While this column focuses on physical media with an appetizer of Netflix options, it’s worth noting that one of the essential films of 2025 is exclusively available on PVOD through the rest of the year. Go spend money to see “One Battle After Another” if you haven’t done so yet, exclusively On Demand until January 2026.

Also, stay tuned for a special edition of this column in December with limited editions and box sets for the holiday season, including new versions of “Scarface,” “Pride & Prejudice,” and several John Woo masterpieces.

10 NEW TO NETFLIX

“Back to the Future“
“Baby Driver“
“Collateral“
“Doctor Sleep“
“Ghost“
“Star Trek“
“Tenet“
“This is the End“
“Whiplash“
“Zodiac“

11 NEW TO BLU-RAY

“Burden of Dreams” (Criterion)

One of the craziest productions in the history of moviemaking was Werner Herzog’s feverish shoot of his masterful “Fitzcarraldo” in Peru in the early ’80s. Just watching Herzog’s story of a maniacal robber baron (the unforgettable Klaus Kinski), one can sense the chaos that must have been unfolding behind the scenes, but it takes Les Blank’s stunning documentary to really comprehend the insanity. Basically, Herzog decided to make a movie about someone who tried to do something crazy, and so did something crazy himself, trying to move a 320-ton steamship over a Peruvian mountain. A lost star (Jason Robards), multiple on-set injuries, and arguments of exploitation followed, and all of it makes for riveting viewing in Les Blank’s essential documentary, now remastered by Criterion. It also includes a great short film called “Werner Herzog Eats His Shoe,” which is pretty self-explanatory.

Special Features

• New 4K digital restoration, supervised by filmmaker Harrod Blank, director Les Blank’s son, with 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack
• Alternate uncompressed monaural soundtrack
• One 4K UHD disc of the film and one Blu-ray with the film and special features
• Audio commentary featuring Les Blank, editor and sound recordist Maureen Gosling, and Fitzcarraldo director Werner Herzog
• Interview with Herzog
• Werner Herzog Eats His Shoe (1980), a short film by Blank
• Deleted scenes
• Behind-the-scenes photos taken by Gosling
• Trailer
• New English subtitle translation and English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
• PLUS: An essay by film scholar Paul Arthur and a book of excerpts from Blank’s and Gosling’s production journals

“Caught Stealing“

Darren Aronofsky tries to do the Guy Ritchie thing to mostly positive results in this dark comedy that moves as well as it does largely due to the blinding star power of Austin Butler (Zoe Kravitz, Matt Smith, Bad Bunny, and Regina King don’t hurt). Butler plays an average guy who gets caught up in a violent plot involving a key hidden in a kitty litter box. Some of it feels like it should be a bit more chaotic than Aronofsky allows, but there’s an energy to the piece that keeps it moving from one twist to another. It’s an especially easy watch at home. Consider it the anti-holiday movie this season.

Special Features

• Aronofsky: The Real Deal – Director Darren Aronofsky and Screenwriter/Author Charlie Huston explore the genesis of the film, the process of adaptation, and how to keep audiences guessing.
• Casting Criminals, Chaos, and a Cat – Austin Butler leads an incredible ensemble of actors – hear from the cast & crew on their characters, filming on set, and more!
• New York Story – From nosy neighbors to Black & White cookies, Caught Stealing is a love letter to New York.
• I Don’t Drive – Whether he’s running through traffic or hanging from a sixth-story balcony, Austin Butler brought an intense physicality to his performance as washed-up baseball player Hank Thompson.

“El” (Criterion)

Every Luis Buñuel film that joins the Criterion Collection is an occasion for celebration. The latest is the 4K restoration of his 1953 surreal nightmare adaptation of Pensamientos by Mercedes Pinto. Arturo de Cordova, Delia Garces, and Luis Beristain star in a film about an overprotective husband that’s arguably minor for Buñuel, but one would never know that from this excellent release that includes not just a new video essay about the film but an appreciation from none other than Guillermo del Toro. Another cool piece of supplemental material is an interview with the director himself from 1981 but none other than Jean-Claude Carrière.

Special Features

• New 4K digital restoration, supervised by photographer Gabriel Figueroa Flores, director of photography Gabriel Figueroa’s son, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack
• One 4K UHD disc of the film and one Blu-ray with the film and special features
• New video essay on director Luis Buñuel by scholar Jordi Xifra
• Appreciation by filmmaker Guillermo del Toro
• Interview with Buñuel from 1981 by writer Jean-Claude Carrière, a longtime collaborator of the director’s
• Panel discussion from 2009, moderated by filmmaker José Luis Garci
• Trailer
• New English subtitle translation
• PLUS: An essay by critic Fernanda Solórzano and an interview with Buñuel by critics José de la Colina and Tomás Pérez Turrent

“Eyes Wide Shut” (Criterion)

The Criterion release of the year is the 4K restoration of Stanley Kubrick’s final masterpiece, now available in a color grading that looks better than ever before, one overseen by D.P. Larry Smith. It’s hard to convey how PERFECT “Eyes Wide Shut” looks on this release, one of my favorite transfers, maybe ever. It’s not overdone, allowing the shadowy underworld of this film to offset the bright colors that make it feel like a nightmare. The movie itself also feels like it would be a masterpiece if it came out today, over a quarter-century later. A study of masculine insecurity and the systems that control society, it’s an incredible drama, one of the best of its era. The Criterion release also includes tons of great special features, my favorite being “Lost Kubrick,” a short documentary about two abandoned Stanley projects: “Napoleon” and “The Aryan Papers.”

Special Features

• New 4K digital restoration of the international version of the film, supervised and approved by director of photography Larry Smith, with 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack
• One 4K UHD disc of the film presented in Dolby Vision HDR and two Blu-rays with the film and special features
• New interviews with Smith, set decorator and second-unit director Lisa Leone, and archivist Georgina Orgill
• Archival interview with Christiane Kubrick, director Stanley Kubrick’s wife
• Never Just a Dream (2019), featuring interviews with producer Jan Harlan; Katharina Kubrick, Stanley Kubrick’s daughter; and Anthony Frewin, Kubrick’s personal assistant
• Lost Kubrick: The Unfinished Films of Stanley Kubrick (2007)
• Kubrick Remembered (2014), featuring interviews with actors Todd Field and Leelee Sobieski and filmmaker Steven Spielberg
• Kubrick’s 1998 acceptance speech for the Directors Guild of America’s D. W. Griffith Award
• Press conference from 1999, featuring Harlan and actors Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman
• Teaser, trailer, and promos
• English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
• PLUS: An essay by author Megan Abbott and a 1999 interview with filmmaker and actor Sydney Pollack

“Familiar Touch“

Everyone should see this one before making any proclamations on the films of 2025. It’s haunted me since I first saw it around the time of its Venice premiere in September 2024, and we were proud to program it for the 2025 Chicago Critics Film Festival. Now, Sarah Friedland’s delicate drama about the subtlety of dementia is available to rent on VOD and on physical media from Music Box Films. Kathleen Chalfant gives one of the best performances of the year as a woman forced to move from being on her own into assisted living. It’s a great study in how tactile memories can often linger longer than traditional ones. It’s smart, empathetic, and beautiful.

