New to View: Jan. 28
By Bob Bloom
The following titles are being released on Tuesday, Jan. 28, unless otherwise noted:
Hundreds of Beavers (Blu-ray)
Details: 2022, Cartuna
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: This zany black-and-white feature centers on a 19th-century drunken applejack salesman who must redeem himself and become a hero by defeating hundreds of beavers.
This is a wild movies inspired by silent films and Looney Tunes-style cartoons. The film is loaded with old-school type jokes, physical comedy, sight gags and cartoonish grisly deaths that are not that offensive.
The movie seamlessly mixes live action and animation for 108 minutes of goofiness.
After some beavers destroy a large barrel of apple cider made by Jean Kayak (Ryland Brickson Cole Tews), Kayak decides to get into fur trading, thus he must trap and kill beavers — which puts him at odds with the local beaver population.
“Beavers” is nearly a silent film, with scant dialogue. It is an absurd, fun experience, with the Blu-ray set containing two cuts of the movie. The movie, co-written by Tews and director Mike Cheslik, earned an impressive 97 percent fresh rating at Rotten Tomatoes.
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: Bonus materials include sober, drunk and trashed commentary tracks, deleted scenes, a music video, sound design breakdowns, 100 photos of 100 beavers, a radio interview with Tews, an interview with Cheslik and a “Movies that Made Me” with Joe Dante and Josh Olson interviewing Tews and Cheslik.
Here (Blu-ray + digital)
Release date: Jan. 21
Details: 2024, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
Rated: PG-13, thematic and suggestive materials, brief strong language, smoking
The lowdown: Director Robert Zemeckis loves to experiment with technology as he did in “Forrest Gump.”
Here he reunites his two stars from that film, Tom Hanks and Robin Wright, to tell a story that spans generations.
However, the gimmick of basically setting the movie in one room, overwhelms the story Zemeckis and his co-screenwriter Eric Roth, want to tell. Their script is formulaic and filled with cliches and the de-aging technology used for Hanks and Wright is more of a distraction than an asset.
The movie’s technical prowess thus overshadows its human sensibilities, sapping the strength of the storytelling.
A majority of critics thought so as well, awarding the movie a 39 percent fresh rating at Rotten Tomatoes.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 1.78:1 widescreen picture; English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio and 5.1 Dolby digital audio description track; English SDH, English and Spanish subtitles.
Don’t miss: Supplemental options include a making of featurette and deleted scenes.
Winchester ’73: Combo Edition (4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray)
Details: 1950, The Criterion Collection
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: This is the first of eight movies — five of which were Westerns on which James Stewart and director Anthony Mann collaborated.
In a majority of the Westerns, Stewart portrayed flawed and obsessed characters who would let nothing get in his way to achieve his goals.
In “Winchester ’73,” Stewart plays Lin McAdam who is on a mission of revenge. He hopes to use a shooting tournament in Dodge City to draw out Dutch Henry Brown, an outlaw for whom McAdam has a personal score to settle.
Also enticing McAdam is a new Winchester 73 rifle, which will go to the winner of the tournament.
McAdam and Brown compete with only Marshal Wyatt Earp keeping the two from fighting each other in his town.
McAdam wins the rifle, but Brown later sneaks into his hotel room, knocks him out and steals the weapon.
Thus begins an odyssey in which McAdam and his partner, High Spade Frankie Wilson (Millard Mitchell) chase Brown (Stephen McNally) until the climax in mountainous terrain outside the town of Tascosa, Texas.
In a rifle shootout, McAdam kills Brown, who turns out to be his brother and the killer of their father.
Beside McAdam’s hunt for Brown, is his preoccupation with retrieving his stolen trophy that, throughout the movie, is passed from person to person.
The movie, which earned a 100 percent fresh rating at Rotten Tomatoes, costars Shelley Winters, Dan Duryea, Charles Drake, John McIntire, Will Geer, Jay C. Flippen and, in very minor roles, young Rock Hudson and Tony Curtis.
Technical aspects: 4K: 2160p ultra-high definition, 1.35:1 full-screen picture; English LPCM monaural; English SDH subtitles; Blu-ray: 1080p high definition, 1.35:1 full-screen picture; English LPCM monaural; English SDH subtitles.
