By Bob Bloom The following titles are being released on Tuesday, Aug. 25, unless otherwise noted: The King of Staten Island (Blu-ray + DVD + digital) Details: 2020, Universal Studios Home Entertainment Rated: R, language, drug use, sexual situations, violence, bloody images The lowdown: Scott is a 24-year-old man going nowhere. He lives with his mother on Staten Island and has spent the last 17 years mourning the death of his firefighter father. “The King of Staten Island” is a story of Scott’s realization about who he is, his place in the world and who his father was. The movie was directed by Judd Apatow and written by Apatow, Pete Davidson — who stars as Scott — and Dave Sirus. The movie is a mixed bag of crazy, comedic and dramatic moments that, at times, fail to coalesce. Yet it has a melancholy tenderness that — despite its 136-minute running time — keeps you constantly involved. Scott is a man-child. He lives with his mother on Staten Island, doesn’t work and hangs out with friends smoking weed. “The King of Staten Island” resonates because of Davidson, who has used his personal demons as fodder during his time as a “Saturday Night Live” cast member. Davidson provides a performance that is clownish yet heart rendering. You disapprove of many of his antics, while also understanding his motivation. He creates a character that you want to see grow, mature and accept his place in the world. This semi-autobiographical feature is one of the best movies of the year, garnering a 73 percent fresh rating at Rotten Tomatoes. Technical aspects: Blu-ray: 1080p high definition, 2.39:1 widescreen picture; English Dolby Atomos and 2.0 Dolby digital DVS; English SDH, French and Spanish subtitles. Don’t miss: Bonus features include a commentary track with Apatow and Davidson, Apatow’s production diaries, a featurette on Davidson and a profile of the actor, featurettes on costars Bill Burr and Marisa Tomei, looks at costars Belle Powley and Maude Apatow, interviews with the actors who play Davidson’s best friends, a look at costar Steve Buscemi’s impact on the movie, a tribute to Davidson’s father, Scott, a look at a benefit for firefighters hosted by Apatow and Davidson, a look at filming in an actual firehouse, a discussion about how casting a large group of Davidson’s friends benefited the movie, video calls and a look at Apatow directing Davidson’s grandfather.
SEAL Team: Season Three (DVD) Details: 2019-20, CBS DVD-Paramount Home Entertainment Rated: Not rated The lowdown: This five-disc set features all 20 third-season episodes of this military series that mixes action with the personal dramas surrounding the members of Jason Hayes’ (David Boreanaz) squad of heroes. Season storylines include a mission to Serbia and the struggles of Clay Spenser (Max Thieriot), who is recovering after being badly injured; Lisa Davis (Toni Trucks) having difficulty adjusting to her new role as Intel Officer; and Sonny Quinn (AJ Buckley), who still struggles with self-destructive behavior. Meanwhile, longtime team member Ray Perry (Neil Brown Jr.) continues to have Hayes’ back at home and abroad. Battling terrorist threats and saving American citizens overseas are just some of the missions this SEAL team successfully completes. Technical aspects: 16:9 full-screen picture; English 5.1 Dolby digital; English SDH subtitles. Don’t miss: Bonus options include a look at the logistics of shooting in Serbia, a look at cast members blowing off steam by driving 200 mph at a NASCAR track, a look at Thieriot directing an episode and a featurette on the strain on character relationships during deployment.
“Universal Horror Collection: Volume 6” (Blu-ray) Details: 1952-61, Scream Factory Rated: Not rated The lowdown: The quartet of films in this latest Scream Factory release are a step down from some of the classic offerings featured in the first couple of volumes in this series. Still, most of the titles do offer some suspense, a few chills and some goosebumps. The titles featured in volume six are “The Black Castle” (1952), starring Richard Greene as the hero, Stephen McNally as the evil count, Rita Corday as his wife and Boris Karloff as the doctor who is sympathetic to Greene’s quest; “Cult of the Cobra” (1955) is a thriller about six American officers in post-World War II Asia who decide to chase rumors of a cult that worships a cobra goddess. They find the cult’s temple and a curse is placed upon them for their intrusion. Returning to the United States, the men are visited by a mysterious woman. At the same time, some of the veterans are being attacked and killed by a cobra; “The Thing That Wouldn’t Die” (1958) is a rather campy feature about a young woman in rural America with psychic powers who unearths the head of a warlock who begins to hypnotize the locals to help reunite him with his buried body; “The Shadow of the Cat” (1961) is a British thriller about a husband who masterminds the murder of his wife and the woman’s devoted pet cat who exacts revenge on the killers. The film is a weird vengeance tale if you really look hard at its premise. Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 1.37:1 full-screen picture (“The Black Castle”), 1.85:1 widescreen picture (“Cult of the Cobra” and (“The Thing That Wouldn’t Die”) and 1.66:1 widescreen picture (“The Shadow of the Cat’); English DTS-HD Master Audio monaural; English SDH subtitles. Don’t miss: Extras include commentary tracks on all four movies and an interview with Barbara Shelley, who costarred in “The Shadow of the Cat.”
