Summer Movie Season is officially over, which means that many of the year’s biggest blockbusters are going to start arriving on DVD. In addition, with Halloween around the corner, some higher profile horror movies are making their way to home video as well.
MEN IN BLACK: INTERNATIONAL
The Men in Black have expanded to cover the globe, but so have the scum of the universe. And to keep us safe, decorated Agent H (Chris Hemsworth) and determined rookie M (Tessa Thompson) are partnered – an unlikely pairing that just might work. As they face a new alien threat that can take the form of anyone, including MIB agents, they must join forces on a globetrotting adventure to save the agency and ultimately the world.
Description and score provided by Metacritic.
“This is breezy stuff, a welcome respite in the hot summer months.” – Dan Mecca, The Film Stage
“It lacks ambition or depth, but it’s delicious and filling, proving (as if anyone still needed proof) that Tessa Thompson and Chris Hemsworth are two of the most likable movie stars in the galaxy.” – William Bibbiani, TheWrap
Available Formats (9/3):
Blu-ray / DVD Combo Pack
MA
Sue Ann (Octavia Spencer) is a loner who keeps to herself in her quiet Ohio town. One day, she is asked by Maggie, a new teenager in town (Diana Silvers), to buy some booze for her and her friends, and Sue Ann sees the chance to make some unsuspecting, if younger, friends of her own. She offers the kids the chance to avoid drinking and driving by hanging out in the basement of her home. But there are some house rules: One of the kids has to stay sober. Don’t curse. Never go upstairs. And call her “Ma.” But as Ma’s hospitality starts to curdle into obsession, what began as a teenage dream turns into a terrorizing nightmare, and Ma’s place goes from the best place in town to the worst place on earth.
Description and score provided by Metacritic.
“Ma is one loony little horror film, and Octavia Spencer has a grand old time being the craziest thing in it.” – Kerry Lengel, Arizona Republic
“Audiences will walk out with that good chiropractor feeling, the one that says, ‘Yes, I have been manipulated. I have been nothing but manipulated and pounded on for the past 90 minutes. And it was a very satisfying thing.'” – Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle
Available Formats (9/3):
Blu-ray / DVD Combo Pack
BOOKSMART
Told from a wildly original, fresh and modern perspective, Booksmart is an unfiltered comedy about high school friendships and the bonds we create that last a lifetime. Capturing the spirit of our times, the film is a coming of age story for a new generation.
Description and score provided by Metacritic.
“It’s one of the funniest movies of the year.” – Johnny Oleksinski, New York Post
“A stellar high school comedy with an A+ cast, a brilliant script loaded with witty dialogue, eye-catching cinematography, swift editing, and a danceable soundtrack. Most importantly, it’s incredibly fun to watch again and again.” – Monica Castillo, RogerEbert.com
Available Formats (9/3):
Blu-ray / DVD Combo Pack
ALADDIN
Aladdin is the exciting tale of the charming street rat Aladdin, the courageous and self-determined Princess Jasmine and the Genie who may be the key to their future.
Description and score provided by Metacritic.
“It is lively, colourful and genuinely funny, and doesn’t break what didn’t need fixing about the original.” – Steve Rose, The Guardian
“Aladdin, the live-action remake of the 1992 Disney animation, is more than a pleasant surprise. It’s a complete delight that stands up its own and is, in many ways, an improvement on the original.” – Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle
Available Formats (9/10):
Blu-ray | DVD
JOHN WICK: CHAPTER 3 – PARABELLUM
In this third installment of the adrenaline-fueled action franchise, super-assassin John Wick (Keanu Reeves) returns with a $14 million price tag on his head and an army of bounty-hunting killers on his trail. After killing a member of the shadowy international assassin’s guild, the High Table, John Wick is excommunicado, but the world’s most ruthless hit men and women await his every turn.
Description and score provided by Metacritic.
“I don’t mean to give the impression that John Wick 3 is anything grander than a gorgeously choreographed, gratuitously violent action movie. But as gorgeously choreographed, gratuitously violent action movies go, it’s high art.” – Chris Nashawaty, Entertainment Weekly
“Wick 3, starring Keanu Reeves in the role he was born to play, hits you so hard in the thrill zone that instead of feeling exhausted when director Chad Stahelski calls a halt at 130 minutes, you’re panting for Chapter 4.” – Peter Travers, Rolling Stone
Available Formats (9/10):
Blu-ray / DVD Combo Pack
THE DEAD DON’T DIE
In the sleepy small town of Centerville, something is not quite right. The moon hangs large and low in the sky, the hours of daylight are becoming unpredictable, and animals are beginning to exhibit unusual behaviors. No one quite knows why. News reports are scary and scientists are concerned. But no one foresees the strangest and most dangerous repercussion that will soon start plaguing Centerville: The Dead Don’t Die — they rise from their graves and savagely attack and feast on the living, and the citizens of the town must battle for their survival.
Description and score provided by Metacritic.
