New to View: Feb. 22
By Bob Bloom
The following titles are being released on Tuesday, Feb. 22, unless otherwise noted:
House of Gucci (Blu-ray + DVD + digital)
Details: 2021, Universal Pictures Home Entertainment
Rated: R, sexual content, language, brief nudity, violence
The lowdown: An all-star cast including Lady Gaga, Adam Driver, Jared Leto, Jeremy Irons, Al Pacino, Jack Huston and Salma Hayek are featured in this movie inspired by the true story of the family behind the Italian fashion empire.
Ridley Scott directed this 158-minute saga in which Gaga, as Patricia Reggiani, a young woman from a humble background, marries into the powerful family and begins creating all kinds of trouble.
Her greed and ambition triggers a spiral that includes decadence, betrayal, revenge and, finally, murder.
The movie plays fast and loose with the actual events, but who cares. It’s hearing all these American and British actors speaking with Italian accents that keeps you watching.
The film is over the top at times, but when you are dealing with larger-than-life characters, what do you expect?
The movie earned a 63 percent fresh rating at Rotten Tomatoes, with a few critics complaining about its excesses and overindulgences.
Technical aspects: Blu-ray: 1080p high definition, 2.39:1 widescreen picture; English 7.1 DTS-HD Master Audio, 2.0 Dolby digital DVS, French 5.1 DTS digital surround and Spanish 7.1 DTS-HD high resolution; 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 Dolby digital DVS; English SDH, French and Spanish subtitles.
Don’t miss: Bonus options include a “Rise of the House of Gucci” making of featurette, a look at Lady Gaga’s performance and a featurette on the movie’s visual style.
The King’s Man (Blu-ray + digital)
Details: 2021, Fox Home Entertainment
Rated: R, strong & bloody violence, language, sexual material
The lowdown: This “Kingsman” prequel plays as if Quentin Tarantino and Mel Brooks collaborated on “A History of the World, Part II.”
“The King’s Man,” set in the years before and during World War I, offers a skewered and cynical historical view of the era in which three leaders — King George V of England, Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany and Tsar Nicholas II, Emperor of all the Russias — are cousins, grandchildren of England’s Queen Victoria. (Never mind that Nicholas’ wife, not the czar, is Victoria’s grandchild.)
Wilhelm and Nicholas are portrayed as dolts, manipulated by minions of a criminal mastermind known as The Shepherd, who wants to instigate a world war that would kill millions.
Trying to ferret out the culprit are English duke Orlando Oxford (Ralph Fiennes), a devout pacifist; his right-hand man, Shola (Djimon Hounsou); and Oxford’s son, Conrad (Harris Dickinson).
The movie is tonally erratic, jumping around from comedy to farce, to violence and tragedy.
The film’s main pleasure is seeing historical figures uncharacteristically, such as an overly manic and horny Rasputin — played to perfection by Rhys Ifans — influence the czar, and a lecherous President Woodrow Wilson (Ian Kelly), maintaining United States neutrality to avoid being blackmailed by the seductress-spy Mata Hari.
Yep, the movie is more fiction than history. But its absurdity is one of its benefits. The silly tone continues until the outbreak of World War I, where the film shifts into grim depictions of the hell of trench warfare, which leads to a grim turning point for the older Oxford’s ideals.
At the end, Oxford realizes a network of nongovernmental agents is needed to combat the follies of world leaders — thus, is born Kingsman. But by the fade-out, you really don’t care that much who or why Kingsman was created.
A majority of critics agreed, giving the movie a 43 percent fresh rating at Rotten Tomatoes.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 2.39:1 widescreen picture; English 7.1 DTS-HD Master Audio, 2.0 descriptive audio and French and Spanish 5.1 Dolby digital; English SDH, French and Spanish subtitles.
Don’t miss: Supplemental materials include a six-part documentary on the making of the movie, a featurette on United Kingdom groups that provide support for military veterans and a breakdown of the no man’s land silent knife fight sequence.
