New to View: April 18

By Bob Bloom
The following titles are being released on Tuesday, April 18, unless otherwise noted:
Cocaine Bear: Maximum Rampage Edition (Blu-ray + DVD + digital)
Details: 2023, Universal Pictures Home Entertainment
Rated: R, bloody violence and gore, drug content, language
The lowdown: A true incident from 1985 inspired this feature that makes you laugh, cringe and shake your head in disbelief throughout.
A drug runner’s plane crashes, scattering the cocaine it was carrying. A black bear devours the product, setting it off on a violent tear.
A disparate group cops, criminals, tourists and teens converge on the Georgia forest where the plane crashed and the bear is on a coke-fueled rampage for more drugs and blood.
The film contains a few implausiblities, which — depending on your point of view — either adds or subtracts from its cartoonish vibe.
The movie was directed by Elizabeth Banks. The cast includes Keri Russell, O’Shea Jackson Jr., Christian Convery, Alden Ehrenreich, Jesse Tyler Ferguson and Brooklyn Prince.
For the most part, critics enjoyed the romp, awarding it a 67 percent fresh rating at Rotten Tomatoes.
Technical aspects: Blu-ray: 1080p high definition, 2.39:1 widescreen picture; English 7.1 DTS-HD Master Audio, French 5.1 DTS digital surround and Spanish 7.1 DTS-HD; English SDH, French and Spanish subtitles; DVD: 2.39:1 anamorphic widescreen picture; English, French and Spanish 5.1 Dolby digital; English SDH, French and Spanish subtitles.
Don’t miss: Bonus materials include a making of featurette, an alternate ending, deleted and extended scenes, a gag reel, a behind-the-scenes, bears-eye view of some of the kill scenes, a featurette with filmmakers and cast members reading lines from the script and a commentary track with Banks and producer Max Handelman.

Magic Mike’s Last Dance (Blu-ray + DVD + digital)
Details: 2023, Warner Home Entertainment
Rated: R, sexual material, language
The lowdown: Channing Tatum returns as “Magic” Mike Lane who returns to the stage after a few years.
He goes off to London with Maxandra Mendoza (Salma Hayek Pinault), a wealthy socialite with her own agenda.
Once Mike learns what Maxandra has in mind, will he — and the dancers he must get into shape — be able to successfully perform the gig Maxandra has in mind.
The third movie in this franchise, again directed by Steven Soderbergh, is sexy, funny and exciting, but relies too much on the star power of its two leads.
Critics were divided, awarding the movie a 49 percent fresh rating at Rotten Tomatoes.
Technical aspects: Blu-ray: 1080p high definition, 2.39:1 widescreen picture; English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio, English 5.1 Dolby digital descriptive audio and French and Spanish 5.1 Dolby digital; English SDH, French and Spanish subtitles; DVD: 2.39:1 widescreen picture; English, French and Spanish 5.1 Dolby digital and English 5.1 Dolby digital descriptive audio; English SDH, French and Spanish subtitles.
Don’t miss: Bonus offerings include a making of featurette and deleted scenes.

Living (Blu-ray)
Release date: April 11
Details: 2022, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
Rated: PG-13, suggestive material, smoking
The lowdown: Bill Nighy received a best actor Academy Award nomination for his performance in this story of a 1950s British civil servant who struggles to maintain order under reams of paperwork.
The movie is adapted from the 1952 Japanese movie, “Ikiru,” directed by Akira Kurosawa.
Nighy’s Williams is overwhelmed at work and lonely at home. To make matters worse, he receives a medical diagnosis that tells him that his time is short.
Williams, influenced by Sutherland (Tom Burke), a local decadent, and Margaret (Aimee Lou Wood), a waitress, continues to search for meaning until a simple revelation gives him the purpose to create a legacy for the next generation.
Nighy’s performance was praised by critics, who awarded the movie a 96 percent fresh rating at Rotten Tomatoes.
Technical aspects: 1.48:1 widescreen picture; English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio; English SDH, French and Spanish subtitles.
Don’t miss: The major extra is “A Life Semi-Lived” featurette.

