Why So Blu?

Peckinpah, Wenders, Melville 4K & More Coming to The Criterion Collection July 2024

Coming to The Criterion Collection in July: Black God, White Devil, Glauber Rocha’s blistering existential western from Brazil; Perfect Days, a serene ode to everyday life in Tokyo directed by Wim Wenders; Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid, Sam Peckinpah’s blood- and dust-caked elegy for the American West; Farewell My Concubine, a breathtakingly intimate saga in twentieth-century China, directed by Chen Kaige; and Risky Business, Paul Brickman’s sly satire about a suburban Chicago prepster. Plus: Le samouraï, Jean-Pierre Melville’s masterpiece of cool about a contract killer with samurai instincts, now on 4K UHD.

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‘Madame Web’ on 4K UHD Blu-ray April 30!

“Meanwhile, in another universe…” In a switch from the typical genre, Madame Web tells the standalone origin story of one of Marvel publishing’s most enigmatic heroines. The suspense-driven thriller stars Dakota Johnson as Cassandra Webb, a paramedic in Manhattan who may have clairvoyant abilities. Forced to confront revelations about her past, she forges a relationship with three young women destined for powerful futures…if they can all survive a deadly present. Madame Web is released on 4K UHD Blu-ray April 30, 2024! Continue reading ‘‘Madame Web’ on 4K UHD Blu-ray April 30!’

‘Lisa Frankenstein’ on Blu-ray April 9!

Kathryn Newton and Cole Sprouse star in Focus Features’ 80’s inspired dark comedy, LISA FRANKENSTEIN, available to own as a Collector’s Edition with never-before-seen bonus content on Digital March 29, 2024, and on Blu-ray and DVD April 9, 2024, from Universal Pictures Home Entertainment. The electrifying bonus material includes a hilarious gag reel, deleted scenes, and featurettes that give a behind-the-scenes look at Diablo Cody’s inspiration behind the film, Lisa’s relationship with Creature, plus a feature commentary by director Zelda Williams. Continue reading ‘‘Lisa Frankenstein’ on Blu-ray April 9!’

‘Monolith’ on Blu-ray April 23!

Directed by Matt Vesely (Overheater) and starring Lily Sullivan (Evil Dead Rise, I Met a Girl), the acclaimed sci-fi thriller MONOLITH debuts on Blu-ray April 23 from Well Go USA Entertainment. While trying to salvage her career, a disgraced journalist (Sullivan) begins investigating a strange conspiracy theory. But as the trail leads uncomfortably close to home, she is left to grapple with the lies at the heart of her own story. Bonus materials include a Behind-the-Scenes featurette and Writer, Producer and Director Audio Commentary. Continue reading ‘‘Monolith’ on Blu-ray April 23!’

Underground Railroad, Bound, Blue Velvet 4K, and More Coming to The Criterion Collection June 2024

Coming in June from The Criterion Collection: Bound, Lana and Lilly Wachowski’s hyperstylish, sapphic heist thriller; Querelle, a delirious depiction of gay desire from Rainer Werner Fassbinder; Victims of Sin, a vibrant Mexican musical-melodrama-noir from Emilio Fernández; and The Underground Railroad, Barry Jenkins’s monumental reimagining of American history through the eyes of an enslaved woman. Plus: Blue Velvet, David Lynch’s unforgettable vision of innocence lost, and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, Terry Gilliam’s feverish psychedelic odyssey—now on 4K UHD.

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‘The Beekeeper’ on 4K UHD Blu-ray April 23!

Jason Statham stars in “The Beekeeper,” a heart-pounding action-thriller about a mysterious Beekeeper. Adam Clay (Statham), a former operative of a powerful organization known as Beekeepers, upends his covert life and embarks on a brutal revenge mission to dismantle corruption at the highest levels of our society. The stellar cast also includes Emmy Raver-Lampman, Josh Hutcherson, Bobby Naderi, Minnie Driver, Phylicia Rashad and Jeremy Iron, amongst others. The Beekeeper on 4K UHD Blu-ray is released April 23, 2024! Continue reading ‘‘The Beekeeper’ on 4K UHD Blu-ray April 23!’

‘Prison Walls – Abashiri Prison I-III’ on Blu-ray May 28!

In Abashiri Prison, Takakura stars as Shinichi Tachibana, a yakuza sent to Abashiri as punishment for an attack on a rival gangster. He intends to serve his time as a model prisoner until he is shackled to the bullish Gonzo Gonda (Kōji Nanbara), unwittingly roped into an escape attempt orchestrated by Heizo Yoda (Tōru Abe) and forced to face the frozen wilderness of Hokkaidō. In Another Abashiri Prison Story, Tachibana has just been released when he stumbles across a stash of diamonds recently stolen in a heist – and attracts unwanted attention from criminals and cops alike. Finally, in Abashiri Prison: Saga of Homesickness, Tachibana reunites with his former yakuza associates, who are trying to go straight. That is, at least, until old rivals come looking for trouble… Prison Walls – Abashiri Prison I-III is released on Blu-ray May 28, 2024!
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‘Rolling Thunder’ on 4K UHD Blu-ray April 23!

