Todd Haynes’ THE VELVET UNDERGROUND Opens in St. Louis at the Landmark Plaza Frontenac and Premieres Globally on Apple TV October 15th

THE VELVET UNDERGROUND will open at the Landmark Plaza Frontenac and premiere globally on Apple TV+ on October 15, 2021. Here’s the trailer:

The Velvet Underground created a new sound that changed the world of music, cementing its place as one of rock ’n’ roll’s most revered bands. Directed by acclaimed filmmaker Todd Haynes, “The Velvet Underground” shows just how the group became a cultural touchstone representing a range of contradictions: the band is both of their time, yet timeless; literary yet realistic; rooted in high art and street culture.

The film features in-depth interviews with the key players of that time combined with a treasure trove of never-before-seen performances and a rich collection of recordings, Warhol films, and other experimental art that creates an immersive experience into what founding member John Cale describes as the band’s creative ethos: “how to be elegant and how to be brutal.”

Apple TV+ offers premium, compelling drama and comedy series, feature films, groundbreaking documentaries, and kids and family entertainment, and is available to watch across all your favorite screens. After its launch on November 1, 2019, Apple TV+ became the first all-original streaming service to launch around the world, and has premiered more original hits and received more award recognitions faster than any other streaming service in its debut. To date, Apple Original films, documentaries, and series have been honored with 133 wins and 515 awards nominations.

Apple TV+ is available on the Apple TV app in over 100 countries and regions, on over 1 billion screens, including iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, Mac, popular smart TVs from Samsung, LG, Sony, VIZIO, TCL and others, Roku and Amazon Fire TV devices, Chromecast with Google TV, PlayStation and Xbox gaming consoles, and at tv.apple.com, for $4.99 per month with a seven-day free trial. For a limited time, customers who purchase and activate a new iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, Mac or iPod touch can enjoy three months of Apple TV+ for free.

Check Out the Frightening Trailer For THE LAST RITE – Releasing on November 26th

THE LAST RITE is releasing on November 26th from Samuel Goldwyn Films. Inspired by true events, this film premiered at Arrow Video FrightFest 2021 and is the is the directorial debut of wrester/actor Leroy Kincaide. Here’s the trailer:

Samuel Goldwyn Films announced today that the company has acquired U.S. rights to Leroy Kincaide’s THE LAST RITE. The film stars Bethan Waller (Red Bird), Johnny Fleming (Soho), Kit Smith (Echoes), Tara Hoyos – Martinez (Trust), Ian Macnaughton (Monty Python’s Flying Circus), David Kerr (The Crown), Deborah Blake (Billionaire Boy). 

Lucy, a study from home medical student and sleep paralysis victim, moves in with her boyfriend and finds out all is not as it seems, when she falls prey to a demonic force hell bent on ripping her apart from within. Torn between sanity and the unknown, Lucy is left with no alternative but to contact a local priest, Father Roberts for help. 

With time running out and the dark force consuming her from inside, Father Roberts is forced to make a choice, do the right thing and get the church involved, or help Lucy by conducting his own exorcism against the will of the church. 

“I feel incredibly excited and thrilled to have my debut feature film find its home with the prestigious Samuel Goldwin Films. After all the blood & sweat equity that has gone into making The Last Rite possible, it feels great that the American audience will soon be able to watch my tale of a supernatural horror,” says Leroy Kincaide.

THE LAST RITE was written and directed by Leroy Kincaide. The film was produced by Chloe Chudasama, and Leroy Kincaide.  

007 Daniel Craig Gets His Hollywood Walk of Fame Star Ceremony – NO TIME TO DIE Opens This Weekend

“The world is arming faster than we can respond. Where’s 007?”

Daniel Craig receives his Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame hitting the States before NO TIME TO DIE opens in theaters this weekend.

In No Time To Die, Bond has left active service and is enjoying a tranquil life in Jamaica. His peace is short-lived when his old friend Felix Leiter from the CIA turns up asking for help. The mission to rescue a kidnapped scientist turns out to be far more treacherous than expected, leading Bond onto the trail of a mysterious villain armed with dangerous new technology.