The 355 (Blu-ray + DVD + digital)
Details: 2022, Universal Pictures Home Entertainment
Rated: PG-13, strong and bloody violence, language, suggestive material
The lowdown: “The 355” is a series of spy-action cliches that tries to make a female-power statement by grouping five women from various agencies uniting against a common foe.
Admirable, except that the story is nothing but formulaic situations used dozens of times before in dozens of films. The movie is so predictable that, from the outset, you are two or three steps ahead of the game.
The centerpiece of “The 355” is one of those multi-algorithms devices that, in the wrong hands, can cause worldwide havoc and destruction — it’s something ripped from the James Bond playbook.
It is too bad that Jessica Chastain, Lupita Nyong’o, Diana Kruger, Penelope Cruz and Bingbing Fan were not able to work with a script worthy of their talents.
The action sequences, in which — at first — the women fight each other before taking on scores of stooges whom they easily defeat, add a bit of zest to the proceedings, but it is not enough to save this overlong two hour-plus disappointment.
The major problem with “The 355” is that you really don’t care about anyone involved. The closest you get is Cruz’s Graciela because she is married and has a family.
The title, by the way, refers to an unidentified female spy who fought for the American cause during the Revolutionary War.
She sounds like a spy who could be the centerpiece of an interesting movie instead of her stereotypical modern descendants.
A vast majority of critics also dismissed the movie, awarding it a 25 percent fresh rating at Rotten Tomatoes.
Technical aspects: Blu-ray: 1080p high definition, 2.39:1 widescreen picture; English and French 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio and English 2.0 DVS; English SDH and Spanish subtitles; DVD: 2.39:1 anamorphic widescreen picture; English and French 5.1 Dolby digital and English 2.0 DVS; English SDH and Spanish subtitles.
Don’t miss: Bonus options include deleted scenes, a behind-the-scenes look at the choreographed chase sequence through the Paris arcade set, a behind-the-scenes look at the stunt, a look at the construction of the Marrakesh set, a featurette on the final’s set pieces and a VFX breakdown.
Julia (DVD)
Release date: Feb. 15
Rated: PG-13, language, sexual references, thematic elements
The lowdown: With the proliferation of cooking shows and food networks, it’s difficult to remember a time when food — and cooking — were taken for granted.
That all started to change in the 1960s with the arrival of Julia Child. This astonishing woman made preparing food look like fun and offered easy recipes to complement her philosophy.
This documentary chronicles the life, career and impact of this remarkable cook, who came to her vocation at a time when schools teaching cooking and restaurant kitchens where meals were prepared for customers were considered masculine domains.
Child’s impact on our culinary culture has a far reach, and this movie explores all of that.
Because of Child, cooking became more of an enjoyable experience than a chore. Plus, her books and TV shows inspired young women to enroll in culinary schools and consider careers as chefs.
What the movie does best is capture Child’s spirit — not only her joy of cooking, but her positive attitude and charm, her love of meeting people and of sharing her knowledge of food with others.
The movie is at its best showcasing Child as a pioneer in what has become our national food culture.
“Julia” will satisfy your appetite as it provides appetizing pieces about Child’s art and impact.
Critics enjoyed the documentary, awarding it a 98 percent fresh rating at Rotten Tomatoes.
Technical aspects: 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen picture; English 5.1 Dolby digital; English SDH, English, French and Spanish subtitles.
Man on the Moon: Special Edition (Blu-ray)
Details: 1999, Kino Lorber Studio Classics
Rated: R, language, brief nudity, sexual situations
The lowdown: Jimmy Carrey gives an amazing impersonation of late comedian Andy Kaufman in this biopic directed by Milos Forman.
Carrey’s performance dominates this otherwise standard rise and untimely death story of a singular talent whose comic genius was messing with the minds of and manipulating his audiences and subverting their expectations.
As portrayed by Carrey, Kaufman at times seems even to be performing in his offstage life. Sometimes his friends did not know whether he was acting or not.
The movie costars Danny DeVito as Kaufman’s manager, George Shapiro; Courtney Love as Kaufman’s girlfriend, Lynne Margulies; and Paul Giamatti and Kaufman’s best friend and comic partner, Bob Zmuda.
