ANTEBELLUM
Successful author Veronica Henley (Janelle Monáe) finds herself trapped in a horrifying reality and must uncover the mind-bending mystery before it’s too late.
Description and score provided by Metacritic.
“While Antebellum is no zombie movie, it treats systemic racism as a kind of contagion that refuses to die, eating the brains of successive generations. There’s only one way to stop it, and that’s by blowing the minds of all those infected — which is precisely the impact Antebellum achieves.” – Peter DeBruge, Variety
“A purely entertaining, scary flick will infuriate the culturati who like their movies like they like their Atlantic articles: long and academic. However, despite some issues, this Janelle Monáe film is a breathless watch.” – Johnny Oleksinski, New York Post
“Antebellum—if you stick with it—reveals itself to be a sharp consideration of the lasting legacy of American slavery, right down to the present day.” – John Larsen, Larsen on Film
Available Formats [11/3]:
Blu-ray / DVD Combo Pack
MISBEHAVIOUR
In 1970, the Miss World competition took place in London, hosted by US comedy legend, Bob Hope. At the time, Miss World was the most-watched TV show on the planet with over 100 million viewers. Claiming that beauty competitions demeaned women, the newly formed Women’s Liberation Movement achieved overnight fame by invading the stage and disrupting the live broadcast of the competition. Not only that, when the show resumed, the result caused uproar: the winner was not the Swedish favourite but Miss Grenada, the first black woman to be crowned Miss World. In a matter of hours, a global audience had witnessed the patriarchy driven from the stage and the Western ideal of beauty turned on its head.
Description and score provided by Metacritic.
“If there is a tonal uncertainty in this comedy, then that’s because there was a tonal uncertainty in the real-life events, and the movie nicely conveys how they were at one and the same time deadly serious and Pythonically silly.” – Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian
“It’s just a great story, you wonder why nobody thought to make a movie before.” – Tara Brady, The Irish Times
“Well written, -acted, -cast and -produced, this wholly entertaining yet stingingly relevant story of the 1970 Miss World finals should have been a smash hit when it opened in UK theatres on March 13, but events overtook its release.” – Fionnuala Halligan, Screen Daily
Available Formats [11/3]:
Blu-ray / DVD Combo Pack
BLACKBIRD
Lily (Susan Sarandon) and Paul (Sam Neill) summon their loved ones to their beach house for one final gathering after Lily decides to end her long battle with ALS. The couple is planning a loving weekend complete with holiday traditions, but the mood becomes strained when unresolved issues surface between Lily and her daughters Jennifer (Kate Winslet) and Anna (Mia Wasikowska). Joining the collective farewell are Lily’s son in law (Rainn Wilson), her lifelong friend (Lindsay Duncan), daughter’s partner (Bex Taylor-Klaus) and grandson (Anson Boon).
Description and score provided by Metacritic.
“If Blackbird shows us anything it’s that no matter how carefully we plan, life resists perfection, right up to the end.” – Robbie Collin, The Telegraph
“Blackbird is a simple tale, well-told, but it’s also the tale of all tales, of life, death and everything in between.” – Katie Walsh, Chicago Tribune
“Blackbird may be a tearjerker, but it’s also a reminder that there’s more to tears than tragedy, even in the midst of personal loss.” – Kate Erbland, Indiewire
Available Formats [11/3]:
Blu-ray / DVD Combo Pack
FRIENDSGIVING
Abby is looking forward to a laid-back Thanksgiving with her best friend Molly. But the friends’ plans for a quiet turkey dinner go up in smoke when they’re joined by Molly’s new boyfriend and her flamboyant mother. Throw in some party crashers including Molly’s old flame, a wannabe shaman, and a trio of Fairy Gay Mothers, and it’s a recipe for a comically chaotic holiday no one will ever forget—even if they wanted to!
Description provided by Metacritic.