Special Features

• Roundtable Cast Conversation presented by Caring Across Generations
• Familiar Touch: The Creative Process – A Conversation with Sarah Friedland
• Q&A with Kathleen Chalfant from Jacob Burns Film Center
• Behind the Scenes at Villa Gardens
• Image Gallery
• Theatrical Trailer

“Hell’s Angels” (Criterion)

It’s funny to think that an entire generation of movie lovers probably know this flick better from how its production was essential to the story of Martin Scorsese’s “The Aviator.” Remember all the crazy flight scenes in that movie? They were capturing the production of Howard Hughes shooting “Hell’s Angels,” now restored in 4K by the Criterion Collection. A film that changed aerial filmmaking and launched the career of Jean Harlow, it’s an essential part of movie history, and an unexpected choice for Criterion. The release includes an interview with one of my favorite film historians, the brilliant Farran Smith Nehme, and outtakes from the film with commentary by a Harlow biographer. There’s even a direct connection to “The Aviator” as Criterion interviews the VFX supervisor for Scorsese’s film about the production of this one. It all comes full circle.

Special Features

• New 4K digital restoration of the Magnascope road-show version of the film, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack
• One 4K UHD disc of the film and one Blu-ray with the film and special features
• New interview with Robert Legato, the visual-effects supervisor for the Howard Hughes biopic The Aviator, on the groundbreaking aerial visuals of Hell’s Angels
• New interview with critic Farran Smith Nehme about actor Jean Harlow
• Outtakes from the film, with commentary by Harlow biographer David Stenn
• English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
• PLUS: An essay by author and journalist Fred Kaplan

“In the Mouth of Madness” (Arrow)

While fans bow at the altar of ’70s and ’80s John Carpenter, they’re often quick to dismiss his later work. Listen, I’m not here to defend “Memoirs of an Invisible Man” or “Village of the Damned,” but I will go to bat for the one in between, this 1994 surreal nightmare that’s arguably the filmmaker’s last true vision. Closing out what he called his “Apocalypse Trilogy,” it stars Sam Neill as a man investigating the disappearance of a famous horror novelist when he discovers a Lovecraftian nightmare. The incredible Arrow edition is oe of their best of the year, including two archival commentaries with Carpenter himself and tons of new material. The exclusive stuff includes a new interview Jurgen Prochnow, a new featurette, a new appreciation, fantastic cover art, and a great collector’s book. It may not be Halloween, but it’s never too late to snag this one.

Special Features

• Archive audio commentary with director John Carpenter and producer Sandy King Carpenter
• Archive audio commentary with director John Carpenter and director of photography Gary B. Kibbe
• Brand new audio commentary by filmmakers Rebekah McKendry & Elric Kane, co-hosts of Colors of the Dark podcast
• Making Madness, a newly filmed interview with producer Sandy King Carpenter
• Do You Read Sutter Cane?, a newly filmed interview with actor Jürgen Prochnow
• The Whisperer of the Dark, an archive interview with actress Julie Carmen
• Greg Nicotero’s Things in the Basement, an archive interview with special effects artist Greg Nicotero
• We Are What He Writes, a new featurette in praise of John Carpenter and In the Mouth of Madness
• Reality Is Not What It Used To Be, a new appreciation by film scholar Alexandra Heller-Nicholas
• Horror’s Hallowed Grounds, an archive featurette looking at the locations used in the film
• Home Movies From Hobb’s End, behind-the-scenes footage
• The Making of In the Mouth of Madness, a vintage featurette
• Theatrical trailer and TV spots
• Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Francesco Francavilla
• Double-sided fold-out poster featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Francesco Francavilla
• Perfect bound collector’s book featuring new writing on the film by Guy Adams, Josh Hurtado, Richard Kadrey, George Daniel Lea, Willow Catelyn Maclay, and Alexandra West

“The Long Walk“

It really has been quite a year for Stephen King fans with “The Running Man,” “IT: Welcome to Derry,” “The Institute,” and this theatrical hit, arguably the best of the bunch. To this viewer, Francis Lawrence never quite figured out how to update what was a story written by a young man in the wake of the Vietnam War, but he did something essential to this long-awaited adaptation’s success: he cast two future stars. Years from now, it’s going to be fun to look back on this one in the wake of how critically and commercially successful I expect Cooper Hoffman and David Jonsson to be. They’re both just fantastic here, even if the movie around them sometimes struggles to keep pace.

Special Features

• Alternate Ending – 4K Blu-ray SteelBook Exclusive
• Stephen King: An Appreciation – 4K Blu-ray SteelBook Exclusive
• Cooper & David Scene Read – 4K Blu-ray SteelBook Exclusive
• “Ever Onward: Making The Long Walk” Multi-Part Documentary
• Theatrical Trailers

“Sea Fog”

Am I including this in this month’s guide just because I wrote the essay for it? So what if I am?!? In all seriousness, “Sea Fog,” co-written by Bong Joon-ho, is a propulsive piece of filmmaking, a tense true story starring the fantastic Kim Yoon-seok (“The Chaser”) and Han Ye-ri (“Minari”). It’s the tale of a fishing vessel that agrees to smuggle a few dozen illegal immigrants into Korea on a stormy, dangerous night. The sequence in which the “cargo” is transferred to their shop is haunting and brilliant. And, yes, if you want to read more about the film’s production and craft by yours truly, that’s included in your purchase.

Special Features

• Cast and Crew Interviews
• Making of Featurette
• Trailers
• 16-page booklet with essay by Brian Tallerico, managing editor of RogerEbert.com

“Shin Godzilla“

The deserved love for “Godzilla Minus One” has brought people back to the timeless franchise overall, allowing for a bit of renewed interest in this 2016 gem, one of my favorite Godzilla flicks. It’s technically the 31st Godzilla film, but the first in the Reiwa era. And it rules. One of many things I love about it is how directors Hideaki Anno and Shinji Higuchi lean into the idea that red tape is the real monster that’s going to destroy us all. A story of how bureaucratic incompetence only makes international disasters worse was almost prescient in 2016. And now you can own it in a beautiful steelbook 4K edition.

Special Features

• Promotional Video Collection
• Making Of SHIN GODZILLA
• Deleted Scenes
• Outtakes
• News Reels
• Previs Reel Collection
• Previs and Special Effects Outtakes
• Visual Effects Breakdown
• Trailer 1
• Trailer 2
• Teaser 1
• Teaser 2

“Splitsville“

One of the funnier films of 2025 is this adult comedy starring Michael Angelo Covino, Kyle Marvin, Dakota Johnson, and Adria Arjona. Marvin, who co-wrote with director and co-star Covino, plays an ordinary guy whose partner (Arjona) up and leaves him one day, pushing them into the arms of his BFF’s wife, who happens to be in an open marriage. A comedy of sexually active, bed-hopping adults doesn’t come along that often in the 2020s. So while this one isn’t perfect, it’s willingness to comedically examine the insecurities of man-children who don’t know how to keep anyone but themselves happy is more than welcome. It also has the best fight scene of the year. Yeah, I said it.

Special Features

• The Making of Splitsville – Featurette
• Original Theatrical Trailer
• TV Spots

10 NEW TO NETFLIX

“10 Things I Hate About You“
“28 Years Later“
“Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret“
“The Blackening“
“Bombshell“
“Daddy’s Home“
“Karate Kid Legends“
“Liar Liar“
“The Pledge“
“San Andreas“

15 NEW TO BLU-RAY/DVD

“28 Years Later“

Danny Boyle’s long-awaited sequel to “28 Weeks Later” is a truly insane and ambitious blockbuster. There aren’t a lot of filmmakers would even attempt something this bizarre, much less get Sony to put up $60 million for it. Set the titular time after the virus that decimated England, Boyle shot his film on iPhones, included more prosthetic penises than seems reasonable, and even embedded a Brexit commentary in his action flick. At its core, it’s a traditional coming-of-age action narrative about a young man who discovers that not only is the world unsafe but that adults in it will betray you, but it’s also just a visually stunning piece of work, a movie that looks like nothing else that played in a multiplex this year. The Sony Blu-ray quality is fantastic, showing off Anthony Dod Mantle’s unforgettable cinematography, but the special features are a little slight. With another movie coming in January and a third Boyle flick in production, a more special edition of this seems inevitable, but this will do for now.

