New streaming, on-demand highlights January 8-15, 2024

SALT LAKE CITY (KUTV) — Every year there is a film or two that goes quietly into the night without the fanfare it deserves. “Napoleon” is one of those films. Directed by Ridley Scottwith the sort of aplomb that you’d expect from a historical epic,Joaquin Phoenix offers a strong performance as Napoleon Bonaparte. Those are reasons enough to see the film. Still, the film’s greatest strength comes fromVanessa Kirby’s Josephine Bonaparte. She’s nearly as wicked as Lady Macbeth. Now there’s an idea

Also, this week, we have the first half of “The Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths,” the cinematic adaptation of “Waitress: The Musical,” wuxia action with “The Flying Swordsman,” a bit of music with Billy Idol’s performance at the Hoover Dam, and a few other eclectic options.

It’s quiet on the Blu-ray and DVD front. We do get 4K UHD upgrades for The Criterion Collection Edition of “Blood Simple,” the classic “Oldboy,” and the football drama “Varsity Blues.” New titles include “One Piece - Season 13 Voyage 4” and the horror film “Suitable Flesh.”

Napoleon

Studio Synopsis:Napoleon is a spectacle-filled action epic that details the checkered rise and fall of the iconic French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte, played by Oscar-winner Joaquin Phoenix. Against a stunning backdrop of large-scale filmmaking orchestrated by legendary director Ridley Scott, the film captures Bonaparte's relentless journey to power through the prism of his addictive, volatile relationship with his one true love, Josephine, showcasing his visionary military and political tactics against some of the most dynamic practical battle sequences ever filmed.

Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths, Part 1

Studio Synopsis:Death is coming. Worse than death: oblivion. Not just for our Earth, but for everyone, everywhere, in every universe! Against this ultimate destruction, the mysterious Monitor has gathered the greatest team of Super Heroes ever assembled. But what can the combined might of Superman, Wonder Woman, Batman, The Flash, Green Lantern and hundreds of Super Heroes from multiple Earths even do to save all of reality from an unstoppable antimatter armageddon?!

Waitress: The Musical

Studio Synopsis:Waitress: The Musical brings the Tony-nominated Broadway phenomenon to the big screen. Featuring composer-lyricist Sara Bareilles as Jenna Hunterson, a waitress and expert pie maker stuck in a small town and a loveless marriage. When a baking contest in a nearby county offers her a chance at escape, Jenna fights to reclaim a long-forgotten part of herself. Through the support of her fellow waitresses and an unexpected romance, Jenna begins to find the courage to take a long-abandoned dream off the shelf. Waitress celebrates the power of friendship, dreams, the family we choose and the beauty of a well-baked pie.

Billy Idol: State Line

Studio Synopsis:Billy Idol: State Line highlights the history and significance of Hoover Dam and includes performances from two unique sets of Billy Idol’s iconic hits: a full band concert at sunset with special guests that electrified and illuminated the surrounding Black Canyon and an acoustic duo set on the roof of the powerhouse at the foot of Hoover Dam straddling the Colorado River, directly on the Nevada-Arizona state line.

The Flying Swordsman

Studio Synopsis:After a wicked plot to steal a hidden fortune results in the death of two renowned warriors, the map leading to the treasure’s rumored location inexplicably disappears. But when the map is finally located a decade later, the eight assassins from the original plot re-emerge only to be challenged by a mysterious swordsman motivated by more than mere money—this unknown warrior is out for blood.

The Disappearance of Shere Hite

Studio Synopsis:Shere Hite’s 1976 bestselling book, "The Hite Report," liberated the female orgasm by revealing the most private experiences of thousands of anonymous survey respondents. Her findings rocked the American establishment and presaged current conversations about gender, sexuality, and bodily autonomy. So how did Shere Hite disappear?

Hellhound

Studio Synopsis:In the heart of Bangkok, a seasoned hitman on the cusp of retirement finds himself pulled back into the deadly world he's yearning to leave behind. Reluctantly accepting a final assignment, he believes it to be a routine job. However, as the intricacies of the mission unravel, he is plunged into a whirlwind of intrigue, danger, and unexpected alliances, causing his last endeavor to spiral into a treacherous odyssey that challenges his skills, convictions, and the limits of his own morality.

The Painter

Studio Synopsis:An ex-CIA operative turned painter is thrown back into a dangerous world when a mysterious woman from his past resurfaces. Now exposed and targeted by a relentless killer and a rogue black ops program, he must rely on skills he thought he left behind in a high-stakes game of survival.

Reflect

Studio Synopsis: Summer and her friends embark on a spiritual obstacle course hoping to improve their lives, but they don't know they are being monitored by mysterious hooded entities, eager to take over their bodies.

Blu-ray & DVD Highlights

Blood Simple (The Criterion Collection) 4K UHD

Studio Synopsis:Joel and Ethan Coen’s career-long darkly comic road trip through misfit America began with this razor-sharp, hard-boiled neo-noir set somewhere in Texas, where a sleazy bar owner releases a torrent of violence with one murderous thought. Actor M. Emmet Walsh looms over the proceedings as a slippery private eye with a yellow suit, a cowboy hat, and no moral compass, and Frances McDormand’s cunning debut performance set her on the road to stardom. The tight scripting and inventive style that have marked the Coens’ work for decades are all here in their first film, in which cinematographer Barry Sonnenfeld abandons black-and-white chiaroscuro for neon signs and jukebox colors that combine with Carter Burwell’s haunting score to lurid and thrilling effect. Blending elements from pulp fiction and low-budget horror flicks, "Blood Simple" reinvented the film noir for a new generation, marking the arrival of a filmmaking ensemble that would transform the American independent cinema scene.

Oldboy 4K UHD

Studio Synopsis: After being kidnapped and imprisoned for fifteen years, Oh Dae-su (Choi Min-sik) is released, only to find that he must find his captor in five days.

One Piece - Season 13 Voyage 4

Studio Synopsis:Luffy pummels wave after wave of powerful enemies, but his hunger strike poses serious problems until Sanji finally shows up with food. Meanwhile, Nami and co. rescue Brook from Big Mom’s clutches while she sleeps. With just hours until the wedding, the newly reunited Straw Hats are forced to consider a perilous proposal—to help Bege assassinate their common enemy.

Suitable Flesh

Studio Synopsis:After murdering her young patient, a once-esteemed psychiatrist helplessly watches her life spiral into a nightmarish maelstrom of supernatural hysteria and gruesome deaths, all linked to a seemingly unstoppable ancient curse.

Varisty Blues 4K UHD

Studio Synopsis:At first, backup quarterback Jonathan "Mox" Moxom (James Van Der Beek) is nowhere close to being a star athlete. Perfectly content to stay on the bench, he has no time for coach Kilmer’s (Jon Voight) win-at-all-cost strategies. But when the starting quarterback (Paul Walker) is injured, Mox is in the game and confronting the pressures and temptations of gridiron glory. Soon everyone will realize there's not just a new star quarterback in town, there's a new kind of hero.