New to View: April 11
By Bob Bloom
The following titles are being released on Tuesday, April 11, unless otherwise noted:
Man on the Train (Blu-ray)
Details: 2002, Kino Lorber Studio Classics
Rated: R, language, violence
The lowdown: Johnny Hallyday and Jean Rochefort star in the French crime drama about Milan (Hallyday), a stranger who disembarks from a train in a sleepy French village.
Milan is a criminal who plans to rob the local bank. In the village, he soon is befriended by Manesquier (Rochefort), a retired poetry teacher.
The new and unexpected friendship allow both men to look back and reflect on their lives — complete with disappointments and unfulfilled dreams. And it allows both the chance to explore roads not taken.
The film, directed by Patrice Leconte (“Monsieur Hire”), earned a 92 percent fresh rating at Rotten Tomatoes.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 2.35:1 widescreen picture; French 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio; English subtitles.
Encanto: Limited Edition Collectible Steelbook (4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray + digital)
Release date: Feb. 7
Details: 2021, Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment
Rated: PG, thematic elements, mild danger
The lowdown: As part of the Disney 100 celebration, the studio is reissuing this enchanting, animated feature, with music by Lin-Manuel Miranda.
The movie is the story of the Madrigals, a very special family living in a magical house in the Colombian mountains.
Each family member has a special gift, except for Mirabel.
Her time to shine comes when she discovers that the magic surrounding the family home is in danger and that she may be the only hope to avert disaster.
Underlying it all is a story about family bonds and communications. And while Miranda’s music and lyrics are not overwhelming, they are serviceable.
The digital transfer is very sharp and clear, with bright and exciting colors. Critics were impressed with the movie as well, awarding it a 91 percent fresh rating at Rotten Tomatoes.
Technical aspects: 4K: 2160p ultra high definition, 1.85:1 widescreen picture; English Dolby Atmos, 2.0 descriptive audio and French and Spanish 7.1 Dolby digital plus; English SDH, French and Spanish subtitles; Blu-ray: 1080p high definition, 1.85:1 widescreen picture; English 7.1 DTS-HD Master Audio and 2.0 descriptive audio track and French and Spanish 5.1 Dolby digital; English SDH, French and Spanish subtitles.
Don’t miss: Bonus offerings include outtakes and deleted scenes, featurettes on the magical house, the family members, a scouting trip to Colombia, Miranda’s music and a discussion about the character of Bruno, an overview of Colombia and a short film, “Far from the Tree.”
Hell Is for Heroes (Blu-ray)
Details: 1962, Kino Lorber Studio Classics
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: Don Siegel directed this hard-driving World War II drama that features an impressive cast headed by Steve McQueen, Bobby Darin and Fess Parker.
The film, set against the backdrop of the German’s Siegfried line in France in the spring of 1944, finds McQueen’s Reese, joining a group of battle-worn GIs who, on their way to a rest area, are unexpectedly ordered back into the line.
Reese and his fellow soldiers find themselves greatly outnumbered as they fight to hold off a Nazi advance along the Siegfried line. They must use their ingenuity and courage to make the Germans believe they are facing a much greater force.
Others in the cast include James Coburn, Harry Guardino, Nick Adams, L.Q. Jones, Mike Kellin and Bob Newhart.
The film earned an 86 percent fresh rating at Rotten Tomatoes.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 1.85:1 widescreen picture; English 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio; English SDH subtitles.
Don’t miss: The main extra is a commentary track with filmmaker-historian Steve Mitchell and “Combat Films: American Realism” author Steven Jay Rubin.
They Came to Cordura (Blu-ray)
Details: 1959, Kino Lorber Studio Classics
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: Two-time Academy Award-winner Gary Cooper stars in this military drama set during the Mexican incursion of 1916.
Cooper portrays Major Thomas Thorn who, accused of cowardice, is tasked with leading five Medal of Honor candidates to the military base of Cordura, Texas.
Along the way, Thorn hopes to learn from each man who performed heroically under fire what they possess that he lacks.
However, as the journey through the desert progresses, the “heroes” panic, attempting to murder and mutiny as the instinct to survive reveals their true characters.
The film costars Rita Hayworth as an American expatriate also being taken to Cordura who comes to appreciate Thorn’s integrity.
The cast also includes Oscar-winner Van Heflin, Tab Hunter, Richard Conte, Michael Callen, Dick York and Robert Keith.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 2.35:1 widescreen picture; English 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio monaural; English subtitles.
Don’t miss: A commentary track by filmmaker-film historian Bertrand Tavernier is the main extra.
Moment to Moment (Blu-ray)
Details: 1966, Kino Lorber Studio Classics
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: Jean Seberg (“Breathless”) and Honor Blackman (“Goldfinger”) star in this twisted murder mystery set around the French Riviera.
