New to View: May 28
By Bob Bloom
The following titles are being released on Tuesday, May 28, unless otherwise noted:
Anatomy of a Fall (Blu-ray)
Details: 2023, The Criterion Collection
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: This highly-acclaimed French courtroom drama, which was awarded an Academy Award this year for best original screenplay, centers on the suspicious death of a Samuel, husband and father — and whether it was a suicide or murder.
Sandra Hüller, an Oscar nominee for best actress, portrays Sandra Voyter, a writer who turns her life into autofiction. She is put on trial for her husband’s death after he is found dead below their chalet in a remote town in the French Alps.
Director Justine Triet who, along with co-writer Arthur Harari, won an Oscar for their script, is more concerned with the psychological details of Sandra and Samuel’s troubled relationship.
The movie was praised for its intelligence and ambiguity. The fall of the title is not so much the one in which Samuel was killed by the gradual dissolution of Sandra and Samuel’s marriage.
“Anatomy of a Fall,” even at 151 minutes, rivets you as you vacillate about Sandra’s character and her guilt or innocence.
Critics were mightily impressed by the film, awarding it a 96 percent fresh rating at Rotten Tomatoes.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 1.85:1 widescreen picture; French and English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio; English SDH subtitles.
Don’t miss: Bonus features include an interview with Triet, audition footage of Milo Machado Graner, who played Daniel, the Voyters’ son, and Antoine Reinartz, who played the advocate general; rehearsal footage of Machado Graner and Hüller; a short about the dog who played Snoop; and as essay about the movie.
All That Breathes (Blu-ray)
Details: 2022, Janus Films-The Criterion Collection
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: This highly acclaimed Indian documentary — 99 percent fresh rating at Rotten Tomatoes — looks at the environmental impact of urban pollution in New Delhi.
The film centers on brothers Mohammad Saud and Nadeem Shehzad as they rescue birds — the black kites — that drop daily from the smog-filed skies above the city.
Filmmaker Shaunak Sen charts the brothers’ daily struggles and successes, but also looks at the connective relationships and interactions between humankind, wildlife and the environment.
Sen also touches upon the city and India’s increasing explosions of anti-Muslim violence and its impact on the brothers’ mission.
The brothers, working from a makeshift hospital in their tiny basement, fight an uphill battle to maintain the delicate environmental balance between people and all the wildlife around them.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 1.85:1 widescreen picture; Hindi 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio; English subtitles.
Don’t miss: The main bonus component is an interview with Sen.
The American Society of Magical Negroes: Collector’s Edition (Blu-ray + digital)
Release date: May 14
Details: 2024, Universal Pictures Home Entertainment
Rated: PG-13, strong language, suggestive and thematic materials
The lowdown: A satire about Aren (Justice Smith), a young man recruited into a secret society of magical Black people who dedicate their lives to a very important cause — making white people feel more comfortable around Black people.
While the premise is promising, producer-writer-director Kobi Libii’s script is too timid, lacking the bite and fierceness to potentially look at its most provocative ideas.
The movie needed more uniqueness and strangeness to fully succeed. Unfortunately, it blunts its message about race relations in the United States.
It also doesn’t help that the characters lack charisma. Overall, the movie wastes a golden opportunity to explore racism in the country. A vast majority of critics agreed, giving the movie a 26 percent fresh rating at Rotten Tomatoes.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 1.85:1 widescreen picture; English 7.1 DTS-HD Master Audio, English 2.0 Dolby digital DVS, French 7.1 DTS-HD high resolution and Spanish 5.1 DTS digital surround; English SDH, French and Spanish subtitles.
Don’t miss: Bonus materials include featurettes in which cast members discuss their roles and the journeys their characters take throughout the movie and the production design, wardrobe and cinematography needed to craft the magical world; a commentary track with Libii and a discussion about race and the story’s impact on cast members.
Club Zero (Blu-ray)
Details: 2023, Film Movement
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: Mia Wasikowska portrays Miss Novak, who joins the staff of an elite international boarding school to teach a new class on “conscious eating.”
Her early lectures emphasize mindful consumption. But soon her discussions become increasingly disordered and extreme.
A suspicious head mistress, concerned parents and the failing health of her impressionable students lead to a questioning of her motivations.
A few of her more-devoted students fall deeper under her cult-like teachings. These impressionable youths are given a new, even more sinister goal to inspire to — joining the ominous “Club Zero.”
