New to View: April 12
By Bob Bloom
The following titles are being released on Tuesday, April 12, unless otherwise noted:
RoboCop: Limited Edition (4K UHD)
Details: 1987, Arrow Video
Rated: R, graphic violence, language
The lowdown: This two-disc set features the theatrical and director’s cut of filmmaker Paul Verhoeven’s Hollywood debut.
It is a brutal and violent combination of science fiction and action crime thriller that is set in a near future in a crime-ridden Detroit.
The police department is overwhelmed and is fighting a losing battle to stem the lawlessness sweeping the city.
One officer, Alex Murphy (Peter Weller), is murdered by members of one criminal group.
The Omni Consumer Products megacorporation takes Murphy and revives him as the cyborg law enforcement officer, RoboCop.
RoboCop remembers nothing of his former life as he begins his own all-out war against the criminal element.
The difference between the two versions of the movie is one minute — the theatrical release checks in at 102 minutes, whil the director’s cut is 103 minutes.
The movie was a hit upon its release, garnering a 90 percent fresh rating at Rotten Tomatoes and spawning a couple of sequels.
Technical aspects: 2160p 4K ultra high definition, 1.85:1 widescreen picture; English Dolby Atmos, 7.1 Dolby TrueHD, 5.1, 4.0 and 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio; English SDH subtitles.
Don’t miss: Hours of extras including edited-for-television versions of the movie, split screen comparisons between the director’s cut, theatrical version and edited-for-TV version; a commentary track with Verhoeven and others; two other commentary tracks; deleted scenes; a Verhoeven Easter egg; three 2007 archive featurettes with cast and filmmaker interviews; a 2012 question-and-answer session with Verhoeven, Weller, animator Phil Tippett and others; a look at some of the movie’s memorable props; a look at some of the special effects; a featurette on how the ensemble cast was assembled; an interview with second unit director Mark Goldblatt; an interview with writer Michael Miner; an interview with costar Nancy Allen; an 80-page limited edition booklet; and six collectible postcards.
Parallel Mothers (Blu-ray)
Release date: April 5
Details: 2021, Sony Pictures Classics
Rated: R, sexual situations
The lowdown: Penelope Cruz received a best actress in a leading role Academy Award nomination for her portrayal of a single, middle-aged pregnant woman looking forward to motherhood.
Sharing a hospital room with a pregnant adolescent, who is scared, repentant and traumatized.
The older woman, Janis tries to encourage and help the young Ana, as they walk along the hospital corridors.
The link they share creates a close bond, which soon complicates and changes both their lives.
The film, written and directed by the brilliant Pedro Almodóvar, is warm, refreshing and surviving.
Critics fell in love with the movie, awarding it a 97 percent fresh rating at Rotten Tomatoes.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 1.85:1 widescreen picture; Spanish 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio; English 5.1 Dolby digital audio description track; English SDH, English, French and Spanish subtitles.
Servants (DVD)
Details: 2020, Film Movement
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: A political drama set in 1980 Czechoslovakia, where the dictatorial Communist government demands absolute allegiance to the state from all its subjects, including the clergy.
Michael and Juraj are conflicted novitiates whose seminary is under increasing and unrelentless pressure from authorities to teach its students on how to be satisfactory citizens.
With the school on the brink of being closed, and its head priest, a blackmail target, the two young men must decide between collaborating as informants or being targets of the secret police.
The movie is an atmospheric and taut Cold War-era political thriller that also is a brooding, anti-authoritarian morality tale.
The film earned an impressive 96 percent fresh rating at Rotten Tomatoes.
Technical aspects: 1.33:1 full-screen picture; Slovak 2.0 Dolby digital stereo; English subtitles.
Don’t miss: A German short film is the main extra.
CSI: Vegas: Season One (DVD)
Release date: April 5
Details: 2021, CBS Home Entertainment-Paramount Home Entertainment
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: A three-disc set featuring all 10 first-season episodes of this crime procedural reboot.
William Petersen and Jorja Fox return as Gil Grissom and Sara Sidle who return to their Las Vegas crime lab to help a new team of specialists investigate a case centered around former colleague David Hodges (Walllace Langham).
The implications of the case could destroy the Crime Lab and free thousands of convicted killers back onto the streets of Vegas.
Grissom and Sidle work with new team leader Maxine Roby (Paula Newsome) and her investigators to solve the case and keep the threat to Vegas from manifesting.
Technical aspects: 16:9 picture; English 5.1 Dolby digital; English SDH subtitles.
Don’t miss: Bonus options include a featurette about how the reboot came about and the challenges facing its creative team; a look at the series’ new sets; a featurette on the visual effects.
Spiritwalker (Blu-ray)
Details: 2021, Well Go USA Entertainment
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: A man awakens from a car crash, with no memory of his life. The man soon begins regaining consciousness in a new body every 12 hours.
