The Corner Penthouse

Join me as I do a quick review round-up for the best of this month's new home video releases...

All of the items below have already been released and are available for purchase from Amazon at the links provided. The Corner Penthouse will earn a very tiny commission from your purchase using these links.



• BUY IT: 4K UHD (Steelbook), 4K UHD, Blu-ray, DVD.

• SYNOPSIS: The four survivors from the most recent Woodsboro Ghostface killings have moved to New York City for a new start. Just as they begin to feel a sense of normalcy, they receive that infamous call. Ghostface is more brutal and relentless than ever and will stop at nothing to hunt them down. Melissa Barrera ("Sam Carpenter"), Jasmin Savoy Brown ("Mindy Meeks-Martin"), Mason Gooding ("Chad Meeks-Martin"), Jenna Ortega ("Tara Carpenter"), Hayden Panettiere ("Kirby Reed") and Courteney Cox ("Gale Weathers") return to their roles in the franchise alongside Jack Champion, Henry Czerny, Liana Liberato, Dermot Mulroney, Devyn Nekoda, Tony Revolori, Josh Segarra, and Samara Weaving.

• SPECIAL FEATURES:

• Audio Commentary - with directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett, executive producer Chad Villella, and co-writers James Vanderbilt and Guy Busick.
• Death Comes to the City (7:57) - A look at moving the franchise's story to New York, and more.
• The Faces of Death (14:10) - A closer look at the characters in the film.
• More Meta Than Meta (10:22) - Discussing franchise history and the themes that run throughout the series.
• Bloodbath at the Bodega (4:53) - Behind-the-scenes of one of the film's bloody murder scenes.
• An Apartment to Die For (7:30) - Exploring the Ghostface stunt work and more.
• The Night Train to Terror (6:18) - Making the subway scene.
• Theater of Blood (10:52) - A detailed look at one of the set pieces.

• RATING: R for strong bloody violence and language throughout, and brief drug use.

• NOTES: I can't believe they made six of these films already. Thankfully, like the others, this one is a bloody fun ride and it's nice that the story moved to my neck of the woods :-)

• CREDIT: This item has been provided by Paramount for review on this site.



• BUY IT: 4K UHD, Blu-ray, DVD.

• SYNOPSIS: Desperate to escape his mind-numbing routine, uptown Manhattan office worker Paul Hackett (Griffin Dunne) ventures downtown for a hookup with a mystery woman (Rosanna Arquette). So begins the wildest night of his life, as bizarre occurrences - involving underground-art punks, a distressed waitress, a crazed Mister Softee truck driver, and a bagel-and-cream-cheese paperweight - pile up with anxiety-inducing relentlessness and thwart his attempts to get home. With this Kafkaesque cult classic, Martin Scorsese - abetted by Michael Ballhaus's kinetic cinematography and scene-stealing supporting turns by Linda Fiorentino, Teri Garr, Catherine O'Hara, and John Heard - directed a darkly comic tale of mistaken identity, turning the desolate night world of 1980s SoHo into a bohemian wonderland of surreal menace.

• SPECIAL FEATURES:

• Audio Commentary - with Martin Scorsese, actor/producer Griffin Dunne, producer Amy Robinson, cinematographer Michael Ballhaus, and editor Thema Schoonmaker. Originally recorded in 2004, but with additional comments by Dunne and Robinson that were recorded in 2023.
• Martin Scorsese and Fran Lebowitz (19:47) - A new 2023 interview between Martin Scorsese and writer Fran Lebowitz.
• Filming For Your Life: Making After Hours (18:55) - A 2004 documentary that focuses on the production, with interview clips with Martin Scorsese, Griffin Dunne, Amy Robinson, and Thema Schoonmaker.
• The Look of After Hours (18:05) - New 2023 audio interviews with designer Rita Ryack and production designer Jeffrey Townsend, illustrated with film clips and production stills.
• Deleted Scenes (8:07) - Seven scenes in one chapter.
• Trailer (2:06)

• RATING: R.