Seberg is Mrs. Kay Stanton who, in the absence of her husband, begins an affair with a handsome young American naval officer. When she believes that she has killed her lover, Stanton does not know what to do.
Daphne (Blackman), her next-door neighbor, takes the body, throws it into a dump and calls the police to report where she dumped him.
Stanton’s husband, a psychiatrist, is called by police to help with an amnesia victim recovering from a gunshot wound. It turns out it’s the lover.
Later, Stanton introduces the young American to his wife. He recognizes her but keeps quiet. The husband knows that he wife really loves him and forgives her transgression.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 1.85:1 widescreen picture; English 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio; English subtitles.
Don’t miss: A commentary track with film historians Howard S. Berger and Nathaniel Thompson and a “Moment to Moment” with composer Henry Mancini featurette trailer are the extras.
Heart of Dragon (Blu-ray)
Details: 1985, Arrow Video
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: Lifelong friends Jackie Chan and Sammo Hung play brothers in this feature in which Chan’s Tat Fung is a very dedicated police officer burdened by stress on the job and at home.
When he’s being accused of going rogue on his day job, Tat, is busy taking care of Dodo (Hung), his mentally handicapped brother.
Dodo needs constant supervision because people try to take advantage of his naïve and kind nature.
Tat dreams of chucking his responsibilities and seeing the world. But when Dodo gets in trouble, Tat must come to his rescue.
The movie, also known as “The First Mission,” is more a character study than an action flick.
The Blu-ray features theatrical and extended cuts of the movie.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 1.85:1 widescreen picture; Cantonese, Mandarin and English (dubbed) DTS-HD Master Audio monaural; English subtitles.
Don’t miss: Supplemental options include archival interviews with Chan, Hung, cinematographer Arthur Wong and actor Rocky Lai, alternate English credits on “The First Mission,” two making of featurettes to promote the movie in Japan and a commentary track on the extended cut.
Film Noir: The Dark Side of Cinema XII (Blu-ray)
Release date: April 4
Details: 1949-55, Kino Lorber Studio Classics
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: Three more film noir features are offered in this three-disc set.
The titles are: “Undertow” (1949), directed by William Castle, about a newly-released wartime veteran who now gambles for a living. His dream is to open a mountain lodge, but before he can do so, he is framed for murder and must take it on the lam. The movie stars Scott, Brady, John Russell, Dorothy Hart, Peggy Dow, Bruce Bennett and a young Rock Hudson (here, billed as Roc) in his second film.
“Outside the Wall” (1950) stars Richard Basehart as a paroled prisoner who takes a job at a country sanitarium. There, he falls for a femme fatale nurse, played by Marilyn Maxwell, and also gets involved in a robbery syndicate.
Dorothy Hart and Signe Hasso co-star.
John Agar stars in “Hold Back Tomorrow” as a death row inmate whose final request before he is hanged is to spend a night with a woman. The police bring in a down-on-her-luck former “waitress,” played by Cleo Moore. The movie is a study of two broken people.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 1.37:1 full-screen picture; English 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio monaural; English SDH subtitles.
Don’t miss: Extras include commentary tracks on “Undertow” and “Outside the Law.”
The Big Easy (Blu-ray)
Release date: April 4
Details: 1987, Kino Lorber Studio Classics
Rated: R, sexual situations, violence, language
The lowdown: Dennis Quaid and Ellen Barkin star in this steamy crime drama set in New Orleans.
Quaid plays homicide detective Remy McSwain who is investigating a mob murder that has triggered a bloody gangland drug war.
McSwain is a smooth-talker, who meets his math in Anne Osborne (Barkin), a no-nonsense assistant district attorney, who is in the city to investigate police corruption.
As the case in such situations, their initial antagonism hides an electric connection that creates sparks.
The film, directed by Jim McBride (“Great Balls of Fire”), co-stars John Goodman, Ned Beatty and Lisa Jane Persky.
The movie garnered an 89 percent fresh rating at Rotten Tomatoes.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 1.85:1 widescreen picture; English 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio; English SDH subtitles.
Don’t miss: A commentary track with McBride, moderated by filmmaker Douglas Hosdale, is the main extra.
Gorgeous (Blu-ray)
Details: 1999, 88 Films
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: A mixture of romantic comedy and martial arts in which Bu (Shu Qi), after finding a message in a bottle, travels to Hong Kong to seek the writer of the note, whom she believes to be her true love.
She finds the author, who turns out to be a gay beautician.
The beautician, feeling sorry for the young woman, takes her to his workplace. Once there, however, she falls in love with businessman Chi-Ng (Jackie Chan).
But the road to romance is not smooth, as Chi-Ng’s lifelong enemy, Lo, discovers his new love and decides to ruin the couple’s happiness.
