by Malakie Peters

New Release Tuesday! This week we’ve got Clint Eastwood and Sean Connery and the founding fathers in 4K, some of shot-on-VHS horror, a metric ton of new catalog additions, and more.

1776 [50TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION] (1972) (4K + BLU-RAY)

You’ll be seeing stars and stripes as the most fascinating leaders in American history come to life in 1776, a musical about the birth of a nation! With the Boston Harbor still stained from over-taxed British tea, a revolution is brewing in the colonies! And now England has thousands of troops headed for America’s shores to squelch her subjects’ freedom-loving spirit! It’s up to John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, and Thomas Jefferson to convince a stubborn congress of British colonists to unite as American patriots turn the inevitable war with England into a Declaration of Independence! 

ALIEN PRIVATE EYE (1987) (BLU-RAY)

An alien from a faraway planet who works as a private investigator on Earth gets involved with a quest to retrieve a powerfully addictive drug that was sent to earth on a black disc.

ALMOST SUMMER (1978) (BLU-RAY, DVD)

A high school student body presidential race gets nasty when the expected winner, beautiful and popular Christine, is challenged by an unknown candidate, Darryl, carefully chosen and managed by Christine’s Machiavelian ex-boyfriend.

AROUND THE WORLD WITH THE POLICE [RESTORED AND EXPANDED] (1982) (DVD)

Around the World, available for the first time on DVD, is presented with restored picture and remastered audio. It follows The Police on their first world tour in 1979-80. The film offers a jovial glimpse of the band as they travel the globe with visits to local sights between performances. It includes complete performances of 4 songs as bonus features. Live tracks featured on the Digipak CD were recorded in Japan, Hong Kong, and the UK.

BEAUTY DAY (2011) (BLU-RAY)

Before there was Tom Green…before there was Jackass…there was Ralph Zavadil. His Canadian cable access show, The Cap’n Video Show, ran from 1990 to 1995, spawning a small but loyal cult following. Each week, Ralph performed a series of idiotic and occasionally dangerous stunts, challenging the sensibilities of his small audience for five seasons. With the advent of the internet and reality television still years away, his unique brand of gross-out stunt comedy was truly ahead of its time. All it took was a broken neck for him to get noticed. Now, thirteen years after his show disappeared from the airwaves, Ralph decides to give the Cap’n one last chance in a brand new anniversary special shot for the same cable station that canceled him years earlier. Together with his best friend Robert, Ralph attempts to recapture the magic that made him a local hero so many years ago, while confronting some of the unexpected – and sometimes dark – turns his life has taken since his days on Cable 10.

BIG GOLD BRICK (2022) (DVD)

Big Gold Brick recounts the story of fledgling writer Samuel Liston and his experiences with Floyd Deveraux, the enigmatic middle-aged father of two who enlists Samuel to write his biography. But the circumstances that lead up to this arrangement in the first place are quite astonishing, and efforts to write the biography are quickly stymied by ensuing chaos in this darkly comedic, genre-bending film.

BORN TO WIN (1971) (BLU-RAY)

J. (George Segal) was a hairdresser until his escalating heroin addiction broke up his family and overtook his life. In filmmaker Ivan Passer’s Fun City-set Born to Win, J. and his friend and fellow junkie Billy Dynamite (Jay Fletcher) are reduced to running scams all over town together, desperately angling for their next fix. When a free-spirited young woman (Karen Black) falls for J., it seems they might have a chance to escape this bleak world together, but J.’s addiction means they are never too far from the reach of a merciless drug dealer and pimp (Hector Elizondo) and a relentless narcotics cop (Robert De Niro). 

THE BOYS: SEASONS 1 & 2 (2019-20) (DVD)

Based on the comic book of the same name, The Boys follows the eponymous team of vigilantes as they combat super powered individuals who abuse their abilities.

