The Beatles, Dick Johnson, The Piano & More Coming to The Criterion Collection January 2022
October 15th, 2021 by Aaron Neuwirth
This January, the Criterion Collection is ringing in the New Year with major works by three fiercely imaginative women filmmakers: The Piano, Jane Campion’s sensual tale of a woman’s inner awakening, now in 4K UHD; Dick Johnson is Dead, Kirsten Johnson’s inventive, deeply moving love letter to her father; and Time, Garrett Bradley’s poetic look at one family and the devastating toll of mass incarceration. Plus: Thomas Vinterberg’s lacerating chamber drama The Celebration, which launched the Dogme 95 movement, and the 4K UHD release of A Hard Day’s Night, Richard Lester’s wildly entertaining Beatles showcase.
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For those unaware, another episode of the 
Well genre fans, the amazing and fright film rich Los Angeles based 
Halloween Kills, the 12th entry in a series that began in 1978, is finally opening in theaters and on Peacock after a now de-facto COVID-19 delay. Jamie Lee Curtis returns as Laurie Strode for this second entry of a new trilogy from Blumhouse and Universal Pictures. The final installment, Halloween Ends, is set for release in October 2022. Following 2018’s aptly titled Halloween, David Gordon Green returns for his second at-bat as director. The iconic slasher series had been dormant for nearly a decade before Green and co-writer Danny McBride took a stab with a fresh take that raked in an impressive $255 million worldwide. A sequel was inevitable. However, the question of whether a planned trilogy could fare better than the “let’s just make another” motto that many slasher movies often fall victim to was up for grabs. The premise for the middle installment is a big swing. With that said, it’s time once again to return to Haddonfield…
Discover terrifying realities when “Malignant” arrives for Premium Digital Ownership at home on October 22. Director James Wan (“The Conjuring,” “Aquaman,” “Furious 7”) returns to his roots with this original horror thriller. The film is also from a screenplay by Akela Cooper (“M3GAN,” TV’s “Luke Cage”), story by Wan, Ingrid Bisu and Cooper, and stars Annabelle Wallis (“Annabelle,” “The Mummy”), Maddie Hasson (TV’s “Impulse,” TV’s “Mr. Mercedes”) and George Young (TV’s “Containment”). The film will also be available on Blu-ray and DVD beginning on November 30. The film was produced by Wan and Michael Clear, with Eric McLeod, Judson Scott, Bisu, Peter Luo, Cheng Yang, Mandy Yu and Lei Han executive producing. The film also stars Michole Briana White (TV’s “Black Mafia Family,” “Dead to Me”), Jacqueline McKenzie (“Palm Beach,” TV’s “Reckoning”), Jake Abel (TV’s “Supernatural,” the “Percy Jackson” films) and Ingrid Bisu (“The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It,” “The Nun”). 
Tis the season! October brings about more than just a slew of purple and orange decorations or the numerous Spirit Halloweens that temporarily occupy vacated buildings. It’s also that time of year when horror films hit the big screen and mini-series fill our televisions. Such has been the case on Netflix, especially since 2018 when The Haunting of Hill House made its debut. For this unfamiliar, the ten-episode series was the first of now three ‘season’ production. Similar to American Horror Story, each season is disconnected from the previous in story, though you’ll find a lot of the same actors recast in new roles. Two of those thespians that have appeared in all three shows include Henry Thomas (E.T.) and Kate Siegel (Hush).
I’m probably not at all alone in this, but I was quite surprised by Escape Room a few years back. A film based on a real life recreation that feels like the film series Saw had inspired was an odd sort of “coming full circle” bit of parody. However, the movie itself provided a lot of B-movie type fun and was an enjoyable fare. So when Escape Room: Tournament of Champions was announced, I said “Bring it on”. Especially with that ridiculous title AND that the trailer featured an equally silly title drop line in it. This next chapter in the series will be coming to Blu-ray on October 5th and features two cuts of the film. There will be a nice little array of bonus features to plop on to the disc as well. If you see yourself a champion of tournaments, and escaping rooms enthusiast, perhaps you’ll pre-order a copy of the film from the paid Amazon Associates link at the bottom of this review. Its not too hard to escape once you click.
One of the year’s finest films, The Green Knight is making its way on to the 4K Ultra-HD Blu-ray format, to hopefully continue build audience on this nifty little Arthurian tale. Regardless of whether you liked it or didn’t, its certainly one of the most interesting films of 2021 to check out that got a wider, more mainstream release in the the theater. The Dev Patel film comes with an Atmos track and a nice handful of featurettes to round out the release. Lionsgate is putting out the A24 film as per usual, and you’ll be able to have it to own on October 12th. Preorder links are already live, and you are very welcome to use the paid Amazon Associates link that follows this review at the bottom of the page.