The fight scenes work better than the awkward romantic moments.
The Blu-ray features the 120-minute Hong Kong and 99-minute international cuts of the movie.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 2.35:1 widescreen picture; Cantonese 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio (Hong Kong cut) and Cantonese and English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio (international cut); English subtitles on both.
Don’t miss: Extras include three commentary tracks, an interview with director Vincent Kok, a making of featurette, a profile of Brad Allan and a music video.
The Mission (DVD)
Details: 2022, Film Movement
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: Every year, more than 60,000 young missionaries from the Church of Latter-Day Saints are sent overseas for two years to preach the gospel.
This documentary follows four teenagers from their training in Utah to their missions in Finland.
The movie details the challenges for the teens as Finland is home to Europe’s most private and secular people.
The lives of the young missionaries are tracked by filmmaker Tania Anderson as they struggle with being introduced into a new culture and being rejected on a daily basis.
The film is a profile on young people whose strong faith to their church gives them spiritual strength to continue their work.
Technical aspects: 1.78:1 widescreen picture; English and Finnish 5.1 Dolby digital; English closed-captioned.
Up, Down, Fragile (Blu-ray)
Details: 1995, Cohen Media Group
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: This French feature from noted director Jacques Rivette takes its cues from the backstage Hollywood musicals of the 1930s.
The movie covers the adventures of three young women, played by Nathalie Richard, Marianne Denicourt and Laurence Côtel in Paris. Each is at a turning point in her life: one, who is adopted, searches for her lost mother; a second, has come out of a coma and needs to rekindle a relationship with her father; the third is a crook who redeems herself through love.
The stories are enhanced by songs and dances.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 1.85:1 widescreen picture; French 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio monaural; English subtitles.
Don’t miss: Bonus offerings include a commentary track.
Chess Story (DVD)
Details: 2021, Film Movement
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: The time is 1938, the country is Austria. The Nazis have occupied the country.
Dr. Josef Bartok is preparing to escape to America when he is arrested by the Gestapo. Bartok, a former notary for the Austrian aristocracy, is instructed by his captors to hand over access to their private accounts.
When Bartok refuses, he is locked in solitary confinement. Soon, his mind is ready to crack, but just before he goes over the edge, Bartok discovers a book of famous chess matches.
To withstand the torturous loneliness of isolation, Bartok disappears into the world of chess, maintaining the last threads of his sanity by memorizing every move.
The movie flashes forward to a transatlantic crossing on which Bartok is a passenger. It seems Bartok has found freedom as he tells his story to fellow travelers.
It is apparent that his ordeal with the Gestapo and his encounters with the famous chess matches have not stopped haunting him.
Technical aspects: 2.39:1 widescreen picture; German 5.1 and 2.0 Dolby digital; English subtitles.
Don’t miss: Extras include an introductory essay and a bonus short film.
Juniper (DVD)
Release date: April 4
Details: 2021, Greenwich Entertainment-Kino Lorber
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: Charlotte Rampling brings fireworks and gravitas to this family drama about healing.
Rampling portrays Ruth, a former war correspondent, who is bored in retirement and has a drinking problem. Both are compounded by a newly fractured leg.
Coming into her life is her unruly grandson, Sam (George Ferrier), who was recently kicked out of his boarding school and still is grieving the death of his mother.
Together under one roof, the two begin to slowly form a bond. The movie is prickly and sentimental, but not enough to make it too saccharine.
Critics were taken with the film, giving it a 92 percent fresh rating at Rotten Tomatoes.
Technical aspects: 2.39:1 (16×9 enhanced) widescreen picture; English 5.1 and 2.0 Dolby digital; English SDH subtitles.
Scrap (DVD)
Details: 2022, First Run Features-Kino Lorber
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: An interesting documentary that look at the places where things go to die and the people who collect, restore and recycle the world’s scrap.
The film is a paean to things we use in our daily lives, yet discard when they are no longer any use to us.
Writer-director Stacey Tenenbaum introduces us to people who have deeper connections to objects that have reached the end of their lives.
A deeper message about the environment, humanity and our relationships to things — the sadness we feel at their loss, and the joy that comes in giving them a new purpose.
Technical aspects: Widescreen picture; English Dolby digital.
The Mississippi Gambler (Blu-ray)
Details: 1953, Kino Lorber Studio Classics
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: Sometimes actors don’t make the best choices. Tyrone Power turned down the lead in “The Robe,” the first CinemaScope movie, to portray riverboat gambler Mark Fallon in this routine historical feature.
During one of his riverboat sojourns, Fallon meets Angelique Dureau (Piper Laurie), a fiery Southern belle, from whom he wins a locket.
