"House of the Dragon"
‘House of the Dragon,’ ‘Banshees of Inisherin’ New to Disc Dec. 20
December 20, 2022
The week of Dec. 20 includes new DVD and Blu-ray releases for House of the Dragon: Season 1 and The Banshees of Inisherin, while Strange World arrives for digital purchase.
Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Dec. 20 releases HBO’s House of the Dragon: Season 1 on Blu-ray Disc, DVD and 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray, though copies began showing up on shelves at some stores last week. A limited-edition Steelbook combo pack containing both UHD and Blu-ray formats also is available. The series is a prequel to “Game of Thrones,” depicting the war for the leadership of Westeros 170 years earlier.
Searchlight Pictures’ The Banshees of Inisherin arrives on Blu-ray and DVD Dec. 20 from Disney Media & Entertainment Distribution. From acclaimed filmmaker Martin McDonagh (In Bruges, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri), the tragicomedy is an immersive tale of friendship and folly starring Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson. In the film, although Pádraic (Farrell) and Colm (Gleeson) have been lifelong friends, they find themselves at an impasse when one abruptly ends their relationship, bringing alarming consequences for both of them. The film made its world premiere in September at the Venice Film Festival, where it won the Best Screenplay Award for McDonagh and the Volpi Cup for Best Actor for Farrell. It went on to release theatrically in October, earning the highest opening per screen average of the fall, according to Disney.
The family-friendly adventure Secret Headquarters arrives on Blu-ray and DVD Dec. 20 from Paramount Home Entertainment. The film originally debuted on the streaming service Paramount+. In the film, Charlie and his friends stumble upon the headquarters of the Guard (Owen Wilson) and realize the world’s most powerful superhero is Charlie’s dad. When an evil businessman (Michael Peña) sends in a team to infiltrate the lair and retrieve the Guard’s energy source, the youngsters spring into action and turn the tables on the intruders.
The action thriller Paradise City, starring Bruce Willis and John Travolta, arrives on Blu-ray (plus digital) and DVD Dec. 20 from Lionsgate. Directed by Chuck Russell (The Scorpion King, A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors, The Mask), Paradise City is Travolta and Willis’s first on-screen reunion since Pulp Fiction. In the film, when bounty hunter Ian Swan (Willis) is shot and presumed dead after disappearing in Maui waters, Swan’s son Ryan (Blake Jenner), his ex-partner (Stephen Dorff) and a local detective (Praya Lundberg) set out to find his killers. After being threatened by a ruthless power-broker crime boss (Travolta), it appears Ryan and his team are out of options — until an excursion to the closely guarded island community of Paradise City unites them with an unforeseen ally.
The horror-comedy The Loneliest Boy in the World will be released on Blu-ray Disc and DVD Dec. 20 from Well Go USA Entertainment. The film is already available through digital retailers. In the modern fairytale — except with zombies — when the sheltered and unsocialized Oliver is tasked with making new friends after the sudden and devastating death of his mother, he discovers that his newly acquired friends have mysteriously come to life overnight, launching them all into a series of misadventures as they try to keep their secret safe from neighbors, classmates and social workers alike. Directed by Martin Owen (The Intergalactic Adventures of Max Cloud), the film stars Max Harwood (Everybody’s Talking About Jamie), Hero Fiennes Tiffin (“After” franchise, The Woman King), Susan Wokoma (Enola Holmes), Evan Ross (The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Parts 1 and 2), Tallulah Haddon (The Last Duel), Hammed Animashaun (A Midsummer Night’s Dream), social media phenom and musician Jacob Sartorius, Ben Miller (”Bridgerton”) and Ashley Benson (Spring Breakers, “Pretty Little Liars”).