• NOTES: As is usual with Criterion releases, inside the thick clear two-disc case is an illustrated fold-out booklet featuring an essay by critic Sheila O'Malley, as well as technical credits. I was really happy to see that Criterion ported over everything from the 2004 Warner Brothers DVD, while adding two new interview featurettes. This lets me get rid of the old DVD, while enjoying the movie in glorious 4K resolution. What a fun movie, which fits into a genre that I call the "wild night" movie. These are films in which the main character has to run a gauntlet throughout the night in order to reach a goal by the time the morning comes. Other "wild night" movies that I've personally seen include The Night Before (1988), Mystery Date (1991), Adventures in Babysitting (1987), Adventures in Babysitting (2016), Walk of Shame (2014), and many more.

• CREDIT: This item has been provided by Criterion Collection for review on this site.



• BUY IT: Blu-ray, DVD.

• SYNOPSIS: Four best friends - Diane (Diane Keaton), Vivian (Jane Fonda), Sharon (Candice Bergen), and Carol (Mary Steenburgen) - take their book club to Italy for the fun girls trip they never had. When things go off the rails and secrets are revealed, their relaxing vacation turns into a once-in-a-lifetime cross-country adventure.

• SPECIAL FEATURES:

• Book Club: Back in Session (6:04) – The Book Club is back and better than ever! Sit down with the filmmakers and cast, including our four leading ladies, as they chat about what made the first film such a mega success, why they're excited to be back, and the journey these characters take in the sequel.
• Still Stylish (5:21) – Costume designer Stefano De Nardis was overjoyed to take on the task of dressing these legends of fashion and cinema! Learn how each character's style was created and how it melds with the actress portraying them.
• The Women in Italy (5:29) – The Book Club is going global and taking the audience with them! Filmmakers and cast discuss shooting in some of the most iconic locations on earth, how the idea of shooting in Italy came to be and what it was like making a movie in Rome and Venice amongst the actual tourists.

• RATING: PG-13 for some strong language and suggestive material.

• NOTES: I never saw the first film, but it doesn't seem to be a requirement in order to understand this film's story. It's your basic "girl's trip to Italy" film, which has been done many times before. Personally, I preferred when witches Sabrina and Gwen did it in 1998. As for the titular "book club", after the first 10 minutes, in which said book club is conducted over teleconferencing during the pandemic, it is never mentioned again. Like I said, the movie is about the four women in Italy, and no books are ever read or discussed during their time there.

• CREDIT: This item has been provided by Universal for review on this site.



• BUY IT: 4K UHD, Blu-ray, DVD.

• SYNOPSIS: The Last of Us takes place 20 years after modern civilization has been destroyed. Joel (Pedro Pascal), a hardened survivor, is hired to smuggle Ellie (Bella Ramsey), a 14-year-old girl, out of an oppressive quarantine zone. What starts as a small job soon becomes a brutal and heartbreaking journey as they both must traverse the U.S. and depend on each other for survival.

• SPECIAL FEATURES: The Inside the Episode shorts look at each of the nine episodes, and can be found on the same disc as the related episode. Everything else is on Disc 4.

• Inside the Episode #1 (5:14)
• Inside the Episode #2 (4:17)
• Inside the Episode #3 (3:24)
• Inside the Episode #4 (4:30)
• Inside the Episode #5 (6:15)
• Inside the Episode #6 (5:11)
• Inside the Episode #7 (5:16)
• Inside the Episode #8 (7:02)
• Inside the Episode #9 (8:26)
• Controllers Down: Adapting The Last of Us (11:44) - Follow the journey of The Last of Us from console to screen as cast and filmmakers take us inside the process of expanding the world and breathing new life into the game's beloved characters.
• From Levels to Live Action (11:51) - Discover how The Last of Us incorporated and expanded fan-favorite game moments in the series.
• The Last of Us: Stranger than Fiction (23:44) - Series cast and filmmakers are joined by experts in survival, microbiology, and parasitology for a chilling discussion on the realities of the invasive fungus and subsequent apocalypse in The Last of Us.
• Ashley Johnson Spotlight (2:23) - A profile of the actress, who played Ellie in the original video game.
• Get To Know Me - Brief profiles of actors "Gabriel Luna" (3:46), "Merle Dandridge" (2:25), "Nick Offerman & Murray Bartlett" (4:41), and "Pedro Pascal & Bella Ramsey" (4:45).
• Is This a The Last of Us Line? - Cast members ask each other if a line of dialog written on a card came from The Last of Us or some other HBO series. Includes "Pedro Pascal & Bella Ramsey" (5:12) and "Merle Dandridge & Gabriel Luna" (2:40).
• The Last Debrief with Troy Baker - Podcast host, and the video game's original Joel, answers various questions. Presented are these five episodes: "Episode #1" (5:10), "Episode #2" (6:12), "Episode #3" (6:01), "Episode #4" (7:04), and "Episode #5" (7:30).

