New to View: March 11
By Bob Bloom
The following titles are being released on Tuesday, March 11, unless otherwise noted:
Women Who Run Hollywood (DVD)
Details: 2016-23, Kino Classics
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: Filmmakers Clara and Julia Kuperberg have spent the past two decades creating documentaries that capture the essence of filmmakers and performers whose works define their times as well as inspire generations of aspiring artists.
This four-film collection focus on women whose talents were so unforgettable and determination so strong that they broke the glass ceiling and established themselves as influential filmmakers in a male-dominated industry.
The films in this set include “The Women Who Run Hollywood” (2016), which pays tribute to the first generation of female screenwriters and directors who helped shape and evolve the language of film; “Mary Pickford, a Blessing and a Curse” (2023), profiles the silent-screen superstar who used her enormous popularity to become her own producer and, later, one of the founders of United Artists; “Dorothy Arzner: Pioneer, Queer, Feminist” (2023), chronicles the uncompromising life and work of essentially the only woman director in the 1930s studio system, and; “Ida Lupino: Gentlemen & Miss Lupino” (2021), looks at the actress who gravitated to film noir while also confronting such taboo subjects as unwed motherhood, sexual assault and bigamy.
For movie buffs this DVD is a must-see to learn more about pioneering filmmakers whose works have mostly be forgotten or overshadowed cinematic history.
Technical aspects: 1.78:1 widescreen picture; English Dolby digital; English SDH subtitles.
Don’t miss: Each film includes an introduction by the Kuperberg sisters.
Thief: Combo Edition (4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray)
Details: 1981, The Criterion Collection
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: James Caan gives one of the best performances of his career in filmmaker Michael Mann’s feature film directorial debut.
Caan plays Frank, an ex-convict, no-nonsense professional thief, who plans on giving up the life after one more big job.
He soon discovers that shedding his past is not as easy as he hoped as he agrees to do his final job for a big-time mobster.
However, instead of starting the life he wants, he finds himself ensnared by the gangster who robs him of his hoped-for independence and dream.
Frank however gets even and walks away from his former life.
The movie costars Tuesday Weld, Jim Belushi, Willie Nelson, Robert Prosky, Tom Signorelli and John Santucci.
“Thief” garnered an 80 percent fresh rating at Rotten Tomatoes.
Technical aspects: 4K: 2160p high definition, 1.85:1 widescreen picture; English 5.0 DTS-HD Master Audio; English SDH subtitles; Blu-ray: 1080p high definition, 1.85:1 widescreen picture; English 5.0 DTS-HD Master Audio; English SDH subtitles.
Don’t miss: Supplemental materials, all on the Blu-ray disc, include a commentary track with Mann and Caan, interviews with Mann, Caan and Johannes Schmoelling of the band Tangerine Dream, which contributed to the soundtrack and an essay by critic Nick Jones.
Cry, the Beloved Country (Blu-ray)
Details: 1952, Kino Lorber Studio Classics
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: A moving and spiritual adaptation of the best-selling novel by Alan Paton set in oppressive-apartheid South Africa.
Canada Lee gives a towering performance as Black minister Stephen Kumalo, who lives a quiet life as a back-country parish priest.
When Kumalo’s son, Absolom, goes missing, the minister travels to Johannesburg to learn his fate as well as that of his sister. There, his eyes are opened to the poverty and despair of his people.
He learns his sister, who is sick, had turned to prostitution to support herself and that is son is being held for murder.
Kumalo is helped in his search by a young minister, the Rev. Msimangu (Sidney Poitier, very good in an early performance).
The movie, directed by Zoltan Korda, refrains from being preachy, but is earnest in its look at South Africa’s racial policy.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 1.37:1 full-screen picture; English 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio; English subtitles.
Don’t miss: A commentary track by film historian Daniel Kremer and an interview with Lee comprise the extras.
