Posted January 12, 2025 09:07 PM by Sean Greenwood
For the week of January 13th, Oscilloscope Pictures will release Rachel Lambert's Sometimes I Think About Dying, starring Daisy Ridley, Parvesh Cheena, Marcia DeBonis, Brittany O'Grady, Bree Elrod and Ayanna Berkshire.
Description: Lost on the dreary Oregon coast, Fran finds solace in her cubicle, listening to the constant hum of officemates and occasionally daydreaming to pass the time. She is ghosting through life, unable to pop her bubble of isolation, when a friendly new coworker, Robert, persistently tries to connect with her. Though it goes against every fiber of her being, she may have to give this guy a chance.
Oscilloscope's Blu-ray of Sometimes I Think About Dying contains audio commentary, outtakes and a theatrical trailer.
New on Blu-ray from Mill Creek Entertainment is the documentary miniseries Icons Unearthed: Marvel (2023).
Description: The Marvel Cinematic Universe is the most successful franchise of all time and it has changed the way movies are made. Taking a cue from their comic book source material, these films tell different characters' stories that all take place in one massive, interwoven universe. Each film would introduce one key protagonist, building toward the release of one giant blockbuster, The Avengers, that would put them all together. If a single one of those films failed at the box office, it could derail what may be the biggest gamble ever taken in the history of cinema. How did Marvel pull it off?
Mill Creek's Blu-ray of Icons Unearthed: Marvel is a three-disc set with all eight episodes. Extras include over five hours of uncut interviews with actors Lou Ferrigno, Clark Gregg and JJ Field, as well as comic book writers Mark Millar and J. Michael Straczynski.
Description: A century after Alfred Hitchcock's first film, he remains one of the most influential filmmakers in the history of cinema. But how does his vast body of work and legacy hold up in today's society? Mark Cousins, the award-winning filmmaker behind The Story of Film: An Odyssey, The Eyes of Orson Welles, and The Storms of Jeremy Thomas, tackles this question and looks at the auteur with a new and radical approach: through the use of his own voice. As Hitchcock rewatches his films, we are taken on an odyssey through his vast career - his vivid silent films, the legendary films of the 1950s and 60s and his later works - in playful and revealing ways.
Cohen Media Group's Blu-ray of My Name Is Alfred Hitchcock contains an alternate trailer with narration by Mark Cousins, audio of Alastair McGowan's voice test, a Cinema Q&A with Chuck Rose interview with Cousins, graphics animation tests and Cousins' introductions to Sabotuer, Notorious and Rope.
New on Blu-ray from Well Go USA is Lee Jong-Pil's Escape (탈주) (2024), starring Lee Je-hoon, Koo Kyo-hwan, Park Yoon-hee, Lee Sung-wook, Esom and Seo Hyun-woo.
Description: After completing his required decade of military service and being honored as a hero, a North Korean sergeant makes a sudden shocking attempt to defect to the South, risking life and limb for the chance to finally determine his own destiny.
Well Go USA's Blu-ray of Escape contains a making of featurette, a character trailer and trailer commentary.
Finally for new releases this week, Crunchyroll have a trio of anime series releases coming to Blu-ray. They are:
Description: As Red and Rit settle down in Zoltan, Red's sister and former hero Ruti joins them in the countryside. But it seems the past isn't done with them just yet, as Van, a dogmatic hero who lacks empathy, steps into Ruti's old role and unsettles their quiet life.
Crunchyroll's Blu-ray of Banished from the Hero's Party, I Decided to Live a Quiet Life in the Countryside: Season 2 is a two-disc set with 12 episodes in a choice of original Japanese: Dolby TrueHD 2.0 (with English subtitles) or dubbed English: Dolby TrueHD 5.1 audio. Extras include a promo video and textless opening and ending songs. Packaging includes three art cards.
