by Bryan Theiss

This week we have some classics, some sleaze, some gory animation, Japanese mystery-romance, Elvis, David Lean, Alex Cox, standup comedy, alien abduction, quite a bit of revenge, and much more! Remember, you can rent the all by mail! Here are our latest additions to the collection:

MUHAMMAD ALI: WHAT’S MY NAME

Antoine Fuqua (Training Day) directed this Emmy-nominated, Lebron-James-produced HBO doc that weaves together archival recordings of Ali’s voice to narrate the story of his life of challenges and triumphs.

(DVD)

 

ARROW: SEASON 8

In the final season of the hit DC Comics series, Green Arrow risks it all to protect Star City and the entire multi-verse during a crisis on infinite earths. Special features include a bunch of featurettes: Crisis on Infinite Earths: The Architects Return, Character in Crisis: The Anti-Monitor, Crisis Management, Crisis Past and Present: Kevin Conroy Bat Legend, Crisis Past and Present – Superman vs. Superman and Characters in Crisis: Pariah. 

(DVD)

 

ASAKO I & II (2018)

Ryusuke Hamaguchi (Happy Hour) directed this acclaimed, mysterious romance about a young woman in Osaka who falls in love with two men who look identical but are very different. The DVD also includes Hamaguchi’s 45-minute long short from 2003, Like Nothing Happened, and a 27-minute interview from the New York Film Festival.

(DVD)

 

THE ASSISTANT (2019)

Julia Garner (The Perks of Being a Wallflower) was acclaimed for her performance in this timely story of a day in the life of a new junior assistant at a film production company as she discovers the harassment and sexually predatory behavior of powerful men in Hollywood. Featuring Patrick Wilson as “Famous Actor.”

(DVD)

 

BILLY LIAR (1963)

Tom Courtenay and Julie Christi star in John Schlesinger’s black-and-white comedy about a day-dreaming, tall-tale-telling undertaker’s assistant. Kino-Lorber’s blu-ray includes a new audio commentary by film historian Kat Ellinger. 

(Blu-Ray)

 

DEADLINE (1980)

A horror screenwriter (Soylent Green’s Stephen Young) loses his ability to distinguish between reality and his gruesome fantasies. Vinegar Syndrome notes that there’s “even a surprise musical sequence featuring acclaimed New Wave band Rough Trade” in this “true hidden gem of Canadian horror cinema.” Presented in a new 2k restoration with new interviews with the producer and cinematographer.

(DVD and Blu-Ray)

 

DODSWORTH (1936)

Warner Archive brings the William Wyler classic starring Walter Huston to blu-ray.

(Blu-Ray)

 

FRONTLINE: AMAZON EMPIRE-THE RISE AND REIGN OF JEFF BEZOS

“Examine Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos’ ascent to power and the global impact of the empire he built. The film also investigates the darker side of the company’s rapid growth, and the challenge of trying to rein in the power of the richest man in the world.”

(DVD)

 

GUNS AKIMBO (2019)

Daniel Radcliffe wakes up with guns bolted to his hands and has to help livestream-gladiator Samara Weaving (Ready or Not) rescue his ex-girlfriend from kidnappers in this crazy, violent New Zealand action comedy.

(DVD and Blu-Ray)

 

I WISH I KNEW (2010)

This documentary portrait of Shanghai was commissioned by the World Expo, but is said to “restore censored images and fill in forgotten facts” for “an alternative version of 20th-century China’s fraught history.” It’s built around director Jia Zhangke (Mountains May Depart)’s interviews with eighteen people from all walks of life, one of whom happens to be the great Taiwanese director Hou Hsiao-hsien.

(DVD)

 

IT STARTED AS A JOKE (2019)

Documentary about the ten-year run and farewell show of the Eugene Mirman Comedy Festival. Includes performances by Janeane Garofalo, Jim Gaffigan, Jon Glaser, Mike Birbiglia and Bobcat Goldthwait, plus interviews with many others (including Seattle’s own Reggie Watts).

(DVD)

 

KING CREOLE (1958)

The fancy new Paramount Presents line brings us a 4K transfer of the Elvis Presley movie from Casablanca director Michael Curtiz, based on a Harold Robbins novel and originally written for James Dean. The King was granted a 60-day deferment from the army to shoot this one, and he later said it was his favorite role. Walter Matthau plays a mobster!

(Blu-Ray)

 

LOST CONTINENT (1968) (2 VERSIONS)

Scream Factory’s new edition of the Hammer monsters-and-pirates action-adventure includes the remastered theatrical cut, an extended cut, film historian commentary, several documentaries and interviews, the World of Hammer episode “Lands Before Time,” and more.

