New to View: Jan. 16

By Bob Bloom
The following titles are being released on Tuesday, Jan. 16, unless otherwise noted:
Ernest & Celestine: A Trip to Gibberitia (Blu-ray)
Details: 2022, GKids-Shout Factory
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: In this delightful sequel to the acclaimed “Ernest & Celestine,” the bear and mouse take a trip to Ernest’s homeland of Gibberitia to have his beloved violin repaired after it was accidentally broken by Celestine.
When the pair arrives, they are shocked to learn that all forms of music have been banned for many years and that the land, once known for its great musicians, has fallen silent.
It is up to Ernest and Celestine, and their new friends who include a mysterious masked outlaw, to bring music an happiness back to the land of bears.
The movie is tender and engaging, and even offers some messages about government oppression and family conflicts. It also emphasizes the need for artistic freedom.
The film, which garnered a 100 percent fresh rating at Rotten Tomatoes, is a whimsical experience, abetted by some memorable characters.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 1.85:1 widescreen picture; French and English (dubbed) 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio; English SDH, English and Spanish subtitles.
Don’t miss: A making of featurette, interviews with the directors, cast members and producer and a how to draw Ernest and Celestine featurette comprise the bonus materials.

“The Apu Trilogy” (4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray)
Release date: Jan. 2
Details: 1955-59, The Criterion Collection
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: These three Bengali-language films by Satyajit Ray are classics, honored and admired by film groups and filmmakers around the world.
The trilogy is a coming-of-age chronicle that traces the life of Apu from childhood to young man. In “Pather Panchai” (“Song of the Little Road”) (1955), we experience the boy’s early life after his father, an impoverished priest, leaves his rural Bengal village in hopes of finding work. He leaves behind his wife, rebellious daughter, young son and his elderly aunt.
The children enjoy the small pleasures of life, while their parents must deal with the indignities heaped upon them daily.
“Aparajito” (“The Unvanquished”) (1956) finds Apu living with his parents near the Ganges River. When his father dies suddenly, Apu and his mother move to a small Bengal village to be near relatives. Eventually, Apu is allowed to attend school in Calcutta and as he adapts to life in the city, his mother struggles with is absence.
“Apur Sansar” (The World of Apu) (1959) finds Abu attempting to become a writer.  His life changes unexpectedly when, convinced by a friend to attend a family wedding, circumstances end in Apu marrying the bride.
Apu sets out to be a responsible husband, finding a job and growing close to his wife. But when she dies in childbirth, Apu initially abandons the child but later returns to accept his responsibilities.
The films, which garnered 98, 96 and 96 percent fresh ratings, respectively, at Rotten Tomatoes, are studied around the world for Ray filmmaking techniques and the dignity and humanity he instilled in his characters.
Technical aspects: 4K: 2160p ultra high definition, 1.37:1 full-screen picture; Bengali LPCM monaural; English subtitles; Blu-ray: 1080p high definition, 1.37:1 full-screen picture; Bengali LPCM monaural; English subtitles.
Don’t miss: Bonus options include Ray reading is essay, “A Long Time on the Little Road” and in conversation with film historian Gideon Bachmann; interviews with actors Soumitra Chatterjee, Shampa Srivastava and Sharmila Tagore; camera assistant Soumendu Roy; and film writer Ujjal Chakraborty; a video making of essay on the trilogy; “The Apu Trilogy: A Closer Look” featurette; a 2003 documentary with composer-musician Ravi Shankar; a 1967 film short featuring interviews with Ray and some of his actors; footage of Ray receiving his honorary Oscar in 1992; programs on the restorations of the films; and essays and storyboards on the films.

Millie Lies Low (DVD)
Details: 2021, Film Movement
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: A dramady from New Zealand about Millie (Ana Scotney), an architecture student who lands a very competitive internship with a prestigious firm in New York.
After telling everyone she knows about her golden opportunity, Millie suffers a sudden panic attack as her plane is about to take off and misses her flight.
Instead of taking a later one, the desperate Millie decides to save face by hiding in plain sight around Wellington. With her suitcase in tow, she uses Instagram and the power of denial to depict a trip to the Big Apple.
Millie is trapped in a spiral of very funny and uncomfortable self-inflicted scenarios
To restore her mental health and dignity, the young woman will have to dig deep within herself.
At times the movie, which earned an 86 percent fresh rating at Rotten Tomatoes, is cringe-worthy that also offers some observations about how easy it is to use social media to forge a make-believe life.
Technical aspects: 1.78:1 widescreen picture; English 5.1 and 2.0 Dolby digital; English closed-captioned subtitles.
Don’t miss: Extras include a commentary track by Michelle Savill the movie’s co-writer-director, and a short film by Savill.

