New to View: Oct. 12
By Bob Bloom
The following titles are being released on Tuesday, Oct. 12, unless otherwise noted:
Free Guy (Blu-ray + digital)
Details: 2021, Disney Media & Entertainment Distribution
Rated: PG-13, strong fantasy violence throughout, language, crude suggestive references
The lowdown: Think of this action comedy as a variation of “The Truman Show,” except it is set inside a video-game world.
Ryan Reynolds plays Guy, a bank teller who discovers that he is simply a background player in his world. He decides to become the hero of his own story — once he rewrites himself.
And before you can say, “In case I don’t see ya, good afternoon, good evening, and good night,” he transforms himself into the guy who saves the world in his own way.
The movie is self-aware, which adds to its charm, but it is also silly and goofy.
The cast also includes Jodie Comer, Lil Rel Howery and Taika Waititi.
A majority of critics enjoyed the film, awarding it an 80 percent fresh rating at Rotten Tomatoes.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 2.39:1 widescreen picture; English 7.1 DTS-HD Master Audio, 2.0 descriptive audio and French and Spanish 5.1 Dolby digital; English SDH, French and Spanish subtitles.
Don’t miss: Bonus features include a gag reel, deleted and extended scenes, a “Welcome to Free City” featurette, a behind-the-scenes look with director Shawn Levy at Guy’s showdown with his “Dude” version, a featurette on Comer’s transformation from a programmer to her fierce avatar Molotovgirl and a look at Waititi’s over-the-top character.
The Green Knight (4K UHD + Blu-ray + digital)
Details: 2021, Lionsgate Home Entertainment
Rated: R, violence, sexual content, nudity
The lowdown: Writer-director David Lowery takes on the Arthurian legend of the Green Knight in this meditative fantasy adventure.
Dev Patel portrays Sir Gawain, the reckless nephew of King Arthur, who embarks on a quest to confront the Green Knight, a gigantic tester of men.
Gawain faces many challenges on his journey as Lowery shows the fear creeping into the courage of the young knight. It is a complex and existential examination of bravery and honor.
The film is rather dark, and not just metaphorically. At times, you have to strain your eyes to capture what is happening on screen.
Still, this odyssey of self-discovery is worth the effort. A vast majority of critics agreed, awarding the movie an 89 percent fresh rating at Rotten Tomatoes.
Technical aspects: 4K: 2160p ultra high definition, 1.85:1 (16×9 enhanced) widescreen Dolby Vision picture; English Dolby Atmos and descriptive audio; English SDH and Spanish subtitles; Blu-ray: 1080p high definition, 2.39:1 (16×9 enhanced) widescreen picture; English Dolby Atmos; English SDH and Spanish subtitles.
Don’t miss: Supplemental materials include a making of featurette, a look at the visual effects and a look at the movie’s title design.
Clarice: Season One (DVD)
Release date: Oct. 5
Details: 2021, CBS Studios-Paramount Home Entertainment
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: A four-disc set featuring all 13 first-season episodes of this CBS crime-thriller series that carries the career of Clarice Starling forward after he encounter with Buffalo Bill in “The Silence of the Lambs.”
Starling is now a hero — admired and envied by others in the FBI. In her corner, though is the new attorney general, Ruth Martin, mother of Catherine Martin, the young woman Starling rescued from Buffalo Bill.
One year after the events of “The Silence of the Lambs,” Starling returns to the field in pursuit of serial killers and sexual predators. Even more dangerous for her, are the political currents Starling must navigate in Washington, D.C.
Starling must also learn to find her own voice in the man’s world that comprises the hierarchy of the FBI.
Technical aspects: 16:9 widescreen picture; English 5.1 Dolby digital; English SDH subtitles.
Don’t miss: Bonus options include a gag reel, deleted scenes, a featurette with cast members and series executives discussing the responsibility of bringing Starling to life, a look at the VICAP team, and a behind-the-scenes featurette with producers, writers, cast members and consultants involved in developing the series.
Kolchak: The Night Stalker: The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
Details: 1974-75, Kino Lorber Studio Classics
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: A four-disc set featuring all 20 episodes of this eerie, sometimes scary, TV series.
Darren McGavin first portrayed Carl Kolchak in a pair of made-for-TV movies, “The Night Stalker” (1972) and “The Night Strangler” (1973).
They proved popular enough for ABC to greenlight a television series.
