New to View: Oct. 4
By Bob Bloom
The following Blu-rays and DVDs are being released on Tuesday, Oct. 4, unless otherwise noted:
Complete Unknown
Details: 2016, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
Rated: R, language
The lowdown: Academy Award-winner Rachel Weisz stars as a woman who, every few years, reinvents herself with a new name, a new career and a new life.
In her latest persona as Alice, she meets Tom (Michael Shannon), who recognizes her as Jenny, a woman from his past.
Alice-Jenny tells the now-married Tom about what she has been doing for the past 20 years.
She asks him to leave the comfort and security that he has so long enveloped himself in and join her on the path she follows.
The strong performances by Weisz and Shannon make for compelling viewing.
Technical aspects: 2.39:1 anamorphic widescreen picture; English 5.1 Dolby digital; English SDH, English and Spanish subtitles.
Don’t miss: A commentary by director Joshua Marston is the main bonus feature.
Banshee: Final Season (Blu-ray + Ultraviolet)
Details: 2016, HBO Home Entertainment
Rated: TV-MA
The lowdown: A three-disc set featuring the final episodes of this white-knuckle action series set in the Amish-area town of Banshee.
The plot picks up two years after the season three finale that featured a bloody, multimillion-dollar robbery at the Camp Genoa Marine Base. The costly caper claimed the life of Gordon, Carrie Hopewell’s husband, as well as the capture of Lucas’ longtime partner, the hacker Job, by a criminal cartel.
Lucas Hood, along with Carrie, finally returns to Banshee and finds it a very changed place. Demons, however, still plague the town as a serial killer is loose and Lucas becomes involved in the crisis to root him out.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 1.78:1 (16×9 enhanced) widescreen picture; English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio, French and German 5.1 DTS digital surround and Spanish 2.0 DTS digital surround; English SDH, French, Spanish, German, Finnish, Danish, Norwegian and Swedish subtitles.
Don’t miss: Bonus offerings include a cast retrospective, eight prequel videos set before the series started, a behind-the-scenes look at how some adrenaline-pumping scenes are created, deleted scenes and commentaries.
The Neon Demon (Blu-ray)
Release date: Sept. 27
Details: 2016, Broad Green Pictures
Rated: R, disturbing content, violent and bloody images, nudity, sexual content, language
The lowdown: A very strange feature abut the cut-throat world of high-fashion modeling.
Elle Fanning stars as Jesse, a young woman who has moved to Los Angeles to chase her dream of glamour and fame.
Along the way, she must battle the city’s dark side, including a sleazy motel manager (Keanu Reeves).
But she finds allies in her agent (Christina Hendricks) and new best friend, Ruby (Jena Malone), who believe Jesse can make it to the top in modeling.
Director Nicolas Winding Rehn’s film makes a sharp turn into some gruesome horror imagery that is most disturbing.
The film may take more than one viewing to wrap your head around.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 2.40:1 widescreen picture; English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio and Spanish 5.1 DTS digital surround. English SDH and Spanish subtitles.
Don’t miss: Bonus materials include a featurette about the making of the movie, a look at the soundtrack and a commentary track.
Into the Forest (Blu-ray + Ultraviolet)
Details: 2016, Lionsgate Home Entertainment
Rated: R, rape violence, sexual content, nudity, language
The lowdown: Ellen Page and Evan Rachel Wood star in this apocalyptic drama as sisters who peaceful existence is disrupted by a worldwide power outage.
The sisters must cooperate in order to survive in a new and savage world. To stay alive, they must fight off intruders, disease, loneliness and starvation.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 1.85:1 (16×9 enhanced) widescreen picture; English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio; English SDH and Spanish subtitles.
Don’t miss: A making of featurette and a commentary track are the major bonus offerings.
Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates (Blu-ray + DVD + digital HD)
Release date: Sept. 27
Details: 2016, Fox Home Entertainment
Rated: R, crude sexual content, language, nudity, drug use
The lowdown: A comedy about two hard-partying brothers who, in order not to embarrass their family, place an online ad for “respectable” dates to accompany them to their sister’s wedding in Hawaii.
However, the young men are tricked into inviting two young women — played by Anna Kendrick and Aubrey Plaza — as wild as themselves.
The film supposedly is based on true events, but the story is highly exaggerated for comic effect.
Technical aspects: Blu-ray: 1080p high definition, 2.39:1 widescreen picture; English 7.1 DTS-HD Master Audio, English 5.1 audio description track and Spanish and French 5.1 Dolby digital; English SDH, French and Spanish subtitles; DVD: 2.39:1 widescreen picture; English 5.1 Dolby digital, English 5.1 audio description track and French and Spanish 2.0 Dolby digital; English SDH, French and Spanish subtitles.
Don’t miss: Supplemental materials include a lino-o-rama featurette, deleted and extended scenes, an alternate storyline “pig sequence,” a gag reel, a series of “Funny or Die” shorts, a bits on bits on bits featurette and a commentary track.
