Now in Theaters:

 Elemental – The latest from Pixar studios has arrived and it’s a unique take on the periodic table which assigns human characteristics to the elements. Unique, that is, if you don’t count Inside Out (assigning human characteristics to emotions) and Soul (assigning human characteristics to musical notes) and several other examples that could be cited but won’t be due to space considerations. Coincidence or creative bankruptcy? Summer movie audiences will have to decide.

 The Flash – The DC Comics hero known for his ability to move at superspeed gets a big screen adaptation after three previous films and two TV series that obviously didn’t get the job done earlier. Ezra Miller stars and Michael Keaton makes a token appearance as Batman for those interested.

Ezra Miller in The Flash

 

New to Streaming:

 Arnold (2023) is a new three-part docu series chronicling the life and times of (who else?) Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Criterion:

The label will be issuing three new titles this week. The Servant (1963), Medicine for Melancholy (2008) and Red River (1948). All are getting fresh transfers and new extras.

 

New to Disc:

Paramount:

Two films starring Tom Cruise are making the leap to the 4K format this week. They are the Sydney Pollack adaptation of the John Grisham bestseller, The Firm (1993) and Cameron Crowe’s remake of the Spanish film, Open Your Eyes, Vanilla Sky (2002). Both contain previously issued extras.

Arrow:

The Game Trilogy (1978-79) Three films featuring Asian action star, Yuska Matsuda, make their way to Blu-Ray this week in a new set. Films included are The Most Dangerous Game, The Killing Game and The Execution Game. Extras include featurettes and commentaries.

Kino:

Ronin (1998) John Frankenheimer’s action packed tale of a group of mercenaries on a mission to recover a case of stolen documents gets a 4K facelift this week with a few new extras and just about all of the archival ones getting ported over.

The Manchurian Candidate (1962) is another John Frankenheimer classic, the tale of a man brainwashed into killing the president, getting a 4K upgrade this week. New and archival extras are included.

The Bridges at Toko-RI (1954) Mark Robson’s film adaptation of the James Michener Korean War novel gets a Blu-Ray issue with a new 4K scan of the film elements and a commentary.

Mr. Wong Collection (1938-40) Boris Karloff starred in this series of detective adventures from Monogram pictures, now together in a new Blu-Ray set. A new commentary is included.

Disney:

The original Avatar (2009) gets a new 4K disc release from the studio this week, while its super successful sequel, Avatar: The Way of Water (2022), gets both a Blu-Ray and a 4K disc release. Both have copious amounts of bonus material.

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