By Bob Bloom The following titles are being released on Tuesday, June 9, unless otherwise noted: An Unmarried Woman: Special Edition (Blu-ray) Details: 1978, The Criterion Collection Rated: R, language, sexual content The lowdown: Jill Clayburgh stars in writer-director Paul Mazursky’s story of a woman’s journey of self-discovery in 1970s New York City. Clayburgh portrays Erica whose husband of 16 years, Martin (Michael Murphy), abruptly leaves her for a younger woman. Erica, who works in a Manhattan art gallery, finds herself alone and contemplating her future. She also feels empowered to test her new freedom and explore what she wants for herself. She begins an affair with Saul (Alan Bates), an artist. Mazursky’s film frankly looks at issues of loneliness, sex, intimacy and divorce from a definite feminist perspective. The highly acclaimed film — it garnered a 91 percent fresh rating at Rotten Tomatoes — received Academy Award nominations for picture, Clayburgh’s performance and Mazursky’s script. Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 1.85:1 widescreen picture; English LPCM monaural; English SDH subtitles. Don’t miss: Bonus features include a 2005 commentary with Mazursky and Clayburgh; interviews with Murphy and cast member Lisa Lucas, an interview with author Sam Wasson about Mazursky’s work, an audio recording of Mazursky speaking in 1980 at the American Film Institute and an essay about the movie.
“Film Noir: The Dark Side of Cinema III” (Blu-ray) Details: 1949-50, Kino Lorber Studio Classics Rated: Not rated The lowdown: A three-disc set that features a trio of post-World War II films that looks at the dark underbelly of the postwar society. The set features “Abandoned” (1949), a story of a baby-selling racket starring Dennis O’Keefe, Gale Storm, Jeff Chandler, Raymond Burr and Marjorie Rambeau. Barbara Stanwyck stars in “The Lady Gambles” (1949) as a respective member of society whose life spirals out of control after a visit to a casino where she becomes addicted to high-stakes poker. The film costars Robert Preston and Edith Barrett. “The Sleeping City” (1950) is a tale about drug pushing and gambling, which was filmed on the streets of New York. It stars Richard Conte as a detective investigating the fatal shooting of a doctor outside Bellevue Hospital. Conte’s detective goes undercover as an intern at the hospital, where he uncovers a narcotics ring. The film costars Colleen Gray and Richard Taber. Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 1.37:1 full-screen picture; English DTS-HD monaural; English SDH subtitles. Don’t miss: Bonus options include commentary tracks on all three movies.
Selena (Blu-ray) Release date: May 19 Details: 1997, Warner Archive Collection Rated: PG, thematic elements, language The lowdown: Jennifer Lopez stars in this biopic of Tejano-style singer Selena, which chronicles her rise to fame and popularity. Lopez’s warm performance and the strength of her family are the movie’s foundation. Selena’s music was a blend of rock, pop, polka, R&B and Latin influences. James Edward Olmos gives a solid performance as Selena’s father, who is tough but fair and who molds his children into a well-oiled music group that attracts audiences in Mexico and the United States. The movie is filled with music, which is abetted by a dynamic audio track. “Selena” is a made-on-demand Blu-ray from the Warner Archive Collection and can be found at www.wb.com/warnerarchive or other online retailers. The Blu-ray contains the theatrical and a 134-minute extended cut of the movie. If this Blu-ray has one flaw, it is the lack of Spanish subtitles, which is rather odd considering the subject matter. Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 2.40:1 (16x9 enhanced) widescreen picture; English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio; English SDH subtitles. Don’t miss: Bonus materials include a making of featurette, a documentary on Selena and outtakes.
Why Don’t You Just Die! (Blu-ray) Release date: April 21 Details: 2018, Arrow Video Rated: Not rated The lowdown: This Russian feature combines violence and comedy as it follows a young man who wants to enter the home of his girlfriend’s parents in order to kill her father with a hammer so he can restore her honor. Things, of course, do not go as the young man planned as papa turns out to be a formidable foe who refuses to go quietly. The film is filled with dark Russian humor that makes it gleefully perverse. Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 2.35:1 widescreen picture; Russian 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio and 2.0 PCM stereo; English subtitles. Don’t miss: Extras include four short films by the director, behind-the-scenes rehearsal footage, a featurette about the movie and director’s storyboards.
“Western Classics I” (Blu-ray) Details: 1940-48, Kino Lorber Studio Classics Rated: Not rated The lowdown: This Blu-ray set features a trio of Westerns from Universal and Paramount produced in the 1940s. First up, is “When the Daltons Rode” (1940), a fictionalized version of the outlaw brothers and what drove them to crime. The cast is headed by Randolph Scott as a friend of the brothers, with Broderick Crawford, Brian Donlevy, Stuart Erwin and Frank Albertson playing the brothers. The story is similar to 1939’s “Jesse James” with evil interests trying to get the Dalton’s land so they can sell it to the railroad. The cast also includes Andy Devine, Kay Francis and George Bancroft. “The Virginian” (1946) stars Joel McCrea and the laconic ranch hand who battles cattle rustlers, courts a young woman and, sadly, loses his best friend. The story, originally a novel by Owen Wister, was made into a stage play and has been filmed at least five times as well as spawning a television series. The movie costars Brian Donlevy as the evil Trampas, Sonny Tufts and Barbara Britton. The set also includes “Whispering Smith” (1948), starring Alan Ladd as the fearless railroad detective who must go up against his best friend, Murray Sinclair (Robert Preston), who has joined a band of outlaws who want to loot the railroad. The cast includes Donald Crisp, Brenda Marshall, William Demarest and Fay Holden. Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 1.37:1 full-screen picture; English DTS-HD monaural; English SDH subtitles. Don’t miss: Extras include commentary tracks on all three titles.