Charlie Brown’s All-Stars! 50th Anniversary Deluxe Edition
Details: 1966, Warner Home Video
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: Batter up, as Charlie Brown and his teammates prepare for the start of another baseball seasons as well as of winning a game.
After losing another game, the team decides to take a break and enjoy other summertime pastimes.
In the meantime, Charlie Brown receives an offer to play in an organized league with real uniforms. There is one small detail however — no girls and no dogs, which creates a dilemma for our young hero.
Life is never easy for Charlie Brown, who, as always, usually makes the right call
By the way, “Warner Bros. Home Entertainment provided me with a free copy of the DVD I reviewed in this column. The opinions I share are my own.”
Technical aspects: Widescreen picture; English 5.1 Dolby digital; English SDH subtitles.
Don’t miss: The TV special “A Charlie Brown Celebration” is the main bonus offering.
Constantine: The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
Details: 2014-15, Warner Archive Collection
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: A three-disc set featuring the complete series starring Matt Ryan as the popular DC Comics character who, with his soul already damned and armed with knowledge of the dark, renews his campaign against evil, doing whatever it takes to protect humanity.
Ryan’s Constantine travels wherever he is needed to battle the supernatural forces that threaten mankind and send them back to Hell.
The series offers so cool action and effects, and Ryan brings some acerbic wit to Constantine that at times lightens the show’s intensity.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 1.78:1 widescreen picture; English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio; English SDH subtitles.
Don’t miss: An on-the-set featurette, a 2014 Comic-Con panel featuring a question-and-answer session with cast members and the show’s creators and a DC Comics Night featurette from the 2014 Comic-Con are the main extras.
The Wailing (Blu-ray)
Details: 2015, Well Go USA Entertainment
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: A Korean supernatural thriller about a foreigner who shows up unexpectedly in a quiet, rural village.
Soon after, the villagers begin killing each other for seemingly no rational reason.
As the town’s investigating officer watches helplessly, his daughter falls under the murderous spell.
The officer finally agrees to consult a shaman, which only serves to escalate the situation.
The film has become one of the most popular in South Korea, with many filmgoers returning often to seek more clues as they watch the film again and again.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 2.39:1 (16×9 enhanced) widescreen picture; Korean 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio; English subtitles.
Don’t miss: Extras include a look at the beginning of “The Wailing” and a making of featurette.
The Passion Live
Details: 2016, Shout! Factory
Rated: TV-PG
The lowdown: Tyler Perry hosted and narrated this biblical extravaganza recounting the last days of Jesus from the Last Supper, his betrayal by Judas, his trial by Pontius Pilate, the crucifixion and the resurrection.
The cast includes Jencarlos Canela as Jesus, Chris Daughtry as Judas, Seal as Pontius Pilate and Trisha Yearwood as Mary.
The story uses popular music to advance this time-honored story.
Technical aspects: 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen picture; English 5.1 Dolby digital and stereo; English SDH.
The Innocents
Release date: Sept. 27
Details: 2016, Music Box Films
Rated: PG-13, adult themes, sexual assault, bloody images, suggestive content
The lowdown: This drama, set in Poland at the end of World War II, centers on a Red Cross doctor who is helping concentration camp survivors when she is urgently pulled away by a frantic nun to her convent.
There, the doctor finds a pregnant sister and others in late stages of pregnancy.
The doctor enters the secretive world of the convent, overseen by a strict Mother Superior, where the nuns’ faith and beliefs slowly begin to clash with the realities of a war-torn outside world.
Technical aspects: 1.85:1 widescreen picture; French and Polish 5.1 Dolby digital; English subtitles.
Don’t miss: A making of featurette, an interview with director Anne Fontaine and a question-and-answer session with Fontaine comprise the major bonus offerings.
Kingsglaive: Final Fantasy XV (Blu-ray + Ultraviolet)
Details: 2016, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
Rated: PG-13, fantasy violence and action
The lowdown: In this fantasy, computer-generated feature, the magical kingdom of Lucis houses the sacred Crystal, which the evil kingdom of Niflheim covets.
King Regis (Sean Bean) of Lucis commands an elite force of soldiers called the Kingsglaive, headed by Nyx (Aaron Paul).
Nyx and his soldiers use the king’s magic to protect their kingdom.
Regis, though, is faced with a dark dilemma. He must marry his son, Prince Noctis to Princess Lunafreya of Tenebrae (Lena Headey), a captive of Niflheim, and surrender his lands to that empire’s domination.
Although, the king concedes, the Niflheim are determined to achieve their devious goals, and only the Kingsglaive stands between them and the domination of the known world.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 2.35:1 widescreen picture; English, French and Portuguese 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio and Japanese, Spanish and Thai 5.1 Dolby digital; English SDH, English, Cantonese, Chinese (simplified and traditional), French, Indonesian/Bahasa, Korean, Malay, Portuguese, Spanish and Thai subtitles.
