Posted January 23, 2023 03:07 AM by Sean Greenwood
For the week of January 23rd, Universal Pictures Home Entertainment will release Tommy Wirkola's Violent Night, starring David Harbour, John Leguizamo, Beverly D'Angelo, Alex Hassell and Alexis Louder.
Studio description: From the producers of Nobody and John Wick comes a bare-knuckle, coal-dark holiday action-comedy that says you should always bet on red. When a team of mercenaries breaks into a wealthy family compound taking everyone inside hostage, they are not prepared for a surprise combatant: Santa Claus. David Harbour (Stranger Things) stars as St. Nick, delivering some serious season's beatings to save the family and the spirit of Christmas.
Universal's Blu-ray of Violent Night contains a DTS-HD MA 7.1 audio track. Extras include an audio commentary, deleted and extended scenes and featurettes.
New this week from Shout Factory and GKIDS is a Blu-ray for Masaaki Yuasa's Inu-Oh.
Description: From visionary director Masaaki Yuasa, hailed by IndieWire as "one of the most creatively unbridled minds in all of modern animation," comes a revisionist rock opera about a 14th-century superstar whose dance moves take Japan by storm.
Born to an esteemed family, Inu-oh is afflicted with an ancient curse that has left him on the margins of society. When he meets the blind musician Tomona, a young biwa priest haunted by his past, Inu-oh discovers a captivating ability to dance. The pair quickly become business partners and inseparable friends as crowds flock to their electric, larger-than-life concerts. But when those in power threaten to break up the band, Inu-oh and Tomona must dance and sing to uncover the truth behind their creative gifts.
Featuring character creation by Taiyo Matsumoto (Tekkonkinkreet, "Ping Pong the Animation") and awe-inspiring vocals by Avu-chan (Queen Bee) and Mirai Moriyama, INU-OH is a glam-rock ode to the power of music and a forceful statement on artistic freedom from one of animation's singular talents.
Shout's Blu-ray of Inu-Oh contains an interview with director Masaaki Yuasa, a Q&A at the US premiere, featurettes and trailers.
Also coming on Blu-ray from Shout is The Jackie Chan Collection: Volume 1 (1976-1982), a seven-disc box set that contains The Killer Meteors, Shaolin Wooden Men, To Kill with Intrigue, Snake & Crane Arts of Shaolin, Dragon Fist, Battle Creek Brawl and Dragon Lord. All seven films (along with both the 96-minute and 103-minute versions of Dragon Lord) are presented from new 2K masters and feature lossless Cantonese and / or Mandarin mono audio tracks along with English subtitles and English dubbed audio. All films include new audio commentaries and the set also includes a new 85-minute documentary The Golden Boy: Harvesting A Major New Martial Arts Maverick, with contributions from various cast and crew of the films. Legacy extras are also included, along with trailers, stills galleries and more.
Finally from Shout comes a 4K UHD upgrade for Christopher Landon's Freaky (2020), starring Vince Vaughn, Kathryn Newton, Alan Ruck, Katie Finneran and Uriah Shelton. Presented in 4K HDR with DTS-HD MA 5.1 audio, Freaky also comes with a Blu-ray that includes the audio commentary, deleted scenes and other extras from the previous Blu-ray release.
New this week from RLJE Films is a Blu-ray for Rebekah McKendry's Glorious, starring Ryan Kwanten, J.K. Simmons, Tordy Clark and Sylvia Grace Kim.
Description: A heartbroken man finds himself trapped in a bathroom with a strange voice who says he may be the only hope in stopping a terrible event.
RLJE Films' Blu-ray of Glorious contains no extras. For a full disc breakdown, read Randy Miller's Blu-ray review.
New on Blu-ray this week from Lionsgate Home Entertainment is Mauro Borrelli's Mindcage, starring John Malkovich, Martin Lawrence and Melissa Roxburgh.
Description: In this spellbinding thriller, detectives Jake Doyle (Martin Lawrence) and Mary Kelly (Melissa Roxburgh) seek the help of an incarcerated serial killer named The Artist (John Malkovich) when a copycat killer strikes. While Mary searches for clues in The Artist's brilliant but twisted psyche, she and Jake are lured into a diabolical game of cat and mouse, racing against time to stay one step ahead of The Artist and his copycat.
Lionsgate's Blu-ray of Mindcage contains an audio commentary with director Mauro Borrelli and a making of featurette. For a full disc breakdown, read Jeffrey Kauffman's Blu-ray review.