“At the heart of Friendsgiving, like many movies of its kind, is a story about the importance of family (both blood and chosen). But the film also captures, with a deft mix of earnestness and humor, the messiness of grief.” – Lovia Gyarkye, New York Times
“Friendsgiving is not destined to be a holiday classic, but it shows that with a good script and a talented cast, even an old formula can result in a surprisingly entertaining movie.” – Daniel M. Kimmel, North Shore Movies
“It’s a satisfying snack of a movie, the kind of cinematic comfort food that feels rather nice to consume right now. In its own terms, it’s not the turkey, but neither is it the vegan casserole that no one wants. It’s the pie – and who doesn’t enjoy pie?” – Allen Adams, The Maine Edge
Available Formats [11/3]:
Blu-ray / DVD Combo Pack
Let’s Scare Julie
Terror strikes when teenage friends hatch a plan to scare a reclusive girl who lives in a house rumored to be haunted.
Description provided by Rotten Tomatoes.
“[An] efficient, low-budget chiller, perfect for a late night viewing during the Halloween season, and featuring some fresh-faced talent and a cool shooting-style from debuting feature director Jud Cremata.” – Nick Clement, We Are Cult
“An indie powerhouse, with strong performances, heart-stopping scares, and messages reminiscent of your favorite after school special.” – Maggie Stankiewicz, Morbidly Beautiful
“…impresses from beginning to end… a tense and eerie film that explores guilt and accountability through a devastating ghost story about the dangers of bullying and gun violence.” – Jessica Scott, Nightmarish Conjurings
Available Formats [11/3]:
Blu-ray / DVD Combo Pack
BILL & TED FACE THE MUSIC
When we last met Bill and Ted they were time-traveling teenagers trying to pass history class and win the battle of the bands. Once prophesized to save the universe with their rock and roll, middle age and the responsibilities of family have caught up with these two best friends who have not yet fulfilled their destiny. They’ve written thousands of tunes, but they have yet to write a good one, much less the greatest song ever written. With the fabric of time and space tearing around them, a visitor from the future warns our heroes that only their song can save life as we know it. Out of luck and fresh out of inspiration, Bill and Ted set out on a time travel adventure to seek the song that will set their world right and bring harmony in the universe as we know it. Together with the aid of their daughters, a new crop of historical figures, and some sympathetic music legends, Bill and Ted find much, much more than just a song.
Description and score provided by Metacritic.
“With a story built around the need to bring everyone, all the oddballs and weirdos and lost friends and new friends together with peace, understanding, and a lack of judgement, maybe now is the time we really, truly need Bill & Ted.” – Richard Whittaker, Austin Chronicle
“The conclusion of Bill & Ted Face the Music is pure corn, and by that point, they’ve earned it. It’s a film that’s somehow both offhand and meticulous, shaggy yet crisp, and the apparent joy of its creation is infectious. I laughed through a lot of it, and smiled through the rest. What a treat this movie is.” – Jason Bailey, The Playlist
“What people want from Bill & Ted Face the Music matters a lot less than what it actually is, a crazy, imperfect but deeply gratifying burst of optimism at the end of what has been — inarguably — a terrible summer. Its ramshackle earnestness, its certainty about nothing beyond the fact that we need to get our act together as human beings, is its great strength.” – Stephanie Zacharek, TIME
Available Formats [11/10]:
Blu-ray | DVD
THE TROUBLE WITH MAGGIE COLE
Maggie Cole (Dawn French) spills gossip on many of her neighbors to a radio reporter and faces with the consequences.
Description provided by Metacritic.
