We put out tons of new titles today, from classic British war films to local experimental shorts to a new ghost movie and a Donnie Yen kung fu romp. If you’d like to rent them by mail, go here! Here’s what we got in:

AFTER (2019)

College romance starring Josephine Langford and Hero Fiennes-Tiffin, based on the first in a popular book series. Here’s something weird: author Anna Todd originally posted three After novels on a social media platform, about one chapter per day, writing them on her phone! Weirder still, they started as fan fiction about the boy band One Direction, portrayed as students at WSU(!?). The names were changed when the books were published by Simon & Schuster. I am not joking about any of this.

(DVD and Blu-Ray)

BAD BOYS FOR LIFE (2020)

Nobody knows why part 3 in the Will Smith/Martin Lawrence buddy-cop series stole the title for part 4. Belgian directing team of Adil El Arbi & Bilall Fallah worked from a script partly written by Joe Carnahan, and though our resident Michael Bay expert Matt misses the part 1&2 director’s distinct style and excesses, he assures me this is a solid movie. Many critics seem to agree. David Ehrlich of Indiewire called it a “fun, explosive, and even thoughtful action movie.”

(DVD and Blu-Ray)

JON BEHRENS: A CITY IN FOUR PARTS AND OTHER FILMS 2009-2019

Sixteen short films from the Seattle experimental filmmaker, remastered in 2K or 4K: Six Arms Homage to Mekas (2009), (shot at the Six Arms on Capitol Hill!), A Beginning a Middle and an End (2013), The Colors of Boulder in the Summer (2015), Meandering (2015), An Afternoon at Oyster Bay (2016), A City in Four Parts (2016), Me and My Friend (2016), An Optical Printer Duet (2016), A Film Containing Trees (2017), Recycled Realizations (2017), Two Roll, Camera Roll (2017), Light Coins (2018), Bleach Bypass (2019), In the Autumn Before Winter Comes Man’s Last Mad Surge of Youth (2019), Snow Film (2019), A Winter Song (2019).

(DVD)

BUDAPEST NOIR (2017)

Hungarian murder mystery about a crime journalist investigating the killing of a Jewish girl in 1936 as Hungary flirted with fascism. Based on the book by Vilmos Kondor.

(DVD)

COLDITZ STORY (1955) 

Guy Hamilton (Goldfinger, Funeral in Berlin, Force 10 From Navarone, Remo Williams) directed this story of Allied prisoners of various nationalities working together to escape a German P.O.W. camp inside a medieval castle.

(Blu-Ray)

THE CRUCIBLE (1967)

This ‘60s TV version of the Arthur Miller classic stars George C. Scott as Jon Proctor and Tuesday Weld as Abigail Williams.

(DVD)

CURSE OF THE WEREWOLF (1961)

Terence Fisher (Horror of Dracula, Curse of Frankenstein) directed this Hammer classic starring Oliver Reed as a, you know… cursed werewolf. Scream Factory’s collector’s edition includes a new 4K scan, two new commentaries, two new documentaries, and a couple old ones too.

(Blu-Ray)

DAM BUSTERS (1954)

The story of Operation Chastise, when a Royal Air Force squadron attacked three dams in Nazi Germany. The BFI voted it the 68th greatest British film of the 20th century, and George Lucas cited it as the inspiration for the Death Star trench run. This edition includes a new 4K restoration, several documentaries about the movie and the historical events, newsreels, even archival footage of bomb tests from the planning stages of the mission.

(Blu-Ray)

DUNKIRK (1958)

John Mills and Richard Attenborough star in the story of the British Expeditionary Force’s retreat to the beaches of France and rescue by civilian boats – the version from before Christopher Nolan was born.

(Blu-Ray)

ESCAPE FROM PRETORIA (2020)

Daniels Radcliffe and Webber star in this thriller based on the true story of political prisoners (convicted of printing pamphlets!) who escaped from prison in Apartheid-era South Africa.

(DVD)

FILMS WITHOUT WORDS: THE COLLABORATIVE FILMS OF JON BEHRENS AND R.K. ADAMS (2004)

A collection of collaborations between the two Northwest experimental filmmakers.

(DVD)

FIRES ON THE PLAIN (2014)

Shin’ya Tsukamoto (Tetsuo, A Snake of June, Nightmare Detective) directed and stars in a remake of the 1959 Kon Ichikawa classic about a Japanese soldier trying to survive in the Philippines at the end of WWII.

(DVD and Blu-Ray)

THE GENTLEMEN (2019)

The latest wiseass gangster movie from Guy Ritchie stars Matthew McConaughey, Charlie Hunnam, Jeremy Strong, Colin Farrell, Henry Golding and Hugh Grant, among others.

(DVD and Blu-Ray)

GOLDIE (2019)

A story about an aspiring dancer (model Slick Woods) fighting to keep her sisters together while living in a shelter. Also featuring Danny Hoch and ASAP Ferg.

(DVD)

THE GREAT LEAP (1927)

Pre-infamy Leni Riefenstahl stars in this romantic comedy as an Italian peasant who falls for one of the city-boy tourists taking a ski vacation in the nearby mountains.

(DVD)

ICE COLD IN ALEX (1958)

John Mills stars in this story about a British ambulance crew separated from their unit in North Africa during an evacuation. Directed by J. Lee Thompson (The Guns of Navarone, Cape Fear).

(Blu-Ray)

INFINITY TRAIN: BOOK 1 (2019)

Acclaimed Cartoon Network series about people (and robots, and talking animals) trapped on a mysterious, seemingly endless train. Creator Owen Dennis was a writer and storyboard artist on Regular Show.