Special Features:

• Days to Years
• Capturing the Chaos
• The Survivors
• Becoming The Infected
• Behind The Cameras

“Creepshow 2” (Arrow)

Arrow Home Video continues its admirable quest to give even the most unloved horror sequels the kind of treatment typically reserved for widely acknowledged masterpieces. While George A. Romero and Stephen King’s 1982 anthology flick “Creepshow” is widely considered a classic of its era, you would have trouble finding anyone willing to say the same about its follow-up, which was directed by Michael Gornick and dropped five years later.

This sequel had some notorious production problems (there were supposed to be five stories but the budget was cut so badly that it was trimmd back to three), and was widely hated by critics (29% on RT), but I’m here to defend at least “The Raft,” based on a short story included in King’s great Skeleton Crew. I think about it every time I’m on a raft in a lake (which is more often than you might think).

More importantly, Arrow nailed another horror release with interviews, commentary, and much more; however, the coolest feature might be a comic adaptation of “Pinfall,” one of the aforementioned canceled segments that was originally written for the first “Creepshow.” Given it’s never been included in a short story anthology, it feels like a must-own for King collectors.

Special Features:

• Audio commentary with director Michael Gornick
• Screenplay for a Sequel, an interview with screenwriter George A. Romero
• Tales from the Creep, an interview with actor and make-up artist Tom Savini
• Poncho’s Last Ride, an interview with actor Daniel Beer
• The Road to Dover, an interview with actor Tom Wright
• Nightmares in Foam Rubber, an archive featurette on the special effects of Creepshow 2, including interviews with FX artists Howard Berger and Greg Nicotero
• My Friend Rick, Howard Berger on his special effects mentor Rick Baker
• Behind-the-scenes footage
• Image gallery
• Trailers & TV spots
• Original screenplay galleries
• Creepshow 2: Pinfall, a Limited Edition booklet featuring the comic adaptation of the unfilmed Creepshow 2 segment “Pinfall” by artist Jason Mayoh
• Illustrated collector’s booklet featuring writing on the film by festival programmer Michael Blyth
• Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Mike Saputo

“Daybreakers“

Ethan Hawke is having an incredible year with one of the most acclaimed new shows (“The Lowdown“), an upcoming drama for which he should be considered for an Oscar (“Blue Moon“), and a soon-to-be-hit horror sequel (“Black Phone 2“). One of the best actors of his generation, there was a time when he seemed to be struggling to figure out the next phase of his career, appearing in genre flicks like “Staten Island” or “What Doesn’t Kill You.”

Even in this stretch of his filmography, Hawke distinguishes himself by working with interesting directors, including the Spierig brothers, who broke through with “Undead” in 2003 and would work with Hawke again on the fascinating “Predestination.” In between was the 2009 vampire flick “Daybreakers,” now given a 4K steelbook treatment with an excellent new cover and even new special features. The release also includes a commentary by the Spierigs and their short film “The Big Picture,” from 2000.

Special Features:

• NEW Building the World of Daybreakers
• NEW Art and Craft: The Actors of Daybreakers
• NEW Gag Reel
• NEW Art Department and Lighting Tests
• NEW Costume, Hair, and Make-up Tests
• NEW First Subsider Test
• NEW Make-up Effects Tapes
• NEW Stunt Department
• NEW On the Set of Daybreakers
• Making of Daybreakers
• The Big Picture (The Spierig Brothers Short Film)
• Audio Commentary with Co-Directors Peter and Michael Spierig and Creature Designer Steve Boyle
• Theatrical Trailer
• Poster Art Gallery

“Elio“

The first ten minutes of “Elio” are a tender study of a grieving child who becomes so lonely that he wants an alien species to take him away from everything. It’s a reminder of how empathetically Pixar can handle this kind of material. Sadly, the rest of “Elio” is largely a different movie, an adventure story of a kid and his alien BFF saving the universe.

While it remains largely inoffensive in a time when family entertainment from major studios can often be horrible, it squanders that early potential. And Pixar clearly saw the writing on the wall, burying this more than any movie they had made previously. Part of me wants to defend “Elio” because I dislike that Pixar has become a nostalgia factory that only supports its sequels. But even if we need more original Pixar ideas, we also need better ones than that.

Special Features:

• Inside the Communiverse: The World and Characters of Elio
• Out of This World: An Astro Q&A
• Astronomic Art Class: Ooooo and Glordon
• Extraterrestrial Easter Eggs and Fun Facts
• Galactic Gag Reel
• Deleted Scenes

“Flow” (Criterion)

One of the most unexpected Oscar winners was this Latvian tale of a cat trying to survive a dystopian future with rising water levels. Rather than just give the critical darling the Janus Contemporaries treatment like they’ve been doing with a lot of recent arthouse hits, Criterion gives “Flow” the full boat of special features, including new interviews and a new commentary with director Gints Zilbalodis.

As they’ve been doing often lately with new filmmakers, they include short films from early in his career, both with commentaries by the director. There is also a making-of documentary called “Dream Cat” about the making of the film. Everyone talks about the Oscar win (and nomination for International Feature), but here’s another cool piece of trivia: This is the most-viewed theatrical film in Latvian history, and has made over 50 million Euros worldwide on a budget that’s a fraction of that. People love “Flow.”

Special Features:

• 4K digital transfer, with 7.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack, approved by director Gints Zilbalodis
• 4K digital master of Away (2019), Zilbalodis’s debut feature
• One 4K UHD disc of Flow and Away and two Blu-rays with Flow, Away, and the special features
• New audio commentary featuring Zilbalodis
• Full feature-length animatic
• New interviews with Zilbalodis and cowriter-coproducer Matīss Kaža
• Dream Cat (2025), a making-of documentary produced for Latvian Television
• Aqua (2012) and Priorities (2014), short films by Zilbalodis, with new commentaries by the director
• Unused-shot reel, with new commentary by Zilbalodis
• Trailers, TV spots, and proof-of-concept teasers
• English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing and English descriptive audio
• PLUS: An essay by critic Nicolas Rapold and collectible stickers

“Friendship“

Just as Tim Robinson’s brand of cringe humor is about to return to pop culture in HBO’s “The Chair Company,” A24 drops his acclaimed anti-buddy comedy in which the “I Think You Should Leave” star plays the most awkward guy in suburbia. It may be written and directed by Andrew DeYoung, but “Friendship” clearly channels Robinson’s sense of humor, and all of his fans should snag this A24 online shop exclusive.

He plays Craig, a guy who becomes a bit too attached to the new guy in his neighborhood, a meteorologist played by the always-likable Paul Rudd. Robinson is all-in for this story of a friendship that approaches stalking, and A24 has given the future cult classic a solid release with a commentary and deleted scenes. One more thing: This movie wins the award for tagline of the year: “Men Shouldn’t Have Friends.”

