‘Clueless,’ ‘Ghost,’ ‘Castle Rock,’ More Available on Home Entertainment This Week

CLUELESS 25TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION. (DVD Artwork). ©Paramount.

By ANGELA DAWSON

Front Row Features

Movies

Clueless: 25th Anniversary Edition

Revisit the halcyon days of high school in the ‘90s; a time filled with camaraderie, chaste dances and fervent study … as if. Writer/director Amy Heckerling’s whip-smart comedy “Clueless” celebrates its 25th anniversary on Blu-ray and Limited Edition Blu-ray Steelbook (both with Digital copy) Tuesday July 21, from Paramount Home Entertainment.

A quarter century later, “Clueless” remains a smart, charming and humorous classic that captures what it was like to be a teen at the turn of the century. Alicia Silverstone stars as 15-year-old high school Cher who thrives on shopping, enjoys the perfect social life and plays matchmaker to all her friends. It’s a clever update to the Jane Austen classic “Emma.” The comedy features an outstanding ensemble cast including Paul Rudd, Brittany Murphy, Donald Faison, Stacey Dash, Jeremy Sisto, Breckin Meyer and Wallace Shawn.

The Blu-ray and Blu-ray Steelbook include more than an hour of previously released special features including a Clue or False trivia game, a fashion featurette, a look at the class of ’95, a Suck ‘n Blow tutorial, original theatrical trailers and more.

Deadtectives

RLJE Films, a unit of AMC Networks, will release “Deadtectives” Tuesday July 21 on DVD.

Directed and co-written by Tony West (“The Soup”), the horror/comedy stars Chris Geere (“You’re the Worst”, “Modern Family”), Tina Ivlev (“Shameless”), David Newman (“Victoria”) and Martha Higareda (“Altered Carbon”). The film is Produced by Jason Tamasco of Bad Idea and Daniel Posada (“El Chapo”). Jerry Careccio and Charles Barsamian are Executive Producers.

A team of reality TV ghost hunters experience true paranormal activity for the first time while filming a make-or-break episode in the most haunted mansion in Mexico. Facing cancellation on the one hand and supernatural entities on the other, the team must figure out a way to bust the ghosts, deliver the episode of a lifetime, and escape with their lives intact.

“Deadtectives” will be available for the suggested retail price (SRP) of $27.97.

Fisherman’s Friends

Samuel Goldwyn Films will release the heartwarming comedy/drama “Fisherman’s Friends” On Digital and On Demand Friday July 24.

Directed by Chris Foggin (“Kids in Love”) and co-written by Meg Leonard (“Blithe Spirit,” “Finding Your Feet”) and Nick Moorcroft (“Blithe Spirit,” “Finding Your Feet”), the film stars Daniel Mays (“1917,” “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story”), James Purefoy (“The Following,” “Rome”), David Hayman (“Blinded by the Light,” “Sid and Nancy”) and Tuppence Middleton (“Sense8,” “The Imitation Game”).

A fast living, cynical London music executive (Mays) heads to a remote Cornish village on a stag weekend where he’s pranked by his boss (Noel Clarke) into trying to sign a group of shanty-singing fishermen (led by Purefoy). He becomes the ultimate “fish out of water” as he struggles to gain the respect or enthusiasm of the unlikely boy band and their families who value friendship and community over fame and fortune. As he’s drawn deeper into the traditional way of life he’s forced to reevaluate his own integrity and ultimately question what success really means.

Ghost: 30th Anniversary Edition

Relive the passion and suspense as the two-time Academy Award-winning romantic drama “Ghost,” arriving on Blu-ray Tuesday July 21 as part of Paramount Home Entertainment’s Paramount Presents line.

Originally released in July 1990, “Ghost” tells the story of Sam (Patrick Swayze) who is recently departed from the living world, but left behind in spirit form. While desperate to reconnect with the love of his life, Molly (Demi Moore), Sam discovers his death wasn’t just a random robbery gone bad. To solve his own murder, he enlists the talents of a skeptical psychic (Whoopi Goldberg in her Academy Award-winning role), who doesn’t even believe her own abilities.

The Limited-Edition Paramount Presents Blu-ray is presented in collectible packaging that includes a foldout image of the original theatrical poster, and an interior spread with key movie moments. Newly remastered from a 4K film transfer supervised by director Jerry Zucker, the “Ghost” Blu-ray also includes a new Filmmaker Focus with the director, as well as previously released commentary by Zucker and writer Bruce Joel Rubin, a look at the making of the film, and the featurette “Alchemy of a Love Scene.”

Marriage Story

The Criterion Collection edition of Noah Baumbach’s acclaimed “Marriage Story” arrives on Blu-ray Tuesday July 21.

