by Malakie Peters

It’s New Release Tuesday! This week we’ve got a bunch of angry men, a Catwoman, a goblin, a king, a mare, Princess Josephine Baker, the Coens on Criterion, and more.

12 ANGRY MEN (BLU-RAY, DVD) (1997)

The combatants: a dozen strangers. The stakes: life and death. Screen legends Jack Lemmon and George C. Scott head an all-star cast in this taut, emotionally charged courtroom drama that is as powerful as the original was when it first burst upon the screen. A young man stands accused of fatally stabbing his father, and his fate now lies in the hands of twelve men from all walks of life, each with his own agenda, fears, and personal demons. William Friedkin, the legendary director of The Exorcist, takes on Reginald Rose’s riveting teleplay and will keep you on the edge of your seat until the final verdict is in.

THE ANTICHRIST AKA THE TEMPTER [SPECIAL EDITION] (BLU-RAY, DVD) (1974)

In Rome, a beautiful young woman is left paralyzed by the trauma of a horrific childhood accident. But when placed under hypnosis, she is seized by visions of her past life as a heretic and becomes a foul-mouthed seductress with a taste for perversion that leads to her defilement by Satan himself. Now, mankind’s only hope for salvation is a harrowing exorcism that will either cast out the Devil forever or open the door for the unspeakable birth of the Antichrist! Experience The Antichrist, also known as The Tempter, in all its uncut—and unholy—glory!

CATWOMAN: HUNTED (4K + BLU-RAY) (2021)

Selina Kyle, the Catwoman, is simply trying to steal the world’s most valuable emerald. Unfortunately, that emerald is currently in the possession of Leviathan, a dangerous criminal empire. Who knew a little thing like stealing Leviathan’s property would result in a price being put on Selina’s head? Now, the bad guys and the good guys are in hot purrr-suit of our famously infamous feline! Can she slink her way clear of this mess? 

DC’S STARGIRL: THE COMPLETE SECOND SEASON (DVD) (2021)

In the soaring second season, Courtney and her JSA friends take on two of the most frightening adversaries in DC mythology – the dark entity of corruption and vengeance known as Eclipso, and the powerful immortal villain, The Shade, who worked against the original JSA years before.

ENCANTO (BD/DVD) (2021)

The tale of the Madrigals, an extraordinary family living in a magical house in the Colombian mountains. When Mirabel, the only ordinary family member, discovers the magic surrounding their home is in danger, she may be her family’s last hope.

FOUL PLAY (BLU-RAY) (1978)

A shy San Francisco librarian and a bumbling cop fall in love as they solve a crime involving albinos, dwarves, and the Catholic Church.

GHOSTS: SEASON 1 (DVD) (2019)

A cash-strapped young British couple inherit a grand country house, only to find it is both falling apart and teeming with the ghosts of former inhabitants! 

GOD’S GUN (BLU-RAY) (1976)

A man of the cloth (Lee Van Cleef) is brutally murdered while trying to defend his dusty town from a ruthless band of outlaws led by the nasty Sam Clayton. The bandits, however, did not count on the priest’s gunslinging twin brother (also Van Cleef) to seek bloody revenge. God’s Gun is an unholy western shoot-’em-up like no other!

GOLDDIGGERS OF 1933 (BLU-RAY) (1933)

Things get tough for Carol and her showgirl pals when the Great Depression kicks in and all the Broadway shows close down. Wealthy songwriter Brad saves the day by funding a new Depression-themed musical for the girls to star in, but when his stuffy high-society brother finds out and threatens to disown Brad. Carol and her gold-digging friends scheme to keep the show going, hooking a couple of millionaires along the way.

HIRUKO THE GOBLIN (BLU-RAY) (1991)

Hieda is an eccentric archeologist, disgraced among his peers for his theories on the supernatural. One day he receives a letter from his brother-in-law, Yabe, telling him of an ancient burial mound he has discovered in the grounds of the local high school, a discovery that might help prove Hieda’s theories to be true. When Hieda arrives at the school, he discovers that Yabe has gone missing, along with one of the school’s female pupils. Teaming up with Yabe’s son, Masao, Hieda searches for the ancient tomb, convinced that it might be the burial place of Hiruko, a fearsome demon from ancient legends.

KING RICHARD (BLU-RAY, DVD) (2021)

King Richard follows the journey of Richard Williams, an undeterred father instrumental in raising two of the most extraordinarily gifted athletes of all time. Driven by a clear vision of their future, Richard has a plan that will take Venus and Serena Williams from the streets of Compton, California to the global stage as legendary icons.

LA DOLCE VITA (BLU-RAY) (1960)

Tabloid journalist slinks through Rome, renounces his tenuous ideals, and gives in to the shallow hedonism of his surroundings.

THE LAUGHING WOMAN (BLU-RAY) (1969)

A rich and sadistic man with a penchant for degrading women kidnaps and subjects a female journalist to unpleasant S&M games, but she soon begins subverting him.

LITTLE GIRL (DVD) (2021) 

This documentary follows 7-year-old Sasha, who has always known that she is a girl. Sasha’s family has recently accepted her gender identity, embracing their daughter for who she is while working to confront outdated norms and find affirmation in a small community of rural France. 

LIVE OR LET DIE (DVD) (2020)

In the deadly wake of a viral outbreak, the human race is on the brink of extinction. Zombies walk the Earth and hunt the living. Among the chaos, lone wolf Nick discovers an old diary that contains a map indicating a sanctuary that might be his last chance at peace. Teaming up with another survivor, the reckless John, Nick journeys through the ruins of society in search of refuge—but they quickly realize that even in a dead world, the ominous threats that walk amongst the living are every bit as terrifying as those posed by the dead.