The show is set in Chicago where Kolchak works for his short-tempered editor, played by Simon Oakland.
In the series, Kolchak comes up against zombies, werewolves, vampires, ghosts, a succubus or two and even a couple of aliens.
The plots are pretty standard, with Kolchak discovering some supernatural or paranormal, but no one believes him — even as the body count rises.
Among the series guest stars were Scatman Crothers, Phil Silvers, Carolyn Jones, Tom Skerritt, Dick Van Patten, Jamie Farr, Jim Backus, Julie Adams, Cathy Lee Crosby and Tom Bosley.
The episodes are spooky and fun to watch.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 1.33:1 full-screen picture; English 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio monaural; English SDH subtitles.
Don’t miss: Extras include interviews with David Chase, creator of “The Sopranos,” who cowrote eight episodes of the series, and Dana Gould, creator of “Stan Against Evil”; 21 commentary tracks for all episodes, featuring such filmmakers, critics, authors and film historians as Tim Lucas, Kim Newman, Steve Mitchell, Amanda Reyes, Michael Schlesinger, Steve Haberman and Mike White and Chris Stachiw of “The Kolchak Tapes” podcast; and a booklet essay by Mark Dawidziak.
Escape Room: Tournament of Champions (Blu-ray + digital)
Release date: Oct. 5
Details: 2021, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
Rated: PG-13 & unrated, violence, terror and danger, language
The lowdown: Another unnecessary sequel in which six people are trapped in an escape room. In this outing, the six must discover what they have in common to survive.
They also discover they’ve all played the game before.
The movie, like the original, is filled with suspense as well as blood. It’s also loaded with characters shouting expository dialogue at each other for about 8 minutes.
The Blu-ray features the theatrical cut and a 96-minute extended version of the proceedings.
Critics were nearly divided on the film, giving it a 47 percent fresh rating at Rotten Tomatoes.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 2.39:1 widescreen picture; English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio and English audio description track, French and Spanish 5.1 Dolby digital; English SDH, English, French and Spanish subtitles.
Don’t miss: Bonus materials include an inside the escape rooms featurette, a profile of the players and a featurette with director Adam Robitel raising the stakes from the original.
The Titans That Built America (DVD)
Details: 2021, Lionsgate Home Entertainment
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: This three-part History Channel miniseries looks at the rise and rivalries of a quintet of industrialists whose vision — and ruthlessness — helped build this nation.
The series, on which Leonardo DiCaprio served as executive producer, looks at the lives and careers of Pierre du Pont, Walter Chrysler, Henry Ford, J.P. Morgan Jr. and William Boeing. These men united to defeat a common enemy during World War II, using their resources to help defeat Nazi Germany, Italy and the Empire of Japan.
These men built the tanks, airplanes and munitions that propelled the United States and its allies to victory. These men put aside earlier differences and placed their country first.
Technical aspects: 2.55:1 (16×9 enhanced) widescreen picture; English 2.0 Dolby digital; English SDH subtitles.
Tex Avery Screwball Classics: Volume 3 (Blu-ray)
Release date: Oct. 5
Details: 1942-57, Warner Archive Collection
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: A Blu-ray featuring 19 cartoons from the mind of Tex Avery.
These animated shorts are not only funny, but surreal and absurd. Avery used every trick at his disposal to engage audiences in his work.
Among the classics in this set are “King-Size Canary,” “The Early Bird Dood It,” “Swing Shift Cinderella,” “Northwest Hounded Police,” “The Shooting of Dan McGoo” and “One Ham’s Family.”
Slapstick and puns are featured throughout these cartoon, which — at times — break the fourth wall as characters directly talk to the audience.
The release is a made-on-demand Blu-ray from the Warner Archive Collection and can be ordered from the WAC store at Amazon.com.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 1.37:1 (16×9 enhanced) full-screen picture; English 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio monaural; English SDH subtitles.
Don’t miss: An extra cartoon, “Crackpot Quail,” with the original audio soundtrack is the main extra.
Vera Cruz (Blu-ray)
Details: 1954, Kino Lorber Studio Classics
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: Gary Cooper and Burt Lancaster star in this Western directed by Robert Aldrich as a pair of mercenaries who travel to Mexico in search of adventure and profit during the revolution of 1866.
They wind up in the middle of the fight when a wealthy and beautiful aristocrat, Countess Duvarre (Denise Darcel), hires them to escort her and a fortune in gold to Emperor Maximillian’s forces in Vera Cruz.