The movie received a 63 percent fresh rating at Rotten Tomatoes, with most critics praising Carrey, but claiming the movie was somewhat superficial.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 2.35:1 widescreen picture; English 5.1 and 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio; English SDH subtitles.
Don’t miss: Extras include a commentary track, a conversation between Forman and screenwriters Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski, deleted scenes, a making of featurette and two R.E.M. music videos.
Miller’s Crossing: Special Edition (Blu-ray)
Release date: Feb. 8
Details: 1990, Criterion Collection
Rated: R, graphic violence, language, sexual situations
The lowdown: The Coen brothers take on the classic gangster film mixes the hard-boiled aura of that genre with the Coens’ sharp dialogue and colorful characters.
Gabriel Byrne stars as Tommy Reagan, the right-hand man to crime boss Leo O’Bannon (Albert Finney). But after a falling-out, Reagan offers his services to a rival gang, setting off a cascade of betrayals, reprisals and ever-increasing violence.
A strong supporting cast, which includes John Turturro, Marcia Gay Harden and Jon Polito, plus a fine musical score by Carter Burwell, add to the movie’s timeless quality.
The movie, which features a solid restoration, received a 92 percent fresh rating at Rotten Tomatoes.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition 1.85:1 widescreen picture; English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio; English SDH subtitles.
Don’t miss: Extras include a conversation with Joel and Ethan Coen; interviews with Byrne, Turturro, Burwell, cinematographer Barry Sonnenfeld, music editor Todd Kasow and production designer Dennis Gassner; and 1990 interviews with Byrne, Turturro, Harden and Polito.
Edge of Darkness (Blu-ray)
Details: 1943, Warner Archive Collection
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: This World War II propaganda film extols the courage and daring of Norwegian partisans who battled Nazi occupiers.
Errol Flynn, Ann Sheridan and Walter Huston portray the Norwegian leaders of the resistance in the fishing village of Trollness who do what they can to battle the invaders.
The movie was directed by Lewis Milestone, who made one of the most famous anti-war films of all time, 1930’s “All Quiet on the Western Front.”
He left his pacifism at the door here — as well as a couple of years later in filming “A Walk in the Sun” — to chronicle the cruelty and barbarity of the Germans.
The release is a made-on-demand Blu-ray from the Warner Archive Collection and can be ordered at the WAC Amazon store or other online retailers.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 1.37:1 (16×9 enhanced) full-screen picture; English 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio monaural; English SDH subtitles.
Don’t miss: Extras include a Warner Bros. short and a cartoon.
Dancing Pirate: Special Edition (Blu-ray)
Details: 1936, The Film Detective
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: If not for the fact that this movie was the third live-action feature — and first musical — filmed in three-strip Technicolor, it probably would have been forgotten.
The film stars Charles Collins, a Broadway dancer, as a dance teacher in 1820s Boston who is kidnapped by a band of pirates and basically forced to work as a slave aboard their ship.
Later, when he ship reaches California, Collins’ Jonathan Pride escapes, but he goes from the frying pan into the fire as those he encounters believe he is the vanguard of a pirate attack.
Captured and sentenced to hang, he is rescued by the daughter of the mayor (played by Frank Morgan) of the village, who learns that he is a dance teacher and convinces her father to spare him so he can teach the women of the town how to waltz.
The movie contains two songs by the team of Rodgers and Hart.
Collins may be OK on the stage, but he lacks the charisma for the screen. Honestly, the movie is just ordinary and its use of Technicolor is its only redeeming quality.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 1.37:1 full-screen picture; English 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio monaural; English closed-captioned subtitles.
Don’t miss: Extras include a commentary track, a featurette on the birth of Technicolor and “Ambushed by Mediocrity: Remembering the Dancing Pirate,” an interview about the movie with producer-historian Michael Schlesinger.
Looper (4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray + digital)
Release date: Feb. 15
Details: 2012, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
Rated: R, graphic violence, nudity, sexual content, drug use
The lowdown: This thinking man’s science-fiction action-thriller celebrates its 10th anniversary with a new 4K UHD release.
