New to View: Oct. 25
By Bob Bloom
The following titles are being released on Tuesday, Oct. 25, unless otherwise noted:
Nope: Collector’s Edition (Blu-ray + DVD + digital)
Details: 2022, Universal Pictures Home Entertainment
Rated: R, bloody images, violence, language
The lowdown: Jordan Peele’s “Nope” is a science-fiction themed movie driven by an interesting premise. It offers some exciting scenes. It’s suspenseful and creates tension.
And, yet, despite these attributes, the movie fails to coalesce as a whole. It simply feels unsatisfying and incomplete as if Peele had forgotten to add an ingredient to his latest cinematic recipe.
The bulk of the movie is centered at Haywood’s Hollywood Horses, a successful horse-wrangling business catering to the film industry. It is now run by OJ (Daniel Kaluuya) and his sister, Em (Kiki Palmer), who inherited the business after the strange death of their father.
The Haywoods claim to be descended from the unidentified jockey riding the horse in Eadweard Muybridge’s first-ever moving picture.
Since the death of his father, OJ has been intently scanning the skies. Kaluuya provides an interesting, low-key performance. You sense he knows something is amiss; that he, his sister and others in the area are being watched — or perhaps — stalked.
Peele falls short in trying to blend a UFO thriller with observations about Hollywood and filmmaking.
“Nope” is a dark and dangerous version of “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” with a hint of “Jaws.” And while it provides several unnerving chills and thrills, the payoff feels anticlimactic as well as somewhat of a letdown.
Technical aspects: Blu-ray: 1080p high definition, 2.20:1 and 1.78:1 widescreen picture; English Dolby Atmos, 2.0 Dolby digital DVS, Spanish 7.1 Dolby digital plus and French 5.1 Dolby digital; English SDH, French and Spanish subtitles; DVD: 2.20:1 and 1.78:1 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 materials include a making of featurette, deleted scenes, a gag reel, a behind-the-scenes look at the mysterious threat in the sky and a featurette into Muybridge’s “The Horse in Motion,” its relationship to the Haywood family and how it relates to “Nope’s” larger themes.
Bullet Train (4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray + digital)
Release date: Oct. 18
Details: 2022, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
Rated: R, strong, bloody violence, language, sexual situations
The lowdown: Brad Pitt stars as Ladybug in this high-speed ride about a group of assassins from around the globe who all begin battling each other on the world’s fastest train.
All seem to have connected, yet conflicting, objectives. Despite its 127-minute running time, the movie holds your attention.
At times it is clever as well as silly.
The characters all have very strange names — Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Brian Tyree Henry are Tangerine and Lemon, Bad Bunny is Wolf, Zazie Beetz is The Hornet — you get the idea.
The cast also features Sandra Bullock as Pitt’s handler and Michael Shannon as a character named White Death.
The film received a 53 percent fresh rating at Rotten Tomatoes.
Technical aspects: 4K: 2160p ultra high definition, 2.39:1 widescreen picture; English Dolby Atmos (7.1 Dolby TrueHD compatible), French and Spanish 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio and English 5.1 Dolby digital audio description track; English SDH, French and Spanish subtitles; Blu-ray: 1080p high definition, 2.39:1 widescreen picture; English Dolby Atmos (7.1 Dolby TrueHD compatible), French and Spanish 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio and English 5.1 Dolby digital audio description track; English SDH, French and Spanish subtitles.
Don’t miss: Bonus options include outtakes and bloopers, Easter eggs; a look at the stunts; a making of featurette; a look at the cast; behind-the-scenes look at selected stunts; and a commentary track.
Easter Sunday (Blu-ray + DVD + digital)
Release date: Oct. 18
Details: 2022, Universal Pictures Home Entertainment
Rated: PG-13, strong language, suggestive references
The lowdown: Stand-up comedian Jo Koy stars as Joe Valencia in this comedy that recycles jokes from Koy’s act, but also serves as a love letter to Filipino-Americans.
The film centers on Joe’s visit to his family for an Easter celebration. Of course, the story features the usual tensions, arguments and laughs that revolve around a big, boisterous family.