“A Jarmusch joint through and through, The Dead Don’t Die is as charming, affected and perplexing as we’ve come to expect from the long-time darling of US indie cinema.” – Christopher Machell, CineVue
“Jarmusch, in his droll way, both celebrates and subverts the familiar elements of the genre.” – Gary Thompson, Philadelphia Daily News
Available Formats (9/10):
Blu-ray | DVD
DARK PHOENIX
In Dark Phoenix, the X-Men face their most formidable and powerful foe: one of their own, Jean Grey. During a rescue mission in space, Jean is nearly killed when she is hit by a mysterious cosmic force. Once she returns home, this force not only makes her infinitely more powerful, but far more unstable. Wrestling with this entity inside her, Jean unleashes her powers in ways she can neither comprehend nor contain. With Jean spiraling out of control, and hurting the ones she loves most, she begins to unravel the very fabric that holds the X-Men together. Now, with this family falling apart, they must find a way to unite — not only to save Jean’s soul, but to save our very planet from aliens who wish to weaponize this force and rule the galaxy.
Description and score provided by Metacritic.
“Turner’s damaged conviction holds Dark Phoenix together, giving it a treacherous life force.” – Owen Gleiberman, Variety
“The final fight at the end is fantastic. It is by far the best X-Men fight in its franchise history (not counting Deadpool).” – Alan Ng, Film Threat
Available Formats (9/17):
Blu-ray / DVD Combo Pack
BODIED
A progressive graduate student finds success and sparks outrage when his interest in battle rap as a thesis subject becomes a competitive obsession.
Description and score provided by Metacritic.
“With visuals as kinetic as its language, Joseph Kahn’s Bodied is an outrageously smart, shockingly funny satire of P.C. culture whose words gush so quickly you’ll want to see it twice.” – Jeannette Catsoulis, New York Times
“Part rap musical, part social satire, with elements of Westerns and kung fu pictures, Bodied is one of the funniest, freest movies of the year.” – Matt Zoller Seitz, RogerEbert.com
Available Formats (9/17):
Blu-ray
YESTERDAY
Yesterday, everyone knew The Beatles. Today, only Jack remembers their songs. Jack Malik (Himesh Patel) is a struggling singer-songwriter in a tiny English seaside town whose dreams of fame are rapidly fading, despite the fierce devotion and support of his childhood best friend, Ellie (Lily James). Then, after a freak bus accident during a mysterious global blackout, Jack wakes up to discover that The Beatles have never existed… and he finds himself with a very complicated problem, indeed. Performing songs by the greatest band in history to a world that has never heard them, and with a little help from his steel-hearted American agent, Debra (Kate McKinnon), Jack’s fame explodes. But as his star rises, he risks losing Ellie — the one person who always believed in him. With the door between his old life and his new closing, Jack will need to get back to where he once belonged and prove that all you need is love.
Description and score provided by Metacritic.
“A glowing tribute to The Beatles and their music, this is both a toe-tapping pleasure to watch and a smart, occasionally scathing look at how we get things wrong.” – Helen O’Hara, Empire
“Patel does a masterful job of portraying the inner turmoil that comes with a musician having found the fame he thought he always wanted while knowing he’s living a lie. And he’s great in the musical numbers, which do their best to sound like someone capturing the spirit of those Beatles songs from memory.” – Ed Masley, Arizona Republic
Available Formats (9/24):
Blu-ray / DVD Combo Pack
CHILD’S PLAY
Karen (Aubrey Plaza), a single mother, gifts her son Andy (Gabriel Bateman) a Buddi doll, unaware of its more sinister nature.
Description and score provided by Metacritic.
“This Child’s Play is nastier, more playful, and just as good if not better than the original film.” – Nick Allen, RogerEbert.com
“The result is a surprisingly entertaining, gory delight. Even hard-lined horror abstainers can comfortably enjoy the film’s grim humour and excessively over-the-top carnage.” – Thom Ernst, Original-Cin
Available Formats (9/24):
Blu-ray / DVD Combo Pack
SHAFT
JJ, aka John Shaft Jr. (Jessie T. Usher), may be a cyber security expert with a degree from MIT, but to uncover the truth behind his best friend’s untimely death, he needs an education only his dad can provide. Absent throughout JJ’s youth, the legendary locked-and-loaded John Shaft (Samuel L. Jackson) agrees to help his progeny navigate Harlem’s heroin-infested underbelly. And while JJ’s own FBI analyst’s badge may clash with his dad’s trademark leather coat, there’s no denying family. Besides, Shaft’s got an agenda of his own, and a score to settle that’s professional and personal.
Description and score provided by Metacritic.
“No one steals scenes from Samuel L. Jackson when he’s in this mode. His entire modus operandi is to be the biggest, baddest motherf… (watch your mouth!) on the planet. Nevertheless, Regina Hall gives him a run for his money – something she does with a lot less screen time.” – James Berardinelli, ReelViews
“The movie is product, but by the end you want to see this team again.” – Owen Gleiberman, Variety
Available Formats (9/24):
Blu-ray / DVD Combo Pack
ANNA
Beneath Anna Poliatova’s striking beauty lies a secret that will unleash her indelible strength and skill to become one of the world’s most feared government assassins.
Description and score provided by Metacritic.
“As a slick, over-the-top action picture, Anna works splendidly. It features multiple jaw-dropping set-pieces, including a restaurant hit where Anna walks in with an unloaded gun and walks out after killing about a dozen thugs. The plot, while fairly predictable, is at least craftily constructed. On its own merits, this is one rollickingly entertaining film, that under ordinary circumstances Besson fans would adore.” – Noel Murray, Los Angeles Times
“This kind of Cold War-a-go-go, deadly-honeypot intrigue is harder to do well than you might think — just ask the folks behind Red Sparrow. So you appreciate it when someone like Besson can make it move like a pro.” – David Fear, Rolling Stone