The following article was written by my friend and colleague Alonso Duralde. You can learn more about him HERE.
NEW ON DVD/BLU-RAY/4K DVD IN OCTOBER: ROBOT DREAMS, ABOUT DRY GRASSES, TEXAS CHAIN SAW MASSACRE, AND MORE!
NEW RELEASE WALL
Robot Dreams (Decal Neon): This Oscar-nominated animated feature makes for a delightful watch for the whole family, although different generations will come away with their own takes – for kids, it’s a charming tale of a lonely dog who befriends a robot, and of how their relationship changes over the years. Adult viewers, however, are likely to be left sobbing by this tale of a close bond and how it weathers (and doesn’t weather) changes over the years, and how every relationship changes us, breaks us, and heals us with the passage of time. Don’t miss one of 2024’s greatest movies.
Also available:
Borderlands (Lionsgate): Eli Roth’s sci-fi-action-comedy-video-game jumble stars Kevin Hart and Cate Blanchett, Jack Black, and Jamie Lee Curtis.
Caligula: The Ultimate Cut (Unobstructed View): They took the weird Penthouse magazine hardcore version, broke it down, and rebuilt it into the film it was always intended to be.
Despicable Me 4 (Universal Pictures Home Entertainment): No one’s really all that despicable anymore, which is fine. And there are the minions, which is the real reason we’re even here.
The Convert (Magnolia Home Entertainment): Director Lee Tamahori’s historical drama about colonial religion and culture clashes in New Zealand, starring Guy Pearce.
Cuckoo (Decal Neon): In Tilman Singer’s atmospheric horror film, a mountain resort reveals strange spooky family secrets.
Deadpool & Wolverine (Marvel Studios): The antiheroes are back and teasingly romantic about it.
Didi (Universal Pictures Home Entertainment): Oscar-nominated documentary filmmaker Sean Wang jumps into the narrative feature pool with this charming coming-of-age story.
Harold and the Purple Crayon (Sony Pictures Home Entertainment): Harold from beloved picture book is now a grown man and still using his purple crayon.
Kinds of Kindness (Searchlight Pictures): Yorgos Lanthimos delivers three stories wrapped into one film in this extended spiral into trippiness.
Maxxxine (Lionsgate): Maxine wants to make it big in 1985 Hollywood just as the Night Stalker is making life there a living hell.
A Quiet Place: Day One (Paramount Home Entertainment): How everyone learned to stop making noises and survive the super-hearing monsters.
Twisters (Universal Pictures Home Entertainment): The tornadoes are worse than ever in this sequel. Who can guess why?
NEW INDIE
Close to You (Kino Lorber): Elliot Page makes his post-transition feature debut with this intimate and subdued drama about a trans man returning home to visit his family for the first time in years, rebuilding his relationships not only with his parents and siblings and in-laws but also with a woman to whom he’d been closely connected in high school. Page and director Dominic Savage collaborated on the mostly-improvisational screenplay, and the spontaneity of the performances leads to deeply felt moments, both romantic and confrontational.
Also available:
Coup! (Kino Lorber): What happens when a stranger arrives and tells you he’s your new personal chef? Bad things, is what.
Kid-Thing (Factory 25): When a child with no sense of right or wrong finds a stranger trapped in a well, the outcome might not be as heartwarming as you’d hope.
The Throwback (Kino Lorber): Justina Machado is a mom in distress. Her cure? Partying.
NEW INTERNATIONAL
About Dry Grasses (Janus Contemporaries): Nuri Bilge Ceylan’s powerful drama offers a complicated portrait of a schoolteacher (played by Deniz Celiloglu) assigned to a remote area in Turkey, whose personal and professional relationships become increasingly chaotic as the teacher slips further and further into nihilism. Merve Dizdar received a well-deserved Best Actress prize at Cannes as the focal point of a love triangle that emerges, a woman who has survived physical and emotional trauma and yet finds herself captivated by Celiloglu’s complicated character. It’s a novel-rich and stirringly beautiful cinematic experience that earns its lengthy running time.
Also available:
The Boy in the Woods (Kino Lorber): The true story of a young Jewish boy hiding in the forests of Nazi-occupied Eastern Europe.
The Falling Star (Kino Lorber): A fugitive, his doppelganger, and the people who populate a small Belgian bar are thrown together in increasingly odd ways. And then they dance.
Family (IndiePix Films): A young woman goes to her therapist’s home with a confession she needs to deliver: she’s just killed her entire family.
