New to View: Feb. 27
An underdog sports story set in American Samoa headlines the new titles in my New to View at ReelBob
The following titles are being released on Tuesday, Feb. 27, unless otherwise noted:
Next Goal Wins (Blu-ray + digital)
Details: 2023, Buena Vista-Disney
Rated: PG-13, language, crude material
The lowdown: Michael Fassbender stars as Thomas Rongen, a down-on-his-luck coach, hired to coach the American Samoa soccer team, infamous for its brutal 31-0 drubbing FIFA loss in 2001.
Rongen’s job is the turn these underdogs around so they can compete with their heads held high.
The movie was directed by Academy Award-winner Taika Waititi (“JoJo Rabbit,” “Thor: Ragnorok”).
The film, despite being formulaic and with some flaws, is entertaining with Waititi not venturing outside his comfort zone.
And smartly, the movie does not take itself too seriously.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 2.00:1 widescreen picture; English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio, 2.0 Dolby digital descriptive audio and French and Spanish 5.1 Dolby digital; English SDH, French and Spanish subtitles.
Don’t miss: Bonus features include a deleted scene and a making of featurette.
Contagion (4K Ultra HD + digital)
Details: 2011, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment
Rated: PG-13, disturbing content, language
The lowdown: An adage goes that truth is often stranger than fiction, and this movie fits that description.
When “Contagion” was released in 2011, its story about a lethal virus that threatens humanity and the race by the medical community to find a vaccine and halt its spread during growing chaos, seemed fantastic.
Who knew that almost a decade later, such a virus would impact the world, killing millions.
This thriller, directed by Steven Soderbergh, captures the intensity and urgency of a global crisis.
An all-star cast featuring Marion Cotillard, Matt Damon, Laurence Fishburne, Jude Law, Gwyneth Paltrow, Kate Winslet, Bryan Cranston, Jennifer Ehle and Sanaa Lathan, react as society reels to the verge of collapse.
The 4K UHD can be found at www.movieyzng.com or other online sellers.
Technical aspects: 4K: 2160p ultra-high definition, 1.85:1 widescreen picture; English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio and French and Spanish 5.1 Dolby digital; English SDH, French and Spanish subtitles.
Don’t miss: Extras include three featurettes — “The Reality of Contagion,” “The Contagion Detectives” and “Contagion: How a Virus Changes the World.”
Paprika: Limited Edition Steelbook (4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray + digital)
Release date: Feb. 20
Details: 2006, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
Rated: R, violence, sexual images
The lowdown: An animated Japanese feature that centers on a machine that can help psychiatric patients, but in the wrong hands can destroy peoples’ minds.
When a prototype is stolen, Dr. Atsuko Chiba, a scientist by day who, at night — under the code name of “Paprika” — is a dream detective. She immediately sets out to recover the device and stop the “dream terrorist.”
The movie is a visual feast of fantasy and imagination in which reality and dreams collide.
The film, directed by Satoshi Kan, earned an 86 percent fresh rating at Rotten Tomatoes.
Technical aspects: 4K: 2160p ultra-high definition, 1.85:1 widescreen picture; Japanese Dolby Atmos (7.1 Dolby TrueHD compatible), Japanese, English and French 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio and Spanish 5.1 Dolby digital; English SDH, English, French and Spanish subtitles; Blu-ray: 1080p high definition, 1.85:1 widescreen picture; Japanese, English and French 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio and Spanish 5.1 Dolby digital; English SDH, English, French and Spanish subtitles.
Don’t miss: Extras include a look at restoring the movie, a making of documentary, a conversation about the “Dream,” “The Dream CG World” featurette, an art of fantasy featurette, a commentary track and storyboards and original drawings.
Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray)
Details: 1957, Kino Lorber Studio Classics
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: The story of Wyatt Earp, John “Doc” Holiday and the gunfight that has immortalized Tombstone, Arizona, has been filmed many times in various iterations, sometimes with the names of the characters altered — such as in “Law and Order” (1932) with Walter Huston and the B-Western “The Marshal of Mesa City” with George O’Brien — while other versions include “Frontier Marshal” (1939) with Randolph Scott, John Ford’s “My Darling Clementine” (1946) with Henry Fonda, “Tombstone” (1993) with Kurt Russell and “Wyatt Earp” (1994) with Kevin Costner.
This 1957 retelling star Burt Lancaster as Earp and Kirk Douglas as a cynical and deadly Holiday. It was the second of seven movies in which the stars worked together.
The film, directed by John Sturges, also features Rhonda Fleming, Jo Van Fleet, John Ireland, Lyle Bettger, Dennis Hopper and future “Star Trek” favorite DeForest Kelley.
The movie, which featured a memorable bombastic score by Dmitri Tiomkin and a popular theme song sung by Frankie Laine, garnered an 85 percent fresh rating at Rotten Tomatoes.
Technical aspects: 4K: 2160p ultra-high definition, 1.85:1 widescreen picture; English 5.1 and 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio; English subtitles; Blu-ray: 1080p high definition, 1.85:1 widescreen picture; English 5.1 and 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio; English subtitles.
