New to View: Feb. 11
By Bob Bloom
The following titles are being released on Tuesday, Feb. 11, unless otherwise noted:
Roma: Special Edition (Blu-ray)
Details: 2018, The Criterion Collection
Rated: R, nudity, sexual situations, disturbing images, violence, language
The lowdown: You inhale writer-director Alfonso Cuarón’s “Roma.”
You allow the movie’s sights and smells to envelop you in a world surrounded by turmoil and tragedy but held together by love and loyalty.
The movie is a cinematic love letter to the women of Cuarón’s childhood — especially his mother and the domestic workers who helped raise him.
This exquisite black-and-white movie is a story of class distinction, domestic upheaval and political unrest, set against the backdrop of the middle-class Roma neighborhood in Mexico City.
Cleo is the domestic worker, beloved by her employers, as well as their young children.
“Roma” is more a series of vignettes than a cohesive narrative. It basically covers a period in 1970 and ’71, when violent clashes between protesters and the military rocked Mexico City.
Cleo may be uneducated, but she has a big and loving heart. She is a gentle soul — and the foundation of which “Roma” rests.
One of Cuarón’s themes is the position of Mexican women during this era. The status quo remains very traditional — with men leading and women following. Strong, self-sufficient women such as Sofia are the exception, not the rule.
All these threads are unraveled in a leisurely manner. Cuarón wants you to get to know the family, and he is in no rush to push events.
Rather, he wants you to savor the various dynamics — Cleo and her employer, Cleo and the children, Sofia and her challenges, as well as Cleo’s free time away from the family.
Cuarón uses his camera like an artist utilizing his brush. His canvas may be black and white, yet, in your mind, you can picture colors swirling around you.
“Roma” overflows with emotion and beauty. It will make you smile, cry and want to comfort women such as Cleo and Sofia, who face life, love and sorrow on their own terms — with heads unbowed.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 2.39:1 widescreen picture; Spanish and Mixtec Dolby Atmos; Spanish SDH and English and French subtitles.
Don’t miss: Bonus features include a documentary on the making of the movie that includes an interview with Cuarón, behind-the-scenes snapshots featuring cast members and filmmakers, a featurette on the film’s sound and post-production processes, a featurette on the movie’s theatrical campaign and social impact in Mexico and a booklet with writings about the movie.
First Love (Blu-ray + DVD)
Details: 2019, Well Go USA
Rated: Not rated, graphic violence, drug use, language
The lowdown: “First Love” is a chaotic Japanese import that combines contrasting elements from yakuza thrillers, comedy and romance that blend into a riveting experience that keeps you entranced.
The movie, from director Takashi Miike (“13 Assassins”) charges from subplot to subplot and from character to character until all threads are woven together during a fiery finale.
The movie’s two young protagonists are Leo (Masataka Kubota) and Monica (Sakurako Konishi), two lost souls who accidently find each other and form an uneasy bond that grows and brings them closer.
Leo is a boxer who believes a blow to his head has altered his life; thusly, he has adapted a fatalistic outlook about the future. Monica, meanwhile, is forced by two low-level yakuza functionaries to sell her body to pay off a debt incurred by her father.
The movie features a corrupt cop, a yakuza’s girlfriend seeking revenge, a turncoat yakuza underling, a crime boss seeking revenge and a potential gang war between a yakuza clan and a Chinese mob over drug trafficking.
Yet, while it all may sound overly involved, “First Love” is rather straightforward as it steadily races through a Tokyo night of murder, violence, betrayal and double-crosses.
The film’s graphic violence is tempered by its sardonic humor and some histrionic acting that actually benefits the proceedings.
“First Love” is a flamboyant exercise in moviemaking that, despite its bloodshed, will impress you with its softness and compassion.
The film scored an impressive 96 percent fresh rating at Rottentomatoes.com.
Even though the film comes with an English-dubbed audio track, I strongly suggest you watch it in the original Japanese with subtitles.
Technical aspects: Blu-ray: 1080p high definition, 2.39:1 widescreen picture; Japanese and English dubbed 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio; English subtitles; DVD: 2.39:1 anamorphic widescreen picture; Japanese and English dubbed 5.1 Dolby digital; English subtitles.
Greener Grass (Blu-ray + DVD)
Details: 2019, IFC Midnight-Scream Factory
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: This is a bizarro-world, dark satire about a Day-Glo version of suburbia, where soccer moms and best friends Jill (Jocelyn DeBoer) and Lisa (Dawn Luebbe) are locked in a passive-aggressive battle of wills that take a rather sinister turn.
DeBoer and Luebbe cowrote and codirected this very nonsensical movie that escalates into a series of odd situations as Lisa begins taking over Jill’s life.
Meanwhile, a psycho yoga teacher killer is on the loose, Jill’s husband, Nick (“Saturday Night Live’s Beck Bennett), has begun drinking pool water and Lisa discovers that she is pregnant with a soccer ball.
