New On Blu-Ray: ‘Hobbs And Shaw’, ‘Kundun’, ‘Popstar’, ‘Road Games’, ‘Dracula’
It’s that time again! Time to revel in a new assortment of physical media. I know there are approximately ten bajillion streaming services right now, but that doesn’t mean you should give up on physical media. Streaming content can come and go like the tide. Physical media lasts forever. Unless you lose it. Or your house burns down. Anyway, these are the new Blu-ray releases you should check out this week!
Hobbs and Shaw
I am one of the very few people who aren’t enamored with theFast and Furiousfranchise. I don’t think it’s bad, I just don’t love it as much as, well…everyone. So with that in mind, I went intoHobbs and Shawwithout many expectations. I wasn’t dead-set on this film being tied into theFuriousworld. I just wanted a big, silly action flick. And to be fair,Hobbs and Shawis indeed that. Sadly, it’s also not very good. The story involves DSS Agent Luke Hobbs (Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson) and mercenary Deckard Shaw (Jason Statham) teaming up yet again. This time they have to go up against Brixton Lore, a self-proclaimed “Black Superman” who is “cyber-genetically enhanced” (he’s basically a cyborg). Also thrown into the mix is Shaw’s sister, MI6 agent Hattie Shaw (Vanessa Kirby). All of these people are talented and very attractive. But the script, courtesy of Chris Morgan and Drew Pearce, is so clunky that it hurts. Here is a film thatthinksit’s hilarious, so it has endless scenes of “banter.” But here’s the thing: the “jokes” here aren’t funny at all, making the banter painful. But the action is solid, and if that’s all you care about – and it very well might be! – you’ll be satisfied.
Why It’s Worth Owning on Blu-ray:
Look, I’m not going to sugarcoat this: you could do without this movie. If you’re a completist who owns the rest of theFast and the Furiousfranchise, and youneedto add this to your collection, then by all means – go nuts. But if you’re looking for some action-packed, globe-trotting fun, you should probably just stuck with theMission: Impossiblemovies – whichHobbs and Shawso badly wants to be.
Special Features Include:
Pfft, here we go again, anotherMartin Scorsesegangster movie! Oh, what’s that? This is actually a soulful film about the Dalai Lama? My mistake. Scorsese’sKundunis an outlier – the film in the great director’s filmography that seems almost forgotten. For years,Kundunwas left in the shadows, primarily because it’s a Disney-owned film, and China had a lot of problems with the film. To make China happy, Disney actually issued anapologyfor this movie. Now, Kino Lorber has given it a wonderful Blu-ray release well worth picking up. Is it one of Scorsese’s best films? No. But it’s a passionate, entrancing portrait of a young boy thrust into an overwhelming position. Spanning the years between 1937 to 1959,Kundunis a look at the 14th Dalai Lama (played as an adult byTenzin Thuthob Tsarong), who lives in exile to this day. Scorsese, who considered joining the priesthood before becoming a filmmaker, brings the same type of religious study here that he brings to films likeThe Last Temptation of ChristandSilence. It may be a completely different religion on display here, but the reverie is the same.
This is the first timeKundunhas ever been released on Blu-ray, so that alone makes this a must-have. Kino Lorber has loaded up the disc with older special features that showcase Scorsese’s vision. There’s even a feature-length documentary about the making of the movie. “I think my association comes from being involved with religion a great deal,” Scorsesesays, “especially when I was younger, and believing in the good nature of man, there’s the bad and there’s the good, the negative and positive, and I think in the movies I’ve made I’ve always sort of been skirting around, for better or for worse, these issues, which is what makes up a human being? Are we intrinsically evil, or are we intrinsically good, deep down? What is our species, what are we about?”
Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping
Popstar: Never Stop Never Stoppingis one of the funniest movies you probably never saw (apologies if you have). This absolutely ludicrous mockumentary fromAkiva SchafferandJorma TacconestarsAndy Sambergas Conner4Real, a superstar in the midst of his new album flopping. The plot is paper-thin, but that’s okay.Popstarisn’t concerned with plot. It just wants to use its set-up to stage a series of laugh-out-loud moments and show-stopping musical numbers. In a just world,Popstarwould’ve done boffo box office so we could’ve gotten more movies like this. Alas, we’ll just have to make do with the film being a new cult classic.
The good folks at Shout Factory have givenPopstarthe special treatment it deserves, packaging it in a fancy steelbook. The special features are ported over from the previous Blu, but this is the version you’re going to want to own. While a large amount of people seems to have discovered this movie in the wake of its box office failure, I still think there’s a good chunk of movie watchers out there who have never given this film the light of day. Here’s your chance! Pick upPopstar, and marvel at the sights, the sounds, the songs!
Road Games
Road Gamesis one of those highway horror films; the type where someone is stuck on the road, dealing with a madman.Stacy Keachis Pat Quid, a trucker in Australia (even though he’s American) who picks up a hitchhiker named Pamela, who isalsoAmerican, played byJamie Lee Curtis. The two run afoul of a killer in a green van, setting the stage for a Hitchcockian cat-and-mouse game. Along the way, the local cops begin to suspect Keach’s Quid is the killer, which means he has to prove them wrong and clear his name. Is it a great movie? Not really. But it does feature Stacy Keach yelling out things like, “Come out here, you miserable stink!”
Never in my life did I think thatRoad Games, a movie I watched on VHS years and years ago, would get itself a special Blu-ray release. But here we are! Thanks to Scream Factory, this somewhat forgotten horror-thriller has itself a new Blu complete with a new audio commentary, an interview with Stacy Keach, and more. Again:Road Gamesisn’t some forgotten masterpiece, but it is a highly enjoyable flick that deserves to find a new audience here in 2019 and beyond.
There have been many adaptations ofDracula, but few have featured as handsome a count as the 1979 version withFrank Langella. Langella had famously played old Drac on Broadway, with a production that featured sets designed by legendary artist Edward Gorey. ThisJohn Badham-directed feature adapts that production without Gorey’s illustrated sets. You know the story: bloodsucking aristocrat comes to England to feed but ends up butting heads with vampire hunters. ThisDraculaisn’t the most sophisticated adaptation, but it does benefit from Langella’s performance. He turns the Count into an irresistible force; a sexy, devilish monster who is almost impossible to resist.
This great new Blu-ray release from Scream Factory features two versions of the film: the original theatrical cut, which is colored normally, and a “desaturated” cut that casts the film in an eerie sepia-toned light. The sepia version is the preferable one, as it gives the movie a haunted feel. Director John Badham actually wanted to shootDraculain black and white, but Universal Pictures objected. When it came time to releaseDraculaon Laserdisc (remember that??), Badham altered the color to be desaturated. Some people prefer this version (like me), and some like the more natural theatrical colors. The Scream Factory Blu-ray gives you the option to choose your own preferrable version.
