New to View: Nov. 22
By Bob Bloom
The following titles are being released on Tuesday, Nov. 22, unless otherwise noted:
Peacemaker: The Complete First Season (Blu-ray + digital)
Details: 2022, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment
Rated: Not rated, bloody and gory violence, language, sexual situations
The lowdown: John Cena brings his “Suicide Squad” character to HBO Max to continue his superhero-super villain’s journey for peace at any price — no matter how many people he has to kill to achieve it.
The series was created by James Gunn, who directed five of the eight episodes, injecting loads of humor and satire to offset the more gross and violent sequences.
The episodes have witty and goofy charm with Cena’s super-ego, vainglorious character battling with his team members, including Danielle Brooks, Freddie Stroma, Jennifer Holland, Steve Agee and Chukwudi Iwuji to protect mankind.
Robert Patrick as Peacemaker’s Klan-like, racist father is an over-the-top experience.
The two-disc set is comically grotesque.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 1.78:1 widescreen picture; English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio; English SDH subtitles.
Don’t miss: Bonus features include featurettes on Peacemaker’s team and Peacemaker’s daddy issues, a gag reel, an under the Peacemaker helmet featurette, profiles of Project Butterfly team members, an on-set with Agee featurette, a look at the Peacemaker-Vigilante friendship, dramatic comic book readings by Iwuji, a behind-the-scenes look at the Quantum Unfolding storage area, a “So What Do You Really Think of Peacemaker” featurette, Brooke explains the DC Universe, dance to peace and keep the tweets featurettes and a “How to Properly Give a F**k” featurette.
Three Thousand Years of Longing (Blu-ray + DVD + digital)
Release date: Nov. 15
Details: 2022, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment
Rated: R, sexual content, nudity, violence
The lowdown: We’ve all imagined finding a magic lamp and getting three wishes from a Djinn. Well, filmmaker George Miller (the “Mad Max” franchise) has co-written and directed a movie with that scenario.
Tilda Swinton portrays Dr. Alithea Binnie, is an academic and who supremely believes in reason. While in Istanbul for a conference, she encounters a Djinn (Idris Elba) who offers her three wishes in exchange for his freedom.
His offer presents a couple of problems for the pragmatic Binnie — first, she doubts he is real and, secondly, because she is a scholar of story and mythology, she knows all the cautionary tales of wishes gone wrong.
The Djinn pleads his case by telling her stories of his past. In the end, she makes a wish that surprises both of them.
The movie, cowritten by Miller and Augusta Gore, based on a short story by A.S. Byatt, earned a 71 percent fresh rating at Rotten Tomatoes.
Technical aspects: Blu-ray: 1080p high definition, 2.39:1 widescreen picture; English Dolby Atmos-TrueHD and descriptive audio; English SDH and Spanish subtitles; DVD: 2.39:1 widescreen picture; English 5.1 Dolby digital and descriptive audio; English SDH and Spanish subtitles.
Pearl (Blu-ray + DVD + digital)
Release date: Nov. 15
Details: 2022, Lionsgate Home Entertainment
Rated: R, strong and bloody violence and gore, strong sexual content, nudity
The lowdown: Filmmaker Ti West renews his collaboration with Mia Goth in another chapter from their twisted world of “X.”
In this outing, Goth portrays Pearl, a young woman trapped on her family’s isolated farm. She must tend to her sick father under the strict and overbearing watch of her devout mother.
But Pearl dreams of glamourous life like the ones she has seen in the movies.
She soon takes matters into her own bloody hands in this origin story of X’s iconic villain.
The movie, cowritten by West and Goth, earned a 90 percent fresh rating at Rotten Tomatoes. And never fear, a third film is on its way.
Technical aspects: Blu-ray: 1080p high definition, 2.39:1 (16×9 enhanced) widescreen picture; English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio; English SDH and Spanish subtitles; DVD: 2.39:1 (16×9 enhanced) widescreen picture; English 5.1 Dolby digital; English SDH and Spanish subtitles.
Don’t miss: Supplemental options include a “Creation of ‘Pearl’ ” featurette and a “Time After Time” featurette.
High Plains Drifter (4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray)
Details: 1973, Kino Lorber Studio Classics
Rated: R, violence, rape
The lowdown: This revenge Western with supernatural overtones was Clint Eastwood’s second directorial effort. In it, he plays a Stranger who rides into a town and, because of his proficiency with a gun, he is hired by the locals to fend off a band of outlaws.