The premise is that time travel has become a reality, but it has been outlawed. But through the black market, criminals use it to kill rivals.
Those who do the killing are known as “Loopers.” One caveat to being a Looper is that one’s future self must be killed. The Looper then gets a fortune and 30 years to enjoy it.
Joe (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) is a well-paid Looper. But his life changes when the mob sends his future self, played by Bruce Willis, back for assassination.
The film, written and directed by Rian Johnson, is a bit complex, though filled with fine performances, including one by Emily Blunt, and big ideas. That is one of the reasons why the movie earned a 93 percent fresh rating at Rotten Tomatoes.
The 4K UHD audio and visual qualities are superb, capturing every nuance that helps you enjoy the movie.
Technical aspects: 4K UHD: 2160p Ultra HD, 2.39:1 widescreen picture; English Dolby Atmos (Dolby 7.1 TrueHD compatible), English 5.1 Dolby digital description track and Spanish Dolby surround; English SDH, English and Spanish subtitles; Blu-ray: 1080p high definition, English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio, 5.1 Dolby digital audio description track and Spanish Dolby surround; English SDH, English and Spanish subtitles.
Don’t miss: Extras include deleted scenes; a commentary track with Johnson, Gordon-Levitt and Blunt; a making of featurette; a look at the music scoring; a featurette on the science of time travel; and a “Looper” animated trailer.
Alligator: Collector’s Edition (4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray)
Details: 1980, Scream Factory
Rated: R, graphic and bloody violence, language
The lowdown: This creature feature, with a screenplay by John Sayles, builds on the urban legend of baby alligators flushed down the toilet and living and growing in urban sewers by feeding on toxic waste and pollutants.
The movie begins with a family returning from a Florida vacation and flushing away a baby alligator bought by the family’s teenage daughter.
Meanwhile, Slade Laboratories is conducting secret growth-formula experiments with animals and disposing of them in the sewer.
The alligator grows by feeding off these dead carcasses and grows to enormous size.
Twelve years later, after several strange deaths, detective David Madison (Robert Forster) is assigned to investigate. He is aided by Marisa Kendall (Robin Riker), a herpetologist, who was the original owner of the baby alligator.
The movie, directed by Lewis Teague (“Cujo”), is fun and, for an independent production, quite clever.
The supporting cast includes Michael V. Gazzo (“The Godfather, Part II”), Oscar-winner Dean Jagger (“12 O’clock High”), Jack Carter, Henry Silva, Angel Thompkins and Sue Lyon.
The movie garnered an 80 percent fresh rating at Rotten Tomatoes. This is a three-disc set that includes the theatrical and television versions of the movie.
Technical aspects: 4K UHD: 2160p Ultra HD, 1.85:1 widescreen picture; English DTS-HD Master Audio monaural; English SDH subtitles; Blu-ray: 1080p high definition, 1.85:1 widescreen picture; English DTS-HD Master Audio monaural; English SDH subtitles.
Don’t miss: Bonus offerings include a commentary track with Teague and Forster, interviews with Teague, Sayles, Riker, special makeup effects artist Robert Short, production assistant-future actor-director Bryan Cranston and a “Trailers From Hell” episode with filmmaker Karyn Kusama.
Hard Hit (Blu-ray)
Details: 2021, MPI Media Group-Capelight Pictures
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: This Korean thriller begins with a bank manager driving his daughter and son to school.
Along the way, a phone rings from his glove box. The anonymous caller tells the manager that there is a bomb under the driver’s seat, which will explode if anyone exits the car.
The caller wants a ransom. The bank manager must ensure the safety of his children, find enough money to pay the caller while also evading the police.
Along the way, he also tries to figure out what he did to become ensnared in this dire situation.
At 95 minutes, the movie, which features sharp audio and visual transfers, keeps you engrossed. It is suspenseful, despite its theme being similar to other releases, such as “Cellular.”
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 2.39:1 widescreen picture; Korean and English (dubbed) 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio; English, Korean and German subtitles.
Don’t miss: The main extra is a short behind-the-scenes featurette.
