Posted October 23, 2022 09:30 PM by Sean Greenwood
For the week of October 24th, Universal Pictures Home Entertainment will release Jordan Peele's Nope, starring Daniel Kaluuya, Keke Palmer, Steven Yeun, Michael Wincott and Terry Notary.
Studio description: Oscar winner Jordan Peele disrupted and redefined modern horror with Get Out and then Us. Now, he reimagines the summer movie with a new pop nightmare: the expansive horror epic, Nope.
Universal's 4K UHD and Blu-ray releases of Nope contain the film's Dolby Atmos audio, while the 4K UHD disc additionally includes HDR. Extras include a lengthy making of featurette, deleted scenes, a gag reel and two featurettes. In addition to standard packaging, a Best Buy Exclusive SteelBook and a Walmart Exclusive with Alternate Artwork will also be available. Reviewer Martin Liebman was impressed with both the film and Universal's 4K UHD disc, calling it "clearly the best way to watch the film at home". For full disc breakdowns, read Martin's 4K UHD review and Blu-ray review.
Also new this week from Universal is a Blu-ray for Ron Yuan's Blade of the 47 Ronin, starring Mark Dacascos and Dustin Nguyen.
Studio description: An evil witch named Yurei, whose ancestor was slain by one of the 47 Ronin, has surfaced in modern day Budapest determined to have his revenge. Yurei seeks to completely destroy all samurai by uniting both halves of the powerful Tengu Sword. A prophecy claims only a descendant of the original 47 Ronin can wield the blade and defeat this great evil. The samurai are shocked when Lord Shinshiro identifies a streetwise New Yorker named Luna as the one who was prophesied. He charges ronin Reo and apprentice Onami with training Luna to be the hero they desperately need. With most of the samurai lords dead or missing, and a traitor hiding among them, the remaining warriors must summon all of their skills as martial arts masters to combat Yurei's mystic magic and fulfill their destiny.
Finally from Universal, another batch of catalog titles come to Blu-ray for the first time. They are:
Gilbert Cates' The Promise (1979), starring Kathleen Quinlan, Stephen Collins and Beatrice Straight.
Mira Nair's Vanity Fair (2004), starring Reese Witherspoon, Angelica Mandy, Gabriel Byrne, Ruth Sheen and Roger Lloyd Pack.
Walter Salles' The Motorcycle Diaries (Diarios de motocicleta) (2004), starring Gael García Bernal, Rodrigo de la Serna, Mía Maestro, Mercedes Morán and Jean Pierre Noher.
Cary Joji Fukunaga's Sin Nombre (2009), starring Paulina Gaitán, Edgar Flores, Diana García, Kristyan Ferrer, and Tenoch Huerta.
Miranda July's Kajillionaire (2020), starring Evan Rachel Wood, Debra Winger, Gina Rodriguez, Richard Jenkins and Patricia Belcher.
New this week from Warner Bros. Home Entertainment is a Blu-ray for Titans: The Complete Third Season (2021). The three-disc set contains all 13 episodes from the third season and seven featurettes as extras.
Also this week from Warner is another entry in the Warner Archive Collection: Rouben Mamoulian's Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1931), starring Fredric March, Miriam Hopkins, Rose Hobart, Holmes Herbert, Halliwell Hobbes and Edgar Norton. Sourced from a recent 4K scan of the original nitrate camera negative, Warner Archive's Blu-ray is presented with DTS-HD MA 2.0 Mono audio and features a new audio commentary with screenwriter/film historian Dr. Steve Haberman and film historian Constantine Nasr, in addition to a legacy audio commentary with author/film historian Greg Mank, the Bugs Bunny theatrical short Hyde and Hare (1955) and a 1950 Theatre Guild on the Air radio adaptation. Reviewer Randy Miller has high praise for both WAC's Blu-ray and the film itself. For a full disc breakdown, read Randy's Blu-ray review. Note: The clip below was posted to the Warner Archive YouTube channel in 2017 and should not be seen as indicative of the Blu-ray remastering.
New this week from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment is a Blu-ray for Jessica Thompson's The Invitation (2022), starring Nathalie Emmanuel, Thomas Doherty, Stephanie Corneliussen, Alana Boden and Courtney Taylor.
Studio description: After the death of her mother and having no other known relatives, Evie (Nathalie Emmanuel) takes a DNA test…and discovers a long-lost cousin she never knew she had. Invited by her newfound family to a lavish wedding in the English countryside, she's at first seduced by the sexy aristocrat host but is soon thrust into a nightmare of survival as she uncovers twisted secrets in her family's history and the unsettling intentions behind their sinful generosity.
Sony's Blu-ray of The Invitation (2022) contains the film's theatrical and unrated cuts, three behind-the-scenes featurettes, deleted and extended scenes including an alternate ending and outtakes and bloopers.
Also coming from Sony this week is the Columbia Classics Collection: Volume 3 (1934-1997), a fourteen-disc box set that contains the 4K UHD premieres of It Happened One Night (1934), From Here to Eternity (1953), To Sir, with Love (1967), The Last Picture Show (1971), Annie (1982) and As Good as It Gets (1997). All films have Dolby Vision HDR and lossless original audio tracks, while From Here to Eternity, To Sir, with Love, Annie and As Good as It Gets also have additional Dolby Atmos remixes. Over 35 hours of new and legacy extras are included across all discs, including the feature films Little Orphan Annie (1932), You Can't Run Away from It (1956) and To Sir, with Love II (1996) and the TV pilot for To Sir, with Love (1974) all presented in HD and the TV pilot for From Here to Eternity (1980) presented in SD. Each 4K UHD title also includes new and legacy extras, while a bonus disc includes the entire From Here to Eternity (1979) miniseries in HD.