• RATING: Not Rated.

• NOTES: What a great show. It reminds me of the early seasons of The Walking Dead, only better. I played a little bit of the original PlayStation 3 video game, but not enough to be able to compare the two. The soundtrack to The Last of Us features an original score by Gustavo Santaolalla and David Fleming. The series is based on the critically acclaimed video game of the same name developed by Naughty Dog for the PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5: Part 1 & Part 2.

• CREDIT: This item has been provided by Warner Brothers for review on this site.



• BUY IT: 4K UHD, Blu-ray, 2-Disc Special Edition DVD.

• SYNOPSIS: In the Salinas Valley in and around World War I, Cal Trask (James Dean) feels he must compete against overwhelming odds with his brother Aron (Richard Davalos) for the love of their father Adam (Raymond Massey). Carl is frustrated at every turn, from his reaction to the war, to how to get ahead in business and in life, to how to relate to his estranged mother.

• SPECIAL FEATURES: Audio Commentary - by Richard Schickel.

• RATING: PG for thematic elements and some violent content. (2005 rating)

• NOTES: As I noted when I reviewed the National Lampoon's Vacation 4K last month, Warner Brothers is no longer including Blu-ray discs in their new 4K releases of library titles. This is problematic for a number of reasons. For starters, the previously-released special features are NOT included on the 4K disc, so buyers who don't already own the movie on Blu-ray or DVD, are losing out on a LOT of content. In the case of East of Eden, check out the DVD Compare Blu-ray report to see all of the special features that could have been included had Warner Brothers included that old Blu-ray disc in the case with this new 4K UHD disc. Such a shame. Also, the case artwork for my copy is laser-printed "manufacture on demand" quality. I don't know if the actual retail release will be the same or not. Granted, it is great quality printing, but it's not as great as the usual printing job. Also, I'm the only person I know who has a 4K player, but all of my friends have Blu-ray players. If I wanted to take this movie to watch at their house with them, I can't. I couldn't even bring my 4K player with it (and what a hassle that would be) because none of them have 4K UHD TVs, either. A Blu-ray disc in the case would have solved that problem. All of that said, the movie DOES look fantastic in 4K resolution, but it's hard for me to fully recommend this when it's missing out on SO much content simply because Warner Brothers isn't including a pre-existing Blu-ray disc anymore. I really hope Warner Brothers goes back to releasing new 4K titles as "4K + Blu-ray". That's much more useful to me than including a useless "Digital Code", which is the only thing included with the 4K disc.

• CREDIT: This item has been provided by Warner Brothers for review on this site.



• BUY IT: 4K UHD, Blu-ray, 2-Disc Special Edition DVD, 2-Disc Ultimate Collector's Edition DVD (with pack-in items).

• SYNOPSIS: A small-town sheriff in the American West enlists the help of a disabled man, a drunk, and a young gunfighter in his efforts to hold in jail the brother of the local bad guy.

• SPECIAL FEATURES: Audio Commentary - by John Carpenter and Richard Schickel.

• RATING: Not Rated.

