The following article was written by my good friend and colleague Alonso Duralde. You can be taught extra about him HERE.
WHAT’S NEW ON DVD/BLU/4K IN JANUARY: THE SUBSTANCE, HUNDREDS OF BEAVERS, NO HOME MOVIE, INCUBUS, AND MORE!
NEW RELEASE WALL
The Substance (Mubi): One of essentially the most talked-about movies of 2024, Coralie Fargeat’s sophomore characteristic (following the blistering feminist motion saga Revenge) brilliantly mixes collectively show-biz satire, physique horror, and female-gaze drama earlier than blowing the entire thing up in a gloriously Grand Guignol finale. Demi Moore stars as a TV health star who’s being aged out of the biz; when she turns to a mysterious drug generally known as The Substance, it unleashes her youthful self (performed by Margaret Qualley), however when the Substance guidelines aren’t adopted, all Hell breaks free. A uncommon horror movie to enter the very best echelons of the Oscar race.
Also obtainable:
Here (Sony): Robert Zemeckis’ let’s-call-it-ambitious adaptation of the graphic novel exhibits the passing of the eons, with the digital camera mounted in a single place all through.
Venom: The Last Dance (Sony): Tom Hardy and his alien alter ego end off their superhero saga, and none too quickly.
We Live in Time (A24): Florence Pugh and Andrew Garfield star as a pair whose love and loss is portrayed achronologically.
NEW INDIE
Hundreds of Beavers (Cartuna): My favourite film of 2024, director Mike Cheslik’s outrageous low-budget comedy suggests a very impressed between Canadian aesthete Guy Maddin and the anarchists behind the Looney Tunes. Co-writer Ryland Brickson Cole Tews offers an impressed efficiency as an orchard-owner who seeks revenge on the toothy rodents who destroyed his bushes. That the beavers are performed by adults in mascot costumes is just the start of the lunacy on show, as Cheslike and Tews’ ingenious screenplay gives one elaborate set-up and payoff after one other. This new Blu-ray options greater than ten hours of bonus options, together with deleted scenes, a take a look at the filmmakers’ DIY road-show launch, three separate audio commentaries, and far more.
Also obtainable:
Armor (Lionsgate): Father and son armored-truck drivers fend off would-be thieves on this motion saga starring Jason Patrick Sylvester Stallone, and Dash Mihok.
NEW INTERNATIONAL
Endless Summer Syndrome (Altered Innocence): A French spouse and mom hears a stunning allegation relating to her husband and one in all their adopted youngsters; her technique is to hold again and observe, kicking off a darkish comedy of manners set amongst an upper-class household in Kaveh Danishmand’s acclaimed directorial debut.
Sisterhood (Icarus): Three womens’ friendship is examined when one in all them turns to social media after being harassed by her brother’s greatest good friend in Nora El Hourch’s provocative debut characteristic.
NEW DOCUMENTARY
No Home Movie (Icarus): Over the profession of acclaimed filmmaker Chantal Akerman (whose movie Jeanne Dielman, 23 quai du commerce, 1080 Bruxelles lately topped the Sight & Sound record of the best movies ever made), the director’s mom Natalia was a necessary affect and supply of assist. In her last characteristic documentary earlier than taking her personal life in 2015, Chantal pointed her digital camera at Natalia; their conversations, in particular person and over Skype, about Natalia’s life (which included surviving Auschwitz) are contrasted with photographs of the desert (and kitchen moments that play like a shout-out to Jeanne Dielman). This Blu-ray additionally contains Marianne Lambert’s quick movie I Don’t Belong Anywhere: The Cinema of Chantal Akerman.
Also obtainable:
The Cowboy and the Queen (Greenwich Entertainment): A horse-trainer identified for his gentler strategies turns into unlikely pals with Queen Elizabeth II.
My Name Is Alfred Hitchcock (Cohen Media Group): Documentarian Mark Cousins examines the life and work of the legendary filmmaker.
Separated (Greenwich Entertainment): Errol Morris’ all-too-timely examination of the federal government’s coverage of breaking apart households on the border.
Soundtrack to a Coup d’État (Kino Lorber): African politics and American jazz collide within the Nineteen Sixties, because the CIA makes an attempt to distract from American colonialism by exporting beloved musicians to political hot-spots on this Oscar-nominated documentary.