Sebastian (Kino Lorber): A young queer writer becomes a sex worker as research for his novel.
The Summer with Carmen (Cinephobia Releasing): Two gay best friends decide to write a script about a summer at the beach. Worked for Eric Rohmer.
NEW DOCUMENTARY
1982: Greatest Geek Year Ever! (MVD Rewind): An all-star crew of filmmakers and critics (including, ahem, one Leonard Maltin) share their thoughts on a year that turned out to be quite the flashpoint in genre cinema: from E.T. the Extraterrestrial to Blade Runner, Star Trek II to 48 Hrs. and Poltergeist to Fast Times at Ridgemont High, and many more, this breezy but informative documentary takes viewers through a twelve-month period that offered one banger after another at the multiplex.
Also available:
Bronski Beat: The Age of Consent (London Records) The 40th anniversary of the landmark queer pop album comes with a huge amount of video content across Blu-ray and DVD formats.
Colette and Justin (Icarus Films): Filmmaker Alain Kassanda centers his grandparent’s voices while they discuss the Democratic Republic of Congo’s colonial history.
Def Leppard: One Night Only, Live at the Leadmill Sheffield, May 19, 2023 (Mercury Studios): Legendary 80s pop-metal band are still determined to pour sugar on you.
Happy Clothes: A Film About Patricia Field (Kino Lorber): The groundbreaking Sex and the Citydesigner and stylist lets the cameras in to showcase her career.
Made in England: The Films of Powell & Pressburger (Cohen Media Group): A loving survey of the history-making cinema of the British filmmaking team.
Modernism, Inc. (First Run Features): The story of influential architect Eliot Noyes.
NEW GRINDHOUSE
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre: 50th Anniversary Chain Saw Edition (Dark Sky Selects): A movie that planted a flag in cinema history – for horror, there is “before Texas Chain Saw” and “after Texas Chain Saw” – Tobe Hooper’s brilliantly terrifying epic gets the full treatment for its golden anniversary, including chainsaw-shaped packaging. But what’s inside that packaging matters as well: 4K and Blu-ray versions of the film, each boasting four separate commentary tracks, new short docs about the film’s legacy, a conversation between Hooper and William Friedkin, a feature-length documentary, blooper reels, and much, much more.
Also available:
Baby Blood (KL Studio Classics): 1990 French shocker about an undead parasite that is determined to be born human and takes up residence in a circus performer’s womb.
The Beast Within (Well Go USA Entertainment): British werewolf thriller starring Kit Harington.
Below the Belt (KL Studio Classics): Gritty 1980 comedy-drama about the life of a woman professional wrestler.
Bloody Disgusting Steelbooks (all Lionsgate): Take your pick of these contemporary horror classics, all of them packaged in sleek Steelbooks and loaded with extra material: Hannibal Rising, I Spit on Your Grave (2010), Leatherface, Sinister, Texas Chainsaw, Wolf Creek, and You’re Next
Burn, Witch, Burn (KL Studio Classics): Alternately titled Night of the Eagle, this is an underrated horror gem of the 1960s.
Circus of Horrors (KL Studio Classics): A deranged plastic surgeon wreaks havoc on circus performers in this 1960 British thriller.
Creature with the Blue Hand / Web of the Spider(Film Masters): Fun double-feature package of these German and Italian oddities, one about a homicidal maniac and one set in a haunted house.
A Dog Called… Vengeance (Severin Films): A post-Franco Spanish thriller about a fascist dog hunting an escaped political prisoner.
Don’t Change Hands (Severin Films): 1975 French noir flips traditional gender roles and dives deeply into sex and death, from writer-director Paul Vecchiali.
Exhuma (Well Go USA Entertainment): A Korean mystery about a supernatural illness affecting the first-born children of successive generations.
Fright (KL Studio Classics): 1971 British proto-slasher with Susan George and Honor Blackman takes its 4K bow.
Hellraiser: Quartet of Torment (Arrow): Limited-edition four-disc mega-package of Pinhead treats. More extras than you’ll know what to do with.
Hussy (Kino Cult): 1980 film stars Helen Mirren as a sex worker with troubles caused by – who else – a bunch of guys.
J-Horror Rising (Arrow): Limited edition, extravagantly packaged seven-film collection, including Shikoku, Multiple Personality Girl, Inugami, St. John’s Wort, Carved: The Slit-Mouthed Woman, Persona, and Noroi: The Curse.
Kill ’Em All 2 (Sony Pictures Home Entertainment): Jean-Claude Van Damme is still kicking in this 2024 action film.
