Whoa. Some weeks there are so many new releases making their debut that it is mind-boggling. This is one of them. Whether you like contemporary stars like Will Smith and Keanu Reeves to classic Hollywood figures like John Wayne, there’s sure a DVD or Blu-ray to your liking here. Take a look.
Disney’s musical, magical 1992 Arabian Nights adaptation got a just-as-crowdpleasing live-action rendition, as the poor but resourceful street thief Aladdin (Mena Massoud) may find a way out of his circumstances–and into the affections of the feisty Princess Jasmine (Naomi Scott)–through his discovery of a magic lamp and the incredible, irrepressible genie (Will Smith) living within. With Marwan Kenzari, Navid Negahban, Nasim Pedrad, Billy Magnussen, and the voices of Alan Tudyk, Frank Welker.
John Wick: Chapter 3: Parabellum
John Wick (Keanu Reeves) has really done it this time. After killing a member of the international criminal council known as the High Table, pro hit man Wick winds up with a $14 million bounty on his head. Can he evade yet another batch of dangerous killers as he travels all the way to the Moroccan desert in an effort to find the one member of the High Table who can commute his sentence? Halle Berry, Ian McShane, Laurence Fishburne also star in the action-packed third entry in the popular franchise.
This lively musical gem stars Howard Keel and Kathryn Grayson as divorced Broadway actors who reunite to play feuding lovers Petruchio and Katherine in Cole Porter’s musical version of “The Taming of the Shrew.” The couple soon finds their on-stage and off-stage lives merging as old feelings return. Ann Miller, Bobby Van, James Whitmore, and Keenan Wynn are among the supporting cast; the Porter score includes “So in Love,” “Too Darn Hot,” and “Brush Up Your Shakespeare.”
Elaborate Hitchcock thriller, adapted by Frederick Knott from his stage play, with Ray Milland as Tony Wendice, a tennis pro who plots to commit the “perfect” crime: the murder of his unfaithful wife, Margot (Grace Kelly). But Margot defends herself against the man sent to do her in, killing him instead. Now, with his plan slowly beginning to unravel, Tony is forced to do some quick thinking. With Robert Cummings, John Williams.
When polar fracking causes the planet to shift on its axis–and corpses to rise from their graves–an earnest small-town sheriff (Bill Murray) and his listless deputies (Adam Driver, Chloë Sevigny) have their challenges with the appetites of their now-returned neighbors. Darkly satirical zombie apocalypse scenario–as only filmmaker Jim Jarmusch could serve up–also stars Tilda Swinton, Steve Buscemi, Danny Glover, Caleb Landry Jones, Rosie Perez, Iggy Pop, RZA, Selena Gomez, Carol Kane, Tom Waits.
Christopher Lee bares his fangs once again as the undying Count, in this Hammer horror outing that returns to the basic plot of Bram Stoker’s original novel. The search for his missing brother leads Simon Carlson (Dennis Waterman) to Dracula’s creepy castle. Can he keep his beautiful fiancée (Jenny Hanley) from falling into the powerful bloodsucker’s clutches? With Christopher Matthews, Patrick Troughton.
Based on a Bram Stoker novel and nearly stopped following the death of its original director, this compelling Hammer chiller follows the centuries-old curse that an archeologist unwittingly unleashes when he gives a ring that belonged to an evil Egyptian queen to his daughter, who may be the monarch’s reincarnation. Andrew Keir, James Villers and, in a dual role, Valerie Leon star.
Sadistic shocker set in 1940s England about a plastic surgeon (Anton Diffring) who hightails it to France after a woman’s operation goes horribly wrong. Once there, the bad doc–now known as Dr. Schüler–strikes up a friendship with circus owner Vanet (Donald Pleasence) and his daughter. After Vanet dies mysteriously, Schüler begins to ply his terrible trade on women under the big top, disfiguring and imprisoning them. With Erika Remberg, Yvonne Monlaur.
In the mid-’60s, the Laurel Canyon neighborhood of L.A. became a touchpoint in the development of American rock, as the electric folk sounds of acts like The Byrds, Buffalo Springfield, and The Mamas and the Papas took the country by storm. The telling observations of seminal figures like David Crosby, Brian Wilson, Roger McGuinn, Michelle Phillips, Jackson Browne, and many more combine with affectionate covers of their music from Jakob Dylan, Fiona Apple, Norah Jones, Beck, and others for a can’t-miss experience.
