There’s a compelling batch of new releases this week that span from an uproarious comedy to a cult TV cartoon to an underrated gem featuring some of Hollywood’s brightest stars and beyond. Take a look at the new DVDs and Blu-rays that are now available and waiting to become a welcome part of your home video library!
Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar (2021)
Kristen Wiig and “Bridesmaids” co-writer Annie Mumolo script and star in this quirky comedy. Heading off to Florida’s scenic Vista Del Mar for their first time away from their Nebraska hometown, longtime friends Barb (Mumolo) and Star (Wiig) encounter the handsome Edgar (Jamie Dornan), who, unbeknownst to them, is part of a sinister scheme hatched by the evil Sharon Gordon Fisherman (also Wiig) to use mosquitoes to wipe out the local population. With Damon Wayans, Jr., Wendi McLendon-Covey.
Thundarr the Barbarian: The Complete Series
Co-created by legendary comic book writer Steve Gerber and featuring design work from Jack Kirby and Alex Toth, this 1980-82 animated series set in a post-apocalyptic future chronicles the adventures of the heroic Thundarr the Barbarian. Joined by his companions Ookla the Mok and Princess Ariel, Thundarr “pits his strength, his courage, and his fabulous Sunsword against the forces of evil.”
All 21 episodes of the series are included in this three-disc set.
Shadow in the Cloud (2020)
Auckland, 1943: U.S. Flight Officer Maude Garrett (Chloë Grace Moretz) boarded a Samoa-bound B-17 as a courier for critical intel, and was promptly stationed in the ball turret by the dismissive male crew. Her precarious position left her in peril for more than just the possibility of Japanese air attack…courtesy of the predatory gremlin that only she appears to see. Gripping genre mash-up also stars Callan Mulvey, Nick Robinson, Beulah Koale, Taylor John Smith.
The Reckoning (2020)
Britain, 1655: As the Black Death ravaged the countryside, young mother Grace Haverstock (Charlotte Kirk, who co-wrote) had to fend for her land without her stricken husband (Joe Anderson)–and fend off the advances of her landlord (Steven Waddington). The rebuffed squire accused her of witchcraft to a merciless judge (Sean Pertwee)…but the tortures she endured would have a result her tormentors hadn’t counted on. Historical chiller co-stars Ian Whyte, Suzanne Magowan.
A Woman Like Eve (1979)
Unfulfilled Amsterdam mother of two Eve (Monique van de Ven) was sent off by her husband Ad (Peter Faber) on a Paris vacation in a bid to lift her spirits. Her paths crossed with the commune-dwelling feminist Liliane (Maria Schneider)…and the friendship that was sparked grew into an attraction that would alter the course of both their lives. Nouchka van Brakel’s affecting romantic opus also stars Marijke Merckens, Renée Soutendijk.
The Lash of the Penitentes (1936)
Fact and fiction collide in this exploitation flick that employs documentary footage depicting the bizarre self-flagellation rituals of the fanatical Catholic sect known as the Penitentes. Mixed with those truly disturbing sequences is a story concerning a killing in New Mexico, itself inspired by the murder of real-life reporter Carl Taylor as he worked on an article on the Penitentes. Marie DeForrest, William Marcos, Victor Justi, Josef Swickard star.
The Delicious Little Devil (1919)
Broke working-class lass Kitty Maguire (Mae Murray) wanted the spotlight job at a roadhouse cabaret, and to close the deal, she claimed to be Gloria du Moine, a famous dancer whose career had been recently rocked by scandal. The deception starts to come apart, however, after she charms a young swain (Rudolph Valentino) to the disdain of his wealthy family…and then gets confronted by the real du Moine’s illicit paramour (Bertram Grassby)!
The Man in Search of His Murderer (1931)
Seeing no point in going on but lacking the nerve for suicide, put-upon Hans Herfort (Heinz Rühmann) hired a thug to do away with him when he least expected it. Not long after, however, love entered his life–and now, he’s unable to find his imminent assassin to tear up the contract! Early and darkly farcical take on an oft-filmed scenario from director Robert Siodmak co-stars Lien Deyers, Raimund Janitschek, Hans Leibelt; co-scripted by Billy Wilder and Curt Siodmak. AKA: “Der Mann, der seinen Mörder sucht,” “Looking for His Murderer.”
