It’s New Release Tuesday!

ADIEU PARIS (2021)

“Adieu Paris!” tells the story of eight friends, mostly in their seventies, who meet up for an annual lunch that has become a ritual over the decades. They are the so-called self-appointed “kings of Paris”: national treasures, masterpieces in peril, whose humor and self mockery have never changed. Tender and cruel, they love and hate each other. But their long-established relationships take on new meanings when an intruder steps in. Writer/Director Edouard Baer brings together a stellar cast of French cinema icons, including Gérard Depardieu, Pierre Arditi, and Jean-Francois Stévenin. (DVD)

AMERICAN GIGOLO: SEASON 1 (2022)

BRIDE WORE BLACK (1968)

After newly widowed Julie Kohler’s (Jeanne Moreau) mother stops her from committing suicide, she hatches a different plan to deal with her grief. In a small black book, she lists five men. One by one she visits the men with murderous intentions, assuming different identities to get close to them. Only one man remains elusive, having been captured by the cops before Julie could reach him — but despite the obstacles, Julie intends to see her task through to the end. (BLU-RAY)

CHILDREN OF THE MIST (2021)

In a village hidden in the mist-shrouded Northwest Vietnamese mountains resides an indigenous Hmong community, home to 12-year-old Di, part of the first generation of her people with access to formal education. A free spirit, Di happily recounts her experiences to Vietnamese filmmaker Di?m Hà L?, who planted herself within Di’s family over the course of three years to document this unique coming of age. As Di grows older, her carefree childhood gives way to an impulsive and sensitive adolescence, a dangerous temperament for what will happen next; in this insular community, girls must still endure the controversial but accepted tradition of “bride kidnapping.” One night, when the young girl’s parents return home from celebrating the Lunar New Year, they are shocked to find their house is silent: Di has disappeared. (DVD)

DARK GLASSES (2022)

Rome. A serial killer who preys on prostitutes sets his sights on Diana. As he pursues her, he causes a car crash in which she is blinded and 10-year-old Chin’s entire family dies. Despite her blindness, Diane resolves to take the boy in. But the killer is still on the loose… (BLU-RAY and DVD)

DECISION TO LEAVE (2022)

From a mountain peak in South Korea, a man plummets to his death. Did he jump, or was he pushed? When detective Hae-joon (Park Hae-il, The Host) arrives on the scene, he begins to suspect the dead man’s wife Seo-rae (Tang Wei, Caution) may know more than she initially lets on. But as he digs deeper into the investigation, Hae-joon finds himself trapped in a web of deception and desire, proving that the darkest mysteries lurk inside the human heart. (BLU-RAY and DVD)

DON’T DELIVER US FROM EVIL (1971)

Two young convent girls become friends and decide to spend the summer together. However, their innocent bicycle rides and walks in the country soon develop a much more sinister side. Influenced by their reading of forbidden books, they decide to explore the world of perversion and cruelty. They find a victim and use their innocent appearance to seduce and destroy him. Once they have stepped over the line, they find it impossible to stop. And soon they are contemplating the ultimate evil act. (BLU-RAY)

FABELMANS, THE (2022)

Growing up in post-World War II era Arizona, young Sammy Fabelman aspires to become a filmmaker as he reaches adolescence, but soon discovers a shattering family secret and explores how the power of films can help him see the truth. (BLU-RAY and DVD)

FRAMING AGNES (2022)

The pseudonymous Agnes was a pioneering transgender woman who participated in an infamous gender health study conducted at UCLA in the 1960s. Her clever use of the study to gain access to gender-affirming healthcare led to her status as a fascinating and celebrated figure in trans history. In this innovative cinematic exercise that blends fiction and nonfiction, director Chase Joynt (No Ordinary Man) uses Agnes’s story, along with others unearthed in long-shelved case files, to widen the frame through which trans history is viewed. Through a collaborative practice of reimagination, an all-star cast of trans performers, artists, and thinkers – including Angelica Ross (Pose), Jen Richards (Mrs. Fletcher), and Zackary Drucker (Transparent) – take on vividly rendered, impeccably vintage reenactments, bringing to life groundbreaking artifacts of trans history. This collective reclamation breaks down the myth of isolation among transgender history-makers, breathing new life into a lineage of collaborators and conspirators who have been forgotten for far too long. (DVD)

IRON MONKEY (1993)

Directed by Yuen Woo-Ping, this martial arts classic is set against the end of the Qing Dynasty, and tells the tale of a chivalrous robber, Iron Monkey (Yu Rong-Guang, Supercop 2), who robs the rich and gives to the poor in Zhejiang province. (BLU-RAY)