The movie is disturbing and offers no easy answers as it delves into the need for connection — no matter the cost — and the dangers of a shared belief system that helps alleviate feeling alone in the world.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 1.85:1 widescreen picture; English 5.1 Dolby digital; English subtitles.
Don’t miss: Extras include interviews with Wasikowska and director Jessica Hausner and Hausner’s masterclass from the Munich International Film Festival.
American Hustle: 10th Anniversary Edition (4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray + digital)
Release date: May 21
Details: 2013, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
Rated: R, language, adult themes, sexual situations, violence
The lowdown: Director David O. Russell’s film, nominated for 10 Academy Awards, about a pair of con artists forced to work for an FBI agent that eventually erupts into one of the biggest scandals in U.S. history is sheer delight.
The movie is a mostly fictional account of the Abscam scandal that rocked the nation in the 1970s.
A paunchy Christian Bale stars as scam artist Irving Rosenfeld Amy Adams is Sydney Prosser his partner and lover. Bradley Cooper is Richie DiMaso, an ambitious FBI agent who coerces them into participating in a sting operation to snare corrupt mayor Carmine Polito, played by Jeremy Renner.
Complicating the entire operation is Jennifer Lawrence’s Rosalyn, Rosenfeld’s unpredictable wife, who could upset the entire operation.
The movie is more character than plot-driven and is fun to watch because of the performances of its leads. The cast also includes Michael Peña, Louis C.K. and Shea Whigham.
Critics were impressed, awarding the movie a 92 percent fresh rating at Rotten Tomatoes.
Technical aspects: 4K: 2160p ultra-high definition, 2.39:1 widescreen picture; English Dolby Atmos (7.1 Dolby TrueHD compatible) and English and Spanish 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio; English SDH, English and Spanish subtitles; Blu-ray: 1080p high definition, 2.39:1 widescreen picture; English 5.1 and Spanish DTS-HD Master Audio; English SDH, English and Spanish subtitles.
Don’t miss: Supplemental options include deleted scenes and a making of featurette.
“Republic Pictures Horror Collection” (Blu-ray)
Release date: May 21
Details: 1944-46, Kino Lorber Studio Classics
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: Republic Pictures was best known for its action-packed serials and B-Westerns starring Roy Rogers, Gene Autry, “Wild Bill” Elliott and others, but once in a while the studio would delve into dramas, mysteries, musicals and even horror features.
This two-disc set spotlights four forays into released by the studio: “The Lady and the Monster” (1944), “The Phantom Speaks” (1945), “The Catman of Paris” (1946) and “Valley of the Zombies” (1946). The movies are more thrillers than horror, but do offer some moments of shivers.
With the exception of “The Lady and the Monster,” must of the movies run about 60 minutes or more. Here’s a quick look at the titles:
“The Lady and the Monster,” directed by B-Western veteran George Sherman, is the first of three cinematic adaptations of Curt Siodmak’s sci-fi novel “Donovan’s Brain.”
Erich von Stroheim portrays Professor Franz Mueller who is obsessed with sustaining brain activity to keep important people’s minds beyond their death. A nearby plane crash affords him the opportunity to experiment, using the brain of Donovan, a millionaire killed in the crash.
Interestingly, it is not Mueller that the brain of Donovan possesses, but that of his assistant, Dr. Patrick Cory (Richard Arlen). The cast also includes the untalented Vera Ralston, whose film career was solely based on her marriage to Republic studio head Herbert Yates, Sidney Blackmer, Helen Vinson and William Henry.
The title of the movie, which is the longest in the set — running 86 minutes — is pure hyperbole, as there is really no monster and Ralston’s Janice Farrell is, like Arlen’s Cory, one of von Mueller’s lab assistants.
The plot of “The Phantom Speaks” is very similar to Universal’s “Black Friday,” in which the mind of a killer takes over the mind of a timid college professor. That movie featured Stanley Ridges as the professor and the gangster.
Ridges does similar duty in “The Phantom Speaks” as a paranormal researcher possessed by the spirit of an executed killer, played by Tom Powers. After his execution, Powers’ Harvey Bogardus begins to dominate Ridges’ Dr. Paul Renwick, leading him to kill all those he believes responsible for his conviction and execution.
Richard Arlen is back, this time as the reporter trying to get to the bottom of all the murders. The cast also includes Lynne Roberts, Charlotte Wynters, Jonathan Hale and Pierre Watkin. The film was helmed by veteran serial-B-Western director John English.
