New to View: July 2
By Bob Bloom
The following titles are being released on Tuesday, July 2, unless otherwise noted:
UHF: 35th Anniversary Edition (4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray)
Details: 1989, Shout! Studios
Rated: PG-13, language, crude humor
The lowdown: “Weird Al” Yankovic co-wrote this satire about George Newman (Yankovic), a daydreamer who becomes manager of a small, local television station.
Before long, he is programming shows such as “Stanley Spadowski’s Clubhouse,” “Wheel of Fish” and “Raul’s Wild Kingdom.” You get the idea — George’s shows are steeped in satire and hyperactive humor, including one called “Conan the Librarian.”
As the station’s ratings begin to soar, it infuriates a rival station’s CEO, played by Kevin McCarthy, who tries to destroy George’s wacky programming.
To save the station, George and his friends organize a 48-hour telethon to raise money by selling stock in the station.
The movie is filled with the type of offbeat humor for which Yankovic is noted.
Technical aspects: 4K: 2160p ultra-high definition, 1.85:1 widescreen picture; English 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio stereo; English SDH subtitles; Blu-ray: 1080p high definition, 1.85:1 widescreen picture; English 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio stereo; English SDH subtitles.
Don’t miss: Extras include a commentary track on both discs by Yankovic and director Jay Levey, a retrospective panel from San Diego Comic-Con 2014, deleted scenes, behind-the-scenes footage, Easter eggs and a music video.
Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire (Blu-ray + DVD + digital)
Release date: June 25
Details: 2024, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
Rated: PG-13, supernatural action, violence, language, suggestive material
The lowdown: A sequel that finds the Spengler family returning to New York City and the iconic firehouse to team up with the original Ghostbusters.
The original guys have developed a top-secret research laboratory to take busting ghosts to the next level.
But when the discovery of an ancient artifact unleashes a multitude of ghosts that cast a death chill upon the city, the two sets of Ghostbusters must join forces to protect their home and save the world from a second Ice Age.
The movie does not break any new ground; it is acceptably entertaining, but does not offer anything earthshaking that would set it apart from previous sequels.
The charm lies in seeing the intergenerational mingling of Paul Rudd, Carrie Coon and Finn Wolfhard with Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd and Ernie Hudson. The cast also includes McKenna Grace, Kumail Nanjiani, Patton Oswald and Annie Potts.
Technical aspects: Blu-ray: 1080p high definition, 2.39:1 widescreen picture; English, French and Spanish 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio; English SDH, English, French and Spanish subtitles; DVD: 2.39:1 anamorphic widescreen picture; English, French and Spanish 5.1 Dolby digital; English SDH, English, French and Spanish subtitles.
Don’t miss: Supplemental materials include deleted and extended scenes, Easter eggs unleashed, “Manifesting Garraka,” “New York, New Gear,” “Welcome to the Paranormal Discovery Center,” “Knowing the Score,” “Return to the Firehouse” a making of and casting the movie featurettes ;and a commentary track with director-co-writer Gil Kenan.
Macbeth (Blu-ray)
Release date: June 25
Details: 1948/1950, Kino Lorber Studio Classics
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: When you think of Republic Pictures, you think of action-packed serials and B-Westerns starring Gene Autry, Roy Rogers or Wild Bill Elliott — but definitely not Shakespeare or Orson Welles.
But, here you have it. Republic president Herbert J. Yates, looking to raise the level of his studio, was convinced by Welles to finance the picture.
The budget was placed at $700,000, with the movie filmed on the Republic lot.
The black-and-white feature, offered a noir quality, as Welles and cinematographer John L. Russell,, used shadows and oblique camera angles to heighten the otherworldly aura of the film.
The two-disc set features the original 1948, 119-minute cut with overture and exit music and the cast’s affected Scottish burrs. The 1950 version runs 85 minutes with most of the accented dialogue excised and the actors speaking in their natural voices.
At Rotten Tomatoes, the film garnered an 86 percent fresh rating.
The cast also includes Jeanette Nolan, in her movie debut, as Lady Macbeth; Irish actor Dan O’Herlihy, in his first American film, as Macduff; Roddy McDowall as Malcolm as well as Edgar Barrier, Alan Napier, Erskine Sanford, Peggy Webber and Lurene Tuttle.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 1.37:1 full-screen picture; English DTS-HD Master Audio monaural; English subtitles.
Don’t miss: The extras include commentary tracks by novelist and critic Tim Lucas and Wells biographer Joseph McBride, an interview with film historian Michael Anderegg on Welles and his Shakespearean movies; an interview with filmmaker Peter Bogdanovich about Welles; a look at the movie’s restoration;; and “Free Republic — Herbert J. Yates and the Story of Republic Pictures featuring an interview with archivist Marc Wanamaker.
Revival 69: The Concert That Rocked the World (DVD)
Details: 2024, Kino Lorber-Greenwich Entertainment
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: A documentary that goes behind the scenes at the 1969 Toronto Rock and Roll revival music festival.
The program included Little Richard, The Doors, Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley, Alice Cooper, Jerry Lee Lewis, Chicago and the debut of John Lennon and Yoko Ono with their Plastic Ono Band.
