New streaming highlights for the week of May 1-7, 2023
SALT LAKE CITY (KUTV) — It's a big release week for digital titles as the underappreciated "Dungeouns & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves," the criminally ignored "Renfield," the successful faith based "His Only Son," and the Russell Crowe horror "The Pope's Exorcist" arrive on your favorite online retailers.
On Blu-ray and DVD we have "80 for Brady" (I'm absolutely not the demographic), "Champions," a tonally inconsistan but still recommendable feel-good comedy, the 4K release of the masterpiece "Wings of Desire," a 3-film Anna May Wong set, and a new Film Noir: The Dark Side of Cinema collection.
Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves
Studio Synopsis:A charming thief and a band of unlikely adventurers undertake an epic heist to retrieve a lost relic, but things go dangerously awry when they run afoul of the wrong people in this hilarious and action-packed adventure.
Renfield
Studio Synopsis:Nicholas Hoult stars as Renfield, the tortured aide to history's most narcissistic boss: Dracula (Nicolas Cage). For centuries, Renfield has slavishly served Dracula by procuring his master's prey and doing his every bidding, no matter how debased. But now, Renfield is ready to look for a new life outside the shadow of The Prince of Darkness, if only he can figure out how to end the toxic, codependent relationship...
The Pope's Exorcist
Studio Synopsis:Inspired by the actual files of Father Gabriele Amorth, Chief Exorcist of the Vatican (Academy Award-winner Russell Crowe; 2000, Best Actor, Gladiator), The Pope's Exorcist follows Amorth as he investigates a young boy's terrifying possession and ends up uncovering a centuries-old conspiracy the Vatican has desperately tried to keep hidden.
The Forger
Studio Synopsis:Based on a true story of bravery in the face of evil, an audacious young man poses as a marine officer and forges documents to help fellow Jews escape Nazi Germany.
Moving On
Studio Synopsis:In this revenge comedy from Academy Award-nominated* writer Paul Weitz, Claire (Academy Award winner* Jane Fonda) and Evelyn (Academy Award nominee* Lily Tomlin) are estranged friends who reunite to get even with Howard (Malcolm McDowell), the petulant widower of their recently deceased best friend. Along the way, Claire reunites with Ralph (Richard Roundtree), her great love from her younger years, as each woman must make peace with her past and learn to treasure the value of a good friend.
Sweetwater
Studio Synopsis: Hall of Famer Nat "Sweetwater" Clifton makes history as the first African American to sign an NBA contract, forever changing how the game of basketball is played.
His Only Son
Studio Synopsis:After being asked by God to sacrifice his only son, Abraham's faith is tested as he journeys to the mountain of Moriah to make an unthinkable sacrifice.
Mafia Mamma
Studio Synopsis:MAFIA MAMMA follows an insecure American woman (Toni Collette) who unexpectedly inherits her grandfather's mafia empire in Italy. Guided by the firm's trusted consigliere (Monica Bellucci), she hilariously defies everyone's expectations, including her own, as the new head of the family business.
On the Edge
Studio Synopsis:In the pulse-pounding thriller On the Edge, a Spanish subway train operator in Brussels witnesses his estranged son Hugo fall to his death off the edge of a platform. Leo had not seen his son for years, but is spurred to investigate the mysterious circumstances of his passing. He discovers that Hugo was involved in a bloody heist, the discovery of which puts Leo in the crosshairs of the police. Leo’s skills in tracking and apprehending violent criminals, as it turns out, are not those of public transit employee.
I'll Be Watching
Studio Synopsis: After Julie’s sister was murdered, she and her tech genius husband move to the country, and he installs a top-notch security system that he developed. When he leaves on a work trip, she gets trapped inside and is convinced that the killer is having fun playing a sick game of psychological torture, before killing her like her sister.
Space Wars: Quest for the Deepstar
Studio Synopsis:A father and daughter team of space scavengers race against a band of evil mercenaries to reach a legendary lost freighter called the Deepstar. Along their trek through the universe, they encounter monsters, aliens, robots, and something even worse.
