New to View: Aug. 22

A couple whose marriage is heading for the rocks finds themselves stuck together in a time loop in this sci-fi-fantasy that headlines new releases in New to View at ReelBob.

The following titles are being released on Tuesday, Aug. 22, unless otherwise noted:
Brightwood (DVD)
Details: 2022, Cinephobia Releasing
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: A surreal and frightening combination of science fiction and horror centers on a bickering couple who find themselves trapped in a confusing and dangerous time loop.
Think of it as “Groundhog Day” as a dysfunctional marriage.
The couple, Jen (Dana Berger) and Dan (Max Woertendyke), have seen better days. Jen can barely tolerate the whiny Dan, and while they are out jogging around a lake they begin to discuss their failing marriage.
Soon, they find themselves lost as the hiking trail does not seem to have an exit and, time after time, they return to the same spot.
To make matters even worse, a silent, hooded killer seems to be tracking them.
The movie, which received a 100 percent fresh rating at Rotten Tomatoes, marked the directorial debut of writer-director-cinematographer Dana Eclar, and is based on his award-winning play, “The Pond.”
Technical aspects: 2.35:1 widescreen picture; English 5.1 Dolby digital; English closed-captioned.
Don’t miss: Extras include a commentary track with Eclar, Berger and Woertendyke, a 17-minute short film, “The Pond,” and deleted scenes.

The Legend of Zorro (4K Ultra HD + digital)
Details: 2005, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
Rated: PG-13, sequences of violence, action and danger, language, suggestive moments
The lowdown: This cumbersome sequel returns Antonio Banderas and Catherine Zeta-Jones as Alejandro de la Vega and his wife, Elena.
But, trouble is brewing in paradise as Elena is growing tired of being left alone while her husband, as his alter ego, Zorro, is away performing heroics.
She files for divorce and soon takes up with Armand (Rufus Sewell), the leader of the Knights of Aragon, who plan to stop the young United States’ rush toward manifest destiny.
The movie offers more plot machinations than action and Banderas already looks bored in the title role.
Technical aspects: 2160p ultra high definition, 2.35:1 widescreen picture; English Dolby Atmos (7.1 Dolby TrueHD compatible) and English, French and Spanish 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio; English SDH, English, French and Spanish subtitles.
Don’t miss: Bonus options include a commentary track; four behind-the-scenes featurettes, looking at the stunts, visual effects, Armand’s party and the Armand’s train; and deleted scenes with optional director’s commentary.

Unman, Wittering and Zigo (Blu-ray)
Details: 1971, Arrow Video
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: A psychological thriller starring David Hemmings as the new and young idealistic teacher at Chantrey School for Boys.
The teacher he succeeded was found dead at the bottom of a cliff, and Hemmings’ John Ebony soon learns that his students are defiant and unruly. And when the students informed him that killed his predecessor and warns him to not make waves.
Later, when Ebony learns that the headmaster, played by Douglas Wilmer, plans to fire him at year’s end, he enlists his students with his own brand of extortion.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 1.85:1 widescreen picture; English LPCM monaural; English SDH subtitles.
Don’t miss: A 1958 audio recording of the radio play that was the basis of the movie, interviews with cast members, a commentary track, an appreciation of the film and a booklet comprise the extras.

Weird Science: Limited Edition (4K Ultra HD)
Details: 1985, Arrow Video
Rated: PG-13, sexual content, language
The lowdown: John Hughes wrote and directed this combination teen flick-sci-fi comedy about two misfit teens, Gary (Anthony Michael Hall) and Wyatt (Ilan Michael-Smith), who are a pair of continually picked on high school nerds.
Tired of their status on the low rung of the ladder, the teens hatch a plan to use Wyatt’s computer to create their dream woman. The unexpected happens when following a massive power surge, that woman appears in the form of Lisa (Kelly LeBrock).
Lisa is beautiful, intelligent and, as an added bonus, is endowed with limitless magic powers. She makes the boys dreams come true.
The only fly in the ointment is Wyatt’s gun-carrying older brother, Chet (Bill Paxton), and the two bullies, played by Robert Downey Jr. and Robert Rusier, determined to make sure Gary and Wyatt are returned to their former status.
The disc includes the 94-minute theatrical, 97-minute extended and 94-minute edited-for-TV versions of the movie.
Technical aspects: 2160p ultra high definition, 1.85:1 widescreen picture; English 5.1 and 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio; English SDH subtitles.
Don’t miss: Bonus materials include an archival documentary featuring interviews with cast members and filmmakers;  and interviews with composer Ira Newborn, editor Chris Lebenzon, special makeup creator Craig Reardon, casting director Jackie Burch and supporting actor John Kapelos.