During all this, he must try to piece together his true identity, all the while evading attacks from nefarious agents and criminals.
If anything, the movie will remind you of the old “Quantum Leap” television series in which Scott Bakula’s Sam Beckett went from body to body, week after week, correcting wrongs and righting history.
This action-fantasy features some exciting car chases and fights.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 2.39:1 (16×9 enhanced) widescreen picture; Korean and English (dubbed) 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio and 2.0 Dolby digital; English subtitles.
Don’t miss: A short behind-the-scenes look at the film is the major bonus component.
Fabian Goes to the Dogs (Blu-ray)
Details: 2021, Kino Lorber
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: A drama set in 1931 pre-Nazi Germany centers on Jakob Fabian (Tom Schilling) who works in the advertising department of a cigarette factory.
At night, though, he haunts the bars, brothels and artists’ studios with his wealthy friend, Labude.
One night, Fabian meets the beautiful Cornelia. Her confident manner gives him the impetus to shed his pessimistic attitude and fall in love.
Shortly thereafter, the economic chaos in Germany that helped lead to the rise of Hitler and his Nazis, impact Fabian. He loses his job, plunging him into depression. Meanwhile, Cornelia’s career as an actress is on the rise, thanks to her wealthy boss and admirer, which Fabian finds difficult to accept.
Director Dominik Graf documents how the worlds of individuals and a nation as a whole starts a steep decline toward totalitarianism and terror.
The movie garnered an 87 percent fresh rating at Rotten Tomatoes.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 1.33:1 full-screen picture; German 5.1 and 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio; English subtitles.
Don’t miss: A commentary track is the main extra.
Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (4K UHD & Blu-ray)
Details: 1994, Arrow Video
Rated: R, disturbing, violent and bloody images, sexual situations
The lowdown: Kenneth Branagh stars in and directs this adaptation of Mary Shelley’s novel.
Branagh’s version is more respectful to its source. It’s also sumptuous, grand and a bit overwrought.
Plus, with having Robert De Niro play the Creature is somewhat of a distraction because, despite the makeup, you know it is De Niro.
The movie is more a costume melodrama than a horror film, as Branagh’s Victor Frankenstein seeks to create life. When his experiment succeeds, he is horrified by the results and abandons his creation, expecting it to die.
But not only does the Creature live, he learns to read and write. And he seeks out his creator, wanting revenge for being shunned, targeting Frankenstein’s family.
The movie is told in flashback, bracketed by Frankenstein’s interactions with a ship’s captain, played by Aidan Quinn, who is as obsessed with his own quest for immortality as his dying guest.
The movie costars Helena Bonham Carter, Tom Hulce, John Cleese and Ian Holm.
The movie has its proponents, but a majority of critics were disappointed with Branagh’s effort, awarding the movie a 38 percent fresh rating at Rotten Tomatoes.
Personally, I like the movie, despite Branagh’s nearly bombastic performance.
Technical aspects: 4K UHD: 2160p 4K ultra high definition,, 1.85:1 widescreen picture; English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio and 2.0 LPCM monaural; English SDH subtitles; Blu-ray: 1080p high definition, 1.85:1 widescreen picture; English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio and 2.0 LPCM monaural; English SDH subtitles.
Don’t miss: Bonus materials include a commentary track, a featurette with a trio of British Gothic specialists discussing the source novel and its many adaptations, the same trio detailing differences between the novel and Branagh’s movie, a 1910 movie adaptation of “Frankenstein,” interviews with composer Patrick Doyle, costume designer James Acheson and make-up artist Daniel Parker, an image gallery and an insert booklet.
Fandango (Blu-ray)
Details: 1985, Warner Archive Collection
Rated: PG, language
The lowdown: In one of his earliest starring roles, Kevin Costner portrays Gardner Barnes, one of five college friends at the University of Texas, awaiting graduation in 1971.
The friends, called the Groovers, decide to take a road trip before another of their group, Kenneth (Sam Robards), gets married. Another Groover, Phil (Judd Nelson) is in ROTC.
The Vietnam War and the draft loom over these young men as they head off for one last adventure.
The movie marked the directorial debut of Kevin Reynolds who later directed Costner in “Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves,” “Waterworld” and the TV miniseries “Hatfields & McCoys.”
The movie earned a 50 percent fresh rating at Rotten Tomatoes. The release is a made-on-demand Blu-ray from the Warner Archive Collection and can be ordered at the WAC store at Amazon or from other online dealers.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 1.85:1 (16×9 enhanced) widescreen picture; English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio; English SDH subtitles.
Oranges & Sunshine (Blu-ray)
Details: 2010, Cohen Media Group
Rated: R, language
The lowdown: This movie, based on one of the most shameful scandals in 20th-century British history, centers on children, many of whom were orphans or taken from broken homes by social workers, deported to Australia.
The children were promised “oranges and sunshine,” but the reality was that many were placed in workhouses where they were treated as virtual slaves. Many often were abused as well.