Warm Water
Studio Synopsis: Brimming with magical realism, sensuality, and humor, the final film by revered filmmaker Shohei Imamura is "an enlightening, even liberating, experience" (Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times) that tells the story of Yosuke Sasano, an unemployed salaryman who arrives in a remote fishing village following a rumor of hidden treasure. Instead, he meets Saeko Aizawa, a charming and unusual woman with a unique problem: a well of warm water inside her longing for release. Saeko faces both shame and adoration for her condition, which the local anglers believe feeds the river and its fish. Intrigued and enamored, Yosuke decides to take up a new life as a fisherman. Through their passionate affair, Imamura paints a picture of longing, fantasy, and the search for true happiness in the most unexpected of places that's both "nonchalantly freaky and uncommonly pleasurable" (Michael Atkinson, The Village Voice).
Blu-ray & DVD
80 For Brady
Studio Synopsis:Academy Award nominee Lily Tomlin, and winners Jane Fonda, Rita Moreno, and Sally Field star in this hilarious and heartfelt comedy, inspired by a true story of friendship and adventure. Four lifelong friends set out on an unforgettable journey to see their hero Tom Brady play in Super Bowl LI and witness one of the greatest comebacks in sports history, discovering that it's never too late to live life to the fullest.
Champions
Studio Synopsis:Woody Harrelson stars in the hilarious and heartwarming story of a former minor-league basketball coach who, after a series of missteps, is ordered by the court to manage a team of players with intellectual disabilities. He soon realizes that despite his doubts, together, this team can go further than they ever imagined.
Supercell
Studio Synopsis:Baseball-size hail, violent winds, and churning tornadoes make supercells deadly, and when William Brody was a boy, his father – a legendary storm-chaser – was killed by one. Now, the family business belongs to Zane Rogers, a reckless tour operator who sees dollar signs where others see storm clouds. When his destiny arrives in the form of one of the most powerful storms on record, William leaves his mom and home behind to team up with his father's ex-partner, Roy Cameron, barely surviving a tornado yet determined to chase one of nature's most terrifying creations: the bear's cage.
Baby Ruby
Studio Synopsis:BABY RUBY stars Noémie Merlant (PORTRAIT OF A LADY ON FIRE) as Jo, a successful lifestyle entrepreneur who is happily pregnant, awaiting the arrival of her first child. But soon after she and her husband (GAME OF THRONES star Kit Harington) welcome baby Ruby home, something starts to feel off -- even as she's assured it's all perfectly normal. Is something wrong with her? Is something wrong with Ruby? And why are the seemingly perfect neighborhood moms so desperate to befriend her? As Jo fights to protect herself and her baby, she is plunged into a waking fever dream where everyone is a threat and nothing is what it seems. At last, she must confront the truth of her own darkness and contend with the ultimate human sacrifice: The one mothers make for their children
Deep Impact 4K UHD
Studio Synopsis:A unique and dynamic fusion of large-scale excitement with touching personal storylines, the film depicts humanity’s response as a comet hurtles through space on a collision course with Earth.
The Assassination Bureau
Studio Synopsis: London, 1908. When feisty journalist and women’s rights campaigner Sonia Winter (Diana Rigg) uncovers the headquarters of the Assassination Bureau Limited, a clandestine enterprise that has existed for decades by bumping off the rich and powerful - but only if there's a good moral reason for it - she sets on a path of putting an end to its activities. Bankrolled by her press baron boss, Lord Bostwick (Telly Savalas), she commissions the organisation to undertake the assassination of its very own chairman, Ivan Dragomiloff (Oliver Reed). Being the gentleman that he is, Dragomiloff responds to the assignment with glee, challenging his fellow board members to complete the contract. Only they'll have to catch him first...
Film Noir: The Dark Side of Cinema XIII
Spy Hunt
Studio Synopsis:he manhunt that rocked the world! Noir great Howard Duff (Johnny Stool Pigeon, Woman in Hiding, Shakedown) stars with the beautiful Märta Torén (One Way Street, Deported, Sirocco) in this compelling Cold War thriller. Steve Quain (Duff), escorting two zoo-bound black panthers on a train from Milan to Paris, is unaware that a secret agent, Catherine Ullven (Torén), has concealed an incriminating microfilm in the collar of one of the animals. But when the train is derailed in the Swiss Alps and the panthers escape, she is forced to involve him in her mission, which now includes enemy spies hunting the microfilm, the animals, Catherine and Steve.
