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10 NEW TO NETFLIX
“Beetlejuice Beetlejuice“
“Hanna“
“I’m Still Here“
“Paddington in Peru“
“Past Lives“
“Smile“
“Starship Troopers“
“The Sugarland Express“
“Train to Busan“
“The Wild Robot“
11 NEW TO BLU-RAY/DVD
Much of the conversation around the unique Robbie Williams biopic in which a CGI monkey takes the place of the Take That singer was about the box office disappointment of the film, which overshadowed two key takeaways. One, thank God there are still executives at major studios like Paramount willing to take chances on a film as strange as this one. If we lose all ambition at the big companies, we’re going to be in serious trouble. Two, the movie is pretty clever, inventive, and honestly moving, no matter how much money it lost. It’s a bit longer than it needs to be, but it also contains some of the most ingenious filmmaking the musician biopic has seen in years. It’s worth watching just for the “Rock DJ” sequence alone, a breathtaking oner that finds the exuberance that’s so often missing from films about creative souls. Another thing about the box office failure of “Better Man” is that most of you haven’t seen it. Correct that today.
Special Features
- Let Me Entertain You: The Making of Better Man
- Monkey Business: The VFX
The second film directed by Steven Soderbergh to be released in the first few months of 2025 (after the excellent “Presence“) was this smart and sexy spy thriller built around relationships and character more than double crosses or anything approaching action. Michael Fassbender plays an MI6 agent who is asked to investigate a possible traitor in his midst, another spy who just happens to be his wife, Kathryn (Cate Blanchett). Working from a tight script by David Koepp, Soderbergh directs a film that’s in love with dialogue, both what we say and what we withhold from those to whom we are closest. Blanchett and Fassbender are wonderful, sleek and captivating without being overly mannered. And, yet again, Soderbergh delivers a film without an ounce of fat on it. His recent work has been so efficient, a trait that’s even more valuable in an era of bloated runtimes and streaming series.
Special Features
- Deleted Scenes
- The Company of Talent – In the world of spies, there are no small players. Join the ensemble cast and learn about their distinct character motivations, secrets, and overall creative approach to bringing each role to life under the direction of Steven Soderbergh.
- Designing BLACK BAG – Enter the world of espionage and collect intelligence on the production design, costumes, makeup, and special effects that came together to embody the looks of each character and the aesthetic of each space they inhabit.
“Captain America: Brave New World“
Man, what a waste of a good idea. The first hour of Julius Onah’s “Captain America: Brave New World” is actually one of Marvel’s strongest with tight fight choreography and interesting ideas about how much we owe a country that hasn’t given us much in return. Anthony Mackie slides into the role easily, Danny Ramirez makes an effective sidekick, and I get great joy out of listening to an irascible Harrison Ford grumble through MCU nonsense like “celestial mass” with audible disdain. It all feels like it’s going someplace, only to do absolutely nothing with the ideas it sets up, ending in a splash of shoddy CGI, most of which was given away in the trailers. Even the Blu-ray feels kind of lesser compared to other Disney/Marvel releases. Cap (and Mackie) deserve better.
Special Features
- DOLBY VISION/HDR PRESENTATION OF THE FILM
- DOLBY ATMOS AUDIO TRACK
- Audio Commentary – Listen to Director Julius Onah and Director of Photography Kramer Morgenthau talk about the film
- Deleted Scenes:
- A Heartfelt Thanks – President Ross praises Agent Taylor for her actions.
- The Mission – Sam Wilson tries to extract information out of Agent Taylor in the boxing ring.
- Stick Around – President Ross extends an apology and an unexpected invitation to Isaiah.
- Assuming the Mantle – Ever since his high-flying debut in “Captain America: The Winter Soldier,” audiences around the world have known that Sam Wilson was destined for great things. Join the cast and crew as they look at Sam’s past, present, and potential future in the MCU.