JACK AND THE BEANSTALK (1952)

Boasting a stunning new restoration, the fantasy musical classic Jack and the Beanstalk starring Bud Abbott and Lou Costello has never looked better and comes to Blu-ray in a special 70th Anniversary Limited Edition from ClassicFlix!In their first color feature film, Abbott and Costello bring fanciful whimsy and musical delight to the traditional children’s fable where Lou plays the boyish Jack. Seeking to entertain “problem child” Donald (David Stollery) whom he is babysitting, Costello takes to reading “Jack and the Beanstalk”, but soon dreams himself into the fairy tale complete with Bud as the wily Dinklepuss, Shaye Cogan as the kidnapped princess and menacing Buddy Baer as the villainous giant. (BLU-RAY)

JUST ANOTHER GIRL ON THE I.R.T. (1993)

A hip, intelligent Brooklyn teenager dreams of escaping life in the projects to go to college and eventually become a doctor. Things go awry when she meets a cute dude with a Jeep, a brownstone, and a mom who spends a lot of time at her boyfriend’s. (BLU-RAY)

KING OF LAUGHTER (2021)

Naples, 1904: Italian theatre is thriving, and comic actor, Eduardo Scarpetta is the box office king. Known in the Neapolitan theater for his cheeky alter egos, Scarpetta’s larger-than-life stage productions were matched only by his eccentric personal life. Composed of wives, partners, lovers, legitimate and illegitimate children (including a young Eduardo de Filippo, famed Neapolitan playwright), Scarpetta’s home situation resembled one of his comedies more than a traditional family. At the height of his popularity, the comedian risked everything by staging a parody of the great Italian poet, Gabriele D’Annunzio. Booed and hissed from the stage by younger rivals, Scarpetta was sued for plagiarism, leading to the first ever copyright lawsuit in Italy. Despite legal troubles and familial strife, Scarpetta fought not only for his craft but for his legacy as one of the great thespians of Italian theater. (DVD)

LET’S HOPE IT’S A GIRL (1986)

From legendary director Mario Monicelli (Big Deal on Madonna Street) comes the award-winning Let’s Hope It’s a Girl (1986), a coruscating battle-of-the-sexes comedy that won seven David di Donatello Awards including Best Film. Elena (Liv Ullman), after divorcing her ineffectual husband Leonardo (Philippe Noiret), takes over the family farm in Tuscany. Along with her sister Claudia (Catherine Deneuve) and a supportive group of other female relatives and employees, she gets the farm up and running again. When Leonardo returns, hoping to mansplain the right way to run a business, he is soon outclassed by Elena’s matriarchy. Let’s Hope It’s a Girl demonstrated the possibility of a form of female bonding between women who live, by choice, in a world without men. (BLU-RAY)

LLOYD, CHARLES: ARROWS INTO INFINITY (2012)

LOVE ON THE GROUND (1984) 

Jane Birkin and Geraldine Chaplin star as theatre troupe members who are invited by a mysterious playwright/director to perform in a strange mansion. As the rehearsal progresses, secrets are revealed and the line between fiction and reality blurs. (BLU-RAY)

MAGIC, MYTH & MUTILATION: THE MICRO-BUDGET CINEMA OF MICHAEL J. MURPHY, 1967-2015

Amongst overlooked filmmakers, British director Michael J Murphy ranks as one of the most sorely neglected. Having cut his teeth on a variety of homemade 8mm shorts, he had completed three feature-length productions by the age of eighteen. Over the next five decades, Murphy would go on to make many more films across a variety of genres, dividing his production time between Greece, Portugal, and the UK, with family, friends, and local stage performers becoming his regular cast and crew in exchange for holidays in the sun.

Despite this prolific output – a total of more than thirty completed films over a half-century, of which twenty-six survive – Murphy’s work remains rarely seen and little championed. Fitfully available on videotape, and barely represented on DVD, this comprehensive and long-gestating ten-disc Blu-ray collection seeks to rectify that situation once and for all. Boasting all-new 2K restorations from archival 16mm and 8mm elements, as well as a number of new digital captures from Murphy’s personal tape masters, this extensive retrospective of the obsessive auteur’s work is bolstered by a wealth of bonus features, including surviving fragments from lost works, and a 120-page book, all of which provides the definitive account of the weird and wonderful worlds of Britain’s great unheralded DIY filmmaker.

