New to View: Aug. 23
By Bob Bloom
The following titles are being released on Tuesday, Aug. 23, unless otherwise noted:
NCIS: Los Angeles: Season 13 (DVD)
Details: 2021-22, CBS DVD-Paramount Home Entertainment
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: A five-disc set featuring all 22 episodes of this popular NCIS franchise spinoff.
During the season, the team — “G” Callen (Chris O’Donnell), Sam Hanna (LL Cool J), Kensi Blye (Daniela Ruah), Marty Deeks (Eric Christian Olsen), Fatima Namazi (Medalion Rahimi) and Devin Rountree (Caleb Castille) — battle domestic and international threats, including Chinese intelligence agents, white nationalist militias, Internet trolls and the Mob.
Personal challenges also are featured, as Callen continues seeking answers about his past, while contemplating a future with Anna; Kensi and Deeks continue their efforts to become parents; and the threat of former Russian agent Katya, who has been impersonating Callen through advanced deepfake technology, finally comes to a head.
Other changes include the addition of Gerald McRaney’s former admiral Horace Killbride, as a regular cast member, as the fate and future of Academy Award-winner Linda Hunt’s Hetty Lange remains in limbo.
The series also celebrates its 300th episode and, for a change, the season ends of a joyous note.
Technical aspects: 16:9 widescreen picture; English 5.1 Dolby digital; English SDH subtitles.
Don’t miss: Bonus materials include an interview with McRaney discussing why he joined the series full-time; deleted and extended scenes; a gag reel; the cast and producers celebrating the 300th episode and looking back about the history and success of the series; and an overview of the season.
Jurassic World: Dominion (Blu-ray + DVD + digital)
Release date: Aug. 16
Details: 2022, Universal Pictures Home Entertainment
Rated: PG-13, intense sequences of action, violence, language
The lowdown: Like the dinosaurs of old, the “Jurassic World” franchise should be designated as extinct. And “Dominion,” the latest movie in the series, is the cinematic comet that could prime that event.
This compilation of characters, plotlines and situations is taken at random from the “Jurassic Park” and “Jurassic World” movies. It is as if director Colin Trevorrow and his co-screenwriter, Emily Carmichael, simply cut and pasted sequences from the previous scripts.
“Jurassic World: Dominion” squandered what could have been a fascinating premise — mankind and dinosaurs coexisting on the planet.
Instead, they harkened back to the tried-and-true cliches of narrow escapes, an evil corporation, a corrupt tech magnate and sinister genetic engineering.
The storyline has enough holes accommodate a fleet of 18-wheelers.
It feels as if Trevorrow is banking on the memories and good will of audiences to carry the movie instead of venturing into unexplored territory.
At 146 minutes, the film lumbers along like a brontosaurus. Everything that happens is foreshadowed and predictable, and the movie lacks surprise and suspense.
“Jurassic World: Dominion” is a been-there-done-that, recycled movie. It is a drawn-out, tired series of cliches.
A majority of critics agreed with this assessment, awarding the movie a disappointing 30 percent fresh rating at Rotten Tomatoes.
Technical aspects: Blu-ray: 1080p high definition, 2.00:1 widescreen picture; English DTX:X, French and Spanish 7.1 DTS-HD and English 2.0 Dolby digital DVS; English SDH, French and Spanish subtitles; DVD: 2.00:1 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: Supplemental options include a “Jurassic World short film, “Battle at Big Rock”; a look at the new VFX technology; and an in-depth look at the making of the movie.
Paths of Glory (4K Ultra HD)
Details: 1957, Kino Lorber Studio Classics
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: Stanley Kubrick directed this classic movie that dramatizes the absurdity of war.
The film, set during World War I, stars Kirk Douglas as Colonel Dax, who receives an order from the French general staff to take a position, known as the Ant Hill, at any cost.
The attack is basically a suicide mission that is doomed to failure. And when that comes true, the generals — to cover their own blunder — order the arrest of three innocent soldiers, charging them with mutiny and cowardice.
Dax, a lawyer in civilian life, comes to the defense of the soldiers. He soon comes to realize that, unless he can prove that the generals were to blame, his clients will be found guilty and face a firing squad.
The movie, which earned a 96 percent fresh rating at Rotten Tomatoes, is an antiwar masterpiece that soars in its humanity, cinematic virtuosity and dark humor.
