The following article was written by my friend and colleague Alonso Duralde. You can learn more about him HERE.
WHAT’S NEW ON DVD/BLU-RAY/4K IN NOVEMBER: BEETLEJUICE BEETLEJUICE; BOX SETS CELEBRATING CRITERION COLLECTION, HITCHCOCK, AND CAPRA; AND SO MUCH CHRISTMAS
NEW RELEASE WALL
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice (Warner Bros. Discovery Home Entertainment): Neither director Tim Burton nor sequels in general have had the greatest track record of late, but even after 36 years, Michael Keaton remains the ghost with the most, with Winona Ryder and Catherine O’Hara making wonderfully eccentric foils. Add Jenna Ortega as a new-millennial Goth girl, and you’ve got a dizzyingly daffy afterlife comedy (with another great Danny Elfman score).
Also available:
The 4:30 Movie (Lionsgate): Kevin Smith takes a dive into multiplex-moviegoing nostalgia in this shaggy teen comedy.
Bones and All (Shout Studios): Luca Guadagnino’s cannibal-kids-in-love road movie stars Taylor Russell and Timothée Chalamet.
The Critic (Greenwich Entertainment): Sir Ian McKellen is a fearsome theater critic who marches directly into a tangled scheme of blackmail and murder.
The Crow (Lionsgate): Bill Skarsgård is the new Crow, updated and rebooted to avenge his own death and that of his girlfriend (FKA Twigs).
Frankie Freako (Shout Studios): An evil goblin named Frankie Freako disrupts the life of an ’80s yuppie, which is only right and natural.
It Ends With Us (Sony Pictures Home Entertainment): Blake Lively in a romantic drama with serious domestic violence issues at its core.
The Killer’s Game (Lionsgate): Dave Bautista is an assassin who takes a hit out on himself when he thinks he’s got a terminal illness, and then oops…
The Shape of Water (The Criterion Collection): This 2018 Best Picture Academy Award winner from Guillermo del Toro stars Sally Hawkins and Doug Jones as a woman and her amphibian lover, now in a luxe Criterion package including an essay by Carlos Aguilar.
Speak No Evil (Universal Pictures Home Entertainment): This remake of the Danish-Dutch thriller stars James McAvoy as the worst vacation-home host ever.
Strange Darling (Magenta Light): This inventive cat-and-mouse serial-killer thriller was a surprise indie hit for director JT Mollner.
Trap (Warner Bros. Discovery Home Entertainment): M. Night Shyamalan’s latest stars Josh Hartnett as a suburban dad who is also 100% a brutal serial killer.
NEW INDIE
National Anthem (Decal): While it may not be as narratively experimental as such acclaimed recent films as The People’s Joker or I Saw the TV Glow, National Anthem nonetheless offers up another richly fascinating trans character portrayed brilliantly by a trans performer – in this case Eve Lindley, whose performance as a rodeo champ is going to put her on a lot of casting agents’ lists. Photographer Luke Gilford, inspired by his eponymous book of photographs, makes an auspicious feature debut in this tale of a young man (played by Charlie Plummer, Lean On Pete) and his brother finding a family among a group of LGBTQ+ rodeo riders and performers.
Also available:
1992 (Lionsgate): This heist thriller set on the first night of the 1992 Los Angeles riots stars Tyrese Gibson, Scott Eastwood, and the late Ray Liotta.
You Gotta Believe (Well Go USA Entertainment): An inspirational Little League World Series drama with Luke Wilson and Greg Kinnear.
NEW INTERNATIONAL
Last Shadow at First Light (IndiePix Films): Singapore filmmaker Nicole Midori Woodford’s supernatural drama concerns a missing mother, her teenage daughter, and a haunted imagination.
On the Wandering Paths (Icarus Films): Jean Dujardin (The Artist) stars in this true story as a travel writer who walks France to regain his erased memories.
A Real Job (Icarus Films): Vincent Lacoste stars as a French substitute teacher in this comedy-drama with Adèle Exarchopoulos.