(DVD)

IP MAN 4: THE FINALE (2019)

Donnie Yen wraps up his great series of martial arts dramas playing the real life Wing Chun master famous for teaching a young Bruce Lee. This chapter takes place in the ‘60s when Master Ip visits San Francisco to try to find a good school for his rebellious son. Of course he runs into trouble with various jealous martial artists and jerks, including the great Scott Adkins as a racist Marine staff sergeant.

(DVD and Blu-Ray)

THE LAST FULL MEASURE (2019)

Drama about the 34 year quest by veterans to get a Medal of Honor for a heroic pararescueman (Jeremy Irvine) who saved their lives during the Vietnam War. Starring Sebastian Stan, Christopher Plummer, William Hurt, Ed Harris, Samuel L. Jackson, Diane Ladd, and Peter Fonda in his last film role.

(DVD)

LIKE A BOSS (2020) 

Tiffany Haddish and Rose Byrne play friends whose beauty company is in danger of takeover by a shady cosmetics mogul (Salma Hayek) in this buddy comedy from director Miguel Arteta (Chuck & Buck, The Good Girl, Beatriz at Dinner). Billy Porter, Jennifer Coolidge and Lisa Kudrow also star.

(DVD and Blu-Ray)

LOOKING FOR ALASKA (2019)

The full 8-episode limited series based on the young adult book by John Green (The Fault In Our Stars, Paper Towns) and created by Josh Schwartz (The O.C., Gossip Girl). Episode 6 is directed by Seattle’s own Megan Griffiths (The Off Hours, Eden, Lucky Them, Sadie).

(DVD)

LOVE AMONG THE RUINS (1975)

George Cukor’s Emmy and Peabody winning made-for-TV romantic comedy stars Katharine Hepburn and Laurence Olivier as a former London theatre actor and her lawyer who has been in love with her since she seduced and abandoned him 40 years ago. New 2K master and audio commentary by film historian Stephen Vagg.

(Blu-Ray)

MIA AND THE WHITE LION (2018)

French production about a ten year old girl from London who befriends a lion cub when her family moves to Africa. Melanie Laurent plays her mom.

(DVD and Blu-Ray)

MURDER IN THE FRONT ROW: THE SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA THRASH METAL STORY (2019)

Documentary about the thrash metal scene in Northern California in the ‘80s. Featuring interviews with members of Metallica, Megadeth, Slayer, Anthrax, Exodus, Testament and Death Angel. Narrated by Brian Posehn. From the co-director of the Beastie Boys “Fight for Your Right To Party” and “No Sleep Till Brooklyn” videos!

(DVD)

POLICE SQUAD!: THE COMPLETE SERIES (1982)

For the first time on blu-ray, all six episodes of the hilarious spoof series that spawned Naked Gun. Extra features include commentaries, interviews, gag reel, casting tests and highlights from censorship memos. In color.

(Blu-Ray)

RUN THE RACE (2018)

Christian drama about two brothers in Alabama who use football to deal with the death of their mother and abandonment by their father.

(DVD and Blu-Ray)

SECRET CEREMONY (1968)

Penniless prostitute Elizabeth Taylor accepts an offer to go live in a mansion with mysterious Mia Farrow and act as her mother in this strange film from Joseph Losey. With a new master and a commentary by film historian Tim Lucas.

(DVD and Blu-Ray)

SERIE NOIRE (1979)

Thriller about a desperate door-to-door salesman and the teenage girl who wants him to kill her rich, mean aunt. Based on A Hell of a Woman by Jim Thompson. New 4K transfer, featurettes and interviews.

(DVD)

SIXTEEN CANDLES (1984) (SPECIAL EDITION)

Arrow are best known for their beautiful special editions of horror movies, but here they present the John Hughes teen classic in a new 4K master. Includes the theatrical version as well as the extended version with additional cafeteria scene. They also have tons of new interviews, a video essay, an archival documentary and the option to listen to the alternate home video soundtrack. One intriguing extra is New Wave Nerd, a “newly filmed interview with filmmaker Adam Rifkin, who shadowed John Hughes while working as an extra on set.”

(Blu-Ray)

THE TURNING (2020)

Mackenzie Davis (Blade Runner 2049), Finn Wolfhard (Stranger Things) and Brooklyn Prince (The Florida Project) star as a live-in tutor and her weirdo students in this modern adaptation of Henry James’ The Turn of the Screw. From the director of The Runaways.

(DVD and Blu-Ray)

UPSTART CROW: SERIES 1-3 (2016) and UPSTART CROW: THE CHRISTMAS SPECIALS (2016)

British sitcom starring David Mitchell (Peep Show) as William Shakespeare, written by Ben Elton (The Young Ones, Blackadder).

(PAL Code 2 DVDs – you will need a region free player to rent either of these)

WENT THE DAY WELL? (1942)

Ealing Studios war film about an English village invaded by German paratroopers. From a story by Graham Greene.

(Blu-Ray)

WHY DON’T YOU JUST DIE! (2018)

Arrow says there are “shades of early Tarantino, Edgar Wright and Sam Raimi” in this violent Russian comedy about a guy trying to get into an apartment to murder his girlfriend’s scumbag dad with a hammer. The Hollywood Reporter called it “a splatter punk action comedy drenched in gleefully dark Russian humor.” Includes four short films by the director and an interview with critic Kim Newman exploring the movie “within the context of the long-standing tradition of single location cinema.”

(Blu-Ray)

THE WIND (1986)

Arrow also released this 4K restoration of the Nico Mastorakis (Hired to Kill) film about a novelist (Meg Foster) stalked by a psycho (Wings Hauser).

(Blu-Ray)

WORLD ON FIRE: SEASON 1 (2019)

BBC war drama about the hidden lives of ordinary people during WWII. It alternates between characters in Paris, Warsaw, Manchester, Berlin and Dunkirk.

(DVD)