New to View: July 25
By Bob Bloom
The following Blu-rays and DVDs are being released on Tuesday, July 25, unless otherwise noted:
Unforgettable (Blu-ray + DVD + digital)
Details: 2017, Warner Home Video
Rated: R, violence, sexual content, nudity, language
The lowdown: We’ve seen this one before: The jealous ex-wife who goes psycho after her former husband finds a new mate and begins a life of contentment.
Katherine Heigl plays Tessa, the ex-Mrs., and Rosario Dawson plays Julie, who is now stepmom to Tessa’s daughter.
The movie follows a familiar path and features stereotypical characters.
Critics were not impressed, giving the movie a 26 percent fresh rating at Rottentomatoes.com.
Technical aspects: Blu-ray: 1080p high definition, 1.85:1 (16×9 enhanced) widescreen picture; English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio and French and Spanish 5.1 Dolby digital; English SDH, French and Spanish subtitles; DVD: 1.85:1 (16×9 enhanced) widescreen picture; English 5.1 Dolby digital and Spanish and French 5.1 Dolby digital surround; English SDH, French and Spanish subtitles.
Don’t miss: Bonus features include deleted scenes, a making of featurette and a commentary track.
Girls: The Complete Sixth Season (Blu-ray + Ultraviolet)
Details: 2016, HBO Home Entertainment
Rated: TV-MA, sexual content, language
The lowdown: A two-disc set featuring the sixth and final season of the popular HBO series created by and starring Lena Dunham.
The series follows the lives of a group of 20-something friends in New York City who strive for careers, love and happiness.
The series wraps with Dunham’s Hannah getting an assignment that could change her life, the newly-divorced Marnie trying to remain independent while flirting with a new relationship, Jessa beginning a creative project with Adam that could cause friction between them and Shoshanna finding success at the marketing agency where she works, and realizing that some friendships may be creating detours.
The show was well received, but many agreed it was time to call it a day as it seems some believed Dunham was running out of things to say.
The majority of viewers, however, were engaged with these women and their lives.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 1.78:1 (16×9 enhanced) widescreen picture; English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio, French 5.1 DTS digital surround and Spanish 2.0 DTS digital surround; English SDH, French, Spanish, Danish, Finnish, Norwegian and Swedish subtitles.
Don’t miss: Bonus materials include a special, extended version of the finale that includes a commentary track, a peek inside the episodes and favorite moments featurettes.
Lost in America: Special Edition (Blu-ray)
Details: 1985, The Criterion Collection
Rated: R, language
The lowdown: Albert Brooks co-wrote, directed and starred in this satire about a successful Los Angeles advertising executive (Brooks) and his wife (Julie Hagerty) who decide to quit their jobs, buy a Winnebago and follow the freedom of the open road.
A stop in Las Vegas, however, derails their plans and forces them to take stock in their own limitations as well as their view of the ideal American dream.
The movie showcases Brooks’ obsession with restless and insecure characters who are continually searching for satisfaction in a world that can never meet their high expectations.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 1.85:1 widescreen picture; English LPCM monaural; English SDH subtitles.
Don’t miss: Supplemental materials include a conversation with Brooks and filmmaker Robert Weide, interviews with Hagerty, executive producer Herb Nanas and filmmaker-screenwriter James L. Brooks and a booklet with an essay about the movie.
The Final Master (Blu-ray + DVD)
Details: 2015, Well Go USA Entertainment
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: A martial arts drama set in 1930s China that follows Chen, the last Wing Chun master, who arrives in Tianjin to expand his kung fu.
Before he can begin, he becomes entangled in a power struggle with the city’s kung fu Grandmaster, an underworld Madam and the town’s military leaders.
Chen must fight to protect himself and his family from the forces that whirl around him.
Technical aspects: Blu-ray: 1080p high definition, 2.35:1 (16×9 enhanced) widescreen picture; Mandarin DTS-HD Master Audio; English, Chinese and Spanish subtitles; DVD: 2.35:1 (16×9 enhanced) widescreen picture; Mandarin Dolby digital; English, Chinese and Spanish subtitles.
Don’t miss: Extras look at the weapons used in the film and a featurette about the director.
Black Butterfly (Blu-ray + Ultraviolet)
Details: 2017, Lionsgate Home Entertainment
Rated: R, language
The lowdown: Antonio Banderas, Jonathan Rhys Meyers and Piper Perabo star in this thriller about a serial killer who latest murder is in a remote Colorado town.
Banderas’ Paul, a writer, offers shelter to Jack (Meyers), a drifter. As the two spend time in Paul’s isolated cabin, the writer worries that his guest’s violent behavior may make him a suspect in the area’s killings.
Or is he just playing cat-and-mouse to throw other people off the scent? You will have to view this thriller for answers.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 2.40:1 (16×9 enhanced) widescreen picture; English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio; English SDH, English and Spanish subtitles.
Don’t miss: Bonus materials include a behind-the-scenes featurette and a commentary track.
Other Blu-rays and DVDs being released on Tuesday, unless otherwise indicated:
Nocturne (Monarch Home Entertainment)
“The Warlock Collection” (Vestron Video-Lionsgate Home Entertainment)
Devil’s Domain (Blu-ray) (Cleopatra Entertainment-MVD Visual Entertainment, July 11)
DIGITAL DOWNLOADS and STREAMING
King Arthur: Legend of the Sword (Warner Home Video)
Peanut Gallery (Random Media)
Snatched (Fox Home Entertainment)
Wu: The Story of the Wu-Tang Clan (Breaking Glass Pictures)
Silicon Valley: The Complete Fourth Season (HBO Home Entertainment, July 31)
Coming next week: The Circle
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.