(Blu-Ray)

 

MALABIMBA (INTEGRAL VERSION)

A family living in a gothic castle call upon a nun to help their daughter who “has become possessed by an insatiable, sex-starved demon which will stop at nothing, including murder, to fulfill its depraved and unholy desires” in this “notorious, hardcore Exorcist riff.” Vinegar Syndrome presents a new 2K restoration of the uncut 100 minute version from the original 16mm negative, interviews, commentary, etc. From the director of Burial Ground and Strip Nude for Your Killer.

(DVD and Blu-Ray)

 

THE McPHERSON TAPE (1989)

Our friends at the American Genre Film Archive and Bleeding Skull! have uncovered “the uncut video footage from the North Woods, Connecticut U.F.O. Case 77” – or, to put it more truthfully, a legendary, pioneering shot-on-VHS found footage movie about aliens crashing a little girl’s birthday party. Includes a 2017 director’s cut, director’s commentary, 1989 theatrical premiere introduction, Fantastic Fest Q&A and more.

(Blu-Ray)

 

MORTAL KOMBAT LEGENDS: SCORPION’S REVENGE

I guess you can’t exactly get over here!!! yet, but you can rent-by-mail this R-rated and apparently ultra-violent animated feature about everybody’s favorite chain-shooting ninja. Jennifer Carpenter (Dexter) voices Sonya Blade, Joel McHale (Community, Almost Live!) plays Johnny Cage, and it’s from the director of the very enjoyable Batman: Assault on Arkham. Critics call it a flawless victory! Okay, that’s not true, but it honestly has a 100% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes right now, and the reviews speak highly of the animation, gore and fight choreography.

(DVD and Blu-Ray)

 

OLIVIA (1983) (UNCUT)

A woman’s murdered mother comes to her and convinces her to avenge her death by seducing and killing men. Vinegar Syndrome calls this “perhaps the most offbeat film in the fascinating career of” director Ulli Lommel (The Boogeyman, Tenderness of the Wolves, Blank Generation). Includes a new 4K restoration, interview with star Suzanna Love, Super-8 behind-the-scenes footage and much more.

(DVD and Blu-Ray)

 

OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS (1951)

Ralph Richardson and Trevor Howard headline the cast of director Carol Reed (The Third Man)’s adaptation of the classic Joseph Conrad novel. Includes a new commentary by film historian Peter Tonguette.

(DVD and Blu-Ray)

 

RACHEL AND THE STRANGER (1948) (WARNER ARCHIVE)

New Warner Archive blu-ray of the classic western in which backwoodsman William Holden and guitar-strumming hunter Robert Mitchum battle for the heart of bondswoman Loretta Young.

(Blu-Ray)

 

REFLECTIONS IN A GOLDEN EYE (2 VERSIONS) (WARNER ARCHIVE)

John Huston’s adaptation of the Carson McCuller’s novel stars Elizabeth Taylor, Marlon Brando, Brian Keith, Julie Harris and Robert Forster. Warner Archive’s edition includes remasters of not only the full color theatrical release, but Huston’s preferred gold-hued version.

(Blu-Ray)

 

THE RHYTHM SECTION (2020)

Blake Lively is outstanding as a grad student turned junkie who decides to train with an ex-spy (Jude Law) to track down and kill the terrorists behind the plane crash that killed her family. Based on the first in a series of Stephanie Patrick thriller books, this gritty revenge tale is the only non-James-Bond movie from Eon Productions.

(DVD and Blu-Ray)

 

RIDE LIKE A GIRL (2019)

The true story of Michelle Payne (Teresa Palmer), the young jockey who overcame a near-fatal accident to become the first female to win the Melbourne Cup. Sam Neill plays her supportive father, and Magda Szubanski – Mrs. Hoggett from Babe, is in it too. Directed by the actress Rachel Griffiths.

(DVD)

 

THE SOUND BARRIER (1953)

Kino Lorber presents the 2018 BFI restoration of David Lean’s classic aviation film starring Ralph Richardson. Includes a new commentary by film historian Peter Tonguette and a BFI archival interview with Lean.

(Blu-Ray)

 

TOMBSTONE RASHOMON (2017)

Holy crap, it’s a new movie from Alex Cox, director of Repo Man, Sid and Nancy, Straight to Hell and Walker! And it’s pretty much what the title implies: a film crew tries to travel back in time to film the infamous gunfight at the O.K. Corral, but they get there too late and can only interview Wyatt Earp, Doc Holliday and the others involved, who all offer differing perspectives based on actual historical accounts. Promotional materials claim this is “perhaps the most comprehensive telling of the most important gunfight in American history.”

(DVD)

 

WINTER HUNT (2017)

Intense German psychological thriller about a young woman who fakes a car accident to get inside a remote estate and confront a former Auschwitz guard.

(DVD)