The concert helped trigger Lennon’s decision to leave the Beatles, a milestone event in rock history.
The movie is a must-see events for music fans, mixing interviews with performances.
Technical aspects: 1.78:1 (16×9 enhanced) widescreen picture; English 5.1 Dolby digital; English SDH subtitles.
Act of Violence (Blu-ray)
Release date: June 25
Details: 1948, Warner Archive Collection-Allied Vaughn
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: A postwar noir drama starring Van Heflin and Robert Ryan as former POWs still scarred from their wartime experiences.
Heflin, a supporting actor Academy Award-winner for his performance in “Johnny Eager,’ portrays Frank Enly, who a German camp and returned home a hero. He has built a good life and business.
But when Ryan’s Joe Parkson comes to town, Enly flees. Enly’s life and sanity begins to unravel.
The movie examines whether Enly is a lying traitor who sold out the lives of fellow POWs who were planning on escaping and Parkson, who is a somewhat mentally unstable claims, or is Enly a victim of survivor’s guilt that has suddenly re-emerged because of Parkson’s arrival.
The movie, directed by Fred Zinnemann, also features Janet Leigh, Mary Astor, Phyllis Thaxter, Barry Kroeger and Harry Antrim.
The Blu-ray can be ordered at www.moviezyng.com or other online sellers.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 1.37:1 (16×9 enhanced) full-screen picture; English 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio; English SDH subtitles.
Don’t miss: Extras include a commentary track with film historian Dr. Drew Casper, a featurette about the movie and two cartoons.
“Film Noir: The Dark Side of Cinema XIX” (Blu-ray)
Release date: June 18
Details: 1950-52, Kino Lorber Studio Classics
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: Barbara Stanwyck, Charlton Heston, Ida Lupino and Robert Ryan are among the stars featured in this latest trio of film noir thrillers.
First up is “Dark City” (1950), which stars Heston — in his film debut — as a cynical gambler who, after a stranger loses his company’s $5,000 cashier’s check in a crooked card game and commits suicide, worries — along with the other gamblers — worry about cashing the check.
That soon becomes the least of his problems after the head of the group is found hanged. A police captain, played by Dean Jagger, concludes the hanging is murder and discovers that the dead stranger has a mentally deranged brother, played by Mike Mazurki, who specialized in playing deadly brutes. The brother is out for revenge on all those he holds responsible for his brother’s death.
Lizbeth Scott plays a torch singer madly in love with Heston’s character who begs him to flee the city with her before it is too late. Of note, is that two of the other card players are portrayed by Jack Webb and Harry Morgan, who costarred in Webb’s reboot of his “Dragnet” TV series in 1967.
The movie was directed by veteran William Dieterle.
Stanwyck stars in “No Man of Her Own” (1950) as a pregnant woman, penniless and alone after being dumped by her sleazy boyfriend, Steve played by Lyle Bettger.
Stanwyck’s Helen assumes the identity of a pregnant woman killed in a train crash. Soon enough though, her past catches up with her when Steve returns and demands money to keep her secret from the man she loves, played by John Lund.
Mitchell Leisen (“Death Takes a Holiday,” “Murder at the Vanities”) directed the movie, adapted from a book the crime novelist Cornell Woolrich.
Lupino is the star of “Beware, My Lovely” (1952) as wealthy widow Helen Gordon who hires drifter Howard Wilton (Ryan) as a handyman to do chores around her large mansion.
What she does not know is that Wilton suffers from memory lapses and extreme mood swings. Soon, Gordon is a prisoner in her own home after Wilton locks all the doors and tears out the telephone.
His moods shift from violence to complacency. And after Gordon is able to get a message to the police, she discovers Wilton still is in the house.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 1.37:1 full-screen picture; English DTS-HD Master Audio; English subtitles.
Don’t miss: Bonus materials include a commentary track on “Dark City” by film historian-author Alan IK. Rode; two commentaries on “No Man of Her Own,” one by film historian Imogen Sara Smith and the other by film historian Julie Kirgo and writer-filmmaker Peter Hankoff; and a commentary on “Beware, My Lovely” by professor and film scholar Jason A. Ney.
Narrow Margin (4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray)
Details: 1990, Kino Lorber Studio Classics
Rated: R, violence, language
The lowdown: This remake of a 1952 noir thriller stars Gene Hackman as a Los Angeles district attorney attempting to take an unwilling murder witness, played by Anne Archer, back from Canada to the City of Angels to testify against a powerful mob boss.
Trying to outrun a couple of hitmen sent to silence her, Hackman’s Robert Caulfield and Archer’s Carol Hunnicut board a Vancouver-bound train only to find that the killers also are onboard.
A cat-and-mouse game ensues for the next 20 hours as the train hurtles through the beautiful by isolated Canadian wilderness. Caulfield and Hunnicut must also be able to discern friend from foe in order to stay alive.
The 97-minute film costars James B. Sikking, J.T. Walsh, M. Emmet Walsh, Susan Hogan and Harris Yulin.
The movie was filmed, written and directed by Peter Hyams.
