New to View: May 13

By Bob Bloom
The following titles are being released on Tuesday, May 13, unless otherwise noted:
Captain America: Brave New World (4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray + digital)
Details: 2025, Disney-Buena Vista-Marvel Studios
Rated: PG-13, intense sequences of action and violence, strong language
The lowdown: Anthony Mackie’s Sam Wilson now wears the costume and carries the shield of “Captain America.”
Unfortunately, “Brave New World” fails to capitalize on Wilson’s strengths as a counselor and moral individual. Instead, the film is erratic, trying to cover too much in its 118 minutes.
The movie seems more like a sequel to “The Incredible Hulk” than a vehicle for Captain America. And perhaps that because Harrison Ford has replaced the later William Hurt as Thaddeus Ross, now the president of the United States.
A lot is thrown at the audience — echoes from “Eternals” involving the alien mineral adamantium, villains seeking payback for past defeats and Ford’s Ross slowly being transformed into a Red Hulk with him and Captain America making the nation’s capital look like a war zone.
It’s a disappointing outing, with formulaic CGI and an unclear message.
Perhaps that is why it only received a 48 percent fresh rating at Rotten Tomatoes.
Technical aspects: 4K: 2160p ultra-high definition, 2.39:1 widescreen picture; English Dolby Atmos, 2.0 Dolby digital descriptive audio, Spanish 7.1 Dolby digital and French 5.1 Dolby digital; English SDH, French and Spanish subtitles; Blu-ray: 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 materials include a featurette on Mackie’s journey of assuming the mantle of Captain America, a look on Wilson’s dangerous foes, deleted scenes, a gag reel and a commentary track with director Julius Onah and director of photography Kramer Morgenthau.

Landman: Season One (Blu-ray)
Details: 2024, Paramount Home Entertainment
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: The setting of this series is oil-rich West Texas where fortunes can be made if you strike the right piece of land.
The series looks at the challenges facing the ups and downs of roughnecks and wildcat billionaires.
They are fueling a gigantic boom that is reshaping the climate, economy and geopolitics.
Billy Bob Thornton heads the cast as Tommy Norris, a landman for M-Tex Oil, who tries to keep his work and personal lives separate.
The three-disc set features all 10 first-season episodes as Norris must deal with a dangerous Mexican cartel, his ex-wife, Angela (Ali Larter), his boss and friend, Monty Miller (Jon Hamm), and his grown head-strong children, Cooper (Jacob Lofland) and Ainsley (Michelle Randolph).
Others in the cast include Demi Moore as Cami, Monty Miller’s wife, as well as Pauline Chavez, Kayla Wallace and Colm Feore.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 2.00:1 widescreen picture; English 5.1 Dolby TrueHD and French 5.1 Dolby digital; English SDH and French subtitles.
Don’t miss: Extras include featurettes on the creation of the series, the Norris family, the stunts and pyrotechnics, a behind-the-scenes look at the series and a profile of the Millers; a “best of Tommy” featurette, a look at roughnecking and a featurette exploring the members of the cast and their characters.

