By Bob Bloom
The following titles are being released on Tuesday, July 16, unless otherwise noted:
Shazam! (Blu-ray + DVD + digital)
Details: 2019, Warner Home Video
Rated: PG-13, intense sequences of action, violence, language, suggestive material
The lowdown: “Shazam!” founders because of an inconsistent attitude that can’t decide whether it wants to be a comedic superhero version of “Big” or a straight action-adventure feature with a no-nonsense villain who appears not to be in the film’s jokey premise.
Another of this latest entry from the DC Universe is the lack of a name for this costumed hero. “Shazam!” is what teenage Billy Batson says to transform into a champion of right and justice.
More than 88 years ago, the character had a name — Captain Marvel. But, legal proceedings over the years did what many villains failed to do — kill off the character.
So, now Marvel has a new “Captain Marvel,” while DC is stuck with a nameless superhero — which provides one of the sillier running gags in the movie, as Billy’s friend, Freddie, continually comes up with such lame names as Captain Sparklefingers and Thundercrack.
The key to “Shazam!” is the performance of Zachery Levi as our super guy. You must remember that Billy Batson is a 14-year-old transformed into an adult physically, but still with the mentality and emotions of a teenager.
And Levi carries off the concept perfectly.
The major problem with “Shazam!” is its constant back-and-forth shifting between irreverent comedy and darker moments, provided by Mark Strong’s evil Dr. Thaddeus Sivana, who doesn’t even crack a smile.
Sivana, who, as a child, was rejected by the wizard Shazam to be a champion for good, instead embraces the seven deadly sins by taking a powerful orb that …
Oh, well, you can fill in the rest.
“Shazam!” tries to bring the saucy tone of Marvel’s “Deadpool” and “Guardian of the Galaxy” movies to the more serious and ponderous DC Universe. It succeeds somewhat, but not totally.
“Shazam!” is a good first effort that may help the studio shed its ultra-serious veneer. Critics agreed, giving the movie a 91 percent fresh rating at Rottentomatoes.com.
Technical aspects: Blu-ray: 1080p high definition, 2.40:1 widescreen picture; English Dolby Atmos TrueHD, English 5.1 descriptive audio and French and Spanish 5.1 Dolby digital; English SDH, French and Spanish subtitles; DVD: English, French and Spanish 5.1 Dolby digital and English 5.1 descriptive audio; English SDH, French and Spanish subtitles.
Don’t miss: Bonus features include a motion comic, an alternate opening and ending, deleted scenes, a gag reel, audition footage, an on-set, behind-the-scenes with Levi and a Shazam’s backstory featurette.
Breakthrough (Blu-ray + DVD + digital)
Details: 2019, Fox Home Entertainment
Rated: PG, thematic content, including dangerous situations
The lowdown: It’s the sincerity of the cast, led by Chrissy Metz of “This Is Us” and Josh Lucas (“Glory Road”) that keeps this faith-based drama afloat.
The story centers on Joyce Smith’s adopted son, John, who falls through an icy Missouri river lake. When the boy is rescued, he seems lifeless and the medical prognosis is bleak.
But Joyce (Metz) is undeterred. Her laser-like faith and determination inspired the community to pray for John’s recovery.
The movie, though somewhat preachy and unsubtle at times, is based on a true story and a book written by Smith.
Critics were mixed about the movie, giving it a 59 percent fresh rating at Rottentomatoes.com.
Technical aspects: Blu-ray: 1080p high definition, 2.39:1 widescreen picture; English 7.1 DTS-HD Master Audio, English 5.1 descriptive audio and French and Spanish 5.1 Dolby digital; English SDH, French and Spanish subtitles; DVD: 2.39:1 widescreen picture; English 5.1 Dolby digital and 5.1 descriptive audio and French and Spanish 2.0 Dolby digital; English SDH, French and Spanish subtitles.
Don’t miss: Extras include a making of featurette, a deleted scene, a commentary track and a behind-the-scene look at the trapped in icy waters sequence.
Space: 1999: The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
Details: 1975-76, Shout! Factory
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: This British-made science fiction series from Gerry and Sylvia Anderson, the brains behind “Thunderbirds,” was more fiction than science.
The premise itself is on shaky physics: A nuclear waste dump on the lunar service unexpectedly explodes sending the moon out of its Earth orbit and into space.
The inhabitants of Moonbase Alpha survive and begin a journey that — week after week — seems to emphasize that space is one gigantic hostile environment, with various alien races and thingies menacing, killing or trying to control various inhabitants of the base.
Keeping it all running smoothly is Commander John Koening (Martin Landau), Dr. Helena Russell (Landau’s wife and “Mission: Impossible” costar Barbara Bain), Dr. Victor Bergman (Barry Morse, finally rested after years of chasing Dr. Richard Kimble around the United States on “The Fugitive”) and the prerequisite alien, Maya (Catherine Schell).
The series was sort of an adult version of “Lost in Space.”
This 13-disc set features the entire series, plus hours of extras.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 1.33:1 full-screen picture; English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio and monaural; English SDH subtitles.
Don’t miss: Bonus components include interviews with Bain, actor Nick Tate and director Kevin Connor, a look at “Space: 1999” ephemera, vintage interviews and featurettes, commentaries on select episodes and a 16-page episode guide.
Criminal Minds: Season 14
Details: 2018-19, CBS DVD-Paramount Home Entertainment
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: A four-disc set featuring all 15 episodes from this long-running and popular criminal procedure drama. One of the season’s highlights is the airing of the show’s 300th episode.
