New to View: May 21
By Bob Bloom
The following titles are being released on Tuesday, May 21, unless otherwise noted:
Isn’t It Romantic (Blu-ray + DVD + digital)
Details: 2019, Warner Home Video
Rated: PG-13, sexual material, drug references, language
The lowdown: This film, starring Rebel Wilson, is a satire on romantic comedies, that also explores the tropes that dominate the genre.
Wilson plays Natalie, a New York City architect who is a lifelong cynic when it comes to love.
But when a mugger knocks her unconscious, she awakens to discover that her life has suddenly become a romantic comedy — with her as the leading lady.
The film, which costars Liam Hemsworth, Adam Devine and Priyanka Chopra, is weird, but also shows some smarts. The cast embraces the stereotypes found in these films and also plays against them.
Overall, critics were kind to the movie, giving it a 70 percent fresh rating at Rottentomatoes.com.
Technical aspects: Blu-ray: 1080p high definition, 2.40:1 (16×9 enhanced) widescreen picture; English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio, English 5.1 Dolby digital descriptive audio and French and Spanish 5.1 Dolby digital; English SDH, French and Spanish subtitles; DVD: 2.40:1 (16×9 enhanced) widescreen picture; English, French and Spanish 5.1 Dolby digital and English 5.1 descriptive audio; English SDH, French and Spanish subtitles.
Don’t miss: Bonus features include deleted scenes, a “I Wanna Dance” featurette with Wilson, Devine and Chopra singing at a karaoke bar and dancing around New York City.
Never Look Away (Blu-ray)
Release date: May 14
Details: 2018, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
Rated: R, nudity, sexual content, violent images
The lowdown: “Never Look Away” is a three-hour-plus historical drama that follows nearly 30 years in the life of Kurt Barnet (Tom Schilling), a painter loosely modeled on Gerhard Richter, a renowned 20th-century visual artist.
The movie’s canvas is large, beginning in 1937 Nazi Germany and ending in 1967, a few years after the construction of the Berlin Wall.
The feature, which was nominated for a foreign-language film Academy Award, opens with a young Kurt and his aunt, Elisabeth, at an exhibition of “decadent art” in Dresden. In front of the crowd, a Nazi curator derides the works and maligns those who painted them as mentally ill or perverse.
Elisabeth later confides to her little nephew that she likes the paintings. She also tells him that the truth, no matter its form, is beautiful, and that one should never look away from the truth.
The free-spirited Elisabeth (Saskia Rosendahl) soon becomes the victim of the Nazi obsession with racial, mental and genetic purity in the person of gynecologist Professor Carl Seeband (Sebastian Koch).
You’d think with its lengthy running time, “Never Look Away” would sag at times. Though, despite a dearth of action, writer-director Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck holds your interest because of the tension he intersperses throughout the movie.
His movie is tantalizing and mesmerizing. Moments arise where you will feel mentally — and, perhaps, physically — exhausted, but hard as you try, you can never look away from this experience.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 1.85:1 widescreen picture; German 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio, English 5.1 Dolby digital audio description track; English SDH and English subtitles.
Don’t miss: The major extra is a question-and-answer session with writer-director Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck.
“RKO Classic Adventures” (Blu-ray)
Details: 1930-31, Kino Lorber
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: Three early talkie films from what-was-then Radio Pictures featuring actors who went on to have long and notable careers in Hollywood.
The movies featured include “The Pay-Off” (1930), a gangster outing directed by and starring Lowell Sherman as a mobster with honor; “The Silver Horde” (1930), a drama starring a young Joel McCrea and Evelyn Brent, about a rivalry between two fishing groups; and “The Painted Desert” (1931), a Western starring William Boyd, Helen Twelvetrees and an up-and-comer named Clark Gable.
We all know about Gable’s career. Boyd, became the idol of millions of young boys with his portrayal of Western icon Hopalong Cassidy that begin in 1935 and lasted into television in the 1950s. McCrea went on to appear in a variety of movies such as “The Most Dangerous Game,” “The More the Merrier” and such classic Westerns as “Western Union” and “Ride the High Country.”
