Movies

New Blu-Ray Releases Worth Checking Out: The Green Knight, The Night House, Free Guy, Universal Classic Monsters Icons Of Horror Collection, And Columbia Classics Volume 2

Knight A24
By Chris Evangelista/

It's time again for another round-up of the latest Blu-ray releases. And yes, sure, these movies are on VOD, too! But I will continue to bang the drum of physical media until that drum caves in, which will probably be sooner rather than later. Until that time, though, let's all gather around the warming glow of our screens and read about the wonderful world of new Blu-rays. This latest round-up is pretty big, featuring two different box sets along with several other titles. Some you can skip, some are must-haves. 

The Green Knight

Knight A24

One of the best films of the year, David Lowery's "The Green Knight" is a retelling of the 14th-century poem "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight," filtered through an existential lens of sex, honor, and death. Dev Patel is Gawain, the nephew of King Arthur. And while Gawain dreams of becoming a knight at his uncle's round table, he's also a directionless young man who drinks too much and doesn't put much thought into his future. 

That changes when a gigantic, seemingly supernatural green knight shows up at court one day and challenges someone to attack him. The Green Knight says that he, in turn, gets to return the same sort of attack in exactly one year. No one wants to take him up on this offer, but Gawain finally goes for it – and chops the Green Knight's head off. Gawain thinks that's the end of it, but he's very wrong. The Green Knight picks up his own severed head, reminds Gawain he'll see him in a year, and then rides away.

Now, Gawain could, of course, never go seek the Green Knight out to get his head chopped off. But this is the era of honor, and Gawain eventually feels like he's bound by duty to see this through. And so, a year later, he sets off on a quest to find the Green Knight. Along the way he encounters ghosts, bandits, and all sorts of strange and unusual things, giving Lowery an opportunity to stretch his imagination and create a film that feels mystical and eerie. 

Special Features

  • Boldest of Blood and Wildest of Heart: Making The Green Knight
  • Practitioners of Magic: Visual Effects
  • Illuminating Technique: Title Design
  • Theatrical Trailer

The Night House

Night Searchlight Pictures

Rebecca Hall has become one of those actors who is good in everything. She's consistently great no matter what the film, and she's willing to go to some brutal, raw places. Her streak continues with "The Night House," a slightly uneven horror film that gets by almost entirely by the strength of Hall's performance. Hall plays a recently widowed woman who lost her husband to suicide. She's grief-stricken and spends her nights blasting the same song over and over again while drinking too much. She's spiraling. And then she starts to think her house is haunted.

Is it her husband's ghost? Is it a ghost at all? Is she just cracking up? Director David Bruckner stages several highly effective scares here, and Hall sells it all so well. But the film's script gets too messy, and "The Night House" fails to stick the landing – which is a huge bummer, because it starts off so strong. Still, there's plenty of strong material here, particularly Hall's performance. Hall isn't afraid to play her character as kind of unlikeable – she's a bit of jerk! – and I found that refreshing. 

Special Features

  • What Happens at the Lake House – Take a deep dive with director David Bruckner and the cast to unearth the secrets of The Night House. From the design of the mind-bending set, to Rebecca Hall's haunted performance, witness how this chilling mystery was brought to life.

Free Guy

Guy Disney

"Free Guy" was a big hit, even during the pandemic. And folks seem to genuinely enjoy this comedy about a guy named Guy who lives inside a video game. Well, allow me to be the wettest of blankets, because having finally seen "Free Guy," I can say it's dreck. Look: Ryan Reynolds seems like a really nice guy. I mean, heck, he's Canadian. But I grow weary of his eternal schtick; his propensity to always play characters who are constantly winking at the camera. His Guy is a little more earnest than Deadpool, but it's still basically the same deal. 

While the concept is fine, "Free Guy" does nothing interesting with it. It raises some questions about the rights of Artificial Intelligence, but that's not what it's really interested in. Instead, it wants to throw lazy humor in our faces. These are the type of jokes that we used to see in the dreadful parody films from Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer, where the "joke" amounts to little more than someone pointing something out and hoping the audience laughs because they recognize the reference. 

If there's one bright spot here, it's Jodie Comer, playing Guy's ass-kicking love interest. Comer injects some life into this thing, but she deserves better. We all do. 

Special Features

  • Deleted and Extended Scenes
    • Guy and Buddy Hit the Beach
    • Hot Nuts Gets Blown
    • NPC Rally (Extended)
  • Gag Reel
  • Dude vs Guy – Join Ryan Reynolds, director Shawn Levy and the creative and stunt teams as they reveal the innovative process of creating Free Guy's ultimate showdown between Guy and the wildly amped-up, spray-tanned, frosted-tipped version of himself known as Dude.
  • Creating Molotovgirl – Jodie Comer transforms from a brilliant programmer to her fierce avatar in Free Guy. Watch as the award-winning action star and filmmakers deconstruct the conceptualization, evolution and execution of bringing Molotovgirl to life.
  • It's Taika's World – Free Guy's outrageous action may exist in a virtual world, but Taika Waititi makes the real world just as crazy with the over-the-top Antwan. See him at work in this entertaining showcase of a genuinely talented and hilarious performer.
  • Welcome to Free City – Delve into the reality-skewing universe that is Free City, as revealed by director Shawn Levy, the cast, and its inventive creative teams. Find out how they transformed a real metropolis into a virtual playground where anything is possible.