Land of the Dead(Scream Factory): George Romeo’s zombie installment gets a 4K release with a lot of bonus content.
The Mad Bomber (Severin Films): Legendary weird filmmaker Bert I. Gordon dove headfirst into this violent, strange 70s crime drama and brought Chuck Connors along for the ride.
The Mummy and the Curse of the Jackals (Severin Films): This obscure 1969 mummy-werewolf jam has been called a “truly incredible masterpiece of bad cinema,” and that is correct.
A Nightmare on Elm Street (Warner Bros. Discovery): Freddy finds his way to 4K.
Paramount Scares, Vol. 2 (Paramount Home Entertainment): A horror stew in a box set with lots of collectible stuff. Films include: Friday the 13thPart II, Breakdown, World War Z, and Orphan: First Kill.
The Project A Collection (88 Films): Jackie Chan battles pirates – and visually quotes Buster Keaton – in this deliriously entertaining double feature, now in 4K.
The Red Light Bandit (Severin Films): 1968 Brazilian underground crime classic from the “Cinema Marginal” movement, where Rogerio Sganzeria broke all the rules. First time on U.S. Blu-ray.
Riot in a Women’s Prison (Raro Video): 1974 Italian women-in-prison exploitation starring French genre film icon Martine Brochard.
Spiral (Ronin Flix): Avatar’s Joel David Moore and Hatchet director Adam Green co-directed this thriller starring Moore, Zachary Levi, and Amber Tamblyn.
Thanksgiving (Sony Pictures Home Entertainment): Eli Roth finally expanded his Grindhouse trailer into a gnarly full-length holiday slasher, now in 4K.
Trick ’r Treat (Arrow): Limited edition 4K package of Michael Dougherty’s hooray-for-Halloween thriller with lots of bonus material.
Up the Creek (KL Studio Classics): As wildly silly as you might imagine a 1980s slobs-versus-snobs white-water-rafting comedy to be, but this one’s a cut above, starting with Tim Matheson’s charmingly snarky lead performance all the way through its better-than-average ensemble, amusing banter, and well-constructed physical-humor set-pieces. An underrated gem from a disreputable genre.
NEW CLASSIC
Columbia Classics 4K Ultra HD Collection, Volume 5 (Sony Pictures Home Entertainment): While some might look at the 4K system as yet another way to make collector’s re-purchase all their favorite physical media, the format has at least induced studios to keep digging gems out of their vault, even in an era where streaming threatens to wipe out physical media. Sony continues its celebration of Columbia’s 100th anniversary with this new collection, featuring Oscar-winners All the Kings Men, On the Waterfront (which also happens to be the subject of an essential new book by Stephen Rebello), A Man for All Seasons, Tootsie, The Age of Innocence, and Greta Gerwig’s sublime 2019 adaptation of Little Women.
Also available:
Addams Family Values (Paramount Home Entertainment): A peak Addams Family moment, now in 4K.
American Movie (Sony Pictures Home Entertainment): This documentary — a movie about making movies for the love of making movies — is now in 4K for its 25th anniversary.
Arabesque (KL Studio Classics): This delightful Gregory Peck/Sophia Loren-starring spy caper comedy is quintessential 1960s fluff, directed by Stanley Donen.
The Battle of Chile (Icarus Films): Patrico Guzman’s landmark documentary chronicles the violent coup that overtook a Chile after a peaceful election in 1973.
Body and Soul (KL Studio Classics): This classic 1947 noir is one of the greatest boxing films of all time, starring John Garfield and Lilli Palmer.
Brick (KL Studio Classics): Rian Johnson’s directorial debut is this exceptionally entertaining high school noir, starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt.
The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (Kino Classics): 1920 German silent horror film is still creepy after over one hundred years.
The Champions (Eureka Entertainment): Sports, comedy and martial arts come together in this vintage treat from the Yuen Clan.
The Creature (Severin Films): Eloy de la Iglesia’s 1977 political/psychological horror film about a dog that comes between a married couple remains unsettling nearly 50 years later.
Cross Creek (KL Studio Classics): This acclaimed and Oscar-nominated 1983 drama starring Mary Steenburgen, Rip Torn, and Alfre Woodard has lost none of its quiet power.
Daiei Gothic: Japanese Ghost Stories (Radiance): Limited edition box set of three famous Japanese ghost stories: The Ghost of Yotsuya, The Snow Woman, and The Bride from Hades.
Deadly Circuit (KL Studio Classics): Michel Serrault and Isabelle Adjani star in this ’80s French crime thriller from director Claude Miller.