These films have been preserved by the Library of Congress and restored by Lobster Films.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 1.2:1 full-screen picture; English 2.0 DTS stereo.
Earthquake: Collector’s Edition (Blu-ray)
Details: 1974, Shout! Factory
Rated: PG, Not rated
The lowdown: Following the success of “The Poseidon Adventure,” other major studios jumped on the disaster film bandwagon.
So, we have an all-star cast trapped in a high-rise in “The Towering Inferno” and another all-star cast being shaken and stirred as Southern California is rattled by an “Earthquake,” the newest release in Shout! Factory’s Shout Select series.
And the rattling was intense, since Universal Pictures used a new technique, “Sensurround” to shake things up for theater audiences.
Compared to today’s CGI magic, the special effects in “Earthquake” are quaint. It’s the stunt work and the collapsing structures that highlight the movie.
The top-notch cast includes Charlton Heston, Ava Gardner, Lorne Greene, George Kennedy, Victoria Principal, Genevieve Bujold, Richard Roundtree, Barry Sullivan, Lloyd Nolan and Marjoe Gortner as the movie’s resident psychotic.
One of the movie’s oddities is that Gardner, born in 1922, is cast as Greene’s daughter. The “Bonanza” patriarch was born in 1915.
The movie also features a strange cameo by Walter Matthau, who is credited as Walter Matuschanskayasky, as a drunk sitting in a bar as Los Angeles collapses around him.
This Blu-ray set features the 122-minute theatrical version of the movie as well as the 142-minute extended television version.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 2.35:1 (widescreen picture — theatrical version) and 1.33:1 (full-screen picture — TV version), English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio (theatrical) and DTS-HD Master Audio monaural (TV version); English SDH subtitles.
Don’t miss: Extras include a look at the movie’s music, a featurette on visual effects master Albert Whitlock and his work on the movie, sound legend Ben Burtt discussing Sensurround and audio interviews with cast members.
The Seduction (Blu-ray)
Details: 1982, Scream Factory
Rated: R, language, sexual content, violence, nudity
The lowdown: Some guys can’t take a hint. That’s the premise of this thriller, which marked the film debut of Morgan Fairchild.
She plays TV anchorwoman Jamie Douglas. Her life is going smoothly — her news show is top-rated, she has a stunning house in the hills, a boyfriend and a young admirer named Derek (Andrew Stevens).
When Jamie rebuffs Derek’s romantic advances, the young man does not take it well.
He begins carrying out a psychotic courtship, threatening almost every aspect of her life and secretly watching Jamie, even when she is with her lover, played by Michael Sarrazin.
Even a tough cop, played by Vince Edwards, cannot protect her.
Jamie, though, is not a helpless female — she fights back with every fiber in her arsenal.
This erotic thriller is more of a guilty pleasure viewing experience with merely adequate performances.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 2.35:1 widescreen picture; English DTS-HD Master Audio monaural; English SDH subtitles.
Don’t miss: Bonus materials include interviews with Fairchild, Stevens and producer Bruce Cohn Curtis, a commentary track and a trio of featurettes about the movie and looking back at its production.
Big Brother (Blu-ray)
Details: 2018, Well Go USA Entertainment
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: Donnie Yen stars as a former soldier recruited because of his stern attitude to teach a class of teen delinquents.
He uses unorthodox methods to reach and educate his pupils. He even becomes involved in their home lives to help improve their lots.
The movie follows in the tradition of such films as “The Blackboard Jungle” and “To Sir, With Love.”
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 2.39:1 (16:9 enhanced) widescreen picture; Cantonese DTS-HD Master Audio; English subtitles.
A Dark Place (Blu-ray)
Details: 2018, Shout! Studios
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: This mystery-thriller, originally titled “Steel Country,” focuses on Donny (Andrew Scott), a small-town sanitation truck driver in rural Pennsylvania town who strikes up a friendship with a boy on his route.