Description: On her first day at magic academy, Alicia runs into three cute - scratch that. Wrong MC. When Yumiella is reborn into an Otome RPG as the final boss, she tries to avoid the main story. But once her true power is revealed, laying low might be impossible.
Crunchyroll's Blu-ray of Villainess Level 99: I May Be the Hidden Boss but I'm Not the Demon Lord - The Complete Season is a two-disc set with 12 episodes in the original Japanese: Dolby TrueHD 2.0, with English subtitles. Extras include promo videos, character videos and textless opening and ending songs.
The Wrong Way to Use Healing Magic: Season 1 (治癒魔法の間違った使い方 〜戦場を駆ける回復要員〜) (2024), starring Shôgo Sakata, Atsuko Tanaka, Ayaka Nanase, Kengo Takanashi, Kentarô Itô and Masaki Terasoma.
Description: Usato and the two most popular kids in school are summoned to a new world to defeat a demon lord, except Usato wasn't in the plan. But after he shows a rare gift for healing magic, a brutal woman trains him to rescue people - by getting him totally jacked.
Crunchyroll's Blu-ray of The Wrong Way to Use Healing Magic: Season 1 is a two-disc set with 12 episodes in a choice of original Japanese: Dolby TrueHD 2.0 (with English subtitles) or dubbed English: Dolby TrueHD 5.1 audio. Extras include textless opening and ending songs.
Turning to catalog titles, Kino Lorber has a Blu-ray for Robert Mulligan's The Spiral Road (1962), starring Rock Hudson, Burl Ives, Gena Rowlands, Geoffrey Keen, Neva Patterson and Will Kuluva. Kino's Blu-ray of The Spiral Road contains an audio commentary by film historian Samm Deighan and a newly remastered theatrical trailer.
Also from Kino is a new Blu-ray edition of Richard Thorpe's That Funny Feeling (1965), starring Sandra Dee, Bobby Darin, Donald O'Connor, Nita Talbot, Larry Storch and Leo G. Carroll. Previously released in 2021, Kino's Blu-ray of That Funny Feeling adds an audio commentary by film historian / writer Julie Kirgo and writer / filmmaker Peter Hankoff, along with a newly remastered theatrical trailer.
Coming to Blu-ray and 4K UHD from Arrow Video is Leslie Stevens' Incubus (1966), starring William Shatner, Allyson Ames, Eloise Hardt, Robert Fortier, Ann Atmar and Milos Milos. Sourced from a new 4K master by Le Chat qui fume, Arrow presents Incubus in a 1.85:1 aspect ratio with Esperanto: LPCM Mono audio (with optional English subtitles) and Dolby Vision HDR on the 4K UHD edition. Extras include new audio commentary by writer and genre historian David J. Schow (The Outer Limits: The Official Companion) along with two legacy audio commentary tracks: One by William Shatner and another by producer Anthony Taylor, cinematographer Conrad L. Hall and camera operator William Fraker, an alternate 1.37:1 open-matte presentation (in 1080p, with burnt-in French subtitles and optional English subtitles) an isolated score in LPCM 2.0, new interviews with genre historian Stephen Bissette and author Esther Schor (Bridge of Words: Esperanto and the Dream of a Universal Language) archive interviews with Taylor, Hall and Fraker and a video trailer. Also included is an "illustrated collector's booklet featuring new writing on the film by Frank Collins and Jason Kruppa". Packaging includes a reversible jacket and slipcover. For full release breakdowns, read Jeffrey Kauffman's Blu-ray review and 4K UHD review.