Director: Cary Joji Fukunaga Screenplay: Neal Purvis & Robert Wade, and Cary Joji Fukunaga and Phoebe Waller-Bridge Story: Neal Purvis & Robert Wade and Cary Joji Fukunaga Producers: Michael G. Wilson, p.g.a. and Barbara Broccoli, p.g.a. Cast: Daniel Craig, Rami Malek, Léa Seydoux, Lashana Lynch, Ben Whishaw, Naomie Harris,with Jeffrey Wright, with Christoph Waltz and Ralph Fiennes as “M”Also starring Rory Kinnear, Ana de Armas, Dali Benssalah, David Dencik, and Billy Magnussen

Here’s the Trailer For Luke Wilson and Lynda Carter in THE CLEANER – On Digital and On Demand October 12th

THE CLEANER will be available on Digital & On Demand on October 12, 2021. The film is directed by Erin Elders. Here’s the trailer:

THE CLEANER stars King Orba (“DC’s Stargirl”), Shelley Long (“Modern Family”), Eden Brolin (“Yellowstone”), Shiloh Fernandez (BURN), with Luke Wilson (OLD SCHOOL) and Lynda Carter (“Wonder Woman”).

THE CLEANER follows middle-aged house cleaner Buck Enderly as he takes on an eccentric new client and gets roped into locating her estranged son. Buck tracks down the disturbed young man but in another twist of fate becomes an accomplice to a violent crime. Buck must then decide whether to hide the truth from his family or come clean with everyone.

Michael Keaton in Ron Howard’s NIGHT SHIFT Now Available on Blu-ray From Warner Archive

“This guy – he doesn’t have fun. I’m gonna teach him – this wild man – how to have fun right now.”

Michael Keaton in Ron Howard’s NIGHT SHIFT (1982) is now available on Blu-ray from Warner Archive

The world of Wall Street drove Charles Lumley III up the wall. His new job at the New York City Morgue is quieter – until Billy “Blaze” Blazejowski shows up with a cool idea on how to liven things up. 

Directed by Ron Howard (A Beautiful Mind), Night Shift is a breakneck farce rife with hysterical ideas thanks to veteran comedy writers Lowell Ganz and Babaloo Mandel (Parenthood, Fever Pitch). Henry Winkler (Happy Days) is low-key Lumley in a delightfully offbeat performance. Shelley Long of Cheers also scores as a hapless happy hooker. But the casting triumph is film-debuting Michael Keaton as Billy Blaze, launching a career rich in comedic and dramatic highlights. Is this a great country or what?!

16×9 1.85:1 WIDESCREEN. Includes Theatrical Trailer (HD). 

TERMINATOR 2: JUDGMENT DAY Arrives on 4K Ultra HD Steelbook November 23rd For its 30th Anniversary

“Hasta la vista, baby!”

From visionary director James Cameron and iconic action star Arnold Schwarzenegger comes the 30th anniversary release of TERMINATOR 2: JUDGMENT DAY. Stunningly restored for modern viewers by Cameron himself, T2 arrives November 23rd on 4K Ultra HD™ Steelbook from Lionsgate, exclusively at Best Buy. It has been 10 years since the events of Terminator. Sarah Connor’s ordeal is only just beginning as she struggles to protect her son, John — the future leader of the human resistance against the machines — from a new Terminator, sent back in time to eliminate him while he’s still a child. Sarah and John don’t have to face this terrifying threat alone, however. The human resistance has managed to send them an ally, a warrior from the future ordered to protect John Connor at any cost. The battle for tomorrow has begun. Featuring all new artwork from artist Orlando Arocena and Tracie Ching, T2 will be available on 4K Ultra HD™ Steelbook at Best Buy for the suggested retail price of $27.99.