Don’t miss: The main bonus feature is a commentary track with author-screenwriter C. Courtney Joyner and film historian Henry Parke.
The Golden Coach (Blu-ray)
Details: 1952, Raro Video-Kino Lorber
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: Anna Magnani stars in this refined and sumptuous tribute to theater set in 18th century Peru.
Magnani portrays Camilla, the star of a theater company who hesitates to choose between three men — a viceroy, who receives an exquisite gold coach that he gives Camilla, a young Spanish officer and a bullfighter.
The movie, directed by Jean Renoir, is a homage to commedia dell’arte. Magnani’s well-crafted performance is the film’s center.
Renoir’s use of Technicolor gives the film an added vibrance. It is a dazzling experience that should be seen and appreciated.
The movie earned a 100 percent fresh rating at Rotten Tomatoes.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 1.37:1 full-screen picture; English and French 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio monaural; English subtitles.
Don’t miss: A commentary track by film critic Adam Nayman is the main extra.
The Moon (Blu-ray)
Details: 2023, Well Go USA Entertainment
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: A South Korean science-fiction movie set seven years after that nation’s first fully-manned mission to the moon ends in disaster.
A second spaceflight is successfully launched, but trouble strikes when a strong solar wind causes the craft to malfunction.
The astronaut on board is left stranded and is quickly running out of oxygen. For help, the space center turns to its former managing director to avert another catastrophe.
The movie seems to have drawn inspiration from “Apollo 13” and other space-disaster films but fails to reach the heights of its predecessors.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 1.85:1 widescreen picture; Korean DTS-HD Master Audio; English subtitles.
Don’t miss: A behind-the-scenes featurette and character biographies comprise the main extras.
Sophie Scholl: The Final Days (Blu-ray & VOD)
Details: 2005, Zeitgeist Films-Kino Lorber
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: This film is based on the true story of Germany’s must famous anti-Nazi heroine.
Julia Jentsch portrays Sophie, a young coed-turned-fearless activist who was a member of the White Rose resistance group, which distributed anti-war and anti-Nazi propaganda in Munich and other cities.
Set in 1943, director Marc Rothemund re-creates the last six days of Sophie’s life, from her arrest to interrogation, trial and sentence.
The quiet heroism of Jentsch’s Sophie is very compelling in this devastating and moving feature.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 1.85:1 widescreen picture; German 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio; English subtitles.
Don’t miss: Among the bonus features are a making of featurette, deleted scenes and historical interviews with relatives and associates of Sophie.
Monk: The Complete Fourth Season (Blu-ray)
Details: 2005-06, Kino Lorber Studio Classics
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: Private detective Adrian Monk (Tony Shalhoub) returns for a fourth season of interesting and quirky cases in this four-disc set.
Among the mysteries the private eye with a photographic memory and a few obsessive-compulsive disorders tackles are problems dealing with amnesia, betrayal, first loves, true loves and, naturally murder.
A star-studded lineup of guest stars are featured in the 16 episodes, including Malcolm McDowell, John Turturro, Jason Alexander, Glenne Headly, Jon Favreau, Jeffrey Donovan, Laurie Metcalf, Harve Presnell and Brett Cullen as well as supporting cast members Ted Levine, Jason Gray-Stanford and Traylor Howard.
The movie is amusing, with crimes that will keep you intrigued until Monk solves the cases.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 1.78:1 widescreen picture; English 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio; English SDH subtitles.
Don’t miss: Bonus materials include “The Monk Writing Process” and “Joe Perkins: Behind the Scenes” featurettes.
Dr. Cheon and the Lost Talisman (Blu-ray)
Details: 2023, Well Go USA Entertainment
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: Dr. Cheon is a fake: the grandson of a village shaman, he does not believe in ghosts. However, he makes a living performing fake exorcisms on camera.
He can be likened to Michael J. Fox’s character in Peter Jackson’s “The Frighteners.”
But when a mysterious stranger comes calling, Cheon is drawn into a series of strange and unexplainable events that will challenge everything he has ever believed — or disbelieved — and resurrect childhood horrors he has tried to forget.
The film is a fun supernatural fantasy that mixes humor, horror and suspense with decent special effects. The movie garnered a 71 percent fresh rating at Rotten Tomatoes.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 2.39:1 widescreen picture; Korean 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio; English subtitles.
Don’t miss: Character biographies are the main bonus component.
Hanna-Barbera’s Superstars 10: The Complete Film Collection (Blu-ray)
Release date: Feb. 20
Details: 1979-88, Warner Archive Collection
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: In the late 1950s and early 1960s, Hanna-Barbera was the television equivalent of Walt Disney as its production company dominated after-school, and later prime-time, television with such characters as Huckleberry Hound, Yogi Bear, Quick Draw McGraw, Scooby-Doo, The Flintstones, The Jetsons and Top Cat.
This 10-disc set offers 10 made-for-TV animated movies made for syndication.