The Only Way (Blu-ray)
Release date: Aug. 15
Details: 1970, VCI Entertainment-MVD Visual Entertainment
Rated: G
The lowdown: When the Nazi army invaded Denmark in April of 1940, the Danish government promised peaceful cooperation on the condition that the nation’s Jews remain free.
The Nazis originally agreed. But in October 1943, that arrangement was broken.
This movie is based on true events of how Danish citizens took risked their lives to save their Jewish countrymen from Nazi extermination.
The most familiar name in the cast is Jane Seymour in one of her very first roles.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 1.85:1 widescreen picture; English DTS-HD Master Audio; English SDH subtitles.
Don’t miss: The main extra is a 1946 documentary, “Reunion,” about prisoners liberated from Nazi concentration camps.

Three into Two Won’t Go (Blu-ray)
Details: 1969, Kino Lorber Studio Classics
Rated: R, sexual situations, language
The lowdown: Rod Steiger, Claire Bloom and Judy Geeson star in this drama about infidelity and its consequences.
Steiger and Bloom portray Steve and Frances Howard of Middlesex, England.
While away on business, Steve begins an affair with Ella (Geeson), a 19-year-old hitchhiker. Steve believes he is in control of this philandering situation — until Ella insists on moving in with the Howards.
Peggy Ashcroft portrays Frances’ mother, whose neurotic interference continually makes the situation messier. The film was directed by Peter Hall.
The Blu-ray also includes the television cut of the movie.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 1.85:1 widescreen picture; English 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio; English subtitles.
Don’t miss: A commentary track by film historians Troy Howarth and Nathaniel Thompson is the main extra.

Jack Armstrong (Blu-ray)
Release date: Aug. 15
Details: 1947, VCI Entertainment-MVD Visual Entertainment
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: “Jack Armstrong, the All-American Boy” was a popular radio show that ran from 1933 to 1951.
It featured the adventures of Jack, a popular student at Hudson High School, who went on globe-trotting exploits of with his friends Billy Fairfield, Billy’s sister, Betty, and their uncle, Jim Fairfield, an industrialist and explorer.
By the time this 15-chapter serial, produced by Sam Katzman for Columbia Pictures, was released Armstrong on the radio had matured into an adult.
That was reflected in the serial with John Hart, who was about 30 years old at the time, playing Armstrong as a college student. The three Fairfields also were featured in the chapterplay, as was a new character to the radio show, Vic Hardy.
In the serial, Jack and his friends battled a dastardly villain, Jason Grood, played by the always-dependable Charles “Ming the Merciless” Middleton. Others in the cast included Pierre Watkins and perennial bad guys Jack Ingram, Wheeler Oakman and John Merton.
The serial is not one of Columbia’s best, but it has its exciting moments, most because of its solid cast.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 1.37:1 full-screen picture; English LPCM monaural; English subtitles.

A Moment of Romance (Blu-ray)
Details: 1990, Radiance Films
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: Andy Lau stars as small-time crook Wah Dee in this mixture of crime drama and romance. Wah Dee is hired by a Triad boss as a getaway driver for a heist that goes wrong.
To save his own skin, Dee takes Jo Jo (Jacklyn Chien-Lein Wu) hostage. Later, the bosses order her to be killed, but Dee cannot.
The two flee and begin a forbidden relationship that has both cops and criminals chasing them.
The movie, marking the directorial debut of Benny Chan, moves at a breakneck pace.
The digital restoration is from the original camera negative.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 1.85:1 widescreen picture; Cantonese 2.0 LPCM monaural; English subtitles.
Don’t miss: Supplemental options include a commentary track, a visual essay about the film, an archival interview with Chan and a booklet.

Two Tickets to Greece (DVD)
Details: 2023, Greenwich Entertainment-Kino Lorber
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: Childhood friends Magalie (Laure Calamy) and Blandine (Olivia Côte) cross paths after many years.
They decide to finally take the dream vacation to Greece they had talked about years earlier.
The movie, which costars Kristin Scott Thomas, is an enjoyable story of female camaraderie that details the links between the two old friends.
The actresses performances and chemistry is one of the main reasons to see the movie.
Technical aspects: 2.40:1 (16x9 enhanced) widescreen picture; French 5.1 and 2.0 Dolby digital; English subtitles.