The Mad Adventures of Rabbi Jacob
Racist entrepreneur Victor Pivert (Luis de Funès) was trying to get to his daughter’s wedding when he stumbled into the efforts of Arab rebels to assassinate their exiled head of state (Claude Giraud). Trying to help the regent skip the country, Pivert disguises himself as a rabbi–and mistakenly gets taken in by the family of a celebrated New York rebbe expecting his first visit in decades. Zany comedy with a message co-stars Marcel Dalio, Suzy Delair, Miou-Miou.
Typically lavish Cecil B. DeMille sea epic, set in the 1840s Florida Keys, with John Wayne as a skipper accused of deliberately wrecking his ship. Paulette Goddard is the salvage boat owner who falls for him, and Ray Milland is the lawyer who comes between them. Exciting underwater scenes include a tussle between the Duke and a giant squid; with Raymond Massey, Robert Preston, Susan Hayward.
Yukon gold-mining is the subject of this John Wayne classic, based on the novel by Rex Beach. In Nome, Alaska, in 1900, prospector Roy Glennister (Wayne) clashes with corrupt gold commissioner Alexander McNamara (Randolph Scott), their conflict coming to a head in a brutal, protracted fistfight. Marlene Dietrich also stars as Roy’s old beau, saloon singer Cherry Malotte. With Margaret Lindsay, Harry Carey, Richard Barthelmess.
The Cloud-Capped Star (Criterion Collection)
Forced from their home following the 1947 partition of India and then-East Pakistan, a poor Bengali family struggles to survive in the slums of Calcutta. While the eldest daughter (Supriya Choudhury) shoulders the bulk of the burden for her domineering and indolent clan, she might pay the price of their exploitation with her own hopes and health. Moving drama from filmmaker Ritwik Ghatak also stars Anil Chatterjee, Gita Dey, Gyanesh Mukherjee, Gita Ghatak.
Married American insurance exec Steve Blackburn (George Segal) split a London cab with English divorcée Vickie Allessio (Best Actress Oscar-winning Glenda Jackson), and the pair’s immediate mutual attraction led to a hazard-filled holiday in Spain. They agreed to maintain the affair on their return to Britain…a decision both would come to regret. Bittersweet comedy on the perils of romance also stars Paul Sorvino, K Callan, Hildegarde Neil, Lisa Vanderpump.
Flower Shop Mystery: Complete Film Collection
Lawyer Abby Knight (Brooke Shields) might have given up NYC’s courtrooms to be a florist in her Illinois hometown, but now she’s weeding out the guilty with local barkeep Marco Salvare (Brennan Elliott) and her dad Jeffery (Beau Bridges) in these evergreen Hallmark whodunits from the Kate Collins novels. Abby suspects that the neighborhood’s established flower store is out to slash more than prices, in “Mum’s the Word” (2016). Abby feels the direct sunlight of suspicion when a law professor–and former adversary–turns up dead, in “Snipped in the Bud” (2016). Handling the arrangements at her cousin’s wedding turns into extra work for Abby when a crasher is killed, in “Dearly Depotted” (2016).
Distressed by a man’s fatal fall from the Manhattan skyscraper where he works, accountant David Stillwell (Gregory Peck) now finds himself the focal point of strange events perpetrated by shady characters. As the traumatic goings-on trigger buried memories, he realizes the truth about his past…and why he would be the target of a dangerous global conspiracy. Director Edward Dmytryk’s fast-paced suspenser also stars Diane Baker, Walter Matthau, Kevin McCarthy, George Kennedy.
The Jetsons: The Complete Original Series
After “The Flintstones,” Hanna-Barbera’s next animated look at family life took audiences into a 21st century of flying cars, food pills, and other futuristic wonders, as seen through the eyes of harried space sprockets worker George Jetson (voiced by George O’Hanlon); his boy Elroy; daughter Judy; Jane, his wife; family dog, Astro; and Rosey the robot maid. Originally airing on ABC from 1962-63, the series returned in a slightly revamped version for syndication from 1985-87. All 24 original episodes are featured in this three-disc set.
Click here for an overview of all of this week’s new releases.