The film costars Ralph Meeker, Adolphe Menjou, George Macready, Wayne Morris, Richard Anderson, Joe Turkel and Timothy Carey. It features stunning black-and-white cinematography by Georg Krause.
Technical aspects: 2160p ultra high definition, 1.66:1 widescreen picture; English 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio monaural; English SDH subtitles.
Don’t miss: The main bonus component is a commentary track by novelist-critic Tim Lucas.
Buck and the Preacher: Special Edition (Blu-ray)
Details: 1972, The Criterion Collection
Rated: PG, violence, language
The lowdown: Sidney Poitier made his directorial debut with this revisionist Western, in which he costars with Harry Belafonte, as a tough wagon master who is leading a group of former slaves to the west to find new settlements.
Belafonte portrays Preacher, a con artist who first clashes with Poitier’s Buck then joins forces with him to protect the settlers from a band of white bounty hunters who want to return them to the South.
As director, Poitier gives him longtime friend the latitude to chew up the scenery and steal the movie with his boisterous performance.
The film is a product of its time, combining comedy, Black power politics and traditional Western tropes.
The movie costars Ruby Dee, Cameron Mitchell, Nita Talbot, Clarence Muse and James McEachin. The film received a very respectable 79 percent fresh rating at Rotten Tomatoes.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 1.85:1 widescreen picture; English LPCM monaural; English SDH subtitles.
Don’t miss: Bonus features include an interview with author Mia Mack, behind-the-scenes footage with Poitier and Belafonte, interviews with the two on “Soul!” and “The Dick Cavett Show,” an interview with Belafonte’s daughter, Gina and an essay about the movie.
Dog Soldiers (4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray)
Details: 2002, Scream Factory
Rated: R, strong violence, gore, language
The lowdown: A group of soldiers are on special training maneuvers in the Scottish Highlands when they run into a captain who is the only survivor of his Special Ops team.
The captain’s soldiers were torn apart. The officer refuses to explain what killed his men or disclose his mission, even though whatever attacked his men could still be lurking about and threaten the members of the training team.
The soldiers are aided by a local woman who leads them to a deserted farmhouse deep in the forest.
The soldiers soon realize that they are surrounded by a pack of deadly werewolves, who are out for blood.
This feature has the feel of an old-time horror movie. It’s bloody, action packed and entertaining, earning an 80 percent fresh rating at Rotten Tomatoes.
Technical aspects: 4K: 2160p ultra high definition, 1.85:1 widescreen picture; English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio; English SDH subtitles; Blu-ray: 1080p high definition, 1.85:1 widescreen picture; English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio; English SDH subtitles.
Don’t miss: Extras include a making of featurette; a look at the production design; a commentary track with director Neil Marshall; “Combat,” a short film by Marshall; and a behind-the-scenes photo gallery.
The Criminal Life of Archibaldo de la Cruz (Blu-ray)
Details: 1955, VCI Entertainment
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: The great Luis Buñuel directed this mixture of the macabre and comedy about a wealthy man who sees himself as a potential serial killer.
As a boy, Archibaldo is shown a music box that is a family heirloom that is said to bring death to an enemy when played. After being scolded by his nanny, he wishes her dead. A stray bullet from a revolution outside his house strikes and kills the woman.
Since then, Archibaldo has conflated violent death with sexual desire. As an adult, Archibaldo plot, plans, fantasizes and “wishes” the deaths of women.
The irony is that his efforts to carry out his crimes always are thwarted by outside forces. In reality, Archibaldo is a serial killer in mind only.
This acclaimed movie earned a 92 percent fresh rating at Rotten Tomatoes.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 1.37:1 full-screen picture; Spanish 2.0 Dolby digital monaural; English subtitles.
Don’t miss: Extras include a video essay about the movie and a featurette about the film.
When Tomorrow Comes (Blu-ray)
Details: 1939, Kino Lorber Studio Classics
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: Irene Dunne and Charles Boyer reunite after “Love Affair” for another woman’s picture. In this one, Boyer plays Philip, concert pianist, and Dunne is Helen, a working-class waitress.
They meet at the restaurant where she works — and sparks fly.
Their planned romantic getaway on Long Island is interrupted by a hurricane that forces them to spend the night in the organ loft of a flooded church.
As storylines usually go in this genre, Helen discovers that Philip is married, forcing her to make a difficult decision.