When Major Charles Rane (William Devane, Marathon Man, Interstellar) returns home to San Antonio, Texas, he is given a hero’s welcome. He and his friend John Vohden (Tommy Lee Jones, The Fugitive) had endured eight years of physical and mental torture in a POW camp. Adjusting to his old life isn’t going to be easy for Rane. His wife Janet has fallen in love with another man, and his son doesn’t remember him. The publicity he receives as a returning hero has attracted the attention of a group of hoodlums. When the group kills Rane’s wife and son and leaves him for dead, he and Vohden team up to hunt them down. Rolling Thunder is released on 4K UHD Blu-ray April 23, 2024! Continue reading ‘‘Rolling Thunder’ on 4K UHD Blu-ray April 23!’

‘The Valiant Ones’ on 4K UHD Blu-ray May 28!

During the reign of the Jiajing Emperor (Chao Lei), China’s coastal regions have come under attack by wokou – Japanese pirates under the leadership of the infamous Hakatatsu (Sammo Hung). To combat this threat, the Emperor tasks a trusted general, Zhu Wan (Tu Kuang-chi), with assembling a group of skilled warriors to find and eliminate the pirates. Under the command of General Yu Dayou (Roy Chiao), the band of soldiers – including husband-and-wife sword-fighters Wu Ji-yuan (Wing Bai) and Wu Ruo-shi (Feng Hsu) – set out to draw Hakatatsu, his ally Xu Dong (Han Ying-chieh) and their pirate clan into a series of spectacular showdowns. Inspired by historical events and featuring several storied figures drawn from Chinese history, The Valiant Ones is a standout wuxia film produced during the dying days of the genre, as audience tastes were shifting towards more grounded kung fu cinema. The Masters of Cinema series is proud to present The Valiant Ones on 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray from a 4K restoration. Continue reading ‘‘The Valiant Ones’ on 4K UHD Blu-ray May 28!’

‘Night Swim’ on Blu-ray April 9!

The producers of M3GAN high dive into the deep end of horror with the supernatural thriller, Night Swim. Wyatt Russell (The Falcon and the Winter Soldier) stars as a former major league baseball player, forced into early retirement by a degenerative illness, who moves into a new home with his wife (Oscar nominee Kerry Condon) and their two children. The new home comes complete with a backyard swimming pool, but a deep secret surfaces and unleashes a malevolent force that will drag the family into the inescapable depths of terror. Night Swim is released on Blu-ray & DVD April 9, 2024! Continue reading ‘‘Night Swim’ on Blu-ray April 9!’

‘Amelie’ on Blu-ray + Steelbook March 26!

Bursting with imagination and having seen her share of tragedy and fantasy, Amélie is not like the other girls. When she grows up, she becomes a waitress in a Montmartre bar run by a former dancer. Amélie enjoys simple pleasures until she discovers that her goal in life is to help others. To that end, she invents all sorts of tricks that allow her to intervene incognito into other people’s lives, including an imbibing concierge and her hypochondriac neighbor. But Amélie’s most difficult case turns out to be Nino Quicampoix, a lonely sex shop employee who collects photos abandoned at coin-operated photo-booths. Amélie is released on Blu-ray + Steelbook March 26, 2024! Continue reading ‘‘Amelie’ on Blu-ray + Steelbook March 26!’

Baby Assassins 2 on Blu-ray April 2!

BABY ASSASSINS 2 debuts on Digital and Blu-ray April 2 from Well Go USA Entertainment, and “once again deliver[s] the gold standard for bloody and hilarious slacker action/comedies.” (Film School Rejects) After the agency suspends its top assassins, aspiring hitmen decide to eliminate them—leading to a lightning-fast showdown between trained killers. Hugo SAKAMOTO (Baby Assassins) returns to the director’s chair for the “reliably funny, sometimes downright hysterical” (The Spool), action-packed sequel and brings back Akari TAKAISHI and Saori IZAWA from the original, along with “fantastic fight choreography” (/Film) by Kensuke Sonomura (Bad City, Hydra). BABY ASSASSINS 2 also stars Atomu MIZUISHI (Baby Assassins), Tomo NAKAI (Sayonara Girls.), Tsubasa TOBINAGA (Baby Assassins), Tetsu WATANABE (A Janitor), Joey Tee (Samurai Marathon) and Tatsuomi HAMADA (The Memory Eraser). Continue reading ‘Baby Assassins 2 on Blu-ray April 2!’

‘Monster’ releases on Blu-ray April 9!