Serpico (4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray)
Details: 1973, Kino Lorber Studio Classics
Rated: R, graphic violence, language
The lowdown: Between his career-rocketing performances in “The Godfather” and “The Godfather Part II,” Al Pacino received high praise for his performance as real-life New York City cop Frank Serpico in director Sidney Lumet’s adaptation of Peter Maas’ book about an honest police officer whose honesty — with corruption all around him — earns him scorn and enmity from his fellow brothers in blue.
Pacino’s electrifying performance is a tour-de-force, intense character study of an individual’s efforts to maintain his integrity and bring honor to his shield.
Serpico’s efforts to inform his superiors about the corruption are whitewashed, causing the frustrated officer to finally turn to the press, causing the Knapp Commission to investigate his allegations and placing a target on Serpico’s back.
The movie received a 91 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 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio monaural; English SDH subtitles.
Don’t miss: Bonus materials include five behind-the-scenes featurettes on the making of the movie including a look at Pacino, Lumet and the real Frank Serpico; a photo gallery with commentary by Lumet and a commentary track with film historians Howard S. Berger, Steve Mitchell and Nathaniel Thompson.

12 Angry Men (4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray)
Details: 1957, Kino Lorber Studio Classics
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: Henry Fonda heads the cast of this classic drama about the deliberations by 12 members of a jury following the closing arguments of a murder trial.
The defendant is an inner-city teen, and since this is a murder case the jury must be unanimous in its decision.
Sequestered in a very hot room, one juror, played by Fonda (who also co-produced the movie), casts continual doubt on elements in the case.
As the deliberations continue, conflicts and personal issues arise as the holdout slowly begins to win other jurors to his side.
The cast also includes Lee J. Cobb, Ed Begley, E.G. Marshall, Jack Warden, Jack Klugman, Martin Balsam, John Fiedler, Edward Binns, George Voskovec and Robert Webber.
The film garnered a 100 percent fresh rating at Rotten Tomatoes.
Technical aspects: 4K: 2160p ultra high definition, 1.85:1 widescreen picture; English 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio monaural; English SDH subtitles.
Don’t miss: The supplemental options, included on the Blu-ray disc, include two commentary tracks, a making of featurette, an inside the jury room featurette and the 1997 remake starring George C. Scott, Jack Lemmon, Ossie Davis and Courtney B. Vance and directed by William Friedkin.

High, Wide and Handsome (Blu-ray)
Details: 1937, Kino Lorber Studio Classics
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: Irene Dunne, Randolph Scott and Dorothy Lamour star in this historical adventure with musical interludes about the discovery of oil in a western Pennsylvania town in 1859.
Dunne portrays Sally Watterson who travels with her father “Doc” (Raymond Walburn), when their medicine sideshow wagon is damaged.
Sally and her father are offered a place to stay by the grandmother of Peter Cortlandt (Scott). Sally earns her keep by helping with the animals around the farm. In time, Sally and Peter, an oil prospector, fall in love and marry.
But after oil is discovered, Peter spends most of his time helping the neighboring farmers by building a pipeline for all their oil, to keep a corrupt railroad president from getting their land.
Lamour plays Molly, a saloon girl, rescued by Sally and Peter from a lynch mob. The cast also includes Charles Bickford, Alan Hale, Elizabeth Patterson and Akim Tamiroff.
The songs were composed by Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II, and the film was directed by Rouben Mamoulian (“Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde,” “The Mark of Zorro.”)
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 1.37:1 full-screen picture; English 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio monaural; English SDH subtitles.
Don’t miss: A commentary track by film historian Eddy Von Mueller is the main bonus option.