The Sign of the Cross (Blu-ray) Details: 1932, Kino Lorber Studio Classic Rated: Not rated The lowdown: Cecil B. DeMille’s first sound epic mixes religious piety and hedonism with scenes of discreetly naked and scantily-clad young Christian women fed to the lions and attacked by gorillas and crocodiles. It also features the famous nude milk bath taken by Claudette Colbert as the sex-crazed Empress Poppaea. Fredric March stars as the noble Roman prefect Marcus Superbus, Elissa Landi as Mercia, the pure Christian woman who captures his heart and Charles Laughton as the Emperor Nero, who persecutes the Christians after burning Rome and blaming the new religious sect. DeMille got away with a lot in this pre-Production Code feature; when the film was reissued in 1938, some sequences were cut; a prologue was added when the film was again re-released in 1944. This version is the complete 126-minute original release of the movie. Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 1.37:1 full-screen picture; English DTS-HD Master Audio; English subtitles. Don’t miss: Extras include two commentary tracks, one by Mark A. Vieira, co-author of a book about DeMille, the other by film historian David Del Valle.
Pat and Mike (Blu-ray) Details: 1952, Warner Archive Collection Rated: Not rated The lowdown: Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn star in this Damon Runyonesque-like comedy about sports promoter Mike Conovan (Tracy) who believes he has found the golden goose in athletic Pat Pemberton (Hepburn), who can swing a golf club as easily as a tennis racket. The film, directed by George Cukor from a script by Ruth Gordon and Garson Kanin, features a supporting cast that includes Aldo Ray, Charles Buchinski, who soon changed his late name to Bronson, and a host of sports stars including Babe Didrikson Zaharias, Gussie Moran, Don Budge, Alice Marble, Frank Parker, Betty Hicks, Beverly Hanson and Helen Dettweiler. The film, one of the most delightful of the Tracy-Hepburn romantic comedies, is a made-on-demand Blu-ray from the Warner Archive Collection and can be ordered at www.wb.com/warnerarchive or other online retailers. Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 1.37:1 (4x3) full-screen picture; English 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio monaural; English SDH subtitles.
Hell Bent (Blu-ray) Details: 1918, Kino Lorber Studio Classic Rated: Not rated The lowdown: Harry Carey returns as his recurring character, Cheyenne Harry, in this silent Western directed by John Ford. In this outing, Harry, an outlaw with a decent heart, flees a poker game after a shootout. He arrives in the town of Rawhide, where he becomes friendly with Cimarron Bill (Duke Lee) and dance hall girl Bess Thurston (Neva Gerber), who is taking care of her sick mother. Outlaw leader Beau Ross (Joseph Harris) is infatuated with Bess and kidnaps her. Harry goes after her, traveling across a deadly desert to successfully rescue Bess. The film is one of several early Carey-Ford collaborations and helped propel the careers of both. Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 1.37:1 full-screen picture. Don’t miss: Extras include a commentary track with film historian and Ford biographer Joseph McBride and an audio interview of Ford by McBride.
Tales From the Darkside: The Movie: Collector’s Edition (Blu-ray) Details: 1990, Scream Factory Rated: R, violence, nudity, adult situations, language The lowdown: This anthology horror feature, like such other efforts as “Creepshow” and “Tales From the Crypt,” tells a trio of scary stories inspired by the writings of Stephen King, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and George A. Romero. The framing story involves a young paperboy who weaves three scary stories to distract a modern-day witch, played by Deborah Harry, who plans to eat him. The first story, “Lot 249,” stars Steve Buscemi as a vengeful college student who resuscitates an evil mummy to teach some unsuspecting students, played by Julianne Moore and Christian Slater, a lesson. In “The Cat From Hell,” a hitman, played by David Johansen, is hired by a pharmaceutical magnate, played by William Hickey, to kill a black cat that frightens the wheelchair-bound old man. In “Lover’s Vow,” James Remar plays a struggling artist who has a close encounter with a demonic creature. To save his life, the artist vows never to tell a soul about their confrontation. But, then, a beautiful young woman, played by Rae Dawn Chong, enters his life, and you can guess what happens next. The movie was based on an earlier television series of the same name that gained a niche audience. Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 1.85:1 widescreen picture; English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio; English SDH subtitles. Don’t miss: Bonus offerings include two commentary tracks, a making of featurette and some behind-the-scenes footage compilations.