Special Features:

• Commentary with Writer-Director Andrew DeYoung, Director of Photography Andy Rydzewski, and Conner O’Malley
• Deleted Scenes
• “Men Talking in the Dark” Extended Q&A with Eric Rahill, Paul Rudd, Tim Robinson, and Andrew DeYoung
• Conner O’Malley Extended Garage Scene
• Six Collectible Postcards with Behind the Scenes Photography

“The Good, The Bad, The Weird” (Arrow)

This might be my favorite Arrow release of the year, and that’s a high bar to clear. 2008’s “The Good, the Bad, and the Weird” is a wonderfully gonzo Korean Western from the brilliant Kim Jee-woon, who also directed “A Tale of Two Sisters” and “I Saw the Devil,” two modern horror masterpieces that I’d love to see get the Arrow treatment too.

“GBW” is a gorgeously shot film that centers on two of the best Korean actors of their generation: Song Kang-ho, of “Parasite” fame stateside, and Lee Byung-hun, of “Squid Game” and the upcoming “No Other Choice,” in which he may do his best work to date. They are just two parts of this creative, funny, thrilling film. Arrow pulls out all the stops, offering multiple versions of the movie, multiple audio commentaries, new interviews, and stunning artwork. Get this one.

Special Features:

• DISC ONE – 4K BLU-RAY
• 4K MASTER approved by director Kim Jee-woon
• DOLBY VISION/HDR PRESENTATION OF THE FILM
• Includes both the International and Korean versions of the film presented via seamless branching
• DTS-HD MA 7.1 audio on both cuts of the film
• Optional English subtitles
• Audio commentary by film critic James Marsh and film critic and producer Pierce Conran
• Archival audio commentary of the International Cut by director Kim Jee-woon and actors Song Kang-ho, Lee Byung-hun, and Jung Woo-sung
• Archival audio commentary of the Korean Version by director Kim Jee-woon, cinematographer Lee Mogae, lighting director Oh Seung-chul, and art director Cho Hwa-sung (Korean Version)
• Introduction to the film by Kim Jee-woon
• DISC TWO – BLU-RAY
• Corralling Chaos in the Desert, an interview with director Kim Jee-woon
• Dusty Dust-ups and Sweaty Saddles, an interview with martial arts coordinator Jung Doo-hong
• Archival making-of films and featurettes
• Trailer gallery
• Image gallery
• ADDITIONAL CONTENT
• Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Nathanael Marsh
• Perfect bound collector’s book featuring writing by Darcy Paquet, Kyu Hyun Kim, Cho Jae-whee and Ariel Schudson
• Three postcard-sized artcards
• Double-sided fold-out poster featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Nathanael Marsh

“Hellbender” (Arrow)

The Adams Family becomes a more essential part of the genre landscape every year. Their truly excellent “Mother of Flies” is currently making the fest circuit after lauded screenings at Fantasia and Fantastic Fest. Be sure to check it out when it drops early next year.

Before then, pick up the latest Arrow edition of one of their works, 2021’s twisted “Hellbender.” Arrow turns this one into a study of the family that acts, writes, and directs together, not only allowing all four of them to do a new commentary but including a 2021 short film by Zelda called “Fort Worden,” and four music videos made for the band within the film (who also handle the music in the new one, by the way, because of course they do).

Special Features:

• Brand new audio commentary with filmmakers Toby Poser, John Adams, Zelda Adams and Lulu Adams
• From the Forest She Rises, a brand new video essay by filmmaker Jen Handorf
• Black Magic Tricks, a featurette on the visual effects by VFX artist Trey Lindsay
• Behind-the-scenes compilation footage
• Fort Worden (2021), a short film by Zelda Adams
• Four music videos: Hit and Run (2024), Drive (2021), Lovely (2021) and Black Sky (2020)
• Original trailer
• Reversible sleeve featuring newly commissioned artwork by Beth Morris and original artwork by Sister Hyde
• Illustrated collector’s booklet featuring new writing on the film by Natasha Ball and Kat Hughes

“High & Low” (Criterion)

One of Akira Kurosawa’s best films (and that’s truly saying something) was remade this year in Spike Lee’s “Highest 2 Lowest,” which takes the basic premise of the 1963 original and then truly turns it into a Lee film in the second half. It’s a great example of how to do a remake, blending both the original voice and your own.

But this isn’t about Spike, as we’ll sadly probably never get a Blu-ray of that Apple TV+ original. This is about Akira, who shot this thriller about a man (Toshiro Mifune) who struggles when his chauffeur’s son is kidnapped after being mistaken for his own. Criterion has released this before, but has gone back and given it the 4K treatment, including archival material such as an interview with Mifune and a Toho Masterworks documentary about the making of this masterpiece.

Special Features:

• New 4K digital restoration, with 4.0 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack
• One 4K UHD disc of the film and one Blu-ray with the film and special features
• Audio commentary featuring Akira Kurosawa scholar Stephen Prince
• Documentary on the making of High and Low, created as part of the Toho Masterworks series Akira Kurosawa: It Is Wonderful to Create
• Interviews with actors Toshiro Mifune and Tsutomu Yamazaki
• Trailers and teaser
• PLUS: An essay by critic Geoffrey O’Brien and an on-set account by Japanese-film scholar Donald Richie

“Jurassic World Rebirth“

It’s hard to believe we’ve now had more “World” movies than “Park” movies, as this is the fourth flick since the relaunch of the franchise based on the hit novel by Michael Crichton about people who resurrect dinosaurs. “Jurassic” feels like it becomes bigger every year with theme park rides, video games, Netflix cartoons, and more. But how about the movies? This is another bland CGI blockbuster, a story of a team that travels to a former dinosaur facility to extract some samples and gets caught up in dinosaur chaos again.

While I appreciate the simplicity of the plot (it’s essentially the first movie in which scientists go in and need to get out), the overabundance of CGI strikes me as lifeless. None of it creates the same sense of wonder that we experienced from Spielberg’s original over three decades ago. You should know that this is an impressive Blu-ray, complete with alternate opening, deleted scenes, featurettes, and two commentaries. At a time when studios seem to be pulling away from physical media, kudos to Universal for producing this one so well.

Special Features:

• ALTERNATE OPENING
• DELETED SCENES
• RAPTORS – Featuring Mahershala Ali, Jonathan Bailey, Rupert Friend, Manuel Garcia-Rulfo, David Iacono, Luna Blaise and Audrina Miranda
• MUTADON ATTACK – Featuring Scarlett Johansson, Manuel Garcia-Rulfo, David Iacono, Rupert Friend, Luna Blaise and Audrina Miranda
• JURASSIC WORLD REBIRTH: HATCHING A NEW ERA
• THE WORLD EVOLVES – Journey into a reimagined Jurassic World with Scarlett Johansson, Jonathan Bailey, Mahershala Ali and the rest of the cast and filmmakers.
• OFF THE DEEP END – Dive into the thrilling ocean sequence and learn about the challenges of shooting on open water, the one-of-a-kind gimbal used to toss around the Essex and Mariposa, and the VFX wizardry that brought the Mosasaurus and Spinosaurs to life.
• TREKKING THROUGH THAILAND – Follow the cast and crew’s footsteps as they navigate the challenges of shooting in exotic jungles, beaches, and tall grass fields that become home to the Titanosaurs.
• REX IN THE RAPIDS – Brace for a T. rex encounter that’s different than anything experienced before with a nail-biting river chase recreated from Michael Crichton’s original Jurassic Park novel.
• DON’T LOOK DOWN – Soar into the Quetzalcoatlus sequence with Scarlett Johansson, Jonathan Bailey, and Bechir Sylvain as they train for and shoot their cliff rappelling scenes.
• MINI-MART MAYHEM – Go inside the heart-stopping third act of Jurassic World Rebirth and witness the process of crafting sets that allow the movie’s mutant dinosaurs to step out of nightmare-inspired designs and stop on an exhilarating rampage.
• GAG REEL
• MEET DOLORES – Meet the animatronic Aquilops with an extraordinarily lifelike personality.
• MUNCHED: BECOMING DINO FOOD – Get a victim’s firsthand view inside the frightening jaws of deadly dinosaurs that munch, chomp, and chew their way into creating unforgettable death sequences.
• A DAY AT SKYWALKER SOUND – Actress Audrina Miranda guides a personal tour of Skywalker Sound in California to meet the audio editors, foley artists, and mixers who design the movie’s wide array of sounds.
• HUNTING FOR EASTER EGGS – Find out where to look for cleverly hidden Easter eggs that pay homage to everything from the first Jurassic Park film to other Steven Spielberg classics.
• FEATURE COMMENTARY WITH DIRECTOR GARETH EDWARDS, PRODUCTION DESIGNER JAMES CLYNE, AND FIRST ASSISTANT DIRECTOR JACK RAVENSCROFT
• FEATURE COMMENTARY WITH DIRECTOR GARETH EDWARDS, EDITOR JABEZ OLSSEN, AND VISUAL EFFECTS SUPERVISOR DAVID VICKERY

