Posted December 25, 2022 09:56 PM by Sean Greenwood
For the final week of 2022 and the start of 2023, Universal Pictures Home Entertainment will release David Gordon Green's Halloween Ends, starring Jamie Lee Curtis, Andi Matichak, James Jude Courtney, Rohan Campbell, and Will Patton. As with the previous film in the franchise, 2021's Halloween Kills, this film was announced after the box office success of Halloween (2018), and both sequels were intended to be shot back-to-back, with projected release dates in 2020 and 2021. However, the arrival of the coronavirus pandemic changed those plans, and forced Kills to a 2021 release, while Ends ultimately went before the cameras in 2022. Like its predecessor, Halloween Ends also received a controversial simultaneous release to theaters and streaming, which, along with relatively negative reviews from critics and audiences alike, resulted in a film that topped the box office on its opening weekend back in October, but with just over $40 million, almost $10 million less than Halloween Kills. Ultimately, the film would finish in theaters with a global box office take of over $104 million, the lowest of the trilogy by some distance.
Universal's releases of Halloween Ends contain the film's Dolby Atmos audio, while the 4K UHD disc additionally features Dolby Vision HDR. Extras include cast and crew audio commentary, deleted and extended scenes and several featurettes. In addition to standard packaging, a Best Buy Exclusive 4K UHD SteelBook and Walmart Exclusive with Collectible Art will also be available. Universal will also release a Halloween Trilogy (2018-2022) on the same date, in separate Blu-ray or 4K UHD editions.
New this week on Blu-ray from Shout Factory and GKIDS is Atsuko Ishizuka's Goodbye, Don Glees! (グッバイ、ドン・グリーズ!), starring Natsuki Hanae, Kana Hanazawa, Yûki Kaji and Ayumu Murase.
Label description: Teen misfits Roma, Toto, and Drop call themselves the "Don Glees," an informal name for their backyard adventures. One day, when the trio gets blamed for a nearby forest fire, they set off into the woods to prove their innocence. As disaster strikes their expedition, tensions flare between the friends as they realize that growing up has taken them on wildly different paths in life.
Director Atsuko Ishizuka follows up her critically acclaimed series A Place Further Than the Universe with her first original feature film. With luminescent animation and lush backdrops, Goodbye, Don Glees! is a tender coming-of-age story about the fearlessness of being young and the bittersweet journey of self-discovery.
Shout's Blu-ray of Goodbye, Don Glees! contains both Japanese and English audio tracks, an interview with Atsuko Ishizuka, and trailers.
New on Blu-ray from RLJE Films is Neil Marshall's The Lair, starring Jonathan Howard, Charlotte Kirk, and Jamie Bamber.
Description: When Royal Air Force pilot Lt. Kate Sinclair is shot down over Afghanistan, she finds refuge in an abandoned underground bunker where deadly man-made biological weapons - half human, half alien - are awakened.
RLJE Films' Blu-ray of The Lair contains a behind-the-scenes featurette. For a full disc breakdown read Randy Miller's Blu-ray review.
New on Blu-ray from Lionsgate Home Entertainment is Bobby Moresco's Lamborghini, starring Frank Grillo, Gabriel Byrne, Mira Sorvino and Romano Reggiani.
Featuring Oscar winners Mira Sorvino and the screenwriter of Crash, this thrilling, high-speed biopic tells the story of genius auto inventor Ferruccio Lamborghini (Frank Grillo, The Grey). All his life Ferruccio has dreamed of beating his longtime rival Enzo Ferrari (Gabriel Byrne)—and the upcoming Geneva grand prix could be his chance to blow past Ferrari for good. But can Ferruccio get his untested vehicle prepped for victory with the competition just months away? The race is on!
New this week from Cinema Guild is a Blu-ray for Ramon Zürcher's The Girl and the Spider (Das Mädchen und die Spinne), starring Henriette Confurius, Ursina Lardi, André Hennicke and Birte Schnöink.
