For the week of August 16th, Lionsgate Home Entertainment will release Patrick Hughes' action comedy Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard, starring Ryan Reynolds, Samuel L. Jackson, Salma Hayek, Morgan Freeman, and Frank Grillo. This sequel to the 2017 film The Hitman's Bodyguard was originally set for an August 2020 release, before the coronavirus pandemic saw it being pushed to August 2021 and then finally being pushed up to a June 2021 release. On its opening weekend, it topped the box office, on its way to over $38 million domestically, and a global total of over $69 million so far. This week, Lionsgate's home releases will include Dolby Atmos audio and Dolby Vision HDR on the 4K discs. Available formats also include a SteelBook edition. Reviewer Jeffrey Kauffman was impressed with the picture and audio on the 4K UHD disc, calling the Dolby Atmos audio "bombastic", while saying of the picture: "...there are some breathtaking vistas and a lot of location material where an already impressive 1080 palette is more deeply saturated and any number of background tones, like the kind of green office walls in Michael's therapist office, to some almost buttery yellows for the few moments Michael is enjoying his "vacation" before Sonia shows up, finding new luster in this version." Read Jeffrey's full review here.
Also coming from Lionsgare this week is another entry in the Vestron Video series, Anthony Hickox's thriller Sundown: The Vampire in Retreat, starring David Carradine, Morgan Brittany, Bruce Campbell, Jim Metzler, and Maxwell Caulfield. Description: Count Margulak, the leader of the vampires, has ended their tradition of human bloodletting and has placed his followers on a diet of synthetic, bottled blood. But when a new family moves into the town, the natives start to crave "the real thing." Rebel leader Shane and his army plan to overthrow the count, but it won't happen without a fight! The battle for the "right to bite" begins at Sundown!
As with other titles in the Vestron Video series, Lionsgate has included several extras for Sundown: The Vampire in Retreat, including a filmmaker audio commentary, an isolated score track, actor and director interviews, and more.
Also new this week, from Magnolia Pictures is Thomas Jensen's action thriller Riders of Justice, starring Mads Mikkelsen, Nikolaj Lie Kaas, Lars Brygmann, Nicolas Bro, and Gustav Lindh. Description: Riders of Justice follows recently-deployed Markus, who is forced to return home to care for his teenage daughter after his wife is killed in a tragic train accident. But, when a survivor of the wrecked train surfaces claiming foul play, Markus begins to suspect his wife was murdered and embarks on a mission to find those responsible.
Switching gears to documentary, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, through Sony Pictures Classics, will release Michael Dweck and Gregory Kershaw's The Truffle Hunters, starring Piero Botto, Sergio Cauda, and Maria Cicciù. Synopsis: Deep in the forests of Piedmont, Italy, a handful of men, seventy or eighty years young, hunt for the rare and expensive white Alba truffle—which to date has resisted all of modern science's efforts at cultivation. They're guided by a secret culture and training passed down through generations, as well as by the noses of their cherished and expertly-trained dogs. They live a simpler, slower way of life, in harmony with their loyal animals and their picture-perfect land, seemingly straight out of a fairy tale. They're untethered to cell phone screens or the Internet, opting instead to make their food and drink by hand and prioritizing in-person connections and community. The demand for white truffles increases year after year, even as the supply decreases. As a result of climate change, deforestation, and the lack of young people taking up the mantle, the truffle hunters' secrets are more coveted than ever. However, as it soon becomes clear, these ageing men may just hold something much more valuable than even this prized delicacy: the secret to a rich and meaningful life.
Special features for Sony's Blu-ray of The Truffle Hunters include a featurette, "The Story of The Truffle Hunters".
In TV this week, RLJ Entertainment has A Discovery of Witches: Season 2. The two disc set features all 10 episodes of the second season, with DTS-HD MA 5.1 audio and some featurettes as extras. Jeffrey Kauffman reviewed the release, and his full review can be found here.
Also from RLJ this week is David Oyelowo's The Water Man, starring David Oyelowo, Rosario Dawson, Lonnie Chavis, Amiah Miller, Alfred Molina and Maria Bello. Randy Miller reviewed the release, and his full review can be found here.