NEW DOCUMENTARY
Food and Country (Greenwich Entertainment): The American food production system has been broken for some time, but it was the empty grocery shelves during the pandemic that brought that fact home for many. This new documentary from Laura Gabbert (Ottolenghi and the Cakes of Versailles) follows food writer Ruth Reichl as she interviews – over Zoom, during lockdown – farmers, chefs, restaurateurs, and others who are working to solve problems and to inform the public about where they get what they eat. A vital piece of activist filmmaking.
Also available:
Le Beau Mec (Altered Innocence): The story of 1970s French gay porn icon Karl Forrest is told in this inventive mix of archival footage and reenactment.
Daytime Revolution (Kino Lorber): Diving into one week in 1972 when John Lennon and Yoko Ono were unusual co-hosts of the relatively staid Mike Douglas Show.
Fancy Like Walker Hayes (Virgil Films): Country musician Walker Hayes’ ascension to stardom, struggle with addiction, and the life-changing moments along the way.
Mad about the Boy: The Noël Coward Story(Greenwich Entertainment): A deep-dish survey of the legendary queer writer-actor-musician’s life and career.
Made in England: The Films of Powell & Pressburger (Cohen Media Group): A thorough and thoroughly wonderful introduction to the British writing-directing team, covering their style and massive influence on cinema.
Merchant Ivory: The Documentary (Cohen Media Group): You’d have a lot less Maggie Smith and pointed period critique masquerading as luxury porn in your life if it hadn’t been for this filmmaking duo.
Ryuichi Sakamoto | Opus (Janus Contemporaries): The life and career of the famed composer, lovingly and reverently presented by the man himself, in concert.
Yoshiki: Under the Sky (Magnolia Home Entertainment): Japanese music legend Yoshiki presents a concert film featuring The Chainsmokers, Scorpions, and St. Vincent.
NEW GRINDHOUSE
Heavenly Bodies (Fun City Editions): Aerobics in cinema gave us everything from Perfect to Ninja 3: The Domination, but this Canadian import remains a delightfully goofy and good-hearted excuse to put women (and some men) in leotards. Will Samantha (Cynthia Dale), scrappy studio owner, win the audition to host a local exercise show, or will it go to the mean snobs who own the big gym in town? Underappreciated by audiences upon its initial release, this delicious slice of 1980s kitsch has garnered a cult following over the years, hence this new Blu-ray featuring a new interview with Dale as well as new commentary from pop-culture experts Millie Di Chirico and Jeffrey Mixed.
Also available:
1,000 Convicts and a Woman! (Kino Cult): 1971 British sexploitation flick about a teenage girl causing chaos in a men’s prison, starring Alexandra Hay of Skidoo and The Love Machine.
Afraid (Sony Pictures Home Entertainment): John Cho stars in this thriller about the horror of AI robots in your home.
All the Haunts Be Ours: A Compendium of Folk Horror, Volume 2 (Severin Films): A monster of a box set featuring 24 folk-horror films, hours of special features, and a book. Films include new title To Fire You Come at Last and vintage international finds like Who Fears The Devil, The White Reindeer, and Io Island.
Baby Blood (Kino Cult): This 90s shocker is about a woman carrying a deranged parasitic fetus that causes her to kill.
Beaten to Death (Massacre Video): A brutally beaten man, stranded in the middle of nowhere, has to battle evil rural psychopaths to survive.
The Boss (Raro Video): Fernando Di Leo’s gangland drama stars Henry Silva as a mob enforcer assassinating rivals to elevate his own boss.
Drag Me to Hell (Scream Factory): 4K Collector’s Edition for this now-classic Sam Raimi horror about a young woman suffering a hell-bound curse. Moral: maybe don’t evict old ladies from your house.
Hard Wood: The Adult Features of Ed Wood(Severin Films): It wasn’t all Plan 9 From Outer Space. The master of outsider cinema made X-rated films, too. Here they are.
