New Release Tuesday! Long-trapped djinns, HK cops, David Bowie, Sonny Chiba, and lots more. 

ADIEU GODARD (2021)

A small Indian village: an old man is addicted to watching pornography with his friends. One fine day, he accidentally brings home a DVD with a Godard film inside it. Attracted by the newness of the film, he starts renting all of Godard’s oeuvre, leading him and his friends to attempt to organize a Godard film festival in their village. (DVD)

ALLEGORIA (2022)

ASSASSINATION (1967)

This explosive Eurospy thriller stars the criminally cool Henry Silva (The Hills Run Red, The Italian Connection, Code of Silence) as a man who must die twice in order to live. Time, memory and fear have no more meaning for Secret Service man John Chandler (Silva) as he awaits his ultimate fate on death row…until he’s offered an opportunity for resurrection. By altering his appearance through plastic surgery, John becomes his fictitious long-lost brother, Philip, as part of a subterfuge plot to take down a nefarious crime lord. The directorial debut of genre maestro Emilio P. Miraglia (The Night Evelyn Came Out of the Grave, The Red Queen Kills Seven Times), Assassination co-stars Fred Beir (M.M.M. 83, The Organization) and giallo goddess Evelyn Stewart (The Bloodstained Butterfly, The Weekend Murders). Beautifully shot in scope by Erico Menczer (Machine Gun McCain, The Cat o’ Nine Tails). (DVD)

BODYGUARD KIBA/BODYGUARD KIBA 2 (1994)

Based on the anime by Ikki Kajiwara, Bodyguard Kiba follows a martial arts fighter (Sonny Chiba) who takes on the yakuza. This film was released in the US theatrically as The Bodyguard with the slogan “Viva Chiba!” The sequel opens with our hero in prison. Upon his release, he takes a bodyguard position at a nightclub … and his new employer ends up being the one who had him imprisoned! (BLU-RAY)

BOTH SIDES OF THE BLADE (2022)

CASABLANCA BEATS (2021)

Director Nabil Ayouch (Razzia, Horses of God) drew on his own experience opening a youth cultural center in Casablanca for this story of a former rapper named Anas who takes a job teaching hip hop in an underprivileged neighborhood. Despite differences in identity, religion, and politics, Anas encourages his students to bond together and break free from the weight of restrictive traditions in order to follow their passion and express themselves through the arts. Featuring a dynamic ensemble of first-time actors, many of them students of the real-life cultural center where the film was shot, Casablanca Beats is a vibrant and inspiring coming-of-age hip hop musical with a decidedly feminist edge. Mixing intimate yet high stakes drama with infectious musical sequences, the film transports audiences to a lively and contemporary Casablanca, far from the clichés about the Arab world. Morocco’s official submission to the 94th Academy Awards® offers a refreshing dose of youthful inspiration alongside a powerful message about the liberating power of self-expression. (DVD)

DARBY AND JOAN: SERIES 1 (2022)

DEATH GAME (1977)

John Cassavetes veteran Seymour Cassel stars as George Manning, a family man whose perfect life is turned into a nightmare of sex and torture when he allows himself to be seduced by two nubile young strangers (Sondra Locke and Colleen Camp) who show up at his door on a rainy night. (BLU-RAY)

DIAMOND WIZARD (1954)

The Diamond Wizard (also known as The Diamond) packs suspense and surprise into a supremely exciting film noir thriller. While in London trying to nab the crooks who stole a million dollars from a U.S. Treasury vault, American federal agent Joe Dennison (Dennis O’Keefe, T-Men, Raw Deal) joins Scotland Yard Inspector McClaren (Philip Friend, Buccaneer’s Girl, Spy Hunt) in his search for a missing atomic scientist. They discover that the key to solving both cases may rest with the scientist’s daughter (Margaret Sheridan, The Thing from Another World, I, the Jury) and her fascinating diamond. Co-Directed by star Dennis O’Keefe (Angela) and Montgomery Tully (Query). (DVD)

DOOM PATROL: SEASON 3 (2019) 

Season three opens on the culmination of Dorothy’s (Abi Monterey) confrontation with the Candlemaker that leads to a devastating loss. The Doom Patrol is at a difficult crossroads and each member struggles to face who they are and who they want to be. And things get a whole lot more complicated when Madame Rouge (Michelle Gomez) arrives in a time machine with a very specific mission, if only she could remember it. (DVD)