The movie is part “High Noon” and part spaghetti Western and Eastwood’s gunslinger makes incredible demands on the townsfolk to serve his own agenda.
The film does highlight Eastwood’s growing capability as a director, as the movie received a 93 percent fresh rating at Rotten Tomatoes.
The cast also includes Verna Bloom, Mariana Hill, Mitch Ryan, Jack Ging, Billy Curtis, John Hillerman, Geoffrey Lewis and William O’Connell.
Technical aspects: 4K: 2160p ultra high definition, 2.35:1 widescreen picture; English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio; English SDH subtitles; Blu-ray: 1080p high definition, 2.35:1 widescreen picture; English 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio; English SDH subtitles.
Don’t miss: Extras include two commentary tracks, one with filmmaker Alex Cox, the other with film historians Steve Mitchell and Nathaniel Thompson; interviews with Hill, Ryan and O’Connell; and a “Trailer From Hell” episode with Edgar Wright and Josh Olson.
Lost Illusions (Blu-ray)
Release date: Nov. 8
Details: 2021, Music Box Films
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: This French historical drama, adapted from a novel by Balzac, tells of Lucien, an aspiring poet, who leaves his provincial town with his upper-class lover to seek fame and fortune in Paris.
He quickly discovers he is in over his head. Making matters worse, his lover deserts him.
Another young writer soon introduces Lucien to the world of muckraking journalism where he finds a group of sharp-tongued writers who can make or break the reputations of actors and artists with impunity.
Lucien also learns he can earn money by writing rave theater reviews for bribes. His material success comes at the cost of his conscience.
The movie received a 93 percent fresh rating at Rotten Tomatoes.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 2.39:1 widescreen picture; French 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio; English subtitles.
Don’t miss: Major extras look at the cast and the movie’s production artistry.
5-25-77 (Blu-ray)
Details: 2007, MVD Visual Entertainment
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: A nerdy, sci-fi obsessed young man begins making 8mm home movies in his backyard after seeing Stanley Kubrick’s “2001: A Space Odyssey” in 1968.
This coming-of-age feature relates how Pat Johnson (John Francis Daley) finds himself torn between making his 8mm sequels to his favorite movies and pursing Linda (Emmi Chen), the girl of his dreams.
Pat’s mom, Janet (Colleen Camp), desperately wants her son to escape the limited future offered by their small Illinois town, so she cold-calls the editor of “American Cinematographer” magazine.
Soon, Pat finds himself on a magical trip to Hollywood, where he becomes the first outsider to see the movie that would change him and world — “Star Wars.”
Pat returns home, but is torn between the challenge of chasing his seemingly impossible dream and the comfort and safety of his familiar surroundings.
The semi-autobiographical movie, written and directed by Patrick Read Johnson, was co-produced by, among others, Gary Kurtz (“Star Wars: A New Hope”) and Fred Roos (“The Godfather Part II”).
The film is a love letter to the magic of movies, “Star Wars” and sci-fi geeks whose worlds were turned upside down by George Lucas’ space opera.
Having seen “Star Wars” at a sneak screening a month before its release, I can relate to emotions and impact Lucas’ movie engendered.
The movie earned a 100 percent fresh rating at Rotten Tomatoes.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 1.78:1 and 2.35:1 widescreen picture; English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio; English subtitles.
Don’t miss: Extras include a commentary track with Johnson and a 2013 question-and-answer session with Johnson at the Fantasia Film Festival.
Night Gallery: Season Three (Blu-ray)
Details: 1972-73, Kino Lorber Studio Classics
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: A two-disc set featuring all 15 third-season episodes of this Rod Serling-created series.
The episodes are a mixture of horror, science fiction and fantasy, all narrated by Serling.
Among the guest stars as Vincent Price and Bill Bixby in a story about sorcerer who needs a translator; Sandra Dee as a woman who can still hear her dead twin sister tap-dancing upstairs; and Leonard Nimoy as a widower watched by a menacing tabby cat.
Other episodes feature Mickey Rooney, Burgess Meredith, James Farentino, Joanna Pettet, Ozzie and Harriet Nelson, Chuck Connors, Geraldine Page, Sally Field and Fernando Lamas.