Boyer’s mentally troubled wife is portrayed by Barbara O’Neil. Others in the cast include Onslow Stevens, Nydia Westman and Fritz Feld.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 1.37:1 full-screen picture; English 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio monaural; English subtitles.
Don’t miss: A commentary track with author-film historian Lee Gambin and costume historian Elissa Rose is the main extra.
The Burned Barns (Blu-ray)
Details: 1973, Cohen Film Collection
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: Simone Signoret and Alain Delon star in this French crime drama set on the snow-covered border with Switzerland.
The savagely-beaten body of a young woman is found near the isolated Burned Barns farm run by Rose (Signoret) and her family.
The police enquiry is led by investigating judge Pierre Larcher (Delon). He soon suspects that Rose’s family, specifically her sons, may have had a rule in the brutal murder.
A cat-and-mouse game of wits ensues between Rose and Larcher, which makes the movie very worthwhile to watch.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 1.66:1 widescreen picture; French 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio; English subtitles.
Don’t miss: Crew interviews are the main extras.
Tahara (DVD)
Details: 2020, Film Movement
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: A teen comedy about a funeral that becomes a battleground between best friends.
Carrie Lowstein (Madeline Grey DeFreece) and Hannah Rosen (Rachel Sennott) have been friends for as long as they can remember.
When Samantha Goldstein, their former Hebrew school classmate, commits suicide, the girls attend her funeral and the ”Teen Talk-Back” hosted afterward by their synagogue as a way to understand grief through their faith.
Hannah is more interested in impressing her crush, Tristan (Daniel Taveras), so she convinces Carrie to practice kissing with her.
The exercise unlocks feelings that turn Carrie’s world upside down.
The movie, which earned a 97 percent fresh rating at Rotten Tomatoes, deals with teenage complications of lust, social status and questioning one’s faith.
Technical aspects: 1:1 picture; English 5.1 and 2.0 Dolby digital; English closed-captioned subtitles.
Don’t miss: A commentary track is the main extra.
Coming Apart (Blu-ray)
Release date: Aug. 16
Details: 1969, Kino Classics
The lowdown: Rip Torn stars as a psychiatrist secretly filming his own mental breakdown as well as various encounters with neurotic women in writer-director Milton Moses Ginsburg’s exploration of dark eroticism and self-referential cinema.
The movie’s technical innovations are more impressive than the story, as Ginsburg shot the film through a mirror from a single hidden camera in a one-room apartment.
The movie is frank and very sexual as Torn’s Joe becomes a voyeur of his own reflection.
The film, which costars Sally Kirkland and Viveca Lindfors, was technologically ahead of its time. At times, the movie appears self-indulgent and the actors seem lost, as Ginsburg continually calls attention to the camera.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 1.66:1 widescreen picture; English 2.0 DTS-HD monaural; English SDH subtitles.
Don’t miss: Extras include a 2004 interview with Ginsburg; excerpts from the 2019 Actors Studio Rip Torn Memorial; a 50th anniversary look at the movie; “KRON: Along the Avenue,” a 2020 experimental feature by Ginsburg; a “Milonga in a Lonely Station,” a 2020 short film by Ginsburg.
Donbass (DVD)
Bad Roads (DVD)
The Earth Is Blue as an Orange (DVD)
Reflection (DVD)
Details: 2018-21, Film Movement
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: These four award-winning Ukrainian movies, all set in the nation’s Donbass, region look at the ongoing war against Russian aggression against Ukraine and its people.
“Donbass” (2018), is set in the mid-2010s, and looks at the hybrid war that involves armed conflict, killings and robberies on a mass scale perpetrated by Russian-separatist gangs. Life in the region is tumultuous as war is called peace, propaganda is spouted as truth and hatred is passed off as love.
The movie, told in 13 chapter-like vignettes, was Ukraine’s 2018 Academy Award entry. It received an 88 percent fresh rating at Rotten Tomatoes. The 2020 documentary, “The Earth Is Blue as an Orange,” follows poet-filmmaker Iryna Tsilyk’s visit to the Trofymchuk-Gladky family on the front lines of the fighting in Eastern Ukraine.
While bombings and chaos are all around them, single mother Anna and her four children manage to keep their home a safe haven. Every family member has a passion for cinema, so it feels natural for them to shoot a film inspired by their own lives during wartime.
