New to View: Feb. 6
By Bob Bloom
The following titles are being released on Tuesday, Feb., unless otherwise noted:
Witness for the Prosecution (Blu-ray)
Details: 1957, Kino Lorber Studio Classics
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: Billy Wilder co-wrote and directed this adaptation of the Agatha Christie story and play about a man on trial for a wealthy widow’s murder after he profits from her will.
The only hope for acquittal for the suspect, Leonard Vole (Tyrone Power), is his wife, Christine (Marlene Dietrich).
Vole is represented by Sir Wilfred Robarts (Charles Laughton), who, recovering from a heart attack, ignores his doctor’s order to relax and take a vacation.
The movie is loaded with twists and surprise revelations that last until the final fadeout.
The cast also includes Elsa Lanchester as Robarts’ nurse and John Williams as his associate, as well as Henry Daniell, Ian Wolfe, Torin Thatcher, Norma Varden and Ruta Lee.
The movie, which received six Academy Award nominations, garnered a 100 percent fresh rating at Rotten Tomatoes. It’s a film needs to be seen from the beginning and, for maximum enjoyment, with other film buffs.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 1.66:1 widescreen picture; English 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio monaural; English SDH subtitles.
Don’t miss: Bonus materials include a discussion between Wilder and filmmaker Volker Schlöndorff and a commentary track with author-film historian Joseph McBride, author “Billy Wilder: Dancing on the Edge.”
The Big Country (Blu-ray)
Details: 1958, Kino Lorber Studio Classics
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: This sprawling, epic, 166-minute Western features a stellar cast that includes Gregory Peck, Charlton Heston, Jean Simmons, Carroll Baker, Burl Ives, Charles Bickford, Chuck Connors and Alfonso Bedoya, all under the direction of three-time Academy Award-winning director William Wyler.
Peck portrays James McKay, a former sea captain, who goes West to marry his fiancée, Patricia Terrill (Baker). Upon arrival, McKay finds himself in the center of a land-and-water feud between his future father-in-law, Major Terrill (Bickford) and Rufus Hannassey (Ives) and his family.
McKay tries to maintain peace between himself and the Hannasseys despite being repeatedly provoked, which upsets Terrill and Patricia.
The movie was nominated for two Academy Awards, Ives, who won for best supporting actor, and Jerome Moross, for his rousing score.
At Rotten Tomatoes, the movie received a 100 percent fresh rating.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 2.35:1 widescreen picture; English 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio monaural; English SDH subtitles.
Don’t miss: Extras include a commentary track with film historian Sir Christopher Frayling, a documentary on Wyler, interviews with Cecilia, Carey and Tony Peck, Fraser Heston and Catherine Wyler; a featurette about the movie; and a profile of Connors by filmmaker Larry Cohen.
My Sailor, My Love (DVD)
Release date: Jan. 30
Details: 2022, Music Box Films
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: A feature that looks at the developing romance between Howard, a widowed sailor living alone on the coast of Ireland, and Annie, the caretaker the sailor’s daughter, Grace, hires to help him around the house.
At first Howard is resentful of Annie’s intrusion. Soon, though, her gentle charm wins him over and the two fall in love.
Annie’s large and loving family welcome Howard into their lives and homes. These new relationships, however, illuminate the depth of pain and hurt between Howard and Grace, who is facing her own challenges.
Grace’s resentment causes problems in Howard and Annie’s idyllic relationship.
The performances by James Cosmo as Howard, Brid Brennan as Annie and Catherine Walker as Grace was a major factor in the movie garnering a 90 percent fresh rating at Rotten Tomatoes.
Technical aspects: 2.39:1 widescreen picture; English 5.1 Dolby digital; English SDH subtitles.
Don’t miss: A look at the movie’s premiere in County Mayo and “The Last Great Love Song” featurette comprise the bonus options.
The Thomas Crown Affair (Blu-ray)
Details: 1968, Kino Lorber Studio Classics
Rated: R, language, sexual situations
The lowdown: Steve McQueen and Faye Dunaway star in this caper film about bored millionaire Thomas Crown (McQueen) who devises a plan to rob a bank without having to do any of the dirty work himself.
The robbery attracts the interest of Vicki Anderson (Dunaway), an investigator for the bank’s insurance company.
She soon takes an interest in Crown and the two begin a cat-and-mouse game with a romantic undercurrent.
Crown, to try deciphering Anderson’s agenda, devises another robbery like his original, hoping to see if he can get away with the same crime twice.
The movie, directed by Norman Jewison, featured stunning cinematography by Haskell Wexler and a score by Michel Legrand.
The film, which was remade in 1999 with Pierce Brosnan and Renee Russo in the starring roles, received a 70 percent fresh rating at Rotten Tomatoes.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 1.85:1 widescreen picture; English 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio monaural; English subtitles.
Don’t miss: Commentary tracks by Jewison as well as by film historians Lem Dobbs and Nick Redman, interviews with Jewison and title designer Pablo Ferro and an on-the-set featurette with cast and crew members comprise the extras.
