New to View: Dec. 3
By Bob Bloom
The following titles are being released on Tuesday, Dec. 3, unless otherwise noted:
Alien: Romulus (Blu-ray + digital)
Details: 2024, Buena Vista-Disney Studios Home Entertainment
Rated: R, bloody violent content, language
The lowdown: The seventh film in the “Alien” franchise is heavy on links to the original “Alien” (1979) as well as “Prometheus” (2012), going so far as to have the android in “Romulus” resemble Ian Holm’s Ash from the first movie.
The film’s underlying villain, of course, is the soulless Weyland-Yutani corporation that has recovered a large cocoon from the wreckage of the “Nostromo,” the ship from the original.
Months later on the always dark colony of LV-410, orphaned colonist Rain Carradine (Cailee Spaeny, “Priscilla,” “Civil War”) learns that the corporation has forcibly extended her contract.
Angered, she is determined to escape and joins a plan with her adopted brother, Andy, a reprogrammed android; and four others. They commandeer a hauler to reach Renaissance, a corporate station split into two modules — Romulus and Remus, to steal cryostasis equipment for a multi-year journey to a planet not associated with the corporation.
Many obstacles keep them from finalizing their goal, most of which center on face-hugger parasites and xenomorphs that begin killing the young people one by one.
The movie’s finale allows for another sequel, which is probably coming in a year or two. The movie was well received, earning an 80 percent fresh rating at Rotten Tomatoes.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 2.39:1 widescreen picture; English 7.1 DTS-HD Master Audio, 2.0 Dolby digital descriptive audio and French and Spanish 5.1 Dolby digital; English SDH, French and Spanish subtitles.
Don’t miss: Bonus components include a four-part behind the scenes look at the making of the movie, a look inside the xenomorph showdown extended and alternate scenes and an “Alien: A Conversation” featurette.
Aguirre, the Wrath of God: Collector’s Edition (4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray)
Details: 1972, Shout! Studios-Shout! Select
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: Klaus Kinski gives a bravura performance as Don Lope de Aguirre, a conquistador in the service of Gonzalo Pizzaro (Allejandro Repullés) who, after destroying the Incan empire in the mid-16th century, leads his army over the Andes into the heart of the most savage region on Earth in search of legendary City of Gold.
The arduous trek has the soldiers battling starvation, savages, nature and each other.
It is in this environment that Aguirre, consumed with visions of conquering all of South America, revolts and, leading an army of his own down a treacherous river, begins a doomed quest that leads to oblivion.
Kinski aptly displays Aguirre’s growing and quiet decent into madness as his mutinous expedition costs more and more lives.
The violent historical drama, written, produced and directed by the great Werner Herzog, is a masterpiece, shot on location in the Peruvian rainforest. It garnered a 96 percent fresh rating at Rotten Tomatoes.
Technical aspects: 4K: 2160p ultra-high definition, 1.33:1 full-screen picture; German 5.1 and 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio and English 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio; English SDH subtitles; Blu-ray: 1080p high definition, 1.33:1 full-screen picture; German 5.1 and 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio and English 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio; English SDH subtitles.
Don’t miss: Supplemental options include commentary tracks in German and English by Herzog on both discs.
The Dead Don’t Hurt (Blu-ray)
Details: 2024, Shout! Studios
Rated: R, violence, language, sexual situations
The lowdown: Viggo Mortensen produced, wrote, directed and stars in this Western that combines action, thrills and romance in this story of two people trying to forge a life together in this untamed frontier.
The movie begins in San Francisco in the 1860s where independent Vivienne Le Coudy (Vicky Krieps) finds herself drawn to Danish immigrant Holger Olsen (Mortensen). She accompanies him to his quiet Nevada homestead.
The Civil War separates the two, as Olsen goes off to fight and Vivienne is left to fend for herself.
When Olsen returns, he discovers they have no enemies — a corrupt, cutthroat businessman named Alfred Jeffries (Garret Dillahunt), his unhinged, violent son, Weston (Solly McLeod), and Rudolph Schiller (Danny Huston), a deceptively friendly mayor who could upend their lives completely.
The movie’s structure, jumping between flashbacks and flash forwards, is a bit disconcerting, but overall the feature, which earned an 85 percent fresh rating at Rotten Tomatoes, holds your attention.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 2.35:1 widescreen picture; English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio; English SDH subtitles.
Don’t miss: A making-of featurette, deleted scenes and a discussion between director Jane Campion and Mortensen comprise the bonus materials.
The Blood Ship (Blu-ray)
Details: 1927, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment-Allied Vaughn
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: A seafaring silent film staged by director George B. Seitz on a full-size clipper.
The story concerns Jim Newman (Hobart Bosworth), a disgraced sea captain, who signs on as one of the crew of a cargo ship. It’s captain is Angus Swope (Walter James), a sadistic brute who had to shanghai most of the crew, since most of the sailors from his last voyage fled.