A love story about divorce, “Marriage Story” reveals a marriage coming apart and a family coming together. Adam Driver and Scarlett Johansson deliver memorable performances as Charlie, a charismatic New York theater director wedded to his work, and Nicole, an actor who is ready to change her own life, respectively. Their hopes for an amicable divorce fade as they are drawn into a system that pits them against each other and forces them to redefine their relationship and their family. Finely drawn supporting turns are delivered by Alan Alda, Ray Liotta and Laura Dern, who won an Academy Award for her performance, as the trio of lawyers who preside over the legal battle. Nominated for six Academy Awards, including Best Picture, “Marriage Story” is a work of both intimacy and scope that ultimately invokes hope amid the ruins.

Bonus features include interviews with the actors as well as director Baumbach, a making-of featurette, a new 4K digital transfer, supervised by Baumbach, with 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack on the Blu-ray, and more.

The Blu-ray is available for $39.95(SRP) and the two-disc DVD edition is available for $29.95 (SRP).

Scoob!

Discover the origins of Mystery Inc., and prepare for adventure when “Scoob!” arrives on 4K UHD Combo Pack, Blu-ray and DVD Tuesday July 21, from Warner Bros. Home Entertainment.

“Scoob!” reveals the never-before-told story of Scooby’s origins. It shows how one of history’s most famous friendships began when an adorable, homeless Great Dane puppy met a lonesome young boy named Shaggy, and how the two of them joined forces with aspiring young detectives Fred, Velma and Daphne to become the celebrated Mystery Inc. Now, with hundreds of cases solved and adventures shared, Scooby and the gang face the biggest and most challenging mystery of their careers: a plot that will unleash the legendary ghost dog Cerberus upon the world. As they race to stop this “dogpocalypse,” they discover that Scooby has a secret legacy and an epic destiny greater than anyone imagined.

“Scoob!” features an all-star ensemble cast led by Will Forte, two-time Oscar nominee Mark Wahlberg, Jason Isaacs, Gina Rodriguez, Zac Efron, Amanda Seyfried, Kiersey Clemons, Ken Jeong, Tracy Morgan, Simon Cowell and Frank Welker. It was directed by Warner Bros. animation stalwart Tony Cervone, an Annie Award nominee for the feature film “Space Jam,” two-time Emmy nominee for his work on “Duck Dodgers” and one of the creators of the popular Scooby-Doo series “Mystery Incorporated.”

The 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray disc will feature HDR10+, HDR technology that optimizes brightness levels and contrast for each scene, making bright areas brighter and dark areas darker to deliver a lifelike viewing experience. The 4K UHD Combo Pack, Blu-ray and DVD versions of “SCOOB!” will all include a Digital copy of the film.

“Scoob!” also will be available on Movies Anywhere. The film also currently available for purchase from digital retailers.

Survive the Night

The tense home invasion thriller “Survive the Night” arrives on Blu-ray (plus Digital) and DVD Tuesday July 21, from Lionsgate. The film is currently available On Demand.

Bruce Willis (“Die Hard” franchise) drives the action in this gripping home-invasion thriller. After two brothers commit a robbery that goes wrong, one of them, Mathias, is mortally wounded, forcing sibling Jamie to stalk a trauma doctor named Rich (Chad Michael Murray, “One Tree Hill”) from the hospital to his home. While holding Rich’s wife and daughter hostage, Jamie forces Rich to operate on Mathias. For the family to survive the night, Rich must team up with his estranged tough-as-nails father, retired sheriff Frank (Willis), in order to gain the upper hand and turn the tables on the criminals.

The “Survive the Night” Blu-ray and DVD will be available for $21.99 (SRP) and $19.98 (SRP), respectively.

Target: Philadelphia

The explosive documentary “Target: Philadelphia” arrives on DVD and Digital Tuesday July 21, from Indiepix Films.

In 1985. Philadelphia law enforcement, at the direction of Mayor W. Wilson Goode Sr., dropped a military-grade explosive on a residential building to end a standoff with the black liberation group, MOVE. The resulting fire caused by the C-4 bomb destroyed the building as well as several surrounding buildings. In all, 11 people, including five children died in the altercation.

Interview subjects include Janie Blackwell, a seven-term West Philadelphia councilwoman, members of MOVE, including Mike Africa Jr., Jerry Ford Africa, Birdie Africa, and Omali Yeshitela, founder of the Uhuru Movement and others.

The documentary won the Best Documentary prize at the Alternative Film Festival in 2019 and an official selection at the 2020 San Francisco Black Film Festival. It’s the second documentary in producer/director Sean Slater’s “Target” series, which explores African-American history within the context of post-World War II U.S. domestic policy.

The documentary is available for $24.95 (SRP).

Taste of Cherry

The Criterion Collection edition of “Taste of Cherry” arrives on Blu-ray Tuesday July 21.