“It is a delight to see Dawn French and Julie Hesmondhalgh teamed up, and more than generously supported by a formidable cast including Mark Heap, John Macmillan, Vicki Pepperdine, and Chetna Pandya. The premise of this six-part drama set in a picturesque, close-knit English village is an excellent and irresistibly intriguing one.” – Sean O’Grady, The Independent
“A thriller of sorts—there are plenty of dark forces here—with a strong sitcom sensibility, The Trouble With Maggie Cole is a rollicking drama that shines with life.” – Dorothy Rabinowitz, Wall Street Journal
“French and Heap are the only ones playing for laughs. But when every other new show is a police procedural, period adaptation or domestic thriller, at least it’s aiming for something different.” – Anita Singh, Daily Telegraph
Available Formats [11/10]:
DVD
SCHITT’S CREEK: THE COMPLETE SERIES
After the IRS confiscates much of their money, video store magnate Johnny Rose (Eugene Levy), his soap star wife Moira (Catherine O’Hara), and their two kids, David (Daniel Levy) and Alexis (Annie Murphy) are forced to move to the small town of Schitt’s Creek that he had bought as a joke years ago in the first original scripted show on the POP network.
Description and score provided by Metacritic.
“The striking thing about Schitt’s Creek is in how writing this quick and smart and performances as finely calibrated as these exist on a show without cynicism, crudeness, glibness, or the kind of tortured darkness that has come to define what we consider ‘great’ comedy. It’s masterful comedy that exists in a happy world.” – Kevin Fallon, Daily Beast
“It’s very funny, beautifully played, sometimes touching and, though its premise is familiar–rich family loses money–quite its own animal.” – Robert Lloyd, Los Angeles Times
“This is pure comedy, with no hidden social agendas, no thinly disguised commentary on human behavior–nothing at all of much importance, except a whole lot of laughs.” – David Wiegand, San Francisco Chronicle
Available Formats [11/10]:
DVD
THE LAST DANCE
The 10-part documentary series directed by Jason Hehir about Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls’ 1997-98 championship season includes interviews and never-before-seen footage.
Description and score provided by Metacritic.
“Beautifully composed and edited together, the program serves as religious text for those who still exalt at the shrine of his Airness. Moreover, for fans who watched the incredible and nearly unparalleled run of success this franchise experienced during the 1990’s, The Last Dance is a pulsating celebration of greatness.” – Robert Daniels, Consequence of Sound
“This is no mere piece of fan service. It is a stunningly refined and comprehensive look at the legacy and inner turmoil of one of the most essential sports teams of all time, the ‘90s Chicago Bulls, with input from every major player.” – Brian Tallerico, RogerEbert.com
“At a time when ESPN and other outlets are struggling to fill the sport-less void, thanks to the coronavirus pandemic’s disruption of, well, everything, The Last Dance is exactly what fans need… It’s both a perfect diversion and a tribute to shared sacrifice.” – Phil Rosenthal, Chicago Tribune
Available Formats [11/10]:
Blu-ray
THE NEW MUTANTS
In an isolated hospital, young mutants are being held for psychiatric monitoring. When strange occurrences begin to take place, both their new mutant abilities and their friendships will be tested as they battle to try and make it out alive.
Description and score provided by Metacritic.
“If New Mutants is any indication, the future is bright for young adult horror, even when that future is being carved out of the husk of billion-dollar properties. Here’s to the future audiences who will unleash their inner fear bears.” – Matthew Monagle, The Playlist
“The New Mutants didn’t deserve to be locked away for years. It’s not some unwatchable mess but rather a perfectly fine, entertaining, if at times formulaic small-scale genre movie.” – Jim Vejvoda, IGN
“Boone’s film does demonstrate that there are different ways to approach these franchises outside of the binary of lighthearted/fun and dark/gritty movies that permeate the superhero genre.” – Tracy Brown, Los Angeles Times
Available Formats [11/17]:
Blu-ray / DVD Combo Pack
UNHINGED
Rachel (Caren Pistorius) is running late to work when she has an altercation at a traffic light with a stranger (Russell Crowe) whose life has left him feeling powerless and invisible. Soon, Rachel finds herself and everyone she loves the target of a man who decides to make one last mark upon the world by teaching her a series of deadly lessons. What follows is a dangerous game of cat and mouse that proves you never know just how close you are to someone who is about to become unhinged.
Description and score provided by Metacritic.