The supporting cast, which includes Eugene Cordero, Tia Carrere, Asif Ali, Lou Diamond Phillips and Tiffany Haddish, helps Koy move the film along.
The movie gets off to a slow start, but picks up steam as it progresses. It received mixed reviews from critics, who awarded it a 45 percent fresh rating at Rotten Tomatoes.
Technical aspects: Blu-ray: 1080p high definition, 1.85:1 widescreen picture; English 5.1 Dolby TrueHD, 2.0 DVS and French and Spanish 5.1 Dolby digital; English SDH, French and Spanish subtitles; DVD: 1.85:1 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 gag reel, a making of featurette, a discussion with cast and crew members about the importance of family, a behind-the-scenes look at a day in the life of cast members, a commentary track and a look at the language of Taglish — a hybrid between English and Tagalog.
The Usual Suspects (4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray)
Details: 1995, Kino Lorber Studio Classics
Rated: R, violence, strong language
The lowdown: Director Bryan Singer and screenwriter Christopher McQuarrie created this memorial and twisty neo-noir feature, which introduced the world to the enigmatic criminal Keyser Söze.
The movie is a wonderful cinematic example of smoke and mirrors as five career criminals — played by Gabriel Byrne, Kevin Spacey, Stephen Baldwin, Benicio del Toro and Kevin Pollak — are recruited — reluctantly — to do Söze’s bidding to pull off a multimillion-dollar heist that ends with an explosion in San Pedro Harbor.
The movie, told in flashback by Spacey’s Verbal Kint, is filled with twist and turns that obscure the story’s implausibilities and superficiality.
Frankly, who cares. The film is a diabolical pleasure that never grows tiring, no matter how often you watch it. And the finale always grabs you.
The cast also includes Chazz Palminteri, Pete Postlewaite, Giancarlo Esposito and Suzy Amis.
Spacey and McQuarrie won Academy Awards. The movie earned an 89 percent fresh rating at Rotten Tomatoes.
Technical aspects: 4K: 2160p ultra high definition, 2.35:1 widescreen picture; English Dolby Vision; English SDH subtitles; Blu-ray: 1080p high definition, 2.35:1 widescreen picture; English DTS-HD Master Audio; English SDH subtitles.
Don’t miss: Bonus components include two commentary tracks, one with Singer and McQuarrie, the other with editor/composer John Ottman; interviews with Ottman and cinematographer Newton Thomas Sigel; five featurettes; and deleted scenes, interview outtakes and a gag reel.
Titans: The Complete Third Season (Blu-ray + digital)
Details: 2021, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: A three-disc set that features all 13 episodes, which aired on HBO Max.
The titans lead by Dick Grayson’s Nightwing return to Gotham City after learning of the death of Jason Todd’s Robin.
But Todd is not dead and returns as the Red Hood to get revenge on his former comrades.
Other characters in the series include Barbara Gordon and former super-villain Dr. Jonathan Crane.
As usual with these DC-based series, multiple twists and turns are featured as characters switch — or seem to change allegiances — depending on the storyline.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 2.00:1 widescreen picture; English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio; English SHD subtitles.
Don’t miss: Extras include a featurette with cast members and show runners about the elements and new characters of season three, a behind-the-scenes look at the series, a featurette on the actors’ training as metahumans, a look at the costumes, featurettes on Barbara Gordon and the Red Hood and a featurette on Gotham City.
Dressed to Kill (4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray)
Details: 1980, Kino Lorber Studio Classics
Rated: Unrated, violence, sexual content
The lowdown: Brian De Palma wrote and directed this Hitchcockian thriller about murder and madness featuring a top-notch cast headed by Michael Caine, Angie Dickinson and Nancy Allen.
Caine portrays Dr. Robert Elliott, a high-priced Manhattan therapist who must deal with the killing of one of his patients, Kate Miller (Dickinson). The murder was witnessed by call girl Liz Blake (Allen), who the police initially believe is a suspect.
The killer is a tall, blonde, elusive psycho named Bobbi, who supposedly stole a straight razor — the murder weapon — from Elliott’s office.
