New to View: Feb. 18
By Bob Bloom
The following titles are being released on Tuesday, Feb. 18, unless otherwise noted:
Nosferatu: Extended Cut (Blu-ray + digital)
Details: 2024, Universal Studios Home Entertainment
Rated: Not rated; R, bloody violence, nudity, sexual content
The lowdown: Robert Eggers’ gothic tale is a remake of an originally produced in 1922 German movie directed by the renowned F.W. Murnau.
The film was an unauthorized adaptation of Bram Stoker’s “Dracula,” causing Stoker’s widow to sue for copyright infringement, which she won.
Prints of the movie were ordered destroyed, but several survived.
Eggers, who also wrote the screenplay, cast Bill Skarsgärd as Count Orlok, a vampire obsessed with Ellen (Lily-Rose Depp), the young wife of Thomas Hutter (Nicholas Hoult). They live in Wisburg, a German city, where Thomas works for a brokerage firm. To advance his career, he accepts a commission from his superior to sell a decrepit manor to Orlok.
Eggers film is heavily atmospheric, haunting and bloody, relying more on shadows and mood to advance its story.
The Blu-ray contains the 132-minute theatrical and 136-minute extended cut of the movie, which also costars Willem Dafoe, Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Emma Corrin.
The movie, which earned an 85 percent fresh rating at Rotten Tomatoes, received four Academy Award nominations, including best cinematography for Jarin Blaschke, as well as best production design, best costume design and best makeup and hairstyling.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 1.66:1 widescreen picture; English Dolby Atmos, 2.0 DVS and French and Spanish 7.1 Dolby digital plus. English SDH, French and Spanish subtitles.
Don’t miss: Bonus options include a commentary track with Eggers; a featurette on the making of the movie; a look at Eggers lifelong dream of remaking “Nosferatu”; a look at the makeup used to transform Skarsgärd into Orlok; featurettes on creating the mood of the picture, recreating an 1838 German city, using costumes to help advance the story, the visual effects and the impact of the movie’s score; and deleted scenes.
Crossing Delancey: Combo Edition (4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray)
Details: 1988, The Criterion Collection
Rated: PG, mature themes
The lowdown: Amy Irving and Peter Riegert star in this romantic comedy directed by Joan Macklin Silver about Izzy (Irving), an independent bookstore manager who isn’t looking for love, and Sam (Riegert), a Lower East Side pickle seller, whom her old-fashioned bubbe sets her up.
Izzy loves her job, mingling with the New York literati, but outside of work she is lonely. She has occasional flings with a married man, which is the extent of her romantic life.
Izzy’s Yiddish-speaking bubbe, Ida (Yiddish-theater veteran Reizl Bozyk), who also lives on the Lower East Side, hires Hannah Mandelbaum (Sylvia Miles), a matchmake,r to get her granddaughter to settle down with a nice Orthodox man.
To please her grandmother, Izzy allows the matchmaker to introduce her to Sam, but she is dismissive of him believing the small business he owns is beneath her.
After a few trials and tribulations, Izzy and Sam get together, greatly pleasing Ida.
The movie, which also features Jeroen Krabbé, George Martin, Rosemary Harris and David Hyde Pierce, earned an 81 percent fresh rating at Rotten Tomatoes.
Technical aspects: 4K: 2160p ultra-high definition, 1.85:1 widescreen picture; English 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio; English SDH subtitles; Blu-ray: 1080p high definition, 1.85:1 widescreen picture; English 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio; English SDH subtitles.
Don’t miss: Bonus materials, featured on the Blu-ray disc, include a featurette on the making of the movie with Irving, Riegert and screenwriter Susan Sandler; a 1988 audio interview with Silver; and an essay by critic Rachel Syme.
The Social Network: Steelbook (4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray + digital)
Details: 2010, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
Rated: PG-13, sexual content, drug and alcohol use, language
The lowdown: How much this dramatization of Mark Zuckerberg’s creation of Facebook and the legal complications that followed are factual and how much came from screenwriter Aaron Sorkin’s imagination is debatable.
What is true is that the chronicling of a cultural revolution that enveloped the planet is mesmerizing cinema.
Jesse Eisenberg gives a sharp performance as the Harvard undergrad and programming genius who changed how people interact — for better or for worse.
The movie, directed by David Fincher, follows Zuckerberg’s meteoric rise from student to one of the youngest billionaires in the world as well as the challenges he faced from rivals and his company’s co-founder.
