Every Tuesday, discriminating viewers are confronted with a flurry of choices: new releases on disc and on-demand, vintage and original movies on any number of streaming platforms, catalogue titles making a splash on Blu-ray or 4K. This twice-monthly column sifts through all of those choices to pluck out the movies most worth your time, no matter how you’re watching.
This week’s three-weeks-in-the-making rundown of the picks to click on the New Release page include the highest-grossing movie of 2022, a Santa slasher from 1984, and everything in between. Let’s do it!
PICK OF THE WEEK:
“In the Mood for Love”: Wong Kar-wai’s delicate, quiet, yet stunningly intense and emotional 2000 drama (new on 4K from The Criterion Collection) is a master class in the dramatization of unrequited love and lust. Tony Leung Chiu Wai and Maggie Cheung Man Yuk are heart-wrenching – and, not incidentally, gorgeous – as a married man and woman brought together by their spouses’ affair. Engaging in a romance of their own would make a satisfying bit of one-upmanship, to be sure. Still, it quickly becomes apparent that their connection is about more than revenge or even their own considerable attraction. It’s a smoky, sexy, atmospheric picture, placing two lonely people into each other’s orbit and observing what happens (and doesn’t happen) next. (Also streaming on The Criterion Channel and HBO Max.) (Includes archival documentary, short film, archival interviews, press conference Q&A, deleted scenes with optional audio commentary, music video, trailer, and an essay by Charles Yu.)
ON 4K / BLU-RAY / DVD / VOD:
“Top Gun: Maverick”: It’s hard to recall a sequel (particularly one this long in the making) that so outdoes its predecessor by pretty much every possible metric. Yet Joseph Kosinski’s follow-up to Tony Scott’s 1986 mega-hit is both a narrative continuation and a thematic re-examination, following the broad beats of the original while genuinely questioning what it did and said to that audience and this one. And this is one of Tom Cruise’s finest performances, as he thoughtfully probes what becomes of a cocky superstar who fails to live up to his full potential. (Includes featurettes, Cruise interviews, and music videos.)
“The Power of the Dog”: Jane Campion’s Oscar winner – new on Blu-ray and 4K from Criterion – is a whopper, a Western-tinged tale of masculinity, fragility, resentment, and secrecy. Kirsten Dunst is marvelous as a widowed mother who marries a well-to-do rancher (Jesse Plemmons), only to find that his roughneck brother (Benedict Cumberbatch) is bound and determined to make everyone around him as unhappy as he is – including her and her teenage son (Kodi Smit-McPhee). Campion puts the picture together with the kind of confidence that decades of craft instills – it’s simultaneously meandering and focused, and there’s never a doubt she knows where she’s going, but she takes her time getting there. Jonny Greenwood’s score matches that energy (it’s somehow both mellow and urgent), and the result ranks among her very best works. (Also streaming on Netflix.) (Includes interviews and essay by Amy Taubin.)
ON BLU-RAY / DVD / VOD:
“Pearl”: When it was first announced at the SXSW premiere for “X,” director Ti West and star Mia Goth’s secret prequel to that film sounded like a novelty at best and a rip-off at worst. But “Pearl” – which focuses on the youth of the psycho-biddie of “X,” played by Goth under heavy old-age make-up – is, surprisingly enough, an altogether different type of horror film than “X,” influenced less by the classic horror vibes of that film than works of classic cinematic melodrama. Goth is a revelation, crafting one of the best acting performances of the year (in a genre film or otherwise), resulting in a far deeper and richer movie than expected. (Includes featurettes and trailers.)
ON 4K:
“Casablanca”: There’s not much to say that hasn’t already been said about Michael Curtiz’s 1942 wartime drama—so much, so it’s easy to view it now as an inventory of iconic moments: “Play it, Sam. Play ‘As Time Goes By.” Bogie’s face the first time he sees Bergman again. “Of all the gin joints in all the towns, she walks into mine.” The send-off at the airport. “I’m shocked, shocked to find that gambling is going on in here!” And, of course, “Here’s looking at you, kid.” But it’s much more than that – a morally knotty and emotionally complex story of passion, love, obligation, and doing the right thing (in every sense of the phrase). Humphrey Bogart is iconic, Ingrid Bergmanis stunning, and Warners’ new 4K transfer renders the very familiar picture as fresh as a daisy. (Also streaming on HBO Max.) (Includes audio commentaries, Lauren Bacall intro, featurettes, deleted scenes, outtakes, cartoons, scoring sessions, radio adaptation, and theatrical trailers.)