“As a psychothriller, it gives itself one simple assignment – to set your heart rate pounding through the roof. And on this level, with a lurid voltage that might require health warnings, it nastily delivers.” – Tim Robey, The Telegraph
“In spite of what may seem like a direct-to-VOD vibe, this is a slick, nasty thriller with a throwback quality, neither too self-serious nor too self-aware. While it’s not especially fresh, it’s still solid genre filmmaking.” – Christina Newland, Empire
“Crowe, identified in the credits only as The Man, is the reason to see this film. He makes for a convincing villain. And even when the movie veers towards the ridiculous, Crowe forces you to keep your eyes on the road.” – Thom Ernst, Original Cin
Available Formats [11/17]:
Blu-ray | DVD
WORDS ON BATHROOM WALLS
Witty and introspective Adam (Charlie Plummer) appears to be your typical young adult – a little unkempt with raging hormones and excited about a future pursuing his dream of becoming a chef. Expelled halfway through his senior year following an incident in chemistry class, Adam is diagnosed with a mental illness. Sent to a Catholic academy to finish out his term, Adam has little hope of fitting in and just wants to keep his illness secret until he can enroll in culinary school. But when he meets outspoken and fiercely intelligent Maya (Taylor Russell), there is an instant soulful and comforting connection. As their romance deepens, she inspires him to open his heart and not be defined by his condition. Now, with the love and support of his girlfriend and family, Adam is hopeful for the very first time that he can see the light and triumph over the challenges that lie ahead.
Description and score provided by Metacritic.
“Nick Naveda’s strong, smart script is based on the award-winning novel by Julia Walton. Adam is a perceptive and sympathetic character and director Thor Freudenthal brings us inside his perception of the world with striking visuals.” – Nell Minow, RogerEbert.com
“Plummer’s genuine, heartfelt performance will likely go a long way in humanizing a diagnosis that is often unfairly stigmatized.” – Shaena Montanari, Arizona Republic
“Eager to split the difference between age-appropriate entertainment and raw honesty, Words on Bathroom Walls hedges a bit in its final act, delivering the kind of happy ending only seen in movies… while slyly resisting tying things up in a neat bow.” – Kate Erbland, Indiewire
Available Formats [11/17]:
Blu-ray / DVD Combo Pack
RELIC
When octogenarian Edna inexplicably vanishes, her daughter Kay (Emily Mortimer) and granddaughter Sam (Bella Heathcote) rush to their family’s decaying country home and find clues of her increasing dementia scattered around the house in her absence. After Edna returns just as mysteriously as she disappeared, Kay’s concern that her mother seems unwilling or unable to say where she’s been clashes with Sam’s unabashed enthusiasm to have her grandma back. However, as Edna’s behavior turns increasingly volatile, both begin to sense that an insidious presence in the house might be taking control of her.
Description and score provided by Metacritic.
“James often frames her characters in close-ups with still backgrounds and lingers there for far too long, creating a transfixing atmosphere of discomfort. Through all her aesthetic craft, the house transforms into a physical manifestation of dementia with forgotten rooms, claustrophobic spaces, and walls that slowly close in on each other.” – Dilara Elbir, The Playlist
“It’s a hell of a performance by Robyn Nevin, who’s had a long and commanding career on the Australian stage.” – Anthony Lane, The New Yorker
“Relic deftly merges the familiar bumps and groans of the haunted-house movie with a potent allegory for the devastation of dementia.” – Jeannette Catsoulis, New York Times
Available Formats [11/17]:
Blu-ray / DVD Combo Pack
WESTWORLD: SEASON 3
The third season of the sci-fi western series inspired by the 1973 Michael Crichton film of the same name introduces Delos Corporation founder James Delos (Peter Mullan).
Description and score provided by Metacritic.
