By Ryan Painter
It’s a good week to be a little more adventurous than you might normally be as A24’s fantastic Tuesday makes its way to your favorite digital retailers. The film stars Lola Petticrew as a sickly young woman who when faced with Death (in the form of a talking bird) decides to repair the strained relationship with her mother (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) so that she can move on into the great unknown. Strange and utterly beautiful.
If it’s a Western you are in the mood for, The Dead Don’t Hurt, Viggo Mortensen’s star-crossed lovers’ tale, or Horizon: An American Saga Chapter 1, Kevin Costner’s 3-hour epic, might suit you. I’ll be finishing off the Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths trilogy.
On the Blu-ray and DVD front, I’ll be tracking down 4K UHD versions of Brokeback Mountain, Captain Phillips, the Rocky box set and Invasion of the Body Snatchers. You’ll also find me sitting down with Wim Wenders’ latest films, Perfect Days.
Tuesday (2024) [A24]
Synopsis: A mother (Julia Louis-Dreyfus, in a profoundly moving performance) and her teenage daughter (Lola Petticrew) must confront Death when it arrives in the form of an astonishing talking bird. From debut filmmaker Daina O. Pusić, Tuesday is a heart-rending fairy tale about the echoes of loss and finding resilience in the unexpected.
The Dead Don’t Hurt (2024) [Shout! Factory]
Synopsis: The Dead Don’t Hurt is a story of star-crossed lovers on the western U.S. frontier in the 1860s. Vivienne Le Coudy (Vicky Krieps) is a fiercely independent woman who embarks on a relationship with Danish immigrant Holger Olsen (Viggo Mortensen). After meeting Olsen in San Francisco, she agrees to travel with him to his home near the quiet town of Elk Flats, Nevada, where they start a life together. The outbreak of the civil war separates them when Olsen makes a fateful decision to fight for the Union. This leaves Vivienne to fend for herself in a place controlled by corrupt Mayor Rudolph Schiller (Danny Huston) and his unscrupulous business partner, powerful rancher Alfred Jeffries (Garret Dillahunt). Alfred’s violent, wayward son Weston (Solly McLeod) aggressively pursues Vivienne, who is determined to resist his unwanted advances. When Olsen returns from the war, he and Vivienne must confront and make peace with the person each has become. Both a tragic love story and a nuanced depiction of the conflict between revenge and forgiveness, The Dead Don’t Hurt is a portrait of a passionate woman determined to stand up for herself in an unforgiving world dominated by ruthless men.
Horizon: An American Saga Chapter 1 (2024) [Warner Bros.]
Synopsis: “Horizon: An American Saga” explores the lure of the Old West and how it was won—and lost—through the blood, sweat and tears of many. Spanning the four years of the Civil War, from 1861 to 1865, Costner’s ambitious cinematic adventure will take audiences on an emotional journey across a country at war with itself, experienced through the lens of families, friends and foes all attempting to discover what it truly means to be the United States of America.
June (2024) [Paramount Pictures]
Synopsis: A feature documentary that reveals the extraordinary life work of one of country music’s most recognizable but underappreciated stars: June Carter Cash.
Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths, Part Three (2024) [Warner Bros.]
Synopsis: Now fully revealed as the ultimate threat to existence, the ANTI-MONITOR wages an unrelenting attack on the surviving Earths that struggle for survival in a pocket universe. One-by-one, these worlds and all their inhabitants are vaporized! On the planets that remain, even time itself is shattered and heroes from the past join the Justice League and their rag-tag allies against the epitome of evil. But as they make their last stand, will the sacrifice of the superheroes be enough to save us all?
Available on Blu-ray and DVD on July 23, 2024
Just the Two of Us (2024) [Music Box Films]
Synopsis: When Blanche (Virginie Efira) meets the charismatic Gregoire, she thinks she has found the one. Their passionate affair develops quickly, and they soon marry and relocate far from Blanche’s family. As her new life begins, Blanche finds herself caught in the grip of a deeply possessive and dangerous man, desperate to escape. Just the Two of Us is a closely observed and emotional domestic thriller by Valérie Donzelli.
