New streaming, on-demand highlights April 15-21, 2024
SALT LAKE CITY (KUTV) — A week or so ago, I returned to the theater to see “Dune: Part Two” in IMAX. The preview screening I attended had been a fantastic Dolby Atmos experience, but I wanted to see the second half of Denis Villeneuve’s adaptation of Frank Herbert’s novel on the biggest screen possible.
With this week’s digital-to-own or rent release of the film, audiences now have the option of watching the movie on the smallest screen possible. Bigger is better, but “Dune: Part Two” won’t be in theaters forever. A pocket-sized Dune is better than no Dune at all. Those who found the first half of the story to be a bit confusing and lacking in action will discover answers and an increased number of fight sequences in the sequel.
You also have the option of viewing “Immaculate,” Sidney Sweeny’s nunsploitation horror that has garnered a fair amount of controversy (as most nunsploitation films do) from the comfort of your living room where no one (outside of attentive deity, roommates, and partners) will judge you.
Elsewhere you’ll findLiam Neeson in the Irish drama “In the Land of Saints and Sinners,” A24’s “Problemista,” Johhny Knoxville’s misfit- baseball dramedy “Sweet Dreams,” and the thriller “Deadly Justice.”
On the Blu-ray and DVD side of things you can now purchase the complete “Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan” series, witness the chaos that is the fourth season of the animated “Star Trek: Lower Decks,” return to the Viking age with Netflix’s “The Last Kingdom: Seven Kings Must Die,” or dive into the art house wonders of Sony’s “The Peasants.”
My pick for the week is “Werckmeister Harmonies,” a somewhat ethereal and surreal story of a man who finds the world around him disintegrating when an unusual circus makes its way into his hometown. Released in 2000, “Werckmeister Harmonies” is considered by many to be one of the best films ever made. It was completely new to me and I was completely entranced by the style of director Béla Tarr. I need to track down Tarr’s version of “Macbeth.”
A title that I accidentally omitted from last month’s releases is “Impulse,” a notorious, obscure 1970s horror film from schlock director William Grefe starring William Shatner as a gold-digging conman who preys upon lonely women and then, as you might expect, does away with them. It’s not intended to be a comedy. Don’t let that get in the way of your laughter. For more about Grefe, check out the documentary “He Came from the Swamp: The Films of William Grefe.” Some films can only be made in Florida.
Dune: Part Two
Studio Synopsis:"Dune: Part Two" explores the mythic journey of Paul Atreides as he unites with Chani and the Fremen while on a warpath of revenge against the conspirators who destroyed his family. Facing a choice between the love of his life and the fate of the known universe, he endeavors to prevent a terrible future only he can foresee.
Immaculate
Studio Synopsis:Sydney Sweeney ("Anyone But You," "Euphoria," "The White Lotus") stars as Cecilia, an American nun of devout faith, embarking on a new journey in a remote convent in the picturesque Italian countryside. Cecilia’s warm welcome quickly devolves into a nightmare as it becomes clear her new home harbors a sinister secret and unspeakable horrors.
In the Land of Saints and Sinners
Studio Synopsis: Ireland, 1970s. Eager to leave his dark past behind, Finbar Murphy (Liam Neeson) leads a quiet life in the remote coastal town of Glencolmcille, far from the political violence that grips the rest of the country. But when a menacing crew of terrorists arrive, led by a ruthless woman named Doirean (Kerry Condon), Finbar is drawn into an increasingly vicious game of cat and mouse, forcing him to choose between exposing his secret identity or defending his friends and neighbors.
Problemista
Studio Synopsis:Alejandro (Julio Torres) is an aspiring toy designer from El Salvador, struggling to bring his unusual and fanciful ideas to life and find his place in New York City. As time on his work visa runs out, a job assisting an erratic employer (Tilda Swinton) becomes his only hope to stay in the country. From writer/director Julio Torres comes a charming, surreal, and sweetly emotional comedy about chasing your dreams.