- Old Scores, New Scars – Brave New World finds Captain America locked in a battle of brains and brawn in the forms of The Leader, Red Hulk, and Sidewinder. From prosthetics to visual effects to stunt work, get the lowdown on these formidable foes and how they’re brought to life.
- Gag Reel – Enjoy some hilarious outtakes on set with the cast and crew of Captain America: Brave New World.
“In the Heat of the Night” (Criterion)
It’s been almost six decades since the slap heard around the world in this Oscar winner for Best Picture, Best Actor, and Best Adapted Screenplay. Rod Steiger may have taken home the Academy Award, but this was then and always will be Sidney Poitier’s movie. As Virgil Tibbs, a Philadelphia detective investigating a case in Mississippi, Poitier gives a career-defining performance, now available on 4K for the first time from the good folks over at Criterion. They’ve not only restored the film but imported the previous features that include excellent archival footage like interviews with Norman Jewison, Lee Grant, and Poitier himself. There’s also an excellent program about Quincy Jones’ marvelous soundtrack. Finally, don’t miss a great essay from K. Austin Collins.
Special Features
- 4K digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack
- Alternate 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack
- One 4K UHD disc of the film and one Blu-ray with the film and special features
- Interviews with director Norman Jewison and actor Lee Grant
- Segment from a 2006 American Film Institute interview with actor Sidney Poitier
- Interview with Aram Goudsouzian, author of Sidney Poitier: Man, Actor, Icon
- Audio commentary featuring Jewison, Grant, actor Rod Steiger, and cinematographer Haskell Wexler
- Turning Up the Heat: Movie-Making in the ’60s, a program about the production of the film and its legacy, featuring Jewison, Wexler, producer Walter Mirisch, and filmmakers John Singleton and Reginald Hudlin
- Quincy Jones: Breaking New Sound, a program about Jones’s innovative soundtrack, including the title song sung by Ray Charles, featuring interviews with Jones, lyricists Alan and Marilyn Bergman, and musician Herbie Hancock
- Trailer
- English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
- PLUS: An essay by critic K. Austin Collins
“Killer of Sheep” (Criterion)
Charles Burnett originally submitted this masterpiece as his thesis to at the UCLA School of Film in 1977. It had a premiere the next year in New York, but never got officially released because of music rights, only finding an audience three decades later when it was restored by Milestone Film & Video. It even made a few top ten lists for 2007 (including Glenn Kenny and Dana Stevens), marking its timelessness and historical significance. Now, a half-century after its production, a new 4K restoration is making its Criterion debut, a major event for cinephiles. This is one of the most essential Blu-ray releases of 2025 to date, a document not just of the importance of “Killer of Sheep” but its place in film history. It righteously elevates Burnett, who appears on a commentary and new interviews, and it includes two short films he made before this one. It also features a documentary about Burnett by Robert Townsend and an appreciation of the film by Barry Jenkins. “Killer of Sheep” was rightfully recognized as a masterpiece when it was finally seen in 2007, but this is the release that places it on the shelf with other masterpieces of the ’70s and claims its place in movie history.
Special Features
- New 4K digital restoration, approved by director Charles Burnett, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack
- One 4K UHD disc of the film and one Blu-ray with the film and special features
- Audio commentary featuring Burnett and film scholar Richard Peña
- New interviews with Burnett and actor Henry Gayle Sanders
- New appreciation by filmmaker Barry Jenkins
- Two short films by Burnett: Several Friends (1969) and The Horse (1973), with a new introduction to the latter by Burnett
- Excerpt from the 2010 UCLA LA Rebellion Oral History Project, featuring an interview with Burnett by film scholar Jacqueline Stewart
- A Walk with Charles Burnett (2019), a documentary by Robert Townsend
- Documentary by Ross Lipman on 2007 cast reunion
- Trailer
- English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
- PLUS: An essay by critic Danielle Amir Jackson
“Kingdom of Heaven”
People often joke about Ridley Scott’s predilection to tinker with his work, producing director’s cuts of films like “Alien” and “Blade Runner” that many people consider superior to the theatrical releases. While the removal of Deckard’s narration is essential to appreciating “BR,” I might argue that this is actually the most transformative of the Scott DCs, a recut that takes a clunky, ineffective, swords-and-sandals blockbuster and turns it into one of Scott’s best films. The story goes that bad test screenings forced Scott to cut 45 minutes, returned in this version in a way that makes the film actually feel shorter due to how much it enriches the pace and the overall storytelling. This excellent steelbook version also includes the Roadshow presentation, featuring an overture and an intermission, along with tons of special features about the various cuts and the production overall. It’s a must-own, as evidenced by how hard it currently is to find online. Keep hunting. It’s worth it.