The Night Runner
Studio Synopsis:Are mental patients turned loose too soon? Ray Danton (Outside the Law, The Big Operator, The Longest Day) stars as Roy Turner, a man with a violent past who is prematurely released from an overcrowded institution. Realizing that he cannot handle the pressures of big-city life, he moves into a small-town beachside motel and falls in love with Susan Mayes, warmly played by Colleen Miller (Four Guns to the Border, Man in the Shadow, Step Down to Terror), the daughter of the motel’s owner. When her father finds out about Roy, he threatens to have him recommitted unless he leaves his daughter alone. Roy snaps, and commits a crime from which there is no turning back.
Step down to Terror
Studio Synopsis:Step by stephe made a career out of love...and murder! Based on the same source material as Alfred Hitchcock’s Shadow of a Doubt, this suspense-soaked noir stars Colleen Miller (Playgirl, The Night Runner, Hot Summer Night), Charles Drake (I Was a Shoplifter, Female on the Beach, No Name on the Bullet) and Rod Taylor (The Time Machine, The Birds, Darker Than Amber). Pursued by detectives, killer Johnny Walters (Drake) leaves the city to visit his family in a small California town. Among the household: his dead brother’s alluring widow Helen (Miller), who soon is attracted to him. But ominous events and conflicting evidence leave Helen suspicious of her beloved brother-in-law, as director Harry Keller (The Unguarded Moment, Quantez, The Female Animal) expertly ratchets the tension.
Wings of Desire 4K UHD
Studio Synopsis:Wings of Desire is one of cinema's loveliest city symphonies. Bruno Ganz is Damiel, an angel perched atop buildings high over Berlin who can hear the thoughts-fears, hopes, dreams-of all the people living below. But when he falls in love with a beautiful trapeze artist, he is willing to give up his immortality and come back to earth to be with her. Made not long before the fall of the Berlin wall, this stunning tapestry of sounds and images, shot in black and white and color by the legendary Henri Alekan, is movie poetry. And it forever made the name Wim Wenders synonymous with film art.
Anna May Wong Collection
Dangerous to Know
Studio Synopsis:Screen legend Anna May Wong (Picadilly) reprises her acclaimed Broadway role in this romantic crime drama from the pen of Edgar Wallace (Chamber of Horrors). Racketeer Steve Recka (Akim Tamiroff, The General Died at Dawn) rules his town and the sultry, silk-gowned Madam Lan Ying (Wong) with an iron hand. But when he falls for the enchanting Margaret Van Kase (Gail Patrick, Death Takes a Holiday), a socialite not impressed by his power nor his wealth, he makes frantic efforts to win her and turns his back on the loyal Lan Ying.
Island of Lost Men
Studio Synopsis:Screen legend Anna May Wong (Daughter of Shanghai) clashes with J. Carrol Naish (Sahara) in this rousing remake of 1933’s Carole Lombard/Charles Laughton starrer White Woman. Cabaret singer Kim Ling (Wong), the daughter of a Chinese general who has been accused of absconding with government funds, arrives in the Straits Settlements. There she meets Gregory Prin (Naish), a half-caste gunrunner and head of a jungle empire where he treats the Malaysians ruthlessly. She agrees to accompany him in search of her father, as she has several reasons to believe Prin is responsible for the general’s disappearance.
King of Chinatown
Studio Synopsis:Screen legend Anna May Wong (Shanghai Express) co-stars with the “czar of a city of sin,” Akim Tamiroff (Desire), in the ripping crime yarn King of Chinatown. Violence and death stalk the Chinese faction of a big American city, but one man, Dr. Chang Ling (Sidney Toler, Shadows Over Chinatown), and his daughter, Dr. Mary Ling (Wong), defy the gangsters who are responsible, and, against terrific odds, bring peace to their oppressed neighbors. Wong gives a powerful and pioneering performance as a respected surgeon faced with a shocking moral dilemma.