The new crew is held in check by Swope and his vicious first mate Fitz (perennial villain Fred Kohler)
Newman, who was framed and imprisoned on a murder charge, discovers that Swope is the individual who took his wife and daughter.
Also on board is young John Shreve (Richard Arlen) who is in love with Mary (Jacqueline Logan, “The King of the Kongo”). Newman believes Mary is Swope’s daughter, but later learns, after Swope discovers Newman’s identity and puts him irons, that she actually is his.
Events play out as Shreve and Mary free Newman who, with their help, lead the crew in a mutiny against their evil taskmasters.
This is a complete version of the movie comprised of sources from the British Film Institute and a 16mm reel from the UCLA Film & Television Archive.
A newly composed score by Donald Sosin, complements the action.
The Blu-ray can be purchased at www.movieZyng.com or other online retailers.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 1.33:1 full-screen picture; English 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio (music track); English intertitles and SDH subtitles.
Scala!!! (Or, the Incredibly Strange Rise and Fall of the World’s Wildest Cinema and How It Influenced a Mixed-up Generation of Weirdos and Misfits (Blu-ray)
Details: 2023, Severin Films
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: A documentary that looks at London’s most infamous repertory movie theater-pleasure dome that screened more than 4,000 movies that, during the politically volatile years of 1978 to 1993, influenced a generation of filmmakers, actors, writers, musicians and activists.
This look at The Scala Cinema features rare archival footage, clips from Scala favorites and interviews with former audience members, guests and staff including John Waters, Ben Wheatley, Kim Newman, Mary Harron and Matt Johnson, among others.
The set features two other discs that include the new documentary “Splatterfest Exhumed” that looks at the 1990 all-night horror festival, and 12 Scala-screened short films.
This set is a must for true film buffs even if you never “crossed the pond” to visit the Scala.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 1.78:1 widescreen picture; English 5.1 and 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio; English SDH subtitles.
Don’t miss: Extras include commentary tracks, an introduction to the documentary, extended interviews, 1978-93, programs, a look inside the Scala archive, outtakes, cartoons by Davey Jones, animation experiments and outtakes and short films.
The Visit (4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray)
Details: 2015, Kino Lorber Studio Classics
Rated: PG-13, disturbing thematic material, terror, violence, nudity, language
The lowdown: Filmmaker M. Night Shyamalan is up to his parlor tricks again with “The Visit.”
The story is simplicity itself: Two children who have never met their mother’s parents make their initial trip to the rural Pennsylvania town where the elderly couple live.
Nana and Pop Pop are seemingly normal and loving people, albeit a bit strange. They interact nicely with 12-year-old Tyler and 15-year-old Becca.
But Shyamalan offers hints that something is out of kilter and just waiting to barrel to the forefront. He drops hints here and there, but in such an innocuous manner that you are not sure whether or not to take him seriously.
Despite the film’s lighter moments — and there are many — an ominous air of foreboding hangs over the feature like a brightly lit, oversized chandelier.
Shyamalan succeeds in playing off the audience’s expectations, knowing that we will expect something unexpected. He teases constantly — keep an eye on the big kitchen oven — then sneaks in a jab when we are looking the other way.
“The Visit,” which garnered a 68 percent fresh rating at Rotten Tomatoes, is an entertaining but uneven concoction that showcases what Shyamalan does best — manipulate and distract his audience, creating an uneasiness and goose bumps that we have been eagerly waiting for several years.
Technical aspects: 4K: 2160p ultra-high definition, 1.85:1 widescreen picture; English 5.1 and 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio; English SDH subtitles; Blu-ray: 1080p high definition, 1.85:1 widescreen picture; English 5.1 and 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio; English SDH subtitles.
Don’t miss: Extras include a commentary track by entertainment journalists-authors Bryan Reesman and Max Evry and, on the Blu-ray disc, a making of featurette, interviews with cast members and filmmakers, 10 deleted scenes, an alternate ending, behind-the-scenes footage and Becca’s photos’ image gallery.
Starring Jerry as Himself (DVD)
Details: 2023, Kino Lorber-Greenwich Entertainment
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: A feature that is a documentary-spy thriller hybrid about Jerry, a convention immigrant dad living the good life as a retiree in Orlando.
His life and that of his family is upended when he is recruited to be an undercover agent for the Chinese police.
Jerry’s family recreates the events on film as his three sons discover a darker truth about their dad.
The film examines views on immigrants and senior citizens. It’s an entertaining story of memory and trust that received a 100 percent fresh rating at Rotten Tomatoes.
Technical aspects: 2.39:1 (16×9 enhanced) widescreen picture; English and Mandarin 5.1 and 2.0 Dolby digital; English SDH subtitles.