“To Kill a Mockingbird”: Gregory Peck won the Academy Award for best actor for his unforgettable turn as Atticus Finch, the small-town attorney battling racism and injustice in the rural South in the 1930s. (This lifelong resident of the area hasn’t acquired a Southern accent, but look, no performance is perfect.) The film’s reputation and cultural impact might lead you to believe it’s a courtroom drama and only a courtroom drama. Still, the story’s soul is with young Scout (Mary Badham) as she learns lifelong lessons about prejudice, assumptions, and the world around her. (Includes audio commentary, documentaries, Oscar and AFI acceptance speeches, and featurettes.)
“Planes, Trains & Automobiles”: Paramount hasn’t exactly kept John Hughes’ mini-masterpiece off the home video shelves, but this new 4K Blu-ray edition offers up something unique and special: over an hour of the film’s legendary and long-thought-lost, deleted scenes, pulled from Hughes’ old VHS tapes of the nearly four-hour initial assembly. They didn’t make any big mistakes, but there are some stand-alone gems in there, including a 26-minute version of the Wichita motel sequence that plays like a marvelous little single-location, one-act play. And the film itself is as wonderful as ever – a near-perfect holiday comedy, with odd couple Steve Martin and John Candy as, respectively, a stuffy yuppie and a scruffy traveling salesman who find themselves shackled together on an everything-goes-wrong trip home for Thanksgiving. The hilarity is expected; the warmth less so, and this remains the most heartbreaking indication of how much we lost when Candy died less than a decade later. (Also streaming on Paramount+.) (Includes featurettes, Dylan Baker audition, and deleted and extended scenes.)
“National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation”: After making the definitive Thanksgiving movie, Hughes moved on to Christmas, writing and producing this third installment of the Griswold family saga, which unexpectedly became the most beloved of the series – and not just because of cable stations with holiday airtime to fill. Hughes and director Jeremiah S. Chechik stack one classic comic sequence on top of another, but with just enough acid (Clark’s rant at his bonus-shafting boss), snark (Chevy Chase’s distaste for Randy Quaid’s Cousin Eddie is the gift that keeps on giving) and genuine heart to make this one a deserved Christmas classic. Shitter’s full! (Includes audio commentary and the theatrical trailer.) (Also streaming on HBOMax.)
“A Christmas Story”: Bob Clark’s 1983 holiday comedy has become such a seasonal perennial that it’s shocking to discover that it tanked upon its original theatrical release – or maybe it’s not, since the idea of a heartwarming family Christmas movie from the director of “Porky’s” was a bit of a hard sell. But it found its audience (boy, did it ever) via VHS popular and ubiquitous cable airings, and for good reason; its folksy tone, relatable conflicts, and general charm make it as comfy and familiar as a pair of footie pajamas. (Includes audio commentary, featurettes, and script pages.) (Also streaming on HBOMax.)
“Elf”: This raucous holiday comedy was a critical hinge point in Jon Favreau’s unlikely metamorphosis from indie auteur to blockbuster journeyman – it was a surprise smash that proved Will Ferrell could open a movie solo and that Favreau could work on a broader canvas than the buncha-guys-talking aesthetic of his early efforts. It’s a sweet Christmas confection, with Ferrell as a North Pole “elf” (but he’s tall, you see) who heads off to New York City to meet his real dad (played to grouchy perfection by James Caan). The laughs are frequent, and it manages to be sweet without being syrupy (pun intended). (Includes audio commentaries, deleted and alternate scenes, featurettes, karaoke feature, and trailer.) (Also streaming on HBOMax.)