Rio (Blu-ray)
Details: 1939, Kino Lorber Studio Classics
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: John Brahm directed this dark melodrama starring Basil Rathbone as crooked Parisian financier Paul Reynard who is arrested for bank fraud and sentenced to a penal colony off the coast of South America.
His wife, Irene (Sigrid Gurie) and faithful right-hand man, Dirk (Victor McLaglen), travel to Rio de Janeiro to arrange for Reynard’s escape.
But once in Rio, Irene falls in love with American engineer Bill Gregory (Robert Cummings).
After his escape, Reynard finds out about Irene and Bill and plans his revenge.
The cast also includes Leo Carrillo, Billy Gilbert, Samuel S. Hinds and Irving Pichel.
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 by film historian Samm Deighan is the major extra.

Lady in a Jam (Blu-ray)
Details: 1942, Kino Lorber Studio Classics
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: Irene Dunne was a mainstay in the screwball comedies of the 1930s, appearing in such classics as “The Awful Truth” and “My Favorite Husband.”
By the early 1940s — and one focus on World War II — the genre took a backseat to patriotic features.
“Lady in a Jam,” starring Dunne, is a lesser screwball entry, with Dunne as Jane Palmer, a young lady suspected of insanity after squandering her entire inheritance, but refusing to accept her poor financial state.
Assigned to her case is psychiatrist Dr. Enright (Patric Knowles), who poses as Jane’s new chauffeur. Enright drives Jane out west to her rich grandmother, from whom Jane hopes to recoup her fortune.
Her grandmother refuses but allows Jane to work the family’s played-out gold mine.
Complicating matters is the arrival of Jane’s ex-boyfriend, Stanley (perennial third-wheel Ralph Bellamy), who discovers that Jane is in love with the doctor-chauffeur.
A love triangle ensues, of course, but true love prevails as the mine yields new, unexpected results that helps Jane.
The cast also includes Eugene Pallette, Queenie Vassar and Samuel S. Hinds.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 1.37:1 full-screen picture; English 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio monaural; English subtitles.
Don’t miss: The main extra is a commentary track with filmmaker Allan Arkush and film historian-filmmaker Daniel Kremer.

You and Me (Blu-ray)
Details: 1938, Kino Lorber Studio Classics
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: Fritz Lang directed this romantic comedy-drama starring Sylvia Sidney and George Raft.
Raft plays Joe Dennis, a paroled convict, hired by department store owner Mr. Morris (Harry Carey), who believes in second chances and has hired several ex-cons.
At the store, Dennis meets Helen Roberts (Sidney). The two fall in love and marry. But Roberts is keeping a secret from her new husband. She also is a paroled convict.
The disillusioned Dennis leaves, returns to his old gang and plans to rob the department store.
The cast also includes Barton MacLane, Roscoe Karns, Robert Cummings, Warren Hymer and George E. Stone.
The film, which features the music of Kurt Weill, offers some of Lang’s German Expressionist techniques.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 1.37:1 full-screen picture; English 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio monaural; English SDH subtitles.
Don’t miss: A commentary track by film critic-author Simon Abrams is the main bonus offering.

The Trap (Blu-ray)
Details: 1922, Kino Classics
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: Lon Chaney, “The Man of a Thousand Faces,” wears a sympathetic one is this silent drama about Gaspar, a French-Canadian trapper, whose life is upended when a rival tricks the trapper out of his mine and steals his woman.
Gaspar vows revenge, nursing his resentment for more than a decade. He traps a half-starved wolf as his tool of vengeance.
When his beloved dies, leaving a son, Gaspar arranges for his rival, Benson (Alan Hale), to get into a barroom brawl in which he kills a man in self-defense. But Gaspar gives false testimony that the killing was planned.
Benson is imprisoned and the son of his former love winds up in Gaspar’s custody. Soon, he begins to have feelings for the boy.
In the end, Gaspar redeems himself. This is one of Chaney’s earliest starring roles. Ahead for him lies “The Hunchback of Notre Dame,” “He Who Gets Slapped,” “The Unholy Three,” “London After Midnight” and “The Phantom of the Opera.”
Be aware, “The Trap” features the debut of Chaney’s son, Creighton — later Lon Chaney Jr. — as one of the boys surrounding Gaspar in an early scene.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 1.33:1 full-screen picture; English 2.0 DTS-HD monaural (musical score); English intertitles.
Don’t miss: Extras include a documentary about Chaney and a 1914 Western short, “By the Sun’s Rays.”