This version, while not as well liked as the original, still offers some solid sequences and suspenseful moments.
Technical aspects: 4K: 2160p ultra-high definition, 2.35:1 widescreen picture; English 5.1 and 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio; English SDH subtitles; Blu-ray: 1080p high definition, 2.35:1 widescreen picture; English 5.1 and 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio; English SDH subtitles.
Don’t miss: Extras include a commentary track by Hymans, another by film historian-critic Peter Tonguette, a making of featurette and selected sound bites and B-rolls.
Who’s That Girl” (Blu-ray)
Details: 1987, Shout! Studios
Rated: PG, humor
The lowdown: Nikki Finn (Madonna) is paroled from prison after serving four years for a crime she claims she did not commit.
Upon her release, she sets out to clear her name.
The farcical, romantic comedy costars Griffin Dunne as Loudon Trott, who is ordered by his boss, Montgomery Bell (Sir John MilIs) to pick Nikki up, drop her off at the bus station and whisk her out of town.
Nikki has other plans that, in the end, upend Trott’s plans.
The movie, though uneven at times, will appeal more to fans of Madonna, than the average moviegoer. It is not bad as some critics made it out.
The cast also includes John McMartin, Bibi Besch and Haviland Morris.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 1.85:1 widescreen picture; English 5.1 and 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio; English SDH subtitles.
Don’t miss: A commentary track by film historian Russell Dyball is the main extra.
The North Star / Armored Attack (Blu-ray)
Release date: June 25
Details: 1943, 1957, Kino Lorber Studio Classics
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: This Blu-ray shows how the political climate can alter the perception of a movie.
“The North Star,” released in 1943 during the midst of World War II, portrays our-then Russian allies as brave and resourceful as the battled German Nazi invaders.
But by 1957, the Soviet Union and the United States were in the midst of a Cold War. Thus, the movie was re-edited from the 106-minute 1943 release to a truncated 76 minutes with all references to the allied Russian military excised and an overtly anti-Communist narration track added.
I recommend, as always, watching the original version of a movie, thus “The North Star,” which earned six Academy Award nominations, is the best version of the film to view as it preserves director Lewis Milestone’s original vision of the feature.
The cast includes Anne Baxter, Dana Andrews, Dean Jagger, Walter Brennan, Farley Granger, Walter Huston, Ann Harding, Jane Withers and Erich Von Stroheim.
The original story and screenplay for “The North Star” was written by famed playwright Lilian Hellman.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 1.37:1 full-screen picture; English DTS-HD Master Audio monaural; English subtitles.
Don’t miss: Two commentary tracks, one by film and arts critic Adrian Martin for “The North Star,” the other for “Armored Attack” by filmmaker-historian Steve Mitchell and Steven Jay Rubin, author of “Combat Films: American Realism,” comprise the extras.
Blown Away (4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray)
Details: 1994, Kino Lorber Studio Classics
Rated: R, graphic violence, language
The lowdown: This formulaic thriller pits Boston bomb squad expert Jimmy Dove (Jeff Bridges) against his former mentor, IRA terrorist Ryan Gaerity (Tommy Lee Jones) in a deadly cat-and-mouse story about retribution and coming to terms with your past.
Examining the evidence, Dove comes to realize that the bomber is Gaerity, his former mentor, who has escaped from a British prison. Not only does Gaerity want to create havoc he wants revenge on his former colleague, by hurting everyone close to him.
The film, which also features Lloyd Bridges, Forest Whitaker and Suzi Amis, contains some questionable plot holes and motivations that are hard to overcome.
Plus at 121 minutes, the film’s pacing is somewhat uneven.
Still, fans of Bridges and Jones will find the movie satisfactory.
Technical aspects: 4K: 2160p ultra-high definition, 2.35:1 widescreen picture; English 5.1 and 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio; English SDH subtitles; Blu-ray: 1080p high definition, 2.35:1 widescreen picture; English 5.1 and 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio; English SDH subtitles.
Don’t miss: Two commentary tracks, one by director Stephen Hopkins, the other by film historians Mike Leeder and Arne Venemo; a making of featurette; and a music video comprise the supplemental options.
Other titles being released on Tuesday, unless otherwise indicated:
DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, STREAMING or VOD
Chestnut (Utopia)
Chicken for Linda! (GKids-Shout! Studios)
Cold Blows the Wind (Lion Heart Distribution)
Conversion (Gravitas Ventures)
Geoff McFetridge: Drawing a Life (Gravitas)
Last Night on Earth (Uncork’d Entertainment)
Music for Black Pigeons (Prime Video-Apple TV+-First Run Features)
Unsung Hero (Lionsgate Home Entertainment)
JULY 3
Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F (Netflix)
Land of Women: Episode 3 (Apple TV+)
Presumed Innocent: Episode 5 (Apple TV+)
Trying: Season 4, Episode 8 (Apple TV+)
JULY 4
Casablanca Beats (Prime Video-Kino Film Collection)
Space Cadet (Prime Video)
JULY 5
Back to Black (Universal Pictures Home Entertainment)
Murder Company (Maverick Company)
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.