Available: April 19, 2024
Sweet Dreams
Studio Synopsis:Johnny Knoxville, Mo Amer, Theo Von and Kate Upton unite in this wild and off-the-wall journey of second chances from the producer of "The Peanut Butter Falcon." Forced into rehab at Sweet Dreams recovery center, Morris (Knoxville) struggles to confront the wreckage of his life. But when their house goes up for auction, he reluctantly agrees to coach their misfit softball team of recovering addicts to win a cash prize and prove that everyone, despite their past, can hit a home run.
Deadly Justice
Studio Synopsis:Holly Powell (Kelly Sullivan) is a successful prosecutor who put away a prominent but corrupt Judge. After appearing on a true crime show to discuss the case, Holly’s life and business are turned upside down by a murderous stalker who is convinced that Judge Halstead is an innocent man and becomes hellbent on putting Holly away for good.
Blu-ray & DVD Highlights
Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan: The Complete Series
Studio Synopsis:Jack Ryan, an up-and-coming CIA analyst, is thrust into a dangerous field assignment for the first time. He soon uncovers a pattern in terrorist communication that launches him into the center of a dangerous gambit with a new breed of terrorism that threatens destruction on a global scale.
Star Trek: Lower Decks - Season 4
Studio Synopsis:Boldly going where no man has gone before, but lower. "Star Trek: Lower Decks" is a half-hour animated comedy which focuses on the support crew who serve on one of Starfleet’s least important ships.
The Last Kingdom: Seven Kings Must Die
Studio Synopsis:For a century war has raged through the land between its inhabitants and the Danish invaders. But now a peace has settled with the country nearly united – only Lord Uhtred of Bebbanburg, ruling over Northumbria, is yet to pledge his land to the throne. But when King Edward dies the peace is threatened as his two potential heirs, Aethelstan and Aelfweard, battle to claim the crown. When Uhtred hears that Aethelstan – once his ward and protégé is to fight, he rides to help him secure victory, but the young prince has fallen under a dark influence and is not the same boy Uhtred once knew. And when Aethelstan’s actions threatens the life Uhtred has known, Uhtred must decide where his loyalties lie – with the king, or with his homeland.
The Peasants
Studio Synopsis: "The Peasants" tells the story of Jagna, a young woman determined to forge her own path within the confines of a late 19th century Polish village – a hotbed of gossip and ongoing feuds, held together, rich and poor, by pride in their land, adherence to colourful traditions and deep-rooted patriarchy. When Jagna finds herself caught between the conflicting desires of the village’s richest farmer, his eldest son, and other leading men of the community, her resistance puts her on a tragic collision course with the community around her.
Werckmeister Harmonies
Studio Synopsis:One of the major achievements of twenty-first-century cinema thus far, Béla Tarr’s mesmeric parable of societal collapse is an enigma of transcendent visual, philosophical, and mystical resonance. Adapted from a novel by the celebrated writer and frequent Tarr collaborator László Krasznahorkai, "Werckmeister Harmonies" unfolds in an unknown era in an unnamed village, where, one day, a mysterious circus—complete with an enormous stuffed whale and a shadowy, demagogue-like figure known as the Prince—arrives and appears to awaken a kind of madness in the citizens, which builds inexorably toward violence and destruction. In thirty-nine of his signature long takes, engraved in ghostly black and white, Tarr conjures an apocalyptic vision of dreamlike dread and fathomless beauty.
Implulse
Studio Synopsis: William Shatner stars as Matt Stone, a deranged gigolo who preys on rich women, unable to control his murderous psychosexual urges. Directed by legendary exploitation filmmaker William Grefé ("The Death Curse of Tartu"), and co-starring Jennifer Bishop (Al Adamson's "The Female Bunch"), Ruth Roman (Alfred Hitchcock's "Strangers on a Train"), Harold "Oddjob" Sakata ("Goldfinger") and William Kerwin (Herschell Gordon Lewis' "Blood Feast"), "Impulse" is being presented in a beautiful new master lovingly restored in 4K from rare archival 35mm film element