Lies and Deceit: Five Films by Claude Chabrol (Blu-ray)
Details: 1985-94, Arrow Video
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: Claude Chabrol was one of the directors who influenced and embraced the French New Wave.
This five-disc set includes a quintet of genre films he directed and which he used as a means to display many foibles of human nature.
The set includes “Cop au Vin” (1985), which deals with the investigation by out-of-town Inspector Lavardin (Jean Poiret) into the deaths of citizens in a small town in Normandy; “Inspector Lavardin” (1986), which sees Poiret’s Lavardin investigating the death of a province’s notable citizen whose widow turns out to be an old flame of Lavardin; Madame Bovary” (1991), Chabrol’s adaptation of Gustave Flaubert’s classic and oft-filmed novel, starring Isabelle Huppert; “Betty” (1992), a dark film about a self-destructive drunken woman who recalls her bourgeois and promiscuous life; and “Torment” (1994), a dark movie about a married couple in which the husband begins to have paranoid delusions about his wife’s infidelity, which leads to tragedy.
Admirers of Chabrol’s works will enjoy this set and it covers the spectrum of human emotions that dominate his movies.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 1.66:1 widescreen picture (Cop au Vin,” “Inspector Lavardin,” “Madame Bovary,” “Torment”), 1.85:1 widescreen picture (“Betty”); French LPCM monaural; English subtitles.
Don’t miss: Extras include commentary tracks on four movies and a select screen commentary by Chabrol on “Cop au Vin”; interviews with filmmakers and Chabrol collaborators about the director’s movies; introductions to the films; and a booklet about Chabrol’s films and career.
Golden Voices (DVD)
Details: 2019, Music Box Films
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: This Israeli comedy, set in 1990, follows a Jewish couple from the former Soviet Union who immigrate to Israel looking to reinvent themselves.
Raya and Victor shared a career as the Soviet film industry’s most beloved voice dubbers. They spent decades translating major Hollywood movies and films by Federico Fellini and Stanley Kubrick into Russian.
In Israel, they hope to put their vocal talents to good use for their adopted home. But things don’t go as planned.
Raya answers an ad for women with “pleasant voices” and finds herself employed as a phone-sex operator catering to lonely Russian expats.
Victor, meanwhile, becomes acquainted with a pair of underground video pirates, using his vocal talent for black market VHS copies of new release movies.
The movie, with some dramatic moments, chronicles the challenges and resilience of starting a new life in an unfamiliar country as well as a tribute to the redemptive power of movies.
The film earned a 100 percent fresh rating at Rotten Tomatoes.
Technical aspects: 2.40:1 widescreen picture; Russian and Hebrew 5.1 Dolby digital; English subtitles.
Don’t miss: Deleted scenes and a commentary track comprise the extras.
Ronnie’s (DVD)
Details: 2020, Greenwich Entertainment-Kino Lorber
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: A documentary that chronicles the life and career of Ronnie Scott, a saxophonist who became the owner of the eponymous night club.
Scott was a poor Jewish boy who grew up in 1940s East End London. The artists who, over the decades, appeared at his club included Ella Fitzgerald, Miles Davis, Nina Simone, Van Morrison, Chet Baker and Jimi Hendrix, who performed at Ronnie’s the night of his death.
The movie is filled with clips that bring the club and Scott’s life in focus.
Jazz lovers will find this movie fascinating, soulful and insightful. It is an affectionate and inspirational feature that hits all the right keys.
The movie received a 100 percent fresh rating at Rotten Tomatoes.
Technical aspects: 1.78:1 (16×9 enhanced) widescreen picture; English 5.1 and 2.0 Dolby digital; English SDH subtitles.
France (Blu-ray)
Details: 2021, Kino Lorber
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: James Bond love interest Lea Seydoux stars as France de Meurs, a superstar journalist whose career, home life and psychological stability are shaken after she drives into a young delivery man on a busy Paris street.
The accident triggers a series of self-examinations as well as an unusual romance that proves impossible to let go.
Writer-director Bruno Dumont’s movie starts out as a satire about the contemporary news media, but slowly morphs into a story that is richer, deeper and darker.