Teaming with Liz to help find the killer is Miller’s son, Peter (Keith Gordon). The cast also includes Dennis Franz and David Marguiles.
The movie is heavily manipulative and slick, which owes much to the original Master of Suspense. Critics were mostly impressed, awarding the movie an 82 percent fresh rating at Rotten Tomatoes.
Technical aspects: 4K: 2160p ultra high definition, 2.35:1 widescreen picture; English DTS-HD Master Audio monaural; English SDH subtitles.
Don’t miss: Extras include a commentary track by film critic-author Maitland McDonaugh on the 4K Ultra HD disc. The other extras appear on the Blu-ray disc. Those include interviews with Allen, Gordon, associate producer-production manager, Fred C. Caruso; 2012 interviews with Dickinson and producer George Litto; a 2001 making of featurette, a 2001 behind-the-scenes featurette; a 2001 featurette comparing the unrated, R-rated and TV-rated versions of the movie; an archival audio interviews with Caine, Dickinson and Allen.
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (Blu-ray)
Details: 1931, Warner Archive Collection
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: This adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson’s story is considered the most definitive of the many film versions of the tale.
Fredric March plays kindly Dr. Henry Jekyll whose theory that within every man dwells a good and evil presence are brought to tragic fruition through his experiments.
March’s transformation to Hyde is a classic sequence in cinema, created by director Rouben Mamoulian using colored filters and Wally Westmore’s makeup.
Being a pre-Production Code release, the film was more sexual than later versions of the movie as the simian-like Hyde torments bar singer Ivy (Miriam Hopkins).
The movie was supposedly lost for decades after MGM paid a large amount to Paramount so the studio could remake the movie with Spencer Tracy, whose version pales compared to the March feature.
This Blu-ray, a made-on-demand release from the Warner Archive Collection, includes 17 minutes of long-censored material.
The movie is available at the WAC store at Amazon as well as other online sellers.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 1.19:1 full-screen picture; English 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio monaural; English SDH subtitles.
Don’t miss: Two commentary tracks, one with screenwriter-film historian Dr. Steve Haberman and filmmaker-film historian Constantine Nasr, the other with author-film historian Greg Mank; a Warner Bros. cartoon; and a 1950 “Theatre Guild on the Air” broadcast are the main extras.
The Bat: Special Edition (Blu-ray)
Details: 1951, The Film Detective
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: A cast of veteran actors, led by Agnes Morehead and Vincent Price, are featured in this adaptation of a 1920 stage play that was originally a novel by Mary Roberts Rinehart.
Morehead plays mystery writer Cornelia Van Gorder, who rents The Oaks, a summer house in a small town in which several murders have occurred.
The story centers on the embezzlement of $1 million from the local bank and the search for the hidden loot.
The cast also includes Gavin Gordon, John Sutton, Harvey Stephens and, in her last role, former “Our Gang” sweetheart Darla Hood.
The identity of the killer, known as The Bat, is kept secret until the finale.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 1.85:1 widescreen picture; English DTS-HD Master Audio; English closed-captioned.
Don’t miss: A commentary track, a featurette on veteran screenwriter-director Crane Wilbur and nine archival radio rebroadcasts featuring Price are the main extras.
The Rainmaker (Blu-ray)
Details: 1956, Kino Lorber Studio Classics
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: Katharine Hepburn and Burt Lancaster star in this adaptation of N. Richard Nash’s play about a grifter, Bill Starbuck (Lancaster), who sells his rainmaking powers to a drought-ridden small Kansas town.
Starbuck also finds the time to woo Lizzie Curry (Hepburn, the spinster, tomboy daughter of a local rancher.
And while the movie is fun, Hepburn appears a bit too old to play Lizzie, while Lancaster at time goes over-the-top as the charlatan working to fleece the unsuspecting residents.
The cast also includes Wendell Corey, Lloyd Bridges, Earl Holliman, Cameron Prud’Homme and Wallace Ford.
Nash wrote the screenplay and Joseph Anthony (“The Matchmaker”) directed.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 1.85:1 widescreen picture; English 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio monaural; English subtitles.
Don’t miss: A commentary track by film historian-writer Julie Kirgo is the main extra.