• NOTES: As I noted when I reviewed the National Lampoon's Vacation 4K last month, Warner Brothers is no longer including Blu-ray discs in their new 4K releases of library titles. This is problematic for a number of reasons. For starters, the previously-released special features are NOT included on the 4K disc, so buyers who don't already own the movie on Blu-ray or DVD, are losing out on a LOT of content. In the case of Rio Bravo, check out the DVD Compare Blu-ray report to see all of the special features that could have been included had Warner Brothers included that old Blu-ray disc in the case with this new 4K UHD disc. Such a shame. Also, the case artwork for my copy is laser-printed "manufacture on demand" quality. I don't know if the actual retail release will be the same or not. Granted, it is great quality printing, but it's not as great as the usual printing job. Also, I'm the only person I know who has a 4K player, but all of my friends have Blu-ray players. If I wanted to take this movie to watch at their house with them, I can't. I couldn't even bring my 4K player with it (and what a hassle that would be) because none of them have 4K UHD TVs, either. A Blu-ray disc in the case would have solved that problem. All of that said, the movie DOES look fantastic in 4K resolution, but it's hard for me to fully recommend this when it's missing out on SO much content simply because Warner Brothers isn't including a pre-existing Blu-ray disc anymore. I really hope Warner Brothers goes back to releasing new 4K titles as "4K + Blu-ray". That's much more useful to me than including a useless "Digital Code", which is the only thing included with the 4K disc.

• CREDIT: This item has been provided by Warner Brothers for review on this site.



• BUY IT: Blu-ray.

• SYNOPSIS:

Which Way Is Up? (1977) - Richard Pryor plays three roles - a beleaguered, sex-starved farm worker named Leroy Jones; the farm worker's randy old father Rufus; and the hypocritical town preacher Rev. Lenox Thomas - and Pryor has never been so outrageously funny. The lives and love lives of these three men cross and crisscross as Leroy tries to get his life back on track. The fun kicks into high gear when Leroy moves from labor to management. He tries to juggle his wife and his girlfriend, but the only peace he can find is in the arms of the Reverend's wife! It's a case of too many women and too little time. No wonder he doesn't know Which Way Is Up?

The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars & Motor Kings (1976) - In the world of 1930s Negro League baseball, a spirited team of renegade players travels around the Midwest looking for that one big score. Richard Pryor, Billy Dee Williams and James Earl Jones star as three barnstorming ballplayers who take on prejudice and their own League's unfair rules while stealing cars, food and home base - anything to prove that they're the best team around. It's a showdown of brains over booby traps and sportsmanship over racial segregation as Bingo Long's All-Stars swing their way to a winning season.

• SPECIAL FEATURES: None.

• RATING: Which Way Is Up? has been rated R. The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars & Motor Kings has been rated PG.

• NOTES: These are two obscure Richard Pryor films that have complete different subject matters and two vastly different movie ratings. I've never seen The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars & Motor Kings previously, but I did see Which Way Is Up? before. It's the source for the sample of a couple having sex that is heard at the start of the 2 Live Crew classic "Me So Horny".

• CREDIT: This item has been provided by Mill Creek for review on this site.



• BUY IT: DVD.

• SYNOPSIS:

Nurse Betty (2000) - Betty (Renee Zellweger) never misses an episode of her favorite soap opera, A Reason To Love. After a mind-altering run-in with two hit men while watching an episode, Betty transforms into Nurse Betty and embarks on a mission to find her one true love, Dr. David Ravell (Greg Kinnear). Follow Betty on a wild and hysterical cross-country trek in search of the man of her dreams. Can Betty find him before the hit men find her?

Possession (2002) - Maud Bailey (Gwyneth Paltrow) and Roland Michell (Aaron Eckhart) are two dedicated literary scholars with nothing in common - except their obsession with the two Victorian poets they have devoted their lives to studying. As they embark on a wildly romantic journey in search of the truth, the mysteries of the past engulf them, even as the passions of the present possess them.

Your Friends & Neighbors (1998) - Three couples. A dozen relationships. A million problems. The story of six people - Mary (Amy Brenneman), Barry (Aaron Eckhart), Terri (Catherine Keener), Cheri (Nastassja Kinski), Cary (Jason Patric), and Jerry (Ben Stiller) - who can't seem to stay out of each others' lives or each others' business. If you enjoy passion, lust, sexuality, and lighthearted humor, this is your circle of friends.

The Shape of Things (2003) - When nerdy Adam (Paul Rudd) meets Evelyn (Rachel Weisz), a sexy and confrontational art student, his predictable life seems to change overnight. But when Adam's brash best friend, Phil (Frederick Weller), and his fiancee, Jenny (Gretchen Mol), meet Evelyn, the sparks begin to fly. Phil doesn't like the new Adam, while Jenny seems a little too interested in Adam's new look. Soon everyone is caught in a circle of passion, temptation, and betrayal that is totally unexpected.