As the film progresses, France finds herself having more and more trouble maintaining her identity in a cruel, judgmental society.
The movie, at times, seems purposely inscrutable, but remains grounded by Seydoux’s performance.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 1.85:1 widescreen picture; French 5.1 and 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio; English subtitles.
President (DVD)
Details: 2021, Greenwich Entertainment-Kino Lorber
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: A documentary that looks at the political events in Zimbabwe after longtime president Robert Mugabe was removed from power by military leaders.
The military officials promised they would not seize power but would guarantee democracy in a national election.
Young and charismatic Nelson Chamisa, despite economic crisis, food shortages and political violence, decided to oppose the ruling party and seek the presidency.
He vowed that, as leader, the country would be led and not ruled.
The movie, which earned a 93 percent fresh rating at Rotten Tomatoes, examines what the threat to democracy looks like in other nations and how courageous people strive to preserve it, despite overwhelming odds.
Watching the movie is a sobering experience.
Technical aspects: 2.39:1 (16×9 enhanced) widescreen picture; Shona and English 5.1 and 2.0 Dolby digital; English subtitles.
Deadly Games (Blu-ray)
Details: 1982, Arrow Video
Rated: R, violence, language
The lowdown: A slasher film in which a masked maniac, with a penchant for a horror-themed board game, is going after the women in a small town.
Each time the killer rolls the dice another woman is killed in a grisly manner.
Keegan (Jo Ann Harris) returns to town after her sister is killed. She befriends local officer Roger Lane (Sam Groom) and strange cinema projectionist Billy (Steve Railsback).
Keegan, however, soon finds herself a target of the killer. So, she devises a plan to force the killer out in the open.
One of the movie’s main problems is Keegan’s character; she is grating and obnoxious.
The movie itself is not very good and never lives up to its potential.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 1.85:1 widescreen picture; English 1.0 DTS-HD Master Audio monaural; English SDH subtitles.
Don’t miss: Extras include a commentary track with The Hysteria Continues, interviews with actor Jere Rae-Mansfield, special effects and stunt coordinator John Eggett and a BD-ROM of the “Who Fell Asleep” screenplay, which was the movie’s original title.
Village of the Giants (Blu-ray)
Details: 1965, Kino Lorber Studio Classics
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: Bert I. Gordon was known for directing cheapie horror films using cut-rate special effects, which consisted mostly of bad matte work.
His titles included “Beginning of the End,” “The Cyclops,” “The Amazing Colossal Man,” “War of the Colossal Beast,” “The Spider” and this teenagers-go-berserk opus.
The movie features an “all-star” cast of kid actors: Disney’s Tommy Kirk, Ron Howard in his “Andy Griffith Show” days, former “Rifleman” costar Johnny Crawford and, in one of his earliest films, Beau Bridges — who plays one of the giant teens. Also in the cast is Tim Rooney, one of Mickey Rooney’s sons.
Because it is a Gordon film, the size of the giant teens is inconsistent, changing from sequence to sequence.
The story finds a young boy called Genius (Howard) who invents a substance he calls “goo,” which, when ingested, causes super growth.
Bridges is Fred, leader of a gang of bad teens who get hold of “goo” and make gigantic pains of themselves.
Kirk is Mike, leader of the good teens.
The movie is totally ludicrous, but its absurdity makes it a good laugh.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 1.85:1 widescreen picture; English DTS-HD Master Audio; English subtitles.
Don’t miss: A commentary track by film historian Tim Lucas is the main extra.
“The Douglas Sirk Collection II” (Blu-ray)
Details: 1935, 1936, Kino Classics
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: Douglas Sirk is best known for some of his glossy 1950s’ American movies such as “Magnificent Obsession,” “All That Heaven Allows,” “Written on the Wind” and his remake of “Imitation of Life.”
Sirk began his career in Germany in the 1930s, before leaving his native country in the late 1930s.
The two movies in this set, “The Girl from the Marsh Croft” (1935) and “The Final Chord” (1936), show how he already was exploring the sophisticated visual style that were the hallmark of his American releases.