Label description: As her roommate Lisa prepares to move out of their apartment, Mara contemplates the end of an era. Furniture is moved, walls painted, cupboards built. Amid all the hustle and bustle, secret longings and desires come to the surface and coalesce around the roommates as well as around Lisa's mother Astrid, the movers, the girls' old neighbors, the neighbors' cat, Lisa's new neighbor and an ever-expanding cast of characters. Day turns into night and one final party in the apartment. When the last box is moved, the fragments of their lives remain.
Cinema Guild's Blu-ray of The Girl and the Spider contains two short films by Ramon Zürcher: Reinhardtstrasse (2009) and Yesterday My Friend Bought a Bike (2010), an introduction by Ramon and Silvan Zürcher from AFI Fest, the film's theatrical trailer and a booklet with an essay by Erika Balsom.
Turning to catalog titles, Kino Lorber have a 4K UHD upgrade for Robert Benton's Nobody's Fool (1994), starring Paul Newman, Bruce Willis, Jessica Tandy, Melanie Griffith and Dylan Walsh. Presented in 4K from a 2020 scan of the original camera negative done by Paramount Pictures, Kino presents Nobody's Fool with 2.0 and 5.1 audio tracks, along with Dolby Vision HDR on the 4K UHD disc. Extras include audio commentary by filmmaker and film historian Jim Hemphill, interviews with writer Richard Russo and actress Catherine Dent and a newly remastered theatrical trailer.
Also from Kino comes a Blu-ray for Robert Benton's Twilight (1998), starring Paul Newman, Susan Sarandon, Gene Hackman, Reese Witherspoon, Stockard Channing and James Garner. Extras on Kino's Blu-ray include audio commentary by film critics Alain Silver and James Ursini, five TV spots and a newly remastered theatrical trailer.
Finally this week, Discotek Media have several anime Blu-rays coming out, but also a live-action film, Teruo Ishii's Female Yakuza Tale: Inquisition and Torture (やさぐれ姐御伝 総括リンチ) (1973), starring Reiko Ike, Meika Seri, Jun Midorikawa, Emi Jô, Tôru Abe and Kanjûrô Arashi.
Description: Female Yakuza Tale - Inquisition And Torture is an anarchistic apex in the career of Japanese cult director, Teruo Ishii, whose fifty year resume includes Horror of Malformed Men and Bohachi Bushido. Notoriously lacking restraint, sexy 'pinky violence' star, Reiko Ike, returns in this gonzo sequel to Sex and Fury following the further exploits of Ocho, a thief and gambler running afoul of evil yakuza in Meiji Era Tokyo.
Discotek presents this live action film with Japanese: LPCM 2.0 Mono audio and optional English subtitles. The film's theatrical trailer is also included, again with optional English subtitles.
Also from Discotek is the complete anime series of Machine Robo: Battle Hackers (マシンロボ ぶっちぎりバトルハッカーズ) (1987) in standard definition on Blu-ray:
Description: Five teenaged Earthlings crash-land on the electronic planet of B1, a world at war between the rebel Machine Robo Argo Army and the Grendos Empire, led by a dictator, Dylan, who originally came to power amid dealings with Earthling arms dealers. The headstrong Akira and his friends are first sheltered by the Argo supercomputer RIM, but they soon get caught up in the cosmic cause of good versus evil. However, instead of joining RIM's loyal units, Silver Wolf (led by Rod Drill) and White Thunder (led by Blue Jet), the young Earthlings are drawn to the bad boys of Argo: the Battle Hackers, a team of Machine Robo outlaw warriors who take orders from no one, but go off on their own to fight Grendos by whatever means necessary. This collection includes all 31 episodes of Batlehackers, in standard definition, with the original Japanese language and English subtitles!
Next from Discotek is Yuji Moriyama's anime film Project A-ko 3: Cinderella Rhapsody (プロジェクトA子3 シンデレララプソディ) (1988), starring Miki Itō, Emi Shinohara, Michie Tomizawa, Tesshô Genda, Yuri Amano and Lynda Boyd.
Description: This Cinderella Story's Happy Ending is Anything But!