Anna and the children use this to transform trauma into a work of art and an alternate method to stay human. The movie, which was a Sundance award-winning documentary, earned a 92 percent fresh rating at Rotten Tomatoes.
“Bad Roads” (2020) tells four stories set against the backdrop of Donbass roads. In the first vignette, a man claiming to be a schoolmaster is accosted by the military at a checkpoint. Another features two teenagers waiting in a dilapidated town square for their soldier boyfriends. A journalist is held captive and brutally assaults in a third story. In the final tale, a young woman apologizes to an elderly couple for running over their chickens.
The film, Ukraine’s 2021 best international film Academy Award entry, received a 91 percent fresh rating at Rotten Tomatoes. It was praised for captures the paranoia, terror and grim panorama of life during a time of war.
“Reflection” (2021) tells the story of a Ukrainian surgeon who joins the military to fight the Russians in the Donbass region.
After being captured, he witnesses the torture and horrific interrogations of his fellow prisoners, while being forced to monitor their vital signs.
Following his release, the surgeon returns to his family, still suffering the trauma of his experience as well as hiding a devastating secret.
The movie, about pain and redemption, earned a 95 percent fresh rating at Rotten Tomatoes, and was a Venice Golden Lion nominee.
Technical aspects: “Donbass”: 2.40:1 widescreen picture, Ukrainian and Russian 5.1 and 2.0 Dolby digital; English subtitles; “The Earth Is Blue as an Orange”: 1.85:1 widescreen picture; Russian and Ukrainian 2.0 Dolby digital stereo; English subtitles; “Bad Roads” and “Reflection”: 2.39:1 widescreen picture; Ukrainian and Russian 2.0 Dolby digital stereo; English subtitles.
FernGully: The Last Rainforest: 30th Anniversary Edition (Blu-ray + DVD)
Details: 1992, Shout! Factory Kids
Rated: G
The lowdown: Deep in the forest is a magical world filled with tiny sprites, winged fairies, tree spirits and various animals who live together in harmony.
But when their home is threatened by humans, one very brave sprite must give her all to save it.
This updated anniversary edition features a new 4K scan and restoration.
The vocal talent includes Robin Williams, Christian Slater, Samantha Mathis, Tim Curry, Cheech Martin, Tommy Chong and Tone Loc.
This family-friendly animated feature earned a 63 percent fresh rating at Rotten Tomatoes.
Technical aspects: Blu-ray: 1080p high definition, 1.85:1 widescreen picture; English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio; English SDH subtitles; DVD: 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen picture; English 5.1 Dolby digital; English SDH subtitles.
Don’t miss: Supplemental options include a new introduction by director Bill Kroyer including never-before-seen pencil, character and animation tests; a commentary track with Kroyer and others; a script-to-scene comparison with optional commentary; a making of featurette, an original featurette; a music video; and a multi-angle scene study.
Other titles being released on Tuesday, unless otherwise indicated:
Murder at Yellowstone City (Blu-ray & DVD) (RLJE Films)
DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, STREAMING or VOD
The Day After Halloween (Gravitas Ventures)
Gossamer Folds (Indican Pictures)
Lost Ollie (www.netflix.com/LostOllie) (Netflix)
Mo (www.netflix.com/MoSeries) (Netflix)
The Runner (Saban Films)
Top Gun: Maverick (Paramount Home Entertainment)
Untold: Volume 2: The Rise and Fall of AND1 (Netflix)
AUG. 25
Low Life (XYZ Films)
Mike: Episodes 1 & 2 (Hulu)
AUG. 26
Adieu Godard (Film Movement)
Bad Sisters: Episode 3 (Apple TV+)
Five Days at Memorial: Episode 5 (Apple TV+)
Funny Pages (A24)
The Ghost Lights (Terror Films)
Into the Deep (Lionsgate Home Entertainment)
Me Time (www.netflix.com/MeTime) (Netflix)
Partner Track (www.netflix.com/PartnerTrack) (Netflix)
Samaritan (Amazon Prime)
See: Season 3, Episode 1 (Apple TV+)
Trying: Season 3, Episode 7 (Apple TV+)
Watcher (IFC Midnight-Shudder)
AUG. 29
Legacy: The True Story of the L.A. Lakers: Episode 4 (Hulu)
COMING NEXT WEEK: The Phantom of the Open
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.