There’s no kidding around when it comes to monstrous megahits making their DVD and Blu-ray debuts this week! From blockbusters to cult hits and beyond, here’s a rundown of the new releases you’ll be talking about this week!
Joker (2019)
In early-‘80s Gotham City, living on the margins was rough for socially awkward party clown and failed standup Arthur Fleck (Joaquin Phoenix). One bad day was all that was necessary for him to snap…and the brutal vigilantism that resulted would make him the antihero that an angry and disaffected public had been looking for. Todd Phillips’ pitch-dark, Scorsese-redolent take on the iconic DC comics supervillain co-stars Zazie Beetz, Frances Conroy, Mark Maron, Brett Cullen, and Robert De Niro.
The Lighthouse (2019)
In the late 19th century, young seaman Ephraim Winslow (Robert Pattinson) was ferried out to a New England isle for his month-long stint assisting crusty lighthouse keeper Thomas Wake (Willem Dafoe). Between the pair’s base incompatibility, the crushing isolation, and the unforgiving elements, the mutual tension escalates from simple resentment and one-upmanship to hallucination and homicide, in this unnerving two-hander from filmmaker Robert Eggers (“The Witch”).
Holiday (Criterion Collection)(1938)
Two years before teaming up for “The Philadelphia Story,” the four principals–Cary Grant, Katharine Hepburn, director George Cukor, and playwright Philip Barry–forged this classic romantic comedy. Hard-working, free-spirited Johnny Case (Grant) is all set to marry wealthy high-society girl Julia Seton (Doris Nolan). That is, until he meets her family and begins to wonder if sister-in-law-to-be Linda (Hepburn) might be a better match for him. Lew Ayres, Edward Everett Horton, Binnie Barnes, Henry Daniell co-star.
Cobra Woman (1944)
In the South Seas, a young woman (Maria Montez) is spirited away by kidnappers to a neighboring isle, leading her betrothed (Jon Hall) and his best friend (Sabu) on a quest to get her back. It turns out that the abductee is the separated-at-birth sister of a snake cult’s high priestess (Montez)…and she doesn’t want any competition for her crown. Colorful, gloriously campy adventure co-stars Lon Chaney, Jr., Samuel S. Hinds; Robert Siodmak directs.
Love and Sunshine (2019)
In the wake of a broken engagement, Ally Craig (Danica McKellar) finds some comfort taking care of Sunshine, a military dog whose owner, Jake Terry (Mark Deklin), is still deployed overseas. When Jake–who’s also fresh off a break up–returns to take Sunshine home, he and Ally immediately hit it off. But with both of them still reeling from their recent romantic shake ups, are they willing to take another chance on love? Christine Chatelain, Bess Armstrong co-star in Hallmark Channel original drama.
Omega Syndrome (1986)
Vietnam vet/reporter Jack Corbett (Ken Wahl) only gets to see his daughter Jessie (Nicole Eggert) one weekend a month…and wouldn’t you know that’s when she gets kidnapped by white supremacists. But Jack may just win that Father of the Year award yet, as he and old Army pal Philadelphia Horton (George DiCenzo) suit up to take down the thugs and save Jessie. Gritty actioner also stars Xander Berkeley, Ron Kuhlman, Colm Meaney, and Doug McClure.
Doctor Cyclops (1940)
A team of scientists made a treacherous journey through the Peruvian jungle after an invitation to the compound of the myopic and misanthropic researcher Alexander Thorkel (Albert Dekker). It seems that the doctor’s made good on his claims of using radiation to shrink living tissue…and he proves it by reducing his hapless houseguests to the size of dolls! Effects-filled Technicolor scare staple from “King Kong” co-director Ernest Schoedsack co-stars Janice Logan, Thomas Coley, Victor Kilian.
Kill Them All and Come Back Alone (1968)
Civil War-era Southerner mercenary Clyde McKay (Chuck Connors) recruits an expert knife thrower, a strongman, a dynamite expert, and an ambitious young follower to accompany him on a daring mission to raid a Union fort and rob millions in gold. Once the firing starts, who’s going to be left alive…and who’s going to their ultimate reward? Tough and thrilling spaghetti western from Enzo G. Castellari co-stars Frank Wolff, Alberto Dell’Acqua, Franco Citti, Leo Anchóriz.
Paradise Hills (2019)
Having balked at her family’s insistence that she marry a wealthy man she doesn’t love, Uma (Emma Roberts) finds herself shipped to Paradise Hills, a glossy–and isolated–re-education center for recalcitrant young women. Rebelling at the threats of the headmistress Duchess (Milla Jovovich), she starts angling for escape…but her gilded cage isn’t without additional surprises. Alice Waddington’s pointed fantasy-thriller co-stars Eiza González, Awkwafina, Danielle Macdonald, Jeremy Irvine.
Big Little Lies: The Complete Second Season (2019)
Based on the novel by Liane Moriarty, this HBO series, which debuted in 2017, examines the dark secrets that can lurk behind the cheery facade of a small American town. Opening on a murder in Monterey, Ca.–neither the victim nor perpetrator of which is revealed–the series then recounts the events leading up to the crime, focusing on three women (Reese Witherspoon, Nicole Kidman, Shailene Woodley) and the unfortunate realities of their lives. With Alexander Skarsgård, Adam Scott, Zoë Kravitz, Meryl Streep, and Laura Dern. All seven episodes from the second season are included in this two-disc set.
Click here for a complete overview of all of this week’s new releases.