Monk: Season Three (Blu-ray)
Release date: Jan. 30
Details: 2004-05, Kino Lorber Studio Classics
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: Tony Shalhoub returns as obsessive-compulsive detective Adrian Monk who must overcome his disorder to solve crimes.
The four-disc set contains all 16 third-season episodes in which, among other cases, Monk must investigate the death of his wife, Trudy, an event that impacted Monk for the remainder of the series.
Monk, also hoping to be reinstated in the San Francisco Police Department, uses his intelligence, photographic memory and his ever-present hand wipes to take on the Mafia, the FBI and a possible murderous chimpanzee.
The season also introduces Monk’s new assistant, Natalie Teeger, played by Traylor Howard. Also returning is Ted Levine as SFPD Capt. Leland Stottlemeyer. Guest stars include Brooke Adams, James Brolin, Carmen Electra, Rosemary Forsyth, Philip Baker Hall,, Glenne Headly, Mako, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Nick Offerman, Judge Reinhold and Mykelti Williamson.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 1.78:1 widescreen picture; English 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio; English SDH subtitles.
Don’t miss: Among the extras are Monk and Natalie Teeger character profiles, a “Quirks,” “Favorites” and “Life Before Monk” featurettes.
The Book of Harth (DVD)
Details: 2022, MVD Visual Entertainment
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: For 20 years, conceptual artist David Greg Harth carried a Bible with him every day, seeking signatures from the most culturally significant people in the world.
This documentary by filmmaker Pierre Guillet follows Harth during the final year of his quest. Along the way, Guillet grabs interviews with previous signees, including Noam Chomsky, John Waters, Jennifer Lopez, Charlize Theron, Tom Hiddleston, Paul Schrader and Kevin Smith.
As his odyssey draws to its conclusion, Harth mulls the personal cost of his quixotic project.
The interesting aspect of the movie is the reaction of those asked to sign to put their signature in a Bible.
Technical aspects: 1.78:1 widescreen picture; English 5.1 Dolby digital; English and Spanish subtitles.
Don’t miss: A commentary track by Guillet and Harth and deleted scenes comprise the extras.
He Walked by Night (Blu-ray)
Release date: Jan. 30
Details: 1948, Kino Lorber Studio Classics
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: A “ripped-from-the-headlines” crime drama about the manhunt for a cunning and dangerous burglar who only works at night.
The burglar, played by Richard Basehart, kills a police officer and two police sergeants, played by Scott Brady and James Cardwell, are assigned to the case.
It is a difficult one to solve because Basehart’s Roy Morgan, who also goes by Roy Martin, is a former civilian radio technician for a local police department who listens to police radio calls to keep ahead of the police.
Morgan/Martin is finally identified with the help of a police forensics specialist, played by Jack Webb.
It’s notable to point out that the movie was the impetus for Webb’s creation of the radio and later TV series “Dragnet,” after he had a discussion with the movie’s technical adviser, Marty Wynn.
The movie was directed by Alfred Werker and an uncredited Anthony Mann. The movie earned an 80 percent fresh rating at Rotten Tomatoes.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 1.37:1 full-screen picture; English 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio; English subtitles.
Don’t miss: Supplemental options include a commentary track by film historian Imogen Sara Smith and another by author-film historian Alan K. Rode and film historian Julie Kirgo.
Scarlet Street (4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray)
Release date: Jan. 30
Details: 1945, Kino Lorber Studio Classics
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: Edward G. Robinson, Joan Bennett and Dan Duryea star in this Fritz Lang-directed drama about a Chris Cross (Robinson), a mild-mannered, middle-aged man, who rescues Kitty (Bennett), a street-walking hustler, from a rain-slicked gutter in Greenwich Village.
His act of kindness, plunges him into a storm of lust, larceny and revenge, especially as his obsession with the vulgar Kitty increases.
Cross is seduced, transformed into a corrupted and humiliated man, who soon becomes an avenging monster before fate and justice triumph.
The movie’s finale and dark and downbeat, which did not keep the movie from receiving a 100 percent fresh rating at Rotten Tomatoes.
Technical aspects: 4K: ultra-high definition, 1.37:1 full-screen picture; English 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio monaural; English subtitles; Blu-ray: 1080p high definition, 1.37:1 full-screen picture; English 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio monaural; English subtitles.
Don’t miss: Extras include two commentary tracks, one with film historian Imogen Sara Smith, the other with David Kalat, author of “The Strange Case of Dr. Mabuse.”
Burnt Offerings (Blu-ray)
Details: 1976, Kino Lorber Studio Classics
Rated: PG, violence
The lowdown: A thriller in which a house may be the monster. The summer home in question has been rented by Ben and Marian Rolf (Oliver Reed and Karen Black), who got it for a steal.
Well, this is one gift house that the Rolfs should have known was too good to be true.
The movie, which also features Bette Davis, Burgess Meredith, Eileen Heckart, Lee Montgomery, Dub Taylor and Anthony James, features one of those evil presences that infest the house, creating fear for the Rolfs, their son, Davey (Montgomery), and Ben’s aunt Elizabeth (Davis).
