New to View: Sept. 17

By Bob Bloom
The following titles are being released on Tuesday, Sept. 17, unless otherwise noted:
Reacher: Season Two (Blu-ray)
Details: 2023-24, Paramount Home Entertainment-Prime Video
Rated: Not rated, violence, language, sexual content
The lowdown: Jack Reacher, played by Alan Ritchson, returns in this two-disc set featuring all eight second-season episodes.
When members of Reacher’s old military unit start being murdered, he will not stop until he exacts revenge and justice.
Reacher is joined by fellow unit members Frances Neagley (Maria Sten), forensic accountant Karla Dixon (Serinda Swan) and fast-talking David O’Donnell (Shaun Sipos).
Ritchson’s Reacher is a single-minded individual with a strict moral code of honor and a keen sense of right.
He and his team search for motives behind the killings, while they pursue a shadowy killer and try to unravel the deadly conspiracy that claimed their comrades.
The cast also includes Robert Patrick and Ferdinand Kingsley.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 2.00:1 widescreen picture; English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio, English audio description track and French 5.1 Dolby digital; English SDH, English and French subtitles.

Inside Out 2 (Blu-ray + DVD + digital)
Release date: Sept. 10
Details: 2024, Buena Vista-Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment-Pixar
Rated: PG, thematic elements
The lowdown: In this animated sequel, Riley has entered her teenage years and headquarters must make room for new emotions.
Joy, Sadness, Anger, Fear and Disgust are not very happy about the renovations — or their new tenants, including Anxiety, Embarrassment, Ennui and Envy. And because Riley is experiencing teenage emotions, these newcomers seem to be taking over.
The sequel is smart, capturing the turmoil most of us remember — or have tried to forget — about our teen years.
Returning cast members Amy Poehler, Lewis Black, Tony Hale, Liza Lapira and Phyllis Smith are Maya Hawke as Anxiety, Ayo Edebiri as Envy, Paul Walter Hauser as Embarrassment and Adele Exarchopoulos as Ennui.
The movie, garnered a 91 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, 5.1 DTS-HDHR, 2.0 Dolby digital and 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 5.1 and 2.0 Dolby digital, 2.0 Dolby digital descriptive audio and Spanish 5.1 Dolby digital; English SDH and Spanish subtitles.
Don’t miss: Extras include a featurette on cast members and filmmakers talking about creating the new emotions, deleted scenes and a featurette on exploring the inspiration for Riley’s repressed memories.

“Film Noir: The Dark Side of Cinema XX” (Blu-ray)
Details: 1950-54, Kino Lorber Studio Classics
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: Alan Ladd, Jack Webb and Dorothy McGuire are among the actors featured in this three-disc set of film noir offerings.
“Captain Carey, U.S.A.” (1950) stars Ladd as a former OSS operative who returns to Italy after World War II to avenge the death of his lover, Guilia (Wanda Hendrix), and his fellow operatives who were killed during a mission to knock out a German-held Italian railroad system.
The OSS members were betrayed. Carey discovers that Guilia is still alive and married to an Italian nobleman, played by Francis Lederer. Carey uncovers the traitor, of course, and sets things right.
The cast also features Joseph Calleia, Celia Lovsky and Frank Puglia.
Ladd returns in “Appointment with Danger” (1951) playing a postal inspector assigned to investigate the killing of a fellow officer.
The only witness is Sister Augustine (Phyllis Calvert), who leads Ladd’s Al Goddard to a million-dollar mail robbery. The movie costars Webb, Harry Morgan, Paul Stewart and Jan Sterling, and, for the interest of Hoosiers, takes place in Gary, LaPorte and Fort Wayne.
“Make Haste to Live” (1954) stars McGuire as Crystal Benson who, with her daughter, Randy, is believed safe from her murderous husband, played by Stephen McNally, who is in prison. But when he is released after 18 years, he idea for a reunion is a killer.
McNally’s Steve wants to take Randy from Crystal as a way of tormenting his former wife. But will she succeed in saving herself and, more importantly, her daughter. The movie at times is muddled, which weakens its storyline.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 1.37:1 full-screen picture (“Captain Carey, U.S.A.” and “Appointment with Danger”) and 1.66:1 widescreen picture (“Make Haste to Live”)’; English 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio; English subtitles.
Don’t miss: The main extras are commentary tracks on all three movies.

The Chronicles of Riddick: Limited Edition (4K Ultra HD)
Details: 2004, Arrow Films
Rated: PG-13, intense violence, language
The lowdown: A three-disc set that offers the theatrical and director’s cuts of this Vin Diesel sequel to “Pitch Black.”
The story finds Riddick, an escaped convict, being sought by bounty hunters while being recruited to stop the Necromongers, a sect led by Lord Marshal that wants to annihilate all humans life in the galaxy in its attempt for universal dominance.
Along the way he also stops to rescue an old friend from a prison planet.
And while the new 4K restoration of the movie looks and sounds very good, it cannot compensate for the story’s heavy-handiness and lack of cohesion. The production values also help cover up the film’s flaws.
The cast also includes Colm Feore, Thandiwe Newton, Judi Dench, Karl Urban, Alexa Davelos, Keith David, Linus Roache and Nick Chinlund.
The movie, while not a hit with critics, is a guilty-pleasure feature that fans of Diesel will appreciate.
Technical aspects: 2160p ultra-high definition, 2.40:1 (theatrical and director’s cuts) and 1.78:1 alternate widescreen picture (theatrical cut); English Dolby Atmos, 7.1 Dolby TrueHD and 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio; English SDH subtitles.
Don’t miss: The hours of extras include a booklet with new writing about the movie, original production notes and the “Chronicles Compendium,” an overview of the characters and planets featured in the movie; a feature-length documentary on the movie featuring director David Twohy, David, Roache, storyboard artist Brian Murray and others; an interview with Twohy on the creation of Riddick; an interview with Murray on his continuing work within the Riddick saga; an interview with David as his role of Iman; an archival commentary track with Twohy and Diesel; a second with Twohy, Davelos and Urban; an archival introduction by Twohy; a look at the creation of New Mecca, focusing on the world and characters of Helion Prime; an archival featurette on the prison planet of Crematoria; an archival look on the world of the Necromongers; an archival look at the special effects; a series of short behind-the-scenes videos; a series of short behind-the-scene segments; three deleted scenes; a series of short animated segments explaining the world of the movie; “Toombs’ Chase Log,” a short film narrated by Chinlund in character; a guided tour of the set by Diesel, including a 360-degree panoramic view of eight sets; on-set interviews with Twohy, Diesel, Dench, Urban, Feore, Davelos, Newton and producer Scott Kroopf; promotional interviews with Twohy, Diesel, Newton, Urban, Davelos and Feore; an Easter egg; a TV special produced to promote the film’s release; and “Escape from Butcher Bay,” a compilation of cut scenes from the tie-in video game.

