New to View: Jan. 10
By Bob Bloom
The following titles are being released on Tuesday, Jan. 10, unless otherwise noted:
She Said (Blu-ray + DVD + digital)
Details: 2022, Universal Pictures Home Entertainment
Rated: R, language, descriptions of sexual assault
The lowdown: “She Said” is based on the reporting by “New York Times” journalists Megan Twohey and Jodi Kantor into the sexual abuse and rape allegations about powerful movie mogul Harvey Weinstein, head of Miramax Pictures.
The film makes for compelling viewing. Even if you know, have read or heard media accounts of the story, you still feel a sense of outrage.
What is most disturbing is how for years, women who came forward received no help from law enforcement, the media or the courts.
They were coerced into silence through large monetary settlements for which they had to sign NDAs (nondisclosure agreements). Basically, they were forced to keep mute about their pain and trauma.
“She Said,” which garnered an 87 percent fresh rating at Rotten Tomatoes, is a story worth revisiting because the abuses perpetrated by Weinstein and the silence of those who enabled him, is not limited to the movie industry.
It occurs in the military, more than likely throughout corporate America and even in people’s homes. Hopefully, someone who sees “She Said” will be inspired to speak out and shine a brighter light on this sexual epidemic.
Technical aspects: Blu-ray: 1080p high definition, 1.85:1 widescreen picture; English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio, 2.0 DVS and French and Spanish 5.1 DTS digital surround; English SDH, French and Spanish subtitles; DVD: 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen picture; English, French and Spanish 5.1 Dolby digital and English 2.0 DVS; English SDH, French and Spanish subtitles.
Don’t miss: Bonus features include a featurette with the real “New York Times” journalists as they recount what it took to break this story.
Dragons Forever (4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray)
Details: 1988, 88 Films
Rated: Not rated, martial arts action
The lowdown: Jackie Chan and Sammo Hung, who also co-directed with Corey Yuen, star in this action-thriller about Jackie Lung (Chan), a hotshot lawyer hired by the shady owner of a chemical works to defend against an injunction filed by the owner of a fishery.
Unbeknownst to the lawyer, factory is the center of a covert narcotics syndicate.
The lawyer hires two friends, Wong Fei-Hung (Hung) and Tung Tak-Biao (Yuen Biao) to help him with the case.
Complications arise when Lung becomes romantically involved with a relative of the fishery. He struggles to maintain his professional and personal interests while upholding justice.
The film features some marvelous martial arts sequences. The set features three versions of the movie — the original 94-minute Hong Kong cut, a 98-minute cut, retitled “Cyclone Z,” produced exclusively for the Japanese market and a 94-minute international cut.
Technical aspects: 4K: 2160p ultra high definition, 1.85:1 widescreen picture; Cantonese Dolby Atmos, 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio monaural, English (dubbed) 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio monaural and a 2002 remixed English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio; English SDH subtitles; Blu-ray: 1080p high definition, 1.85:1 widescreen picture; Cantonese Dolby Atmos, 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio monaural, English (dubbed) 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio monaural and a 2002 remixed English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio; English SDH subtitles.
Don’t miss: Bonus options include an 88-page book with writings about the movie; six replica Hong Kong lobby cards; a fold-out double-sized poster; two commentary tracks; interviews with stuntman Chin Kar-Lok, writer Szeto Cheuk-Hon, Benny “The Jet” Urquidez, Jude Poyer Hong Kong movie expert Mike Leeder; a discussion about the movie with David Desser; a featurette about the movie’s legacy; more interviews with filmmakers and stunt personnel; outtakes; behind-the-scenes looks at the film; and two music videos.
Father of the Bride (DVD)
Release date: Dec. 27
Details: 2022, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment
Rated: PG-13, suggestive material
The lowdown: Andy Garcia follows in the footsteps of Spencer Tracy and Steve Martin as the father who must come to grips with the impending marriage of his daughter.
Gloria Estefan portrays Garcia’s wife in this Cuban-American remake set in Miami.
Garcia’s slow-burn exasperation as well as the cultural details and Latin flavor separate this version from its predecessors.