Re-Animator (4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray)
Release date: April 18
Details: 1985, Ignite Films
Rated: Not rated, gore, bloody images
The lowdown: This macabre mixture of gore, the grotesque and dark comedy has become an iconic cult classic.
Based on a story by H.P. Lovecraft, the movie centers on brilliant but perverse medical student Herbert West (Jeffrey Combs) who has invented a serum that reanimates the dead.
Of course, the results of West’s experiments are disastrous with dead bodies, decapitated heads and such all moving about and committing mayhem.
Ironically, the humor increases as the movie increases its bloody sequences. It’s a tongue-in-cheek gorefest that, despite its gross moments, actually entertains and makes you laugh.
The movie, which marked the directorial debut of Stuart Gordon, costars Bruce Abbott, Barbara Crampton, David Gale and Robert Sampson.
It is Combs’ over-the-top performance that holds your attention throughout most of the movie.
The set comes with the original 86-minute theatrical version and a 106-minute “Integral Version.”
Technical aspects: 4K: 2160p ultra-high definition, 1.85:1 widescreen picture; English 5.1 and 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio and LPCM monaural; English SDH subtitles; Blu-ray: 1080p high definition, 1.85:1 widescreen picture; English 5.1 and 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio and LPCM monaural; English SDH subtitles.
Don’t miss: The two-disc set includes hours of bonus materials including a new conversation with Combs, Crampton and producer Brian Yuzna; a featurette with film editor Lee Percy on cutting the movie; a featurette on the legacy and impact of the movie; an interview with “Re-Animator” cast member Carolyn Purdy-Gordon; a look back at “Re-Animator: The Musical”; a featurette on the movie’s 4K restoration; a 1977 documentary featuring interviews and footage with Gordon and members of The Organic Theater Company of Chicago; an isolated score track; a commentary track with Gordon; a second with Yuzna, Combs, Crampton, Abbott and Sampson; a feature-length documentary on the making of the movie that features interviews with cast and crew; interviews with Gordon, Yuzna, writer Dennis Paoli, composer Richard Band and former “Fangoria” editor Tony Timpone; a music discussion with Band; a discussion with Gordon about his theatrical roots and continued commitment to the stage; a featurette with composer-lyricist Mark Nutter on adapting the movie for the musical theater; a conversation between journalist Alan Jones and Crampton about her career; a guide to Lovecraft cinema with Chris Lackey, host of the H.P. Lovecraft Literary Podcast; a “Doug Bradley’s Spinechillers” featuring Combs reading Lovecraft’s original story; extended scenes and a deleted scene.

The Andromeda Strain (4K Ultra HD)
Details: 1971, Arrow Video
Rated: G
The lowdown: Robert Wise directed this adaptation of Michael Crichton’s best-selling novel about an alien virus that has the potential to wipe out mankind unless it is checked.
The movie is centered in a small Arizona town near where a satellite has crashed. Shortly thereafter, all the townspeople — with the exception of a baby and an old derelict — are wiped out.
A team of scientists are sent to the town to discover the source of the virus and eliminate it before it spreads.
The scientists have to solve the mystery within a certain timeframe to prevent the government from nuking the area.
The cast includes Arthur Hill, James Olson, David Wayne, Kate Reid and Paula Kelly.
The movie, though suspenseful, is plodding at times.
Technical aspects: 2160p ultra-high definition, 2.35:1 widescreen picture; English LPCM audio; English SDH subtitles.
Don’t miss: Bonus materials include a commentary track by critic Bryan Reesman, an appreciation of the film by author-critic Kim Newman, an archival featurette on the making of the movie, an appreciation of Crichton, highlights from the annotated and illustrated shooting script and a booklet with archival material about the movie.

Ramona (Blu-ray)
Details: 1928, Kino Classics
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: This silent classic stars Dolores Del Rio as a woman of mixed race, adopted by a rich, aristocratic Spanish family in early California, who abandons her position of privilege to marry a Native American, played by Warner Baxter.
The newlyweds at first enjoy an idyllic life in a cabin in the wilderness and have a child.
But as the years pass, they are confronted by many forms of racism. The movie also is a story of social injustice and tragic loss, which causes Ramona so much grief that she nearly loses her mind.
She is finally found by Don Felipe (Roland Drew), the son of the woman who adopted Ramona, and nurses her back to health.
The Blu-ray features a version of the movie restored by the Library of Congress from color-tinted 35mm materials, preserved by Gosfiolmofond of Russia and the Narofni National Film Archive of the Czech Republic.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 1.33:1 full-screen picture; silent with English intertitles.
Don’t miss: A commentary track by film historian Anthony Slide is the main extra.