“Cisco Kid: Western Movie Collection” (DVD)
Release date: Aug. 15
Details: 1945-50, VCI Entertainment-MVD Visual Entertainment
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: The Cisco Kid, created by O. Henry, first appeared in a short story in 1907. Since then, he has appeared in movies, on radio and television.
Warner Baxter won a best actor Academy Award for portraying Cisco in the 1928 early talkie, “In Old Arizona.”
Others who have portrayed Cisco include Cesar Romero, Gilbert Roland and, most famously, Duncan Renaldo.
This five-disc set features 13 movies starring Roland and Renaldo and produced by B-movie studio Monogram Pictures.
The majority of movies feature Cisco and his sidekick, Pancho, wanted by the law for a crime they did not commit and coming to the rescue of a beautiful young woman menaced by outlaws. The set features seven movies starring Renaldo and six featuring Roland.
The titles in the set, featuring Renaldo, are: “South of the Rio Grande” (1945), with Cisco coming to the aid of a friend who was arrested and sentenced to be shot for stealing cattle; “The Cisco Kid Returns” (1945) in which Cisco assumes the identity of a murdered rancher to expose his killer; “The Cisco Kid in Old New Mexico” (1945), in which Cisco and Pancho kidnap a young woman from a stagecoach to save her from a false murder charge and reveal the actual culprit; “Satan’s Cradle” (1949) finds Cisco and Pancho helping a preacher clean up his town; “The Daring Caballero” (1949) has Cisco and Pancho rescuing a young boy’s father who is about to be hanged for a crime he did not commit; “The Gay Amigo” (1949) has the duo trying to find the outlaws whose crimes have been blamed on Cisco and Pancho; and “The Girl From San Lorenzo” (1950) finds our heroes dealing with outlaws who have been impersonating them while robbing stagecoaches.
Roland’s movies are “The Gay Cavalier” (1946), in which Cisco must solve a stagecoach robbery and keep a young woman from marrying a man who is not what he seems to be; “Beauty and the Bandit” (1946) deals with saving a young woman’s ranch from outlaws; “South of Monterey” (1946) deals with thwarting a land swindling scheme; “Riding the California Trail” (1947) again centers on saving a young woman from danger; “Robin Hood of Monterey” (1947) finds Cisco, who escapes being hanged for a murder, seeking the real killer; and “King of the Bandits” (1947) has Cisco again hunting an imposter who has been robbing stagecoaches.
The movies all run about an hour, give or take a few minutes. They are action-packed with humor sprinkled throughout.
Technical aspects: 1.37:1 full-screen picture; English Dolby digital stereo.
Don’t miss: Extras include two archival interviews with Renaldo, an interview with Western star Col. Tim McCoy and two episodes, in color, from “The Cisco Kid” television series starring Renaldo.

Other titles being released on Tuesday, unless otherwise indicated:
Dead Man’s Hand (DVD) (Lionsgate Home Entertainment)
You Hurt My Feelings (Blu-ray + digital & DVD) (Lionsgate Home Entertainment

DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, STREAMING or VOD
Ashkal: The Tunisian Investigation (Yellow Veil Pictures)
Belle (Level 33 Entertainment)
Bootyology (Gravitas Ventures)
Brightwood (Kino Now)
The Entity (Indican Pictures)
On the Trail of Bigfoot: Land of the Missing (1091 Pictures)
Only Murders in the Building: Season 3, Episode 4 (Hulu)
Untold: Swamp Kings (Netflix)
AUG. 23
The Afterparty: Season 2, Episode 8 (Apple TV+)
Invasion: Season 2, Episode 1 (Apple TV+)
Strange Planet: Episode 5 (Apple TV+)
AUG. 25
Foundation: Season Two, Episode 7 (Apple TV+)
That’s a Wrap (Quiver Distribution)
You Are So Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah (Netflix)
Wayne Shorter: Zero Gravity (Amazon Prime)

I am a founding member of the Indiana Film Journalists Association. I review movies, 4K UHD, Blu-rays and DVDs for ReelBob (ReelBob.com), The Film Yap and other print and online publications. I can be reached by email at bobbloomjc@gmail.com. You also can follow me on Twitter @ReelBobBloom and on Facebook at ReelBob or the Indiana Film Journalists Association. My movie reviews also can be found at Rotten Tomatoes: www.rottentomatoes.com.