Strange Invaders (Blu-ray)
Details: 1983, MGM
Rated: PG
The lowdown: This affectionate homage to 1950s science fiction-alien takeover movies will tickle those who grew up or younger people who enjoy the sci-fi films of that era.
Paul Le Mat (“American Graffiti”) stars as Charles Bigelow, a university professor searching for his former wife, Margaret (Diana Scarwid), who seems to have disappeared while visiting her hometown of Centerville, Illinois.
But no one in town seems to know Margaret or her family. Bigelow soon teams with tabloid reporter Betty Walker (Nancy Allen, “Carrie”) to unravel the mystery of the community.
For those who have not seen the movie, I will not divulge more, except that it features a supporting cast that includes actors associated with sci-fi movies and TV shows such as Kenneth Tobey, June Lockhart and Mark Goddard, as well as Michael Lerner, Louise Fletcher and Wallace Shawn.
The title is a made-on-demand Blu-ray that can be found at www.moviezyng.com or other online sellers.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 2.35:1 widescreen picture; English DTS-HD Master Audio; English subtitles.

Everyone Will Burn (Blu-ray)
Release date: Jan. 9
Details: 2021, Drafthouse Films
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: A Spanish feature that centers on Maria José, who is preparing to kill herself because of her overwhelming grief at the death of her bullied son years before.
Her life changes when she is visited by Lucía, a strange girl who may be connected to a local legend about stopping an impending apocalypse.
The film’s religious and occult overtones is a depiction of zealotry gone wild the power and abuse of gossip.
The movie earned an 87 percent fresh rating at Rotten Tomatoes, with the performance of Macarena Gómez and direction of David Hebrero singled out.
The made-on-demand film is available at www.moviezyng.com and other online sellers.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 2.00:1 widescreen picture; Spanish 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio; English subtitles.

Film Noir: The Dark Side of Cinema XVI (Blu-ray)
Release date: Jan. 9
Details: 1942-51, Kino Lorber Studio Classics
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: Another trio of movies that examine the baser instincts of human nature are featured in this set.
The films are: “The Mystery of Marie Roget” (1942), “Chicago Deadline” (1949) and “Iron Man” (1951).
“Marie Roget,” based on a story by Edgar Allan Poe,” stars Maria Montez as the title character, a famed actress who goes missing and, shortly thereafter, the corpse of a young woman is discovered.
Patric Knowles portrays Dr. Pierre Dupin, the investigator who works to hunt down the killer.
The cast also includes Maria Ouspenskaya, John Litel, Edward Norris, Lloyd Corrigan and Nell O’Day.
Alan Ladd stars as reporter Ed Adams in “Chicago Deadline,” who finds the body of a girl in a cheap South Side hotel room. Adams finds an address book belonging to the dead woman, played by Donna Reed, and begins investigating the names of the men in the book.
The cast also includes June Havoc, Irene Hervey and Arthur Kennedy.
Jeff Chandler stars in “Iron Man” as a one-time coal miner who turns professional boxing. Stephen McNally plays his brother, who guides his career. Chandler’s Coke Mason harbors a lot of rage and a killer instinct that could prove very dangerous in the ring.
McNally’s George, a habitual gambler, is looking out for himself as he plans on using his brother as a meal ticket.
The movie also features Jim Backus, Evelyn Keyes, Rock Hudson and James Arness.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 1.37:1 full-screen picture; English DTS-HD Master Audio monaural; English subtitles.
Don’t miss: Extras include commentary tracks for each movie.

