Good evening. Or good morning. Or good afternoon, really. Whatever time of day it is where you are reading this is the perfect time to check out all of our new releases. This week, a collection of Alfred Hitchcock masterworks in 4K Ultra HD leads us off, but there are also other noteworthy DVDs and Blu-rays that are now available — including some classic Doctor Who films, recent TV season sets, the latest from the Criterion Collection, and so much more. Take a look at what titles are waiting for you to watch them!
The Alfred Hitchcock Classics Collection
Includes Rear Window (1954), Vertigo (1958), Psycho (1960), and The Birds (1963).
Brute Force (Criterion Collection)(1947)
Director Jules Dassin’s powerful, noir-flavored drama stars Burt Lancaster as Joe Collins, an embittered inmate at Westgate Prison, where tensions have brought the institution to a boil. With a sick wife (Ann Blyth) at home, Collins launches a desperate breakout scheme with his cellblockmates, while a sadistic, power-crazed guard (Hume Cronyn) stands in their way. Scripted by Richard Brooks and co-starring Charles Bickford, Sam Levene, Howard Duff, and Yvonne De Carlo.
The Naked City (Criterion Collection)(1948)
This gritty police procedural, shot on location in New York City, details the investigation by two detectives–crafty veteran Lt. Dan Muldoon (Barry Fitzgerald) and his brash young assistant, Det. Jimmy Halloran (Don Taylor)–into the murder of a former model. After numerous dead ends, and contrary to Muldoon’s instincts, Halloran believes the drowning of a two-bit burglar on the same night may be more than mere coincidence. Director Jules Dassin’s pseudo-documentary film noir co-stars Howard Duff, Dorothy Hart.
Dr. Who and the Daleks (1965)
Peter Cushing stars as Britain’s eccentric Time Lord in the first feature film based on the popular sci-fi TV series. On a distant planet, Dr. Who and his companions–granddaughters Barbara (Jennie Linden) and Susan (Roberta Tovey), and Barbara’s boyfriend Ian (Roy Castle)–must aid an alien race known as the Thals in their struggle against those murderous metal menaces, the Daleks. With Barrie Ingham, Michael Coles.
Daleks: Invasion Earth 2150 A.D. (1966)
The time-travelling Dr. Who (Peter Cushing) is back in his second and final big-screen adventure. Based on the 1964 TV serial “The Dalek Invasion of Earth,” the film finds Dr. Who, granddaughter Susan (Roberta Tovey), niece Louise (Jill Curzon), and police officer Tom Campbell (Bernard Cribbins) joining with a small band of human freedom fighters on a 22nd-century Earth to free the planet from the grasp of the Daleks (who, ironically, don’t have any hands with which to grasp!).
Kentucky Kernals (1934)
Unemployed magicians Willie (Bert Wheeler) and Elmer (Robert Woolsey) act as guardian to mischievous orphan Spanky Milford (Spanky McFarland) and head south when the kid inherits a homestead in Kentucky. Little do they know that their journey will take them smack dab in the middle of an old-fashioned family feud. Hilarious hillbilly hijinks–W&W’s biggest hit–co-stars Noah Beery, Lucille La Verne, and Margaret Dumont; directed by George Stevens.
Three-disc set includes Ladies Should Listen (1934), Wedding Present (1936), and Big Brown Eyes (1936).
The Grey Fox (1982)
In 1901, notorious stagecoach robber Bill Miner (Richard Farnsworth) was released after a 20-year stretch in San Quentin. The aged “Gentleman Bandit” found readjusting to life outside fitful, until he took in a showing of “The Great Train Robbery”–and his choice to head to British Columbia and replicate the crime for real resulted in the country’s first railroad heist. Long-demanded, fact-inspired sagebrush character study from Canada also stars Jackie Burroughs, Ken Pogue, Wayne Robson.
Chicago P.D.: Season Seven (2019)
In this spin-off of “Chicago Fire,” two distinct groups of the Windy City’s finest law enforcement officials each battle a different level of criminal. While the uniformed beat cops take on the street-based crimes, the members of the Intelligence Unit deal with major offenses such as organized crime, drug trafficking, and kidnapping. Jason Beghe, Jon Seda, Sophia Bush, Jesse Lee Soffer, and Elias Koteas star. All 20 episodes from the seventh season are featured in this six-disc set.
Supergirl: The Complete Fifth Season (2019)
Sent to Earth as a child from the doomed planet Krypton to safeguard her infant cousin–and, thanks to a time-warp, arriving after he matured into Superman–Kara Zor-El (Melissa Benoist) forged a life with the adoptive Danvers family, and struck out on her own path to heroism, safeguarding National City and the planet from meta-human threats alien and domestic. Engaging series spin on DC Comics’ Girl of Steel that bowed in 2015 co-stars Mehcad Brooks, Chyler Leigh, Jeremy Jordan, David Harewood, and Calista Flockhart. All 19 episodes from the fifth season are included in this collection.