Taking Venice (2023) [Kino Lorber]
Synopsis: At the height of the Cold War, the U.S. government is determined to fight Communism with culture. The Venice Biennale, the world’s most influential art exhibition, becomes a proving ground in 1964.
Valleyheart (2024) [Indican Pictures]
Synopsis: In the San Fernando Valley, a woman with dreams of stardom is forced to call upon her ex-cop former husband to get her brother out of a life-or-death situation when he gets involved with the wrong people.
Also available on DVD.
The Strangers – Chapter 1 (2024) [Lionsgate]
Synopsis: After their car breaks down in an eerie small town, a young couple (Madelaine Petsch and Froy Gutierrez) are forced to spend the night in a remote cabin. Panic ensues as they are terrorized by three masked strangers who strike with no mercy and seemingly no motive in THE STRANGERS ― CHAPTER 1, the chilling first entry of this upcoming horror feature film series.
Available on Blu-ray and DVD on July 23, 2024
Blu-ray & DVD
Amimalia (2024) [Dark Star]
Synopsis: Itto, a young woman from a modest background, is adapting to the privileged codes of her husband’s family. Heavily pregnant, Itto soon finds her new life turned upside down when a supernatural event puts the country in a state of emergency.
Black God, White Devil (1964) [Criterion]
Synopsis: Myth, mysticism, and revolution collide in a blistering existential western from Glauber Rocha, a pioneer of Brazil’s socially committed Cinema Novo movement. After killing his swindling boss, ranch hand Manoel (Geraldo Del Rey) goes on the run with his wife, Rosa (Yoná Magalhães). In the stark hinterlands, they join forces with armed bandits and pledge allegiance to a self-styled holy man who preaches revolt against rich landowners while perpetrating unspeakable acts of violence against the innocent. Suffused with antiauthoritarian fervor and the intensity of life in the desert, this landmark work of radical cinema is a scorched-earth allegory about mindless fanaticism and the allure of dead-end ideologies.
Brokeback Mountain (2005) 4K UHD [Kino Lorber]
Synopsis: Brokeback Mountain is a sweeping epic that explores the lives of two young men, a ranch hand and a rodeo cowboy, who meet in the summer of 1963 and unexpectedly forge a lifelong connection. The complications, joys and heartbreak they experience provide a testament to the endurance and power of love. Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal deliver emotionally charged, remarkably moving performances in a movie that has become one of the classic romances of our time, and a milestone for queer cinema. Nominated for 8 Academy Awards including Best Actor (Ledger), Best Supporting Actor (Gyllenhaal), Best Supporting Actress (Michelle Williams), Best Cinematography (Rodrigo Prieto) and Best Picture of 2005, Brokeback Mountain won Oscars for Best Director (Ang Lee), Best Adapted Screenplay (Larry McMurtry and Diana Ossana) and Best Original Score (Gustavo Santaolalla). With Anne Hathaway, Randy Quaid, Linda Cardellini, Anna Faris, David Harbour and Kate Mara.
Captain Philips (2013) 4K UHD SteelBook [Sony]
Synopsis: Captain Phillips is a multi-layered examination of the 2009 hijacking of the U.S. container ship Maersk Alabama by a crew of Somali pirates. Based on a true story, the film focuses on the Alabama’s commanding officer, Captain Richard Phillips (two-time Academy Award®-winner Tom Hanks, Best Actor, 1993, Philadelphia; Best Actor, 1994, Forrest Gump), and the Somali pirate captain, Muse (Barkhad Abdi), who takes him hostage. The two men are set on an unstoppable collision course when Muse and his crew target Phillips’ unarmed ship; in the ensuing standoff, both men will find themselves at the mercy of forces beyond their control.
Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956) [Kino Lorber]
Synopsis: “They’re already here! You’re next!” With these chilling words, Invasion of the Body Snatchers sounded the clarion call to the dangers of conformity, paranoia and mass hysteria at the heart of 1950s American life. One of the greatest and most influential science fiction films ever made, Invasion stars Kevin McCarthy (Nightmare, Mirage) as Miles Bennell, a doctor in a small California town whose patients are becoming increasingly overwrought, accusing their loved ones of being emotionless imposters. They’re right! Plant-like extraterrestrials have invaded Earth, taking possession of humans as they sleep and replicating them in giant seed pods. Convinced that a catastrophic pandemic is imminent, Bennell, in a terrifying race for his life, must warn the world of this deadly invasion of the pod people—before it’s too late! This is the original adaptation of Jack Finney’s eerie tale, produced by Walter Wanger (Scarlet Street, Cleopatra) and directed by Don Siegel (Dirty Harry, Charley Varrick) in beautiful black-and-white Superscope. One of the mightiest cult classics of cinema is now scarier and timelier than ever! This special edition features the film in two aspect ratios, 2.00:1 and 1.85:1.
Last Stop in Yuma County (2024) [Well Go USA]
Synopsis: While stranded at a rural Arizona rest stop, a traveling salesman is thrust into a dire hostage situation by the arrival of two bank robbers with no qualms about using cruelty-or cold, hard steel-to protect their bloodstained fortune.
Perfect Days (2023) [Criterion Collection]
Synopsis: A perfect song that hits at just the right moment, the play of sunlight through leaves, a fleeting moment of human connection in a vast metropolis: the wonders of everyday life come into breathtaking focus in this profoundly moving film by Wim Wenders. In a radiant, Cannes-award-winning performance of few words but extraordinary expressiveness, Koji Yakusho plays a public-toilet cleaner in Tokyo whose rich inner world is gradually revealed through his small exchanges with those around him and with the city itself. Channeling his idol Yasujiro Ozu, Wenders crafts a serenely minimalist ode to the miracle that is the here and now.
Rocky: Ultimate Knockout Collection (1976-2006) 4K UHD [Warner Bros.] 
Synopsis: Go the distance with this Rocky collection, featuring six knockout Rocky films. Sylvester Stallone stars in the greatest boxing saga of all time and triumphs as one of the most inspirational characters in cinematic history. Witness the epic, action-packed fights and unforgettable moment as Rocky strives for greatness through sheer determination against impossible odds.
The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie (2004) 4K UHD [Paramount]
Synopsis: Dive into a comedy adventure that’s bigger, better and more absorbing than the rest – the movie debut of that undersea sensation, SpongeBob SquarePants! There’s trouble bubbling up in Bikini Bottom, King Neptune’s crown is missing, and Mr. Krabs has been accused of stealing it! Together with his best pal Patrick, SpongeBob sets out to treacherous Shell City to reclaim Neptune’s crown and save Mr. Krabs, in a spectacular adventure filled with “over-the-top, under-the-sea action and non-stop laughs!”* Featuring the voice talents of Tom Kenny (SpongeBob), Alec Baldwin, Jeffrey Tambor, Scarlett Johansson and a special appearance by David Hasselhoff, The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie is an uproariously funny comedy.
Yvonne’s Perfume (1994) [Kino Lorber]
Synopsis: From acclaimed director Patrice Leconte (Girl on the Bridge, The Hairdresser’s Husband), Yvonne’s Perfumeis a mysterious and romantic drama of desire. In the early 1950s, on the shores of a lake wedged between France and Switzerland, a trio of holiday travelers meet, clash, and fall in and out of friendship and love. Adapted from the novel Ville Triste by Nobel Prize-winner Patrick Modiano, it follows Victor (Hippolyte Girardot, The French Dispatch) a deserter escaping his past who lusts after the beautiful actress Yvonne (Sandra Majani). Their push-pull flirtation attracts the attention of gay bon vivant Dr. Meinthe (Jean-Pierre Marielle, The Da Vinci Code), who can’t help but insert himself into their tryst. But their idyllic holiday can’t last forever.