New streaming, on-demand highlights September 11-17, 2023
SALT LAKE CITY (KUTV) — Ladies, and perhaps gentlemen, you can now enjoy “Barbie” from the comfort of your very own dream house. Malibu not included. I thought that “Barbie” was either going to be a massive hit or a film with a solid opening weekend that falls off the face of the Earth in its second week. I never could have predicted that the film would go on to be Warner Bros. Studio’s biggest hit ever. Its worldwide total currently sits at $1.4 billion. That’s incredible.
“Barbie” isn’t the only hit making its way to digital this week. “Talk to Me,” a low budget horror from indie darling A24, managed to make $67 million worldwide. That’s nearly 15 times its $5 million budget. Money aside, it’s also a solid horror experience. It’s perfect for Halloween parties.
And then there is “Retribution,” the latest Liam Neeson action film. It’s terrible. I hated it.
I am, however, curious about a number of the lesser-known titles coming to digital this week. “Aporia,” “Jules,” “Venus” and “Final Cut” (a remake of the cult favorite Japanese film “One Cut of the Dead”).
On the Blu-ray and DVD front we have the 4K release of the fantastic “Batman Mask of the Phantasm,” the raunchy, funny, and emotionally cleansing “Joy Ride,” Ben Affleck’s Nike and Michael Jordan courtship drama “Air," the latest season of “Cobra Kai“ and box sets for “Succession” and “Rick and Morty.” If you’re willing to stray off the well-traveled path, I present Juliette Binoche in “Between Two Worlds” and the Criterion Collection 4K release of Nicolas Roeg’s “Walkabout.”
All things considered, it’s one of the best and most balanced release weeks of 2023.
Barbie
Studio Synopsis: To live in Barbie Land is to be a perfect being in a perfect place. Unless you have a full-on existential crisis. Or you’re a Ken.
Talk To Me
Studio Synopsis: When a group of friends discover how to conjure spirits with an embalmed hand, they become hooked on the new thrill and high-stakes party game - until one of them goes too far and unleashes terrifying supernatural forces. The eye-popping, nightmarish debut from Australian twin filmmakers and horror sensations Danny and Michael Philippou.
Retribution
Studio Synopsis: In this ticking-clock thriller of redemption and revenge, Matt Turner (Liam Neeson) begins a high-speed chase across Berlin to complete a specific series of tasks after a mysterious caller puts a bomb under his car seat. With Matt's kids trapped in the back seat and a bomb that will explode if they get out of the car, a normal commute becomes a twisted game of life or death as Matt follows the stranger's increasingly dangerous instructions in a race against time to save his family.
Aporia
Studio Synopsis: Since losing her husband Mal (Edi Gathegi) in a drunk-driving incident, Sophie (Judy Greer) has struggled to manage crippling grief, a full-time job, and the demands of parenting her devastated teenage daughter (Faithe Herman). When her husband’s best friend Jabir (Payman Maadi), a former physicist, reveals that he has been building a time-bending machine that could restore her former life, Sophie will be faced with an impossible choice—and unforeseeable consequences.
Ariel: Back to Beuenos Aires
Studio Synopsis: "Ariel" is the story of a brother and sister who return to the country of their birth, Argentina, for the first time in their adult lives. Against the backdrop of glamorous tango clubs of Buenos Aires, they uncover dark family secrets and the reason for their parents' emigration to Canada.
Beyond Existence
Studio Synopsis: "Beyond Existence" is a British sci-fi road trip movie. What happens when technology exceeds humanity? Ellen, a government agent must protect a professor’s covert research project from an immortal bounty hunter to save the human race.
Final Cut
Studio Synopsis: This wacky horror comedy, a remake of Japanese cult hit "One Cut of the Dead," follows a director making a low-budget zombie flick in which the cast and crew, one by one, turn into zombies.
Jules
Studio Synopsis: "Jules" follows Milton (Ben Kingsley) who lives a quiet life of routine in a small western Pennsylvania town, but finds his day upended when a UFO and its extra-terrestrial passenger crash land in his backyard. Before long, Milton develops a close relationship with the extra-terrestrial he calls “Jules.” Things become complicated when two neighbors (Harris and Curtin) discover Jules and the government quickly closes in. What follows is a funny, wildly inventive ride as the three neighbors find meaning and connection later in life - thanks to this unlikely stranger.