Frankie Drake Mysteries: The Complete Third Season (2020)
Premiering in 2017, this Canadian mystery series is set in 1920s Toronto and focuses on female private detective Frankie Drake (Lauren Lee Smith). In an era and region where women working as private eyes was unheard of, Frankie and partner Trudy Clarke (Chantel Riley) tackle all manner of cases, including those involving murder, bootlegging, kidnapping, and more. Rebecca Liddiard, Sharron Matthews also star. All 10 episodes of the third season are featured in this three-disc set.
A Nice Girl Like You (2020)
Summarily dumped by her boyfriend over her sexual inhibitions, string quartet violinist Lucy Neal (Lucy Hale) decides it’s time to give her libido an upgrade. As her supportive colleagues tag along on a whirlwind and comically disastrous tour of strip clubs and sex shops, will the hunk (Leonidas Gulaptis) she keeps fortuitously encountering deliver what she’s looking for? Cheeky adaptation of Ayn Carrillo Gailey’s “Pornology” co-stars Mindy Cohn, Jackie Cruz, Stephen Friedrich, Skye P. Marshall.
The Big Ugly (2020)
London legbreaker Neelyn (Vinnie Jones) followed his gangster boss Harris (Malcolm McDowell) across the pond to West Virginia, looking to close a cash-laundering investment opportunity with Yank oilman Preston (Ron Perlman). In the course of the celebrations, though, the enforcer’s girlfriend (Lenora Crichlow) went missing–and Neelyn’s hunt for those responsible will make sure that more than contracts and deals will be torn up and broken. Nicholas Braun, Leven Rambin co-star.
First Cow (2020)
In the Oregon Territory of the early 1800s, two castoffs-turned-friends–a trapping party cook (John Magaro) and a Chinese fugitive (Orion Lee)–furtively help themselves to the output of the dairy cow brought to the region by a rich landowner (Toby Jones). The baked goods they make with it become the town’s hottest commodity…and unfortunately get the attention of their unwitting vendor. Kelly Reichardt’s flavorful parable also stars René Auberjonois, Alia Shawkat, Ewen Bremner.
Three very rare unsold TV pilots are featured on this collection. First, a ditzy dental technician (Joan Davis) is somehow selected to become the first person to fly off into outer space, in “Joan of Arkansas” (1958). John Emery, Ben Wright co-star. Next, Dub Taylor and Loie Bridge star as a retired couple traveling the country in a mobile home, in “Octavius and Me” (1962). With Grace Albertson, George O’Hanlon. And, “Barefoot in the Park” (1969) adapts Neil Simon’s play about mismatched married couple Corie (Skye Aubrey) and Paul Brader (Phillip Clark). Jane Wyatt, Norman Fell, Hans Conried also star.
Bad Education (2019)
By the early 2000s, Roslyn High in Long Island had become one of the nation’s top five public schools, under the aegis of district superintendent Dr. Frank Tassone (Hugh Jackman) and assistant Pam Gluckin (Allison Janney). However, the administrators had leveraged their success into the opportunity to embezzle millions in district funds–and the ultimate collapse of their scheme is chronicled in this trenchant HBO comedy-drama. Ray Romano, Alex Wolff, Geraldine Viswanathan co-star.
Retaliation (2020)
It was triggering enough for profoundly damaged demolition worker Malky (Orlando Bloom) to knock down the London church where he’d been sexually abused as a boy…and then came word that the priest (James Smillie) who preyed upon him had returned to town. Can the similarly traumatized Father Paul (Charlie Creed-Miles) talk him down from something rash–or will he claim vengeance as his? Intense opus also stars Janet Montgomery, Anne Reid, Alex Ferns, Natasha Jean Sparkes. AKA: “Romans.”
The Comic (1985)
Meet Sam Coex (Steve Munroe), a struggling stand-up comedian toiling away in a not-too-distant future dystopia. After brutally murdering fellow comic Joey Myers (Jeff Pirie), Sam’s career is allowed to flourish unencumbered. His personal life, however, is another matter altogether, as he winds up with a pregnant girlfriend (Berderia Timini) and experiences horrific hallucinations of an undead Joey. Bernard Plant, Bob Flag co-star in this tiny-budgeted, off-the-wall flick from the U.K.
Men in Black: 4-Movie Collection
Each of the our four Men in Black films is featured in this collection.
Click here for a complete overview of all of this week’s new releases