“Film Noir: The Dark Side of Cinema XXI” (Blu-ray)
Details: 1946-57, Kino Lorber Studio Classics
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: Among the three features in this set is the only movie directed by James Cagney, as well as films with Gary Cooper, Lee Marvin, Terry Moore, Lilli Palmer and Frank Lovejoy.
Cooper stars in “Cloak and Dagger” (1946) as a physicist recruited by the OSS during World War II to obtain military secrets in Europe concerning German efforts to build an atomic bomb.
Of course, the movie loses some of its impact because by the time it was released the war was over and the United States had dropped two atomic bombs on Japan.
The movie, directed by Fritz Lang, also features Robert Alda, Vladimir Sokoloff, J. Edward Bromberg, Ludwig Stössel, Dan Seymour, Helene Thimig and Marc Lawrence.
Moore stars in “Shack Out on 101” (1955) as an attractive waitress at a seaside café who gets caught up in a web of treachery when she learns her workplace is a secret station for spies.
Lovejoy, Marvin,, Keenan Wynn, Whit Bissell and Frank DeKova costar.
Cagney’s “Short Cut to Hell” is a remake of “This Gun for Hire,” the movie that made Alan Ladd a star.
Robert Ivers plays the hitman hired to commit to killings, only to be double-crossed by the man who hired him.
Fleeing, the hitman kidnaps the girlfriend of the police detective in charge of pursing him.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 1.37:1 full-screen picture (“Cloak and Dagger”) and 1.85:1 widescreen picture (“Shack Out on 101” and “Short Cut to Hell”); English 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio; English subtitles.
Don’t miss: Commentaries on each film comprise the bonus components.

Torso: Limited Edition (4K Ultra HD)
Details: 1973, Arrow Films
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: An Italian giallo horror-thriller from director Sergio Martino that centers on four young women who head for safety to an isolated country villa because of a series of strangulation sex murders on a college campus.
Of course, the killer follows them, leading to more killings.
The movie is more atmospheric than gory. It also features some topless-nude scenes of the attractive females that include Suzy Kendall and Tina Aumont.
The cast also features John Richardson, Luc Merenda and Roberto Bisacco.
Fans of the giallo genre will find the movie most acceptable. Please note that the audio track of the original, longer cut has some portions of the English audio track missing, so that parts are in Italian with English subtitles.
Technical aspects: 2160p ultra-high definition, 1.66:1 widescreen picture; Italian and English LPCM monaural; English SDH and English subtitles.
Don’t miss: Extras include a commentary track by Kat Ellinger; interviews with Martino, Merenda, co-writer Ernesto Gastaldi, filmmaker Federica Martino, daughter of the director and author Mikel J. Koven; alternate opening and closing credits for the U.S. version; a question-and-answer session with Martino at the 2017 Abetoir International Horror Festival; and a booklet with writings about the movie.

Other titles being released on Tuesday, unless otherwise indicated:
DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, STREAMING or VOD
Child Star (Hulu)
Devil’s Men (Indican Pictures)
Macunaima (Kino Lorber)
Marriage Italian Style (Kino Lorber)
Only Murders in the Building: Season 4, Episode 4 (Hulu)
The Pitch: Patient Safety’s Next Generation (Gravitas Ventures)
Sirocco and the Kingdom of Winds (Shout! Studios)
Voice of Shadows (Scatena & Rosner Films-Apple TV+- Prime Video)
Warchief (Lionsgate Home Entertainment)
Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow (Kino Lorber)
SEPT. 18
American Sports Story: Aaron Hernandez: Episodes 1 & 2 (Hulu)
Bad Monkey: Episode 7 (Apple TV+)
Slow Horses: Season 4, Episode 3 (Apple TV+)
Tell Me Lies: Season 2, Episode 4 (Hulu)
Women in Blue: Las Azules: Episode 9 (Apple TV+)
SEPT. 19
Bel-Air: Season 3, Episode 7 (Peacock)
On the Adamant (Kino Film Collection)
Reasonable Doubt: Season 2, Episode 6 (Hulu)
To Be and To Have (Kino Film Collection)
SEPT. 20
Any Day Now (Film Movement Plus)
Happy Clothes (Greenwich Entertainment)
How to Die Alone: Episode 5 (Hulu)
Last Shadow at First Light (IndiePix Unlimited)
Last Straw (Shout! Studios)
Long Gone Heroes (Lionsgate Home Entertainment)
La Maison: Episodes 1 & 2 (Apple TV+)
Pachinko: Season 2, Episode 5 (Apple TV+)
Sex Cowboys (Film Movement Plus)
The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry (Quiver Distribution)

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.