Home Entertainment Guide: October 2022

10 NEW TO HBO MAX

"Antlers"
"Argo"
"Barbarian"
"Doctor Sleep"
"The French Dispatch"
"Misery"
"Napoleon Dynamite"
"Spotlight"
"Waiting for Guffman"
"The Witch"

10 NEW TO NETFLIX

"Call Me By Your Name"
"Gladiator"
"Hunt for Red October"
"Ocean's Eleven"
"Pineapple Express"
"Point Break"
"Risky Business"
"Rush Hour"
"Star Trek"
"This is the End"

9 NEW TO BLU-RAY

"Arsenic and Old Lace" (Criterion)

Parents often ask me what movies to use to introduce their kids to classic cinema and the obvious suggestions to me are "Rear Window" (expertly made but also so entertainingly relatable and easy to follow), "Some Like It Hot" (still hysterical) and "Singin' in the Rain" (just a perfect movie). One of October's Criterion inductees would also make a great gateway drug to the Golden Age of Hollywood. This 1944 adaptation of the 1941 Joseph Kesselring play is a wildly entertaining comedy of errors that plays well to all ages, and I love seeing Criterion reach for a '40s film that may not have the "serious" reputation of others from that era. The 4K restored transfer on the new release is a beauty and it's fun to listen to a radio adaptation of the play featuring Boris Karloff himself.

Buy it here 

Special Features
New, restored 4K digital transfer, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray
New audio commentary featuring Charles Dennis, author of There’s a Body in the Window Seat!: The History of “Arsenic and Old Lace”
Radio adaptation from 1952 starring Boris Karloff
Trailer
English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
PLUS: An essay by critic David Cairns

"Beast"

Who doesn't want to watch Idris Elba punch a lion? It takes a little too long to get to the good stuff, and I have a feeling that some of the man-versus-animal CGI is going to age poorly (it too often is clear that they're not sharing the same actual space), but this is the kind of B-movie fare I wish Hollywood would indulge in more often. Elba plays a widowed father who takes his two daughters to a South African game reserve that is in the middle of a war over poaching. The animals of the region are defended by an old friend of Elba's named Martin (Sharlto Copley), but everything changes for the quartet when they're attacked by a rampaging lion. The film should be more fun but it's a worthwhile piece of escapism on a Fall night.

Buy it here 

Special Features
DELETED SCENE – Watch an exclusive unreleased scene from Beast
MAN VS. LION: THE FINAL BATTLE – Go inside the epic final battle between Nate and the beast himself as Director Baltasar Kormákur, star Idris Elba, and key members of the VFX team walk us through putting it all together.
CREATING THE BEAST – The vicious title character of Beast is no ordinary lion. He's bigger, he's meaner, and he's got an axe to grind against humanity. Sit down with director Baltasar Kormákur as he explains what he envisioned for The Beast.
MAKING IT REAL: THE WOUNDS – Sit down with prosthetics supervisor Clinton Smith and prosthetic assistant Daleen Badenhorst as they walk us through all the gory details of creating realistic looking slices, gashes, and tears caused by a massive, predatory lion.
FILMING IN THE BEAST'S TERRITORY – Visit Limpopo South Africa where the cast and crew of BEAST travelled to capture all the vistas, planes, and mountains of Africa authentically on film.
FAMILY BOND: THE CAST OF THE BEAST – Meet the family at the heart of this story as director Baltasar Kormákur and cast members Idris Elba, Iyana Halley, and Leah Jeffries take us inside their characters' journeys as they come together and heal in the direst of circumstances.
A LION'S PRIDE – Learn the tragic truth of lion poaching with this factual piece that takes viewers inside the fight to protect the big game of Africa.

"Bullet Train"

David Leitch ("Atomic Blonde") directed this controversial adaptation of the 2010 novel by Kōtarō Isaka about a group of assassins who coincidentally (or maybe not) find themselves on a bullet train in Japan. Brad Pitt leads the way as "Ladybug," a hired assassin who simply has to board the train, get a case, and get off. Easier said than done. Critics came down hard on a film that often feels like it's trying too hard to be nostalgic for the post-Tarantino world of clever bad guys but the movie plays reasonably well at home. It helps that Sony has given the movie the kind of video and audio transfer that allows a few of its flaws to fall away under the sheer force of its momentum. It's way too long and ultimately makes almost no sense, but if you turn your brain off you may be surprised at how much you enjoy the ride.