Red Planet Mars (Blu-ray)
Details: 1952, MGM
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: This 87-minute movie is an uneven blend of science fiction and 1950s’ Cold War paranoia about communism.
Peter Graves and Andrea King star as a scientist and his supportive wife who, using a hydrogen-powered radio transmitter developed by a Nazi scientist, contact Mars.
They eventually learn that the Red Planet is a utopia because of technological advancements that make war, especially a nuclear conflict, unnecessary.
The revelations they make public lead to political and economic instability in the United States and other nations. The government, of course, shuts the program down and imposes a news blackout on the transmissions.
But, a later transmission warns that Earth is in danger of nuclear war for straying from the precepts of the Bible, thus creating a global revolution that sees the overthrow of the Soviet Union by a theocracy.
The messages soon stop. Calder, the Nazi scientist, sneaks into the lab of the scientist and confesses that it was he who sent all the messages from his radio transmitter high in the Andes mountains.
He admits sending the original messages, but claims the biblical ones were sent by the U.S. government. The scientist and his wife, knowing the religious messages were real, decide to kill Calder and sacrifice their lives to keep the Earth a peaceful planet.
Calder goes mad when the beginning of a new message begins transmission. He fires his gun that sets off a spark that blow up the lab, killing everyone inside.
The movie is pure hokum and Red Scare McCarthyism that is a product of its time.
|It is a time capsule feature that is quaint sledgehammer propaganda.
The made-on-demand movie can be found at www.moviezyng.com or other online dealers.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 1.33:1 full-screen picture; English DTS-HD Master Audio.

The Childe (Blu-ray)
Details: 2023, Well Go USA Entertainment
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: A Korean thriller in which an amateur boxer searches for the estranged father he has never met so he can secure funds for his mother’s surgery.
A lead sends him from the Philippines to Korea, where he is relentlessly pursued by a very dangerous man.
Additional people join the pursuit, creating chaos that will force the young man to confront a shocking truth that could cost him his life.
This neo-noir thriller, ladled with plot twists, is a suspenseful mixture of John Woo, Quentin Tarantino with a dash of Hitchcock thrown in for good measure.
Fans of Asian cinema will find the action bloody and exciting.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 2.39:1 (16:9 enhanced) widescreen picture; Korean 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio; English subtitles.

Sisters (Mãsas) (DVD)
Details: 2022, IndiePix Films
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: At an overcrowded Latvian orphanage, two sisters have divergent reaction to the news of their pending adoption by a wealthy American couple.
Diana, the younger sister, is overjoyed, but her rebellious 13-year-old sister, Anastasija, begins to act out in defiance. She is clinging to the hope that they can be reunited with their mother, who recently has been released from prison.
The movie marks the directorial debut of Latvian writer-director Linda Olte, who deftly navigates the slim territory between childlike vulnerability and a desire for independence.
During the making of the movie, adoption by foreign countries became illegal in Latvia and Olte’s aim with the movie was to re-open the debate of the subject.
Technical aspects: 1.85:1 (16×9 enhanced) widescreen picture; Latvian 2.0 Dolby digital; English subtitles.

Mademoiselle (Blu-ray)
Details: 1966, MGM
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: Jeanne Moreau gives a memorable performance as a sexually repressed schoolteacher who hides a burning sadism in which she commits several random and anonymous crimes, all in the hopes of catching the attention of Manou (Ettore Manni), an Italian lumberjack who already has seduced many of the women in the pastoral French town in which he and Moreau are residents.
Moreau’s Mademoiselle goes unsuspected as she sets fires, poisons animals and soon begins to torment Manou’s young son.
The movie, directed by Tony Richardson, has drawn a cult following over the years. Scenes were shot in French and English, with this made-on-demand Blu-ray featuring the English audio track. The movie can be ordered at www.moviezyng.com or other online retailers.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 2.35:1 widescreen picture; English DTS-HD Master Audio.