THE BURGLAR FROM HELL (1993) (BLU-RAY)

A marauding, muscle-bound burglar named Frank the Tank violently invades the home of an elderly woman who promptly turns the tables, killing him with a shotgun and burying his corpse in her backyard before abruptly dropping dead from a heart attack. Several years later, a group of young friends unsuspectingly vacation together at the aforementioned beach house. When their new, witchcraft obsessed acquaintance Token attempts to conjure up a rain spell, she inadvertently brings Frank the Tank back from the grave. One by one the guests are gruesomely dispatched by the wise cracking, pizza-faced, undead burglar in a staggering flurry of maniacal murder and mayhem.

CHAN IS MISSING (1982) (BLU-RAY)

When their business partner disappears with the money they had planned to use for a cab license, driver Jo (Wood Moy) and his nephew Steve (Marc Hayashi) scour the city’s back alleys, waterfronts, and Chinese restaurants to track him down. But what begins as a search for a missing man gradually turns into a far deeper and more elusive investigation into the complexities and contradictions of Chinese American identity. The first feature by an Asian American filmmaker to play widely and get mainstream critical appreciation, Chan Is Missing is a continuously fresh and surprising landmark of indie invention that playfully flips decades of cinematic stereotypes on their heads.

DEATH WISH II (1982) (4K + BLU-RAY)

Relocating to Los Angeles from New York City, vigilante Paul Kersey (Charles Bronson) wants to start a safer life for himself and his adult daughter, Carol (Robin Sherwood), who was assaulted years earlier and still suffers psychologically from the attack. But trouble finds Kersey. His house cleaner, Rosario (Silvana Gallardo), and Carol are both attacked in Kersey’s home by a gang of thugs, and Rosario dies. Kersey hits the streets hunting down the criminals, refusing to stop until L.A. is safe.

THE DEVIL YOU KNOW (2022) (DVD)

Boundaries and bonds are tested in this gritty crime-thriller drama about family, morality, and redemption. Once-incarcerated Marcus Cowans (Omar Epps) is trying to turn over a new leaf with the support of his loving family. Upon discovering that one of his brothers (Will Catlett) may have been involved in a horrific crime, Marcus grapples with the limits of brotherhood and loyalty. He and his family, increasingly weary of the justice system’s failings, end up in the crosshairs of a seasoned but jaded detective (Michael Ealy).

DOUBLE INDEMNITY (1944) (4K + BLU-RAY)

Has dialogue ever been more perfectly hard-boiled? Has a femme fatale ever been as deliciously wicked as Barbara Stanwyck? And has 1940s Los Angeles ever looked so seductively sordid? Working with co-writer Raymond Chandler, director Billy Wilder launched himself onto the Hollywood A-list with this epitome of film-noir fatalism from James M. Cain’s pulp novel. When slick salesman Walter Neff (Fred MacMurray) walks into the swank home of dissatisfied housewife Phyllis Dietrichson (Stanwyck), he intends to sell insurance, but he winds up becoming entangled with her in a far more sinister way. Featuring scene-stealing supporting work from Edward G. Robinson and the chiaroscuro of cinematographer John F. Seitz, Double Indemnity is one of the most entertainingly perverse stories ever told and the standard by which all noir must be measured.

A FISTFUL OF DOLLARS (1964) (4K + BLU-RAY)

An amoral gunman works both sides of a divided Western town. Featuring Clint Eastwood in a cool poncho and the most fun score of all time!

FLESHEATER (1988) (4K + BLU-RAY)

A group of college students on an overnight hayride come across a group of man-eating zombies and must fight for their lives while trying to escape and warn the authorities.

FOR A FEW DOLLARS MORE (1965) (4K + BLU-RAY)

A man with no name and a man with a mission hunt a Mexican bandit for different reasons. Featuring Lee Van Cleef in a cool hat and the other most fun score of all time!

THE ISLANDS OF YANN GONZALEZ: YOU AND THE NIGHT (2006, 2021) (BLU-RAY)

Horny monsters, erotic dancers, lonely youths, mourning lovers, and people who just wanna party. Yann Gonzalez’s cinema is full of unique islands with exciting characters, gorgeous cinematography, and hypnotic sonic arenas. Vinegar Syndrome has compiled seven of his short works here as a main program (many newly restored in HD) and an appendix of music videos and other works.