Another B-Western regular, Lesley Selander, is behind the camera for “The Catman of Paris,” a 65-minute thriller set in 1896 in the City of Lights.
Carl Esmond stars as Charles Regnier, an author who has written a book critical of the French government. After a series of murders, in which the victims have been clawed to death by what appears to be a large and powerful cat, suspicion falls on Regnier. But is he the culprit?
The cast also includes Adele Mara, Douglas Dumbrille, Gerald Mohr and Fritz Feld.
The film movie, “Valley of the Zombies, is another hyperbolic-titled thriller as there is no valley and no zombies.
The movie centers on the insane Ormand Murks (Ian Keith), who believes that endless blood transfusions would make him immortal, and he goes about stealing blood to feed his obsession.
People linked to Murks in one way or another are killed until Murks is stopped.
The cast also includes former B-Western star Robert Livingston, ex-serial queen Adrian Booth (formerly Lorna Gray), Charles Trowbridge, Earle Hodgins and Thomas E. Jackson.
The film, which runs 56 minutes, was directed by Philip Ford, son of actor-director Francis Ford and nephew of legendary director John Ford.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 1.37:1 full-screen picture; English 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio; English subtitles.
Don’t miss: Commentary tracks are available for each of the movies as well as a sidebar featurette on “The Lady and the Monster.” The commentaries feature film historian Stephen R. Bissette on “The Lady and the Monster,” novelist and critic Tim Lucas on “The Phantom Speaks” and “Valley of the Zombies and film historians David Del Valle and Miles Hunter on “The Catman of Paris” and “Valley of the Zombies. Lucas and Bissette also are featured in the sidebar.
Pandemonium: Limited Edition (Blu-ray)
Details: 2023, Arrow Films
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: A rather strange film about a man named Nathan who, realizing he has been killed in a car accident, descends into the void of Pandemonium, where he must confront his past and the consequences of his actions.
He encounters other tortured souls, including those of a disturbed child, a grief-stricken mother and the guide of the void.
The movie is a tough experience, offering a few surprises. It is a moody supernatural feature that challenges your viewing sensibilities.
Writer-director Quarxx provides a haunting vision, using three interconnected stories, in which people must atone for their sins. It is dark, strange and, at times, frustrating.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 2.39:1 widescreen picture; French 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio; English subtitles.
Don’t miss: Supplemental offerings include a making of featurette; an interview with Quarxx, who shares a behind-the-scenes look at the filming of a birth; an interview with Quarxx and make-up-FX supervisor Olivier Afonso; and a booklet with writing about the movie.
Daisy Miller (Blu-ray)
Release date: May 21
Details: 1974, Kino Lorber Studio Classics
Rated: G
The lowdown: Peter Bogdanovich directed this adaptation of Henry James’ novel about Annie “Daisy” Miller (Cybill Shepherd), a free-spirited young American woman touring Europe with her mother and younger brother in 1878.
Daisy does not care for propriety, doing what she pleases and scandalizing the Victorian-era upper class. She especially perplexes Frederick Winterbourne (Barry Brown), who is captivated by her beauty, but put off by her liberated ways.
Winterbourne also is upset by Daisy’s flirtatious manner, which he also deems inappropriate.
The cast also includes Cloris Leachman as Daisy’s mother, as well as Mildred Natwick, Eileen Brennan, Duilio Del Prete, Nicholas Jones and James McMurtry.
Bogdanovich was mostly praised for his direction, but many felt Shepherd’s talents were not yet at the range to handle the role of Daisy.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 1.85:1 widescreen picture; English 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio; English subtitles.
Don’t miss: Extras include an introduction to the movie and a commentary track by Bogdanovich; a second commentary by film historian-critic Peter Tonguette; and an interview with Shepherd.
Creation of the Gods I: Kingdom of Storms (Blu-ray)
Details: 2023, Well Go USA Entertainment
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: King Zhou is a brutal tyrant. He came to power by conspiring with a conniving fox demon, which allowed him to kill the emperor and seize power.
Zhou’s reign is so vicious that he incurs the wrath of the gods. In one last attempt to save the mortal world from Zhou’s cruelty, the gods decide to intervene, choosing an unlikely champion with the courage to challenge the despot.
The movie, the first in a trilogy, is based on popular Chinese mythology. The film has been compared by some to “Game of Thrones” of the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy, with its massive battles, top-notch CGI and wide-ranging scope.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 1.85:1 (16:9 enhanced) widescreen picture; Mandarin and English (dubbed) 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio; English, traditional and simplified Chinese and French subtitles.