Films in this set (rent separately): Tristan and Iseult (1970), Happy Ever After (1974), Secrets (1977), Almost a Movie (1979), The Cell (1980), Stay (1980), Death in the Family (1981), Invitation to Hell (1983), The Last Night (1983), Bloodstream (1985), Moonchild (1989), Torment (1990), Atlantis (1991), Road to Nowhere (1993), Tristan (version one, 1999), ZK3 (2012), Nekros: Isle of the Dead (2014), The Return of Alan Strange (2015), Qualen (1983), Tristan aka Legend of the Hero (1986), Death Run (1987), Avalon (1988), Second Sight (1992), The Rite of Spring (version one, 1995), The Rite of Spring (version two, 1995), Tristan (version two, 1999), Roxi (2004), and Skare (2008)

MAN WHO LOVED WOMEN/GREEN ROOM (1978)

The Man Who Loved Women (1977)

Middle-aged Frenchman Bertrand Morane (Charles Denner) is relentless in his pursuit of women, constantly moving from conquest to conquest without any qualms about his promiscuity. He attempts to woo Helene (Geneviève Fontanel), a lovely lingerie store owner, but she prefers younger men, so he moves on to a married woman, Delphine Grezel (Nelly Borgeaud). Bertrand eventually begins his sex-filled memoirs, and his editor, Genevieve Bigey (Brigitte Fossey), becomes his next amorous relationship.

The Green Room (1978)

Julien Davenne (François Truffaut) is a French writer who becomes consumed with the concept of death. After losing many friends during the fighting in World War I, Julien constructs a shrine to those close to him who died in battle. At the heart of Julien’s obsession is his late wife, whom he honors throughout his home, which is essentially one large memorial dedicated to her memory. Though Julien makes fleeting attempts to connect with the living, he seems more comfortable with the dead.
(BLU-RAY)

MEMORIES OF MY FATHER (2020)

Directed by Academy-Award® winner Fernando Trueba (BELLE EPOQUE), MEMORIES OF MY FATHER dramatizes the true life story of Héctor Abad Gómez, (Goya Award winner Javier Cámara, from Pedro Almodóvar’s TALK TO HER and BAD EDUCATION), a renowned Colombian doctor and human rights activist in corrupt and chaotic 1970s Medellín, Colombia. A devoted father, Abad Gómez adored his children and fought against oppression and social inequality at great sacrifice to himself and his family. Colombia’s official submission for the 93rdAcademy Awards, the film is a stylish and beautifully shot portrait of a man who dedicated his life to helping others. MEMORIES OF MY FATHER is based on the international best-seller, OBLIVION: A MEMOIR, written by Héctor Abad Faciolince, the son of Héctor Abad Gómez and one of Colombia’s most acclaimed contemporary authors. (DVD)

MISSISSIPPI MERMAID (1969)

Lonely on the island of Réunion, tobacco planter Louis Mahe (Jean-Paul Belmondo) decides to wed a mail-order bride. Although the woman who arrives off the ship, Julie Roussel (Catherine Deneuve), looks nothing like her picture, she’s still gorgeous. Their marriage seems to be going fine until Julie empties his bank accounts and disappears. This should be the end of Louis’ obsession — but then he spots Julie in the south of France and falls under her spell once more. (BLU-RAY)

ON THE COME UP (2022)

Brianna Jackson (Jamila Grey) is a 16-year-old gifted rapper who attempts to take the battle rap scene by storm in order to lift up her family and do right by the legacy of her father – a local hip hop legend whose career was cut short by gang violence. But when her first hit song goes viral for all the wrong reasons, she finds herself torn between the authenticity that got her this far and the false persona that the industry wants to impose upon her.  (DVD)

PROJECT WOLF HUNTING (2022)

Could it have gotten worse for the Busan prison detail extraditing four dozen hardcases out of Manila on a cargo ship to have mercenaries assist the convicts with an armed and bloody breakout attempt? It could and did, as the tumult unleashed a indestructible, barely human berserker hidden in the vessel’s hold-and he isn’t taking sides. (DVD)

ROMEO & JULIET (1968) (CRITERION)

SANTO VS. “EVIL BRAIN” (1958)

The dastardly Doctor Campos is kidnapping and brainwashing scientists. When undercover detective Santo falls prey to Campos’ scheme, Lieutenant Zambrano (Enrique Zambrano) and El Incognito (Fernando Osés) must come to his assistance to foil Campos’ plans. (BLU-RAY)

SANTO VS. “INFERNAL MEN” (1958)