The film centers on Margaret Humphreys (Emily Watson), a social worker from Nottingham, who, in 1987, uncovered the scandal while trying to help two survivors, Jack (Hugo Weaving), a timid young man, and the angry and violent Len (David Wenham).
Humphreys, working alone and ignoring threats, took it upon herself to investigate and reunite thousands of families. She also helped bring authorities to account and drew global attention to this obscene miscarriage of justice.
The film impressed a majority of critics, who awarded it a 69 percent fresh rating at Rotten Tomatoes.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 2.39:1 widescreen picture; English 5.1 and 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio; English SDH subtitles.
Don’t miss: Bonus features include a making of featurette and interviews with cast members, screenwriter Rona Munro and director Jim Loach.
American Flyers (Blu-ray)
Details: 1985, Warner Archive Collection
Rated: PG-13, language
The lowdown: In one of his early films, a young Kevin Costner stars as sports physician Marcus Sommers films who takes his unstable brother, David, with him to train for a bicycle race across the Rocky Mountains.
Marcus does not tell him that he has an inoperable brain tumor that can paralyze or kill him at any moment.
The brothers race, with David overcoming obstacles and forging ahead.
Marcus, meanwhile, has an aneurysm.
In the end, all family differences are forgiven.
The movie works to balance cycling action and family drama and does so enough to earn a 65 percent fresh rating at Rotten Tomatoes.
The movie is a made-on-demand Blu-ray from the Warner Archive Collection and can be found at the WAC store on Amazon or from other online sellers.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 2.40:1 (16×9 enhanced) widescreen picture; English 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio stereo; English SDH subtitles.
New Year’s Evil (Blu-ray)
Details: 1980, Kino Lorber Studio Classics
Rated: R, bloody violence, language
The lowdown: Another holiday-themed slasher film. It seems the only holiday that slashers avoid is Labor Day.
Well, this Cannon Group opus is set at a New Year’s Eve punk-rock, new-wave music bash hosted by disc jockey Diane “Blaze” Sullivan (Roz Kelly).
As Sullivan counts down the hours until midnight, a killer begins adding up the body count across the city.
It soon becomes apparent that Sullivan is his final target.
The police — inept as always in such features — work to stop the bloody rampage. They seal off the festivities, but the killer, of course, evades them.
And, as it turns out in these movies, the identity of the slasher supposedly comes as a surprise — unless you’ve seen enough of these movies to guess who it is before the unmasking.
As it stands, the movie was admonished for being a pale imitation of other slasher movies of the period.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 1.85:1 widescreen picture; English DTS-HD Master Audio; English subtitles.
Don’t miss: Extras include a making of featurette, a commentary track and newly commissioned cover art.
Tentacles (Blu-ray)
Details: 1977, Kino Lorber Studio Classics
Rated: PG, violence
The lowdown: This clunker is another “Jaws”-like rip-off, with a giant octopus substituting for a Great White shark.
Several people have disappeared from a small seaside town and, later, when their bodies — make those skeletons — are found, with even their marrow missing, you know something is amiss.
The eminent Dr. Ned Turner (John Huston) begins to believe that the that is building a tunnel beneath the bay may have poisoned the environment, causing the octopus to mutate to gigantic size.
And while all this is being investigated, a big sailing regatta, that includes many children, has begun.
This is a movie that only die-hard, creature-feature fanatics will most likely enjoy.
The most interesting aspect of the movie is its talent — beside the Academy Award-winning director Huston, the cast also includes two-time Oscar-winner Shelley Winters, Henry Fonda, Bo Hopkins, Claude Akins and Cesare Danova.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 2.35:1 widescreen picture; English DTS-HD Master Audio; English subtitles.
Other titles being released on Tuesday, unless otherwise indicated:
Dingo (DVD & digital) (Dark Star Pictures)
Kimi (DVD) (Warner Home Entertainment)
Last Looks (Blu-ray & DVD) (RLJE Films)
My Sweet Monster (DVD & digital & VOD) (Lionsgate Home Entertainment)
Reed’s Point (DVD & digital) (Suzanne DeLaurentiis Productions)
Xpiation (Blu-ray) (Unearthed Films, Feb. 8)
DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, STREAMING or VOD
Candy (Hulu)
The Girl from Plainville: Episode 5 (Hulu)Infinite Storm (Bleecker Street)
Italian Studies (Magnolia Home Entertainment)
Reign of Chaos (Left Films)
APRIL 14
The Kardashians (Hulu)
APRIL 15
Choose or Die (www.netflix.com/ChooseOrDie) (Netflix)
Good Life (Level 33 Entertainment)
It’s the Small Things, Charlie Brown (Apple TV+)
Roar (Apple TV+)
Room 203 (Ammo Entertainment)
Surviving Sex Trafficking (Stopping Traffic Production)
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.