Buy it here 

Special Features
Outtakes & Bloopers
Catch What You Missed: Easter Eggs
All Aboard the Pain Train: Stunts
Mission Accomplished: Making of Bullet Train
Trained Professionals: The Cast
Select Stunt Previs
Audio Commentary with David Leitch, Kelly McCormick & Zak Olkewicz

"DC League of Super-Pets"

I wish this animated blockbuster had a few more original ideas and cared more about its visuals, but it's a good example of sheer voice cast power really holding a film together. Dwayne Johnson is effective as Superman's dog Krypto and his BFF Kevin Hart is pretty funny as the ordinary Ace who helps save the world, but it's the supporting voice cast here that rules. Keanu Reeves is perfect as a Batman who's even more Emo than usual and Natasha Lyonne pretty much steals the piece as a super-fast turtle. Kate McKinnon, Vanessa Bayer, Diego Luna, John Krasinski—they're all funny. So while "D.C. League of Super-Pets" is not as smart as it should be, it has the feeling of being at a party with some incredibly talented comedians, riffing off each other and being inspired by one another to bring their A-game.

Buy it here 

Special Features
How to Draw Krypto
Behind the Super Voices
Super-Pets Animation 101
Find the Easter Eggs
The World of Super-Pets
Deleted Scenes

"Eve's Bayou" (Criterion)

I loved it when Roger Ebert would champion a film that really needed the amplification of his praise, and one of the best examples of that was when he put this Kasi Lemmons film as the #1 of 1997 after raving about it during its release a few months earlier. His passion for "Eve's Bayou" was well-earned, and the film has only grown in reputation in the quarter-century since it was released, being added to the National Film Registry in 2018 and now being inducted into the Criterion Collection with a beautiful 4K digital restoration of both the theatrical version and the slightly different director's cut of the film. Lemmons herself offers a commentary on that cut and has also provided a new interview and a short film she made in 1996 that was a proof of concept for this project. This is one of the season's best Criterion releases, a package that elevates a modern classic into a different section of the canon using insightful special features.

Buy it here 

Special Features
New 4K digital restoration of the director’s cut, supervised by director Kasi Lemmons and cinematographer Amy Vincent, with 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack
New 4K digital restoration of the original 108-minute theatrical-release version
Audio commentary on the director’s cut featuring Lemmons, Vincent, producer Caldecot Chubb, and editor Terilyn A. Shropshire
Dr. Hugo (1996), a short film Lemmons made as a proof of concept for Eve’s Bayou, in a new 4K digital transfer
New interview with Lemmons
Cast reunion footage
Interview with composer Terence Blanchard
New program showcasing black-and-white Polaroids that Vincent took during production
Cast and crew photographs by William Eggleston
Trailer
English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
PLUS: An essay by film scholar Kara Keeling

"In Bruges"

The reunion of writer/director Martin McDonagh and stars Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson in this month's amazing "The Banshees of Inisherin" has already earned raves, and Kino Lorber has used that wave of good press to drop a 4K edition of their first film, a black comedy so beloved that it earned McDonagh his first Oscar nomination (and won Farrell a Golden Globe). This phenomenal movie sees the gents playing Irish hitmen who are hiding out in Belgium, giving the pair a chance to spiral through McDonagh's brilliantly witty dialogue. So smart that it almost approaches philosophical, this film has grown in esteem over the years and will likely reach another level of reappraised acclaim after the success of "Banshees." There's now a new best way to own it.