The set includes “Yogi’s Great Escape” (1987), “Scooby-Doo Meets the Boo Brothers” (1987), “The Jetsons Meet the Flintstones (1987), “Yogi Bear and the Magical Flight of the Space Goose” (1987), “Top Cat and the Beverly Hills Cats” (1988), “The Good, the Bad and Huckleberry Hound” (1988), “Rockin’ with Judy Jetson” (1988), “Scooby-Doo and the Ghoul School,” (1988), “Scooby-Doo and the Reluctant Werewolf” (1988) and “Yogi and the Invasion of the Space Bears” (1988).
The studio was able to use many of the original voice actors to re-create their roles, including Daws Butler, Don Messick, Mel Blanc, the original cast of “The Jetsons,” Arnold Stang, Marvin Kaplan and all the voice actors from Scooby-Doo.
The set is a time-travel experience for those who grew up watching these characters, and it also is a wonderful opportunity to introduce them to younger generations.
You can order the set at www.moviezyng.com or other online sellers.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 1.33:1 (16:9 enhanced) full-screen picture; English 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio; English SDH subtitles.
Don’t miss: Two bonus programs are included — “Yogi’s Ark Lark” (1973) and “Scooby Goes Hollywood” (1979).
Black Tight Killers (Blu-ray)
Details: 1966, Radiance Films
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: War photographer Hondo sees Yoriko the stewardess (remember, this is 1966!) he is wooing, kidnapped by a team of deadly female assassins who use, among other items, vinyl records as weapons.
He begins to investigate her disappearance and, in the process, uncovers a conspiracy to steal a buried cache of World War II-era gold.
Soon he must dodge go-go dancing ninjas and a chewing-gum bullet to save Yoriko, whose family secret is linked to the treasure.
The movie is a wild and gaudy 1960s spy spoof that is delightful to watch.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 2.35:1 widescreen picture; Japanese 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio monaural; English subtitles.
Don’t miss: A commentary track, interview with the film’s director, Yasuharu Hasebe and a booklet comprise the extras.
Top Cat and the Beverly Hills Cats (Blu-ray)
Release date: Feb. 20
Details: 1988, Warner Archive Collection
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: An animated feature starring Top Cat, a Hanna-Barbera creation who made his debut in 1961 on ABC.
Top Cat and his friends, Fancy-Fancy, Spook, Benny the Ball, Brain and Choo-Choo, were inspired by “The Phil Silvers Show,” in which Silvers starred as Sgt. Ernie Bilko, a fast-talking, wheeler-dealer con-man-motor-pool sergeant.
In this movie Top Cat and his alley-cat friends wind up in the swanky mansion of Gertrude Vandergelt in Beverly Hills, which was bequeathed to Benny. Of course, there’s a conniving butler and his wolfhound accomplice who are out to do away with Benny.
Many of the original voice talent returned for the movie, including Arnold Stang as Top Cat, Marvin Kaplan as Choo-Choo, Leo De Lyon as Spook and Brain and John Stephenson as Fancy-Fancy.
The Blu-ray can be ordered at www.moviezyng.com or other online retailers.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 1.33:1 (16x9 enhanced) full-screen picture; English 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio monaural; English SDH subtitles.
Allonsanfan: Limited Edition (Blu-ray)
Details: 1974, Radiance Films
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: Marcello Mastroianni stars as Fulvio in this historical drama set after the fall of Napoleon and the beginning of the restoration in Italy.
Fulvio, an aristocrat who has dedicated his life to the revolution, has become disillusioned, and his cowardice keeps him from joining his comrades.
As he struggles to manage his evasion and lies, he gets swept up in a suicidal uprising in southern Italy.
The movie, written and directed by brothers Paolo and Vittorio Taviani, features a rousing score by Ennio Morricone.
The film is witty and engaging, while delving into serious political issues.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 1.66:1 widescreen picture; Italian 2.0 LPCM monaural; English subtitles.
Don’t miss: Supplemental materials include a commentary track, archival interview with the Taviani brothers and a booklet about the movie.
Other titles being released on Tuesday, unless otherwise indicated:
Fear the Walking Dead: The Complete Eighth Season (Blu-ray + digital & DVD) (Lionsgate Home Entertainment)
The Night They Came Home (Blu-ray + DVD + digital (Lionsgate Home Entertainment)
What the Hell Happened to Blood, Sweat & Tears (DVD & digital) (Freestyle Digital Media)
DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, STREAMING or VOD
The Adolescent (Kino Now-Amazon Prime)
Camp Pleasant Lake (DeskPop Entertainment)
Death and Other Details: Episode 8 (Hulu)
The Greatest Love Story Never Told (Amazon Prime)
Lumiere (Kino Now-Amazon Prime)
Pathological: The Lies of Joran Van Der Sloot (Peacock)
Poor Things (Searchlight Pictures-Disney)
FEB. 28
Constellation: Episode 4 (Apple TV+)
The New Look: Episode 5 (Apple TV+)
FEB. 29
The Cow Who Sang a Song into the Future (Amazon Prime-Kino Film Collection)
MARCH 1
The Completely Made-Up Adventures of Dick Turpin: Episodes 1 & 2 (Apple TV+)
Double Down South (Level 33 Entertainment)
Masters of the Air: Episode 7 (Apple TV+)
MARCH 2
The Dynasty: New England Patriots: Episode 5 (Apple TV+)
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.