“The Polar Express”: The fourth of Warner’s quartet of new-to-4K holiday classics is the most recent of the bunch, and the most dubious – not exactly a slam-dunk in terms of reputation or timelessness, mostly remembered as the first of once-venerated director Robert Zemeckis’ odd forays into motion-capture animation. But if you can get past how weird it looks (and make no mistake, it does, and the 4K does not soften that), there’s a lot to like here: the mellow tone of the storytelling, the delightful voice performances, the energetic set pieces, and the joy of Tom Hanks’ multiple appearances. (Also streaming on HBOMax.) (Includes featurettes, deleted scenes, song performance, and trailer.)
“Escape from Alcatraz”: Don Siegel’s 1979 Clint Eastwood vehicle (new on 4K from KL Studio Classics) is surprisingly muted for a prison-escape movie; it’s more of a process piece, a step-by-step, nuts-and-bolts examination of exactly how this was done. As usual, Siegel’s direction is a model of ruthless efficiency; this is a guy who knows how to get the job done and get on with it. He’s a good old-fashioned picture maker who knows when to get the hell out of his story’s way—particularly in the remarkable closing section, which trusts its own suspense enough to dispense with the expected music cues and play (as “Rafifi” did before it and “Mission: Impossible” after) in near-silence. (Also streaming on Amazon Prime.) (Includes audio commentary and interviews.)
“Blue Hawaii”: This 1961 Elvis Presley showcase is far from the King’s best movie, but it’s undoubtedly one of his prettiest – so Paramount was wise to give it this crisp, clean 4K release, a sumptuous presentation that captures the beauty of the original Technicolor and Panavision presentation. The movie itself is a mixed bag, with supporting players ranging from an entertainingly untethered Angela Lansbury to an oafish Howard McNear (aka “Floyd the Barber”) and songs stretching from the heights of “Can’t Help Falling in Love” to the depths of “Rock A-Hula.” But it’s never boring, Presley is charismatic as always, and it goes down like an especially tasty margarita. (Includes audio commentary and trailer.)
“The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2”: Credit where due: when director Tobe Hooper finally, after a dozen years of offers, made a sequel to his 1974 smash “The Texas Chain Saw Massacre,” he did not go for a mere retread. He’d insisted the original film was intended to play as dark comedy as well as horror; audiences were apparently too busy getting the shit scared out of them to giggle much, so Hooper made his sequel more explicitly comic (and gorier too, often for comedic effect). It’s a giant tonal leap from its predecessor, and sometimes its broad tone verges on braying. But it’s a wild ride and a testament to the daring instincts of its unpredictable creator – and Vinegar Syndrome’s new 4K transfer is deliciously sleek. (Also streaming on HBOMax.) (Includes audio commentaries, alternate opening, deleted scenes, new and archival interviews, new and archival featurettes, behind-the-scenes footage, trailers, and TV spots.)
“The Werewolf vs. Vampire Woman”: This 1970 Spanish/German horror effort from director Leon Kilmovskyand screenwriter/star Paul Naschy (also new to 4K from Vinegar Syndrome) traffics in a very particular kind of exploitation revelry, melding ’70s Eurosleaze with post-Hammer horror for something that’s somehow both prurient and classy, all at once. The acting is dodgy, and the staging is clumsy (particularly a hilariously pandering catfight scene), but it’s got its own specific energy and beauty, and the make-up effects are sort of astonishing, especially in HD. (Includes three different cuts, feature-length Naschy documentary, alternate title and end credit sequences, and theatrical trailers.)
ON BLU-RAY:
“Daisies”: Věra Chytilová’s Czech New Wave groundbreaker – another new addition to the Criterion Collection – is a heady brew of kabuki theater, absurdism, and social commentary. Stars Jitka Cerhová and Ivana Karbanová are like a proto-Celine and Julie, an uproarious and effervescent pair of resourceful young women taking advantage of their limited opportunities and turning their decadence on its head. Chytilová uses playful edits, shifting color temperatures, archival footage, and more tools of the Godard era to craft a picture that plays just as fresh and energetic more than a half-century later. (Also streaming on The Criterion Channel and HBOMax.) (Includes audio commentary, new and archival documentaries, new interviews, Chytilová short films, and an essay by Carmen Grav.)