Demon Pond (The Criterion Collection): Masahiro Shinoda’s Kabuki tale is a surreal, visually lush, mysterious masterpiece of horror atmosphere.
Dogra Magra (Radiance): 1988 psychological horror from Toshio Matsumodo about a man who kills his bride, then loses his memory.
Enough Rope (KL Studio Classics): ’60s French neo-noir tale based on Patricia Highsmith’s novel The Blunderer, from Claude Autant-Lara
Film Noir: The Dark Side of Cinema XXII (KL Studio Classics): Celebrate the darkness with this ongoing series of releases from America’s antihero past. Titles included: Plunder Road, The Scarlet Hour, and The Enforcer.
Fluke (KL Studio Classics) All dogs do not go to heaven; some get reincarnated, like in this ’90s family film with Matthew Modine, Nancy Travis, and Eric Stoltz.
Garbo Talks (KL Studio Classics): A dying woman is determined to meet Greta Garbo in Sidney Lumet’s 1984 comedy-drama, starring Anne Bancroft, Ron Silver, and Carrie Fisher.
Hi-De-Ho / Boarding House Blues (Kino Classics): Black musical cinema of the 1940s, featuring Cab Calloway in the former and Moms Mabley in the latter.
I Walked with a Zombie / The Seventh Victim (The Criterion Collection): Double Criterion package of Jacques Tourneur’s zombie classic and Mark Robson’s cult-horror mystery, both from 1943 (and both from legendary producer Val Lewton).
Monsieur Vincent (Kino Classics): This 1947 French historical drama about Vincent de Paul won an honorary Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.
Pandora’s Box (The Criterion Collection): Louise Brooks stars in this 1929 German silent film, a staple of film studies courses and a pioneering piece of queer cinema, from G.W. Pabst.
Plenty (KL Studio Classics): Downbeat 1985 drama stars Meryl Streep as a former French Resistance fighter finding it difficult to readjust to postwar life.
The Proud and the Profane (KL Studio Classics): 1956 romance set during WWII stars Deborah Herr and William Holden.
Seven Chances / Sherlock Jr. (Kino Classics): Buster Keaton double feature, two silent-era comedies worth hunting down.
Suicide Room (Altered Innocence): This 2011 Polish study of adolescent social media bullying and queer desire is poised to find a wider audience.
Thunderbolt and Lightfoot (KL Studio Classics): Totally entertaining ’70s crime-jag from Michael Cimino with Clint Eastwood and Jeff Bridges as the men with funny names.
Youngblood (KL Studio Classics): This 1986 hockey drama stars Rob Lowe as a young hotshot who learns the ropes from veteran player Patrick Swayze and finds love with Cynthia Gibb.
NEW TV
The Classic Ghosts: 1970s Gothic Television (Kino Cult): A long-last gem of horror television returns with this new Blu-ray, spotlighting an ABC late-night show from 1973 that was shot on videotape. This two-disc collection features five episodes (restored by the UCLA Film and Television Archive) starring the likes of Susan Sarandon, Hurd Hatfield, Gwen Verdon, Vincent Gardenia, James Keach, Perry King, and Carrie Nye.
Also available:
Arcane League of Legends: Season One (GKIDS/Shout Factory): Catch up on this adult animated steampunk adventure, all nine episodes, before the second season drops on Netflix.
Babylon Berlin: Season 4 (MHz Choice): The fourth season of the popular German Weimar-era neo-noir series.
The Crown: Complete Series (Sony Pictures Home Entertainment): Anglophile Monarchists, here they are, all 60 episodes, featuring all your favorite royal fantasy-league characters.
Fear the Walking Dead: The Complete Collection(Lionsgate): Zombies zombies and more zombies, forever and ever, amen. Plus Kim Dickens and Oscar nominee Colman Domingo, for good measure.
The Night Agent: Season 1 (Sony Pictures Home Entertainment): There’s a mole in the White House and an FBI agent (Gabriel Basso) finds himself in the middle of a deadly conspiracy.
Rick and Morty: The Complete Seasons 1-7 (Adult Swim/WB): The adult animation series that people love to hate, presented in one package, in all its unhinged madness.
Ultraman Blazar: The Complete Series & Movie(Mill Creek Entertainment): Celebrate the 60thanniversary of Ultraman with this, the 35th series in the Ultra Universe.
The West Wing: The Complete Series (Allied Vaughn): They don’t make Presidents like this anymore (OK, they never did, but that’s the fantasy we all want).