Hollywood 90028 (Grindhouse Releasing): 1971 Psych-sploitation about an angry young man who takes out his fury on a series of victims.
Horrible High Heels (Massacre Video): 1990s Chinese horror at its most depraved, about a shoe factory owner and serial killer who gets his leather by skinning the bodies of his victims.
Hush (Scream Factory): A deaf, mute woman has to battle a mask-wearing maniac and fight for her life.
I Am a Nymphomaniac/I Am Frigid…Why?(Mondo Macabro): French erotic cinema of the early 70s from Max Pecas, with a double-sided double feature with the same outcomes.
The Invasion (Arrow Video): Nicole Kidman and Daniel Craig star in this 2000s-era Invasion of the Body Snatchers remake.
The Italian Connection (Raro Video): More Fernando Di Leo and more Henry Silva in this 1972 crime classic that heavily influenced Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction.
Maniac (Kino Classics/Something Weird): A 90-year-old exploitation film about mental illness that still has the power to shock and offend.
Night of the Blood Beast / Attack of the Giant Leeches (Film Masters): Roger Corman produced these late-’50s creature features.
No. 1 of the Secret Service (Kino Cult): 1977 Bond-sploitation with a secret agent named Bind, Charles Bind. Yes, really.
Revenge of the Zombies (KL Studio Classics): It’s the 1940s, and a mad scientist is training zombies to become Nazis in the service of Hitler.
Shawscope Vol. 3 (Arrow Video): More Shaw Brothers thrills. This package contains The One-Armed Swordsman, Return of The One-Armed Swordsman, The New One-Armed Swordsman, The Lady Hermit, Intimate Confessions of a Chinese Courtesan, The 14 Amazons, The Magic Blade, Clans of Intrigue, Jade Tiger, Sentimental Swordsman, The Avenging Eagle, Killer Constable, Buddha’s Palm, and Bastard Swordsman.
Super Spies and Secret Lies: Three Undercover Classics from Shaw Brothers (Eureka Home Entertainment): Martial arts madness triple feature, featuring The Golden Buddha, Angel with the Iron Fists, and The Singing Thief.
Tomie(Arrow Video): 1990s Japanese weirdness about an immortal killer, based on the popular manga.
Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In (Well Go USA Entertainment): Contemporary fighting in Hong Kong’s brutally violent underworld.
The Visit (KL Studio Classics): 4K edition of M. Night Shaymalan’s 2015 thriller about some very demented grandparents.
The Warrior and The Warrior and the Blind Swordsman/The Warrior and the Ninja (both Mondo Macabro): Colonized Indonesian freedom fighters are out for vengeance against the Dutch in these vintage crowdpleasers.
Wolfman’s Got Nards (KL Studio Classics): How to take a box office flop – in this case the late-’80s kid movie The Monster Squad – and turn it into a beloved cult film. This doc tells you how it happened.
NEW CLASSIC
CC40 (The Criterion Collection): The Criterion Collection celebrates its 40th anniversary with this door-stop of a box set that’s bound to be a hot item among cineastes everywhere. Containing 40 digitally-remastered classics that span the scope of cinema itself – from His Girl Friday and Tokyo Storyto Pickpocket and Do the Right Thing, and more and more and more – as well as all their original Criterion extras, plus new content and a 216-page book of essays.
Also available:
2/Duo (Arbelos): Nobuhiro Suwo’s 90s study of a couple on the brink of marriage or breakup and why it might not be so easy to see which is the better choice.
Alfred Hitchcock: The Iconic Films Collection(Universal Studios Home Entertainment): 4K versions of some of the Master of Suspense’s biggest hits: Rear Window, To Catch a Thief, Vertigo, North by Northwest, Psycho, and The Birds.
Battle of the Commandos (KL Studio Classics): Umberto Lenzi and Dario Argento’s 1969 WWII revenge tale, starring Jack Palance.
Blazing Saddles (Warner Bros. Discovery Home Entertainment): One of the all-time great ’70s comedies from Mel Brooks comes in a new 4K edition, wrapped in steelbook packaging.
