New to View: Aug. 31
By Bob Bloom
The following titles are being released on Tuesday, Aug. 31, unless otherwise noted:
In the Heights (4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray + digital)
Details: 2021, Warner Home Entertainment
Rated: PG-13, language, suggestive references
The lowdown: “In the Heights” combines the talents of composer-lyricist Lin-Manuel Miranda and “Crazy Rich Asians” director Jon M. Chu to tell an uplifting story about dreams and the immigrant experience.
The movie is a celebration of Hispanic culture, applauding the contributions and diversity of people whose traditions and backgrounds include the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Cuba and other Caribbean and Latin American nations.
An air of optimism envelops this story of marginalized people who, despite their struggles in New York City, live life to the fullest and meet the challenge of each day with hope and fortitude.
The movie also deals with the pressures placed on younger generations by those who came to the country with nearly nothing and gained a measure of success to reach even higher than their parents and grandparents.
These people rejoice at living in America while also embracing their culture, history and traditions.
“In the Heights” also is about change — about a neighborhood losing its identity because of gentrification and outsider investments.
Most of all, “In the Heights” centers on hopes and desires. The focus of that thread belongs to Usnavi (Anthony Ramos), who runs a bodega and saves every penny so he can return to the Dominican Republic and reopen his late father’s bar that was destroyed in a hurricane.
The movie, while a bit long and light on story, is like a breath of fresh air injecting our hearts with joy and replenishing our lungs with laughter, love and, most of all, music that brighten the day.
Critics appreciated the movie, awarding it a 95 percent fresh rating at Rotten Tomatoes.
Technical aspects: 4K: 2160p ultra high definition, 2.39:1 widescreen picture; English Dolby Atmos-TrueHD, Dolby digital descriptive audio and English, French and Spanish 5.1 Dolby digital; English SDH, French and Spanish subtitles; Blu-ray: 1080p high definition, 2.39:1 widescreen picture; English Dolby Atmos-TrueHD, Dolby digital descriptive audio and English, French and Spanish 5.1 Dolby digital; English SDH, French and Spanish subtitles.
Don’t miss: Bonus options include a series of behind-the-scenes featurettes about the making of the movie, its music, stories and the cultures and legacies it celebrates; a sing-along and a “96,000 Sing-a-long.”
12 Mighty Orphans (Blu-ray)
Details: 2021, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
Rated: PG-13, violence, language, suggestive references, smoking, teen drinking
The lowdown: The movie is one of those formulaic, underdog yet stirring sports features that is based on true events — with based meaning that probably a lot of leeway was taken with the facts.
But what the movie lacks in originality, it makes up with sincerity.
You’ve heard a lot of the dialogue and seen many similar plotlines before. But even though it traipses familiar terrain, the movie’s appeal about a group of orphans shunted aside and looked down upon by society grabs you.
What is striking about “12 Mighty Orphans” is the stigma an unfeeling and prejudicial society places on these young boys and girls who, through no fault of their own, are parentless.
The crux of the movie centers on Rusty Russell (Luke Wilson), the new teacher and — more importantly — new football coach at a Fort Worth orphanage, run by the Masons, during the Depression.
Russell is an optimistic and compassionate man with trauma of his own. He is a World War I veteran who saw his older brother killed and was wounded — and temporarily blinded — in the trenches.
He can relate to the wards of the state living in the orphanage as he himself was an orphan.
The orphanage itself is something out of a Dickens novel. The boys are cruelly treated, especially by Frank Wynn (Wayne Knight), who rules with an iron hand and a ready paddle that he enjoys using on the boys.
He is a caricature villain straight out of a late 19th-century melodrama.
“12 Mighty Orphans” could have been a Warner Bros. B-movie if produced in the late 1930s or early 1940s, probably with Ronald Reagan starring as Russell and the Dead End Kids as members of the team.
The movie garnered a 63 percent fresh rating at Rotten Tomatoes.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 2.39:1 widescreen picture; English, French and Spanish 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio; English SDH, English, French and Spanish subtitles.
Don’t miss: Deleted scenes comprise the major extras.