Fallon and his partner, Kansas John Polly (John McIntire), try to introduce honest gambling to riverboat, thus making enemies of crooked card sharks and others.
Fallon travels to New Orleans, where he becomes friendly with Angelique’s father, but is continually spurned by Angelique.
Fallon’s success makes him rich, and he uses his winnings to build a casino. He continues his lucky streak but remains unlucky when it comes to the woman he loves. He becomes involved in knife fights, family feuds and duels over personal honor.
The cast also includes William Reynolds, Paul Cavanagh, Julie Adams and Robert Warwick. It was written by Seton I. Miller and directed by Rudolph Mate.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 1.37:1 full-screen picture; English 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio monaural; English SDH subtitles.
Don’t miss: A commentary track by film historian Toby Roan is the main extra.
The Truth About Spring (Blu-ray)
Details: 1965, Kino Lorber Studio Classics
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: Father and daughter, John and Hayley Mills, star in this family-friendly movie about Tommy Tyler, an easy-going Caribbean sailor and treasure hunter, and his tomboy daughter, Spring, who appears wiser than her years.
The movie features some modern-day pirates who seek the same sunken treasure as Tyler.
Helping Tyler is William Ashton (James MacArthur), a young American lawyer on vacation. Tommy Tyler, of course, tries to play matchmaker between his daughter and Ashton.
The film, which costars Lionel Jeffries and David Tomlinson, plays like a sub-Disney live-action feature.
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 historian-screenwriter Gary Gerani is the main bonus option.
Virtual Reality (Blu-ray)
Release date: April 4
Details: 2021, Artsploitation Films-Kino Lorber
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: A horror film in which an arrogant director who makes a dark pact to make his career skyrocket, invites the cast to his home for a first-cut screening.
Soon, strange events occur; images that had not been filmed start appearing on screen and, one by one, people begin to die.
The “final girl” in the film must act to save herself and her surviving colleagues. The film’s horror sequences do the movie justice.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 1.85:1 widescreen picture; Spanish 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio; English subtitles.
iMordecai (DVD)
Details: 2022, Greenwich Entertainment-Kino Lorber
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: Judd Hirsch stars as Mordecai, a Holocaust survivor, whose world begins to turn upside down when he is given a new iPhone.
The movie, set in Miami, is heartwarming and funny, a nod to friendship and family.
The film, which costars includes Sean Astin, Carol Kane and Stephanie J. Block, is based on a true story.
Part of the fun is watching Hirsch’s Mordecai try to adapt to a modern, technological-centric society, even though his performance is a bit stereotypical and hammy.
Technical aspects: 1.78:1 (16×9 enhanced) widescreen picture; English 5.1 and 2.0 Dolby digital; English SDH subtitles.
Other titles being released on Tuesday, unless otherwise indicated:
AmnesiA (Blu-ray & DVD) (Cult Epics)
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (Marvel Studios-Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment)
Breakout (DVD & digital) (Uncork’d Entertainment)
El Houb (The Love) (DVD & digital) (Dark Star Pictures)
The New Abolitionists (DVD & digital & VOD) (Freestyle Digital Media)
Scrap (DVD & streaming) (First Run Features)
The Strange Case of Jacky Caillou (DVD & digital) (Dark Star Pictures)
DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, STREAMING or VOD
Am I Being Unreasonable (Hulu)
The Ants and the Grasshopper (Giant Pictures)
Invisible Valley (Kino Lorber)
The Last of Us: The Complete First Season (Warner Home Entertainment)
Linoleum (Shout! Studios)
New Gods: Yang Jian (GKids-Shout! Factory)
Strain 100 (Uncork’d Entertainment)
APRIL 12
American Manhunt: The Boston Marathon Bombing (Netflix)
The Big Door Prize: Episode 5 (Apple TV+)
Schmigadoon: Season 2, Episode 3 (Apple TV+)
Ted Lasso: Season 3, Episode 6 (Apple TV+)
APRIL 13
Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies: Episode 3 (Paramount+)
APRIL 14
Chantilly Bridge (Quiver Distribution)
Cocaine Bear (Universal Pictures Home Entertainment)
Dark Entities (Terror Films)
Extrapolations: Episode 7 (Apple TV+)
Honorable Men: The Rise and Fall of Ehud Olmert (Film Movement)
Jane (Apple TV+)
Kids vs. Aliens (Shudder)
The Last Thing He Told Me: Episodes 1 & 2 (Apple TV+)
One of These Days (Gravitas Ventures)
APRIL 17
Darklands (Shudder)
Final Exam (Shudder)
The Freak Brothers: Season 1 (Lionsgate Home Entertainment)
Paul T. Goldman: Season 1 (Lionsgate Home Entertainment)
Prime Rage (Shudder)
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.