“The Girl from the Marsh Croft” is a story of shame and superstition set in an insular community in the northern region of Germany. It is about a young woman who is a moral outcast willing to sacrifice her own happiness for the man she loves.
Female self-sacrifice also is the theme of “The Final Chord,” which is set in the nation’s classical concert halls. It centers on a woman who gave up her child for adoption, only to become the child’s nursemaid years later.
But that small happiness is threatened by the influence of a domineering nanny.
Fans of Sirk’s films will appreciate both of these movies.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 1.37:1 full-screen picture; German DTS-HD monaural; English subtitles.
Don’t miss: Both movies feature commentary tracks.
C.H.O.M.P.S. (Blu-ray)
Details: 1979, Code Red-Kino Lorber
Rated: PG
The lowdown: Joseph Barbera of Hanna-Barbera cartoon fame produced and created the story for this feature about a young woman and her electronics-genius boyfriend who invent the world’s first computerized watchdog to help save the security business owned by the girl’s father. The dog, C.H.O.M.P.S. (Canine Home Protection System), is programmed to take a bite out of crime.
When the company’s rival gets wind of C.H.O.M.P.S., they hire a pair of bad guys to destroy him.
The entire movie is rather silly. The cast, though, gives it their all, with Valerie Bertinelli as daughter Carey Norton, Wesley Eure as boyfriend Brian Foster and Conrad Bain as Mr. Foster. Also in the cast is the wonderful Chuck McCann, Red Buttons, Larry Bishop and Jim Backus.
Truthfully, even at 89 minutes, the movie overstays its welcome. This is basically a baby-sitting outing if you have chores to do around the house.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 1.85:1 widescreen picture; English 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio monaural; English SDH subtitles.
Don’t miss: Supplemental materials include an interview with Eure and a commentary track.
Gomorrah: Fourth Season (Blu-ray)
Details: 2019-20, Kino Lorber
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: A four-disc set that continues this Italian gangster saga.
The set features all 12 episodes as Salvatore Esposito’s Genny decides he must change his life to save his family.
He becomes a businessman and turns the crime enterprise over to Patrizia (Christiana Dell’Anna) as well as trusting his life to a new mob associated with Donna Imma.
The series has gained recognition not only in its native Italy, but around the world.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 1.85:1 widescreen picture; Italian and English (dubbed) 5.1 and 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio; English subtitles.
Other titles being released on Tuesday, unless otherwise indicated:
Fallen (DVD & digital & VOD) (Lionsgate Home Entertainment)
Give or Take (DVD & digital) (Breaking Glass Pictures)
Shattered (Blu-ray & DVD) (Lionsgate Home Entertainment)
The Time Guardians (DVD) (Shout! Studios)
DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, STREAMING or VOD
A Journal for Jordan (Sony Pictures Home Entertainment)
Dunk or Die (Under the Milky Way)
Race: Bubba Wallace (Netflix)
Pam & Tommy: Episode 6 (Hulu, Feb. 23)
The Afterparty: Episode 7 (Apple TV+, Feb. 25)
The Desperate Hour (Vertical Entertainment, Feb. 25)
Desperate Riders (Lionsgate Home Entertainment, Feb. 25)
Gasoline Alley (Saban Films-Paramount Pictures, Feb. 25)
I’ll Find You (Gravitas Ventures, Feb. 25)
Let Me Be Me (Greenwich Entertainment, Feb. 25)
Love Is Blind: Season 2, Episode 10 (Netflix, Feb. 25)
My Best Part (Altered Innocence, Feb. 25)
Servants (Film Movement, Feb. 25)
Severance: Episode 3 (Apple TV+, Feb. 25)
Strawberry Mansion (Music Box Films, Feb. 25)
Suspicion: Episode 5 (Apple TV+, Feb. 25)
Tyler Perry’s A Madea Homecoming (www.netflix.com/AMadeaHomecoming) (Netflix, Feb. 25)
Vikings: Valhalla (www.netflix.com/VikingsValhalla) (Netflix, Feb. 25)
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.