GIGI & NATE (2022)

HALO: SEASON 1 (2022)

HANSAN: RISING DRAGON (2022)

By the summer of 1592, Korean admiral Yi Sun-Sin (Park Hae-Il) had already amassed several improbable naval victories against an invading Japanese fleet with superior numbers and armaments. The wounded commander would rack up another at Hansan Island, as he lured the forces of Wakisaka Yasuharu (Byun Yo-Han) into an engagement that would cost Japan 100 ships.  (DVD)

I LOVE MY DAD (2022)

Inspired by writer, director, and star James Morosini’s true life experience, I LOVE MY DAD follows Chuck (Patton Oswalt), a hopelessly estranged father who desperately wants to reconnect with his troubled son, Franklin (Morosini). Blocked on social media and concerned for his son’s life, Chuck impersonates a waitress online and starts checking in with Franklin. But things begin to spiral when Franklin falls for this imaginary girl (Claudia Sulewski) and wants nothing more than to meet her in person, as Chuck has inadvertently catfished his own son.  (BLU-RAY)

INFERNAL AFFAIRS (2002) (CRITERION)

INFERNAL AFFAIRS 2 (2003) (CRITERION)

INFERNAL AFFAIRS 3 (2003) (CRITERION)

JERRY & MARGE GO LARGE (2022)

MONSIEUR HIRE (1989)

A young girl is brutally murdered. The prime suspect is a cold and reclusive man who is obsessed with his beautiful neighbor. He spends his nights watching her through his window, but when she discovers that she is being spied on, she becomes the aggressor in an erotically charged relationship that leads to a deadly game of cat-and-mouse. (BLU-RAY)

MOONAGE DAYDREAM (2022)

Told through sublime, kaleidoscopic, never-before-seen footage, performances and music, Brett Morgen’s (The Kid Stays in the Picture, Cobain: Montage of Heck, Jane) feature length experiential cinematic odyssey explores David Bowie’s creative, musical and spiritual journey. The film is guided by David Bowie’s own narration and is the first officially sanctioned film on the artist. (BLU-RAY and DVD)

PEARL (2022)

Filmmaker Ti West returns with another chapter from the twisted world of X in this astonishing follow-up to the year’s most acclaimed horror film. Trapped on her family’s isolated farm, Pearl must tend to her ailing father under the bitter and overbearing watch of her devout mother. Lusting for a glamorous life like she’s seen in the movies, Pearl’s ambitions, temptations, and repressions all collide in the stunning, Technicolor-inspired origin story of X’s iconic villain. (BLU-RAY and DVD)

PROMISE, THE (1979)

Two college students, one from a rich background, and the other from a poor one, decide to elope. They are involved in a serious car wreck, with the young girl’s face severely injured. In order to get the necessary surgery, the mother of the young man injured in the accident offers a deal to the young woman – to stay out of her son’s life permanently, and in return, get the plastic surgery to restore her face. What comes after that is something none of them expected. (BLU-RAY)

QUEEN OF GLORY (2021)

Sarah Obeng (Nana Mensah, Netflix’s The Chair), a doctoral student at Columbia University, is weeks away from following her very married boyfriend to Ohio when her mother suddenly passes away. Her inheritance? King of Glory, a small Christian bookstore serving a Ghanaian immigrant community in the Bronx. Tasked with arranging her mother’s funeral according to her family’s traditional expectations, Sarah must simultaneously navigate her plans to relocate as well as the unexpected return of her estranged father, all while grappling with the bookstore. Aided by an only-in-New York ensemble of Eastern European neighbors, opinionated aunties, and a no-nonsense ex-con employee, Sarah must face her new responsibilities while figuring out how to remain true to herself. Winner of the Tribeca Film Festival Best New Narrative Director Award for director-star Mensah, Queen of Glory is a “tightly-conceived, witty and compassionate love letter to the Bronx” (The Hollywood Reporter) that’s at once a view into a tight-knit community, and an intensely relatable drama-comedy for anyone with a family. (DVD)

R.I.P.D.2: RISE OF THE DAMNED (2022)

RESERVOIR DOGS (1992) (2 DISKS)

Frenzied, soaked in blood, and featuring gangsters both ruthless and engaging (who debate the deeper meanings of “Like a Virgin”), Reservoir Dogs — Quentin Tarantino’s debut film about a heist gone horribly wrong — attained iconic cult status upon its release in 1992, and launched the career of a director whose singular vision has influenced a generation of filmmakers. (BLU-RAY + 4KULTRAHD)