“Lilo & Stitch“

I don’t know what to say anymore about the live-action remakes of Disney and now DreamWorks titles that haven’t been said repeatedly by critics all over the world. Most of them are soulless echoes of the original, and it feels like people I talk to agree with their artistic vacuity, and yet they make a FORTUNE. This one made more than its source did in its entire run on its first weekend, ending up with over $1 billion worldwide. They’re already working on the sequel. Can we ensure that one doesn’t resemble a Disney+ original? Please? I’m begging.

Special Features:

• Deleted Scenes
• ‘Ohana Means Family: Making Lilo & Stitch – Learn how an animated classic becomes an instant live-action favorite. Explore the challenges of bringing Stitch into the real world, how the familiar images of the original were recreated, and join returning cast members on a set that embodies ‘ohana.
• Drawn to Life – Check out scenes from the animated original film alongside their live-action counterparts to see how these beloved key moments were faithfully recreated. And uncover some easter eggs along the way!
• Bloopers – Take a look at some of the fun mishaps on set with the cast and crew of Lilo & Stitch.
• Scenes with Stitch – Hear Stitch talk about some of his favorite scenes as he watches the movie play.

“Materialists“

Celine Song’s follow-up to her Oscar-nominated “Past Lives” is a smart movie that knows it’s smart. Sometimes, that intelligence is a drawback in scenes where characters played by Dakota Johnson and Pedro Pascal sometimes sound more like screenwriters’ creations than real people. As a matchmaker and the millionaire she personally matches with, both performers are engaging; however, the real MVP of the movie is Chris Evans, who delivers his most relaxed and genuine performance in years. He’s a bit miscast in that it’s hard to believe he’d struggle as much as he does into his mid-30s (he’s kind of a “unicorn” in a different way), but it’s so great to see him in something this naturally charismatic.

As much as I love “Past Lives,” this is a bit of a step down, but it’s not the sophomore slump you may have heard. And, even with its flaws, I wish we saw more films like it.

Special Features:

• Director Commentary with Celine Song
• “The Math of Modern Dating: Making Materialists” featurette
• Composer Deep Dive with Japanese Breakfast
• Six Collectible Postcards with Behind the Scenes Photography

“The Phoenician Scheme“

Wes Anderson is the king of physical media this month with a fantastic box set from Criterion of his first 10 movies that I’ll cover separately later this week. Also recently released? His 12th film is this clever 2025 comedy about a man who reconciles with what matters in life after several attempts to kill him. While that might sound more melodramatic than Anderson typically attempts, this movie smartly weaves issues of religion and business into another Anderson diorama film, one of precise compositions and quirky characters.

After how much I adored “Asteroid City,” I think this mid-life crisis Wes may make for one of the more interesting stretches of his career. Note: This is a bare-bones edition with an awful cover. Safe bet it’s a placeholder for an inevitable Criterion release in the next couple of years.

Special Features:

• Behind THE PHOENICIAN SCHEME
• The Cast
• The Airplane
• Marseille Bob’s
• Zsa-zsa’s World

“Superman“

The highest-grossing superhero flick of the year is James Gunn’s launch for his vision of the DCU, a complete dismantling and restart for some of the most famous heroes in world history (with the possible exception of Matt Reeves’ “Batman” films, which appear to be progressing). Gunn does a few smart things with his take on the Man of Steel. One, he eschews the origin story everyone knows by heart and drops us into a Metropolis already reckoning with their alien hero. Two, and this is even more important, he discards the cynicism that has drowned so many recent DC films for a story of kindness.

I think “Superman” is a tick overrated and not my favorite Gunn, but I like what it promises for the future of all the heroes now under the Gunn empire. The Blu-ray? It’s pretty slight for one of the biggest films of the year, failing to include a commentary or deleted scenes. However, it does have that rocking WB 4K video quality, which is the best of the major studios.

Special Features:

• Krypto Saves the Day!: School Bus Scuffle – (5:32)
• Adventures in Making Superman Featurette (60:00)
• Icons Forever: Superman’s Enduring Legacy – Featurette (6:05)
• Lex Luthor: The Mind of a Master Villain – Featurette (5:18)
• Kryptunes: The Music of Superman – Featurette (6:31)
• Paws to Pixels: Krypto is Born – Featurette (5:54)
• Breaking News: The Daily Planet Returns – Featurette (5:23)
• The Ultimate Villain – Featurette (5:30)
• The Justice Gang – Featurette (10:37)
• A New Era: DC Takes Off – Featurette (4:53)

“This is Spinal Tap” (Criterion)

“Spinal Tap II” just hit theaters and was greeted largely with a shoulder shrug. The real news about everyone’s favorite ’80s rock stars is that they have joined the Criterion Collection with a new 4K special edition approved by Reiner himself and STUFFED with special features. There are three audio commentaries, including one that features the band members in character. Not enough? How about 89 minutes of deleted scenes? Does anyone remember the special “Spinal Tap: The Final Tour”? You can have that now, too. There are even interviews about the largely forgotten Back from the Dead, the band’s reunion album from 2009. It’s everything a Tap fan could ever want in one Blu-ray release.

Special Features:

• New 4K digital restoration, supervised and approved by director Rob Reiner, with 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack
• Alternate 2.0 uncompressed stereo soundtrack
• One 4K UHD disc of the film presented in Dolby Vision HDR and two Blu-rays with the film and special features
• Three audio commentaries, featuring Reiner; actors Christopher Guest, Michael McKean, and Harry Shearer; producer Karen Murphy; editors Robert Leighton and Kent Beyda; and band members Nigel Tufnel, David St. Hubbins, and Derek Smalls
• Conversation between Reiner and actor Patton Oswalt
• The Cutting Room Floor, featuring ninety-eight minutes of outtakes
• Spinal Tap: The Final Tour (1982)
• Excerpts from The Return of Spinal Tap (1992)
• Interviews with the band for its 2009 Back from the Dead album
• Trailers, media appearances, and music videos
• English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
• PLUS: An essay by critic Alex Pappademas

10 NEW TO NETFLIX

“American Pie“
“Apollo 13“
“Clueless“
“Dazed and Confused“
“The Departed“
“Hostiles“
“Jurassic Park“
“On Swift Horses“
“The Texas Chainsaw Massacre“
“Wet Hot American Summer”

7 NEW TO BLU-RAY/DVD

“Bring Her Back“

Australian duo Danny and Michael Philippou followed up their breakout hit “Talk to Me” with one of the most critically acclaimed horror films of the year, now available on Blu-ray exclusively through A24’s online shop. This column is designed mostly for highlights, but since enough people like this movie significantly more than I do, I’ll make an exception. I think it wallows in way too many of the tropes of “Grief Horror,” and is just cruel when it comes to most of them. Still, Sally Hawkins is incapable of delivering a subpar performance, and A24 has handled the movie’s transfer to home media well, including a commentary, a featurette with Hawkins and the brothers, and even postcards. Consider carefully the message you’re sending if you use them.