Then from Lionsgate is another entry in the Vestron Video Collector's Series: The Dentist Collection (1996-1998) a two-disc set which contains Brian Yuzna's The Dentist (1996) and its sequel, The Dentist 2: Brace Yourself (1998). Both films are presented with DTS-HD MA 2.0 audio, and both have audio commentary with Brian Yuzna and Special Makeup Effects Supervisor Anthony C. Ferrante,as well as isolated score tracks containing Audio Interviews with composer Alan Howarth and others. Interviews across both films include the likes of actors Corbin Bernsen and Jillian McWhirter, as well as producer Pierre David, co-writer Dennis Paoli and more. The discs are rounded out by trailers and stills galleries. Full disc breakdowns can be accessed via the film titles above or via reviewer Jeffrey Kauffman's overall The Dentist Collection Blu-ray review.
Also from Lionsgate this week is a 4K UHD upgrade for Hype Williams' Belly (1998), starring DMX, Nas, Taral Hicks, Tionne 'T-Boz' Watkins, and Method Man. Lionsgate presents Belly with a new Dolby Atmos audio mix and Dolby Vision HDR on the 4K UHD disc. Extras include audio commentary with Hype Williams, while the Blu-ray includes the extras Spoken Word, a deleted scene and the music video for "Grand Finale". In addition to standard packaging, a Best Buy Exclusive SteelBook will also be available.
Turning to catalog titles, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment will release three more Blu-rays in the Warner Archive Collection. First is Clarence Brown's Wife vs. Secretary (1936), starring Clark Gable, Jean Harlow, Myrna Loy, May Robson, George Barbier and James Stewart.
Description: Though magazine publisher Van Stanhope (Clark Gable) and his wife, Linda (Myrna Loy), are contentedly married, Van's meddling mother (May Robson) doesn't trust his attractive young secretary, Helen "Whitey" Wilson (Jean Harlow). When Whitey helps Van undertake a top-secret plan to purchase a potentially profitable magazine from under the nose of a rival publisher, causing the pair to work long hours alone together, Linda's sudden jealousy almost scuttles both the deal and their marriage.
Then from Warner Archive it's Sam Wood and Sidney Franklin's Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1939), starring Robert Donat, Greer Garson, Terry Kilburn, Paul Henreid, John Mills and Judith Furse.
Description: Young schoolteacher Charles Edward Chipping (Robert Donat) imposes strict discipline on his young charges at a Victorian-era English public school, becoming a fearsome presence on the campus grounds. But the love of spirited young suffragette Katherine Ellis (Greer Garson) brings the Latin instructor out of his shell and makes him a beloved campus institution into the 20th century and through the shattering violence of World War I. The film is based on the best-selling novel by James Hilton.
Finally from Warner Archive comes Vincente Minnelli's The Long, Long Trailer (1953), starring Lucille Ball, Desi Arnaz, Marjorie Main, Keenan Wynn, Gladys Hurlbut and Moroni Olsen.
Description: Nicholas Collini (Desi Arnaz) has to travel for his job as an engineer -- so his fiancée, Tacy (Lucille Ball), suggests that rather than buy a house after their wedding, they invest in a motor home so they can see the country together. But the aggravations of life with nosy trailer park neighbors and the dangers of piloting an enormous trailer across narrow country roads soon take their toll on the happy couple, putting their young marriage in turmoil.
Also this week, Kino Lorber have a 4K UHD upgrade for Michael Winner's Death Wish (1974), starring Charles Bronson, Hope Lange, Vincent Gardenia, Steven Keats and William Redfield. Sourced from a new 4K scan of the original camera negative, Kino presents Death Wish with lossless 2.0 and 5.1 audio tracks and Dolby Vision HDR on the 4K UHD disc. New extras include an audio commentary with film historian Paul Talbot, while the Blu-ray also includes an interview with actor John Herzfeld and a newly remastered theatrical trailer, as well as TV and radio spots.
Finally this week, MVD Visual have two titles coming to Blu-ray. First is Boaz Davidson's The Last American Virgin (1982), starring Steve Antin, Lawrence Monoson, Diane Franklin, Louisa Moritz and Brian Peck. MVD presents the film from an HD master supplied by MGM, with LPCM 2.0 audio. MVD also ports over extras originally found on the 2013 Arrow Video UK Blu-ray, including interviews with Boaz Davidson, Lawrence Monoson, Diane Franklin and cinematographer Adam Greenberg. A photo gallery, theatrical trailer and TV spot are also included. For a full disc breakdown, read Jeffrey Kauffman's Blu-ray review.
Then from MVD is Emilio Estevez's Men at Work (1990), starring Charlie Sheen, Emilio Estevez, Leslie Hope, Keith David and Dean Cameron. MVD includes a trailer for the film as an extra. For a full disc breakdown, read Jeffrey Kauffman's Blu-ray review.