Directors include John Badham, Nimoy, Jeff Corey, Jeannot Szwarc and Jack Laird.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 1.33:1 full-screen picture; English 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio; English subtitles.
Don’t miss: Extras include 10 commentary tracks featuring authors-historians Scott Skelton and Jim Benson and featuring Serling filmmaker Guillermo del Toro and Field, Rooney, Meredith, Raymond Massey, Lindsay Wagner, Dean Stockwell, Gary Lockwood and Cameron Mitchell, artist Tom Wright, directors Badham and Szwarc and others; 15 commentaries by film historians Tim Lucas, David J. Schow, Kim Newman, Amanda Reyes, Gary Gerani and others; and part three of a featurette that looks at the show’s troubled second life in syndication.
Panther (Blu-ray)
Details: 1995, MVD Marquee Collection-MVD Visual Entertainment
Rated: R, strong violence, language
The lowdown: Mario Van Peebles directed this fictionalized account of the founding and rise of the Black Panthers in Oakland, California, by Huey Newton (Marcus Chong) and Bobby Seale (Courtney B. Vance).
The story also looks at Judge (Kadeem Hardison), a Vietnam veteran who returns to Oakland, finding it plagued by violence and police abuse against African-Americans.
Judge is introduced to Newton and Seale, joining the movement. But soon Judge is pressured by police to begin informing on Newton.
Van Peebles makes it clear from the outset where his sympathies lie, but a more factual presentation would have strengthened the movie. The cast also includes Angela Bassett, Dick Gregory and Chris Rock.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 1.85:1 widescreen picture; English 2.0 LPCM stereo; English subtitles.
Rollerball (4K Ultra HD)
Details: 1975, Scream Factory
Rated: R, violence, language, sexual situations
The lowdown: Norman Jewison directed this sci-fi, action feature about a dystopian future in which corporations run the world.
And they keep the population docile through the game of rollerball — a violent combination of football, motorcross and hockey.
This “sport” is the outlet in which the masses release their pent-up anger and frustration.
One of the most popular players in Jonathan E. (James Caan), a champion player who is too talented for his own good. The Corporation has taken away Ella (Maud Adams), the woman Jonathan loves, but his soul remains his own.
John Houseman plays the evil corporate head who tells Jonathan that he should retire — or suffer the consequences.
The movie’s action sequences are dynamic as it’s the surrealistic imagery of the future.
The film earned a 69 percent fresh rating at Rotten Tomatoes.
Technical aspects: 2160p ultra high definition, 1.85:1 widescreen picture; English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio; English SDH subtitles.
Don’t miss: Bonus materials include commentary tracks with Jewison and writer William Harrison, a vintage featurette on the making of the movie, an interview with Caan, a featurette on shooting in Munich and a behind-the-scenes look at the motorcycle stunts.
Doom Patrol: The Complete Third Season (Blu-ray + digital)
Release date: Nov. 15
Details: 2021, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: The third season of this series based on the DC Comics superhero team deals with loss, new allies and the challenges — internal and external — faced by members.
Several of the members deal with multiple personalities and entities who reside inside their minds and bodies.
So these episodes are interesting as you never know who is going to appear.
The Doom Patrol features Jane/Crazy Jane, Rita Farr/Elasti-Woman, Larry Trainor/Negative Man, Cliff Steele/Robotman, Niles Caulder/Chief, Victor Stone/Cyborg and Madame Rouge.
The 10 episodes are action-filled but without overlooking the human elements of the characters.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 2.20:1 widescreen picture; English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio; English SDH subtitles.
Don’t miss: Extras include a look at the ramifications after the death of Niles Caulder, a featurette on Robotman’s best lines, an introduction to Madame Rouge and an overview of the season.
Mystery Men (4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray)
Details: 1999, Kino Lorber Studio Classics
Rated: PG-13, comic action violence, crude humor
The lowdown: A team of wanna-be superheroes fight to save Champion City after the appropriately named Captain Amazing (Greg Kinnear) is captured by the evil Casanova Frankenstein (a hammy Geoffrey Rush).
The only problem is the “powers” of these heroes are not very super — anger, silverware hurling, bowling, shovel skills, inept invisibility and deadly flatulence.