In my 2010 review, I referred to the movie as “sharp, incisive, insightful and witty,” touching “upon our need — some may say addiction — for human contact, even if it is through a computer.”
The supporting cast includes Andrew Garfield, Armie Hammer, Justin Timberlake, Max Minghella and Rooney Mara.
The steelbook features theatrical and Fincher’s unrated versions of the movie, which garnered eight Academy Award nominations, including best picture, won three — Sorkin’s adapted screenplay, Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross’ original score and Angus Wall and Kirk Baxter’s editing — and it received a 96 percent fresh rating at Rotten Tomatoes.
Technical aspects: 4K: 2160p ultra-high definition, 2.40:1 widescreen picture; English Dolby Atmos (7.1 Dolby TrueHD compatible (unrated version); English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio (unrated and theatrical); English SDH, English, French and Spanish subtitles; Blu-ray: 1080p high definition, 2.40:1 widescreen picture; English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio; English SDH, English, French and Spanish subtitles.
Don’t miss: Bonus options, all on the Blu-ray disc, include a commentary track with Fincher; a second with Sorkin and cast members; a behind-the-scenes featurette on the making of the movie; Fincher and director of photography Jeff Cronenweth on the visuals; Wall, Baxter and sound editor Ren Klyce on the sound design; Reznor, Ross and Fincher discuss the score; a multi-angle scene breakdown; Reznor’s first draft; and a “Swarmatron.”
In the Summers (Blu-ray)
Release date: Feb. 11
Details: 2024, Music Box Films
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: A Sundance Film Festival-winning family drama about siblings Violeta and Eva who live with their mother in California.
In the summers, they travel to Las Cruces, New Mexico, to visit their father. He is a loving,, but unpredictable individual.
Over the course of four summers, from adolescence to adulthood, the sisters learn to appreciate their volatile father as a man with flaws and limitations that is inseparable from his passion and tenderness.
The movie, marking the directorial debut of Alessandra Lacorazza, is a study of young people exploring their identities and places within family and community.
This warm and resilient movie earned a 92 percent fresh rating at Rotten Tomatoes.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 1.66:1 widescreen picture; English and Spanish 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio; English SDH subtitles.
Don’t miss: Extras include a commentary track with Lacorazza and her crew, a question-and-answer session at the New York premiere, a Sundance meet the artist featurette, a cast interview from Sundance, a conversation with actor Residente and Lacorazza, deleted scenes, bloopers and “Mami,” a short film.
Panic Room: Steelbook (4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray + digital)
Details: 2002, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
Rated: R, violence, language
The lowdown: Jodie Foster stars newly-divorced Meg Altman in this David Fincher feature who, along with her daughter, Sarah (Kristen Stewart, in one of her earliest roles), take refuge in their New York City brownstone’s panic room when three intruders invade their home.
The intruders, played by Forest Whitaker, Dwight Yoakam and Jared Leto, want access to the very room where Meg and Sarah and hiding, to steal bearer bonds locked inside a floor safe in the room.
The thieves know the bonds are there because of them, Junior (Leto), is the grandson of the former owner.
A cat-and-mouse game ensues with two of the thugs meeting their demise, while the third is captured by the police.
The movie, which runs 112 minutes, offers some tense moments. Overall, it received a 76 percent fresh rating at Rotten Tomatoes.
Technical aspects: 4K: 2160p ultra-high definition, 2.39:1 widescreen picture; English Dolby Atmos (Dolby 7.1 TrueHD compatible), English and French 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio and Spanish 5.1 Dolby digital; English SDH, English, French and Spanish subtitles; Blu-ray: 1080p high definition, 2.39:1 widescreen picture; English Dolby Atmos, English and French 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio and Spanish 5.1 Dolby digital; English SDH, English, French and Spanish subtitles.
Don’t miss: Supplemental materials, all on the Blu-ray disc, include three commentaries — one with Fincher, a second with Foster, Whitaker and Yoakam and a third with screenwriter David Koepp and a special guest; six featurettes on the movie’s preparation phase; 21 documentaries and featurettes on the visual effects; a look at the sound design; featurettes on the post-production phase; a look at the scoring session; an hour-long documentary that looks at the shooting of the movie; a featurette on the makeup effects; and an interactive look at the creation of four scenes.