The trio of Santo, El Incognito, and Zambrano team up once again to fight a band of drug smugglers. (BLU-RAY)

SHEPHERD: THE STORY OF A HERO DOG (2019)

The timeless, unbreakable bond between a boy and his faithful dog is put to the ultimate test in 1930s Germany, in the heartwarming family drama Shepherd: The Story Of A Hero Dog. When the Nuremberg Laws are passed forbidding Jews to own pets, Kaleb, a German Shepherd, is separated from his Jewish family and his beloved 10-year-old master Joshua (August Maturo). Kaleb is alone and on the streets—until he is captured and eventually adopted by an SS dog trainer (Ken Duken) at a Nazi work camp where Kaleb will now be trained to help round up Jews. (DVD)

STORY OF ADELE H. (1975)

Adèle Hugo (Isabelle Adjani), daughter of renowned French writer Victor Hugo, falls in love with British soldier Albert Pinson (Bruce Robinson) while living in exile off the coast of England. Though he spurns her affections, she follows him to Nova Scotia and takes on the alias of Adèle Lewly. Albert continues to reject her, but she remains obsessive in her quest to win him over. When Albert is stationed in the West Indies, Adèle once again trails him, furthering her downward spiral. (BLU-RAY)

STRANGE WORLD (2022)

The legendary Clades are a family of explorers whose differences threatened to topple their latest and most crucial mission. (BLU-RAY and DVD)

THERE THERE (2022)

Acclaimed filmmaker Andrew Bujalski (Support the Girls, Computer Chess) explores the precarious nature of human connection in There There, a round robin of emotional two-character vignettes in which seven people reach out and bond momentarily, setting the scene for the next encounter. A pair of new lovers, an alcoholic and her AA sponsor, a teacher and a parent, a lawyer and his client, and more move from scene to scene, revealing intimate details as they forge connections. Via a groundbreaking shooting process, Bujalski plays with ideas of isolation and perception by filming each actor individually in separate locations, only joining them to their partner’s performance in the edit. An extraordinary cast including Jason Schwartzman, Lennie James, Lili Taylor and Molly Gordon sensitively captures the humor and heartbreaking fragility of life and love in the 2020s. (DVD)

WHITE WOMAN (1933)

Screen greats Carole Lombard (Supernatural) and Charles Laughton (Devil and the Deep) star in the gripping Pre-Code drama about forbidden love, White Woman. The world of a widowed nightclub performer (the luminous Lombard) changes drastically when she agrees to marry a wealthy plantation owner (the larger-than-life Laughton). As the two begin their domestic life together on his remote Malaysian estate, she realizes the extent of his cruel and jealous nature. She soon finds herself drawn to another man but must keep their love secret to avoid the wrath of her husband. Hollywood ace Stuart Walker (The Eagle and the Hawk) directs and Charles Bickford (The Plainsman), Kent Taylor (I’m No Angel) and Percy Kilbride (The Egg and I) co-star in White Woman, which barrels to a white-knuckle climax set deep within in the dark heart of the jungle. (BLU-RAY)

WILD CHILD/SMALL CHANGE (1976)

The Wild Child (1970)

Synopsis: A young boy (Jean-Pierre Cargol) is discovered in a forest, living a feral existence among a pack of wolves. Captured by hunters, he is sent to Paris and placed in a school for deaf-mute children. There he is observed by Dr. Itard (François Truffaut) who concludes that the boy is neither deaf nor intellectually stunted, but has simply been deprived of normal, humanizing influences. With no shortage of tenderness, patience and ambition, Itard devotes himself to educating and civilizing the boy.

Small Change (1976)

Filmed in the small French city of Thiers, François Truffaut’s episodic comedy-drama concerns one of the director’s favorite subjects: childhood. A class clown stalls the teacher long enough to avoid answering a question, a toddler ends up on a high window ledge, a little girl announces to the neighborhood that her parents are punishing her, and the new boy in school hides his poor, abusive home life in these intertwining stories illustrating the joys and sorrows of growing up. (BLU-RAY)

ZU WARRIORS FROM THE MAGIC MOUNTAIN (1983)

An army deserter (Yuen Biao) is chased by vampires in the mountains of Zu. He is rescued by a master (Adam Cheung) and becomes his devoted pupil. But when they are ambushed by the Blood Devil, the pair find themselves in need of the assistance of a devil chaser (Damian Lau) and his pupil (Mang Hoi). With the additional help of Master Chang Mei (Sammo Hung), they manage to hold off the Blood Devil … but they will need to find the Dual Swords to destroy it! (BLU-RAY)