“Hard Wood: The Adult Features of Ed Wood” (Blu-ray)
Details: 1962-72, Severin Films
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: To many Ed Wood is known as the idealistic filmmaker portrayed by Johnny Depp in “Ed Wood.”
To film buffs, he is known as the auteur director of such schlocky fare as “Glen or Glenda,” “Bride of the Monster” and “Plan Nine from Outer Space.”
This enthusiastic filmmaker had another side. Near the end of his career, earned money by writing and directing explicit adult films. And this set features three of those movies: “The Only House in Town” (1970), “Necromania” (1971) and “The Young Marrieds” (1971).
The set offers the soft- and hard-core versions of “Necromania” and “The Young Marrieds” and the softcore version of “The Only House in Town.”
How to describe these movies? Well, “The Only House in Town” is about bootleggers, ghosts and, as described by Wood, lust, rape, crime, sex, love, money, blood, lesbians, whores and orgies. Basically, it is a story of a house and what it does to people’s minds.
“Necromania” is about a married couple having sexual problems who decide to hire a necromancer and her assistant who work out of a spooky house.
A husband tries to loosen up his wife’s inhibitions in “The Young Marrieds” and gets the surprise of his life when he learns she is more sexually active than him.
These movies definitely are not art, but fans of Wood and completists of his work may want to include them in their collections.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 1.33:1 full-screen picture; English monaural; English subtitles.
Don’t miss: Among the extras is another Wood extravaganza, “Shotgun Wedding” (1962), a hicksploitation flick featuring J. Pat O’Malley and William Schallert; commentary tracks on all three movies; a “Sex Loops” short with subtitles by Wood; an episode of “The Incredibly Strange Film Show” with Dana Gould and Bobcat Goldthwait; interviews with filmmaker Fred Olen Ray on his ill-fated Wood collaboration and with author Carl Abrahamsson.
1,000 Convicts and a Woman (Blu-ray)
Release date: Nov. 26
Details: 1971, Kino Lorber Studio Classics
Rated: R, sexual content, language
The lowdown: This slice of British sexploitation centers on a blonde nymphomaniac who, after schooling in America, returns to swinging England.
She has two things on her mind — fun and games. Unfortunately, her home is in the Greybourne Prison where her strict father is the warden.
So the wild young lady begins a sexual odyssey by seducing guards and inmates alike right under the upturned nose of her father. With her on site, I doubt any inmates will want to escape.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 1.85:1 widescreen picture; English 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio; English subtitles.
Don’t miss: A commentary track and interviews with filmmakers and cast members comprise the bonus materials.
The Forge (Blu-ray + digital)
Details: 2024, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
Rated: PG, thematic elements
The lowdown: A faith-based drama about Isaiah, a young man a year out of high school, with no job and no direction.
Isaiah is dealing with emotional wounds from his past. He is at odds with his single mother, who gives him an ultimatum — step up or move out.
Isaiah, after an unexpected encounter with a successful businessman, is hired at Moore Fitness. He has no idea how the prayers of his mother and mentorship of his new boss will affect the course of his life.
This is one of those inspirational features that may help lift your spirits.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition 2.39:1 widescreen picture; English, French and Spanish 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio and English 5.1 Dolby digital audio description track; English SDH, English,, French and Spanish subtitles.
Don’t miss: Extras include a making of featurette, a commentary track with the directors, deleted scenes, bloopers, a “The Heart of ‘The Forge’ ” featurette and a follow-up resources information data.
Other titles being released on Tuesday, unless otherwise indicated:
Kickboxer: Steelbook (4K Ultra HD + DVD + digital) (Lionsgate Home Entertainment)
Never Let Go (Blu-ray & DVD) (Lionsgate Home Entertainment)
The Whitest Kids U’Know: Complete Series (DVD) (Shout! Studios)
DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, STREAMING or VOD
Christmas Eve in Miller’s Point (IFC Films)
Close Your Eyes (Film Movement)
Exhibiting Forgiveness (Lionsgate Home Entertainment)
Merry Christmas (Shout! Studios)
Much Ado About Dying (First Run Features)
DEC. 4
Bad Sisters: Season 2, Episode 5 (Apple TV+)
Shrinking: Season 2, Episode 9 (Apple TV+)
You Would Do It Too (Tú También lo Harías): Episode 7 (Apple TV+)
DEC. 5
Ace of Base: That’s All That She Wants (Viaplay)
Banel & Adama (Kino Film Collection)
The Holly and the Ivy (Kino Film Collection)
DEC. 6
Before: Episode 8 (Apple TV+)
Chateau (Quiver Distribution)
The Invisible Raptor (Well Go USA Entertainment)
Me and the Beasts (Film Movement Plus)
Paris Has Fallen (Hulu)
Silo: Season 2, Episode 4 (Apple TV+)
You Are Not Me (Music Box Films)
DEC. 7
Freediver (Paramount Pictures)
Coming next week: Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey II
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.