The movie is dark, weird, surreal and absurd. It’s fun to watch and marks DeBoer and Luebbe as filmmakers to watch.
A vast majority of critics enjoyed the film, giving it an 81 percent fresh rating at Rottentomatoes.com.
Technical aspects: Blu-ray: 1080p high definition, 2.35:1 widescreen picture; English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio; English SDH and Spanish subtitles; DVD: 2.35:1 widescreen picture; English 5.1 Dolby digital; English SDH and Spanish subtitles.
Don’t miss: Bonus offerings include deleted scenes, the original short film on which the feature is based and TV interstitials.
My Bloody Valentine: Collector’s Edition (Blu-ray)
Details: 1981, Scream Factory
Rated: R & unrated
The lowdown: A slasher film about a miner who survived an accident that killed five of his fellow workers after supervisors abandoned their posts to attend the town’s annual Valentine’s Day dance.
After the accident, Harry Warden, the surviving miner, was institutionalized but returned to exact vengeance by staging a massacre on the first anniversary of the disaster.
Nineteen years later, the town is preparing for another Valentine’s Day celebration. But a dire warning and a heart in a box of candy makes townspeople realize a killer has returned.
The Blu-ray set offers the 90-minute theatrical version and 93-minute uncut versions of the movie.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 1.85:1 widescreen picture; English DTS-HD Master Audio monaural; English SDH subtitles.
Don’t miss: Extras include interviews with cast members and the special effects designer and a look at the difference between the two versions of the movie.
H4 (DVD)
Details: 2012, Random Media
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: A feature film that transposes Shakespeare’s “Henry IV: Parts 1 and 2” into a contemporary Los Angeles that explores the political struggles in the community.
Harry Lennix stars as Henry IV, with Amad Jackson as Prince Hal and Angus Macfayden as Falstaff.
The movie, using Shakespeare’s original text, runs 107 minutes and captures the essence of the two plays as Prince Hal matures and slowly turns away from his old life of carousing to fulfill and embrace his destiny.
Fans of Shakespeare will appreciate this take on the classic plays.
Technical aspects: Widescreen picture; English audio; English closed-captioned subtitles.
Hell on the Border (Blu-ray)
Details: 2019, Lionsgate Home Entertainment
Rated: R, violence, language
The lowdown: A Western that tells the true story of Bass Reeves (David Gyasi), the first black marshal in the West.
After escaping from slavery at the end of the Civil War, Reeves winds up in Arkansas seeking work as a peace officer.
To prove himself, he is assigned to hunt down a deadly outlaw, played by Frank Grillo, with the help of a veteran journeyman, played by Ron Perlman.
The two chase the outlaw into the Cherokee Nation, all the while Reeves must battle both bullets and discrimination with his ultimate aim to earn a badge.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 2.39:1 widescreen picture; English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio; English SDH subtitles.
Don’t miss: A commentary track is the main bonus component.
Blood and Sand (Blu-ray)
Details: 1922, Kino Lorber Studio Classics
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: Rudolph Valentino portrays Juan Gallardo, who achieves his childhood dream of becoming a famous toreador in this adaptation of Vicente Blasco Ibáñez’s classic novel.
As Juan gains success, he falls prey to temptation, deserting his childhood sweetheart, Carmen (Lila Lee), for the charms of the dangerous and exotic Doña Sol (Nita Naldi.)
The movie was Valentino’s first starring role. The acting may be disconcerting for today’s audience, but the movie enthralled audiences, especially women, upon its release.
The film is color tinted.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 1.33:1 full-screen picture.
Don’t miss: A filmed introduction by Orson Welles, a commentary track, footage from Valentino’s funeral in 1927, a parody of the movie starring Will Rogers, an audio recording of the movie’s love theme and a booklet essay comprise the bonus materials.
Gunsmoke: The Eighteenth Season (DVD)
Gunsmoke: The Nineteenth Season (DVD)
Details: 1972-73, 1973-74, CBS DVD-Paramount Home Entertainment
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: This pair of six-disc sets feature 48 full-length episodes — 24 for each season — of this venerable Western TV series, starring James Arness as Marshal Matt Dillon, who keeps Dodge City safe from various hired guns, villains and badmen.
Dillon is aided by his deputy, Festus (Ken Curtis), Doc Adams (Milburn Stone), saloonkeeper Miss Kitty (Amanda Blake) and Sam the bartender (Glenn Strange).
Over the course of these two seasons stars and future stars such as Harrison Ford, Tom Skerrit, Kurt Russell and Michael Learned visit Dodge.
The episodes feature Dillon going after a brute who nearly beat Miss Kitty to death, going undercover to capture an outlaw gang, protecting orphans.
Season 19 was Blake’s last with the show.
Technical aspects: 4×3 full-screen picture; English Dolby digital monaural; English SDH subtitles.