• SPECIAL FEATURES: This two-disc set includes special features for three of the four films. Possession is the only film with no extra content.

NURSE BETTY
* Audio Commentary - with director Neil LaBute, producers Steve Golin and Gail Mutrux, composer Rolfe Kent, costume designer Lynette Meyer, and cinematographer Jean-Yves Escoffier.
* Audio Commentary - with director Neil LaBute, and actors Morgan Freeman, Greg Kinnear, Chris Rock, and Renee Zellweger.
* Deleted Scenes (16:41) - A total of five scenes.

YOUR FRIENDS & NEIGHBORS
* Audio Commentary - with director Neil LaBute and producer Steve Golin.

THE SHAPE OF THINGS
* Audio Commentary - with director Neil LaBute and actor Paul Rudd.
* From Stage to Screen: An Introduction by Neil LaBute (3:44)
* Welcome to Mercy College (2:43)

• RATING: Nurse Betty has been rated R for strong violence, pervasive language and a scene of sexuality. Possession has been rated PG-13 for sexuality and some thematic elements. Your Friends & Neighbors has been rated R for graphic sexual dialogue, strong sexuality and language. The Shape of Things has been rated R for language and some sexuality.

• NOTES: No, you are not seeing things. Mill Creek actually included special features on one of their multi-film releases. I believe that this may be the first time they've done this. On this release, you actually get a lot of the content (but not everything) from the old Universal DVDs, which is fantastic! I hope that Mill Creek continues this practice.

• CREDIT: This item has been provided by Mill Creek for review on this site.



• BUY IT: Blu-ray.

• SYNOPSIS:

White Noise (2005) - A thriller that explores the unsettling possibility that the dead can contact us... all we have to do is listen. When architect Jonathan Rivers (Michael Keaton) loses his wife in a tragic accident, he turns to the shadowy, unnerving world of Electronic Voice Phenomenon - communication from beyond the grave. But as he begins to penetrate the mysteries of EVP, Jonathan makes a shocking discovery: once a portal to the other world is opened, there's no telling what will come through it.

White Noise 2: The Light (2007) - Enter a terrifying new dimension in communication with the dead: The Near-Death Experience. What would you do if you could tell who was about to die? Would you try to save innocent lives? After barely escaping a near-death experience, Abe Dale (Nathan Fillion) discovers that he has been granted a mysterious ability. But using this dark gift means interfering with the natural order of life and death, a choice that comes with a heavy price. Also starring Katee Sackhoff, White Noise 2 explores an unthinkable and evil dimension in communication with the dead.

• SPECIAL FEATURES: Both movies and all special features are on one disc. All of the content for the second film is in HD.

WHITE NOISE
* Audio Commentary - with director Geoffrey Sax and star Michael Keaton.
* Deleted Scenes (9:35) - A total of five scenes, with optional commentary by director Geoffrey Sax, which were labelled on the old DVD as "John Drives to Work", "John Reports Anna Missing", "Bar Scene", "Balcony Hit", and "Shocking Twists".
* Hearing Is Believing: Actual EVP Session (14:33)
* Making Contact: EVP Experts (8:41)
* Recording the Afterlife at Home (4:26)

WHITE NOISE 2
* Deleted Scenes (33:48) - A total of 13 scenes.
* Exploring Near-Death Experiences (14:56)
* The Making of White Noise 2 (8:36)
* Journey Into Madness (6:00)

• RATING: White Noise has been rated PG-13 for violence, disturbing images and language. White Noise 2 has been rated PG-13 for intense sequences of violence and terror, some disturbing images, thematic material and language.

• NOTES: As with the previously-mentioned Neil LaBute DVD, Mill Creek actually included special features on one of their multi-film releases. On this release, you actually get EVERYTHING from both of the old Universal DVDs, which is beyond fantastic! I hope that Mill Creek continues this practice.

• CREDIT: This item has been provided by Mill Creek for review on this site.

If you're looking for more cool stuff to buy, check out all of the other items I've reviewed over the years. I'm sure you'll find something you'll love.