Benjamin (DVD) Details: 2018, Artsploitation Films Rated: Not rated The lowdown: A semi-autographical romantic comedy about Benjamin (Colin Morgan), a young, independent filmmaker, who is dealing with the professional anxiety of the opening of his new film, as well as the personal stress of a new romance. The movie, written and directed by British comedian Simon Amstell, is a pleasant and offbeat feature that is warm and tender, filled with witty one-liners and abetted by a scene-stealing supporting cast. Morgan’s awkward and insecure performance is one of the film’s highlights. Technical aspects: 1.78:1 widescreen picture; English 5.1 Dolby digital; English subtitles.
Einstein’s Universe (Blu-ray + DVD) Details: 1979, Corinth Films Rated: Not rated The lowdown: A 1979 BBC documentary, hosted by Peter Ustinov, examines the famous scientist’s theories and offers some demonstrations of Einstein’s concepts which, Ustinov, discusses with various scientists. Experiments help explain gravity, warped space, how light responds to gravity, the “Doppler Effect” and how radio waves are used to measure speed. To be honest, if you are not a science nerd, you may find this documentary over your head. But if you are interested in, say, black holes and theories about how the universe was formed, this is a movie that will entice you. Technical aspects: Blu-ray: 1080p high definition, 1.33:1 full-screen picture; English 2.0 Dolby digital; DVD: 1.33:1 full-screen picture; English 2.0 Dolby digital.
Djon Africa (DVD) Details: 2018, IndiePix Films Rated: Not rated The lowdown: This character drama centers on a young man trying to discover his roots. Miguel, a.k.a. Djon Africa, is a young Rastafarian; a Portuguese-born musician of Cape Verdean descent. Even though he never has been to Africa, he identifies with the continent. He knows very little about his father, simply what his grandmother — with whom he lives — has told him, that he father was deported to Cape Verde. Miguel decides to travel there to find his parent. This beautifully shot movie is a story about expectations and finding your heritage. Technical aspects: 3:2 aspect ratio; Cape Verdean Creole/Portuguese Dolby digital; English subtitles.
Other titles being released on Tuesday, unless otherwise indicated: One Night in Bangkok (DVD & digital & VOD) (Lionsgate Home Entertainment) Strike Back: The Complete Series (DVD) (HBO Home Entertainment) Strike Back: The Complete Seventh and Final Season (DVD) (HBO Home Entertainment) Terra Franca (DVD) (IndiePix Films) Washington (DVD) (Lionsgate Home Entertainment)
FOR KIDS Kiki’s Delivery Service (Blu-ray + DVD) (Shout! Factory-Studio Ghibili-GKids) Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (Blu-ray + DVD) (Shout! Factory-Studio Ghibili-GKids)
DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, STREAMING or VOD I May Destroy You (HBO Home Entertainment) One Man and His Shoes (Shout! Select) The Prey (Dark Star Pictures) The Suspect: Episode 2 (Sundance Now) Superman: Man of Tomorrow (Warner Home Entertainment) Rising Phoenix (Netflix, Aug. 26) Upright: Episodes 7 & 8 (Sundance Now, Aug. 27) Centigrade (IFC Midnight, Aug. 28) Driven to Abstraction (Grasshopper Film, Aug. 28) The Faceless Man (Freedom Cinema, Aug. 28) Get Duked (Amazon Prime, Aug. 28) The Bad Kids (Sundance Now, Aug. 31) Ballroom Boys (Acorn TV, Aug. 31) Silicon Cowboys (Sundance Now, Aug.. 31) The Yorkshire Vet: Series 8 (Acorn TV, Aug. 31)
I am a founding member of the Indiana Film Journalists Association. I review movies, 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. My movie reviews also can be found at Rotten Tomatoes: www.rottentomatoes.com.