“The Infernal Affairs Trilogy”: Most American audiences will know Andrew Lau and Alan Mak’s original 2002 film “Infernal Affairs” as the basis for Martin Scorsese’s “The Departed,” and what’s most striking about revisiting it is how closely it stuck to the original (duplicating full scenes, story beats, and set pieces) while still pulsing with local color and Scorsese’s stylistic flourishes. Yet much of that style is also found here; Lau and Mak move their movie like a well-aimed bullet, and the ingeniously crafted, cleverly worked-through script remains an all-timer. The second and third films, both released in 2003, aren’t nearly as successful; their footnotes-and-sidebars nature of the efforts (the second film is a prequel, and the third is a “Godfather II”-style combination of prequel and sequel) mainly serves to underscore how lean and mean the original was. But they’re still worth seeing, packed with bravura performances and memorable sequences, and the original is a near-perfect Hong Kong action flick. (Includes audio commentaries, deleted scenes, outtakes, alternate ending, new and archival interviews, featurettes, and essays by Justin Chang.)
“The Sonny Chiba Collection”: If you like your international genre cinema a bit grimier, Shout Factory is following up its fabulous “Street Fighter Collection” with this new four-disc set, collecting seven more films from “Street Fighter” star (and oft-cited Quentin Tarantino favorite) Sonny Chiba: “Yakuza Wolf: I Perform Murder,” “Yakuza Wolf 2: Extend My Condolences,” “Bodyguard Kiba,” “Bodyguard Kiba 2,” “Shogun’s Shadow,” “Samurai Reincarnation,” and “Swords of Vengeance.” As Christian Slater’s Clarence memorably put it, Chiba is less a hero than a bad motherfucker, and his films are equal parts ’70s trash, martial arts free-for-alls, and blood-spattered blasts. (Includes Chiba interview and theatrical trailers.)
“Earth Girls Are Easy”: “I can’t believe you’re Frenching an alien in front of all these people!” So says Valerie (Geena Davis, all in) to Candy (co-writer Julie Brown), and that line is pretty much all the summary you need for Julien Temple’s delightfully bright and delectably silly 1989 rock musical comedy. Valerie is a Valley manicurist whose swimming pool is the unexpected landing spot for an alien spacecraft; the trio of extraterrestrials inside (played by Jeff Goldblum, Jim Carrey, and Damon Wayans – nice work, casting directors) soon become her and pal Candy’s biggest makeover project. The performers are having a blast, and there are plenty of laughs to be had, but its best scenes are Brown’s zippy song interludes, which become absurd little send-ups of musical movie conventions. (Also streaming on FreeVee.) (Includes audio commentary, deleted scenes and outtakes, new and archival interviews, featurette, storyboard gallery, behind-the-scenes footage, TV and radio spots, and trailers.)
“Fancy Pants”: Bob Hope and Lucille Ball followed up their successful pairing in the 1949 hit “Sorrowful Jones” just one year later with this Western-era comedy from director George Marshall. He previously directed such stellar Hope comedies as “Monsieur Beaucaire,” and by this point, he knew how to mine his star’s qualities for maximum comic effect, casting him here as a ham of an American actor working with a British stage company who (via circumstances too complicated to explain here) ends up going back to America as the butler of Ball’s wealthy family. It gets too silly in the home stretch, and there’s a brief but cringe bit of racial comedy. But the romance blossoms charmingly, and Marshall keeps things moving at a good clip.
“Don’t Open ‘Till Christmas”: When “Silent Night, Deadly Night” caused a wave of protest and controversy during the 1984 holiday season, only a few folks bothered to notice that it wasn’t even the only “Santa slasher” in theaters. But this British import is about a killer who targets people in Santa suits, not one who wears one himself, so that was apparently the fine line between “tasteless” and “whatevs.” But “Don’t Open” is just as sleazy as its American counterpart, if not more so, though the British accents and locations make it all seem a little classier. A longtime victim of shabby public domain presentation, it finally gets a sharp 2K restoration from Vinegar Syndrome. (Includes audio commentary, deleted and extended scenes, new and archival interviews, and trailer.)