KINKY BOOTS (2005) (BLU-RAY) 

After his father’s demise, Charlie Price inherits the family business, a shoe factory in Northampton, England. He is not interested in shoes, and the factory is in such dire financial straits that he must lay off 15 employees. However a fortuitous encounter with a drag cabaret singer inspires Charlie to save the factory from closure by producing erotic footwear, much to the chagrin of the workers.

LOVE AND SAUCERS (2017) (BLU-RAY) 

David Huggins, 72, claims to have lost his virginity to an extraterrestrial being as a young man, and creates art to express his feelings about his interspecies romance.

THE MOB (1975) (BLU-RAY) 

Bringing seedy authenticity to his depiction of organized crime, director Jacques Godbout reached new heights with this urgent, fatalistic gangster odyssey. Landing somewhere between the American and European crime films of the 70s, The Mob is propelled into constant crisis by its uniquely unscrupulous protagonist – and those determined to avenge his indiscretions. Almost completely unseen outside of Quebec, this is a lost Canadian classic.

MOTHER SCHMUCKERS (2021) (BLU-RAY) 

Issachar and Zabulon, two brothers in their twenties, are supremely stupid and never bored, as madness is part of their daily lives. When they lose their mother’s beloved dog, they have 24 hours to find him – or she will kick them out.

OTHER MUSIC (2019) (BLU-RAY) 

Other Music was an influential and uncompromising New York City record store that was vital to the city’s early 2000s indie music scene. But when the store is forced to close its doors due to rent increases, the homogenization of urban culture, and the shift from CDs to downloadable and streaming music, a cultural landmark is lost. Through vibrant storytelling, the documentary captures the record store’s vital role in the musical and cultural life of the city, and highlights the artists whose careers it helped launch including Vampire Weekend, Animal Collective, Interpol, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, William Basinski, Neutral Milk Hotel, Sharon Van Etten, Yo La Tengo and TV On The Radio.

POUPELLE OF CHIMNEY TOWN (2021) (BLU-RAY) 

Poupelle of Chimney Town is the story of young Lubicchi living among the thick smoke from the chimneys of his isolated town, yearning to see the “stars” — to know the truth — his father always told him about. One Halloween night, he meets Poupelle, a man made of garbage, and together they look to the sky as their adventure begins.

RED SKY (2014) (DVD) 

In 2001 Iraq, two Navy pilots – Butch Masters and Tom Craig – are ordered on a bombing mission. During the raid, an American soldier gets killed and a chemical weapon, called Rainmaker, is stolen resulting in a dishonorable discharge for the 2 pilots. Years later, Craig and Masters find themselves on opposite sides of right and wrong when Navy intelligence offers Masters a chance to clear his name by performing one last mission. 

STUDIO 666 (2022) (DVD) 

In Studio 666, Rock & Roll Hall of Famers Foo Fighters move into an Encino mansion steeped in grisly rock history to record their much anticipated 10th album. Once in the house, Dave Grohl finds himself grappling with supernatural forces that threaten both the completion of the album and the lives of the band.

SUNDOWN (2021) (DVD) 

When an emergency disrupts their vacation in Mexico, simmering tensions erupt between scions of a wealthy British family in this suspenseful jolt where nothing is quite as it seems.

TAKE ME SOMEWHERE NICE (2019) (BLU-RAY) 

It’s one debacle after another for Alma. When her long-estranged father is hospitalized in his native Bosnia, a not-quite-headstrong young woman leaves her home in The Netherlands to visit him. Along a bizarre chain of events and interactions with a cast of road-weary characters, Alma faces disappointment after disappointment with devil-may-care detachment and a newfound maturity.

THEY LOOK LIKE PEOPLE (2015) (DVD) 

Suspecting that people are transforming into malevolent shape-shifters, Wyatt flees to New York City to seek out his estranged childhood friend Christian. As the mysterious horrors close in on Wyatt, he questions whether to protect his only friend from an impending war, or from himself.

