a look at the “Sweat’s Run” sequence from episode five.
Becky Sharp (Blu-ray)
Details: 1935, Kino Lorber
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: This adaptation of the William Makepeace Thackeray novel “Vanity Fair,” directed by Rouben Mamoulian and starring Miriam Hopkins, is a historic piece of cinema as it was the first full-color, three-strip Technicolor movie.
The story concerns Becky Sharp (Hopkins), a penniless young woman, who is invited into the home of her best friend, Amelia (Frances Dee), where Becky begins manipulating her climb up the social ladder.
She is lacking in scruples and not concerned by conscience or morality. She ascends to the top of society, crushing anyone who gets in her way.
The movie is set against the backdrop of the Napoleonic Wars and costars Cedric Hardwicke, Billie Burke, Nigel Bruce, Alan Mowbray and Alison Skipworth.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 1.37:1 full-screen picture; English DTS; English subtitles.
Don’t miss: A commentary track is the main extra.
The Manitou (Blu-ray)
Details: 1978 Scream Factory
Rated: PG, violence
The lowdown: Susan Strasberg plays Karen Tandy a woman with what doctors believe is a tumor growing on her neck.
It actually is a fetus that is growing at an accelerated pace. Karen reaches out to her former lover, phony psychic Harry Erskine (Tony Curtis). They discover that she is possessed by the reincarnation of a 400-year-old Native American demon.
With the help of a modern-day medicine man, played by Michael Ansara, Erskine must survive the ancient evil’s rampage of violence and destroy the beast known as The Manitou.
The movie is not one of Curtis’ finest hours, but like many performers whose heyday was in the 1950s and ’60s, he decided to keep his name in front of audiences by appearing in the growing number of horror features released during the 170s.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 2.35:1 widescreen picture; English DTS-HD Master Audio monaural; English SDH subtitles.
Don’t miss: A commentary track and interviews with executive producer David Sheldon and author Graham Masterson are the main extras.
Keoma (Blu-ray)
Details: 1976, Arrow Video
Rated: R, violence
The lowdown: Franco Nero stars in this spaghetti Western as Keoma, a half-breed gunfighter who returns to his hometown after the Civil War.
He finds the town riddled with plague and its residents terrorized by a tyrannical gang leader whose outlaw band includes Keona’s half-brothers.
Keoma saves a pregnant woman ffrom the gang leader’s thugs and, with the aid of his father and his friend, the freed slave George (Woody Strode), Keoma prepares to fight the outlaw and exact revenge for their misdeeds.
This Western is filled with Shakespearean and biblical allusions that raise it above the standard offering in this genre.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 2.39:1 widescreen picture; Italian and English LPCM monaural; English SDH subtitles.
Don’t miss: Extras include interviews with Nero, an introduction by film director Alex Cox, interviews with “Keoma” director Enzo G. Castellan, actors Volfango Soldati and Massimo Vanni, editor Gianfranco Amicucci, and actor-writer Luigi Montefoni (aka George Eastman) and a commentary track.
Frankenstein 1970 (Blu-ray)
Release date: April 9
Details: 1958, Warner Archive Collection
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: Boris Karloff is back in the laboratory as Dr. Victor Frankenstein, a descendent of the original scientist who created a creature that went down in infamy as a monster.
The aging and shambling Dr. Frankenstein allows a TV crew into his family castle to shoot a horror film.
But the horror becomes real when the doctor starts picking off crew members to use as body parts for harvesting for his own experiments into creation.
The movie, which was directed by Howard W. Koch, costars Tom Duggan, Donald Barry, Jana Lund and Charlotte Austin.
The release is a made-on-demand Blu-ray from the Warner Archive Collection and can be ordered at www.wb.com/warnerarchive or other online sellers.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 2.35:1 widescreen picture; English 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio stereo; English SDH subtitles.
Don’t miss: The main bonus supplement is a commentary track featuring film historians and authors Tom Weaver and Bob Burns.
Superstition (Blu-ray)
Details: 1982, Scream Factory
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: This horror thriller centers at an old house where a series of terrible accidents have occurred near the site where a witch drowned centuries earlier.
When an alcoholic minister and his family move into the cursed residence, an idealistic young priest and a cynical police detective take it upon themselves to investigate the unexplained violence.
They seek to determine whether the witch has returned and, if so, try to figure out how to stop her so the entire neighborhood is not destroyed.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 1.85:1 widescreen picture; English DTS-HD Master Audio monaural; English SDH subtitles.
Don’t miss: The main extras are interviews with director James Roberson and actor James Houghton.
The Mighty McGurk (DVD-R)
Release date: April 9
Details: 1946, Warner Archive Collection
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: MGM staple Wallace Beery once again drags out his lovable lug character, portraying early 20th-century former heavyweight champ Roy “Slag” McGurk, who considers himself “king of the Bowery.”
In reality, McGurk is hired muscle for local saloonkeeper Mike Glenson (Edward Arnold) and a kept man by good-hearted and sometime-girlfriend Mamie Steeple (Aline MacMahon), who runs a local pawnshop.
McGurk gets involved in the lives of his former boxing protégé, Johnny (a young Cameron Mitchell), who is now a street salvationist, and a young English boy, Nipper (Dean Stockwell).
Both try to convince McGurk to turn over a new leaf before Child Services takes Nipper from McGurk. The movie is the usual mixture of Beery bluster and sentimentality.
The release is a made-on-demand DVD-R from the Warner Archive Collection and can be found at www.wb.com/warnerarchive or other Internet sellers.
Technical aspects: 1.37:1 (4×3) full-screen picture; English Dolby digital monaural.
Other titles being released on Tuesday, unless otherwise indicated:
The Adventures of Jurassic Pet (DVD + digital & VOD) (Lionsgate Home Entertainment)
FOR KIDS
Steven Universe: The Complete Second Season (Cartoon Network-Warner Home Video)
DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, STREAMING or VOD
Big Brother (Well Go USA Entertainment)
The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part (Warner Home Video)
Miss Bala (Sony Pictures Home Entertainment)
The Invisibles (Acorn TV, April 22)
Monty Don’s Paradise Gardens (Acorn TV, April 22)
Queens of Mystery: Smoke and Mirrors, Episodes 5 & 6 (Acorn TV, April 22)
I am a founding 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.