Oh, Doctor! / Poker Faces: Two Comedies Directed by Harry A. Pollard (Blu-ray)
Details: 1925-26, Kino Classics
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: Director Harry A. Pollard has more than 110 credits behind the camera, most shot during the silent-film era.
This Blu-ray features two of those movies.
“Oh, Doctor!” stars Reginald Denny as Rufus, a hypochondriac deeply in debt to loan sharks, who he promises to repay with the fortune he is due to inherit in three years.
To ensure that he stays healthy, the loan sharks hire a nurse, Dolores Hicks (Mary Astor, “The Maltese Falcon”), to take care of Rufus.
When Rufus learns that Dolores prefers men with courage, he throws himself into a series of dangerous stunts to impress her, while giving his creditors heart palpitations.
“Poker Faces” stars Edward Everett Horton (“Top Hat,” “Here Comes Mr. Jordan”) in a farce about a henpecked husband desperately trying to close a contract to please his boss.
When his wife, played by Laura La Plante, “The Cat and the Canary”), is unable to attend an important business dinner with him, hubby hires a woman to play his wife. What he did not count on was that the woman is married and her husband is an insanely jealous boxer.
Both Denny and Horton went on to long careers and character actors and comic foils in the sound era.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 1.33:1 full-screen picture; English 2.0 DTS-HD monaural (musical track); English intertitles.
Don’t miss: Commentary tracks are included on both movies.

Other titles being released on Tuesday, unless otherwise indicated:
Full Time (Blu-ray & DVD) (Music Box Films)
Kids vs. Aliens (Blu-ray & DVD) (RLJE Films)
Marlowe (Blu-ray) (Universal Pictures Home Entertainment)
Night of the Killer Bears (DVD & digital & VOD) (ShineHouse)
Righteous Thieves (Blu-ray & DVD) (Lionsgate Home Entertainment)
Transfusion (Blu-ray + digital & DVD) (Lionsgate Home Entertainment)

DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, STREAMING or VOD
Andy Somebody (Launch Releasing)
Animal Crackers (Lionsgate Home Entertainment)
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (Marvel Studios-Disney Home Entertainment)
Future TX (Level 33 Entertainment)
Longest Third Date (www.netflix.com/longestthirddate) (Netflix)
The Reaper Man (Gravitas Ventures)
Rodeo (Music Box Films)
APRIL 19
The Big Door Prize: Episode 6 (Apple TV+)
Chimp Empire (www.netflix.com/ChimpEmpire) (Netflix)
Schmigadoon: Season 2, Episode 4 (Apple TV+)
Ted Lasso: Season 3, Episode 7 (Apple TV+)
APRIL 20
The Diplomat (www.netflix.com/TheDiplomat) (Netflix)
Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies: Episode 4 (Paramount+)
APRIL 21
A Tourist’s Guide to Love (www.netflix.com/ATouristsGuideToLove) (Netflix)
Cherry (Entertainment Squad)
Extrapolations: Episode 8 (Apple TV+)
Ghosted (Apple TV+)
Gringa (Gravitas Ventures)
The Last Thing He Told Me: Episode 3 (Apple TV+)
Two Sinners and a Mule (Lionsgate Home Entertainment)
APRIL 24
Attack of the Doc! (Indie Rights)
Step Up: Season 3 (Lionsgate Home Entertainment)

Coming next week: Small Axe

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.