Special Features

• A commentary with the directors
• One deleted scene
• In-depth making-of featurette
• Six collectible postcards

“Cairo Station” (Criterion)

Criterion continues to endeavor to expand its catalog beyond white, European, and typically male directors, making significant progress this month with releases from Egypt, Taiwan, and a female director in the American South. The first of those alphabetically is largely considered an essential film in Egyptian cinema and the neorealist movement of the ’50s. Yousseh Chahine’s 1958 noir is a stunner, a movie that tells the story of a man who becomes obsessed with a soda seller at the titular station, eventually turning that obsession into violence. Dismissed at the time by a country that wasn’t ready for anything this intense in their cinema, it took generations to find a responsive audience, and now has a 4K physical release that should grow that admiration even more.

Special Features

• New 4K digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack
• New 2K digital restoration of Cairo as Seen by Chahine (1991), a short documentary by Youssef Chahine, with an introduction by film scholar Joseph Fahim
• New interview with Fahim
• Chahine . . . Why? (2009), a documentary on the director and Cairo Station
• Excerpt from Chahine’s appearance at the 1998 Midnight Sun Film Festival
• New English subtitle translation
• PLUS: An essay by Fahim

“Compensation” (Criterion)

Inspired by the Paul Laurence Dunbar poem of the same name, Zeinabu irene Davis’ 1999 drama was relatively buried for a generation, only recently receiving its well-deserved flowers with releases in 2024, when it was also named to the Library of Congress’s Film Registry. In fact, after playing TIFF in 1999 and Sundance in 2000, “Compensation” was entirely unavailable until Criterion included it on their streaming platform in 2021. They then undertook a restoration, which screened at NYFF and CIFF in 2024. Now that restoration is available on physical media, it’s a stunning collection that also includes a commentary, Q&As, two short films by Davis (made 37 years apart), and more. The best thing that Criterion does is to be an essential lifeline for films that would have otherwise been lost to history. This is a great example of how well they continue to do that.

Special Features

• New 4K digital restoration, supervised and approved by director Zeinabu irene Davis, in collaboration with the UCLA Film & Television Archive and Wimmin with a Mission Productions, and in conjunction with the Sundance Institute, with uncompressed stereo soundtrack
• Audio commentary featuring Davis, screenwriter Marc Arthur Chéry, and director of photography Pierre H. L. Désir Jr.
• Q&As with members of the cast and crew
• Two short films by Davis, Crocodile Conspiracy (1986) and Pandemic Bread (2023), the latter with audio commentary featuring Davis and cast and crew members, and descriptive audio
• Interview with Davis from 2021
• New program about select archival photographs and adinkra and vèvè symbols in the film
• Trailer
• English subtitles and intertitles for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, and English descriptive audio
• PLUS: An essay by film scholar Racquel Gates, a director’s note, and a conversation between Davis and artist Alison O’Daniel about the process of captioning the film

“A Confucian Confusion”/”Mahjong” (Criterion)

Criterion has released Edward Yang’s films in the past, including essential editions of “A Brighter Summer Day” and “Yi Yi,” his most acclaimed films. They’ve now accompanied those with a double feature of the Taiwanese director’s fifth and sixth works, 1994’s “A Confucian Confusion” and 1996’s “Mahjong.” Both films have been given the 4K restoration treatment with a new interview and a new conversation between Michael Berry and one of the best living film critics, Justin Chang.

Special Features

• New 4K digital restorations, with 5.0 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtracks
• Excerpts of director Edward Yang speaking after a 1994 screening of A Confucian Confusion
• New interview with editor Chen Po-wen
• New conversation between Chinese-cultural-studies scholar Michael Berry and film critic Justin Chang
• Performance of Yang’s 1992 play Likely Consequence
• PLUS: An essay by film programmer and critic Dennis Lim and a 1994 director’s note on A Confucian Confusion

“The Phoenician Scheme“

Wes Anderson’s feels like it came and went rather quickly, launching at Cannes in May, in worldwide theaters right after, and on home media before the end of July (with a truly hideous cover). While Mr. Anderson will be a part of the biggest Blu-ray release of 2025 later this year when Criterion drops a box set of most of his work, this one gets a pretty standard bare-bones edition release that includes only three mini-featurettes. There’s no way this is the final word on one of the more purely enjoyable films of 2025, so consider this a placeholder until Criterion gets around to it in 2026 or 2027.

Special Features

• The Cast
• The Airplane
• Marseille Bob’s
• Zsa-zsa’s World

“Shoeshine” (Criterion)

Vittorio de Sica’s final masterpiece boasts a bit of trivia that could win you the next contest at your local watering hole: This is the first movie to win the Oscar for Best International Feature Film, an award introduced in 1947. And yet it doesn’t have the same legacy as subsequent winners from the early years, such as “Bicycle Thieves,” “Rashomon,” and “La Strada.” And yet this one had its loyal fans, including Pauline Kael and none other than Orson Welles, who said, “…the camera disappeared, the screen disappeared; it was just life.” Criterion has remastered the film in 4K and included a new program about its place in the Italian Neorealism movement. The coolest special feature is a radio broadcast from 1946 featuring De Sica himself.

Special Features

• New 4K digital restoration, undertaken by The Film Foundation and the Cineteca di Bologna, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack
• One 4K UHD disc of the film and one Blu-ray with the film and special features
• Sciuscià 70 (2016), a documentary by Mimmo Verdesca, made to mark the film’s seventieth anniversary
• New program on Shoeshine and Italian neorealism featuring film scholars Paola Bonifazio and Catherine O’Rawe
• Radio broadcast from 1946 featuring director Vittorio De Sica
• Trailer
• New English subtitle translation
• PLUS: An essay by film scholar David Forgacs and “Shoeshine, Joe?,” a 1945 photo-documentary by De Sica

“Vermiglio“

From “Shoeshine” to another Italian work of realism made eight decades later (but set in the 1940s). Maura Delpero’s gorgeous drama was the Italian entry for the award that “Shoehine” inaugurated last year and took home the Grand Jury Prize at the Venice Film Festival, winning Best Film at the Italian equivalent of the Oscars. Delpero tells the story of a mountain village in Northern Italy in 1944, when a World War II deserter happens upon the town, falling in love with a local girl named Lucia. With relatively ordinary lives set against gorgeous painterly backdrops, “Vermiglio” is a haunting piece of work, a movie that takes Delpero to a new level of respect. Again, the Janus Contemporaries line of releases might raise some controversy here, as this release is gorgeous but lacks the special features that the Criterion proper release might have eventually included.