THE UNTOUCHABLES (1987) (4K UHD) 

A glorious, fierce, larger-than-life depiction of good versus evil on the streets of Prohibition-era Chicago; De Palma, you know it! 

VIDEO MURDERS (1988) (BLU-RAY) 

David Lee Shepard loves his mother. He’s a good boy who wants to make his mother proud. But he also wants to videotape himself strangling sex workers. From one beautiful corpse to the next, Lieutenant Jerry Delvechio is getting closer to David. A reckless news reporter and a fatally friendly young woman get caught up in the mayhem.

WICKED WORLD (1991) (BLU-RAY) 

Grant Ekland is a cop who is haunted by the death of his girlfriend at the hands of a psychotic slasher named Harold. When Harold is released from an asylum, there’s only one option for Ekland: revenge! Filled with metal riffage, gnarly ultra-violence, and experimental techniques.

THE WOBBLIES (1979) (DVD) 

This compelling documentary of the Industrial Workers of the World tells the story of workers in factories, sawmills, wheat fields, forests, mines, and on the docks as they organize and demand better wages, healthcare, overtime pay, and safer working conditions.

 

NEW ADDITIONS

TANGOS, EL EXILIO DE GARDEL (1985) (PAL DVD) 

In Paris, a troupe of artistically inclined Argentine exiles long for their homeland and its traditions. Seeking to create a salve for their shared sense of isolation, they craft a song-and-dance revue in honor of the late Carlos Gardel, an iconic tango dancer. These lively music numbers mix ballet and the tango, and they spread from the theater to backstage and into the streets of Paris, as these melancholy expatriates gallivant around their adopted home.

BABY GRAMPS: SOME DEMOS (1996) (DVD) 

Filmed on 8/26/93 when Baby Gramps opened for Phish in Portland, Oregon. Baby Gramps actually shared the stage with Phish, performing the enigmatic “Tea Tray Song” with Fishman on vacuum during the second set. Baby Gramps is an amazing amalgamation of everything that anybody’s ever heard including Mississippi John Hurt, Uncle Dave Macon, Charlie Patton, Blind Blake, Captain Beefheart, the Tuvan Throat Singers, and Popeye. Baby Gramps has created a highly developed and completely original musical concoction that is easily the most intriguing synthesis to come out of the roots revival of the late 20th Century. He plays beautifully “betwixt the cracks in the piano” a la Ornette Coleman, can scat the blues three notes at once, and has invented his own guitar technique he calls “scribbling”. Gramps does amazing tricks with timing, timbre, tempo, and pitch that no one can hope to imitate, and reinvents himself nightly, never performing a song the same way twice.

BOY MEETS GIRL (1994) (DVD) 

This dark British drama centres upon a woman who slowly, fatally tortures the man she keeps captive in her basement.

DREAM-PLAN-BUILD VOLUME 7 (2006) (DVD) 

Layouts, Modeling Tips & Prototype Railroads.

HEARTY RESPONSE (1986) (BLU-RAY) 

Bond accidentally hurts San, an immigrant, but decides to help her. Their closeness creates a rift between Bond and his wife but he continues to protect her even when she is kidnapped by a psychopath.

HOW DO I LOVE THEE? (1970) (BLU-RAY) 

A father attempts to reconnect with his troubled, estranged son, a philosophy professor. The chance at reconciliation comes when the son learns that his father, whom he hasn’t seen in years, is fighting a mysterious disease in a French hospital.

ALI MACGRAW: YOGA MIND AND BODY (1994) (DVD) 

Explore a unique daily fitness regimen with actress Ali MacGraw and yoga works, presenting a combination of short and long physical workouts and meditation periods to achieve well-being in body and mind. 

RETURN TO HORROR HIGH (1987) (BLU-RAY, CODE B)

In the early 1980s, a series of gruesome murders occurred at Crippen High School. The killer was never apprehended. A few years later, a film crew uses the now-abandoned Crippen High as the set for a film about the murders. But an uninvited guest star — the killer the film is based on — makes a cameo appearance on the set. As the murderous madman terrorizes the cast and crew, leading man Steven Blake and leading lady Callie Cassidy set out to stop him.

