New to View: Sept. 9
By Bob Bloom
The following titles are being released on Tuesday, Sept. 9, unless otherwise noted:
Elio (Blu-ray + DVD + digital)
Details: 2025, Buena Vista-Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment-Pixar
Rated: PG, action, danger, thematic elements
The lowdown: Eleven-year-old Elio dreams of being abducted by aliens. To his delight, his dream comes true.
But the reality of the situation is not what Elio expected.
Elio is beamed up to the Communiverse, an interplanetary organization with representatives from several galaxies.
He is excited to learn that he is Earth’s ambassador to the Communiverse, where he must form new bonds with various life-forms, navigate an intergalactic crisis and, finally, learn who and where he is meant to be.
“Elio” is another animated Pixar feature that touches on the theme of self-esteem and self-discovery. The movie is sweet, funny, imaginative and sentimental and aims for a family audience.
The movie earned an 83 percent fresh rating at Rotten Tomatoes.
Technical aspects: Blu-ray: 1080p high definition, 2.39:1 widescreen picture; English 7.1 DTS-HD Master Audio, 2.0 Dolby digital, 2.0 Dolby digital descriptive audio and French and Spanish 5.1 Dolby digital; English SDH, French and Spanish subtitles; DVD: 2.39:1 widescreen picture; English and Spanish 5.1 Dolby digital; English 2.0 Dolby digital and 2.0 Dolby digital descriptive audio; English SDH and Spanish subtitles.
Don’t miss: Bonus features include a featurette that looks at the worlds and characters in the Communiverse; a featurette with the voice talent; a drawing tutorial with lead story artist Nicolle Castro; deleted scenes; a galactic gag reel; and extraterrestrial Easter eggs and fun facts.
Jurassic World: Rebirth (4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray + digital)
Details: 2025, Universal Pictures Home Entertainment
Rated: PG-13, intense sequences of violence & action, bloody images, suggestive references, language, a drug reference
The lowdown: A covert extraction team, led by Scarlett Johansson, race to an island research facility where dinosaurs too deadly for the original Jurassic Park were left behind.
The team also discovers a dangerous secret — that experiments involving dinosaur genetics were carried out with less than stellar results.
The original mission to recover DNA from three colossal dinosaurs that would help unlock a drug with miraculous benefits for humanity is endangered by the beasties on the island.
Despite a strong cast, which includes Jonathan Bailey, Mahershala Ali, Rupert Friend and Manuel Garcia-Rulfo, a script by original “Jurassic Park” writer David Koepp and direction by Gareth Edwards, the movie is formulaic and predictable, including — of course — kids in peril, earning a 51 percent fresh rating at Rotten Tomatoes.
Technical aspects: 2160p ultra-high definition, 2.39:1 widescreen picture; English Dolby Atmos and French and Spanish 7.1 Dolby digital plus; English SDH, French and Spanish subtitles; Blu-ray: 1080p high definition, 2.39:1 widescreen picture; English Dolby Atmos and French and Spanish 7.1 Dolby digital plus; English SDH, French and Spanish subtitles.
Don’t miss: Bonus options include an alternate opening; deleted scenes; a series of behind-the-scenes featurettes including “The World Evolves,” “Off the Deep End,” Trekking Through Thailand,” “Rex in the Rapids,” “Don’t Look Down” and “Mini-Mart Mayhem”; a gag reel, a behind-the-scenes look at Dolores, the animatronic Aquilops; a first-hand account by one victim becoming dino foods; a tour of Skywalker Sound; a guide of hunting for Easter eggs; a commentary track with Edwards, production designer James Clynne and first assistant director Jack Ravenscroft; and a second commentary with Edwards, editor Jabez Olssen and visual effects supervisor David Vickery.
Spenser for Hire: The Complete Series (DVD)
Details: 1985-88, Warner Archive Collection-Allied Vaughn
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: A 16-disc set featuring all 16 episodes of this television series, set in Boston, and based on the Spenser novels created by Robert B. Parker.
Robert Ulrich portrays Spenser, a former police officer, now a private detective with a poet’s sensibilities and the fists of a fighter.