As always, the FBI’s Behavioral Analysis Unit goes after the baddest of the bad and the sickest of the sick. The episodes involve a homicidal cult leader, missing children, mysterious overdoses and sadistic serial killers.
One of the lighter notes is the wedding of Special Agent David Rossi (Joe Mantegna to Krystall Richards (Gail O’Grady).
Fans of the series will not be disappointed, as the show maintains the suspense and drama it has offered from its outset.
Technical aspects: 16:9 full-screen picture; English 5.1 Dolby digital; English SDH subtitles.
Don’t miss: Supplemental materials include a look at the celebration for the 300th episode, a behind-the-scenes look at the wedding, an overview of the season, deleted scenes, a gag reel and a featurette on cast members who go behind the camera to direct episodes.
Hold Back the Dawn (Blu-ray)
Details: 1941, Arrow Academy
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: Billy Wilder and Charles Brackett wrote the script and Mitchell Leisen directed this first-class, romantic soap opera about a Romanian-born gigolo, Georges Iscovescu (Charles Boyer), who arrives at a Mexican border town seeking entry into the United States.
He learns that the waiting period Is eight years. He is encouraged by his former dancing partner, Anita (Paulette Goddard), to marry an American woman, then desert her once he enters the country.
Georges targets a visiting American schoolteacher, Emmy Brown (two-time Academy Award-winner Olivia de Havilland). His plan, of course, goes astray after he begins to actually fall in love with Emmy. Plus, he is being investigated by a dogged immigration officer.
The movie has sense of melancholy, despite its romantic leanings. It features a strong supporting cast including Victor Francen, Walter Abel and Rosemary DeCamp.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 1.37:1 full-screen picture; English 1.0 LPCM monaural; English SDH subtitles.
Don’t miss: Extras include an audio interview with de Havilland, a commentary track, an hour-long radio adaptation of the film and a collector’s booklet.
Noir Archive: Volume 2: 1954-1956 (9-Film Collection) (Blu-ray)
Details: 1954-56, Kit Parker Films
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: The mid-to-late 1950s saw the film noir genre fading; overcome by the prosperity and conventionalism of the Eisenhower years and the rise of international tensions between the East and the West.
Still, these black-and-white features continued to be produced and offer dark views of society’s underbelly.
This three-disc set includes nine features: “Bait” (1954), starring Cleo Moore and John Agar; “The Crooked Web” (1955) with Frank Lovejoy, Mari Blanchard and Richard Denning; “The Night Holds Terror” (1955) with Jack Kelly, Hildy Parks, John Cassavetes and Vince Edwards; “Footsteps in the Fog” (1955) starring Stewart Granger, Jean Simmons and Bill Travers; “Cell 2455: Death Row” (1955) with William Campbell, Robert Campbell and Marian Carr; “5 Against the House” (1955) starring Guy Madison, Kim Novak, Brian Keith and William Conrad; “New Orleans Uncensored” (1955) with Arthur Franz, Beverly Garland and Helene Stanton; “Spin a Dark Web” (1956) with Faith Domergue, Lee Patterson and Rona Anderson; and “Rumble on the Docks” (1956) with James Darren, Freddie Bell and Robert Blake.
The films are not classics of noir, but they are serviceable, solid and entertaining features that fans of the genre will appreciate.
Technical aspects: 1.37:1, 1.66:1 and 1.85:1 picture; English DTS-HD Master Audio.
Shortcut to Happiness (Blu-ray)
Details: 2007, MVD Marquee Collection
Rated: PG-13, sexual content, language
The lowdown: This contemporary retelling of “The Devil and Daniel Webster” is set in the New York literary world and stars Alec Baldwin as Jabez Stone, Jennifer Love Hewitt as Old Scratch, the devil, and Anthony Hopkins as Daniel Webster.
And while the concept is fine, the execution is flawed. Love Hewitt lacks the gravitas and smooth menace that Walter Huston brought to Old Scratch in the 1941 adaptation of the Stephen Vincent Benet’s short story.
The movie’s pacing is flawed, and it is too hokey and sentimental for its own good. It lacks the edge of the original movie.
What is rather interesting is that one of the script’s coauthors is Bill Condon, who usually turns in superb work.
In this case, the devil is lacking in the details.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 1.78:1 widescreen picture; English 2.0 LPCM stereo; English subtitles.
Other titles being released on Tuesday, unless otherwise indicated:
Bloody Paradise (Blu-ray & DVD & VOD) (Artsploitation Films)
The Chill Factor (Blu-ray) (Arrow Video)
Don’t Look at Me That Way (IndiePix Films)
Dogman (Magnolia Home Entertainment)
One Bedroom (DVD & VOD) (Breaking Glass Pictures)
Puppy Swap: Love Unleashed (DVD + digital) (Lionsgate Home Entertainment)
FOR KIDS
The Big Bad Fox and Other Tales (Blu-ray + DVD) (Shout! Kids-GKids)
DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, STREAMING or VOD
The Curse of La Llorona (Warner Home Video)
Frankenstein’s Monster’s Monster, Frankenstein (Netflix)
The Intruder (Sony Pictures Home Entertainment)
UglyDolls (Universal Studios Home Entertainment)
Supervised (Lionsgate Home Entertainment, July 19)
Sword of Trust (IFC Films, July 19)
American Gods: Season 2 (Lionsgate Home Entertainment, July 20)
Big Little Lies: Season 2 (HBO Home Entertainment, July 20)
Neil Dudgeon’s Top Ten (Acorn TV, July 20)
United (Acorn TV, July 20)
Coming next week: Hellboy
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 Rottentomatoes: www.rottentomatoes.com.