New to View: Dec. 24

By Bob Bloom
The following titles are being released on Tuesday, Dec. 24, unless otherwise noted:

Twin Flower
Details: 2019, Film Movement
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: A 16-year-old girl is on the run from an experience so traumatic that she is unable to speak with anyone.
She is being pursued by a human trafficker who employed her father. She s rescued by an illegal alien from the Ivory Coast who, like the girl, also has been abused by life.
Together, they begin a dangerous journey to freedom, traveling through woods, villages and deserted lands in Sardinia.
The movie sends a strong message about coming of age during the current refugee crisis.
Technical aspects: 2.39:1 widescreen picture; Italian and French Dolby digital; English subtitles.
Don’t miss: A Spanish short film about a young girl who is constantly bullied for being overweight and how one event changes everyone’s perception.

Overcomer (Blu-ray + DVD + digital)
Release date: Dec. 17
Details: 2019, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
Rated: PG, thematic elements
The lowdown: This faith-based drama centers on a basketball coach when he loses his team after the largest manufacturing plant in the area shuts down and hundreds of families move away.
Challenged by the high school principal, the coach reluctantly agrees to coach cross-country. The coach, John Harrison (director and co-writer Alex Kendrick), and his wife, Amy (Shari Rigby), are inspired by one of his new athletes who is pushing her limits.
The movie’s emotional finale could melt the heart of any cynic.
The film split critics who gave it a 50 percent rating at Rottentomatoes.com.
Technical aspects: Blu-ray: 1080p high definition, 2.39:1 widescreen picture; English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio, English 5.1 Dolby digital audio description track and French and Spanish 5.1 Dolby digital; English SDH, English, French and Spanish subtitles; DVD: 2.39:1 widescreen picture; English 5.1 Dolby digital, audio description track, French and Spanish; English SDH, English, French and Spanish subtitles.
Don’t miss: Bonus materials include an overview of the movie, a look at creating the opening drone shot, a featurette on working with the Kendrick brothers, behind-the-scenes featurettes on the editing, scoring, coloring and sound design, a music video, a making of featurette, bloopers, additional scenes, a commentary track and a pair of “Overcomer in 60 Seconds” options.

Bonanza: The Official Tenth Season: Volumes One & Two
Release date: Dec. 10
Details: 1968-69, CBS DVD-Paramount Home Entertainment
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: Ride the range on the Ponderosa and the community of Virginia City as Adam Cartwright (Lorne Greene) and his sons, Hoss (Dan Blocker) and Little Joe (Michael Landon) as well as ranch-hand Candy (David Canary) and cook Hop Sing (Victor Sen Yung) share various adventures and dangers in the old West.
The two-volume set is comprised of eight discs offering 31 episodes of action and drama, as well as beautiful scenery shot in the Lake Tahoe region.
Among the season’s guest stars are Slim Pickens, Yaphet Kotto, John Marley and Tom Bosley.
Technical aspects: 4:3 full-screen picture; English and Spanish Dolby digital monaural; English SDH subtitles.
Don’t miss: Extras include behind-the-scenes and on-location photos, excerpts from a 1969 “Jack Benny Birthday Special” with Blocker and a commentary on the episode “Mark of Guilt.”

Monochrome: Black, White & Blue
Release date: Dec. 13
Details: 2018, MVD Visual Entertainment
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: A documentary that looks at the history of the deep South through blues music and its link to the plight of the black and poor populations of the region.
The story is told through interviews and musical performances. The movie features such artists as Morgan Freeman, Chuck Berry, Bill Wyman, B.B. King, Carlos Santana, Ronnie Wood, Eric Clapton and Robert Cray.
The movie travels from the deep South to Detroit and New York, tracing the evolution of the blues though memorable moments in American history.
Technical aspects: Widescreen picture; English Dolby digital.

Other titles being released on Tuesday, unless otherwise indicated:
The Gallows Act II (Blu-ray + DVD + digital) (Lionsgate Home Entertainment)
Jim Allison: Breakthrough (DVD & digital & VOD) (Giant Pictures)
The Kill Team (Blu-ray & DVD & digital) (Lionsgate Home Entertainment)

DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, STREAMING or VOD: DEC. 24-JAN. 6
The Addams Family (Universal Studios Home Entertainment)
Jexi (Lionsgate Home Entertainment)
Zombieland: Double Tap (Sony Pictures Home Entertainment)
The Gulf: Episode 4 (Sundance Now, Dec. 25)
Murdoch Mysteries: Season 13, Episodes 1 & 2 (Acorn TV, Dec. 25)
Wistful: Episode 2 (Sundance Now, Dec. 25)
Close to the Enemy (Sundance Now, Dec. 26)
The Fragile Heart (Acorn TV, Dec. 30)
Murdoch Mysteries: Season 13, Episode 3 (Acorn TV, Dec. 30)
Relative Strangers (Acorn TV, Dec. 30)
Black and Blue (Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, Dec. 31)
Maleficent: Mistress of Evil (Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment (Dec. 31)
Primal (Lionsgate Home Entertainment, Dec. 31)
The Bromley Boys (Arts Rights Distribution, Jan. 1)
The Gulf: Episode 5 (Sundance Now, Jan. 1)
Wisting: Episode 3 (Sundance Now, Jan. 1)
The Brokenwood Murders: Series 6, Episode 1 (Acorn TV, Jan. 6)
The Family Farm (Acorn TV, Jan. 6)
Murdoch Mysteries: Season 13, Episode 4 (Acorn TV, Jan. 6)
Terry Pratchett’s Going Postal (Acorn TV, Jan. 6)

I am a founding member of the Indiana Film Journalists Association. I review movies, 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. My movie reviews also can be found at Rottentomatoes: www.rottentomatoes.com.