Don’t miss: Bonus materials include a featurette on creating the movie’s vocals, a look at the building the world of the movie, a look at capturing the performances for the computer-generated film and a featurette on scoring the film.
Diary of a Chambermaid (Blu-ray)
Details: 2015, Cohen Media Group
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: Lea Seydoux stars in still another version of the story of a resentful Parisian chambermaid who finds herself sent to a position in the provinces where she begins to resent the pettiness of her middle-class mistress.
She also must resist the groping and unwanted advances of the master of the house. Seydoux’s Celestine also has to deal with her growing feelings for the earthy and brooding gardener.
This latest version of the century-old story looks at contemporary France and the sense of social stiflement that pervades the country.
Celestine must contend with her mistress’ humiliating demands for employment and the gardener’s anti-Semitism.
Director Benoit Jagquot’s version also looks at the repression and compulsions that define the characters.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, widescreen picture; French 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio; English SDH, English and French subtitles.
Don’t miss: A making of featurette is the major bonus component.
My Many Sons
Details: 2015, Well Go USA Entertainment
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: This family-oriented feature tells the story of college basketball coach Don Meyer who passed Bobby Knight to becoming the most winning coach in NCAA history.
What makes Meyer’s story more remarkable is that he coached from a wheelchair after being severely injured in a near-fatal car wreck.
Judge Reinhold stars as Meyer in this inspirational story of courage, character and determination.
Technical aspects: 16:9 widescreen picture; English 5.1 Dolby digital surround; English SDH subtitles.
Don’t miss: A Lipscomb University video is the major bonus offering.
Fender Bender (Blu-ray + digital)
Details: 2016, Shout! Factory
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: A thriller about a man who stalks the highways for his prey.
Hilary, a 17-year-old who just received her license, is involved in an accident. She exchanges information with the other driver and heads home.
Later, the so-called remorseful driver shows up at her home and is revealed to be a much more darker and sinister character than she could ever imagine.
This intense feature may give you second thoughts about driving at night — especially if you are alone.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 2.35:1 widescreen picture; English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio and stereo; English SDH subtitles.
Don’t miss: Extras include a retro VHS cut of the film, two commentary tracks, a behind-the-scenes featurette and a collection of Scream Factory-branded slasher previews.
Mike Tyson Mysteries Uncensored: Season Two (DVD-R)
Release date: Sept. 27
Details: 2015, Warner Archive Collection
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: Mike Tyson and his team return for a second season of this adult comedy series in which the former heavyweight champ seeks redemption by going from being the “baddest man on the planet” to the “goodest man on the planet.”
In this two-disc set, Tyson and his pals solve mystery after mystery in funny and nonconventional ways.
This is a made-on-demand DVD-R from the Warner Archive Collection and can be found at www.wbshop.com or other online retailers.
Technical aspects: 1.78:1 (16×9 enhanced) widescreen picture; English 5.1 Dolby digital surround.
Don’t miss: The major extra is a 2015 Comic-Con panel.
Slugs (Blu-ray)
Details: 1988, Arrow Video
Rated: R, graphic violence
The lowdown: This horror outing features mutant slugs on the loose in a small American town.
Spanish director Juan Piquer’s film, residents of the town are dying under mysterious and gruesome circumstances.
A local health inspector who is investigating the deaths discovers that giant slugs are breeding in the sewers under the town and are feasting on the locals.
The movie offers some gross-out gore that is not for the weak of stomach. But fans of the genre should enjoy these slimy doings.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 1.85:1 widescreen picture; English LPCM monaural; English SDH subtitles.
Don’t miss: Supplemental offerings include interviews with production manager Larry Ann Evans, art director Gonzalo Gonzalo, special effects artist Carlo De Marchis and actor Emilio Linder; a commentary track, a 1988 Goya Award promo reel and a booklet with writings about the film.
Other Blu-rays and DVDs being released on Tuesday, unless otherwise indicated:
The Demolisher (Blu-ray) (Dark Sky Films)
The Venture Bros. Season 6 (Blu-ray + Ultraviolet) (Warner Home Video)
FOR KIDS
We Bare Bears: Viral Video (Warner Home Video)
DIGITAL DOWNLOAD and STREAMING
Ice Age: Collision Course (Fox Home Entertainment, Sept. 30)
The Hollow (Uncork’d Entertainment, Oct. 7)
The Code: Season 2 (Acorn TV, Oct. 10)
Coming next week: The Legend of Tarzan
Bob Bloom is a member of the Indiana Film Journalists Association. He reviews movies, Blu-rays and DVDs for ReelBob (ReelBob.com), The Film Yap and other print and online publications. He can be reached by email at bobbloomjc@gmail.com. You also can follow Bloom on Twitter @ReelBobBloom and on Facebook. Movie reviews by Bloom also can be found at Rottentomatoes: www.rottentomatoes.com.