The movie, which was released on HBO Max, earned an 80 percent fresh rating at Rotten Tomatoes.
Technical aspects: widescreen picture; English, English descriptive audio, French and Spanish 5.1 Dolby digital; English SDH, French and Spanish subtitles.
Sergeant Ryker (Blu-ray)
Details: 1968, Kino Lorber Studio Classics
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: Lee Marvin stars in this Korean War drama as Sgt. Paul Ryker, who is charged with aiding the enemy.
Ryker’s defense rests on the premise that he was ordered to carry out a secret offense against North Korean forces.
But because the mission was so top secret, no one can corroborate his story.
The Army prosecutor is Capt. David Young (Bradford Dillman), whose impartiality is questioned when it is revealed that he has been seeing Ryker’s wife, Ann (Vera Miles).
The movies contains many plot twists and flashbacks. The case is finally decided by the strange testimony of one soldier.
This courtroom feature, directed by Buzz Kulik, also stars Peter Graves, Lloyd Nolan, Murray Hamilton and Norman Fell.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 1.85:1 widescreen picture; English 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio monaural; English SDH subtitles.
Don’t miss: A commentary track by film historian Daniel Kremer is the main extra.
The Dunwich Horror (Blu-ray)
Details: 1970, Arrow Video
Rated: R, violence, nudity
The lowdown: Dean Stockwell and Sandra Dee star in this very loose adaptation of a H.P. Lovecraft short story.
Stockwell portrays Wilbur Whateley who wants to borrow the Necronomicon, a legendary book of occult lore, from a nearby Massachusetts university.
At the university, Whateley meets Nancy Wagner (Dee), who returns with him to his home in Dunwich. There, Whateley wants to use Wagner in his ritual to raise The Old Ones, cosmic beings from another dimension.
Another mystery is the identity of who — or what — is locked in a room at the top of the stairs.
Ed Begley is featured as Dr. Henry Armitage, an expert on local history and the sordid past of the Whateley family.
In the end, evil is defeated. The cast also includes Sam Jaffe and Lloyd Bochner. The movie was directed by Daniel Haller, with one of its screenwriters being Curtis Hanson, who went on to direct “L.A. Confidential.”
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 1.85:1 widescreen picture; English DTS-HD Master Audio monaural; English SDH subtitles.
Don’t miss: Extras include a commentary track; a conversation between film historian Stephen R. Bissette and horror author Stephen Laws, who discuss the movie, Lovecraft and their memories of seeing the film; a featurette on Lex Baxter’s score; and an interview with science fiction and fantasy writer Ruthanna Emrys.
The Celluloid Bordello (DVD)
Details: 2021, First Run Features-Kino Lorber
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: A documentary that offers a historical perspective of how sex workers are portrayed in movies.
From the early white slavery pictures of the silent era to such movies as “Midnight Cowboy,” “Risky Business” and “Pretty Woman,” hookers, hustlers, call girls, street walkers and strippers have been cinematic staples.
These characters are often fantasy figures, cautionary tales or simply punchlines. They have appeared in dramas, comedies, rom-com, Westerns and science fiction genres.
Throughout movie history they have been brutalized, murdered, killed off, scorned and rescued — treated as “others,” instead of individuals.
The movie features critique, historical overview and homage to these workers, with comments from real-life escorts, porn stars and hustlers, who tell which films they love and which they hate, which gets it right and which is fantasy.
It also describes how perpetuating stereotypes in media impacts the lives of real people.
Technical aspects: 1.78:1 widescreen picture; English Dolby digital; English subtitles.
“The Executioner Collection” (Blu-ray)
Details: 1974, Arrow Video
Rated: Not rated, martial arts violence
The lowdown: Japanese martial arts legend Shin’ichi “Sonny” Chiba stars in this action-packed double feature of Japanese classic karate exploitation movies.
In “The Executioner,” Chiba plays a gun for hire, who he enlisted to destroy a drug cartel alongside a disgraced former narcotics detective now operating within the criminal underworld and a renegade Akido master.
As the trio questions each other’s motives, tensions increase.