Two-Way Stretch (Blu-ray)
Details: 1960, Kino Lorber Studio Classics
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: Peter Sellers heads the cast of this British caper-comedy as criminal “mastermind” Dodger Lane, who has been planning the perfect robbery in prison.
His plan involves breaking out of jail with his two cellmates, steal a fortune of diamonds from a rich maharajah and then break back into prison.
Lane is on a tight schedule as he has only a few days left on his sentence and he needs a very tight alibi. But as long as everything goes smoothly, what can go wrong.
Everything, of course, in this farce that costars Lionel Jeffries, Maurice Denham, Beryl Reid, David Lodge, Wilfrid Hyde White and Bernard Cribbins, all under the direction of Robert Day.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 1.66:1 widescreen picture; English 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio; English subtitles.
Don’t miss: The major extra is a commentary track by author and comedy historians Gemma Ross and Robert Ross.
The Klezmer Project (DVD)
Details: 2025, Kino Lorber-Greenwich Entertainment
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: The gist of this mixture of documentary and fiction, is a romantic comedy about a Jewish wedding cameraman who falls in love with a klezmer clarinetist and pretends to be making a documentary so he can spend more time with her.
His fake project leads him to Eastern Europe where he begins a search for lost klezmer melodies and the remnants of Yiddish culture.
The movie is unconventional and funny movie about reclaiming roots and identity.
Technical aspects: 1.78:1 (16×9 enhanced) widescreen picture; English, German, Romanian, Spanish, Ukrainian and Yiddish 5.1 and 2.0 Dolby digital; English subtitles.
Daylight (4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray)
Details: 1996, Kino Lorber Studio Classics
Rated: PG-13, disaster-related death, destruction and danger
The lowdown: Sylvester Stallone stars in this disaster thriller as Kit Latura, a former Emergency Medical Services chief who is haunted by a tragic past.
But Latura must spring into action after an explosion seals off a commuter tunnel. The survivors, including Latura, are faced with toxic fumes, fire and the expected collapse of the tunnel, which will flood and drown them.
Latura risks his life to save others and prevent the disaster from growing more dangerous.
The feature adds nothing new to the disaster-movie formula, but it is fast-paced and filled with action.
The movie, directed by Rob Cohen, costars Amy Brenneman, Viggo Mortensen, Dan Hedaya, Jay O. Sanders, Karen Young, Claire Bloom, Barry Newman and Stan Shaw.
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 with Cohen on both discs and, on the Blu-ray, a making of featurette, a music video featuring Donna Summer and an EPK featurette.
Other titles being released or available on Tuesday unless otherwise indicated:
Ernest Cole: Lost and Found (Blu-ray & DVD & VOD) (Magnolia Home Entertainment)
DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, STREAMING or VOD
The Blues Under the Skin (Kino Lorber)
Customs Frontline (Well Go USA Entertainment)
Every Little Thing (Kino Lorber)
Last Take: Rust and the Story of Halyna (Hulu)
The Plastic Men (Amazon)
Rats (Yellow Veil Pictures)
MARCH 12
Am I Being Unreasonable: Complete Season 2 (Hulu)
Love You to Death (A Muerte): Episode 7 (Apple TV+)
Mystic Quest: Season 4, Episode 8 (Apple TV+)
MARCH 13
Control Freak (Hulu)
The General (Kino Film Collection)
Like Tears in Rain (Viaplay)
Seven Chances (Kino Film Collection)
Sherlock Jr. (Kino Film Collection
MARCH 14
Bill Burr: Drop Dead Years (Hulu)
Dope Thief: Episodes 1 & 2 (Apple TV+)
Hero (Film Movement Plus)
High Roller (Saban Film)
Kung Fu Rookie (Omnibus Entertainment-Film Movement Plus)
Raging Midlife (Level 33 Entertainment)
Severance: Season 2, Episode 9 (Apple TV+)
Stone Turtle (Film Movement Plus)
Surface: Season 2, Episode 4 (Apple TV+)
Winner Take All (Film Movement Plus)
Coming next week: Moana 2
The Penguin: Season One
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.