Spirit Untamed — The Movie (Blu-ray + DVD + digital)
Details: 2021, Universal Pictures Home Entertainment
Rated: PG, adventure action
The lowdown: The vocal talents of Julianne Moore, Jake Gyllenhaal, Isabela Merced, Marsai Martin, Walton Goggins and Andre Braugher are utilized in this animated family adventure about young Lucky Prescott who moves to Miradero to join her estranged father.
Lucky is not impressed with the sleepy town, until she discovers a link to her late mother, a famous horse-riding stunt performer.
Lucky quickly forms a bond with a wild mustang named Spirit and makes two friends who loves horses with the same passion that Lucky exhibits.
When a heartless wrangler plans to capture Spirit and his herd, Lucky and her new pals begin a journey to rescue the horse who has given her an unbreakable connection to her mother’s legacy.
The movie, despite the big-name cast, was tepidly received by critics, who gave it a 49 percent fresh rating at Rotten Tomatoes.
Technical aspects: Blu-ray: 1080p high definition, 2.39:1 widescreen picture; English 7.1 DTS-HD Master Audio, 2.0 DVS and French and Spanish 7.1 DTS-HD high resolution audio; English SDH, French and Spanish subtitles; DVD: 2.39:1 anamorphic widescreen picture; English, French and Spanish 5.1 Dolby digital and English 2.0 DVS; English SDH, French and Spanish subtitles.
Don’t miss: Extras include deleted scenes, a “Finding Your Spirit” featurette that goes behind the scenes on bringing the movie to life, a look at the voice cast, a featurette on the female-focused story, a look at drawing the characters, instructions on creating your own indoor campfire, a how-to on how to safely make S’mores, a how to zoetrope featurette, sing-alongs, learning hand shadow secrets and a commentary track.
The Truffle Hunters (Blu-ray)
Release date: Aug. 17
Details: 2020, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
Rated: PG-13, strong language
The lowdown: This interesting documentary set in the forests of northern Italy looks at a specialized group of men who, for generations — passed down from father to son — hunt for the specialized white Alba truffle.
The men use their expertly trained dogs to help in the search for this delicacy, desired by the world’s wealthiest patrons.
The movie follows these dedicated men who, with their walking sticks, devilish senses of humor and cherished dogs, venture out at night, so not to leave any clues for others, to seek the truffle.
The film, which earned a 97 percent fresh rating at Rotten Tomatoes, captures a stylized ritual that is constantly being threatened by an outside greedy world. Yet, these wily, tight-lipped men persevere as they jealously guard their secret of how to unearth this magical delicacy.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 1.85:1 widescreen picture; Italian 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio; English SDH, English, French and Spanish subtitles.
Don’t miss: “The Story of the Truffle Hunters” featurette is the main extra.
NCIS: Los Angeles: Season 12 (DVD)
Release date: Aug. 24
Details: 2020-21, CBS DVD-Paramount Home Entertainment
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: A five-disc set featuring all 18 season 12 episodes as agents G Callen (Chris O’Donnell), Sam Hanna (LL Cool J), Kensi (Daniela Ruah) and Martin Deeks (Eric Christian Olsen) deal with various threats, such as quashing an attempted nuclear attack on the city, keeping a step ahead of a serial stalker and solving other criminal cases related to Navy personnel.
The team, especially Kensi and Deeks, also deal with personal issues as the married agents try to start a family.
Meanwhile, with Linda Hunt’s Henrietta Lange gone for most of the season, the burden of running the bureau falls on the shoulders of Nell (Renee Felice Smith), who contemplates leaving.
We also learn more about the newer agents such as Fatima Nazami (Medalion Rahimi) and Devin Rountree (Caleb Castille).
The series is always fun as the character byplay complements the case of the week.
Technical aspects: 16:9 widescreen picture; English 5.1 Dolby digital; English SDH subtitles.
Don’t miss: Extras include a featurette on Ruah directing an episode and her commentary track on that episode, deleted and extended scenes and an overview of the season.
Summer of 85 (Blu-ray)
Details: 2020, Music Box Films
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: A French coming-of-age story about young Alexis who, when he capsizes off the coast of Normandy, is rescued by David.
A friendship begins, and the worldly David opens the more traditional younger Alexis to new experiences in friendship, art and sexual happiness.