In the follow-up movie, “The Executioner II: Karate Inferno,” Chiba returns as his character from the first movie. In this outing, he is the ringleader of a gang of thieves plotting to steal a priceless jewel from a master criminal.
Both films spotlight Chiba’s athleticism and martial arts talents.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 2.35:1 widescreen picture; Japanese and English (dubbed) LPCM monaural (“The Executioner”) and Japanese LPCM monaural (“The Executioner II: Karate Inferno”); English SDH subtitles (“The Executioner”) and English subtitles (both movies).
Don’t miss: Supplemental options include a featurette on Chiba and his career, commentary tracks on both movies and a booklet.
Being Thunder (DVD)
Details: 2021, Film Movement
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: A documentary that chronicles the life of Sherenté, a Two Spirit Genderqueer teenager from Rhode Island’s Narragansett tribe.
Sherenté performs in female fancy shawl regalia at regional powwow dance competitions. And while there is no formal prohibition that denies Two Spirit Genderqueer people from competing in a category different from their birth gender, tribal leaders manipulate Sherenté’s scores or outright disqualify these people outright behind the scenes.
Despite being blindsided by ongoing dishonesty, deception and prejudice, Sherenté continues to happily dance, encouraged by tremendous support from other competitors and family.
The movie is an intimate and respectable portrait of an individual who has charted his/her own path in life.
Technical aspects: 1.85:1 widescreen picture; English 2.0 Dolby digital stereo; English closed-captioned subtitles.
Don’t miss: The major bonus component are interviews with Sherenté and parents Eleanor and Thawn Harris.
200 Meters (DVD)
Details: 2020, Film Movement
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: A drama that puts a human face to the ongoing situation between Israel and Palestinians living in the West Bank.
Mustafa is a Palestinian construction worker who lives in the West Bank only 200 meters from his wife and children in Israel. Though eligible for an Israel identification card, Mustafa instead chooses to use his work permit to visit his family every day.
The arrangement works, until one day when he receives a call that his son has been seriously injured and taken to an Israeli hospital.
Rushing to a checkpoint so he can cross the border, Mustafa is denied entry on a technicality.
His 200 meter trip thus becomes a 200 kilometer journey as he becomes increasingly desperate to enter Israel to reach his family.
The nightmarish feature makes some pungent political points that spotlights the shameful indignities of daily Palestinian life.
Technical aspects: 1.85:1 widescreen picture; Arabic, Hebrew and English 5.1 and 2.0 Dolby digital; English closed-captioned subtitles.
Don’t miss: Extras include a commentary track with the movie’s director and a short film by the director.
Other titles being released on Tuesday, unless otherwise indicated:
The 3rd Guest (DVD & VOD) (Indican Pictures)
Fear the Walking Dead: Season 7 (Blu-ray + digital & VOD) (Lionsgate Home Entertainment)
Groundhog Day: 30th Anniversary Edition (4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray + digital) (Sony Pictures Home Entertainment)
Piggy (DVD & VOD) (Magnet Releasing-Magnolia Home Entertainment)
The Return of Tanya Tucker (Blu-ray & DVD) (Sony Pictures Home Entertainment)
DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, STREAMING or VOD
Human Resources (DeskPop Entertainment)
Last Resort (Well Go USA Entertainment-Saban Films)
Those Who Call (Uncork’d Entertainment)
JAN. 11
Echo 3: Episode 10 (Apple TV+)
JAN. 12
How I Caught My Killer (Hulu)
JAN. 13
Break Point: Episode 1-5 (Netflix)
Come Find Me (Desktop Entertainment)
Dog Gone (www.netflix.com/DogGone) (Netflix)
Loudmouth (Greenwich Entertainment-Kino Lorber)
My Father Muhammad Ali (VMI Releasing)
Night of the Bastard (Dark Sky Pictures)
The Old Way (Saban Films-Lionsgate Home Entertainment)
On Sacred Ground (Shout! Studios)
Servant: Season 4, Episode 1 (Apple TV+)
The Seven Faces of Jane (Gravitas Ventures)
Super League: The War for Football (Apple TV+)
Coming next week: The Menu
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.