Also coming from Arrow is a new Blu-ray or 4K UHD edition of Quentin Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds (2009), starring Brad Pitt, Mélanie Laurent, Christoph Waltz, Eli Roth, Michael Fassbender and Diane Kruger. Sourced from a 4K master, Arrow presents Inglourious Basterds with its original DTS-HD MA 5.1 audio and Dolby Vision HDR on the 4K UHD edition. New extras include audio commentary by film critic and author Tim Lucas, new video interviews with assistant editor Fred Raskin, actor Omar Doom, special makeup effects supervisor Greg Nicotero and film scholar Christine Leteux, along with new visual essays by film critic Walter Chaw and film scholar Pamela Hutchinson. Legacy extras include a roundtable discussion, the uncut Nation's Pride film within the film (along with a making of featurette), extended and alternate scenes, featurettes, a film poster gallery and trailers. Also included is a "60-page 'Films & Filmmakers' collector's book with writing by film critics Dennis Cozzalio and Bill Ryan". New "Operation Kino" packaging includes a replica Nation's Pride program, a La Louisianne beermat, a recipe card for strudel and three-double-sided art cards, as well as a reversible jacket. For full release breakdowns, read Jeffrey Kauffman's Blu-ray review and 4K UHD review.
Coming to Blu-ray from Shout Factory is Shaw Brothers Classics, Vol. Five (1967-1971) an eleven-disc box set with the films The Silent Swordsman, Rape of the Sword (both 1967), The Fastest Sword (1968), Twin Blades of Doom, Twelve Deadly Coins, Vengeance Is a Golden Blade (all 1969), A Taste of Cold Steel, The Iron Buddha (both 1970), The Jade Faced Assassin (1971), Mission Impossible (1970) and Six Assassins (1971). All films feature Mandarin: DTS-HD MA Mono audio with optional, newly-translated English subtitles. Extras include at least one audio commentary for each film with participants such as film critic James Mudge, film historian Brian Bankston and others, new featurettes on The Jade Faced Assassin and Six Assassins, an on camera retrospective with director Joseph Kuo (Mission Impossible) and image galleries and trailers on select films.
Coming to Blu-ray and 4K UHD from the Criterion Collection is Jean Eustache's The Mother and the Whore (La Maman et la Putain) (1973), starring Bernadette Lafont, Jean-Pierre Léaud, Françoise Lebrun, Berthe Granval, Geneviève Mnich and Pierre Cottrell. Sourced from a new 4K master, Criterion presents The Mother and the Whore with LPCM Mono audio, optional, newly-translated English subtitles and in 4K SDR on the 4K UHD disc. Extras include a new interview with Françoise Lebrun, a new conversation between filmmaker Jean-Pierre Gorin and writer Rachel Kushner, a program on the remastering, an excerpt from the TV series Pour le cinéma featuring Lebrun, Jean Eustache, and Bernadette Lafont and Jean-Pierre Léaud and a trailer. Also included is "an essay by critic Lucy Sante and an introduction to the film by Eustache".
Also coming to Blu-ray and 4K UHD from the Criterion Collection is Richard Pryor's Jo Jo Dancer, Your Life Is Calling (1986), starring Richard Pryor, Debbie Allen, Wings Hauser, Michael Ironside, Dennis Farina and Ken Foree. Sourced from a new 4K master, Criterion presents Jo Jo Dancer, Your Life Is Calling with DTS-HD MA 2.0 Surround audio and Dolby Vision HDR on the 4K UHD disc. Extras include a new interview with filmmaker Robert Townsend and a 1985 interview with Richard Pryor from The Dick Cavett Show. Also included is an essay by critic Hilton Als.
Finally this week, Lionsgate Home Entertainment has a 4K UHD upgrade for Bong Joon-ho's Snowpiercer (2013), starring Chris Evans, Song Kang-ho, Ed Harris, John Hurt, Tilda Swinton and Jamie Bell. Lionsgate presents Snowpiercer with Dolby Vision HDR and a new Dolby Atmos audio remix. Extras on the 4K UHD disc include a critics commentary and a trailer, while two Blu-ray discs mirror the previous Blu-ray edition and also include the documentary Transperceneige: From the Blank Page to the Black Screen, an animated prologue, four featurettes and concept art galleries.
Note: As of this writing, Lionsgate's 4K UHD release of Snowpiercer is only available as an Amazon Exclusive SteelBook.