“The dazzling third season of the dense sci-fi thriller has raised the stakes and sharpened the focus of its mind-teasing existential premise.” – Matt Roush, TV Guide
“Season 3 may have expanded its story to a worldwide class conflict, but it still feels like its scope scaled down for the better as it hurdles towards a conclusion perhaps tragically predestined to reverse the power dynamics of the original park.” – Jacob Oller, Paste
“While Season 3 seems to be shaping up to be a new bag that’s full of familiar tricks, you probably know if that’s your bag. And if it is, what a stunning and ambitious one at that.” – Haleigh Foutch, Collider
Available Formats [11/17]:
Blu-ray | DVD
SUMMERLAND
Alice is a reclusive writer, resigned to a solitary life on the seaside cliffs of Southern England while World War II rages across the channel. When she opens her front door one day to find she’s to adopt a young London evacuee named Frank, she’s resistant. It’s not long, however, before the two realize they have more in common in their pasts than Alice had assumed.
Description and score provided by Metacritic.
“What a lovely, hopeful and rather magical movie this is.” – Mark Kermode, The Observer
“While much of what Swale has crafted here is familiar, the film’s loving tone and Arterton’s compelling performance recommend it, and the result is a warm drama never afraid of a little magic.” – Kate Erbland, Indiewire
“Arterton’s at a peak in her career here, repurposing bits and pieces of her work in Their Finest for a film with much more intentional sentiment.” – Andrew Crump, Paste
Available Formats [11/17]:
Blu-ray | DVD
THE NEST
Dan (Martin Compston) and Emily (Sophie Rundle) have a wonderful life in Glasgow, but have been trying to have child together for years. Emily meets troubled 18-year-old Kaya (Mirren Mack), who is willing to carry their child in this drama created by Nicole Taylor.
Description and score provided by Metacritic.
“The acting is faultless, with Mirren Mack giving an edgy performance as Kaya (although those two bits of hair hanging down her face drove me to distraction). And the power dynamic in surrogacy cases is a fascinating subject to explore: the middle-class couple with the money to change a disadvantaged girl’s life, but that girl holds all the cards until she signs over parental rights.” – Anita Singh, The Telegraph
“Its subtle layering… puts The Nest a cut above the usual run of such dramas…” – Lucy Mangan, The Guardian
“The tone of this darkly compelling limited series largely sidesteps cheesy melodrama for an adult, provocative study of class differences and social engineering.” – Matt Roush, TV Guide
Available Formats [11/17]:
DVD
THE RUNAWAYS
Three siblings go on the run from Social Services when their father dies.
Description provided by Rotten Tomatoes.
“An absolute delight… Heart warming and deeply emotional” – Mark Searby, BBC Radio
“[Richard] Heap gives the film a gently meandering pace that never overplays the various twists and turns, surprising incidents, perilous encounters and capers along the way.” – Rich Cline, Shadows on the Wall
“The Runaways is worth seeking out, with heartfelt performances and a charming script. It’s a ray of British sunshine on film.” – Owen Richards, The Arts Desk
Available Formats [11/17]:
Blu-ray / DVD Combo Pack
MOONSTRUCK: CRITERION COLLECTION EDITION
In this romantic comedy, Loretta (Cher), a young widow, feels unlucky in love and is content to wed a man she does not love (Aiello)… until she meets and falls hopelessly in love with his younger brother (Cage).
Description and score provided by Metacritic.
“Such nourishing comedy. It satisfies every hunger, especially the irrational ones that seem to hit hardest at holidays: hunger for impetuous romance and for the reassuring warmth of family, for reckless abandon, and for knowing who we are and what we want.” – Sheila Benson, Los Angeles Times
“In its warmth and in its enchantment, as well as in its laughs, this is the best comedy in a long time.” – Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times
“A great big beautiful valentine of a movie, an intoxicating romantic comedy set beneath the biggest, brightest Christmas moon you ever saw. It’s a monster moon, a Moby Dick of a moon, whose radiance fills the winter sky and every cranny of this joyous love story.” – Rita Kempley, Washington Post
Available Formats [11/17]:
Blu-ray / DVD Combo Pack
THE IRISHMAN: CRITERION COLLECTION EDITION
The Irishman is an epic saga of organized crime in post-war America told through the eyes of World War II veteran Frank Sheeran (Robert De Niro), a hustler and hitman who worked alongside some of the most notorious figures of the 20th Century. Spanning decades, the film chronicles one of the greatest unsolved mysteries in American history, the disappearance of legendary union boss Jimmy Hoffa, and offers a monumental journey through the hidden corridors of organized crime: its inner workings, rivalries and connections to mainstream politics.
