By Harley Lond - 12/20/21 at 11:00 PM CT
FROM THE BIG SCREEN:
"No Time to Die" (2021) Daniel Craig returns as Ian Fleming’s James Bond for the fifth and last time. Bond has left active service and is enjoying a tranquil life in Jamaica. His peace is short-lived when his old friend Felix Leiter from the CIA turns up asking for help. The mission to rescue a kidnapped scientist turns out to be far more treacherous than expected, leading Bond onto the trail of a mysterious villain armed with dangerous new technology. 
Vitals: Director: Cary Joji Fukunaga. Stars: Daniel Craig, Rami Malek, Léa Seydoux, Lashana Lynch, Ben Whishaw, Naomie Harris, Jeffrey Wright, Christoph Waltz, Ralph Fiennes. 2021, CC, MPAA rating: PG-13, 160 min., Action, North American box office gross: $150.755 million, worldwide $708.744 million, MGM/Universal. Formats: DVD, Blu-ray/DVD Combo + Digital Code, 4K Ultra HD/Blu-ray Combo + Digital Code, VOD, Digital. Extras: "Anatomy of a Scene: Matera"; "Keeping It Real: The Action of No Time to Die" behind-the-scenes featurette; "A Global Journey" location featurette; "Designing Bond" costume featurette; "Being James Bond" Daniel Craig featurette (4K only). Read more here
"Demon Slayer : The Movie - Mugen Train" (2021 - Japan) Tanjiro Kamado, joined with Inosuke Hashibira, a boy raised by boars who wears a boar's head, and Zenitsu Agatsuma, a scared boy who reveals his true power when he sleeps, board the Infinity Train on a new mission with the Flame Pillar, Kyojuro Rengoku, to defeat a demon who has been tormenting the people and killing the demon slayers who oppose it. 
Vitals: Director: Haruo Sotozaki. Stars: Voices of Natsuki Hanae, Akari Kitô, Yoshitsugu Matsuoka, Hiro Shimono. 2021, CC, MPAA rating: R, 117 min., Animated Fantasy Adventure, US box office gross: $47.700 million, worldwide $452.974, million, Universal. Formats: Blu-ray, VOD, Digital.
"The Many Saints of Newark" (2021) Prequel to the groundbreaking, award-winning HBO drama series "The Sopranos." Young Anthony Soprano is growing up in one of the most tumultuous eras in Newark's history, becoming a man just as rival gangsters begin to rise up and challenge the all-powerful DiMeo crime family's hold over the increasingly race-torn city. Caught up in the changing times is the uncle he idolizes, Dickie Moltisanti, who struggles to manage both his professional and personal responsibilities - and whose influence over his nephew will help make the impressionable teenager into the all-powerful mob boss we'll later come to know: Tony Soprano.
Vitals: Director: Alan Taylor. Stars: Jon Bernthal, Michael Gandolfini, Vera Farmiga, Billy Magnussen, Alessandro Nivola, Ray Liotta, Leslie Odom Jr. 2021, CC, MPAA rating: R, 120 min., Crime Drama, US box office gross: $8.218 million, worldwide $11.618 million, Warner. Formats: DVD, Blu-ray + Digital, 4K Ultra HD/Blu-ray Combo + Digital, VOD, Digital. Extras: Deleted scenes. Blu-ray adds "Making of Newark," "Sopranos Family Honor." Read more here
THIS WEEK'S BEST BETS
Arrow Video continues its exploration of Italian cult cinema with "Giallo Essentials (Yellow Edition)," a second volume of Giallo Essentials, bringing together three more suspense-filled exemplars of the genre! In Massimo Dallamano's "What Have They Done to Your Daughters?" (1972), hot-headed Inspector Silvestri (Claudio Cassinelli) and rookie Assistant District Attorney Vittoria Stori (Giovanna Ralli) investigate the apparent suicide of a
teenage girl, leading them to a sordid prostitution ring whose abusers occupy the highest echelons of Italian society. Sergio Martino's "Torso" (1973) helped lay the groundwork for the American slasher movie: when a ruthless killer begins to target the female university students of Perugia, Jane (Suzy Kendall) and her friends flee for the peace of the countryside, only to discover that the threat isn't far behind. Finally, Andrea Bianchi's "Strip Nude for Your Killer" (1975) delivers depravity in droves as ambitious photographer Magda (Edwige Fenech) and her on-off boyfriend, love rat Carlo (Nino Castelnuovo), team up to solve the spate of highly sexualized murders that are rocking a prestigious Milanese fashion house. Featuring grisly murders, amateur sleuths and motorcycle-riding maniacs, these iconic gialli are restored in 2K from their original negatives and are presented alongside a raft of juicy extras. On Blu-ray from Arrow Video/MVD Entertainment. Read more here ... 