Special Features
- THREE-DISC COMBO PACK
- RESTORED AND REMASTERED DIRECTOR’S CUT OF THE FILM
- DOLBY VISION/HDR PRESENTATION OF THE FILM
- DOLBY ATMOS AUDIO TRACK
- DISC ONE – 4K BLU-RAY
- Director’s Cut Roadshow Version & Director’s Cut
- Introduction by Director Ridley Scott
- Roadshow Commentary with Orlando Bloom, Ridley Scott and Writer William Monahan
- 2 Additional Roadshow Commentaries with Filmmakers
- The Enginer’s Guide (Roadshow Version only)
- Optional English SDH, Spanish and French Subtitles
- DISC TWO – BLU-RAY
- Director’s Cut Roadshow Version & Director’s Cut
- Introduction by Director Ridley Scott
- Roadshow Commentary with Orlando Bloom, Ridley Scott and Writer William Monahan
- 2 Additional Roadshow Commentaries with Filmmakers
- The Enginer’s Guide (Roadshow Version only)
- English SDH, Spanish and French Subtitles
- DISC THREE – BLU-RAY
- The Path to Redemption
- Sound Design Suite
- Visual Effects Breakdowns
- Press Junket Walkthrough
- World Premieres
- Special Shoot Gallery
- Poster Explorations
- Deleted & Extended Scenes with Optional Commentary
- Orlando Bloom “The Adventure of a Lifetime”
- Additional Featurettes and Much More
Because the live-action adaptation trend is here to stay, the new version of “Lilo & Stitch” actually outgrossed the original animated version in its first three days of release. What’s up with the love for Stitch? I have to admit to being startled at the durability of the character. For years now, when you go to Disney World or other such places, you’ll see a lot of merch and toys with the lovable blue guy. It’s a product of timing in that kids in 2002 likely have their own little ones today, but also a character who crosses multiple demographics, and speaks to the outside in everyone. I haven’t seen the live-action and don’t love the original, but I’m clearly in an increasing minority. All you Stitch lovers out there? This 4K edition is for you.
Special Features
- Deleted Scenes
- Hula Lesson
- Animating The Hula
- Audio Commentary
- DisneyPedia: The Islands – Explore Hawaiʽi, Oʽahu, Maui, Kauaʽi, Lǡnaʽi and Molokaʽi
- 2 Music Videos and a Behind-The-Music Featurette
- A Stitch in Time: Follow Stitch Through The Disney Years
People were too hard on Bong Joon Ho’s latest. It’s not perfect. Yes, it repeats some themes that Bong has explored more interestingly in other works. But I suspect that this is a film that will grow in history and with reappreciation. Say what you will about it, it’s an incredibly ambitious swing, the kind of thing we don’t get from studios all that often, and a reminder that Robert Pattinson is one of our most interesting and courageous performers alive. He took the industry power he got from “Twilight” and used it to work with auteurs like Claire Denis, Christopher Nolan, Lynne Ramsay, David Cronenberg, and Bong Joon Ho. He’s the best. However, this Blu-ray? Not so great. “Mickey 17” deserves more than a half-hour of special features and no audio commentary. Criterion has released some Bong films in the past. Maybe they’ll get the rights to this one. I volunteer to write the essay. I’ll even write it twice.