Don’t miss: Supplemental materials on the Blu-ray disc include an archival commentary track with Stewart and film historian Paul Lindenschmidt, a new interview with film programmer Adam Piron on the portrayal of Native Americans in the Western genre; a featurette on Mann’s career at Universal Pictures, a 1951 “Lux Radio Theatre” adaptation of the movie and an essay by critic Imogen Sara Smith.
Teacher’s Pet (Blu-ray)
Details: 1958, Kino Lorber Studio Classics
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: Having worked at newspapers for almost 45 years, I enjoy movies about journalism and reporters — especially those that are more stereotypical than the real thing.
Movies such as “Spotlight” and “All the President’s Men” are great, but I relish such breezy fare as “The Front Page,” its gender-switching remake “His Girl Friday” and “Foreign Correspondent.”
One that I enjoy is “Teacher’s Pet,” a comedy starring Clark Gable and Doris Day. Gable, 57 at the time, plays Jim Gannon, an old-school newspaper editor who despises journalism schools as well as those who teach the newspaper profession.
That changes when he meets Erica Stone (Day, 36 at the time), a journalism teacher who had mocked him when he refused an invitation to speak to her class.
To get even, he masquerades as a novice and joins her class. Soon, Gannon is Stone’s prize pupil while he is working on making her his prize. So, yes, this is a romantic comedy with a newspaper background.
The cast also includes Gig Young, Nick Adams, Jack Albertson and Mamie Van Doren. The movie received Academy Award nominations for Young’s supporting performance and Fay and Michael Kanin’s original screenplay.
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 by film historian-writer Julie Kirgo and writer-filmmaker Peter Hankoff is the main extra.
Sea of Love (4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray)
Details: 1989, Kino Lorber Studio Classics
Rated: R, sexual situations, violence, language
The lowdown: Al Pacino stars as workaholic New York City detective Frank Keller who, working with detective Sherman Touhey (John Goodman), begins looking for a bizarre serial killer who seems to be linked to Helen Cruger (Ellen Barkin).
Despite evidence linking her to the murders, as well as doubts from others including Touhey, Keller believes she is innocent and begins a passionate affair with Cruger.
As suspense mounts and Keller’s faith in Cruger wavers, he continues to believe in her, leading to a surprising climax.
The movie, written by Richard Price and directed by Harold Becker, also features Michael Rooker, William Hickey and Richard Jenkins. The movie earned a 75 percent fresh rating at Rotten Tomatoes.
Technical aspects: 4K: 2160p ultra-high definition, 1.85:1 widescreen picture; English 5.1 and 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio; English subtitles; Blu-ray: 1080p high definition, 1.85:1 widescreen picture; English 5.1 and 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio; English subtitles.
Don’t miss: Extras include a commentary track by Becker and a second by film historians Howard S. Berger, Steve Mitchell and Nathaniel Thompson on both discs and, on the Blu-ray disc, a making of featurette and deleted scenes.
Running on Karma (Blu-ray)
Details: 2003, Eureka Entertainment
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: This crime thriller, co-directed by Johnnie To and Wai Ka-fai, stars Andy Lau as Biggie, a former Buddhist monk who left his vocation because of his unusual gift — the ability to see people’s past lives and predict the impact of karma upon their present and future.
Biggie has found a new life as a bodybuilder. His sixth sense for good soon draws him to Lee Fung-yee (Cecilia Cheung), a police officer investigating a homicide.
As the two grow closer and work together to solve the crime, their relationship is complicated by Biggie’s ability to see Lee’s past lives.
This interesting feature works to balance genre thrills with philosophical questions about spirituality and faith.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 1.85:1 widescreen picture; Cantonese stereo; English subtitles.
Don’t miss: Supplemental options include a commentary track with East Asian film experts Frank Djeng and F.J. DeSanto, a second commentary by Djeng, an interview with Gary Bettinson, editor-in-chief of “Asian Cinema” journal, an archival making of featurette and a collector’s booklet.
Shout at the Devil (Blu-ray)
Details: 1976, Kino Lorber Studio Classics
Rated: PG, violence
The lowdown: Lee Marvin and Roger Moore co-star in this World War I action feature set in German East Africa at the outbreak of the war.
Marvin is hard-drinking Irish-American Flynn O’Flynn and Moore is English aristocrat Sebastian Oldsmith, who have teamed up on a series of illegal poaching raids.