Don’t miss: Extras include a 2005 commentary track by Arness for a season 18 episode, “Ben and Becky Talk Gunsmoke” featurettes for the two seasons and a commentary track on the season 19 episode, “Women for Sale,” part two.
The Hunt for Vlad the Impaler (Blu-ray)
Release date: Feb. 4
Details: 2019, 4Digital Media
Rated: Not rated, violence
The lowdown: A historical drama set during the middle of the 15th century during which the Ottoman Empire was under attack by the cruel Vlad the Impaler.
The Ottoman ruler, Baba Sultan, orders a group of seven warriors known as Deliler to hunt down Vlad and kill him, putting an end to his persecution of those living in Turkey.
The seven are relentless, allowing nothing to get in their way as they seek Vlad, finally finding and defeating him in an epic battle.
Vlad’s cruelties were known throughout Germany and Eastern Europe and helped spawn the legend of the vampire Dracula.
The film is a Russian production with English subtitles.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 2.39:1 (16×9 enhanced) widescreen picture; Russian 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio; English SDH subtitles.
I Got You Babe: The Best of Sonny & Cher (DVD)
Details: 1971-74, Time Life
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: A five-disc set offering 10 episodes from “The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour,” which began as a summer replacement series, but soon rose in the ratings to one of the most popular variety shows on television.
Audiences tuned in to watch the repartee between Sonny and Cher, and to see what outrageous outfit Cher would don for the hour.
Among the guests in this set are Jerry Lewis, Jim Nabors, Joe Namath, Dick Clark, Chuck Berry, The Supremes and The Righteous Brothers.
The show epitomized the glitz of 1970s shows and is a time capsule of the era.
Technical aspects: 1.33:1 full-screen picture; English Dolby digital; English SDH and closed-captioned subtitles.
Don’t miss: Supplemental offerings include the pilot episode, an appearance on “The Barbara McNair Show,” a 1970 interview with Sonny and Cher and interviews with Frankie Avalon, Cher and the show’s producers.
Winter Flies (DVD)
Details: 2018, Film Movement
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: A feature set in the Czech Republic about a rebellious 14-year-old girl, Mára, who sets out behind the wheel of a stolen Audi with her strange friend, Hedus.
They head for the country’s frozen wasteland to seek fun and adventure.
When the police finally catch up with then, Mára’s happy attitude provokes more questions than answers for the puzzled officers.
The movie is a warm and charming look at puberty and a touch of mischief.
Technical aspects: 2.39:1 widescreen picture; Czech 5.1 Dolby digital; English subtitles.
Don’t miss: The major extra is “Jackie,” a Lithuanian short film.
Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in Concert (Blu-ray)
Details: 2009-17, Tine Life
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: Aerosmith, Billy Joel, Bruce Springsteen, Heart, Cheap Trick, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Paul Simon, U2 and Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers are some of the greats featured in this six-disc set that offers more than 150 performance from the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremonies.
The set also includes inductee speeches and appearances and performances by Glenn Frey, Yes, Joan Jett & the Blackhearts, Beastie Boys, N.W.A., Public Enemy and Genesis.
This is a must-have for rock ‘n’ roll fans of any generation.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 1.78:1 widescreen picture; English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio; English SDH subtitles.
Don’t miss: Extras include the 25th Anniversary Rock & Roll Hall of Fame concert, featuring Mick Jagger, Fergie, U2, Springsteen, Joel, Sting, Jeff Beck, David Crosby, Graham Nash, Ozzy Osbourne and John Fogerty.
Other titles being released on Tuesday, unless otherwise indicated:
Alien Outbreak (DVD & VOD) (High Octane Pictures)
Cupid (DVD & digital) (Uncork’d Entertainment)
JoJo D.R.E.A.M.: The Concert Experience: Extended Edition (DVD) (Nickelodeon-Paramount Home Entertainment)
Nighthawks: Special Edition (Blu-ray) (FilmRise)
Senior Escort Service (DVD) (Random Media)
DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, STREAMING or VOD
Agramon’s Gate (Midnight Releasing)
Frozen 2 (Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment)
Heaven’s Burning (High Octane Pictures)
The Interrogation (Sundance Now)
Wisting: Episode 9 (Sundance Now, Feb. 12)
Loch Ness (Sundance Now, Feb. 13)
The Red Shadows: Episode 4 (Sundance Now, Feb. 13)
Camp Cold Brook (Shout! Select, Feb. 14)
Spy Intervention (Cinedigm, Feb. 14)
A Quiet Passion (Sundance Now, Feb. 17)
Agatha Raisin & the Love from Hell (Acorn TV, Feb. 17)
Diana (Sundance Now, Feb. 17)
Genius of the Ancient World (Acorn TV, Feb. 17)
Murdoch Mysteries: Series 13, Episode 10 (Acorn TV, Feb. 17)
Sisters (Acorn TV, Feb. 17)
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.