Don’t miss: A behind-the-scenes look at various aspects of the making of the movie is the main extra.
“Sci-Fi Chillers Collection” (Blu-ray)
Details: 1957-66, Kino Lorber Studio Classics
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: A trio of B-movie science-fiction-chiller features comprise a two-disc set that offers viewers jungle fungus-covered monster men, a scientist whose brain is transferred into a giant robot and an extraterrestrial saucer.
“The Unknown Terror” (1957) features John Howard and Mala Powers as a millionaire and his wife who head an expedition into the wilds of Mexico to find the wife’s brother who had disappeared years earlier.
Instead they find a mad scientist who has created a group of foam-spewing, fungus-covered monster men, which leads to various deadly situations.
A boy and his giant robot, sort of, is the story in “The Colossus of New York” (1958). When a brilliant scientist, played by Ross Martin, is killed in an accident, his brain is transferred into a giant robot. And we all know what happens when human brains are transferred into robots.
At first, the robot is supposed to continue to serve mankind. But when it gains awareness of its own hideous features, the metal man embarks on a rampage of destruction. The cast also features Charles Herbert as the scientist’s beloved nephew, John Baragrey, Mala Powers, Otto Kruger and Robert Hutton.
Scott Brady, Sheree North and Gary Merrill head the cast of “Destination Inner Space” (1966), set in an underwater laboratory where a mysterious object of unknown origin is detected nearby.
It turns out to be a large, automated alien probe. When scientists board it and remove a small object, which they believed to be some sort of instrument, and take it back to the lab for examination, events begin to go south with the humans fighting for their lives.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 2.35:1 widescreen picture (“The Unknown Terror”), 1.85:1 widescreen picture (“The Colossus of New York” and “Destination Inner Space”); English 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio; English subtitles.
Don’t miss: Commentary tracks on all three movies — film historian Stephen R. Bissette on “The Unknown Terror,” film historians Tom Weaver, Larry Blamire and Ron Adams on “The Colossus of New York” and film historians David Del Valle and Stan Shaffer on “Destination Inner Space” — headline the extras, which also include on-camera sidebars with Tim Lucas and Bissette on “Colossus of New York” and “Destination Inner Space.”
Shinobi: Limited Edition (Blu-ray)
Details: 1962-63, Radiance Films
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: A two-disc set featuring a trio of samurai movies set in 16th century Japan, when the nation was in chaos.
The movies in the set are “Band of Assassins,” “Revenge” and “Resurrection.”
The story takes place as samurai clans fight each other over who gets to rule the nation, while warlords engage ninjas to spy on and assassinate their rivals.
Goemon is an ambitious young member of a ninja family who has sworn to bring down Oda Nobunaga, a leading warlord who has sworn to wipe out the ninja to help achieve absolute power.
Goeman’s village is wiped out by Oda’s forces, so the young ninja vows to avenge the deed by using every weapon is his arsenal to destroy Oda.
Goeman, the main character in all three movies, is played by Raizo Ichikawa. The movies were very successful and influential in early 1960s Japan because of their well-done action sequences as well as establishing the rules for the countless ninja movies that followed.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 2.35:1 widescreen picture; Japanese LPCM monaural; English subtitles.
Don’t miss: Extras include an interview with Shozo Ichiyama, artistic director of the Tokyo International Film Festival about director Satsuo Yamamoto; a visual essay on the ninja in Japanese cinema by film scholar Mance Thompson, including an interview with film critic Toshiaki Sato on Ichikawa; a booklet with writings about the series; and six postcards of promotional material from the movies.
The Eichmann Trial (DVD)
Details: 2023, Virgil Films-Kino Lorber
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: The capture in Argentina and trial in Israel of former Nazi official Adolf Eichmann rekindled interest in the Holocaust, a mere 15 years after the end of World War II.
This documentary features rarely-seen archival footage of the trial, which inspired the birth of Holocaust awareness and education.
Eichmann’s trial lasted from April to August of 1961. He was convicted and sentenced to death. Eichmann was hanged on June 1, 1962.
The trial spotlighted what came to be known as the “banality of evil” as it explored the bureaucracy that went into the Nazis’ “Final Solution” program to exterminate Europe’s Jewish population.