The trail is littered with danger, betrayal and murder.
Things get really bad when Lancaster’s Joe Erin gets caught up in the revolutionaries’ cause, putting him and Cooper’s Ben Trane on opposite sides of the fight.
The cast also includes Cesar Romero, George Macready, Jack Elam, Ernest Borgnine and Charles Bronson.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 2.00:1 widescreen picture; English 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio monaural; English SDH subtitles.
Don’t miss: A commentary track by filmmaker Alex Cox and a “Trailers From Hell” segment with director John Landis comprise the extras.
The Hound of the Baskervilles (Blu-ray)
Details: 1978, Code Red-Kino Lorber
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: The casting of Peter Cook and Dudley Moore as Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson immediately tells you what direction this adaptation of the venerable Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Holmes’ adventure is headed.
The movie is an irreverent take on the story, which is one of the most famous and beloved in the Holmes canon.
The jokes and satire are rather lame, with the screenplay by Cook, Moore and director Paul Morrissey, following the story with Holmes sending Watson to Baskerville Hall to investigate the legend of a hound from hell.
A wonderful supporting cast, including Denholm Elliott, Joan Greenwood, Hugh Griffith, Terry-Thomas, Roy Kinnear and Spike Milligan, cannot inject anything worthwhile into this messy spoof.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 2.35:1 widescreen picture; English 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio monaural; English SDH subtitles.
Trick or Treats (Blu-ray)
Release date: Oct. 5
Details: 1982, Code Red-Kino Lorber
Rated: R, violence, language
The lowdown: This is another teen-babysitter-in-peril slasher movie that sets itself apart from other movies in the genre in that it has a young boy who is as psychotic as his mentally deranged father.
Linda (Jacqueline Giroux) is watching 10-year-old Christopher (Chis Graver) so the boy’s mother, Joan (Carrie Snodgrass) and her boyfriend, Richard (David Carradine), can go out.
Five years earlier, Joan had her husband, Malcolm (Peter Jason), wrongfully committed to a mental institution so she could live with Richard.
Now, Malcolm has escaped and returns to his home where Linda is having her hands full taking care of Christopher, who is a psychotic and demented practical joker — just like his father.
Linda must survive the night as Malcolm begins a real game of terror with her.
The cast also includes Steve Railsback, Paul Bartel and football stars Dan Pastorini and Tim Rossovich.
As a side note, the legendary Orson Welles was the movie’s magical advisor.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen picture; English monaural.
Don’t miss: Extras include a commentary track, audio interview with Railsback nd an option to watch in “Katarina’s Bucketlist” mode.
The Last Sunset (Blu-ray)
Details: 1961, Kino Lorber Studio Classics
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: Robert Aldrich is again behind the camera for this Western starring Kirk Douglas, Rock Hudson and Dorothy Malone.
Hudson plays lawman Dana Stribling who rides into Mexico to hunt down Brendan O’Malley (Douglas), who killed Stribling’s brother-in-law. He finds O’Malley working for a wealthy cattleman, played by Joseph Cotten, who is arranging for a herd of cattle to cross the border.
Stribling signs on as a trail boss and, unable to serve his warrant in Mexico, warns O’Malley of his intentions once they cross into Texas. (In my opinion, that’s not a smart move for a lawman.)
As the drive proceeds, the two antagonists slowly develop a respect for each other. Soon, a shocking revelation changes their futures.
The film also features Jack Elam, Carol Lynley and Neville Brand.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 1.85:1 widescreen picture; English 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio monaural; English subtitles.
Don’t miss: A commentary track by film critic Nick Pinkerton is the main extra.
Casanova, Last Love (Blu-ray)
Details: 2019, Cohen Media Group-Kino Lorber
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: An older Casanova arrives in 18th-century London after being forced into exile from Paris.
He know nothing about the English city. He soon meets a young prostitute, Marianne de Champillon, who so attracts him that he begins disregarding other women.
Casanova is willing to do anything to get Marianne, but she always escapes him using various excuses. She finally challenges the legendary lover: “You will only have me if you stop desiring me!”
The costume drama is a story of love and suffering that fails to ignite the necessary passions. Plus, director Benoit Jacquot seemingly fails to leave any underlying purpose or message.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 2.39:1 widescreen picture; French 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio; English subtitles.