The cast, including Ben Stiller, William H. Macy, Hank Azaria, Janeane Garofalo, Kel Mitchell, Paul Reubens, Wes Studi, Kel Mitchell, Tom Waits, Claire Forlani and Eddie Izzard.
A majority of critics appreciated the movie, awarding it a 61 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: Among the bonus options are a making of featurette, a commentary track with director Kinka Usher, looks at the costumes, the effects and score, deleted scenes and the original making of featurette.
Kaddish (DVD)
Release date: Nov. 15
Details: 1984/2021, Kino Classics-Kino Lorber
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: Filmmaker Steve Brand’s documentary is a candid portrait of the relationship between Jewish writer and activist Yossi Klein and his father, Zoltan, an Orthodox Jew who lost most of family in the Holocaust.
Zoltan Klein survived the Holocaust by hiding in a hole in the ground for six months while his parents perished at Auschwitz.
Once Yossi and his sister, Karen, were born, Zoltan vowed to make them ready to survive another holocaust. His story of hiding in the forest and the murder of his parents became his children’s bedtime stories.
The children’s mother, Breindy, compensated by reading Dr. Seuss books to them.
The movie is a very emotional coming-of-age story that culminates at the first International Gathering of Holocaust Survivors in Jerusalem. At the event, Yossi wore two yarmulkes — as a writer and as a child of a survivor.
Yossi also was heartsick because he attends the gathering alone.
Technical aspects: 1.33:1 (16×9 enhanced) full-screen picture; English Dolby digital.
Don’t miss: Extras include interviews with Brand and Yossi Klein, deleted scenes and a booklet.
The Blood Beast Terror (Blu-ray)
Details: 1968, Kino Lorber Studio Classics
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: Peter Cushing stars as Detective Inspector Quennell who is brought in to investigate a series of gruesome murders in the English countryside. The victims’ bodies have been mutilated and drained of blood.
Quennell consults entomology professor Mallinger (Robert Flemyng) for help, but the scientist is hiding a terrible secret about his young daughter, Clare (Wanda Ventham).
It seems Mallinger, working with genetics, has created a creature that is capable of transforming back and forth between a giant death head moth and Clare. And when in moth form, she feeds on the blood of her victims.
The movie is not one of Cushing’s most memorable, but fans of the actor will appreciate his efforts.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 1.66:1 widescreen picture; English 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio; English subtitles.
Don’t miss: The main extra is a commentary track with novelist-critic Kim Newman and writer-editor Stephen James.
Unidentified (DVD)
Details: 2020, Film Movement
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: A Romanian feature about a troubled police detective who is obsessed with solving an unsolved arson case, despite being ordered by his boss to stand down.
But he continues his off-the-record investigation, pursuing a suspect he insists is guilty and resorting to more and more extreme measures to find justice.
The suspect is a security guard of Roma descent who denies any involvement in the crime.
The movie is not just a procedural drama, but it touches upon such issues as police corruption, prejudice and toxic masculinity.
Technical aspects: 2.39:1 widescreen picture; Romanian 5.1 and 2.0 Dolby digital; English subtitles.
Don’t miss: Extras include deleted scenes and a commentary track.
Heartland of Darkness: Collector’s Edition (Blu-ray)
Details: 1989, Visual Vengeance-Wild Eye Releasing
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: A former journalist buys a small local newspaper in the town of Copperton, Ohio, moving there with his daughter, Christine.
The newsman, Paul Henson, soon realizes something is definitely wrong as he uncovers a wide-reaching conspiracy of ritualistic murder and cult mind control, orchestrated by the Rev. Donovan, who has the entire town under the spell of his Satanic leadership.
Henson and his daughter are soon in a life-or-death struggle to expose the truth and stop the demonic reign of evil.
The film, also known as “Blood Church,” features cult scream queen Linnea Quigley. This is the first time the movie has appeared for home video release. It also is important for Quigley fans since this is considered one of her “lost” films.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 1.33:1 full-screen picture; English audio; English subtitles.
Don’t miss: Extras include a new documentary about the movie, a commentary track with director Eric Swelstad, actor Nick Baldasare, cinematographer Scott Spears and composer Jay Woeffel; a commentary with Tony Strauss of “Weng’s Chop” magazine; an interview with Quigley; an archival interview with Quigley; behind-the-scenes footage; a “Making of Fallen Angels” cast and crew vintage interviews; the original distributor promotional video for “Blood Church”; a “Fallen Angels” 1990 workprint commentary with Swelstad; six-page liner notes; “Fantasm” magazine excerpt; a limited edition “Heartland of Darkness” prayer cloth; and a Quigley mini-poster.