Crack in the World (Blu-ray)
Details: 1965, Kino Lorber Studio Classics
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: This science-fiction feature is a precursor of 1970s disaster movies such as “Earthquake” and “The Towering Inferno.”
Veteran actor Dana Andrews (“The Best Years of Our Lives,” “Laura”) portrays scientist Dr. Stephen Sorensen who, along with his scientist-wife Dr. Maggie Sorensen (Janette Scott), plan to use the Earth’s geothermal energy to help mankind.
Their idea is to detonate a thermonuclear device deep within the Earth’s core. Despite warnings from Dr. Ted Rampion (Kieron Moore), a former lover of Maggie Sorensen, Dr. Sorensen proceeds with the experiment after he secretly learns that he is terminally ill.
The experiment uses a crack with the Earth’s crust, but — as in the case with movies such as these — something goes wrong, causing the crack to continually expand and threatening to split the planet in two if it is not stopped.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 1.85:1 widescreen picture; English 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio; English subtitles.
Don’t miss: Extras include a commentary track with film historian-screenwriter Gary Gerani and a two-part sidebar with Tim Lucas and Stephen R. Bissette who examine the movie.

The Beast Hand (Blu-ray)
Details: 2024, Cleopatra Entertainment
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: A Japanese horror film in which Osamu, a day laborer, is forced to resort to crime in survive.
He soon angers the wrong gangsters who punish him by sword — amputating his left hand in the process.
Osamu’s former girlfriend, Koyuko, takes him to an underground doctor deep in the dark bowels of the city, where the doctor attempts a transplant.
The surgery is a success, but the new hand seems to have a mind of its own, which bodes badly for the gangsters who tortured Osamu.
The movie follows such features as “The Hand,” “Idle Hands” and “The Crawling Hand.”
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, widescreen picture; Japanese stereo; English subtitles.

Ants!: It Happened at Lakewood Manor / Tarantulas: The Deadly Cargo / Terror Out of the Sky (DVD)
Details: 1977-78, Kino Lorber Studio Classics
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: If you want to overcome your aversion to killer insects, then this trio of made-for-TV movies is right up your alley.
“Ants!” (1977), is centered at an old-fashioned lakeside hotel that has been targeted for purchase by a less-than-honest gambling casino owner.
The hotel is next to a construction site, where a horde of poisonous ants are discovered in a pit and begin attacking people in the hotel, floor by floor. The cast includes Robert Foxworth, Suzanne Somers, Brian Dennehy, Lynda Day George, Bernie Casey, Myrna Loy and Barry Van Dyke.
The moral of “Tarantulas: The Deadly Cargo” (1977) is you’d better check your cargo if you’re flying coffee beans from South America.
In this thriller a hoard of tarantulas are stowaways in the coffee beans. Somehow, they manage to get out and overcome the pilots as the plane is over an orange-producing town in California.
The crash unleashes the poisonous spiders into the town, where several residents are killed.
The cast includes Claude Akins, Charles Frank, Bert Remsen, Deborah Winters, Ton Atkins, Pat Hingle and Howard Hesseman.
Finally, “Terror Out of the Sky” (1978) — a sequel to “The Savage Bees” — finds more rampaging insects attacking and stinging people to death.
The cast includes Efrem Zimbalist Jr., Dan Haggerty, Tovah Feldshuh, Lonny Chapman, Bruce French, Steve Franken and Ike Eisenmann.
Enjoy this buggy trio — and keep a can of insect repellant handy, just in case.
Technical aspects: 1.33:1 full-screen picture; English Dolby digital; English subtitles.