The Big Scary “S” Word (DVD)
Details: 2020, Greenwich Entertainment-Kino Lorber
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: A documentary that explores the history of the American socialism movement. The film details that, despite popular belief, the United States is deeply rooted in the country and has led to such popular government programs as public schools, Social Security and Medicare.
The movie, featuring interviews with Bernie Sanders, Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez, Cornel West and Naomi Klein, among others, explain how the 2008 financial crisis led to a government bailout of Wall Street, the Occupy Movement and the rise of politicians such as Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez.
The movie, despite its dry subject, is interesting and fun.
Critics believed the same, awarding the film an 87 percent fresh rating at Rotten Tomatoes.
Technical aspects: 1.78:1 widescreen picture; English 5.1 Dolby digital; English SDH and closed-captioned subtitles.
Sweet Thing (DVD)
Details: 2021, Film Movement
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: This drama, which takes place over the course of a summer, is a bittersweet experience about a magical time in youth.
The film, set in New Bedford, Mass., focuses on a dysfunctional family in which two children discover the freedom and enchantment among the boats and railway tracks that dot the city.
Billie, 15, and her younger brother, Nico, 11, enjoy the various adventures of childhood without an adult in sight.
Writer-director Alexandra Rockwell, brings a poetic and delicate touch to the movie, which earned an 89 percent fresh rating at Rotten Tomatoes.
Technical aspects: 1.85:1 widescreen picture; English 2.0 Dolby digital stereo; English closed-captioned.
Don’t miss: Extras include a video introduction by Rockwell and a bonus short film, “The Binding of Itzik.”
Witkin and Witkin (DVD)
Details: 2017, IndiePix Films
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: Identical twins, both with artistic endeavors, are the subject of this fascinating documentary.
Joel-Peter Witkin is a world-famous photographer, while his brother, Jerome, is a painter and lifelong educator.
What is rather unique about the Witkins is that, for the most part, they are strangers who remain, despite their age, invested in maintaining their distance from each other and living their own lives.
Documentary filmmaker Trisha Ziff, shot this feature over a five-year period.
Joel-Peter’s work has had an impact on pop culture from Nine Inch Nails to Alexander McQueen, while Jerome’s work has been influenced by the events of his time.
The brothers meet in Mexico City, where their works are exhibited together in a joint museum show.
Ziff focuses on the art of the subjects, yet, underlying it all, is the lifelong estrangement of the twins.
The film earned a 100 percent fresh rating at Rotten Tomatoes.
Technical aspects: 1.85:1 (16×9 enhanced) widescreen picture; English and Spanish Dolby digital stereo; English subtitles.
Other titles being released on Tuesday, unless otherwise indicated:
The Colony (Blu-ray + digital & DVD) (Lionsgate Home Entertainment)
Lady Usher (DVD) (Indican Pictures)
The Old Ways (Blu-ray & DVD & digital) (Dark Star Pictures)
On the Fringe of Wild (DVD & VOD) (Breaking Glass Pictures)
Survive the Game (Blu-ray & DVD) (Lionsgate Home Entertainment)
Dashcam (DVD & digital) (Gravitas Ventures, Oct. 15)
DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, STREAMING or VOD
Convergence: Courage in a Crisis (Netflix)
Don’t Breathe 2 (Sony Pictures Home Entertainment)
I’m Your Man (Bleecker Street)
Stillwater (Universal Studios Home Entertainment)
Dopestick: Episodes 1-3 (Hulu, Oct. 13)
Fever Dream (www.netflix.com/FeverDream) (Netflix, Oct. 13)
The Blazing World (Vertical Entertainment, Oct. 15)
Demigod (Gravitas Ventures, Oct. 15)
Grave Intentions (Terror Films, Oct. 15)
Needle in a Timestack (Lionsgate Home Entertainment, Oct. 15)
Secret Agent Dingledorf and His Trusty Dog Splat (Winter Star Productions, Oct. 15)
Sharkdog’s Fintastic Halloween (Netflix, Oct. 15)
The Velvet Underground (Apple TV+, Oct. 15)
You: Season 3 (Netflix, Oct. 15)
I am a founding member of the Indiana Film Journalists Association. I review movies, 4K UHD, 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 at ReelBob or the Indiana Film Journalists Association. My movie reviews also can be found at Rotten Tomatoes: www.rottentomatoes.com.