ROY COLT AND WINCHESTER JACK (1970) (BLU-RAY) 

A cowboy, his former partner, and various outlaws compete to find hidden treasure.

SECRET GARDEN (2001) (DVD) 

The film is a family drama concerning the Kyobashis, whose house rule is to not keep secrets from each other when asked a question directly. 

TANTALIZING TEHACHAPI (2003) (DVD) 

This is a visual exploration of what is considered one of American railroading’s seven wonders of the world, the Tehachapi Loop in Southern California.

TOUGH GUYS (1986) (BLU-RAY) 

Two aging train robbers cannot get used to modern life after thirty years in jail and decide to do one last robbery – on the same train that proved to be their downfall three decades earlier. They are determined not to get caught again, despite being pursued by the cop who arrested them last time round and by a mysterious gunslinger with an old score to settle.

THE WOMBLES: COMPLETE COLLECTION (1973) (DVD) 

UNDERGROUND, OVERGROUND, WOMBLING FREE… THE WOMBLES OF WIMBLEDON COMMON ARE WE… For the first time ever every classic episode of The Wombles can be seen together in this complete collection box set. Created by author Elisabeth Beresford in the 1970s and voiced by Bernard Cribbins, The Wombles are well established British folk heroes, known for helping the environment by collecting and recycling rubbish in useful and clever ways, turning trash into treasures, and coming up with ingenious inventions! 

ANYUTA (1982) (DVD)

Bolshoi Ballet stars Vladimir Vasiliev and Ekaterina Maximova dance this 1982 performance of “Anyuta,” the story of a small-town woman who purposely marries above her social status only to learn that popularity comes with a price. Maximova performs the role of Anyuta; Vasiliev plays Anyuta’s drunk father. This performance is directed by Alexandr Belinksy and also features dancers Gali Abaydulov, Marat Daukayev and John Markovsky.

ART OF THE PAS DE DEUX VOL. 3 (2009) (DVD)

Enjoy breathtaking performances from Veronica Tennant, Rudolf Nureyev, Karen Kain, Frank Augustyn, Maya Plisetskaya, and many more in this stunning anthology of rare ballet clips.

ELENI (1985) (BLU-RAY)

A mother’s love for her children leads to a son’s revenge for her death in this dramatic thriller that begins during the Greek civil war.

HANDEL’S WATER MUSIC: RE-CREATING A ROYAL SPECTACULAR (2003) (DVD)

The renowned London biographer Peter Ackroyd narrates the ambitious attempt of a team of historical experts to discover the remarkable story behind the 1717 premiere of Handel’s Water Music on the Thames. The result is the second-ever performance on the river, filmed in costume on a regal-style period barge against the backdrop of the present-day Thames from Whitehall to Chelsea. Includes performances by The English Concert of favorite movements from the F major and D major Suites.

KIDNAPPED (1974) (BLU-RAY)

A Swiss police commissioner tries to link a deported American mobster to the kidnapping of an industrialist’s daughter.

KOTCH (1971) (BLU-RAY)

Jack Lemmon directs his friend and frequent co-star Walter Matthau in this gentle comedic drama. When retired salesman Joseph Kotcher (Walter Matthau) begins to feel pressure to move out of the house he shares with the family of his son, Gerald (Charles Aidman), he opts to embark on a road trip instead of settling in a retirement home. Befriending Erica (Deborah Winters), a young pregnant woman, Kotch begins to find new meaning in life as he helps her prepare to welcome her baby into the world.

LONDON ROCK ‘N’ ROLL STAGE SHOW (1991) (DVD)

On April 13th, 1991, London saw a show that looked as if it could have been Brooklyn Paramount in the late 50’s. A line-up of acts never before seen in Europe: The Cleftones, The Jive 5, The Flamingos, Jimmy Jones and Ronnie Dawson. Includes highlights from the show plus interviews with the acts from the night before the concert.