Special Features

• Meet the Filmmakers, a new interview with director Maura Delpero
• Trailer

10 NEW TO NETFLIX

“Beetlejuice Beetlejuice“
“Hanna“
“I’m Still Here“
“Paddington in Peru“
“Past Lives“
“Smile“
“Starship Troopers“
“The Sugarland Express“
“Train to Busan“
“The Wild Robot“

11 NEW TO BLU-RAY/DVD

“Better Man“

Much of the conversation around the unique Robbie Williams biopic in which a CGI monkey takes the place of the Take That singer was about the box office disappointment of the film, which overshadowed two key takeaways. One, thank God there are still executives at major studios like Paramount willing to take chances on a film as strange as this one. If we lose all ambition at the big companies, we’re going to be in serious trouble. Two, the movie is pretty clever, inventive, and honestly moving, no matter how much money it lost. It’s a bit longer than it needs to be, but it also contains some of the most ingenious filmmaking the musician biopic has seen in years. It’s worth watching just for the “Rock DJ” sequence alone, a breathtaking oner that finds the exuberance that’s so often missing from films about creative souls. Another thing about the box office failure of “Better Man” is that most of you haven’t seen it. Correct that today.

Special Features

• Let Me Entertain You: The Making of Better Man
• Monkey Business: The VFX

“Black Bag“

The second film directed by Steven Soderbergh to be released in the first few months of 2025 (after the excellent “Presence“) was this smart and sexy spy thriller built around relationships and character more than double crosses or anything approaching action. Michael Fassbender plays an MI6 agent who is asked to investigate a possible traitor in his midst, another spy who just happens to be his wife, Kathryn (Cate Blanchett). Working from a tight script by David Koepp, Soderbergh directs a film that’s in love with dialogue, both what we say and what we withhold from those to whom we are closest. Blanchett and Fassbender are wonderful, sleek and captivating without being overly mannered. And, yet again, Soderbergh delivers a film without an ounce of fat on it. His recent work has been so efficient, a trait that’s even more valuable in an era of bloated runtimes and streaming series.

Special Features

• Deleted Scenes
• The Company of Talent – In the world of spies, there are no small players. Join the ensemble cast and learn about their distinct character motivations, secrets, and overall creative approach to bringing each role to life under the direction of Steven Soderbergh.
• Designing BLACK BAG – Enter the world of espionage and collect intelligence on the production design, costumes, makeup, and special effects that came together to embody the looks of each character and the aesthetic of each space they inhabit.

“Captain America: Brave New World“

Man, what a waste of a good idea. The first hour of Julius Onah’s “Captain America: Brave New World” is actually one of Marvel’s strongest with tight fight choreography and interesting ideas about how much we owe a country that hasn’t given us much in return. Anthony Mackie slides into the role easily, Danny Ramirez makes an effective sidekick, and I get great joy out of listening to an irascible Harrison Ford grumble through MCU nonsense like “celestial mass” with audible disdain. It all feels like it’s going someplace, only to do absolutely nothing with the ideas it sets up, ending in a splash of shoddy CGI, most of which was given away in the trailers. Even the Blu-ray feels kind of lesser compared to other Disney/Marvel releases. Cap (and Mackie) deserve better.

Special Features

• DOLBY VISION/HDR PRESENTATION OF THE FILM
• DOLBY ATMOS AUDIO TRACK
• Audio Commentary – Listen to Director Julius Onah and Director of Photography Kramer Morgenthau talk about the film
• Deleted Scenes:
• A Heartfelt Thanks – President Ross praises Agent Taylor for her actions.
• The Mission – Sam Wilson tries to extract information out of Agent Taylor in the boxing ring.
• Stick Around – President Ross extends an apology and an unexpected invitation to Isaiah.
• Assuming the Mantle – Ever since his high-flying debut in “Captain America: The Winter Soldier,” audiences around the world have known that Sam Wilson was destined for great things. Join the cast and crew as they look at Sam’s past, present, and potential future in the MCU.
• Old Scores, New Scars – Brave New World finds Captain America locked in a battle of brains and brawn in the forms of The Leader, Red Hulk, and Sidewinder. From prosthetics to visual effects to stunt work, get the lowdown on these formidable foes and how they’re brought to life.
• Gag Reel – Enjoy some hilarious outtakes on set with the cast and crew of Captain America: Brave New World.

“In the Heat of the Night” (Criterion)

It’s been almost six decades since the slap heard around the world in this Oscar winner for Best Picture, Best Actor, and Best Adapted Screenplay. Rod Steiger may have taken home the Academy Award, but this was then and always will be Sidney Poitier’s movie. As Virgil Tibbs, a Philadelphia detective investigating a case in Mississippi, Poitier gives a career-defining performance, now available on 4K for the first time from the good folks over at Criterion. They’ve not only restored the film but imported the previous features that include excellent archival footage like interviews with Norman Jewison, Lee Grant, and Poitier himself. There’s also an excellent program about Quincy Jones’ marvelous soundtrack. Finally, don’t miss a great essay from K. Austin Collins.

Special Features

• 4K digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack
• Alternate 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack
• One 4K UHD disc of the film and one Blu-ray with the film and special features
• Interviews with director Norman Jewison and actor Lee Grant
• Segment from a 2006 American Film Institute interview with actor Sidney Poitier
• Interview with Aram Goudsouzian, author of Sidney Poitier: Man, Actor, Icon
• Audio commentary featuring Jewison, Grant, actor Rod Steiger, and cinematographer Haskell Wexler
• Turning Up the Heat: Movie-Making in the ’60s, a program about the production of the film and its legacy, featuring Jewison, Wexler, producer Walter Mirisch, and filmmakers John Singleton and Reginald Hudlin
• Quincy Jones: Breaking New Sound, a program about Jones’s innovative soundtrack, including the title song sung by Ray Charles, featuring interviews with Jones, lyricists Alan and Marilyn Bergman, and musician Herbie Hancock
• Trailer
• English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
• PLUS: An essay by critic K. Austin Collins

“Killer of Sheep” (Criterion)

Charles Burnett originally submitted this masterpiece as his thesis to at the UCLA School of Film in 1977. It had a premiere the next year in New York, but never got officially released because of music rights, only finding an audience three decades later when it was restored by Milestone Film & Video. It even made a few top ten lists for 2007 (including Glenn Kenny and Dana Stevens), marking its timelessness and historical significance. Now, a half-century after its production, a new 4K restoration is making its Criterion debut, a major event for cinephiles. This is one of the most essential Blu-ray releases of 2025 to date, a document not just of the importance of “Killer of Sheep” but its place in film history. It righteously elevates Burnett, who appears on a commentary and new interviews, and it includes two short films he made before this one. It also features a documentary about Burnett by Robert Townsend and an appreciation of the film by Barry Jenkins. “Killer of Sheep” was rightfully recognized as a masterpiece when it was finally seen in 2007, but this is the release that places it on the shelf with other masterpieces of the ’70s and claims its place in movie history.

Special Features

• New 4K digital restoration, approved by director Charles Burnett, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack
• One 4K UHD disc of the film and one Blu-ray with the film and special features
• Audio commentary featuring Burnett and film scholar Richard Peña
• New interviews with Burnett and actor Henry Gayle Sanders
• New appreciation by filmmaker Barry Jenkins
• Two short films by Burnett: Several Friends (1969) and The Horse (1973), with a new introduction to the latter by Burnett
• Excerpt from the 2010 UCLA LA Rebellion Oral History Project, featuring an interview with Burnett by film scholar Jacqueline Stewart
• A Walk with Charles Burnett (2019), a documentary by Robert Townsend
• Documentary by Ross Lipman on 2007 cast reunion
• Trailer
• English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
• PLUS: An essay by critic Danielle Amir Jackson

“Kingdom of Heaven”

People often joke about Ridley Scott’s predilection to tinker with his work, producing director’s cuts of films like “Alien” and “Blade Runner” that many people consider superior to the theatrical releases. While the removal of Deckard’s narration is essential to appreciating “BR,” I might argue that this is actually the most transformative of the Scott DCs, a recut that takes a clunky, ineffective, swords-and-sandals blockbuster and turns it into one of Scott’s best films. The story goes that bad test screenings forced Scott to cut 45 minutes, returned in this version in a way that makes the film actually feel shorter due to how much it enriches the pace and the overall storytelling. This excellent steelbook version also includes the Roadshow presentation, featuring an overture and an intermission, along with tons of special features about the various cuts and the production overall. It’s a must-own, as evidenced by how hard it currently is to find online. Keep hunting. It’s worth it.