When Alexis begins working at the seaside shop owned by David’s mother, the two young lovers begin stealing time together — taking a motorcycle jaunt, stealing a fugitive kiss and going to the movies.
Their relationship is soon threatened by an unexpected sexual rival, a young woman named Kate.
The movie, which earned a 79 percent fresh rating at Rotten Tomatoes, was adapted for the screen and directed by Francois Ozon.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 1.85:1 widescreen picture; French 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio; English subtitles.
Don’t miss: Supplemental options include deleted scenes and outtakes, a question-and-answer session with Ozon and his actors and dance and fight rehearsal featurettes.
Beasts of No Nation: Special Edition (Blu-ray)
Details: 2015, The Criterion Collection
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: The harrowing depiction of child soldiers, adapted for the screen and directed by Cary Joji Fukunaga, is a movie you won’t soon forget.
The movie unfolds in an unnamed West African nation in which young Agu — a haunting film debut by Abraham Attah — witnesses death and destruction in his village before becoming a captive of rebel soldiers led by a ruthless commander, played by an fiery Idris Elba, who soon molds Agu into a cold-stone killer.
This visceral and disturbing movie in uncompromising in its depiction of brutality and the loss of childhood innocence.
It takes you into a world of unimaginable horror without sacrificing the human story at its core.
The film impressed critics, who gave it a 92 percent fresh rating at Rotten Tomatoes.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 2.39:1 widescreen picture; English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio; English SDH subtitles.
Don’t miss: Among the bonus offerings is a commentary track with Fukunaga and first assistant director Jon Mallard; a documentary on the development and making of the movie, which features interviews with Fukunaga, Elba and Attah, among others; a conversation between Fukunaga and film and television producer Franklin Leonard; an interview with costume designer Jenny Eagan; and an essay about the movie.
Dune: Limited Edition (4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray)
Details: 1984, Arrow Video
Rated: PG-13, violence, sexual situations
The lowdown: David Lynch’s adaptation of Frank Herbert sprawling science-fiction novel is truncated, campy and confusing.
The movie simplifies and rushes through the story, going from scene to scene and from situation to situation at a pace that will leave you either confounded or frustrated.
Kyle MacLachlan is the savior-like Paul Atreides who leads the Fremen people of the desert planet Arrakis in a battle for control of their home world and the spice coveted by everyone in the known universe.
The movie is overburdened with too many characters and too many actors with little to do.
Still, “Dune” has a quirky appeal and a strange musical score by Toto that, perhaps against your will, entices you to view it.
The film received mixed reviews, earning a 50 percent fresh rating at Rotten Tomatoes.
Technical aspects: 4K: 2160p ultra high definition, 2.39:1 widescreen picture; English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio; English SDH subtitles; Blu-ray: 1080p high definition, 2.39:1 widescreen picture; English 2.0 LPCM monaural; English SDH subtitles.
Don’t miss: A series of archival featurettes and deleted and alternate scenes comprise the extras.
Coraline (Blu-ray + DVD)
Details: 2009, Shout! Factory-A LAIKA Film
Rated: PG, thematic elements, language, scary images, suggestive humor
The lowdown: This stop-motion feature from Henry Selick, the director of “The Nightmare Before Christmas” and “James and the Giant Peach,” tells the story of Coraline Jones, who is bored with her new home until she finds a secret door that leads into a world that is just like her own — only better.
But soon, this magical experience turns dangerous, and Coraline’s other “mother” tries to keep her forever, forcing the young girl to rely on her resourcefulness and courage to return to her real home.
The movie mixes suspense and humor and takes some impressive artistic risks that pay off. The film is an imaginative and intelligent offering that will charm audiences.
“Coraline,” which features a talented roster of vocal talent including Dakota Fanning, Teri Hatcher, Keith David, Dawn French, Jennifer Saunders and John Hodgman, received a 90 percent fresh rating at Rotten Tomatoes.
Technical aspects: Blu-ray: 1080p high definition, 1.85:1 widescreen picture; English, French and Spanish 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio; English SDH, French and Spanish subtitles; DVD: 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen picture; English, French and Spanish 5.1 Dolby digital; English SDH, French and Spanish subtitles.