Their actions bring them to the attention of German Commissioner Herman Fleischer who uses his authority to exact a terrible punishment.
To exact revenge, O’Flynn and Oldsmith, who has begun a romance with his partners daughter, Rosa (Barbara Parkins), embark on a personal campaign against Fleischer.
Soon the partners are recruited by Allied forces to target and destroy an elusive German battleship.
The film, which also features Ian Holm, was directed by Peter R. Hunt and features a musical score by Maurice Jarre.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 2.35:1 widescreen picture; English 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio; English subtitles.
Don’t miss: The main extra is a commentary track by Marvin biographer Dwayne Epstein and filmmaker-historian Steve Mitchell.
Underworld Beauty (Blu-ray)
Details: 1958, Radiance Films
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: Miyamoto, a gangster recently released from prison, retrieves the diamonds he hid before he was arrested. He hopes to help his old partner, Mihara, who was crippled during the heist.
Their former boss, crime lord Oyane, offers to mediate a foreign buyer, but secretly wants the stones for himself. But the deal goes awry when gunmen appear on the scene.
To save the gems, Mihara swallows the diamonds, but dies in the chase, leaving a valuable corpse in the police morgue.
To keep the diamonds from the gangsters and police, Miyamoto forms an uneasy alliance with Mihara’s sister, Akiko.
This inventive noir feature from director Seijun Suzuki plays with genre rules and stereotypes, making for an entertaining outing.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 2.35:1 widescreen picture; Japanese LPCM monaural; English subtitles.
Don’t miss: Bonus features include a commentary track by Suzuki biographer William Carroll; a bonus feature by Suzuki, “Love Letter”; and an interview with critic Mizuki Kodama.
Orca: The Killer Whale (4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray)
Details: 1977, Kino Lorber Studio Classics
Rated: PG, violence
The lowdown: In the wake of the release and overwhelming success of “Jaws,” moviemakers began releasing hosts of imitations to try cashing on the fins of Steven Spielberg’s blockbuster.
“Orca” is one of those features. The movie is kind of a reverse “Moby Dick,” with boat captain Nolan (Richard Harris) being pursued by a male orca seeking revenge for the death of his mate and unborn calf by the boat’s captain and his crew.
The vengeful orca sinks fishing boats and disrupts an oil pipeline to get Nolan and his crew to chase him.
The cat-and-mouse game continues as most of Nolan’s crew is killed. Finally, the orca kills Nolan and swims off into the sunset — actually heading south.
The supporting cast includes Charlotte Rampling, Will Sampson, Bo Derek, Robert Carradine and Keenan Wynn. The film, which features a score by Ennio Morricone, is more akin to “Death Wish” than the Melville classic.
Technical aspects: 4K: 2160p ultra-high definition, 2.35:1 widescreen picture; English 5.1 and 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio; English subtitles; Blu-ray: 1080p high definition, 2.35:1 widescreen picture; English 5.1 and 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio; English subtitles.
Don’t miss: Extras on both discs include commentary tracks by film historians Howard S. Berger, Steve Mitchell and Nathaniel Thompson as well as by film historian Lee Gambin.
Weak Spot (Blu-ray)
Details: 1975, Radiance Films
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: Ugo Tognazzi stars as a tourist manager in Greece who is picked up by two secret agents, played by Michel Piccoli and Mario Adorf, because he is suspected of being of an underground resistance movement.
He is transported to Athens where he is to be interrogated by the agents superior officers.
The journey is the start of a cat-and-mouse game that is rife with paranoia and an air of distrust among all those involved.
Along the way, events afford Tognazzi’s Georgis ample opportunities to escape. The question is why?
The film is set in 1970s Greece, when that nation was under military rule, giving the story and setting an unsettling dystopian vibe.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 1.66:1 widescreen picture; French 2.0 LPCM monaural; English subtitles.
Don’t miss: Extras include a commentary by critic Travis Woods, an archival interview with Piccoli, a look at Ennio Morricone’s score and a booklet.
Tito, Margot and Me (DVD)
Details: 2022 IndiePix Films
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: A documentary that chronicles the love story between famed ballerina Margot Fonteyn and Roberto “Tito” Arias, a noted Panamanian diplomat.