Born on the Fourth of July (Shout Studios): Oliver Stone and Tom Cruise teamed up for this 1989 biographical drama about Ron Kovic, the Vietnam vet who spoke out against the war. Now in 4K with commentary by critic Matt Zoller Seitz.
Bug (KL Studio Classics): William Friedkin’s adaptation of Tracy Letts’ study of fear and paranoid behavior delivers intense performances from Ashley Judd and Michael Shannon. Now in 4K.
California (KL Studio Classics): Ray Milland and Barbara Stanwyck star in this rousing 1947 wagon-train western.
Cattle Drive (KL Studio Classics): Joel McCrea stars in this well-regarded 1951 drama as a cattle herder rescuing the bratty son (Dean Stockwell) of a railroad tycoon.
The Court-Martial of Billy Mitchell (KL Studio Classics): Otto Preminger directs Gary Cooper in this WWI courtroom drama, a true story of a rule-breaker in the US military ranks.
The Dark Crystal and Labyrinth (both Shout Studios): Classic ’80s fantasy films from Jim Henson, now in some deluxe packaging.
The Eiger Sanction (KL Studio Classics): Clint Eastwood stars in and directs this 1975 espionage thriller set in the Swiss Alps, now in 4K.
Elvira: Mistress of the Dark (Arrow Video): The greatest vampiric vixen of ’80s syndicated movies and beer commercials got her first stab at leading-lady status with this goofy comedy.
Film Noir: The Dark Side of Cinema XXII (KL Studio Classics): This box set series endures and commits to its ongoing descent into darkness with Plunder Road, The Scarlet Hour, and The Enforcer.
Frank Capra at Columbia Collection (Sony Pictures Home Entertainment): One of the great American filmmakers gets his own big box set, going all the way back to the silent era and featuring So This Is Love, The Way of the Strong, That Certain Thing, Submarine, The Younger Generation, Flight, Ladies of Leisure, Rain or Shine, Dirigible, The Miracle Woman, Platinum Blonde, American Madness, The Bitter Tea of General Yen, Forbidden, Lady for a Day, It Happened One Night, Mr. Deeds Goes to Town, Lost Horizon, You Can’t Take It With You, and Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, along with the recent documentary Frank Capra: Mr. America.
Funny Girl (The Criterion Collection): Miss Streisand–approved.
Godzilla (The Criterion Collection): The dark, dread-filled 1954 original that birthed an icon.
Harrison’s Flowers (KL Studio Classics): In this 2000 drama, David Strathairn is a photojournalist MIA in the war in Yugoslavia. His wife (Andie MacDowell) risks her life to find him.
The Hunted (KL Studio Classics) William Friedkin’s 2003 thriller pits hunter against hunted with Tommy Lee Jones and Benicio Del Toro.
The Lonely Man (KL Studio Classics) 1957 existential western full of vengeance and regret with Jack Palance and Anthony Perkins.
Mountains of the Moon (KL Studio Classics): Bob Rafelson’s 1990 adventure finds British colonizers in search of the source of the Nile.
North by Northwest (Warner Bros. Discovery Home Entertainment): One of the all-time great Hitchcock thrillers gets the 4K treatment.
On the Road with Bob Hope and Bing Crosby (KL Studio Classics): Hope and Crosby made seven Roadpictures together, and now you get all of them in one big box.
One Two Three (KL Studio Classics): James Cagney in Billy Wilder’s blistering Cold War comedy masterpiece.
Paper Moon (The Criterion Collection): Peter Bogdanovich’s other black-and-white slam dunk earned young Tatum O’Neal an Academy Award.
Paradise (Fun City Editions): Wild Blue Lagoonripoff stars Phoebe Cates (whose star was rising) and Willie Aames (somewhere between Eight Is Enoughand Bibleman).
Play Misty for Me (KL Studio Classics): The late great Jessica Walter stalks radio DJ Clint Eastwood in this creepy ’70s thriller; Eastwood’s directorial debut.