Don’t miss: Extras include a behind-the-scenes featurette showing never-before-seen test footage, revisiting the puppets with LAIKA’s animation team, character concept art and behind-the-scenes photo galleries, deleted scenes, original featurettes, a making of featurette and a commentary track with Selick and composer Bruno Coulais.
The Last Man on Earth (Blu-ray)
Details: 1964, Kino Lorber Studio Classics
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: Vincent Price stars in the first — and best — adaptation of Richard Matheson’s classic science-fiction novel, “I Am Legend.”
Price plays scientist Robert Morgan the lone human survivor of a plague that has ravaged mankind. Morgan, it seems, is immune to the disease, while the rest of humanity is slowly transformed into bloodsucking vampires.
Morgan must use all of his wits to survive and perhaps, find a cure.
This Italian-American co-production earned a 79 percent fresh rating at Rotten Tomatoes. The two other adaptations of Matheson’s novel, 1971’s “The Omega Man” with Charlton Heston and 2007’s “I Am Legend” with Will Smith, earned 65 percent and 68 percent fresh ratings respectively.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 2.35:1 widescreen picture; English DTS-HD Master Audio; English subtitles.
Don’t miss: Bonus options include a featurette on Matheson, an alternat ending, a commentary track with Richard Harland Smith and a “Trailers From Hell” episode with director Joe Dante.
The Raven (Blu-ray)
Details: 1963, Kino Lorber Studio Classics
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: In 1960, Vincent Price began starring in a string of adaptations — most of which were very loosely based on the writings of Edgar Allan Poe — for American International Pictures and directed by Roger Corman.
Some of these movies, such as “House of Usher,” “The Pit and the Pendulum” and “The Masque of the Red Death,” were horror-tinged, supernatural thrillers.
But a couple leaned more toward comedy, and “The Raven” was one of those.
The movie is basically a duel between two sorcerers, the good Dr. Erasmus Craven (Price) and the evil Dr. Scarabus (Boris Karloff).
Peter Lorre portrays the title character, a rascally magician, Dr. Adolphus Bedlo, transformed into the black bird by the magic of Scarabus. Bedlo comes to Craven for help to transform him back into a man. He also tells the reclusive Craven, still mourning his long-lost wife, Lenore (Hazel Court), whom he believed dead, is alive and living with Scarabus.
Thus Craven, his daughter, Estelle (Olive Sturgess) and Bedlo’s sincere, but thick son, Rexford (a young Jack Nicholson), venture to Scarabus’ castle to learn the truth.
The movie is very whimsical and tongue-in-cheek. It is evident that everyone is having a good time, especially Price and Karloff, who first worked together in Universal Pictures’ 1939 production of “The Tower of London.”
Critics embraced “The Raven,” awarding it an 87 percent fresh rating at Rotten Tomatoes.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 2.35:1 widescreen picture; English DTS-HD Master Audio; English subtitles.
Don’t miss: A commentary track with movie historian David Del Valle, an interview with Corman, a “Richard Matheson: Storyteller” featurette and a “Trailer From Hell” episode with Mick Garris comprise the bonus materials.
The Gang / Three Men to Kill (Blu-ray)
Details: 1977, 1980, Cohen Media Group-Kino Lorber
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: French star Alain Delon stars in these two crime thrillers, one set during the close days of World War II, the other a more contemporary story.
In “The Gang,” Delon leads a close-knit group of five small-time crooks who gain notoriety for robbing banks. They soon are labeled “the front-wheel drive gang” and thwart the police more than once before their luck finally runs out.
In “Three Men to Kill,” Delon comes to the aid of a man lying wounded in the road. He does not know the man, who later dies, was shot twice in the belly.
Soon, he becomes a target of the killers who believe he is a witness to their crime. But Delon’s character is streetwise, and those after him learn he is not that easy to kill.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 1.85:1 widescreen picture (“The Gang”) and 1.66:1 widescreen picture (“Three Men to Kill”); French 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio monaural; English subtitles.