Blood Feast (4K Ultra HD)
Details: 2016, Synapse Films
Not rated: graphic violence, gore, cannibalism, nudity, sexual references, drug content
The lowdown: This blood-soaked remake of Herschell Gordon Lewis’ original 1963 shocker is an ultra-gory homage that tells the same basic story.
Fuad Ramses and his family have moved from the United States to France where they run an American-themed diner.
With business not doing very well, Fuad also works the graveyard shift in a museum of ancient Egyptian culture. During the long and lonely nights, he is continually drawn to a statue representing the seductive goddess, Ishtar.
As his fascination with the goddess grows, she begins speaking to him through visions. One night, Fuad finally gives in to her deadly charms and begins a new career of murder and cannibalism.
He prepares a lavish feast for Ishtar dripping with the blood, organs and intestines of his victims. As the body count continues to grow, so does Fuad’s descent into madness. It reaches the point that not even his wife and daughter are safe — from him or the bloody-thirsty Ishtar.
The 4K Ultra HD contains the original uncut version of the movie.
Technical aspects: 4K: 2160p ultra high definition, 2.35:1 (16×9 enhanced) widescreen picture; English 5.1 DTS-HD stereo surround; English SDH subtitles.
Don’t miss: Extras include a making of featurette, a music video, a 2018 red carpet premiere and a scare cam featurette.

“Inside the Mind of Coffin Joe”: Limited Edition (Blu-ray)
Details: 1964-2008, Arrow Video
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: This six-disc set features 11 movies from cult Brazilian filmmaker José Mojica Marins, who created the character of Zé do Caixão (Coffin Joe). Marins wrote, directed and starred in these outrageous, sadistic and anti-establishment horror features.
The set’s films are: “At Midnight I’ll Take Your Soul” (1964), “This Night I Will Possess Your Corpse” (1967), “The Strange World of Coffin Joe” (1968), “Awakening of the Beast” (1970), “The End of Man” (1971), “When the Gods Fall Asleep” (1972), “The Strange Hostel of Naked Pleasures” (1976), “Hellish Flesh” (1977), “Hallucinations of a Deranged Mind” (1978), “Embodiment of Evil” (2008) and “The Strange World of José Mojica Marins” (2001).
The movies horrors are mostly complemented by Marins’ black humor.
It is impressive that Marins made these movies when a disapproving military dictatorship ruled the country and religious censorship was hanging over his head.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 1.66:1 widescreen picture (“At Midnight I’ll Take Your Soul,” “This Night I Will Possess Your Corpse,” “Awakening of the Beast”), 1.37:1 full-screen picture (“The Strange World of Coffin Joe”), 1.33:1 full-screen picture (“The End of Man,” “The Strange Hostel of Naked Pleasures,” “Hellish Flesh”), 1.85:1 widescreen picture (“When the Gods Fall Asleep,” “Hallucinations of a Deranged Mind,” “Embodiment of Evil,” “The Strange World of José Mojica Marins”); Brazilian LPCM monaural except for “Embodiment of Evil,” Brazilian 5.1 and 2.0 DTS-HD; English subtitles.
Don’t miss: Supplemental materials include featurettes, commentaries, interviews and a booklet about Marins and his movies.

Other titles being released on Tuesday, unless otherwise indicated:
Billions: The Final Season (Blu-ray & DVD) (Showtime-Paramount Home Entertainment)
Fireworks (DVD & VOD) (Cinephobia Releasing)
Journey to Bethlehem (Blu-ray & DVD) (Sony Pictures Home Entertainment)
Trolls Band Together (4K Ultra HD & Blu-ray & DVD) (Universal Pictures Home Entertainment)
DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, STREAMING or VOD
A Place of Our Own (Lotus Visual Productions)
Death and Other Details: Episodes 1 & 2 (Hulu)
The Marvels (Marvel Studios-Disney-Buena Vista)
Next Goal Wins (Searchlight Pictures-Disney-Buena Vista)
One More Shot (Sony Pictures Home Entertainment)
Project Dorothy (Gravitas Ventures)
Scalper (Breaking Glass Pictures)
Stroking an Animal (Breaking Glass Pictures)
Thanksgiving (Sony Pictures Home Entertainment)
JAN. 17
Criminal Record: Episode 3 (Apple TV+)
JAN. 18
Salvation! Have You Said Your Prayers Today? (Kino Lorber-Amazon Prime)
Victoria (Kino Lorber-Amazon Prime)
JAN. 19
Moja & Vesna (IndiiePix Unlimited)
Wanted Man (Quiver Distribution)
JAN. 22
Inside the Morning of Le Petit Mort (Film Movement)
Superhot: The Spicy World of Pepper People (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.