Frances (Blu-ray)
Details: 1982, Kino Lorber Studio Classics
Rated: R, language, violence, nudity
The lowdown: Jessica Lange gives an Oscar-nominated performance as 1930s movie star Frances Farmer, whose career was thwarted by mental issues, her outspokenness and behavior.
The movie, though somewhat biographical, is based on “Shadowlands,” a discredited book by William Arnold, which was a fictional biography — an oxymoron if there ever was one — of Farmer. Arnold’s book has since been discredited, with the author admitting in court that he fabricated the story of Farmer’s transorbital lobotomy and other aspects of the book.
This, however, dd not deter filmmakers who incorporated many of Arnold’s “facts” into the movie. The film mixes real people in Farmer’s life, such as playwright Clifford Odets, with fake names for husbands, lovers and others.
Despite its drawbacks, its Lange’s performance, as well as that of Kim Stanley, as her domineering mother, that makes the movie worth viewing.
The movie received mixed reviews, with many complaining about the liberties it took with Farmer’s life.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 1.85:1 widescreen picture; English 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio; English subtitles.
Don’t miss: “A Hollywood Life: Remembering Frances” featurette and two commentary tracks, one with film historian David Del Valle and film historian-producer Dan Marino, and the other with the movie’s director Graeme Clifford and film historian David Gregory comprise the extras.
Legend of the Eight Samurai (Blu-ray)
Details: 1983, Eureka Entertainment
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: Sonny Chiba stars in this action-filled fantasy about eight samurai who must help a princess overcome a curse on her family.
They must battle an evil queen and her army of monsters and goblins in this Japanese popcorn movie that seems, at times, over-the-top, including an evil woman who keeps young by bathing in blood.
The princess of one clan is the sole survivor as her family was destroyed by a supernatural rival clan.
The film is unevenly paced, but still offers enough fighting to retain your interest as do the magical elements — including a giant snake.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 1.85:1 widescreen picture; Japanese LPCM and English (dubbed) audio; English subtitles.
Don’t miss: Supplemental options include a commentary track with Japanese cinema expert Joe Hickinbottom, an interview with the son of the film’s director Kinji Fukasuku, a video essay by film historian-critic Stuart Galbraith IV and a booklet.
Other titles being released on Tuesday, unless otherwise indicated:
100 Yards (Blu-ray & digital) (Well Go USA Entertainment)
Double Exposure (DVD & VOD) (Freestyle Digital Media)
Panda Plan (Blu-ray & DVD & digital) (Well Go USA Entertainment)
Trinity (DVD & streaming) (First Run Features)
Without Arrows (DVD & streaming) (First Run Features)
DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, STREAMING or VOD
The Bodyguard from Beijing (Shout! Studios)
The Demoness (Well Go USA Entertainment)
Fist of Legend (Shout! Studios)
Jade (Well Go USA Entertainment)
The Last Showgirl (Lionsgate Home Entertainment)
Legend (Shout! Studios)
Legend 2 (Shout! Studios)
Mufasa: The Lion King (Disney Studios Home Entertainment)
Paradise: Episode 6 (Hulu)
Rounding (Music Box Films)
Tai Chi Master (Shout! Studios)
Three Birthdays (Good Deed Entertainment)
The World According to Allee Willis (Magnolia Home Entertainment)
FEB. 19
Love You to Death (A Muerte): Episode 4 (Apple TV+)
Mystic Quest: Season 4, Episode 5 (Apple TV+)
Prime Target: Episode 6 (Apple TV+)
Yoshiki: Under the Sky (Magnet Releasing-Prime Video)
FEB. 20
Manuscripts Don’t Burn (Kino Film Collection)
Memes & Nightmares (Hulu)
Reacher: Season 3, Episode 1 (Prime Video)
Sophie Scholl — The Final Days (Kino Film Collection)
FEB. 21
A Thousand Blows: Complete Season 1 (Hulu)
Chris Distefano: It’s Just Unfortunate (Hulu)
Everyone Is Going to Die (Saban Films)
Grand Theft Hamlet (MUBI)
Human Lanterns (Film Movement Plus)
Invader (Music Box Films)
Invasion (Well Go USA Entertainment)
Lifeline (Dark Sky Films)
Little Bites (Shudder)
Millers in Marriage (Republic Pictures-Paramount Pictures)
Old Guy (The Avenue)
Okiku and the World (Film Movement Plus)
The Quiet Ones (Magnet Releasing)
Severance: Season 2, Episode 6 (Apple TV+)
Surface: Season 2, Episode 1 (Apple TV+)
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.