REVEALER (2022)

Tensions rise when a stripper and religious protester are trapped together in a peep show booth and must come together to survive the apocalypse in 1980’s Chicago. (DVD)

SECTION 8 (2022)

SHARP STICK (2022)

Sarah Jo is a naive 26-year-old living on the fringes of Hollywood, longing to be seen. After starting an affair with her older boss, she’s thrust into an education on sex and power in writer & director Lena Dunham’s riotous second film. (DVD)

SHOGUN’S SHADOW/SAMURAI REINCARNATION (1983)

In SHOGUN’S SHADOW, A young man on a journey to Edo to mark his passage to manhood is accompanied by seven master samurai charged with getting him there safely … against the wishes of a powerful shogunate. In SAMURAI REINCARNATION, a resurrected demon assembles a team of undead samurai warriors to overthrow the Tokugawa shogunate, and only one person can defeat them: Jubei Yagyu (Sonny Chiba). (BLU-RAY)

SOLDATESSE, LE (1966)

Le Soldatesse (The Camp Followers) is a heartbreakingly moving wartime drama starring the luminous Anna Karina (Pierrot le Fou, Alphaville) and directed by the great Valerio Zurlini (The Desert of the Tartars, Family Portrait). Lieutenant Martino (Tomas Milian) can no longer stand the death and disease surrounding him in Athens, and puts in a request to be relocated. So along with Sergeant Castagnoli (Mario Adorf) he is tasked with delivering twelve prostitutes to various military outposts across the Axis territory. It is an unpleasant task, made even more so by the fascistic Major Alessi (Aca Gavric), who they pick up along the way. Karina plays Elenitza, a soft-spoken prostitute who develops a sympathetic relationship with Martino. Alessi becomes increasingly unhinged during the journey, becoming a violent and maniacal supporter of the Blackshirts, whose brutal tactics tear the group apart. (BLU-RAY)

SWORDS OF VENGEANCE (1978)

Director Kinji Fukasaku (Battle Royale, The Yakuza Papers) teams up with Sonny Chiba to present a daring and violent version of Japan’s most epic myth, “The 47 Loyal Retainers.” (BLU-RAY)

THREE THOUSAND YEARS OF LONGING (2022)

Dr Alithea Binnie (Tilda Swinton) is an academic…a creature of reason. While in Istanbul, she happens to encounter a Djinn (Idris Elba) who offers her three wishes in exchange for his freedom. At first, she doubts that he is real and she knows all the cautionary tales of wishes gone wrong. But the Djinn pleads his case, and eventually she is beguiled and makes a wish that surprises them both! (DVD, BLU-RAY + 4KULTRAHD)

UNIDENTIFIED (2020)

A small city in Northern Romania: despite growing debts and a complicated personal life, police detective Florin Iespas is determined to solve a hard case that no one else seems to care about. Ordered to put down the file, the cop continues his off-the-record investigations, soon turning up a strong lead for two hotel fires that resulted in several deaths. The suspect is Banel, a security guard of Roma descent, but he denies everything. Faced with the refusal of the police chief to support his inquiry, the mistrust of his colleagues, and his own inner demons, Florin resorts to extraordinary measures to achieve a form of justice. Under the surface of a sharp, tightly woven mystery, Unidentified is a seething neo-noir touching on police corruption, prejudice, and toxic masculinity. (DVD)

VALACHI PAPERS (1972)

Sentenced to 15 years in prison, former mob “button man” Joe Valachi (Charles Bronson) turns informant when he learns top Mafia capo Vito Genovese (Lino Ventura) has put a $100,000 contract out on his life. From thievery and extortion to vengeance and murder, Valachi spills the innermost workings of the Cosa Nostra, culminating in his riveting testimony before a Senate subcommittee on organized crime. (BLU-RAY)

YAKUZA WOLF: I PERFORM MURDER/YAKUZA WOLF 2: EXTEND MY CONDOLENCES (1972)

In YAKUZA WOLF, a vengeful man is after the Japanese yakuza for killing his boss and selling his sister into slavery. In the sequel, Chiba is sent to prison after being betrayed by a yakuza underboss. Once out, he looks to get his revenge. (BLU-RAY)