Son of the South (2020)
Montgomery, Alabama, 1961: In the middle of the Civil Rights Movement, Bob Zellner (Lucas Till)–a student at an all-white college and the grandson of a Klansman–forever alters the trajectory of his family’s legacy when he becomes a dedicated activist and unlikely champion for racial equality. Powerful, fact-inspired drama, based on the real-life Zellner’s autobiography, also stars Julia Ormond, Lex Scott Davis, Lucy Hale, Brian Dennehy, and Cedric the Entertainer.
Preparations to Be Together for an Unknown Period of Time (2020)
Neurosurgeon Márta Vizy (Natasa Stork) folded her American practice and went back to Budapest so she could be with oncologist János Drexler (Viktor Bodó), who’d she met and fell for at a convention a month earlier. After she tracks him down–and he declares that he’d never seen her before–she takes residency at his hospital as she tries to determine whether she’s being cruelly gaslighted, or if her mind is betraying her, in Lili Horvát’s moody melodrama.
Tap Roots (1948)
At the Civil War’s dawn in Mississippi, abolitionist farmer Hoab Dabney (Ward Bond) spearheaded a movement to declare his rural county independent of the Confederacy. Local newspaperman Keith Alexander (Van Heflin), smitten with Dabney’s daughter Morna (Susan Hayward), opts to rally to their side when Richmond seeks to crush the uprising. Long-sought historical drama inspired by the Newton Knight rebellion co-stars Boris Karloff, Julie London, Richard Long, Whitfield Connor.
Sleepless (2001)
Dario Argento’s shocking “giallo” detective story stars Max Von Sydow as an aging detective who returns to a murder case he investigated years earlier. It seems like the brutal killer is back, but Von Sydow, who doubted the person accused in the crime in the first place, must rely on the son of one of the killer’s victims to help him track down the culprit now. Stefano Dionisi, Rossella Falk also star; music by Goblin. AKA: “I Can’t Sleep.”
Skyfire (2019)
Entrepreneur Jack Harris (Jason Isaacs) wanted to bring in thrill-seekers when he placed a fabulous resort on a Pacific Rim island with a too-recent history of volcanic activity…and vulcanologist Meng Li (Hannah Quinlivan) was there to vouch for its stability. Unfortunately, nature will out–and Meng’s estranged dad/colleague (Xueqi Wan) has to help her evacuate the inhabitants ahead of tragedy. Splashy disaster opus co-stars Shawn Dou, An Bai, Liang Shi.
Finding Joy: Series 2 (2020)
Having been freshly dumped, Dublin online media copy editor/thirtysomething Joy Morris (series creator Amy Huberman) didn’t need any additional stress in her life. That wasn’t to be the case, as her bosses now pushed the lifelong introvert as the natural replacement for their surgery-hobbled star lifestyle vlogger! Popular Irish sitcom also stars Hannah James-Scott, Paul Reid, Lochlann O’Mearáin, Aisling Bea, Laura Whitmore, and Peter MacDonald as the voice of Aiden the dog. All six episodes from the second season are included in this release.
Temple: Season One (2021)
Respected London surgeon Daniel Milton (Mark Strong) refused to accept that there was no cure for his terminally ill researcher wife Beth (Catherine McCormack). For the needed funding, he established an illegal clinic in the service tunnels below Temple Underground, catering to the desperate–and the dangerous–who wanted their treatment outside the system and would pay good money to get it. Daniel Mays, Carice Van Houten, Tobi King Bakare, Ryan McKen, Chloe Pirrie also star.
Little Miss Marker (1980)
In this fun-filled adaptation of Damon Runyon’s short story, Walter Matthau is 1930’s bookie Sorrowful Jones, who is shocked when a customer leaves his 6-year-old daughter (Sara Stimson) as collateral on a bet. Jones forms an unlikely, unexpected bond with the kid, even as he gets mixed up with a ruthless gangster’s (Tony Curtis) plan to open up an illegal underground casino. With Julie Andrews, Bob Newhart.
Click here for a complete overview of all of this week’s DVD and Blu-ray new releases.