Lonelyhearts (Blu-ray)
Details: 1958, Kino Lorber Studio Classics
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: A stellar cast headed by Montgomery Clift, Robert Ryan, Myrna Loy and Dolores Hart star in this adaptation of Nathanael West’s pessimistic 1933 story.
Clift stars as Adam White who is hired by cynical Chronicle editor William Shrike (Ryan) to be his newspaper’s advice columnist, “Miss Lonelyhearts.”
The sad letters he receives begin to weigh on White, so much so that it threatens his relationship with girlfriend, Justy Sargeant (Hart).
Shrike goads White into meeting Fay Doyle (Maureen Stapleton, in her film debut), one of his letter writers. Doyle, who is burdened with a crippled husband, and White begin an affair.
Loy portrays Shrike’s neglected and troubled wife.
The movie transforms the novel from its pessimism into a nearly-positive newspaper yarn.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 1.85:1 widescreen picture; English 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio monaural; English subtitles.
“The Count Yorga Collection: Limited Edition” (Blu-ray)
Details: 1970-71, Arrow Video
Rated: PG-13, R, violence, sexual situations, language
The lowdown: Robert Quarry stars in these two movies as the vampire, Count Yorga.
The movies, “Count Yorga, Vampire” (1970) and “The Return of Count Yorga” (1971), are set in Southern California and San Francisco, respectively.
In “Count Yorga,” the vampire settles into a mansion with his “brides” and begins his reign of terror. The cast includes Roger Perry, Michael Murphy, Donna Anders and Judith Lang.
Quarry’s performance overshadows the supporting cast and adds attitude to the vampire saga.
“The Return of Count Yorga” finds the vampire moving into a neighborhood near an orphanage, where strange occurrences are soon being reported.
The cast includes Perry, but as a different character, and Mariette Hartley.
The film seems to be having some fun with the tropes of the genre.
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 archival interview with film critic Kim Newman, an interview with David Hucksvale about the scores of both movies, an interview with film critic Maitland McDonagh, a commentary with film critic Stephen R. Bissette, an archival commentary with David Del Valle & C. Courtney Joyner, a new commentary with film critic Tim Lucas, an interview with Murphy, a “Fangirl Radio Tribute” to Quarry, an appreciation of the movie by Heather Drain and Chris O’Neill, an interview with filmmaker Frank Darabont about his love for “Count Yorga, Vampire” and a reproduction pressbook, a collector’s book and reproduction postcard-sized lobby cards.
The Counterfeit Traitor (Blu-ray)
Details: 1962, Kino Lorber Studio Classics
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: William Holden stars as an American businessman turned Swedish oil-trader in this World War II spy drama.
Holden’s Eric Erickson is blackmailed by British agents to spy on the Germans and learn the locations of their oil stations.
Erickson is placed in jeopardy when Nazi agents learn that his lover, Marianne (Lilli Palmer), is secretly an Allied spy.
The film is your run-of-the-mill espionage drama that adds nothing new to the genre.
Hugh Griffith costars and veteran George Seaton (“Miracle on 34th Street”) directs.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 1.85:1 widescreen picture; English 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio monaural; English subtitles.
Don’t miss: A commentary track by film historian-writer Julie Kirgo is the main extra.
Quiet Days in Clichy (4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray)
Details: 1970, Blue Underground-MVD Visual Entertainment
Rated: Not rated, nudity, sexual content
The lowdown: Fifty years after the only English-language print of this movie was seized by the U.S. government, it was rediscovered and restored for home viewing.
The movie, based on a long-banned novel by Henry Miller, chronicles the lives of Joey, a struggling writer with no money — is there any other kind? — and his roommate, Carl, a charming stud with a hankering for young girls.
Together they love and fornicate their way through a decadent Paris filled with loose women, orgies and wild erotic adventures.
The movie is not for everyone as some may find the subject matter objectionable. However, fans of Miller’s writings may appreciate this adaptation.
Technical aspects: 4K: 2160p ultra high definition and Blu-ray: 1080p high definition, 1.66:1 widescreen picture; English 1.0 DTS-HD Master Audio monaural; English SDH, French and Spanish subtitles.