Ski Patrol (Blu-ray)
Details: 1990, MVD Rewind Collection-MVD Visual Entertainment
Rated: PG
The lowdown: A ’90s comedy starring Ray Walston as Pops, owner of Snowy Peaks Lodge, a popular ski resort.
Pops’ lease is up for renewal and he is not worried, despite the antics of the Ski Patrol, an out-of-control group of skiers played by Roger Rose and T.K. Carter.
However, a devious land developer, played by Martin Mull, has other plans for the resort and hires a young blond named Lance to undermine the Ski Patrol’s efforts to safeguard the slopes.
Of course, you know how this all turns out. It’s typical “Caddyshack”-like laughs, with a strong supporting cast, including the late Leslie Jordan, Paul Feig and George Lopez.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 1.85:1 widescreen picture; English 2.0 LPCM; English subtitles.
Contraband (Blu-ray)
Details: 1980, Cauldron Films
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: This Italian crime feature directed by Lucio Fulci deals with Luca, an idealistic cigarette smuggler in Naples, who runs into problems when a sadistic drug-dealing gangster from France decides to muscle his way into Luca’s operations.
As the gangster tries to wipe out the competition and bodies begin to pile up, Luca joins forces with rival smugglers and the local mafia to fight back — a tactic that only drives up the body count.
The movie features some bloody special effects.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 1.85:1 widescreen picture; Italian and English 2.0 LPCM monaural; English SDH and English subtitles.
Don’t miss: Supplemental options include a new introduction to the movie, archival interviews with filmmakers and cast members and a commentary track.
Murder in a Blue World (Blu-ray)
Details: 1973, Cauldron Films
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: This violent, futuristic feature set against a dystopian backdrop features Chris Mitchum, son of Robert, as David, a career criminal, who blackmails a nurse, played by “Lolita’s” Sue Lyon, after witnessing her commit a murder.
Lyon’s Ana and her boyfriend, Victor, learn about David’s past, they decide to use him for their own purposes.
Spanish director Eloy de la Iglesia’s vision for his movie was influenced by Stanley Kubrick’s “A Clockwork Orange,” and “A Clockwork Terror” was one of the alternate titles for this movie.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 2.40:1 widescreen picture; Spanish and English 2.0 LPCM monaural; English SDH and English subtitles.
Don’t miss: Extras include an archival interview with Mitchum, a look at the dubbing, a video essay and a commentary track.
Other titles being released on Tuesday, unless otherwise indicated:
Creatures of Necessity (DVD & digital) (Gravitas Ventures)
The Dead Girl in Apartment 03 (Blu-ray & DVD) (Wild Eye Releasing)
The Book Keepers (DVD) (First Run Features)
Love, Charlie (DVD) (Greenwich Entertainment)
Medusa (Blu-ray & DVD) (Music Box Films)
The Story of Film: A New Generation (DVD) (Music Box Films)
DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, STREAMING or VOD
The Blood Beast Terror (Kino Lorber)
Don’t Look at the Demon (Outsider Pictures)
Hold Me Tight (Kino Lorber)
Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile (Sony Pictures Home Entertainment)
One Hundred Steps (Kino Lorber)
The Scent of the Night (Kino Lorber)
Something in the Dirt (XYZ Films)
The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry (Vertical Entertainment)
Welcome to Chippendales: Episodes 1 & 2 (Hulu)
The Woman King (Sony Pictures Home Entertainment)
NOV. 23
The D’Amelio Show: Season 2, Episode 10 (Hulu)
Echo 3: Episodes 1-3 (Apple TV+)
Wednesday (www.netflix.com/Wednesday) (Netflix)
NOV. 24
Deconstructing Karen (One Thousand Yeses)
The Noel Diary (Netflix)
NOV. 25
Acapulco: Episode 7 (Apple TV+)
The King of Laughter (Film Movement)
The Mosquito Coast: Season 2, Episode 4 (Apple TV+)
Mythic Quest: Episode 4 (Apple TV+)
Shantaram: Episode 9 (Apple TV+)
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.