New this week from IFC Films is a Blu-ray for Mariano Cohn and Gastón Duprat's Official Competition, starring Antonio Banderas, Penélope Cruz, Oscar Martínez, José Luis Gómez and Irene Escolar.
Description: Having surveyed his legacy and finding it lacking in prestige, an octogenarian millionaire pharmaceutical tycoon (José Luis Gómez) decides to finance a great work of cinema. He purchases the rights to a Nobel Prize–winning novel about sibling rivalry and entrusts the property to enigmatic auteur Lola Cuevas (Penélope Cruz). A visionary conceptualist with a penchant for offscreen theatrics and micromanagement, Lola casts as her embattled co-leads a pair of veteran thespians who couldn't be less alike: Iván Torres (Oscar Martínez) is a revered educator and legend of the stage much concerned with ethics and artistry, while Félix Rivero (Antonio Banderas) is a glamorous global star known mostly for brainless, bombastic entertainments.
New on Blu-ray from Decal Releasing is Abi Damaris Corbin's Breaking, starring John Boyega, Michael Kenneth Williams, Connie Britton and Jeffrey Donovan.
Description: When Marine Veteran Brian Brown-Easley is denied support from Veterans Affairs, financially desperate and running out of options, he takes a bank and several of its employees' hostage, setting the stage for a tense confrontation with the police. Based on the true story.
Turning to catalog titles, Blue Underground has a 4K UHD upgrade for Jens Jørgen Thorsen's Quiet Days in Clichy (1970), starring Paul Valjean, Wayne Rodda, Ulla Koppel, Avi Sagild and Olaf Ussing. Sourced from a new 4K scan, Blue Underground presents the film with Dolby Vision HDR and DTS-HD MA Mono audio. New extras include deleted scenes, image galleries, court documents and a theatrical trailer, in addition to legacy interviews. Collectible packaging includes a limited edition embossed and uncensored slipcover. A link to Blue Underground's trailer for Quiet Days in Clichy can be found here.
Coming to 4K UHD from Shout Factory is Hal Ashby's The Last Detail (1973), starring Jack Nicholson, Randy Quaid, Clifton James, Carol Kane and Michael Moriarty. Sourced from a new 4K scan of the film's original camera negative, Shout presents the film in Dolby Vision HDR with DTS-HD MA 2.0 Mono audio. Extras include an introduction and appreciation from filmmaker Alexander Payne, a conversation with editor Robert C. Jones and the film's theatrical trailer.
Coming to 4K UHD from Kino Lorber is Brian De Palma's Dressed to Kill (1980), starring Michael Caine, Angie Dickinson, Nancy Allen, Keith Gordon and Dennis Franz. Sourced from a 4K master and presented with Dolby Vision HDR and lossless 5.1 and original mono audio, Kino's release features a new audio commentary from film critic and author Maitland McDonagh. A special features Blu-ray contains new interviews with actors Nancy Allen and Keith Gordon and a new interview with associate producer and production manager Fred C. Caruso. Also included are interviews from 2012 with Allen, Gordon and Angie Dickinson, as well as other archival interviews and extras.
Also coming to 4K UHD from Kino Lorber is Bryan Singer's The Usual Suspects (1995), starring Stephen Baldwin, Gabriel Byrne, Benicio del Toro, Kevin Pollak, and Kevin Spacey. Sourced from a new 4K scan of the film's original camera negative (color-graded and approved by cinematographer Newton Thomas Sigel), Kino presents the film in Dolby Vision HDR with lossless 5.1 and 2.0 audio tracks. Extras include a new interview with cinematographer Newton Thomas Sigel, as well as legacy audio commentaries, interviews and other video extras.
Finally this week, we have several films coming from Severin Films on Blu-ray and 4K UHD. First up is a Blu-ray for Narciso 'Chicho' Ibáñez Serrador's Tales to Keep You Awake (Historias para no dormir) (1966-1982). The two-disc set contains all episodes of the original series, the 1974 special and the 1982 miniseries, all in the original Spanish with English subtitles. Extras include Tales From The Spanish Twilight Zone: The Chicho Ibáñez Serrador Story, as well as select episode introductions from Serrador and a press conference.
Coiming to 4K UHD from Severin is Peter Medak's The Changeling (1980), starring George C. Scott, Trish Van Devere, Melvyn Douglas, Jean Marsh and John Colicos. Sourced from a 4K scan, Severin's 4K UHD release contains a Blu-ray copy of the film as well as a soundtrack CD. Extras include an audio commentary and interview with Medak, crew interviews, and featurettes.
New to Blu-ray from Severin's Severin Kids sub-label is David Blyth's My Grandpa is a Vampire (1992). starring Al Lewis, Justin Gocke, Milan Borich, Pat Evison, Noel Appleby and David Weatherley. Sourced from a new 2K master supervised by Blyth, Severin's Blu-ray contains an audio commentary with Blyth and screenwriter Michael Heath, interviews with actor Daniel Roebuck and Karen Lewis, the original five-episode Moonrise radio play, the film's theatrical trailer and more.
Finally from Severin is a Blu-ray for The Plaga Zombie Trilogy (1997-2012). The two-disc set contains the films Plaga Zombie (1997), Plaga Zombie: Zona Mutante (2001) and Plaga Zombie: Zona Mutante – Revolución Tóxica (2012), as well as a new documentary, an "animated minifearies", short films, and trailers.