Marisol
Studio Synopsis: For Marisol Rivera, a first generation Mexican-American, college is everything she's worked toward. She spent mornings cleaning horse stalls and evenings studying. Now, with a scholarship in hand, she's ready to leave Southwest Texas and begin her new life. However, when Marisol is falsely accused of a crime, she learns a heartbreaking truth: she's undocumented. Forced to go on the run, Marisol discovers a kind America amidst a harsh bureaucratic system. A coming of age film through the lens of immigration, Marisol critically examines systemic oppression and the causality of racism.
Venus
Studio Synopsis: Go-go dancer Lucía, on the run with a stash of pills and hunted by mobsters, takes sanctuary in an apartment block with sister Rocío and niece Alba only to find out that malevolent supernatural forces are at play in the building.
Blu-ray & DVD Highlights
Batman: Mask of the Phantasm 4K UHD
Studio Synopsis: In this stylish animated film, Batman battles a dangerous new foe who is trying to frame the Dark Knight for the murder of a crime lord--and who is mysteriously linked to Bruce Wayne's former girlfriend. "Batman: The Mask of the Phantasm" celebrates 30 years! Now in 4K Ultra HD, watch one of the greatest Batman stories ever told.
Air
Studio Synopsis: "Air" reveals the unbelievable game-changing partnership between a then rookie Michael Jordan and Nike’s fledgling basketball division which revolutionized the world of sports and contemporary culture with the Air Jordan brand. This moving story follows the career-defining gamble of an unconventional team with everything on the line, the uncompromising vision of a mother who knows the worth of her son’s immense talent, and the basketball phenom who would become the greatest of all time.
Between Two Worlds
Studio Synopsis: Famed author Marianne Winckler (Juliette Binoche) goes undercover to investigate the exploitation of the working class in Northern France. She eventually lands a job as a cleaner on the cross-channel ferry and develops close connections with the other cleaning women, many of whom have extremely limited resources and income opportunities. As she learns more about the plight of these workers, Marianne struggles with her deception toward them and tries to rationalize that it’s for the greater good.
Cobra Kai: Season 5
Studio Synopsis: Cobra Kai takes place over 30 years after the events of the 1984 All Valley Karate Tournament with the continuation of the inescapable conflict between Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio) and Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka). Following the shocking results of the All Valley Tournament, Season 5 finds Terry Silver expanding the Cobra Kai empire and trying to make his "No Mercy" style of karate the only game in town. With Kreese behind bars and Johnny Lawrence setting karate aside to focus on repairing the damage he’s caused, Daniel LaRusso must call on an old friend for help.
Joy Ride
Studio Synopsis: The hilarious and unapologetically explicit story of identity and self-discovery centers on four unlikely friends who embark on a once-in-a-lifetime international adventure. When Audrey's (Ashley Park) business trip to Asia goes sideways, she enlists the aid of Lolo (Sherry Cola), her irreverent, childhood best friend who also happens to be a hot mess; Kat (Stephanie Hsu), her college friend turned Chinese soap star; and Deadeye (Sabrina Wu), Lolo's eccentric cousin. Their no-holds-barred, epic experience becomes a journey of bonding, friendship, belonging, and wild debauchery that reveals the universal truth of what it means to know and love who you are.
Rick and Morty: Seasons 1-6
Studio Synopsis: Get Schwifty while you binge on one of cable’s #1 watched comedies that follows the sci-fi misadventures of genius scientist Rick and his family. Rick and Morty: The Complete Seasons 1-6 includes all 61 episodes from six seasons of the award-winning series, copious special features, audio commentary, deleted scenes, “Inside the Episode” segments, numerous featurettes, animatic sketches, and more. For a limited time, fans who purchase the set will also receive an exclusive "Rick and Morty" poster.
Succession: The Complete Series
Studio Synopsis: Power, politics, money ... it’s all in the family in this provocative, satirical series about a highly dysfunctional dynasty. When the aging patriarch of one of the world’s largest media conglomerates considers retirement, his family members position themselves for a takeover. But tensions rise as corporate battles threaten to turn into a family civil war in this sharp, scathing, binge-worthy series.
Walkabout 4K UHD
Studio Synopsis: A young sister and brother are abandoned in the harsh Australian outback and must learn to cope in the natural world, without their usual comforts, in this hypnotic masterpiece from Nicolas Roeg. Along the way, they meet an Aboriginal youth on his walkabout, a rite of passage in which adolescent boys are initiated into manhood by journeying into the wilderness alone. Walkabout is a thrilling adventure as well as a provocative rumination on time and civilization.