Universal Classic Monsters Icons of Horror Collection

Dracula Universal

Just in time for Halloween, Universal has released some of their classic monster movies on 4K. The box set includes "Dracula," "Frankenstein," "The Invisible Man," and "The Wolfman." I wish "The Bride of Frankenstein" were on here, too. But beggars can't be choosers, I guess. In any case, having these classics (two of which are turning 90 years old this year) on 4K is slightly surreal, but they look pretty darn great.

Universal was one of the first major studios to get in on the "cinematic universe" action, long before Marvel. They combed over classic horror stories and summoned their monstrous characters to the big screen. They were awash in gothic melodrama, and they terrified audiences who – at the time – had no idea what they were in for. I remember my grandmother telling me a story about how she had gone to see "Frankenstein" in her youth when it first opened, and the entire audience freaked out the first time Boris Karloff's monster appears on the screen. These days, that look – the flat head, the bolts, the boots – is common to the point of cliche. But remember, an audience in 1931 had never seen anything like that. It thrilled them, and that thrill lives on all these decades later.

Special Features

CLASSIC MONSTER FILMS INCLUDED:

  1. Dracula (90th Anniversary)
  2. Frankenstein (90th Anniversary)
  3. The Invisible Man
  4. The Wolf Man (80th Anniversary)

HOURS OF BONUS CONTENT, INCLUDING:

  1. The Road to Dracula
  2. The Frankenstein Files: How Hollywood Made a Monster
  3. Karloff: The Gentle Monster
  4. Monster by Moonlight
  5. The Wolf Man: From Ancient Curse to Modern Myth
  6. Now Your See Him: The Invisible Man Revealed

Columbia Classics Volume 2

Taxi Columbia

Columbia has released another must-have box set featuring an eclectic line-up of films now in 4K. Their first box set featured "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington," "Lawrence of Arabia," "Dr. Strangelove," "Gandhi," "A League of Their Own," and "Jerry Maguire." Volume 2, in my humble opinion, is even better. This time we get "Anatomy of a Murder," "Oliver!", "Taxi Driver," "Stripes," "Sense and Sensibility," and "The Social Network." The prospect of having "Taxi Driver" on 4K alone is exciting, but I also appreciate how ... odd this collection is. I mean, "Oliver!" and "The Social Network" don't seem like two films that would go together. And yet here they are, in this killer package. 

And Columbia didn't just take the easy way out and port over previously released special features. Well, okay, yes, they did do that – but they created new features, too. There are new commentaries here for some of the films, along with new featurettes. And as an added bonus, there's an extra disc with 20 short films. Sadly, there's not much new for "Taxi Driver" save for a trailer, and "The Social Network" disc has nothing new, features-wise. But this entire set feels like a given for film lovers, and I hope Columbia keeps it up.

Anatomy of a Murder

  • 4K Ultra HD Includes:
    • Feature presented in 4K resolution with HDR10, restored from the original camera negative
    • Dolby Atmos English audio
    • 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio
    • Mono DTS-HD Master Audio
  • Blu-ray Includes:
    • Feature presented in high definition, sourced from the 4K master
    • 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio
    • Mono DTS-HD Master Audio
    • Special Features:
  • NEW: Commentary with Film Historian Foster Hirsch
  • Gary Giddins Interview
  • Pat Kirkham Interview
  • Foster Hirsch Interview
  • Excerpt from Firing Line Featuring Otto Preminger
  • Theatrical Trailer

Oliver!

  • 4K Ultra HD Includes:
  • Feature presented in 4K resolution with HDR10, restored from the original camera negative
  • Dolby Atmos English audio
  • 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio
  • 2-Channel Surround DTS-HD Master Audio
  • Feature Blu-ray Includes:
    • Feature presented in high definition, sourced from the 4K master
    • 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio
    • 2-Channel Surround DTS-HD Master Audio
    • Special Features:
  • NEW: Commentary with Film Historian Steven C. Smith
  • NEW: Jack Wild Screen Test
  • Behind-the-Scenes Featurette
  • Meeting Oliver!
  • Meeting Fagin!
  • The Locations of Oliver!
  • Sing-Alongs
  • Dance-Alongs
  • Theatrical Trailers

Taxi Driver

  • 4K Ultra HD Includes:
  • Feature presented in 4K resolution with Dolby Vision, restored from the original camera negative
  • 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio
  • Mono DTS-HD Master Audio
  • Special Features:
    • NEW: 20th Anniversary Re-Release Trailer
    • Making Taxi Driver Documentary
    • Storyboard to Film Comparisons with Martin Scorsese Introduction
    • Animated Photo Galleries
  • Blu-ray Includes:
  • Feature presented in high definition, sourced from the 4K master
  • 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio
  • Special Features:
  • 40-Minute Taxi Driver Q&A featuring Martin Scorsese, Robert De Niro, Jodie Foster and Many More Recorded Live at the Beacon Theatre in New York City at the 2016 Tribeca Film Festival
  • Commentary with Director Martin Scorsese and Writer Paul Schrader Recorded by the Criterion Collection
  • Commentaries by Writer Paul Schrader and by Professor Robert Kolker
  • Martin Scorsese on Taxi Driver
  • Influence and Appreciation: A Martin Scorsese Tribute
  • Producing Taxi Driver
  • God's Lonely Man
  • Taxi Driver Stories
  • Travis' New York
  • Travis' New York Locations
  • Theatrical Trailer