The Bikini Carwash Company + The Bikini Carwash Company II (double feature) (Blu-ray)
Details: 1992-93, MVD Rewind Collection-MVD Visual Entertainment
Rated: R, nudity, sexual situations, language
The lowdown: When Midwesterner Jack McGowan arrives in Los Angeles to run his ailing uncle’s carwash, he makes some wrong turns and winds up at the beach.
He is rescued by foxy business major Melissa Reeves, who convinces him to let her run the business for part of a profits. Things begin to get out of hand when Melissa and her bubbly friends “dress for success” in very skimpy bikinis — or none at all.
As “The Bikini Carwash Company” (1992) proves, you can dress as little as possible for success.
In the sequel, released a year later, a shady business magnate attempts to buy the carwash, the girls use a cable lingerie business to raise some need funds and when they pose, more money gets raised.
Neither movie can be classified as art, but, since they were originally shot on standard definition videotape, both movies have been up-converted, re-mastered and upgraded to high definition making the movie sharper and more enjoyable to watch.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 1.33:1 full-screen picture; English 2.0 LPCM monaural; English subtitles.
Don’t miss: The main extra is a commentary on “The Bikini Carwash Company” from Jim Wynorski, moderated by Heath Holland.

“The Pete Walker Crime Collection” (Blu-ray)
Details: 1968-71, Kino Lorber-Kino Cult
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: In the swinging ’60s, Pete Walker was best known for his nudie movies. Later, in the 1970s, he directed a series of disturbing terror movies.
In between, he helmed the four movies in this set — “The Big Switch” (1968), “Cool It, Carol!” (aka “The Dirtiest Girl I Ever Met”) (1970), “Moon” (aka “Man of Violence”) 1971) and “Die Screaming, Marianne” (1971).
“The Big Switch” centers on the dilemma of playboy John Carter, who is implicated in the murder of a blonde from a discotheque and is forced, along with a young woman, by gangsters to pose for pornographic pictures.
“Cool It, Carol!” deals with a naïve teenage couple who leave their small town in hopes of finding success in London’s adult entertainment culture.
When they run out of money, the girl, Carol, turns to prostitution to support herself and her boyfriend Joe.
“Moon” is a mercenary who joins with two crooked police officers to steal a cache of gold bullion from a corrupt Arab country.
Rival gangs also are after the gold, so a lot of betrayals and double crosses ensue.
“Die Screaming, Marianne” stars Susan George in the title role as a young woman who enjoys the finer things in life. She is keeping her distance from her dysfunctional family, especially since they know she knows the secret Swiss bank account number that contains her inheritance, which she will get when she turns 21.
She also will receive some papers her mother left her detailing the actions of her father, a corrupt judge.
The movies are low-budget affairs, which is obvious by the goofs that appear on screen.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 1.33:1 full-screen picture (“The Big Switch,” “Moon”), 1.78:1 widescreen picture (“Cool It, Carol!”), 1.66:1 widescreen picture (“Die Screaming, Marianne”); English DTS-HD Master Audio; English subtitles.
Don’t miss: Extras include a commentary track on “Die Screaming, Marianne” with Walker and film historian Jonathan Rigby; a commentary on “Moon” with film historians Kat Ellinger and Martyn Conterio; interview with Walker, actor Jess Conrad, first assistant editor Glenn Hyde, camera operator Peter Sinclair and actor David Mayberry about “Cool It, Carol!”; interviews with cinematographer Norman Langley about “Moon” and “Die Screaming, Marianne”; interviews with Sinclair and actors Virginia Wetherell and Steve Emerson about “Moon”; and an interview with Wetherell about “The Big Switch.”

Tunnel Vision (Blu-ray)
Details: 1976, MVD Rewind Collection-MVD Visual Entertainment
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: This spoof of television is in the same vein as “Kentucky Fried Movie” and “The Groove Tube.”
The satire focuses on a government investigation into a new TV channel called “TunnelVision,” which is notably free of censorship.
A Senate committee examines a typical day of programming, including shows, programs, commercials, news and more.
The cast includes such then-up-and-coming comic actors as Chevy Chase, John Candy, Al Franken, Laraine Newman and Howard Hesseman as well as Ron Silver and Lynne Marie Stewart.
Some of the film’s humor has not aged well — and that could be because today, with streaming services and cable TV, we have hundreds of channels to choose from with content ranging from cooking to crime to comedy.
The movie mixes laughs with some crude and tasteless jokes.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 1.66:1 widescreen and 1.37 full-screen picture; English LPCM monaural; English subtitles.
Don’t miss: Supplemental materials include a commentary track with cult film historian Marc Edward Heuck, an interview with co-writer-co-director Neal Israel conducted by Stuart Shapiro, a continuity script and a collectible mini-poster.