Berlin Alexanderplatz (Blu-ray)
Details: 2020, Kino Lorber
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: Francis, an African immigrant struggles to make a new life for himself in Germany in this adaptation of Alfred Doblin’s 1929 novel, which has been filmed a few times before, most famously in 1980 by Reiner Werner Fassbinder.
Francis tries hard to be a decent and honest man, but being undocumented in Germany — without papers, a work permit or a nationality — temptations arise.
When he receives an enticing offer from a psychopathic gangster to make easy money, Francis initially resists. Eventually, though, he is drawn into Berlin’s underworld and his life spirals out of control.
The movie, which runs 183 minutes, is episodic and a middling production, despite some fine performances and stylish energy.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 2.39:1 widescreen picture; German 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio; English subtitles.
Don’t miss: The main extra is an introduction to the film by director Burhan Qurbani.
The Comedy of Terrors (Blu-ray)
Details: 1963, Kino Lorber Studio Classics
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: The title tells it all as four actors, labeled “masters of the macabre” join together to create enough humor to laugh you to death.
With a script by Richard Matheson and direction by Jacques Tourneur, Vincent Price, Boris Karloff, Peter Lorre and Basil Rathbone have a field day in this entertaining black comedy about Waldo Trumbull (Price), who is running his the funeral home business of his father-in-law, Amos Hinchley (Karloff), into the ground.
Trumbull and his assistant, Felix Gillie (Lorre), decide the way to increase business is to create their own customers by murdering people.
One of their targets is their nasty landlord, John F. Black (Rathbone). But every time they think they have killed him, he bounces back.
Matheson wrote the script using the pseudonym, Logan Swanson. The movie has a strong following, garnering an 89 percent fresh rating at Rotten Tomatoes.
Tourneur was no stranger to the genre, having directed “Cat People” and “I Walked With a Zombie” for the Val Lewton unit at RKO in the early 1940s.
The cast also includes Joyce Jameson as Trumbull’s wife and a guest appearance by comic actor Joe E. Brown (“Some Like It Hot”).
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 2.35:1 widescreen picture; English DTS-HD Master Audio; English subtitles.
Don’t miss: Extras include a commentary track with film historian Tim Lucas and a “Richard Matheson: Storyteller” featurette.
The Boxtrolls (Blu-ray + DVD)
Details: 2014, Shout! Factory-A LAIKA Film
Rated: PG, action, rude humor, some peril
The lowdown: A magical family-friendly feature that centers on box-wearing creatures who have raised a human boy named “Eggs” (Isaac Hempstead Wright).
They live in a cavern below the busy streets of Cheesebridge.
But when evil Archibald Snatcher (voiced by Oscar-winner Ben Kingsley) decides to capture the creatures, it is up to Eggs and his friend, Winnie (voiced by Elle Fanning) to save the Boxtrolls.
Other voice talents include Nick Frost, Jared Harris, Toni Collette and Tracy Morgan.
The movie earned a 77 percent fresh rating at Rotten Tomatoes.
Technical aspects: Blu-ray: 1080p high definition, 1.78:1 widescreen picture; English, French and Spanish 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio; English SDH, French and Spanish subtitles; DVD: 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen picture; English, French and Spanish 5.1 Dolby digital; English SDH, French and Spanish subtitles.
Don’t miss: Bonus materials include a discovering the movie’s characters with never-before-seen test footage; revisiting the puppets with the LAIKA animation team; feature-length storyboards; character concept art and behind-the-scenes photo galleries; a making of featurette; original archival featurettes; and a commentary track with directors Graham Annable and Anthony Stacchi.
Master of the World (Blu-ray)
Details: 1961, Kino Lorber Studio Classics
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: Vincent Price stars as Robur, an inventor whose aim is to eradicate the world’s weapons.
To further his plan, Robur kidnaps a team on a government expedition to investigate a stranger crater in Pennsylvania.
The expedition members are taken aboard Robur’s airship, the “Albatross,” which the mad scientist plans to fly around the world to various military instillations to destroy their weapons.
His ultimate aim is world peace.
The movie is and adaptation of a Jules Verne novel. It basically is a high-flying rehash of Verne’s “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.”
Charles Bronson plays John Strock, leader of the government team. The cast also includes Henry Hull, Mary Webster and David Frankham.