Stripes

  • 4K Ultra HD Includes:
  • Both Theatrical & Extended versions presented in 4K resolution with HDR10, restored from the original camera negative
  • Dolby Atmos English audio (for both versions)
  • 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio (for both versions)
  • Mono DTS-HD Master Audio (Theatrical version only)
  • Special Features:
  • NEW: 40 Years of Stripes With Bill & Ivan – a two-part on-camera reunion between star Bill Murray and director Ivan Reitman, discussing their careers, memories from set, a tribute to the cast, as well as a special guest appearance from cinematographer Bill Butler
  • NEW: Theatrical Trailer
  • Feature Blu-ray Includes:
  • Both Theatrical & Extended versions presented in high definition, sourced from the 4K masters
  • 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio (for both versions)
  • Mono DTS-HD Master Audio (Theatrical version only)
  • Special Features:
  • Commentary with Ivan Reitman and Dan Goldberg (Extended version only)
  • NEW: 11 Additional Deleted & Extended Scenes
  • NEW: 1983 TV Version of the film (in standard definition)
  • Deleted & Extended Scenes from the Extended version of the film
  • Stars and Stripes Documentary

Sense and Sensibility

  • 4K Ultra HD Includes:
  • Feature presented in 4K resolution with HDR10, restored from the original camera negative
  • Dolby Atmos English audio
  • 5.0 DTS-HD Master Audio
  • Feature Blu-ray Includes:
  • Feature presented in high definition, sourced from the 4K master
  • 5.0 DTS-HD Master Audio
  • Special Features:
  • NEW: 25th Anniversary Reunion: Back to Barton Cottage – an expansive on-camera reunion featuring Emma Thompson, Kate Winslet, Greg Wise, Imelda Staunton, Imogen Stubbs, Myriam Francois, producer Lindsay Doran, and director Ang Lee
  • Emma Thompson & Producer Lindsay Doran's Audio Commentary
  • Director Ang Lee & Co-Producer James Schamus's Audio Commentary
  • Adapting Austen Featurette
  • A Sense of Character Featurette
  • A Very Quiet Man Featurette
  • Locating the World of Sense and Sensibility Featurette
  • Elegance & Simplicity: The Wardrobe of Sense and Sensibility Featurette
  • Deleted Scenes
  • Theatrical & International Trailers

The Social Network

  • 4K Ultra HD Includes:
  • Feature presented in 4K resolution with Dolby Vision
  • Unrated Dolby Atmos English audio
  • Unrated 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio
  • Theatrical 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio
  • Special Feature:
  • NEW: Theatrical Trailers
  • Feature Blu-ray Includes:
  • Feature presented in high definition
  • Theatrical 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio
  • Special Features:
    • Audio Commentary with David Fincher
    • Audio Commentary with Aaron Sorkin & Cast
  • Special Feature Blu-ray Includes:
  • How Did They Ever Make a Movie of Facebook?
  • David Fincher and Jeff Cronenweth on the Visuals
  • Angus Wall, Kirk Baxter and Ren Klyce on Post
  • Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross and David Fincher on the Score
  • Ruby Skye VIP Room: Multi-Angle Scene Breakdown
  • In the Hall of the Mountain King: Reznor's First Draft
  • Swarmatron

Bonus Disc

  • 20 short films from the Columbia Pictures library, presented in high definition:
    • Umpa
    • The Three Stooges: Disorder In The Court
    • Charley Chase: Man Bites Lovebug
    • Color Rhapsodies: The Little Match Girl (Academy Award® nominee, 1937, Best Short Subject, Cartoons)
    • Charley Chase: The Sap Takes A Wrap
    • Color Rhapsodies: Dog, Cat and Canary (Academy Award® nominee, 1944, Best Short Subject, Cartoons)
    • The Ragtime Bear
    • The Wonder Gloves
    • Georgie and the Dragon
    • Madeline (Academy Award® nominee, 1952, Best Short Subject, Cartoons)
    • Pete Hothead
    • The Tell-Tale Heart (Academy Award® nominee, 1953, Best Short Subject, Cartoons)
    • When Magoo Flew (Academy Award® winner, 1954, Best Short Subject, Cartoons)
    • The Man on the Flying Trapeze
    • Christopher Crumpet's Playmate
    • Stage Door Magoo
    • April in Portugal
    • The Chubbchubbs! (Academy Award® winner, 2002, Best Short Film, Animated)
    • The Early Hatchling Gets The Worm
    • Puppy!: A Hotel Transylvania Short

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