Special Features

• THREE-DISC COMBO PACK
• RESTORED AND REMASTERED DIRECTOR’S CUT OF THE FILM
• DOLBY VISION/HDR PRESENTATION OF THE FILM
• DOLBY ATMOS AUDIO TRACK
• DISC ONE – 4K BLU-RAY
• Director’s Cut Roadshow Version & Director’s Cut
• Introduction by Director Ridley Scott
• Roadshow Commentary with Orlando Bloom, Ridley Scott and Writer William Monahan
• 2 Additional Roadshow Commentaries with Filmmakers
• The Enginer’s Guide (Roadshow Version only)
• Optional English SDH, Spanish and French Subtitles
• DISC TWO – BLU-RAY
• Director’s Cut Roadshow Version & Director’s Cut
• Introduction by Director Ridley Scott
• Roadshow Commentary with Orlando Bloom, Ridley Scott and Writer William Monahan
• 2 Additional Roadshow Commentaries with Filmmakers
• The Enginer’s Guide (Roadshow Version only)
• English SDH, Spanish and French Subtitles
• DISC THREE – BLU-RAY
• The Path to Redemption
• Sound Design Suite
• Visual Effects Breakdowns
• Press Junket Walkthrough
• World Premieres
• Special Shoot Gallery
• Poster Explorations
• Deleted & Extended Scenes with Optional Commentary
• Orlando Bloom “The Adventure of a Lifetime”
• Additional Featurettes and Much More

“Lilo & Stitch“

Because the live-action adaptation trend is here to stay, the new version of “Lilo & Stitch” actually outgrossed the original animated version in its first three days of release. What’s up with the love for Stitch? I have to admit to being startled at the durability of the character. For years now, when you go to Disney World or other such places, you’ll see a lot of merch and toys with the lovable blue guy. It’s a product of timing in that kids in 2002 likely have their own little ones today, but also a character who crosses multiple demographics, and speaks to the outside in everyone. I haven’t seen the live-action and don’t love the original, but I’m clearly in an increasing minority. All you Stitch lovers out there? This 4K edition is for you.

Special Features

• Deleted Scenes
• Hula Lesson
• Animating The Hula
• Audio Commentary
• DisneyPedia: The Islands – Explore Hawaiʽi, Oʽahu, Maui, Kauaʽi, Lǡnaʽi and Molokaʽi
• 2 Music Videos and a Behind-The-Music Featurette
• A Stitch in Time: Follow Stitch Through The Disney Years

“Mickey 17“

People were too hard on Bong Joon Ho’s latest. It’s not perfect. Yes, it repeats some themes that Bong has explored more interestingly in other works. But I suspect that this is a film that will grow in history and with reappreciation. Say what you will about it, it’s an incredibly ambitious swing, the kind of thing we don’t get from studios all that often, and a reminder that Robert Pattinson is one of our most interesting and courageous performers alive. He took the industry power he got from “Twilight” and used it to work with auteurs like Claire Denis, Christopher Nolan, Lynne Ramsay, David Cronenberg, and Bong Joon Ho. He’s the best. However, this Blu-ray? Not so great. “Mickey 17” deserves more than a half-hour of special features and no audio commentary. Criterion has released some Bong films in the past. Maybe they’ll get the rights to this one. I volunteer to write the essay. I’ll even write it twice.

Special Features

• Behind the Lens: Bong Joon Ho’s Mickey 17 (11:32)
• Mickey 17: A World Reimagined (9:44)
• The Faces of Niflheim (8:00)

“The Umbrellas of Cherbourg” (Criterion)

Demy’s masterpiece has been released a few times by Criterion, both alone and in an excellent box set, but never in 4K. Demy’s son Mathieu oversaw the restoration of his father’s beloved musical, and the 4K is sharp without ever looking overly polished. It’s a great transfer of an essential film. As for the rest of the release, it’s all the previously available stuff, including material dating back to the last restoration in 2013, a documentary about the film from 2008, and a col interview with Demy and Michel Legrand from all the way back in 1964. There’s also an audio clip from the legendary Catherine Deneuve. If you own that Demy box set, I wouldn’t say this is worth the upgrade, but it’s the best way to pick it up if you have yet to do so.

Special Features

• New 4K digital restoration, undertaken by Ciné-Tamaris and approved by Mathieu Demy, director Jacques Demy’s son, with 5.0 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack
• Alternate uncompressed monaural soundtrack
• One 4K UHD disc of the film and one Blu-ray with the film and special features
• Once Upon a Time . . . “The Umbrellas of Cherbourg,” a 2008 documentary
• Interview with film scholar Rodney Hill
• French television interview from 1964 featuring Jacques Demy and composer Michel Legrand discussing the film
• Archival audio interviews with Legrand and actor Catherine Deneuve at the National Film Theatre in London
• Demonstration of the 2013 restoration
• Trailer
• PLUS: An essay by critic Jim Ridley

“The Wind Will Carry Us” (Criterion)

It’s hard to believe that it’s been almost a decade since we lost Abbas Kiarostami, an essential figure in the Iranian film movements of the ’80s and ’90s. A controversial figure (Roger notoriously didn’t like “Taste of Cherry” but had come around by the time he released “Certified Copy,” my favorite Kiarostami and one of the best films of the 2010s), “The Wind Will Carry Us” is one of his most acclaimed works, called a masterpiece by Jonathan Rosenbaum and even getting votes in Sight & Sound polls for the best films of all time. Criterion has remastered the film in 4K for the first time, accompanying it with an excellent video essay featuring a collaborator of the Kiarostami, Massoumeh Lahiji, who reads the director’s poetry. It’s a beautiful special feature, the kind of bonus material that separates Criterion from the rest.

Special Features

• 4K restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack
• A Week with Kiarostami (1999), a documentary by Yuji Mohara on the making of the film
• Interview from 2002 with director Abbas Kiarostami
• New video essay presenting Kiarostami’s poetry narrated by Massoumeh Lahiji, a longtime translator and creative collaborator of the director’s
• Trailer
• New English subtitle translation
• PLUS: An essay by poet and novelist Kaveh Akbar

“The Woman in the Yard“

Jaume Collet-Serra’s Blumhouse horror flick starts with one of the best first acts in the genre of the last few years. Danielle Deadwyler, increasingly the best thing about bad movies, plays Ramona, a widowed mother who spots a woman in black in her yard one day. Her children are curious, but Ramona senses something is very wrong, and it’s not just because of the blood on her hands. Single-setting horror is often my jam, but “Woman in the Yard” runs out of ideas quickly, working better when it’s allowed to be mysterious in those effective early scenes than when it leans into Grief Horror 101.

Special Features

• MAKING THE WOMAN IN THE YARD- Travel through the darkest corners of the film during this behind-the-scenes journey where filmmakers work with cast to craft a story that is both haunting and human.
• BENEATH THE VEIL – Cast and filmmakers lift the veil on the film’s frightening figure for this revealing look at the themes, designs, and styles that shape her eerie specter into a powerful presence.