"The Vampire Lovers" (1970), starring Ingrid Pitt, Madeline Smith and Peter Cushing, is a Hammer classic about a diabolical female vampire who ravages the young girls and other townsfolk of a peaceful hamlet in 18th century Europe in revenge for the killing of her fellow vampires years earlier. A rousing hunt for the vampires ensues as a group of men follow her bloody trail of terror through the countryside. In a Collector's Edition with a new 4K scan from the original camera negative. On Blu-ray from Scream Factory ... "The Sherlock Holmes Vault Collection" is a four-disc set with four restored classic mysteries: "The Fatal Hour" (1931), "The Triumph of Sherlock Holmes" (1935), "Silver Blaze" (1937), starring Arthur Wontner, and "A Study in Scarlet" (1933), starring Reginald Owen. A Limited-Edition Collector’s Box Set comes complete with exclusive Sherlock Holmes collector’s items, including a 13-month Sherlockian calendar, featuring special anniversary dates and fun facts about the history of Sherlock Holmes; a collector’s edition Sherlock Holmes magnet; a Sherlock Holmes notebook for jotting down clues; a one-year subscription to The Film Detective app; and a Sherlock Holmes tote bag. On DVD, Blu-ray from Cinedigm/The Film Detective.BUZZIN' THE 'B'S:
"Blue Bayou" (2021), starring Justin Chon, Alicia Vikander, Linh Dan Pham, Sydney Kowalske, Vondie Curtis-Hall, Mark O'Brien and Emory Cohen, an official selection of the 2021 Cannes Film Festival from award-winning writer/director Justin Chon, is the moving and timely story of a uniquely American family fighting for their future. Antonio LeBlanc (Chon), a Korean adoptee raised in a small town in the Louisiana bayou, is married to the love of his life Kathy (Vikander) and step-dad to their beloved daughter Jessie. Struggling to make a better life for his family, he must confront the ghosts of his past when he discovers that he could be deported from the only country he has ever called home. On DVD, Blu-ray, from Universal ...
"Hell Hath No Fury" (2019), starring Nina Bergman, Daniel Bernhardt, Louis Mandylor, Timothy V. Murphy and Dominiquie Vandenberg, is the story of one woman who single-handedly takes on the might of the German war machine, the French resistance, and a band of US infantrymen. Branded a traitor by her countrymen, French national Marie DuJardin is rescued by American soldiers on one condition: to survive, she must lead them to a cache of gold-before the Nazis return to claim it for themselves. On DVD, Blu-ray, from Well Go USA. Read more here ... In the action cyber-thriller "Fortress" (2021), starring Jesse Metcalfe, Bruce Willis, Chad Michael Murray, Kelly Greyson, Ser'darius Blain, Michael Sirow and Shannen Doherty, Robert (Willis), a retired CIA agent, lives at a secret resort in the woods. One day his estranged son drives to the camp for a visit - but he's followed by Robert's old nemesis, Balzary (Murray). As the site is besieged by Balzary's attack squad, father and son retreat to a high-tech bunker. But are its steel walls and advanced weapons powerful enough to match Balzary's bloodthirsty plans for revenge? On DVD, Blu-ray, from Lionsgate.ON THE INDIE FRONT:
"Saint-Narcisse" (2021), the latest from Bruce LaBruce, Canada’s reigning “King of Kink," follows Dominic, a young man with a fetish ... for himself. Nothing turns him on more
than his reflection, with much of his time spent taking Polaroid selfies. When his loving grandmother dies, he discovers a deep family secret: his lesbian mother didn’t die in childbirth and he has a twin brother, Daniel, raised in a remote monastery by a depraved priest, held captive against his will. The power of destiny brings together the two beautiful, identical brothers, who, after being reunited with their mother Beatrice, are soon embroiled in a blasphemous web of sex, revenge and redemption. Set in the early 1970s and the afterglow of sexual liberation, the film is a love letter to the psychosexual thrillers of that era. From Film Movement.FOREIGN FILMS:
In "ROH" (2021 - Malaysia), starring Farah Ahmad, Mhia Farhana, Harith Haziq, Nam Ron, Junainah M. Lojong and Putri Syahadah Nurqaseh, cut off from civilization, a single mother puts her children on high alert when they bring home a strange young girl caked in clay. She tells of spirits and spirit hunters and after spending the night she delivers an ominous prophecy: the family will all soon die. As strangers begin to show up on her doorstep, and terrible events crop up around them, she quickly finds another reason to fear the forest. This eerily atmospheric folk horror tale marks the stunning directorial debut of seasoned visual effects artist, Emir Ezwan. From Film Movement. Read more hereFROM TV TO DISC:
"Resident Evil: Infinite Darkness - Season One" (2021) is a single disc with all four episodes of the series that extends the "Resident Evil" movie franchise (which, in turn, is based on the best-selling games). Years after the horrors of Raccoon City, Leon and Claire find themselves consumed by a dark conspiracy when a viral attack ravages the White House. On DVD, Blu-ray, from Sony).
Check out other new DVD/Blu-ray releases, streaming films, and information and reviews at OnVideo.