Vice Squad (4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray)
Details: 1982, Kino Lorber Studio Classics
Rated: R, violence, language, nudity sexual situations
The lowdown: Season Hubley stars as Princess, a loving, single mom by day and a prostitute at night.
When a hot-headed cop uses Princess to trap a sadistic killer, she becomes the target of a sadistic pimp named Ramrod (Wings Hauser).
A night of vengeance and violence ensues with no one in the City of Angels feeling safe.
It falls to the LAPD’s Vice Squad to capture Ramrod and restore some semblance of order and calm to the city.
This lurid feature is driven by Hauser’s scene-chewing performance.
The cast also includes Gary Swanson, Pepe Serna and Beverly Todd.
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: Supplemental materials include two commentary tracks, one by filmmaker Steve Mitchell, and the other by the film’s director, Gary A. Sherman, and producer Brian Frankish, on both discs; and, on the Blu-ray disc, interviews with Swanson, Sherman, Frankish, Todd, Serna and actor Michael Ensign; as well as a behind-the-scenes looks at Hollywood filming locations.

Robert Wyatt — Rock Bottom (DVD)
Details: 2024, Cleopatra Entertainment
Rated: Unrated
The lowdown: An animated feature inspired by the music of Robert Wyatt, founder of the British psychedelic rock band Soft Machine.
The movie is a self-destructive love story between Bob and Alif, a young couple of artists occupied in a creative cyclone of the early 1970s hippie culture.
Their involvement in drugs turn their passionate summer into a nightmare journey shown through the themes of Wyatt’s music — the euphoria and anguish of artistic creation, the unconscious fascination and dependence with drugs, the disenchantment with routine and physical and mental degradation.
The story, though sad and disturbing, features impressive visuals with the sharp use of rotoscoped 2D animation.
Technical aspects: Widescreen picture; English Dolby digital audio.

Other titles being released on Tuesday, unless otherwise indicated:
Striking Rescue (Blu-ray & DVD) (Well Go USA Entertainment)
Welcome to Demon School! Iruma-kun: Season 3 (Blu-ray) (Crunchyroll)
FOR KIDS
Panda Bear in Africa (Shout! Studios-Shout! Kids)

DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, STREAMING or VOD
Ants! (Prime Video-Kino Lorber)
The Darkside of Society (Uncork’d Entertainment)
The Handmaid’s Tale: Season 6, Episode 8 (Hulu)
Jimmy in Saigon (Dark Star Pictures)
The Lost Princess (Gravitas Ventures)
Mulan Princess Warrior (Level 33 Entertainment)
Silent Partners (Breaking Glass Pictures)
Snow White (Walt Disney Studios)
Vice Squad (Apple TV+-Prime Video-Kino Lorber)

MAY 14
Carême: Episode 4 (Apple TV+)
Government Cheese: Episode 8 (Apple TV+)
The Studio: Episode 9 (Apple TV+)

MAY 15
Electra My Love (Kino Film Collection)
The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives: Season 2 (Hulu)
Winter Wind (Kino Film Collection)

MAY 16
A Breed Apart (Lionsgate Home Entertainment)
A Far Shore (Film Movement Plus)
Bound (Freestyle Digital Media)
Deaf President Now (Apple TV+)
Desert Dawn (Saban Films)
Matteo Lane: The Al Dente Special (Hulu)
Murderbot: Episodes 1 & 2 (Apple TV+)
The Severed Sun (Dark Sky Films)
Turkish Passion (Film Movement Plus)
The Uninvited (Foton. Distribution)
Your Friends & Neighbors: Episode 7 (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 X @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.