MARE OF EASTTOWN: SEASON 1 (BLU-RAY) (2021)

Mare Sheehan, an office police investigator in a small Pennsylvania town, investigates a brutal murder as she tries to keep her life from falling apart.

MILLER’S CROSSING (BLU-RAY) (1990)

Tom Reagan, an advisor to a Prohibition-era crime boss, tries to keep the peace between warring mobs but gets caught between divided loyalties.

MISS WILLOUGHBY AND THE HAUNTED BOOKSHOP (DVD) (2021)

Orphaned at a young age, Elizabeth Willoughby inherited her family estate. Now working as an Ancient Civilization professor at University, Willoughby receives a call from old family friends asking her to investigate a series of hauntings at their antique bookshop.

MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS (BLU-RAY) (1974)

This essential Agatha Christie whodunit adaptation boasts some of the most wonderfully eccentric characters ever created. Ingrid Bergman won an Oscar for her slightly dim-witted Swedish missionary, and Albert Finney is the dapper detective Hercule Poirot, for whom murder-solving is a precise, intellectual exercise. Packed with sparkling dialogue and visually rich in texture, this incomparable acclaimed thriller features an incredible cast, including Lauren Bacall, Martin Balsam, Jacqueline Bisset, Sean Connery, John Gielgud, Anthony Perkins, Vanessa Redgrave, and more!

PARANOIAC [COLLECTORS EDITION] (BLU-RAY) (1963)

Nothing is quite what it seems in this riveting, complex tale of greed, dementia, and deceit from Hammer Films, the experts in terror. Rescued from a suicide attempt by a man claiming to be her long-dead brother, a young heiress finds a new reason to live. But her relatives have doubts. They think “Tony” is an imposter who’s trying to get his hands on the family fortune. Everyone has their own secret reasons to suspect Tony, as well as their own designs on his vast inheritance—especially brother Simon, a magnetic but devastatingly cruel wretch who’ll stop at nothing to thwart the supposed pretender.

PARIAH: THE LIVES AND DEATHS OF SONNY LISTON (DVD) (2019)

An inside look at the iconic career, extraordinary life, and suspicious death of boxer Sonny Liston, which was rumored to be due to heart failure in 1970.

PRINCESS TAM TAM / ZOU ZOU (BLU-RAY) (1935, 1934)

Princess Tam Tam is a Pygmalion-like comedy in which Josephine Baker stars as a mischievous shepherd girl who rises through society to become a pretend princess and the toast of Paris nightlife. 

Conceived as a vehicle for Baker, then among Europe’s most popular entertainers, Zou Zou was her debut talking film. In the tradition of 42nd Street, it tells the story of a talented Cinderella who saves a show and becomes an overnight sensation.

PRIVILEGE (BLU-RAY) (1967)

In the not-too-distant future, Steven Shorter (played by Manfred Mann lead singer, Paul Jones) is England’s biggest rock ’n’ roll star. His popularity, carefully engineered by his corporate handlers, has reached dizzying proportions. But when artist Vanessa Ritchie is hired to paint his portrait, she discovers that he is unhappy and unstable. When matters take a devious twist, Steve rebels in a startling manner. Brilliantly shot in pseudo-documentary, this darkly comic satire offers a caustic critique of ’60s pop culture and corporate control.

RESIDENT EVIL: WELCOME TO RACCOON CITY (BLU-RAY, DVD) (2021)

Witness the beginning of evil! Raccoon City, which was once a booming home of pharmaceutical giant Umbrella Corporation, is now a dying Midwestern town. The company’s exodus left the city a wasteland…with great evil brewing below the surface. When that evil is unleashed, a group of survivors must work together to uncover the truth behind Umbrella and make it through the night.

SCHOOL OF DEATH (BLU-RAY) (1975)

The outwardly respectable St. Elizabeth’s Refuge in Victorian London is a place where young orphans and other female waifs and strays are trained to be good servants, destined for employment in the houses of upstanding citizens. One by one, the girls are sent out into the world, never to be seen again. One of the most rebellious students, Leonore, is determined to find out what happened to her friend Sylvia, who died after being sent to a rich man’s house one night. What she discovers is more horrifying and twisted than she could ever have imagined. 

THE SPINE OF NIGHT [STEELBOOK] (4K + BLU-RAY) (2021)

When a young man steals forbidden knowledge from a sacred plant, he falls to its darker temptations and unleashes ages of suffering onto mankind.

SUKKUBUS (BLU-RAY) (1989)

A Swiss legend tells of three herdsmen who invoked the forces of evil and were punished terribly for their sacrilege. One day, a boy finds a peculiar tree root shaped like a face. He brings it back to his hut and makes a wig for it out of old straw. That night, two older men get drunk and, seeing the strange root, they decide to use it to make a life-sized female doll, using bits of old clothing, straw, and wood. They baptize their creation with strong liquor and offer it food. But then, to their shock, the doll comes to life in the form of a beautiful woman. And that’s where their nightmare really starts! Resisting their abuse of her body, the demonic doll hunts them down one by one and takes a terrible revenge.

SUMMER SCHOOL (BLU-RAY) (1987)

School’s out, and Ocean Front High School gym teacher Freddy Shoop has big plans: summer in Hawai’i. But the school’s vice principal has plans for Freddy too: teaching remedial English. Aloha, paradise—hello, Summer School. The road to academic success has never been bumpier, but to earn straight A’s in laughter…take Summer School. Also features a dog in sunglasses!