Prey for Rock & Roll (Kino Lorber): Gina Gershon gives a memorably ferocious performance as a rock-and-roll lifer whose big break may not ever come.
Roseland (Cohen Film Collection): Three romantic tales set in New York’s legendary Roseland Ballroom, with Teresa Wright and Christopher Walken, from Merchant Ivory.
Rules of Engagement (KL Studio Classics): Tommy Lee Jones and Samuel L. Jackson square off in this military thriller.
Scarface (The Criterion Collection): Nope, not that one. It’s the Criterion edition of Howard Hawks’ 1932 film that Brian De Palma later remade with Al Pacino.
Seven Samurai (The Criterion Collection): Kurosawa’s enduring masterpiece of solidarity, now in 4K.
A Simple Plan (Arrow Video): Sam Raimi’s thriller of greed and betrayal stars Bill Paxton, Billy Bob Thornton, and Bridget Fonda.
Slap the Monster on Page One (Radiance): A right-wing newspaper editor blames a murder on a left-wing radical to boost circulation and stoke populist rage. From acclaimed Italian director Marco Bellocchio.
The Terminator (Warner Bros. Discovery Home Entertainment): Arnold enters acting stardom. Now in 4K.
Topkapi (KL Studio Classics): Wildly colorful and convoluted ’60s heist caper starring Maximilian Schell, Melina Mercouri, and Peter Ustinov, from the great director Jules Dassin; it’s a lot zingier than Dassin’s previous crime classic Rififi, but the heist itself is no less intricate and breathtaking.
Triumph of the Spirit (KL Studio Classics): In a WWII concentration camp, men must box for the amusement of the Nazis in this drama starring Edward James Olmos, Willem Dafoe, and Robert Loggia.
Two Mules for Sister Sara (KL Studio Classics) Clint Eastwood’s wild-west loner and Shirley Maclaine’s nun fall for each other in this unconventional ’60s Western.
The Visitors (KL Studio Classics): Elia Kazan’s 1972 home-invasion thriller stars a young James Woods.
The Wizard of Oz: 85th Anniversary Theatrical Edition (Warner Bros. Discovery Home Entertainment): The film that has influenced every corner of cinema gets a 4K with lots of treats for obsessive fans who need every shred of ephemera.
Zyzzyx Road (Dark Arts Entertainment): 4K restoration of the film that holds the distinction for being the lowest-grossing theatrical release in history.
NEW TV
The Martian Chronicles (KL Studio Classics): Ray Bradbury was one of the 20th century’s most beloved authors, yet film and TV adaptations haven’t always nailed his specific voice. Still, you can’t blame them for trying, and this 1980 miniseries, scripted by Richard Matheson, can’t be faulted for lacking ambition. This cautionary tale about man’s overreach stars Rock Hudson, Darren McGavin, Bernadette Peters, Roddy McDowall, and Maria Schell.
Also available:
Dragon Ball Super: The Complete Series and Dragon Ball Z: The Complete Series (both Crunchyroll): More Dragon Ball action than you can probably even handle. But you know you want it all.
Fraggle Rock: Back to the Rock: Season One (Sony Pictures Home Entertainment): The reboot of your favorite ’80s Jim Henson Muppet side hustle.
Heartland: Season 17 (Lionsgate): The horse show that will never end, and why should it?
House of the Dragon: The Complete Second Season (WB/HBO): The Game of Thrones prequel series drops another batch of dragon jams.
The King of Queens: The Complete Series (Mill Creek Entertainment): Jerry Stiller spent the last part of his career dominating television in Seinfeld and this show. You only thought it was a Kevin James project.
Tonikawa: Over the Moon for You (Shout Studios): This wildly popular romantic anime now in a fully loaded collector’s edition package.
NEW CHRISTMAS
There’s a sleighful of new holiday-related physical media that will keep you and your guests of all ages entertained throughout the rest of the year; some might even become annual perennials to be pulled out of the attic with the lights and the stockings.