After a mother (Ando Sakura) discovers that a teacher’s bullying is behind her young son’s sudden strange behavior, she storms into his school demanding an explanation. Continually left without satisfactory answers—and with an increasingly distressed child—she furiously escalates her concerns to the school board and the media. But as the story unfolds through the multilayered perspectives of mother, teacher, and child, the real truth gradually emerges—and proves much more complex than anyone could have expected. Monster is released on Blu-ray April 9, 2024! Continue reading ‘‘Monster’ releases on Blu-ray April 9!’

True Detective: Night Country: Season 4 on Blu-ray July 9!

Get on the case and catch up on all the clues from HBO’s riveting Emmy Award®-winning limited series, as Warner Bros Discovery Home Entertainment releases True Detective: Night Country on Digital now, and on Blu-ray & DVD July 9. Fans and newcomers alike can binge on all 6 thrilling episodes from Season 4, while they search for answers and go behind the scenes with bonus content. True Detective: Night Country is available now to purchase Digitally from Amazon Prime Video, AppleTV, Google Play, Vudu and more. The series will also be available on Blu-ray & DVD by purchasing online and in-store at major retailers on July 9. Pre-order your copy now. Continue reading ‘True Detective: Night Country: Season 4 on Blu-ray July 9!’

Anatomy of a Fall, Girlfight, Peeping Tom 4K & More Coming to The Criterion Collection May 2024

Coming this May: Three Revolutionary Films by Ousmane Sembène, three powerful 1970s works by the trailblazing Senegalese auteur; Anatomy of a Fall, Justine Triet’s masterful examination of the line between truth and fiction; and Girlfight, Karyn Kusama’s singular tale of a young woman’s path to self-realization. Plus: a Blu-ray upgrade of A Story of Floating Weeds / Floating Weeds: Two Films by Yasujiro Ozu, a silent classic from one of cinema’s greatest directors alongside his color remake, and Peeping Tom, Michael Powell’s still-shocking masterpiece of British cinema, now on 4K UHD.

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‘Polar Rescue’ on Blu-ray March 26!

International martial arts icon Donnie Yen (Raging Fire, Ip Man 4: The Finale, Big Brother) ramps up the drama in POLAR RESCUE, debuting on Digital and Blu-ray March 26 from Well Go USA Entertainment. After a young boy gets lost during a bitter snowstorm, his frantic parents seek help from the local police, who are soon faced with a desperate race against the clock as hours tick by with no sign of the child. Co-directed by Lo Chi Leung (Double Tap, The Bullet Vanishes) and Donnie Yen, POLAR RESCUE also stars Cecilia Han (The Golden Doll) and Jia Bing (Give Me Five, The Eleventh Chapter). Continue reading ‘‘Polar Rescue’ on Blu-ray March 26!’

‘Born to Fly’ on Blu-ray March 26!

After a threat arises mid-air, an elite test pilot is forced to test his own physical and psychological limits in order to survive in the action-packed aerial drama BORN TO FLY, soaring onto Blu-ray March & Digital 26 from Well Go USA Entertainment. The debut feature film from director and co-writer Liu Xiaoshi, BORN TO FLY stars Wang Yibo (Hidden Blade), Hu Jun (Shadow, Code of the Assassins), and Yu Shi (Creation of the Gods I: Kingdom of Storms), with Zhou Dongyu (Better Days)​, and features amazing VFX and aerial action with cutting-edge fighter jets. Continue reading ‘‘Born to Fly’ on Blu-ray March 26!’

‘One-Percent Warrior’ on Blu-ray March 12!

International action sensation Tak Sakaguchi (Bad City, Versus) — “one of action cinema’s reigning kings of on-screen fighting…lightning fast & unmatched” (Action Flix) —stars in ONE-PERCENT WARRIOR (originally titled One-Percenter) as a legendary, aging action film star who is drawn into the real world of violence when feuding yakuza gangs infiltrate the set of his directorial feature debut. Caught in the middle of a chaotic battle with an increasing body count, he must face whether his martial arts training is enough to save him.  Written and directed by Yûdai Yamaguchi (The ABCs of Death, Deadball), with action choreography by Kensuke Sonomura (Hydra, Baby Assassins), ONE-PERCENT WARRIOR also stars Sho Aoyagi (The Blood of Wolves II, Yakuza Apocalypse), Itsuji Itao (Moonlight Mask), Kenjiro Ishimaru (Ring 2), and Keisuke Horibe (Tokyo Gore Police). The film also features premiere Jeet Kune Do master Ishii Togo. ONE-PERCENT WARRIOR debuts on Digital and Blu-ray March 12 from Well Go USA Entertainment (English dub and making-of content available) before streaming exclusively on Hi-YAH! starting April 5.  Continue reading ‘‘One-Percent Warrior’ on Blu-ray March 12!’