Tito, Margot and Me (IndiePix): This Panamanian Oscar submission recounts the star-crossed love affair between prima ballerina Margot Fonteyn and diplomat Roberto “Tito” Arias in opposition to the backdrop of worldwide turmoil.
To Dye For (Virgil Films): Parents and first-time filmmakers Brandon and Whitney Cawood got down to uncover the usages and risks of artificial dyes after notice their little one’s sensitivity to them.
Touristic Intents (First Run Features): Can a mammoth construction initially created as a Nazi resort be repurposed for up to date utilization, or does structure carry the sins of the previous? Director Mat Rappaport examines the implications of Prora, constructed on the shores of the Baltic Sea.
NEW GRINDHOUSE
Incubus (Arrow): All however misplaced for many years, this legendary cult movie makes its 4K debut. The solely characteristic movie shot completely in Esperanto, this creepy story considerations a fountain of youth that’s really a one-way ticket to Hell – until a wounded soldier (William Shatner) and his pure soul can defeat the titular demon. This one-of-a-kind curiosity include three audio commentaries (together with one with Shatner), archival interviews, and extra.
Also obtainable:
April Fool’s Day (KL Studio Classics): Fans of the Knives Out films ought to rediscover this Eighties horror-comedy whodunnit, making its 4K debut.
Body Parts (KL Studio Classics): Jeff Fahey will get an arm transplant in Eric Red’s cult horror fave, solely to find that the brand new limb has a murderous thoughts of its personal; first time in 4K.
Deranged (Vinegar Syndrome): Alfred Hitchcock’s tackle Ed Gein in Psycho was positively restrained subsequent to this 1974 gutbucket traditional.
Invasion of the Bee Girls (Kino Cult): A mysterious cosmic power turns on a regular basis ladies into voracious sexual beasts who kill males with their insatiability. Just one other Tuesday.
Orca (KL Studio Classics): One of the largest (no less than by way of mass) ripoffs of Jaws was this killer-whale film starring Richard Harris and an up-and-coming Bo Derek.
Rampo Noir (Arrow): This anthology of 4 creepy tales tailored from the works of legendary Japanese writer Edogawa Rampo makes its world debut outdoors of Japan.
Running on Karma (Eureka): Andy Lau stars on this crime thriller from Johnnie To and Wai Ka-fai.
The Seventh Curse / Witch from Nepal (Vinegar Syndrome): A double characteristic of horror classics from legendary Hong Kong studio Golden Harvest.
NEW CLASSIC
The Mother and the Whore (Criterion Collection): Winner of the Grand Prix on the 1973 Cannes Film Festival, Jean Eustache’s still-controversial examination of polyamory and radical politics will get the complete Criterion remedy (in 4K and Blu-ray), analyzing the movie as a cultural artifact of France after the New Wave and after May 1968. Jean-Pierre Léaud, already a veteran of Truffaut and Godard’s movies of the earlier decade, stars as a pseudo-intellectual blowhard who vacillates between his girlfriend (Bernadette Lafont) and a brand new lover (Françoise Lebrun) earlier than the three of them tumble tentatively into an uneasy relationship à trois. A movie whose status has solely grown and deepened with the passing of the many years.
Also obtainable:
The Cell (Arrow): Tarsem Singh’s visually beautiful and trippy procedural makes its 4K debut.
Fade-In (KL Studio Classics): This cinematic footnote – it was shelved by Paramount and ultimately premiered on The CBS Late Movie – will get its second within the highlight. Barbara Loden and Burt Reynolds star as an editor and a rancher (respectively) who get caught up in an on-set romance throughout a location shoot.
The Grifters (Criterion Collection): Stephen Frears’ scorching neo-noir contains a troika of indelible performances from Angelica Houston, Annette Bening, and John Cusack.
Horrible History: Four Historical Epics by Chang Cheh (Eureka): Often referred to as “the godfather of Hong Kong cinema,” Chang Cheh specialised in martial-arts sagas and historic dramas; the latter are celebrated on this field set, which incorporates Marco Polo, The Pirate, Boxer Rebellion, and Four Riders.