They first met at Cambridge — she was an unknown dancer and he was studying law.
Sixteen years later they met again. Fonteyn was now a world-renowned dancer and Arias was a married international diplomat.
Filmmaker Mercedes Arias, the niece of “Tito” Arias, tells of their connection that transcended fame, infidelities, an attempted coup backed by Fidel Castro and an assassination attempt that left “Tito” Arias permanently paralyzed.
Arias delves into the couple’s unknown past, using found footage, letters, photos and accounts from Fonteyn’s autobiography that uncovers a fascinating story of political intrigue and undying passion.
Technical aspects: 16:9 enhanced widescreen picture; English and Spanish 2.0 Dolby digital; English subtitles.
Vixen (Blu-ray)
Supervixens (Blu-ray)
Beneath the Valley of the Ultravixens (Blu-ray)
Details: 1968-79, Severin Films
Rated: Not rated, nudity
The lowdown: This trio of sexploitation movies branded under the umbrella of “Russ Meyer’s Bosomania.”
Meyer’s movies were constantly at odds with various state censor boards, but the filmmaker usually prevailed.
“Vixen” (1968) features Erica Gavin in a melodrama about a free-spirited wife that touches upon racism, communism, draft dodgers and bush pilots.
“Supervixens” (1975) centers on a hot-blooded wife, played by Shari Eubank), and a psychotic cop (Charles Napier), who comes together and ignite a cross-country odyssey of violence, vengeance and, of course, plenty of sex.
Finally, “Beneath the Valley of the Ultravixens” (1979) is an unwashed look at small-town America featuring faith-healers, war criminals, bosom buddies and a quest for sexual salvation.
The movie features Francesca “Kitten” Natividad Uschi Digard, Ann Marie, June Mack and Candy Samples.
Fans of Meyer’s works will not be disappointed in these restored, uncut versions of the filmmaker’s features.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 1.66:1 widescreen picture (“Vixen”) and 1.85:1 widescreen picture (“Supervixens” and “Beyond the Valley of the Ultravixens”); English 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio monaural; English closed-captioned subtitles.
Don’t miss: Extras include archival commentaries on all three movies by Meyer; a commentary by Gavin on “Vixen”; interviews with Gavin and co-star Harrison Page; David Del Valle’s “The Sinister Image” with Myer and Yvette Vickers; Marc Edward Heuck’s featurette on “Vixen’s” Cincinnati censorship battles; an interview on “Supervixens” with Meyer on his battles with porn-busters; an interview with Napier; a first-season episode of “The Incredibly Strange Film Show” focusing on Meyer; an interview with Natividad on “Beyond the Valley of the Ultravixens”; a 1979 talk show interview by Ellen Adelstein with Meyer; and a new interview with Adelstein.
Other titles being released on Tuesday, unless otherwise indicated:
DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, STREAMING or VOD
Blades in the Darkness (Indican Pictures)
Bronx Tale: One Man Show (Tribeca Films)
Drained (Level 33 Entertainment)
Goldbeak (Lionsgate Home Entertainment)
Never Have I Ever (One Tree Entertainment)
The Night Time World (Lionsgate Home Entertainment)
Oscar Micheaux: The Superhero of Black Filmmaking (Kino Lorber)
Panda Bear in Africa (Shout! Studios-Shout! Kids)
Paradise: Episodes 1-3 (Hulu)
JAN. 29
Extremely Unique Dynamic (Strand Releasing)
Mystic Quest: Season 4, Episodes 1 & 2 (Apple TV+)
Prime Target: Episode 3 (Apple TV+)
JAN. 30
Four Adventures of Reinette & Mirabelle (Kino Film Collection)
You’re Cordially Invited (Prime Video)
JAN. 31
Asia-Pol (Film Movement Plus)
By a Man’s Face You Shall Know Him (Film Movement Plus)
Clone Cops (Freestyle Digital Media)
Dark Match (Shudder)
Girl’s Blood (Film Movement Plus)
I, the Executioner (Film Movement Plus)
Like Father, Like Son (Lionsgate Home Entertainment)
Not an Artist (Utopia)
The Oval: Complete Seasons 1-3 (Hulu)
Severance: Season 2, Episode 3 (Apple TV+)
Vietnam: The War That Changed America (Apple TV+)
Coming next week: Juror #2
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.