BLU-RAY™ / DIGITAL HD SPECIAL FEATURES

  • *NEW* 55 minute T2 documentary featuring Arnold Schwarzenegger, James Cameron, Edward Furlong, and more.
  • 2 Deleted Scenes with Audio Commentary
  • 2 Feature Commentaries
  • “The Making of T2” 30-Minute Featurette
  • View 3 Different Versions of the Film
  • Trailers

CAST
Arnold Schwarzenegger         The Terminator franchise, Total Recall, The Expendables franchise
Linda Hamilton                        Dante’s Peak, The Terminator, TV’s “Beauty and the Beast”
Edward Furlong                      American History X, Detroit Rock City, Pecker                     
Robert Patrick                         TV’s “Scorpion”, Walk the Line, TV’s “The X-Files”

Acclaimed Psychological Thriller Hit KNOCKING Hits VOD October 19th – Here’s the Terrifying Trailer

Slash Film calls KNOCKING “an unforgettable experience” and The Hollywood Reporter praises it as “gripping from first scene to last… a horror riff on Rear Window”

Check out this scary trailer:

After suffering a traumatic incident, Molly (Cecilia Milocco) moves into a new apartment to begin her path to recovery, but it’s not long after her arrival that a series of persistent knocks and screams begin to wake her up at night. Molly’s new life begins to unravel as the screams intensify and no one else in the building believes or is willing to help her.

KNOCKING, which world premiered to great acclaim at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival in the Midnight section, is the narrative feature debut from Swedish director Frida Kempff, whose past credits include the 2010 Cannes Prix du Jury winning short BATHING MICKY and the 2015 documentary WINTER BUOY.

A timely psychological horror thriller built on very real human fears and anxieties, skillfully lensed with claustrophobic precision by Hannes Krantz (THE UNTHINKABLE) and given a pulsing score by Martin Dirkov (BORDER).

Starring Çecilia Milocco, Albin Grenholm, Alexander Salzberger, Krister Kern, Ville Virtanen, Charlotta Åkerblom, and Naida Ragimova, KNOCKING is written by Emma Broström and produced by Erik Andersson for Läsk in collaboration with SVT and the Swedish Film Institute through the initiative Moving Sweden with support from Norrköpings Filmfond. Federico Ambrosini served as executive producer on the film adapted from a novel written by Johan Theorin.

Dario Argento’s DEEP RED Available on UHD 4K Ultra HD October 26th From Arrow Video

“I can feel death in this room! I feel a presence, a twisted mind sending me thoughts! Perverted, murderous thoughts… Go away! You have killed! And you will kill again!”

deep-red-dario-argento-2

Dario Argento’s DEEP RED will be available on UHD 4K Ultra HD October 26th from Arrow Video

deepred2

From Dario Argento, maestro of the macabre and the man behind some of the greatest excursions in Italian horror (Suspiria, The Bird with the Crystal Plumage), comes Deep Red – the ultimate giallo movie.

Deep-Red-1

One night, musician Marcus Daly (David Hemmings, Blow Up), looking up from the street below, witnesses the brutal axe murder of a woman in her apartment. Racing to the scene, Marcus just manages to miss the perpetrator… or does he? As he takes on the role of amateur sleuth, Marcus finds himself ensnared in a bizarre web of murder and mystery where nothing is what it seems…

Deep Red 6

Aided by a throbbing score from regular Argento collaborators Goblin, Deep Red (aka Profondo Rosso and The Hatchet Murders) is a hallucinatory fever dream of a giallo punctuated by some of the most astonishing set-pieces the sub-genre has to offer.

deepred

4K ULTRA HD BLU-RAY LIMITED EDITION CONTENTS

  • New 4K restoration of both the original 127-minute Italian version and the 105-minute export version from the original negative by Arrow Films
  • 4K (2160p) UHD Blu-ray presentations of both versions in Dolby Vision (HDR10 compatible)
  • Limited edition packaging with reversible sleeve featuring originally and newly commissioned artwork by Obviously Creative
  • Illustrated collector’s booklet featuring writing on the film by Alan Jones and Mikel J. Koven, and a new essay by Rachael Nisbet
  • Fold-out double-sided poster featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Obviously Creative
  • Six double-sided, postcard-sized lobby card reproduction art cards