MESSIAH (1991) (DVD)

The National Choir of Lyon and the Auvergne Orchestra under conductor Jean-Jaques Kantorow present Handel’s biblical telling of the life of Jesus Christ in The Messiah. This magnificent work was performed in the prestigious setting of the Abbey of La Chaise Dieu, a superb architectural landmark in the Auvergne Hills of central France.

MESSIAH (2003) (DVD)

Filmed performance of the London Philharmonic’s rendition of Handel’s Messiah.

ON THE FIDDLE (1965) (DVD)

Horace Pope (Alfred Lynch) is just an everyday street peddler when the authorities pick him up for practicing his trade. Not wanting to go to jail, Pope invents a story about enlisting in the military, which convinces the judge to send him to the Royal Air Force instead of prison. Since it happens to be during World War II, Pope pulls every scheme and scam he can — with the help of his new soldier friend, Pedlar Pascoe (Sean Connery) — to avoid actual work, but he can’t shirk his duty forever.

OUTDOOR IDAHO: ON THE HENRY’S FORK (2001) (DVD)

Trophy trout have lured anglers to the Henry’s Fork from around the world. But there is more than fishing on the Henry’s Fork. A few years ago, love of the river prompted traditional opponents to find new ways to manage the area. Today, the Henry’s Fork Watershed Council is a model for resolving natural resource conflicts.

SINCE YOU WENT AWAY (1944) (BLU-RAY)

When her husband leaves to fight in World War II, housewife Anne Hilton (Claudette Colbert) must struggle alone to raise their two daughters, Jane (Jennifer Jones) and Bridget (Shirley Temple). With a tight budget, Anne is forced to take in two lodgers, elderly ex-soldier Col. William G. Smollett (Monty Woolley) and handsome Lt. Tony Willet (Joseph Cotten). However, loyal maid Fidelia (Hattie McDaniel) stays on unpaid and the makeshift household pulls together through homefront hardships.

SPIRIT MOLECULE (2010) (DVD)

Dr. Rick Strassman conducts groundbreaking research on the hallucinogen DMT.

STRAUSS & BRAHMS (2004) (DVD)

Two of Austria’s golden sons, Strauss and Brahms, have some of their most extraordinary pieces revived here through the magical fingers of pianist Bernd Glemser. A native of Germany, Glember was practically born tickling the ivories. Famed for his depth, sensitivity, and technical perfection since winning a national television contest in 1987, Glemser has performed a diverse array of music, spanning the pre-Baroque to contemporary, to near universal acclaim. Here, he moves and delights with a sensitive 1995 performance of Strauss’ “Der Rosenkavalier” and Brahms’ “Symphony No. 2 op. 73.”

SYMPHONIE FANTASTIQUE (1948) (DVD)

In 1948 Léonide Massine mounted for the Royal Danish Ballet a version of his famous 1936 ballet, Symphonie Fantastique, based on the symphony by Hector Berlioz. A “work film” was made at that time, shot without sound and showing the dancers in practice dress. This DVD presents that work film synchronized to Liszt’s piano transcription of the Berlioz work played by William Hicks. Ballet fans will notice the cast includes Erik Bruhn, Toni Lander, and Stanley Williams, all at the beginning of their careers.

THEATER MUSIC OF BRECHT & WEILL (2005) (DVD)

Lotte Lenya and Gisela May were the two most prominent interpreters of Brecht and Weill in the last century. Here, from 1958, is Lenya performing five of Kurt Weill’s songs from The Threepenny Opera, Happy End, Mahagonny and the Berlin Requiem. Gisela May performs Brecht songs with music by Weill, Heymann, and Dessau (1972). As a bonus, Martha Schlamme performs two songs of Weill, joined by Will Holt in one number. 

A WAYFARER’S JOURNEY: LISTENING TO MAHLER (2007) (DVD)

An exploration of the relationship of music to healing and survival, centered on the music of composer Gustav Mahler (1860-1911). Actor Richard Dreyfuss provides the voice of Mahler; actress Kathleen Chalfont narrates.