Spring is in the air, and that means love is sure to follow. Or at least, overpowered redhead A-ko really hopes it does! While out shopping for the perfect dress, A-ko gets into an argument with the normally carefree C-ko, who's more interested in having fun than having a boyfriend. When C-ko runs away, she's nearly hit by handsome hunk and motorcyclist Kei, who is in turn hit by a panicking A-ko rushing after her friend. Left with only a glass slipper earring to remember "her" by, when A-ko and Kei meet again at A-ko's part-time job, the passion of youth is sure to bloom! Or will it? Throw in conniving B-ko's plans to ruin anything good for A-ko, a whiny C-ko, and a whole mess of mecha, and you've got yourself a Cinderella Rhapsody! Discotek is bursting with pride to present this beloved anime classic in high-definition for the very first time anywhere!
Discotek's Blu-ray for Project A-ko 3: Cinderella Rhapsody has been newly remastered and contains both Japanese and English LPCM 2.0 audio tracks, along with optional English subtitles. Extras include a music selection track in LPCM 2.0, two versions of the "Get a Chance" theme song music video, an Otokon 2022 teaser, key art, home media and merchandise image galleries, and on-disc liner notes with trivia and more. The previous films, Project A-ko (1986) and Project A-ko 2: The Plot of the Daitokuji Financial Group (1987), are also available to purchase, with Project A-ko 4: Final (1989) set for release in 2023.
Also from Discotek is a Blu-ray for Shunya Itô's anime film Lupin III: Farewell to Nostradamus (ルパン三世 くたばれ!ノストラダムス) (1995), starring Kan'ichi Kurita, Kiyoshi Kobayashi, Makio Inoue, Eiko Masuyama, Gorô Naya and Yumi Adachi.
Description: Lupin and Jigen smuggle their latest haul—a large Rio diamond—inside a plush doll. Not only do they immediately lose it to a spoiled rich kid named Julia, but their plane is hijacked by terrorists who kidnap the girl! Turns out she's the only child of the presidential-hopeful billionaire, Douglas. His city-sized tower—the Earth Building—has a high-tech vault on the top floor, and Julia is the only key! When the gang learns a wealthy buyer is offering Fujiko 50 million dollars for the long-lost prophecies of Nostradamus inside Douglas' vault, they all work together to track down Julia and infiltrate the cutting-edge tower. But the growing Nostradamus Sect, who claim to predict modern calamities using the same lost prophecies, will not make Lupin's job easy. Can the gang escape the wrath of Douglas, outwit the Nostradamus Sect, rescue an old pro from an island prison, and defeat the villainous mercenary Chris? Do they have any hope of claiming the lost prophecies and the 50-million-dollar reward?
Discotek's Blu-ray for Lupin III: Farewell to Nostradamus contains both Japanese and English audio tracks, along with optional English subtitles.
Description: When seven young kids go to camp for the summer, they never expect to find themselves whisked away to a world populated by Digital Monsters! In this strange Digital World, the kids must unlock the power within themselves if they hope to Digivolve their Digimon friends into new, more powerful forms and defeat the evil that threatens both worlds! From the dreaded Devimon and his Black Gears on File Island, to back in Tokyo to battle the vampire lord Myotismon from locating the Eighth DigiDestined child, then a face-off against the menace of the Dark Masters - all in this complete collection of the first season of Digimon: Digital Monsters, the hit series that defined the childhoods of anime fans around the world!
Discotek's Blu-ray for Digimon: Digital Monsters - Season 1 has been newly remastered and contains English audio and optional English subtitles. The Japanese-language version, Digimon Adventure: Season 1, will be released at a later date.
Finally from Discotek is a Blu-ray for Koichi Ohata's anime film Saiyuki Reload: Burial (最遊記 RELOAD - burial -) (2007), starring Hiroaki Hirata, Sôichiro Hoshi, Akira Ishida and Toshihiko Sek.i
Description: Before the journey began... The quartet were four young men with separate lives and different problems be- fore they came together on a journey to the west. A young Genjyo Sanzo travels as a vagabond before he heads to a temple to begin the tale of destiny. Then, Son Goku is released from his prison and must learn the ways of life with Sanzo. Gojyo and Hakkai, were reformed and at- tempting to live out a newly peaceful life until the past of one comes back to drag both into trouble. And before any of it, the story of Ukoku, who haunts the four, and is inexorably linked to their story. This complete OVA collection includes all 3 episodes in 1080p high definition! With the original Japanese language and English subtitles!