Spenser, a Renaissance man who can cook and quote poetry, is not adverse to facing danger head-on. He often is aided by Hawk (Avery Brooks), a formidable enforcer with a code of ethics, and friends inside the police department.
His personal life involves Susan (Barbara Stock), who refuses to marry Spenser because of his constant flirting with death.
Series guest stars included Samuel L. Jackson, Angela Bassett, Ruby Dee, Chuck Connors, Jimmy Smits, Tony Shalhoub, Ving Rhames, Laurence Fishburne, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Frances McDormand, Melissa Leo and William H. Macy.
The set can be purchased at www.moviezyng.com or other online sellers.
Technical aspects: 1.37:1 (4×3) full-screen picture; English LPCM monaural.
Proof of the Man: Limited Edition (Blu-ray)
Details: 1977, Arrow Films
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: A murder-thriller that also is an examination of racial identity and the trauma of Japan’s postwar occupation by American forces.
The feature involves a couple of deaths — the first is the killing of a mixed-race man, Johnny Hayward (Joe Yamanaka), who leaves his Harlem home for Tokyo. Hayward is stabbed to death in the elevator of a posh hotel hosting a catwalk show by elite fashion designer Kyoko (Mariko Okada).
That night Kyoko’s son, along with her powerful political husband, Yohei (the legendary Toshiro Mifune), is involved in a fatal hit-and-run accident and flees the country.
Detective Munesue (Yusaku Matsuda) suspects the killings may be linked. He heads to New York to learn about Hayward’s background.
In New York, Munesue is partnered with local detective Ken Shuftan (Oscar-winner George Kennedy), whose own links to Japan dredge up painful memories from Munesue’s childhood.
The mystery, shot on location in Japan and New York, is making its debut outside of Japan.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 1.85:1 widescreen picture; Japanese and English LPCM monaural; English subtitles.
Don’t miss: Bonus options include a commentary track with Asian American film scholar Rob Buscher and DJ Skeme Richards, a video introduction by Asian film scholar Earl Jackson, discussion with critics and director Junya Sato biographers Tatsuya Masuto and Masaaki Normura and a booklet with writing about the movie.
Other titles being released on Tuesday, unless otherwise indicated:
The Girl Who Leapt Through Time (4K Ultra HD & Blu-ray & DVD) (GKids-Shout! Studios)
Sesame Street: Elmo’s Happy Halloween Party (DVD & digital) (Sesame Workshop-Shout! Kids)
DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, STREAMING or VOD
Alien: Earth: Episode 6 (Hulu)
Men of War (Neon)
Only Murders in the Building: Season 5, Episodes 1-3 (Hulu)
Somnium (Yellow Veil Pictures)
We Strangers (Quiver Distribution)
Wrong Arm of the Law (Kino Film Collection)
Yadang: The Snitch (Well Go USA Entertainment)
SEPT. 10
Acapulco: Season 4, Episode 9 (Apple TV+)
Platonic: Season 2, Episode 7 (Apple TV+)
Tempest: Episodes 1-3 (Hulu)
The Twisted Tale of Amanda Knox: Episode 5 (Hulu)
SEPT. 11
Harvard Beats Yale (Kino Film Collection)
Maedchen in Uniform (Kino Film Collection)
SEPT. 12
Allihopa: The Dalkurd Story (Amazon Prime)
Andrew Santino: White Noise (Hulu)
Anti Porn (Omnibus Entertainment)
Aroused by Gymnopedies (Omnibus Entertainment)
Chief of War: Episode 8 (Apple TV+)
Dawn of the Felines (Omnibus Entertainment)
Foundation: Season 3, Episode 10 (Apple TV+)
Hans Zimmer & Friends: Diamonds in the Desert (Greenwich Entertainment)
The Jewish Nazi? (Greenwich Entertainment)
Motherland (Vertical Entertainment)
Wet Woman in the Wind (Omnibus Entertainment)
White Lily (Omnibus Entertainment)
The Wrong Paris (Netflix)
SEPT. 15
Futurama: Season 13 (Hulu)
In the Name of Love: Episodes 3 & 4 (Viaplay)
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.