Technical aspects: 4×3 full-screen picture; German 5.1 Dolby digital; English closed-captioned subtitles.
Don’t miss: Extras include a question-and-answer session with director Elliot Levitt and newsreel footage of the trial and verdict.
Prison Walls: Abashiri Prison I-III (Blu-ray)
Details: 1965, Eureka Entertainment
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: The movies in this trilogy are part of “The Masters of Cinema” series were directed by Teruo Ishii, Japan’s “King of Cult,” and starred Ken Takakura.
The films are set in Abashiri Prison, a notorious facility built in the late 19th century to house political prisoners.
In “Abashiri Prison,” the first movie in the series, Takakura plays Shinichi Tachibana, a yakuza sent to Abashiri for an attack on a rival gangster. Tachibana intends to be a model prisoner until he is shackled to a bullish Gonzo Gonda and is unwittingly forced to join an escape attempt orchestrated by another inmate.
“Another Abashiri Prison Story” finds Tachibana released from prison and stumbling upon a cache of diamonds recently stolen in a bank robbery, which brings him unwanted attention from both criminals and the police.
Tachibana reunites with his former yakuza associates in “Abashiri Prison: Saga of Homesickness.” His friends are trying to give up the criminal life until old rivals come looking for trouble.
Takakura would portray Tachibana in seven more movies under the “Abashiri Prison” banner, all of which were directed by Ishi. In 1968, the series was rebooted as “New Abashiri Prison” that led to eight more movies starring Takakura.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 2.35:1 widescreen picture; Japanese LPCM monaural; English subtitles.
Don’t miss: Extras include commentary tracks on all three movies by Tom Mes, Chris Poggiali and Mike Leeder & Anne Venema; an interview with critic and Asian film expert Tony Rayns; and a video appreciation by Jasper Sharp and Mark Schilling.
A Queen’s Ransom (Blu-ray)
Details: 1976, Eureka Entertainment
Rated: R, violence, language, sexual situations
The lowdown: A band of mercenaries, including former James Bond George Lazenby, plan on assassinating Queen Elizabeth II during her visit to Hong Kong in this action thriller.
The movie, produced by the then-fledgling Golden Harvest, was one of that studio’s early forays into the international movie market.
The cast also includes Angela Mao, Jimmy Wang Yu, Sammo Hung and Tanny Tien Ni.
The film also includes a subplot centering on a refugee crisis impacting Hong Kong.
The Blu-ray includes the Hong Kong theatrical cut and an English-dubbed export version.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 2.35:1 widescreen picture; Mandarin and English (dubbed) monaural; English subtitles.
Don’t miss: Extras include commentary tracks on the Hong Kong and export versions of the movie, a featurette with martial artist-actor Michael Worth and a booklet with essays about the movie.
Other titles being released on Tuesday, unless otherwise indicated:
Amelia’s Children (DVD & VOD) (Magnolia Home Entertainment)
Knox Goes Away (Blu-ray + DVD + digital) (Lionsgate Home Entertainment)
Red Right Hand (Blu-ray & DVD & digital) (Magnolia Home Entertainment)
DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, STREAMING or VOD
American Mileage (7th Floor Films-Black 22 Productions)
The First Omen (20th Century Fox)
The French (Kino Lorber)
The Girl in the Trunk (Sunrise Films-Vertigo Releasing)
The Legends of Catclaws Mountain (Lionsgate Home Entertainment)
On the Adamant (Kino Lorber)
Sting (Well Go USA Entertainment)
MAY 29
Acapulco: Season 3, Episode 6 (Apple TV+)
The Big Door Prize: Season 2, Episode 8 (Apple TV+)
Dark Matter: Episode 5 (Apple TV+)
Loot: Season 2, Episode 10 (Apple TV+)
Protocol 7 (Abramorama)
Trying: Season 4, Episode 3 (Apple TV+)
Under the Bridge: Episode 8 (Hulu)
MAY 30
Fear and Desire: Uncut Premiere Version (Kino Film Collection)
The First Omen (Hulu-20th Century Fox)
Laugh Proud (Margin Films)
MAY 31
Backspot (XYZ Films)
The Big Cigar: Episode 4 (Apple TV+)
East Bay (Level 33 Entertainment)
Frog and Toad: Season 2 (Apple TV+)
Invaders from Proxima B (Buffalo 8)
Silent Land (Film Movement Plus)
Stopmotion (Shudder)
June 1
Speed Racer (Shout! Studios)
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.