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The Walt Disney Animation Studios’ 61st animated feature, Strange World, becomes available for digital purchase Dec. 23. The animated family adventure, a theatrical flop that earned just over $33 million in North American theaters, will start streaming on Disney+ Dec. 23. It also becomes available for purchase or rent on all major digital platforms on that date. Strange World follows a family of explorers, the Clades, as they attempt to navigate an uncharted, treacherous land alongside a motley crew that includes a mischievous blob called Splat; Legend, the family dog; and a slew of ravenous creatures. The voice cast includes Jake Gyllenhaal as Searcher Clade, a family man who finds himself out of his element on an unpredictable mission; Dennis Quaid as Searcher’s larger-than-life explorer father, Jaeger; comedian, actor, writer, filmmaker and musician Jaboukie Young-White as Searcher’s 16-year-old son, Ethan; Gabrielle Union as Meridian Clade, an accomplished pilot and Searcher’s partner in all things; and Lucy Liu as Callisto Mal, Avalonia’s fearless leader who spearheads the exploration into the strange world. Disc fans and collectors will have to wait until Feb. 14 to buy the movie on DVD, Blu-ray Disc or 4K Ultra HD.
GKIDS and Shout! Factory Dec. 20 release Inu-oh, a new anime film from acclaimed director Masaaki Yuasa (Ride Your Wave, Mind Game, Night is Short). Set in 14th-century Japan, the film follows a young boy born into an esteemed family named Inu-oh who is afflicted with an ancient curse that has left him on the margins of society. When he meets the blind musician Tomona, a young biwa priest haunted by his past, Inu-oh discovers a captivating ability to dance. The pair become inseparable as crowds flock to their electric and larger than life concerts. When those in power threaten to break up the band, the friends must dance and sing to uncover the truth behind their creative gifts. The film will be available on Blu-ray Disc and DVD Jan. 24.
Kino Lorber Dec. 20 releases Cinema’s First Nasty Women, a four-disc set on DVD or Blu-ray Disc showcasing more than 14 hours of rarely-seen silent films about feminist protest, slapstick rebellion, and suggestive gender play. The women in the films, shot between 1898 and 1926, organize labor strikes, bake (and weaponize) inedible desserts, explode out of chimneys, electrocute cops, and assume a range of identities that gleefully dismantle traditional gender norms and sexual constraints. The films span a variety of genres including slapstick comedy, genteel farce, the trick film, cowboy melodrama, and adventure thriller. Cinema’s First Nasty Women includes 99 European and American silent films, sourced from 13 international film archives and libraries, with all-new musical scores, video introductions, commentary tracks, and an illustrated booklet. The collection was curated by Maggie Hennefeld, Laura Horak, and Elif Rongen-Kaynakçi, and produced for video by Bret Wood. Cinema’s First Nasty Women is a partnership of Kino Lorber, Le Giornate del Cinema Muto, Women Film Pioneers Project, Eye Filmmuseum, FIC-Silente and Carleton University. The set includes 11 short documentaries focused on specific films and performers, including interviews with Liza Black, TJ Cuthand, Maggie Hennefeld, Laura Horak, Elif Rongen-Kaynakçi, Dana Reason, Arigon Starr, Susan Stryker and Kyla Wazana Tompkins. Packaged with the discs is a 120-page booklet with essays, interviews, photos, and detailed film notes (print copies only available in the Blu-ray Deluxe First Edition; DVD and subsequent Blu-ray editions will feature a QR code for the full booklet contents online).
Kino Lorber brings the classic BBC television series “Maigret,” from the early 1960s, to Blu-ray Disc and digital platforms, with season one of the show, which went on the air in 1960, will be released Dec. 20. Unseen anywhere for decades, “Maigret” is considered the definitive adaptation of Georges Simenon’s famous novels. The BBC television production stars Rupert Davies as Commissaire Jules Maigret, the dogged French detective. Though Simenon’s books have been adapted many times, Davies’s celebrated, BAFTA-winning portrayal won the approval of Simenon himself, who stated: “At last, I have found the perfect Maigret!” The three-disc Blu-ray Disc set includes all 13 episodes of season one, in which Maigret reckons with a “Murder in Montmarte,” “The Burglar’s Wife,” and various other vexing cases that only he can solve. “Maigret” has been remastered in high-definition from original film elements and is featured in its original full-screen TV format.