Advocate (DVD) Details: 2020, Film Movement Rated: Not rated The lowdown: This documentary profiles attorney Lea Tsemel who, since the 1970s, has made a career out of defending Palestinians in Israeli courts, including peaceful protesters and militants. Most Israelis view her as defending the indefensible. Palestinians, though, see her as more than a lawyer, they view her as an advocate for their people. The movie follows Tsemel’s career and many of the cases and people whom she has defended. The documentary examines the political and professional impact of her work as well as the personal toll the Jewish-Israeli woman pays for being the voice for a people many of her fellow countrymen distrust or hate. Technical aspects: 2.39:1 widescreen picture; Hebrew, Arabic and English 5.1 Dolby digital; English subtitles.
Sunday in New York (Blu-ray) Release date: May 19 Details: 1963, Warner Archive Collection Rated: Not rated The lowdown: Before she was a two-time Academy Award-winner, Jane Fonda was an ingenue, who starred in frothy romantic comedies such as this one. Fonda plays a young woman who flees from her fiancé, Robert Culp, to the swinging apartment of her brother (Cliff Robertson). She also meets an attractive young man, played by Rod Taylor on a bus. All the while, she is trying to decide whether to save herself for marriage or just do what nature is urging her to do. The movie, which was filmed on location in New York, is a made-on-demand Blu-ray from the Warner Archive Collection and can be found at www.wb.com/warnerarchive or other online retailers. Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 1.85:1 widescreen picture; English 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio; English SDH subtitles.
Blood Tide (Blu-ray) Release date: May 26 Details: 1982, Arrow Video Rated: R, violence The lowdown: The most surprising aspect of this low-budget horror outing is the names featured in the cast — James Earl Jones and Academy Award-winner Jose Ferrer. Jones plays an opportunistic American archaeologist whose digging around off the shores of a Greek island awake a legendary sea creature, who must be appeased by, you guessed it, the blood of a sacrificial virgin. Ferrer plays one of the old timers living on the island whose warnings to Jones about the consequences of his mucking about were ignored. Most of the movie’s budget must have gone to the cast, because the special effects are nearly childish. At least Jones and Ferrer received a nice Greek vacation for their efforts. Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 1.85:1 widescreen picture; English LPCM monaural; English SDH subtitles. Don’t miss: Extras include a commentary track and an interview with the movie’s producer and co-writer.
Other titles being released on Tuesday, unless otherwise indicated: A Simple Wedding (DVD) (Breaking Glass Pictures) The Candy Witch (DVD & digital) (Uncork’d Entertainment) The Dinner Party (DVD & digital) (Uncork’d Entertainment) Driven (DVD & digital) (Uncork’d Entertainment) Lost in America (DVD & dig) (Indican Pictures) Outback (DVD & digital & VOD) (Lionsgate Home Entertainment) Think Like a Dog (Blu-ray & DVD & digital & VOD) (Lionsgate Home Entertainment) This Teacher (DVD & VOD) (Breaking Glass Pictures) America as Seen by a Frenchman (Blu-ray) (Arrow Academy, June 2)
DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, STREAMING or VOD Tales of the Grim Sleeper (Sundance Now) You Don’t Nomi (RLJE Films) Lenox Hill (www.netflix.com/LenoxHill) (Netflix, June 10) Bad Mothers: Episode 6 (Sundance Now, June 11) The Fall: Season 1 (Sundance Now, June 11) Liar: Season 2, Episode 2 (Sundance Now, June 11) Sanctuary: Episode 8 (Sundance Now, June 11) Da 5 Bloods (Netflix, June 12) The Departure (The Departure Co., June 12) Jo Koy: In His Elements (www.netflix.com/JoKoyInHisElements) (Netflix, June 12) The King of Staten Island (Universal Studios Home Entertainment, June 12) The Soul Collector (Shout! Studios, June 12) Dan Soder: Son of Gary (HBO Home Entertainment-Warner Home Entertainment, June 14) Dead Still: Episode 6 (Acorn TV, June 15) Death of a Salesman (Sundance Now, June 15) Every Day (Sundance Now, June 15) Finding the Way Home (HBO Home Entertainment-Warner Home Entertainment, June 15) Hidden: Series 2 (Acorn TV, June 15) I Know This Much Is True (HBO Home Entertainment-Warner Home Entertainment, June 15) Insecure: Season 4 (HBO Home Entertainment-Warner Home Entertainment, June 15) Los Angeles Plays Itself (Sundance Now, June 15) The Pool (Sundance Now, June 15)
Coming next week: Universal Horror Collection: Volume 5
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.