Buy it here

Special Features
NEW DOLBY VISION/HDR GRADE OF THE FILM APPROVED BY CINEMATOGRAPHER EIGIL BRYLD
5.1 Surround and Lossless 2.0 Stereo
Optional English Subtitles
DISC TWO - BLU-RAY:
NEW 4K MASTER COLOR GRADED AND APPROVED BY CINEMATOGRAPHER EIGIL BRYLD
Featurettes:
Strange Bruges (7:27)
When in Bruges (13:48)
Fucking Bruges (1:34)
A Boat trip around Bruges
Deleted Scenes (16:16)
Extended Scenes (2:02)
Gag Reel (5:59)
EPK Interviews
Actor Colin Farrell (1:46)
Actor Brendan Gleeson (3:08)
Actor Ralph Fiennes (2:15)
Actress Clémence Poésy (2:29)
Actress Thekla Reuten (1:53)
Actor Jordan Prentice (1:26)
Writer/Director Martin McDonagh (2:03)
Producer Graham Broadbent (1:09)
B-Roll: EPK (12:08)
US and German Theatrical Trailers

"The Invitation"

Karyn Kusama's 2015 thriller "The Invitation" is in no danger of being overtaken by the new Jessica M. Thompson joint that played briefly in theaters in August of this year. A throwback to the years when Screen Gems released a cheapo horror movie every August, it's a frustrating project because while the director has an interesting eye for actual horror, there's just too little of it in this slow-burn movie that features about an hour of banal dialogue before it gets anywhere interesting. To be fair, Nathalie Emmanuel does an admirable job as a young woman who ends up trapped in a supernatural nightmare when she decides to visit her newly-discovered British relatives. Never go to a British estate with strangers. It doesn't end well.

Buy it here

Special Features
ALL-NEW UNRATED CUT OF THE FILM
Behind-the-scenes featurettes:
Lifting the veil: Story
The wedding party: Cast
Till death do us part: Design
Deleted & extended scenes including an alternate ending
Outtakes & bloopers

"Lost Highway" (Criterion)

I remember when "Lost Highway" was released a quarter-century ago between the success of "Twin Peaks" and "Mulholland Dr." that it was seen as something of a disappointment, even to David Lynch fans. Like a lot of his work, it has grown in critical esteem over the years, and it's a film that I find richer and more fascinating every time I get a chance to watch it. From now on, any viewings of this twisted gem will be through a fantastic 4K upgrade of the Criterion edition of "Lost Highway." Co-written by Lynch and the great Barry Gifford, it's the tale of a musician (Bill Pullman) who, well, I couldn't even begin. Patricia Arquette and Robert Blake co-star with Pullman, who is then replaced with Balthazar Getty, who leads a seemingly different life altogether. Lynch is playing with mood and tension instead of narrative here, and this film that gets lodged in your psyche in ways that are designed to make you feel uncomfortable. The Criterion edition is a must-own for even casual Lynch aficionados.

Buy it here 

Special Features
New 4K digital restoration, supervised and approved by director David Lynch, with new 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack
Alternate uncompressed stereo soundtrack
For the 4K UHD edition: One 4K UHD disc of the film presented in Dolby Vision HDR and one Blu-ray with the film and special features
Pretty as a Picture: The Art of David Lynch, a feature-length 1997 documentary by Toby Keeler featuring Lynch and his collaborators Angelo Badalamenti, Peter Deming, Barry Gifford, Mary Sweeney, and others, along with on-set footage from Lost Highway
Reading by Lynch and critic Kristine McKenna of excerpts from their 2018 book, Room to Dream
Archival interviews with Lynch and actors Patricia Arquette, Bill Pullman, and Robert Loggia
English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
PLUS: Excerpts from an interview with Lynch from filmmaker and writer Chris Rodley’s book Lynch on Lynch

"Top Gun: Maverick"

It's hard to believe but it's also undeniably true: In 2022, the biggest movie star in the world is Mr. Tom Cruise. The legendary actor bet on himself and his fan base, holding "Top Gun: Maverick" even as the studio pressured him to release it in a streaming form during the pandemic. He knew that fans of "Top Gun" would come out when the time is right, but even Cruise couldn't have guessed that this would become the biggest film of his career, making $1.5 billion worldwide. I have a shocking confession: After a summer of personal setbacks that led to almost zero time to get to the theater, I haven't been able to see it yet. I usually wait until viewing myself to put something in this column, but it came in just this week, and I wanted to make sure readers knew it was out there so they can get a copy of their own. I have a feeling a lot of people will. (And maybe I'll come back and offer my critical thoughts after the weekend, but the truth is you know if you want to add this one to your collection or not. I'm basically the last person in the world to see it.)