Description and score provided by Metacritic.
“With The Irishman, Scorsese offers us his first truly autumnal film – a picture about age’s slow, inevitable decline. There are the signature dolly shots, the period pop music, the bursts of brutality, but there is also a frail melancholy we have rarely glimpsed in even his statelier films.” – Christopher Machell, Cinevue
“The movie is a masterpiece, one made by a man counting down his own years as if they were rosary beads.” – Ty Burr, Boston Globe
“The Irishman is all about the end of something. It is to gangster movies what John Ford’s The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance was to westerns. Without a doubt, it’s a masterpiece.” – Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle
Available Formats [11/24]:
Blu-ray | DVD
PENINSULA
Peninsula takes place four years after the zombie outbreak in Train to Busan. Jung-seok, a soldier who previously escaped the diseased wasteland, relives the horror when assigned to a covert operation with two simple objectives: retrieve and survive. When his team unexpectedly stumbles upon survivors, their lives will depend on whether the best—or worst—of human nature prevails in the direst of circumstances.
Description and score provided by Metacritic.
“Riveting from start to finish.” – Jason Bechervaise, Screen Daily
“…instead of staging a character-driven dramatic thriller with zombies like the first film, Peninsula presents a world hit by a zombie outbreak that responds by turning into a ridiculous, cartoonish dystopia — and it is much better for it.” – Rafael Motamayor, Observer
“Less initially mawkish than the first film and more entertainingly overblown, Peninsula keeps to the established paradigm that the living are far worse than the dead, then goes on a gonzo excursion through a wrecked city.” – Richard Whittaker, Austin Chronicle
Available Formats [11/24]:
Blu-ray
AVA
Ava (Jessica Chastain) is a deadly assassin who works for a black ops organization, traveling the globe specializing in high profile hits. When a job goes dangerously wrong she is forced to fight for her own survival.
Description and score provided by Metacritic.
“It connects for the most part, providing a moviegoing ride and Chastain an opportunity to participate in the genre, making for a terrific gut-rot brutalizer.” – Brian Orndorf, Blu-ray.com
“If the action and espionage elements were executed at the same level as the dramatic and comedic exchanges and the observations about the types of people drawn to this life, Ava might’ve been a cult classic.” – Matt Zoller Seitz, RogerEbert.com
“There’s a stranger, spikier, more unnerving film to be pulled from the sleek genre carapace of Ava, a film less interested in what makes a contract killer tick than in the superhuman Swiss-watch regularity of her ticking in the first place.” – Guy Lodge, Variety
Available Formats [11/24]:
Blu-ray / DVD Combo Pack
BETTER CALL SAUL: SEASON 5
Jimmy decides to practice law as Saul Goodman and it changes everything.
Description and score provided by Metacritic.
“[The first five episodes of this fifth season] provide overwhelming proof that Better Call Saul remains one of the best shows of any kind anywhere on television. And Odenkirk hardly is the only compelling reason to follow this series. All of the characters are intriguing.” – Mark Dawidziak, Cleveland Plain Dealer
“Like Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul is not just another show about quirky characters and intriguing storylines. The people behind these two series love to make television, and it’s evident from the product… This is television magic, and it won’t last long. You should enjoy it while you can.” – Aaron Barnhart, Primetimer
“Although the prequel is running out of room, the AMC drama continues to achieve a dazzling balancing act in building toward an ending that is, in some ways, a beginning.” – Brian Lowry, CNN