Special Features
- Behind the Lens: Bong Joon Ho’s Mickey 17 (11:32)
- Mickey 17: A World Reimagined (9:44)
- The Faces of Niflheim (8:00)
“The Umbrellas of Cherbourg” (Criterion)
Demy’s masterpiece has been released a few times by Criterion, both alone and in an excellent box set, but never in 4K. Demy’s son Mathieu oversaw the restoration of his father’s beloved musical, and the 4K is sharp without ever looking overly polished. It’s a great transfer of an essential film. As for the rest of the release, it’s all the previously available stuff, including material dating back to the last restoration in 2013, a documentary about the film from 2008, and a col interview with Demy and Michel Legrand from all the way back in 1964. There’s also an audio clip from the legendary Catherine Deneuve. If you own that Demy box set, I wouldn’t say this is worth the upgrade, but it’s the best way to pick it up if you have yet to do so.
Special Features
- New 4K digital restoration, undertaken by Ciné-Tamaris and approved by Mathieu Demy, director Jacques Demy’s son, with 5.0 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack
- Alternate uncompressed monaural soundtrack
- One 4K UHD disc of the film and one Blu-ray with the film and special features
- Once Upon a Time . . . “The Umbrellas of Cherbourg,” a 2008 documentary
- Interview with film scholar Rodney Hill
- French television interview from 1964 featuring Jacques Demy and composer Michel Legrand discussing the film
- Archival audio interviews with Legrand and actor Catherine Deneuve at the National Film Theatre in London
- Demonstration of the 2013 restoration
- Trailer
- PLUS: An essay by critic Jim Ridley
“The Wind Will Carry Us” (Criterion)
It’s hard to believe that it’s been almost a decade since we lost Abbas Kiarostami, an essential figure in the Iranian film movements of the ’80s and ’90s. A controversial figure (Roger notoriously didn’t like “Taste of Cherry” but had come around by the time he released “Certified Copy,” my favorite Kiarostami and one of the best films of the 2010s), “The Wind Will Carry Us” is one of his most acclaimed works, called a masterpiece by Jonathan Rosenbaum and even getting votes in Sight & Sound polls for the best films of all time. Criterion has remastered the film in 4K for the first time, accompanying it with an excellent video essay featuring a collaborator of the Kiarostami, Massoumeh Lahiji, who reads the director’s poetry. It’s a beautiful special feature, the kind of bonus material that separates Criterion from the rest.
Special Features
- 4K restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack
- A Week with Kiarostami (1999), a documentary by Yuji Mohara on the making of the film
- Interview from 2002 with director Abbas Kiarostami
- New video essay presenting Kiarostami’s poetry narrated by Massoumeh Lahiji, a longtime translator and creative collaborator of the director’s
- Trailer
- New English subtitle translation
- PLUS: An essay by poet and novelist Kaveh Akbar
Jaume Collet-Serra’s Blumhouse horror flick starts with one of the best first acts in the genre of the last few years. Danielle Deadwyler, increasingly the best thing about bad movies, plays Ramona, a widowed mother who spots a woman in black in her yard one day. Her children are curious, but Ramona senses something is very wrong, and it’s not just because of the blood on her hands. Single-setting horror is often my jam, but “Woman in the Yard” runs out of ideas quickly, working better when it’s allowed to be mysterious in those effective early scenes than when it leans into Grief Horror 101.
Special Features
- MAKING THE WOMAN IN THE YARD- Travel through the darkest corners of the film during this behind-the-scenes journey where filmmakers work with cast to craft a story that is both haunting and human.
- BENEATH THE VEIL – Cast and filmmakers lift the veil on the film’s frightening figure for this revealing look at the themes, designs, and styles that shape her eerie specter into a powerful presence.
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