And lastly from RLJ comes Jerren Lauder's Stay Out of the Attic (2021), starring Ryan Francis, Morgan Alexandria, and Bryce Fernelius. Description: A diverse group of ex-cons-turned-movers—played by Morgan Alexandria (Forever My Girl), Ryan Francis (Sisters) and Bryce Fernelius (Ruling of the Heart)—are convinced by their creepy client, Vern Muller (Michael Flynn, The Outpost), to pull an all-nighter for a generous pay bump. As the night progresses and rooms are cleared, they slowly uncover the horrors that exist inside his old Victorian mansion, including boobytraps, human experimentation, Nazi monsters and more. Will they survive the night? Written and directed by Jerren Lauder (Bug Bites).
Next, we have two new releases from Well Go USA. First is Wing-Cheong Law's Little Q, starring Simon Yam, Gigi Leung, Him Law, Charlie Yeung, Shanshan Yuan and Angela Yuen. The film, about the life of a guide dog in China, was reviewed on Blu-ray by Jeffrey Kauffman, a review which can be found here.
Then from Well Go, we have Tony Ka-Fai Leung's Midnight Diner, a feature based on the manga of the same name and starring Tony Ka-Fai Leung, Tony Yo-ning Yang, Tao Liu, Yibai Zhang, Elaine Jin and Kim Scar. Once again, Jeffrey Kauffman reviewed the Blu-ray, which can be found here.
Also this week, from Shout Factory comes Pearry Reginald Teo's Fast Vengeance, starring D.Y. Sao, Natalie Burn, DMX, Lyndon Hoffman-Lew, Jonathan Hursh and Randall J. Bacon. Description: Upon hearing of his brother's death, a man named Shen returns to his old stomping grounds to find the men responsible and take justice into his own hands. He learns that a biker named Cobra and his ferocious gang, The Midnight Squad, were the ones responsible ... but to get anywhere close to them, he must enter the dark, turbulent realm of underground motorcycle racing. Enlisting the aid of a drag racing champion-turned-mechanic, Shen must compete in the high-stakes races where he will have one chance to confront Cobra. But when Shen's plan is revealed, he must battle both on the streets and in the ring to obtain his final revenge. Featuring hip-hop legend DMX (Belly, Romeo Must Die), Fast Vengeance is a high-octane action thriller with style — and rubber — to burn.
Another from Shout is Nick Lyon's The Rebels of PT-218, starring Eric Roberts, Danny Trejo and William Baldwin. Description: Based on a true story, The Rebels of PT-218 follows the intrepid crew of an American torpedo boat, one of the first to encounter action in the Mediterranean Theater at the height of WWII. Off the coasts of Africa, Italy and France, the crew fights against the constant bombardment by German forces as the seas become a deadly battleground. Starring Eric Roberts (Runaway Train), William Baldwin (Backdraft ) and Danny Trejo (The Replacement Killers ) and featuring expert direction from Nick Lyon (D-Day: Battle Of Omaha Beach ), The Rebels of PT-218 is an engrossing and action-packed account of the intense Naval missions of WWII.
Shout's Blu-ray for The Rebels of PT-218 contains outtakes and the film's trailer as extras.
Finally this week, there are two more classics coming from the Warner Archive Collection. First is W.S. Van Dyke's Shadow of the Thin Man (1941), starring William Powell and Myrna Loy in their fourth film as Nick and Nora Charles. Synopsis: In San Francisco, retired Detective Nick Charles (William Powell) and his attractive wife, Nora (Myrna Loy), learn from police Lt. Abrams of the murder of a race jockey, but Nick refuses to get involved. Approached later by athletics commission head Maj. Jason Scully and reporter Paul Clarke (Barry Nelson), Nick still declines to investigate. When another reporter is murdered and Paul is arrested, Nick gives way to Nora's plea and, with their fox terrier Asta, sets out to solve the murders.
And also from Warner Archive is Robert Z. Leonard's In the Good Old Summertime (1949), starring Judy Garland, Van Johnson, S.Z. Sakall, Spring Byington, Clinton Sundberg and Buster Keaton. Synopsis: In this musical romance, lovely Veronica Fisher (Judy Garland) lands a job in Otto Oberkugen's (S.Z. Sakall) music store in turn-of-the-century Chicago. Though the other employees like her, including Otto's clumsy nephew Hickey (Buster Keaton), salesman Andrew Larkin (Van Johnson) -- who is threatened by her competition, and secretly attracted to her -- greets her coolly. Each of them is carrying on a romantic correspondence with an as-yet-to-be-met pen pal. They are both in for a surprise.