Houseboat (KL Studio Classics): Widower Cary Grant falls for his children’ new nanny Sophia Loren as all of them try to stay afloat.
Inglourious Basterds (Arrow): Quentin Tarantino’s revisionist World War II epic, now in 4K.
Jo Jo Dancer, Your Life Is Calling (Criterion Collection): Richard Pryor’s sole directorial effort (other than one in all his live performance movies) was this autobiographical story of a slapstick comedian (Pryor enjoying, primarily, Pryor) who rises to stardom solely to face dependancy.
Let’s Get Lost (Kino Lorber): This Blu-ray contains a new 4K restoration of Bruce Weber’s achingly lovely celebration of the life and work of Chet Baker.
Murder by Decree (KL Studio Classics): Christopher Plummer makes a most memorable Sherlock Holmes on this sprightly journey from director Bob Clark.
Reindeer Games (KL Studio Classics): Ben Affleck and Charlize Theron get roped into a vacation heist in John Frankenheimer’s last characteristic.
Sea of Love (KL Studio Classics): Al Pacino scored a profession comeback on this scorching romantic thriller reverse Ellen Barkin.
Seven (Warner Bros. Discovery): Celebrate the 30thanniversary of David Fincher’s supremely creepy policier with this new 4K (what’s within the) field set.
Shelf Life (Liberation Hall): Nearly unattainable to see for many years, Paul Bartel’s last comedy, a few trio of bunker-dwelling siblings, makes its Blu-ray debut.
Shout on the Devil (KL Studio Classics): A pair of poachers (Lee Marvin and Roger Moore) in East Africa throughout WWI discover themselves pressed into service to take out a German battleship.
The Spiral Road (KL Studio Classics): This one’s ostensibly about idealistic physician Rock Hudson touring to the West Indies to discover a remedy for leprosy, however if you happen to’ve watched Mark Rappaport’s Rock Hudson’s Home Movies, the actual pressure right here is between Hudson and the paternalistic Burl Ives, who appears awfully resentful of the youthful physician’s relationship with Gena Rowlands.
Teacher’s Pet (KL Studio Classics): The once-in-a-lifetime combo of Clark Gable, Doris Day, and Mamie Van Doren star on this collegiate comedy.
That Funny Feeling (KL Studio Classics): Sandra Dee is a housekeeper who fake to stay in a swanky house to impress new beau Bobby Darin – not understanding that the house is Darin’s – within the third on-screen pairing of then-married Dee and Darin.
Virtuosity (Vinegar Syndrome): One of these films that set us as much as anticipate an excessive amount of from digital actuality, as cop Denzel Washington faces off with cyber-killer Russell Crowe; now in 4K.
Winchester ’73 (Criterion Collection): James Stewart stars within the first (and arguably greatest) of the eight Westerns he made with director Anthony Mann.
Yojiro / Sanjuro: Two Samurai Films by Akira Kurosawa (Criterion Collection): Two legendary motion sagas from among the best to ever make them.
NEW TV
Nine Perfect Strangers: Season 1 (Fifth Season): This story of a gaggle of strangers who collect at a wellness retreat run by Nicole Kidman strains credulity round each flip, but it surely’s addictively dopey TV, made throughout the lockdown. (You can inform by the isolation of all of it.) The draw was the all-star solid, which incorporates Kidman, Melissa McCarthy, Bobby Cannavale, Regina Hall, Michael Shannon, Samara Weaving, Luke Evans, and Murray Bartlett, however the actual draw is Manny Jacinto, utterly unrecognizable from The Acolyte (the place he was, in flip, utterly unrecognizable from The Good Place). So many actors set up a recognizable model early on, so it’s thrilling to look at somebody disappear into every position.
Also obtainable:
The Apothecary Diaries: Season One, Part One(Crunchyroll): Servant Maomao proves herself to be an indispensable solver of medical mysteries on this anime fave.
Master Crimes (MHz Choice): A police captain and a criminology professor – two ladies who additionally occur to be married to one another – resolve a sequence of Paris murders and get on one another’s nerves on this acclaimed sequence.
Ultraman: Ultra Galaxy Fight 1-3 / Ultraman Regulos/First Mission (Mill Creek Entertainment): The full run of this kaiju legend continues with one other packed assortment.