No Time To Die, the 25th film in the long-running James Bond series, finally hits theaters this weekend. Nearly two years after its initially scheduled release, Daniel Craig’s final outing as Her Majesty’s favorite “blunt instrument” features the longest run time yet, at 163 min. Other fun tidbits? Six years is the biggest gap ever between films, with Spectre released way back in 2015. As such, ex-president Donald Trump is the only Commander-in-Chief to not have a Bond film released during his term. Finally, pop phenom Billie Eilish is the youngest artist to record a James Bond theme song. That song is also the only one in Grammy history to be awarded before the movie was released. Okay, okay, but how is the actual film???
While I missed the boat on the original Space Jam, I understand the idea of trying to cash in on it again, generations later with LeBron James. Its a sort of cute and harmless little bit of nostalgia, kind of like the original was in just coming into existence. The film wound up finding itself some nice success, finishing in the top 10 global earners for the summer and had decent numbers stateside as well as its day and date streaming on HBO Max. Now the fourth quarter is here for the film’s release and its arriving on 4K Ultra-HD Blu-ray. It’ll be in a combo pack with the Blu-ray version and have a digital code. Space Jam: A New Legacy will have 4 featurettes and deleted scenes to round out the bonus material. You can pre-order yourself a copy by using the paid Amazon Associates link that follows the review down below.
Free Guy arrives to everyone on Blu-ray on October 12th! We are offering you a chance to win a free copy of the film with this brand new giveaway! All you need to do is watch the video below and follow the instructions. Have your entry in by Monday, October 4th (10/4/2021). I’ll be announcing the winner on my YouTube channel at the end of the week, Friday, October 8th (10/8/2021). Make sure you either subscribe to my YouTube channel or follow me on Twitter or Instagram @brandon4KUHD. Fun film, not hard to enter, and a chance to take home a free copy of this wonderful Blu-ray. Why not give it a shot?
While we bask in the continued greatness and experience of Once Upon A Time …In Hollywood, there’s plenty of work to be done on the home video catalog for Quentin Tarantino. We don’t have much at all of it on the 4K Ultra-HD Blu-ray format. We get a bit of a jump on it this month, as 2009’s Inglourious Basterds makes its way to the format. The film was considered somewhat of a big bounce back for Tarantino after Grindhouse failed to find more than a cult audience. It also introduced much of the world to the wonderful Christoph Waltz. It arrives in a combo pack and retains its bonus features while not adding anything new to the mix for this release. Nonetheless, getting a new 4K remaster of a Tarantino film from Sony is treat enough itself. You’ll be able to own it starting on October 12th and can pre-order yourself a copy by utilizing the paid Amazon Associates link that follows the review at the bottom of the page.
One of my first crushes in my life from my own memory was that of Elvira, Mistress of the Dark. As a child in the 80s, she hosted spooky movies on TV and was a spokesperson for many a beer or other kind of television commercial. Cassandra Peterson in character was the poisoned apple of my young little eye. During he pop culture apex she was given her own starring film. Oddly enough it wouldn’t be for another 13 years that she’d see her second. Elvira’s Haunted Hills. While having a couple screenings, it wound up a direct to video release. Thankfully, the folks at Scream Factory see it fit to celebrate this cult item with a brand new collector’s edition of it featuring a 4K restoration and some new bonus features. The Blu-ray lands on shelves (likely virtual shelves) on October 5th, which gives you plenty of time to order it from the paid Amazon Associates link below to have in time and watch during your spooky season cinema sessions!
The Flash resumed business as usual on the CW this past year, albeit with a later start than normal. But, that was the case for all of their shows as the pandemic caused them to halt and abruptly end their previous seasons and new Covid-conscience shooting methods took a bit more time to get things going. The Scarlet Speedster has long remained the most popular character and show since its debut as the first spinoff of Arrow and now will continue to an eighth season. Where it’s predecessor once close out on an eighth season, The Flash appears like it may continue on. Perhaps the pandemic has extended its life beyond plans. But before that season begins, you can catch up by watching the Seventh Season on Blu-ray when it arrives on October 12th. It features some deleted scenes, gag reel and featurettes. You can own it and add to your collection by using the paid Amazon Associates pre-order link that follows after the review.
One of the summer 2021 box office season’s biggest surprises was the Ryan Reynolds led Free Guy. A film which many of us were very familiar with, seeing the trailer in theaters and online for a quite a long time. That was the case with plenty of movies, but Free Guy sort of stuck out. However, it wound up being a pretty nice hit and was an original film having people wanting to got to the theater to see it. That’s a great thing. The movie being pretty good had something to do with that as well. Now it arrives on 4K Ultra-HD Blu-ray from Fox via Disney and you can own it with its Atmos track and assorted bonus features on October 12th.
Marvel Studios’
This year’s recipient of the prestigious Palme d’Or at the Cannes International Film Festival, Titane, is filmmaker Julia Ducournau’s follow-up to her 2016 feature debut, Raw. That film focused on a vegan who becomes a predatory cannibal after her first experience with meat. Turns out Raw was merely a (excuse the pun) tasty appetizer to the kind of dread, violence and, ultimately, heart delivered by this year’s award winner. Clearly, such a film was never going be for “the masses” but what exactly is Titane anyways?