The home’s evil feeds on torture, fear and murder.
The movie was co-written, produced and directed by Dan Curtis (“The Night Strangler”).
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 1.85:1 widescreen picture; English 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio; English SDH subtitles.
Don’t miss: Interviews with James, Montgomery and co-screenwriter William F. Nolan and two commentary tracks, one with Curtis, Black and Nolan, the other with film historian Richard Harland Smith comprise the bonus materials.
Kindergarten Cop (4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray)
Release date: Jan. 23
Details: 1990, Kino Lorber Studio Classics
Rated: PG-13, violence, language
The lowdown: In a change-of-pace role from his action films, Arnold Schwarzenegger is police detective John Kimble who goes undercover as a kindergarten teacher to trap a wily criminal.
This action-comedy blends, unevenly at times, thrills and laughs as Kimble tries to handle 23 screaming kids without blowing his cover. The son of bad guy Cullen Crisp (Richard Tyson) is one of the youngsters in Kimble’s class, though under an assumed identity, as is his mother, played by Penelope Ann Miller.
The cast of the movie, directed by Ivan Reitman, also includes Pamela Reed as Kimble’s partner, Linda Hunt, Carroll Baker and Cathy Moriarty.
The movie garnered a modest 53 percent fresh rating at Rotten Tomatoes.
Technical aspects: 4K: 2160p ultra high definition, 1.85:1 widescreen picture; English 5.1 and 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio; English subtitles; Blu-ray: 1080p high definition; 1.85:1 widescreen picture; English 5.1 and 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio; English subtitles.
Don’t miss: Bonus options include two commentary tracks.
The Boogens (4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray)
Release date: Jan. 30
Details: 1981, Kino Lorber Studio Classics
Rated: R, violence, language, brief nudity
The lowdown: A low-budget horror film-creature feature set in a small Colorado mining town that has buried a deadly secret.
Two young men begin to explore a long-abandoned old mine that was recently re-opened. When one of them is discovered missing, his friends begin a search that leads to horrifying and deadly consequences.
The townspeople are unaware of the evil that has been unleashed and soon, they begin to disappear one by one.
Director James L. Conway, working with a low budget, built suspense and tension by keeping the monster off screen as long as possible. Its appearance does turn out to be something of a disappointment, but you get what you can afford to pay for.
Technical aspects: 4K: 2160p ultra high definition, 1.78:1 widescreen picture; English 5.1 and 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio; English SDH subtitles; Blu-ray: 1080p high definition, 1.78:1 widescreen picture; English 5.1 and 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio; English SDH subtitles.
Don’t miss: Extras include a commentary track with cast member Jeff Harlan and film historian Howard S. Berger, another with Conway, writer David O’Malley and actress Rebecca Balding, moderated by Jeff McKay; and a featurette, “William Munns: The Man Who Made the Boogens.”
Funeral Home: Special Edition (Blu-ray)
Details: 1982, Scream Factory
Rated: R, violence, language
The lowdown: Heather (Lesleh Donaldson) is sent to stay with her grandmother to help her turn an old funeral home into a bed-and-breakfast.
But strange happenings and unexplained killings around the home create anxiety for the easily frightened Heather. But she stays strong and begins investigating the creepy corners of the old funeral home to unlock a decades-old secret.
The question is, will she survive long enough to solve the deadly mystery. The cast also includes Barry Morse, who spent many years chasing David Janssen’s Richard Kimble on “The Fugitive.”
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; isolated music score selections and audio interviews with music historian Douglas Fake; audio interviews with Donaldson, first assistant director Ray Sager and production assistant Shelley Allen; interviews with director of photography Mark Irwin, art director Susan Longmire, set assistant Elinor Galbraith and Brian Allen, president of Premier Drive-In Theaters; and a look at the filming locations.
Other titles being released on Tuesday, unless otherwise indicated:
Imagining the Indian (DVD & Amazon & Apple TV+) (First Run Features)
DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, STREAMING or VOD
The Dark Crystal (Shout! Studios)
Death and Other Details: Episode 5 (Hulu)
Foggy Mountain (Well Go USA Entertainment)
Labyrinth (Shout! Studios)
Love … Reconsidered (Good Deed Entertainment)
The Road to Shame (Kino Now-Amazon)
La Syndicaliste (Kino Lorber)
Weak Layers (Kino Now-Greenwich Entertainment)
FEB. 7
Criminal Record: Episode 6 (Apple TV+)
FEB. 8
Restore Point (XYZ Films)
Scarlet (Amazon Prime-Kino Film Collection)
The Sinful Nuns of St. Valentine (Amazon Prime-Kino Lorber)
FEB. 9
Ghostwritten (Cranked Up)
Marmalade (Brainstorm Media)
Masters of the Air: Episode 4 (Apple TV+)
My Sole Desire (Omnibus Entertainment)
Skeletons in the Closet (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.