When the boy disappears, Donny becomes obsessed with uncovering the truth. He does not believe the theory of the local sheriff — who claims the boy simply ran away.
As Donny digs deeper into the mystery, he finds a constant and surprising resistance among the town residents whose resentment continues to increase the more Donny investigates.
The movie, which received a limited theatrical release, will appeal to fans of the genre.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 2.35:1 widescreen picture; English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio; English SDH subtitles.
Room 37: The Mysterious Death of Johnny Thunders (Blu-ray + DVD + CD)
Release date: May 24
Details: 2019, Cleopatra Entertainment
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: A drama that looks at the life and death of former New York Doll guitarist Johnny Thunders.
The movie is set in New Orleans, after Thunders arrives to begin a new chapter in his chaotic life.
He is following a new musical sound and wants to stay away from drugs so he can see his children again.
Events take a turn for the worse after Thunders checks into the St. Peter’s Guest House.
His room is robbed, and his money and methadone supply are stolen.
Things get worse when Thunders makes some bad choices to help him recover.
The film examines the unexplained final hours before his death.
The movie will appeal to punk rock fans as well as those of the Dolls and Thunders’ Heartbreakers band.
Technical aspects: Blu-ray and DVD: 1080p high definition (Blu-ray), widescreen picture.
Triple Threat (Blu-ray + DVD)
Release date: May 14
Details: 2018, Well Go USA Entertainment
Rated: R, graphic violence, language
The lowdown: A martial arts extravaganza about a team of wanted mercenaries who must protect the daughter of a billionaire — with a contract on her head — intent on taking down a major crime syndicate.
The cast includes Tony Jaa, Tiger Chen, Scott Atkins, Michael Jai White, Michael Bisping, Iko Uwala, Jeeja Yanin and Celine Jade.
The movie has been called a martial arts version of “The Expendables.”
Fans of the genre will definitely enjoy all the action that ramps up this 96-minute feature.
Technical aspects: Blu-ray: 1080p high definition, 16:9 widescreen picture; English 5.1 Dolby digital; English SDH subtitles; DVD: 16:9 widescreen picture; English 5.1 Dolby digital; English SDH subtitles.
Don’t miss: Cast interviews comprise the major bonus components.
Iceman
Release date: May 24
Details: 2019, Film Movement
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: This prehistoric drama is set 5,300 years ago in the Otxtal Alps, which was home to a Neolithic tribe, which dwelled near a creek.
The clan’s leader, Kelab, is appointed keeper of the group’s holy shrine, Tineka.
But while Kelab is hunting, the village is attacked and everyone is killed, including Kelab’s wife and son. Adding to his pain, Tineka was taken.
The furious Kelab sets out for revenge.
The movie was inspired by the 1991 discovery of a Stone Age man in a melting glacier in the Alps.
Technical aspects: 2.35:1 widescreen picture; Rhaetian 5.1 Dolby digital surround sound; English closed-captioned.
Don’t miss: A making of featurette is the major bonus component.
Other titles being release on Tuesday, unless otherwise indicated:
Game Girls (Breaking Glass Pictures)
Pendular (Big World Pictures)
Ruben Brandt, Collector (DVD & digital download) (Sony Pictures Home Entertainment)
Trading Paint (Lionsgate Home Entertainment)
DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, STREAMING or VOD
Gloria Bell (Lionsgate Home Entertainment)
Ladies in Black (Sony Pictures Home Entertainment)
Wanda Sykes: Not Normal (Netflix)
Winterskin (High Octane Pictures)
Funny Story (Blue Fox Entertainment, May 24)
On Demand (Blue Fox Entertainment, May 24)
Pitching In (Acorn TV, May 24)
The Poison Rose (Lionsgate Home Entertainment, May 24)
All in Good Faith: Series 1-3 (Acorn TV, May 27)
Historical Roasts (Netflix, May 27)
Truth About Killer Robots (HBO Home Entertainment, May 27)
Coming next week: Greta
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.