Tuesday Releases: Action Point, Deadpool 2, & First Reformed

August 21, 2018 / Leave a Comment

AUGUST 21ST, 2018

DEADPOOL 2 (2018)

Official Synopsis: After surviving a near fatal bovine attack, a disfigured cafeteria chef (Wade Wilson) struggles to fulfill his dream of becoming Miami’s hottest bartender, while also learning to cope with his lost sense of taste. Searching to regain his spice for life, as well as a flux capacitor, Wade must battle ninjas, the yakuza, and a pack of sexually aggressive canines, as he journeys around the world to discover the importance of family, friendship, and flavor – finding a new taste for adventure and earning the coveted coffee mug title of World’s Best Lover.

TV SPOTLIGHT

THE WALKING DEAD: SEASON EIGHT (2017-2018)

Official Synopsis: Season 8 of this drama series brings an all-out war. Rick (Andrew Lincoln), Maggie (Lauren Cohan) and Ezekiel (Khary Payton) all rally their respective groups to fight against Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) and his forces, in order to live a better life. But Negan’s squad, The Saviors, are better-equipped and more experienced, so the battle for freedom will be paved with casualties and tragedy.

CRITERION CORNER

HEAVEN CAN WAIT (1943)

Official Synopsis: Deceased playboy Henry Van Cleve (Don Ameche) presents himself to the outer offices of Hades, where he asks a bemused Satan for permission to enter through the gates of hell. Though the devil doubts that Henry’s sins qualify him for eternal damnation, Henry proceeds to recount a lifetime of wooing and pursuing women, his long, happy marriage to Martha (Gene Tierney) notwithstanding. Ernst Lubitsch’s Heaven Can Wait, nominated for Academy Awards for best picture and director, is an enduring classic that showcases the filmmaker’s trademark blend of wit, urbanity, and grace.

Disc features include:

New 4K digital restoration by Twentieth Century Fox and the Academy Film Archive in collaboration with The Film Foundation, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack (Blu-ray); restored high-definition digital transfer (DVD)
Conversation from 2005 between film critics Molly Haskell and Andrew Sarris
Episode from 1982 of Creativity with Bill Moyers exploring screenwriter Samson Raphaelson’s life and career
Audio seminar with Raphaelson and film critic Richard Corliss recorded at the Museum of Modern Art in 1977
Home recordings of director Ernst Lubitsch playing the piano
Trailer
PLUS: An essay by film scholar William Paul

Cover by Caitlin Kuhwald

SMITHEREENS (1982)

Official Synopsis: Susan Seidelman established her distinctive vision of New York City with this debut feature, the lo-fi original for her vibrant portraits of women reinventing themselves. After escaping New Jersey, the quintessentially punk Wren (Susan Berman)—a spark plug in fishnets—moves to the city with the mission of becoming famous. When not pasting up self-promotional flyers or hanging at the Peppermint Lounge, she’s getting involved with Paul (Brad Rinn), the nicest guy to ever live in a van next to the highway, and Eric (Richard Hell), an aloof rocker. Shot on 16 mm film that captures the grit and glam of downtown in the 1980s, with an alternately moody and frenetic soundtrack by the Feelies and others, Smithereens—the first American independent film to compete for the Palme d’Or—is an unfaded snapshot of a bygone era.

Disc features include:

DIRECTOR-APPROVED SPECIAL EDITION:

New 2K digital restoration, approved by director Susan Seidelman
Audio commentary from 2004 featuring Seidelman
New interviews with Seidelman and actor Susan Berman
And You Act Like One Too (1976) and Yours Truly, Andrea G. Stern (1979), two early shorts by Seidelman, with new introductions by the director
PLUS: An essay by critic Rebecca Bengal

New cover by Jay Shaw

HIGHLIGHT RELEASES OF THE WEEK

ACTION POINT (2018)

Official Synopsis: Everyone’s favorite daredevil Johnny Knoxville is back to his hilariously painful antics in the upcoming comedy ACTION POINT. Knoxville stars as D.C., the crackpot owner of a low-rent, out-of-control amusement park where the rides are designed with minimum safety for maximum fun. Just as D.C.’s estranged teenage daughter Boogie comes to visit, a corporate mega-park opens nearby and jeopardizes the future of Action Point. To save his beloved theme park and his relationship with his daughter, D.C. and his loony crew of misfits risk everything to pull out all the stops – and stunts – making for another wild ride from the star of BAD GRANDPA and JACKASS.

BLEEDING STEEL (2018)

Official Synopsis: In an action-packed drama reminiscent of ’80s techno-sci-fi thrillers, Jackie Chan stars as Lin, a police inspector in modern Hong Kong. While tracking down a deranged, mecha-enhanced villain, Lin discovers that a geneticist’s lost bio-chemical invention has been surgically implanted into his missing daughter. With the help of a young hacker, Lin connects the dots between the device that haunts his daughter, his enemy’s sinister army, and a strange cultural phenomenon called “Bleeding Steel.”

FIRST REFORMED (2018)

Official Synopsis: Reverend Ernst Toller (Ethan Hawke) is a solitary, middle-aged parish pastor at a small Dutch Reform church in upstate New York on the cusp of celebrating its 250th anniversary. Once a stop on the Underground Railroad, the church is now a tourist attraction catering to a dwindling congregation, eclipsed by its nearby parent church, Abundant Life, with its state-of-the-art facilities and 5,000-strong flock. When a pregnant parishioner (Amanda Seyfried) asks Reverend Toller to counsel her husband, a radical environmentalist, the clergyman finds himself plunged into his own tormented past, and equally despairing future, until he finds redemption in an act of grandiose violence. From writer-director Paul Schrader (Taxi Driver; American Gigolo; Affliction) comes a gripping thriller about a crisis of faith that is at once personal, political, and planetary.

GOD’S NOT DEAD: A LIGHT IN THE DARKNESS (2018)

Official Synopsis: A church destroyed. A congregation silenced. A relationship shattered. Yet even in life’s darkest valleys, a small flame can light the way toward healing and hope. After a deadly fire rips through St. James Church, Hadleigh University leaders use the tragedy to push the congregation off campus, forcing the church to defend its rights and bringing together estranged brothers for a reunion that opens old wounds and forces them to address the issues that pulled them apart. In theaters nationwide March 30, 2018, GOD’S NOT DEAD: A LIGHT IN DARKNESS is a powerful reminder that in all circumstances, we are called to be a light for Jesus to a world in desperate need of hope.

SHOW DOGS (2018)

Official Synopsis: SHOW DOGS is a family comedy about the unlikely pairing of a human detective (Arnett) and his canine partner (voice of Chris “Ludacris” Bridges), who has to go undercover at the world’s most exclusive dog show to solve his biggest case yet.

TV BOX SETS

GOTHAM: SEASON FOUR (SUBTITLE: A DARK KNIGHT) (2017-2018)

Official Synopsis: Season Four of GOTHAM will witness the emergence of the criminal landscape for which Gotham City is best known, with JIM GORDON (Ben McKenzie) and HARVEY BULLOCK (Donal Logue) at the forefront of the fight against the most depraved and unhinged villains. As the citizens of Gotham City fight for normalcy, a new hero begins to rise. BRUCE WAYNE (David Mazouz), after completing his training with Temple Shaman (guest star Raymond J. Barry) and R’AS AH GHUL (Alexander Siddig), has decided that he is responsible for the city’s well-being. With the help of his ever-faithful butler ALFRED PENNYWORTH (Sean Pertwee) and quiet support of LUCIUS FOX (Chris Chalk), he will step into this role, all while building up his public persona of carefree socialite to avoid any suspicion among Gotham’s citizens.