Thank god for the many fine releasers of catalog titles, because this week would be a snooze without them. The most exciting new releases this week are John Carney’s Sing Street and Drafthouse Films’s The Invitation, followed not very closely the moderately well-received second sequel to Barbershop and the Julius-approved The Boss, those followed even less closely by the headache-inducing gimmick movie Hardcore Henry and the latest in Kevin Costner’s ongoing anti-renaissance, Criminal (in which presumably all he needs is a good defense). Meanwhile, this is a wonderful week for boutique labels, both in the States and in the UK. You Brits finally get Criterion’s excellent release of Dr. Strangelove, in addition to new editions of Absolute Beginners, Buster Keaton’s short films, and, best of all, the semi-prequel (depending on which filmmaker you ask) to The Limey, Ken Loach’s Poor Cow. Back in the States, Shout Factory blatantly panders to the Hooded Justice market and releases nobody’s favorite Death Wish movie (the second one), Kino releases highlights from early African-American cinema and the Anthony Perkins-Sophia Loren drama Five Miles to Midnight, Arrow brings us another unlikely, delightful box set in Female Prisoner Scorpion, and, best of all, Criterion gives us the definitive (hopefully) release of Terrence Malick’s The New World. Their release contains three cuts of the film, the theatrical, the cut that was first screened (which makes its debut on U.S. disc here), and the Malick-approved extended cut which was previously released on Blu-Ray. I don’t even know if I’ll be able to stomach that much Chivo Lubezki magic in one sitting, but god knows I’ll try.
Absolute Beginners (Second Sight, UK-only, Region B)
Barbershop: The Next Cut (Warner)
The Boss (Universal)
The Boy Who Cried Werewolf (Shout Factory)
Buster Keaton: The Complete Short Films (Masters of Cinema, UK-only, Region B)
The Candy Tangerine Man / Lady Cocoa (Vinegar Syndrome)
Criminal (Lionsgate)
The Deadly Trackers (Warner Archive Collection)
Death Wish II (Shout Factory)
Dr. Strangelove, or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (Criterion, UK-only, Region B)
Female Prisoner Scorpion: The Complete Collection (Female Prisoner #701: Scorpion / Female Prisoner Scorpion: Jailhouse 41 / Female Prisoner Scorpion: Beast Stable / Female Prisoner Scorpion #701: Grudge Song | Limited Edition of 3000) (Arrow)
Five Miles to Midnight (Kino)
Hardcore Henry (Universal)
I Am Wrath (Lionsgate)
The Invitation (Drafthouse Films)
Mirror (Artificial Eye, UK-only, Region B)
The New World (Criterion)
Pioneers of African American Cinema (Kino)
Poor Cow (StudioCanal, UK-only, Region B)
Sing Street (Anchor Bay)
Zombie Holocaust (Doctor Butcher M.D. | Zombi Holocaust | Barf Bag Limited Edition to 5000) (Severin Films)