The script was adapted by Richard Matheson under the pseudonym, Logan Swanson.
The film was directed by William Witney, best known for the many Republic serials he co-directed with John English in the late 1930s and early 1940s, as well as a series of Roy Rogers movies in the late 1940s.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 1.85:1 widescreen picture; English DTS-HD Master Audio; English subtitles.
Don’t miss: Two commentary tracks, one by Frankham and the other by film historian-author Tom Weaver and Price biographer Lucy Chase Williams, as well as a “Richard Matheson: Storyteller” segment are the main extras.
The Devil’s 8 (Blu-ray)
Details: 1969, Scorpion Releasing-Kino Lorber
Rated: PG-13, violence, language
The lowdown: Christopher George plays a federal agent who helps six convicts escape from a chain gang so he can use them in his war on a moonshine ring, led by the sadistic Burl, played by Ralph Meeker.
Just think of this as a “Dirty Half-Dozen,” but instead of killing Nazis, the convicts are killing booze runners.
The cast includes Fabian, Larry Bishop, Tom Nardini, Robert DoQui, Joe Turkel, Ross Hagen, Ron Rifkin and Leslie Parrish.
The movie features a lot of brutal action and a peppy musical score.
Meeker, who plays the main villain, was the psychologist in “The Dirty Dozen.”
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 1.85:1 widescreen picture; English 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio monaural; English SDH subtitles.
Don’t miss: An interview with Larry Bishop is the main extra.
The Brotherhood of Satan (Blu-ray)
Details: 1971, Arrow Video
Rated: PG, violence
The lowdown: A story of devil worship that was co-written and produced by character actor L.Q. Jones, who plays the sheriff in this supernatural opus.
Also along for the ride are Jones’ pals Strother Martin and Alvy Moore.
The movie may lack originality in its tale of a widower, his daughter and his girlfriend stumbling upon strange events in a small New Mexico town in which 26 people have been killed and 11 children have gone missing in the past 72 hours.
The widower is informed by a priest that a local Satan-worshipping cult is to blame for it all.
This is one of a myriad of films involving the devil and Satan worshipping that proliferated during the early and mid-1970s.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 2.40:1 widescreen picture; English LPCM monaural; English SDH subtitles.
Don’t miss: Extras include a commentary track by Kim Newman and Sean Hogan, interviews with a couple of adults who were children in the movies and a featurette on Satanic Cinema in the 1970s.
Other titles being released on Tuesday, unless otherwise indicated:
Fear the Walking Dead: Season 6 (Blu-ray + digital & DVD) (Lionsgate Home Entertainment)
Love Rites (Blu-ray) (Kino Classics)
Lydia Lunch: The War Is Never Over (DVD) (Kino Lorber)
Mortal Kombat Legends: Battle of the Realms (4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray & digital) (Warner Home Entertainment)
Ted Bundy: American Boogeyman (DVD & VOD) (Dark Star Pictures, Sept. 3)
DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, STREAMING or VOD
A Wake (Breaking Glass Pictures)
The Boss Baby: Family Business (Universal Pictures Home Entertainment)
CODA (Apple TV+)
Fear and Loathing in Aspen (Shout! Studios)
Final Frequency (8168 Productions)
Jungle Cruise (Disney Media & Distribution)
The Mayberry Effect (Gravitas Ventures)
My Best Worst Adventure (KDMG)
Only Murders in the Building: Episodes 1-3 (Hulu)
Steel Song (Gravitas Ventures)
Afterlife of the Party (www.netflix.com/AfterlifeoftheParty) (Netflix, Sept. 2)
Q-Force (www.netflix.com/QForce) (Netflix, Sept. 2)
The Big Scary “S” Word (Greenwich Entertainment, Sept. 3)
The Gateway (Lionsgate Home Entertainment, Sept. 3)
Space Jam: A New Legacy (Warner Home Entertainment, Sept. 3)
We Need to Do Something (IFC Midnight, Sept. 3)
Wild Indian (Vertical Entertainment, Sept. 3)
Yakuza Princess (Magnet, Sept. 3)
Zone 414 (Saban Films-Paramount Pictures, Sept. 3)
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.