Don’t miss: Extras on the two-disc set include a deleted scene; interviews with rock legend Country Joe McDonald, who worked on the soundtrack, and Miller’s editor and publisher Barney Rosset; and a separate interview with Rosset; a book cover gallery; and a look at court documents related to the movie.
Satan’s Little Helper (Blu-ray)
Details: 2004, Synapse Films
Rated: Not rated, graphic violence
The lowdown: A nifty little horror outing about Douglas, a 9-year-old who is obsessed with the video game, “Satan’s Little Helper.”
He is also annoyed that his big sister, Jenna, is distracted, spending more time with her boyfriend, Alex, instead of with Douglas.
All this coincides with the arrival of Halloween, when Douglas witnesses a serial killer in a devil’s mask posing his victims like outdoor All Hallow’s Eve displays.
Douglas does not comprehend the reality of the killings and becomes this make-believe Satan’s helper, which creates problems for Alex, for Douglas’ and Jenna’s mother, Merril and, ultimately, the entire town.
The movie combines grisly images with dark humor, satirizing the way in which video games can influence young minds. Thus, Douglas cannot differentiate between the killer’s crimes and Halloween pranks.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition,, 1.78:1 widescreen picture; English 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio monaural; English SDH subtitles.
Don’t miss: Extras include a commentary track by director Jeff Lieberman, a vintage behind-the-scenes featurette, a making featurette and a tour of the filming locations.
The Kindred: Special Edition (Blu-ray)
Details: 1987, Synapse Films
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: A horror outing in which a genetic experiment goes terribly wrong.
The movie features Academy Award-winner Rod Steiger and Kim Hunter, who appeared in such superior efforts as “A Streetcar Named Desire” and “Planet of the Apes.”
Hunter’s Dr. Amanda Hollins is a molecular scientist who asks for son, John (David Allen Brooks), to eliminate all evidence of her genetic experiments, especially her “Anthony Journals.”
Dr. Philip Lloyd (Steiger), an acquaintance familiar with Hollins’ work, wants to continue it, no matter the cost or outcome.
John goes to his isolated childhood home with a group of friends to uncover his mother’s research and destroy it. But there’s something — or someone! — in the house that is watching. It’s a tentacled creature born from Hollins’ obsession to alter human evolution.
This “creature feature” uses practical special effects to help move the story along as well as keep its audience entertained.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 1.78:1 widescreen picture; English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio stereo surround and 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio monaural; English SDH subtitles.
Don’t miss: Supplemental options include a making of featurette, a commentary track with co-directors Jeffrey Obrow and Stephen Carpenter, and a compilations on the creature effects.
Other titles being released on Tuesday, unless otherwise indicated:
The Invitation (Blu-ray + digital) (Sony Pictures Home Entertainment)
Lovers in a Dangerous Time (DVD & VOD) (Indican Pictures)
DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, STREAMING or VOD
A Decent Home (Gravitas Ventures)
Barbarian (Fox Home Entertainment-New Regency)
The Guest Room (Red Water Entertainment)
Hunted (Saban Films)
Medieval (Paramount Pictures)
Reboot: Episode 8 (Hulu)
Silent River (Gravitas Ventures)
OCT. 26
The D’Amelio Show: Season 2, Episode 6 (Hulu)
The Handmaid’s Tale: Season 5, Episode 8 (Hulu)
The Murder Podcast (Brodacious Films)
Tell Me Lies: Episode 9 (Hulu)
OCT. 28
A Chance Encounter (Samuel Goldwyn Films)
Acapulco: Episode 3 (Apple TV+)
American Murderer (Saban Films-Lionsgate)
Bromates (Quiver Distribution)
Central Park: Episode 10 (Apple TV+)
Demons at Dawn (Black Coppice Films)
Louis Armstrong: Black and Blue (Apple TV+)
The Manhattan Project (Good Deed Entertainment)
Shantaram: Episode 5 (Apple TV+)
Stars at Noon (A24-Hulu)
Wendell & Wild (Netflix)
OCT. 29
The Hair Tales: Episodes 3 & 4 (Hulu)
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.