Among recent titles, we have a definite new addition to the Christmas canon with Oscar-winner The Holdovers (Universal Pictures Home Entertainment) (4K out December 10), a film that will encourage repeat viewing. But no matter what your taste, there’s something for you, from gonzo horror, Terrifier 3(Cineverse; out December 17), to action, John Woo’s Silent Night (Lionsgate), to neo-noir, Blue Christmas (VCI Entertainment), to horror, A Creature Was Stirring (Well Go USA Entertainment), to family comedy, A Sudden Case of Christmas (Shout Factory), to musicals, Journey to Bethlehem (Sony Pictures Home Entertainment), to gonzo animation, Infinite Santa 8000 (Synapse Films).
On the classics front, celebrate the 70th anniversary of White Christmas (Paramount Home Entertainment) with a brand new 4K release; also getting its first 4K issue is the beloved 1994 version of Little Women (Sony Pictures Home Entertainment) starring Winona Ryder and Christian Bale. And while not it’s not your traditional feel-good holiday movie, the events of The Lion in Winter (KL Studio Classics) take place entirely over Christmas, so it counts.
Books count as physical media, and an annual treat for budding movie lovers (and their parents) is the Lil Cinefile line of books, introducing young readers to a variety of film genres. This year, the third volume in the My First Movie series spotlights sci-fi, midnight, and kung fu movies.
And there’s no talking about Christmas media these days without acknowledging the juggernaut that is the Hallmark Channel, and they’re offering a bounty of DVDs for films that premiered on the channel in 2023. My personal pick for the best of last year wasn’t a Christmas movie at all, but rather the Hanukkah rom-com Round and Round, available on its own or as part of the Hallmark Festival of Lights 6-Movie Collection alongside Hanukkah on Rye, Eight Gifts of Hanukkah, Double Holiday, Hitched for the Holiday, and Love Lights Hanukkah!
Another fave from last year, The Santa Summit – from the screenwriter of Netflix’s 2024 hit Hot Frosty – comes sold separately or as part of another package deal, Hallmark 9-Movie Collection, also featuring Christmas on Cherry Lane, Magic in Mistletoe, Everything Christmas, You Me and the Christmas Trees, The Christmas Contest, A World Record Christmas, Next Stop Christmas, and Mystic Christmas. Pound for pound, this is the one to buy if you’re a Hallmark fan, or shopping for one, but lovers of these annual Yuletide treats will go for these as well:
Never Been Chris’d,A World Record Christmas, Haul Out the Holly: Lit Up,Christmas on Cherry Lane, and The Perfect Christmas Presentas well as the multiple-movie sets Hallmark 4-Movie Collection (Ms. Christmas Comes to Town, Navigating Christmas, A Season for Family, The Secret Gift of Christmas), Hallmark 2-Movie Collection (Holiday Road, Heaven Down Here),Hallmark 6-Movie Collection (Checkin’ It Twice, Christmas by Design, Christmas with a Kiss, Where Are You Christmas?, Our Christmas Mural, Under the Christmas Sky), Hallmark 3-Movie Collection(Catch Me If You Claus, To All a Good Night, Mystery on Mistletoe Lane),
Hallmark 2-Movie Collection (the channel’s Christmas in July 2024 offerings, Very Vermont Christmas and Falling Like Snowflakes), and Hallmark 6-Movie Collection (A Heidelberg Holiday, My Norwegian Holiday, Christmas in Notting Hill, Joyeux Noel, A Not So Royal Christmas, Christmas at Castle Hart).
And hey, since it’s that time of year, I’ll mention that the Hallmark fan in your life might also enjoy my Hallmark book, I’ll Be Home for Christmas Movies(co-written with the hosts of the Deck the Hallmark podcast), and whatever your favorite kind of holiday film, from It’s a Wonderful Life to Eyes Wide Shut, you’ll find it in Have Yourself a Movie Little Christmas.