DISC 1 (4K ULTRA-HD BLU-RAY) – DEEP RED: ORIGINAL VERSION

  • Restored original lossless mono Italian and English soundtracks*
  • Optional lossless 5.1 Italian soundtrack
  • English subtitles for the Italian soundtrack
  • Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing for the English soundtrack
  • New audio commentary by critics Troy Howarth and Nathaniel Thompson
  • Archival audio commentary by Argento expert Thomas Rostock
  • Almost three hours of new interviews with members of the cast and crew, including co-writer/director Dario Argento, actors Macha Méril, Gabriele Lavia, Jacopo Mariani and Lino Capolicchio (Argento’s original choice for the role of Marcus Daly), production manager Angelo Iacono, composer Claudio Simonetti, and archival footage of actress Daria Nicolodi
  • Italian trailer
  • Arrow Video 2018 trailer
  • Image galleries

DISC 2 (4K ULTRA-HD BLU-RAY) – DEEP RED: EXPORT VERSION

  • Restored original lossless mono English soundtrack
  • Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
  • Archival introduction to the film by Claudio Simonetti of Goblin
  • Profondo Giallo – an archival visual essay by Michael Mackenzie featuring an in-depth appreciation of Deep Red, its themes and its legacy
  • Archival interviews with Dario Argento, Daria Nicolodi, Claudio Simonetti and long-time Argento collaborator Luigi Cozzi
  • US theatrical trailer

*The English audio track on this original cut has some portions of English audio missing. English audio for these sections was never recorded for these scenes. As such, they are presented with Italian audio, subtitled in English.

E.T. THE EXTRATERRESTIAL Screens Sunday Night October 10th at the Sky View Drive-in in Litchfield, Illinois

“You could be happy here, I could take care of you. I wouldn’t let anybody hurt you. We could grow up together, E.T.”

E.T. THE EXTRATERRESTIAL screens Sunday Night October 10thh at the Sky View Drive-in in Lichtfield, Il. (1500 Historic Old Route 66) This is part of the Sky View’s ‘Throwback Sundays’. The second Sunday of the month, they screen a classic movie. Admission is only $7 (free for kids under 5). The movie starts at 7:30pm. The Sky View’s site can be found HERE.

VENGEANCE IS MINE – Review

A scene from VENGEANCE IS MINE. Photo credit: Dubin (Submersive Media). Courtesy of Vertical Entertainment

I wonder what percentage of action movies rely on our innate human desire to avenge a wrong? That premise serves many genres – Westerns, martial arts, period and contemporary crime, etc. They range from low-key Everyman protagonists to hardcore splatterfests. This quiet little offering is a fine example of the former.

VENGEANCE IS MINE opens with an armed robbery and escape by four masked thugs in an SUV. Cut to Harry (Con O’Neill), a severely depressed man living on a cot in a church basement, in exchange for menial services. He considers suicide. We gradually learn that his state is the result of helplessly witnessing his wife and daughter being killed by those thugs’ vehicle during their escape. Harry has spent years waiting for a hired detective to discover who they were, since he’d only briefly glimpsed their faces and they were never caught. The real story kicks in when he finally gets a lead from his investigator.

Harry was obviously never a man of action. He’d surely never even seen a Charles Bronson movie, since he commits so many rookie mistakes that result in various unpleasant consequences. O’Neill makes it work with a splendid performance, showing us Harry’s overwhelming grief and his inner conflicts when the opportunity for payback finally arises. Despite his years of searching and suffering, that opening doesn’t turn him into a Billy Jack (you were expecting me to cite Rambo, weren’t you?). His pain continues even in moments of gratification. That makes him more relatable than many such leads who already have, or train hard to acquire, the kill skills for their missions. Writer/director Hadi Hajaig tells the tale efficiently in only 79 minutes, which is still enough time for showing all the character traits, moods and story arc needed for a satisfying package. The gritty London locations support the realistic, human-scale action while presumably minimizing the budget.

Finally, here’s a nod to stunt coordinator Peter Pedrero. In 30 years, he’s amassed 335 stunt credits while only getting a score of roles to call his own. He looks and acts the part of a low-level thug like one who’s done a lot more on camera than take some other guy’s punches and falls.

That path reminds me of Red West, who spent much of his career in stunts, often playing unnamed henchmen, before landing some featured roles later in his career, including a lead in another fine indie film, GOODBYE SOLO. It’s nice to see hard work in the trenches rewarded.

VENGEANCE IS MINE opens Oct. 8 in select theaters and on demand.

RATING: 2.5 out of 4 stars