The first Iranian film to win the coveted top prize at the Cannes Film Festival, the Palme d’Or, this austere, emotionally complex drama by the great Abbas Kiarostami, initially released in 1997, follows the middle-aged Mr. Badii (Homayoun Ershadi) as he drives around the hilly outskirts of Tehran looking for someone who will agree to dispose of his body after he commits suicide, a taboo under Islam. Extended conversations with three passengers (a soldier, a seminarian, and a taxidermist) elicit different views of mortality and individual choice. Operating at once as a closely observed, realistic story and a fable populated by archetypal figures, “Taste of Cherry” challenges the viewer to consider what often goes unexamined in everyday life.

Bonus features including “Project,” Kiarostami’s 39-minute sketch film for “Taste of Cherry,” made with the director’s son, Bahman Kiarostami; a rare 1997 interview with Abbas Kiarostami, conducted by Iranian film scholar Jamsheed Akrami; a new 4K digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack, and more.

The Wild Goose Lake

The stylish and explosive Chinese crime noir “The Wild Goose Lake” arrives on Blu-ray, DVD and Digital Tuesday July 21, from Film Movement.

Chinese director Diao Yinan’s much anticipated follow-up to his breakthrough film “Black Coal, Thin Ice,” “The Wild Goose Lake” centers on a gangster on the run, wet in the nooks and crannies of densely populated Wuhan in central China.

The elegantly down-and-dirty film follows the desperate attempts of small-time mob boss Zhou Zenong (Hu Ge) to stay alive after he mistakenly kills a cop and a dead-or-alive reward is put on his head. Director Yinan proves his action bona fides in a series of stylized set pieces and violent shocks, simultaneously devising a romance between Zhou and a mysterious young woman (Gwei Lun-mei) who’s out to either help or betray him.

Bonus features include a Diao Yinan behind-the-scenes featurette, interviews with stars Hu Ge and Gwei Lun Mei and the short film “The Goddess,” directed by Renkai Tan, about a young woman who decides to take justice into her own hands after a traumatic assault.

The Blu-ray/DVD/Digital is available for $34.95 (SRP) and $24.95 (SRP), respectively.

You Don’t Nomi

RLJE Films, a unit of AMC Networks, is releasing the acclaimed documentary “You Don’t Nomi,” Tuesday July 21.  The feature screenwriting and directorial debut of Jeffrey McHale, the film is available on DVD for $27.97 (SRP) and on Blu-ray for $28.97 (SRP).

A chorus of film critics and fervent devotees explore the complicated afterlife of 1995s biggest film flop, Paul Verhoeven’s “Showgirls,” from its disastrous release to cult adoration and extraordinary redemption.

The film features Adam Nayman (“Vice Guide to Film”), April Kidwell (“I, Nomi”) and Peaches Christ (“Milk”).

TV Shows

Behind Her Faith: Season 1

UMC’s “Behind Her Faith: Season 1” arrives on DVD Tuesday July 21.

Each episode centers on one subject as they open up to viewers about their greatest achievements and biggest successes as well as their toughest disappointments and most heartbreaking moments: sharing their life lessons and triumphs along the way. “Behind Her Faith” features Essence Atkins (“Marlon,” “Ambitions”), Aisha Hinds (“Underground,” “The Hate U Give”), Niecy Nash (“Claws,” “When They See Us”) and Angelica Nwandu, founder of The Shade Room. Having premiered on the UMC streaming service, the four-episode DVD set is available for $19.98 (SRP).

Castle Rock: The Complete Second Season

Get set for another visit to Castle Rock, the small town that’s inhabited by author Stephen King’s most infamous literary characters, when Warner Bros. Home Entertainment releases “Castle Rock: The Complete Second Season,” on Blu-ray and DVD Tuesday July 21.

The release of the second season of Warner Bros. Television’s critically acclaimed series will feature all 10 episodes, plus all-new bonus content. Castle Rock: The Complete Second Season is priced to own at $24.98 SRP ($29.98 in Canada) for the DVD and $29.98 SRP ($39.99 in Canada) for the Blu-ray™ which includes a Digital Code (US Only). Castle Rock: The Complete Second Season is also available to own on Digital via purchase from all major digital retailers.

Stephen King’s multiverse, Castle Rock, is a place which combines the mythological scale and intimate character storytelling of the best-selling author’s best-loved works. In season two, a feud between warring clans comes to a boil when budding psychopath Annie Wilkes (Lizzie Caplan, “Masters of Sex”), King’s nurse from hell, gets waylaid in Castle Rock. Local businessman Reginald “Pop” Merrill (played by Academy Award-winning actor Tim Robbins, “Mystic River”) is dragged into the fight, when Pop’s nephew, legendary bully John “Ace” Merrill (Paul Sparks, “House of Cards”), stirs up trouble.

Season two of “Castle Rock” also stars Barkhad Abdi (“Captain Phillips”) as Abdi Howlwadaag, Yusra Warsama as Dr. Nadia Howlwadaag, Elsie Fisher (“Eighth Grade”) as Joy and Matthew Alan as Chris Merrill (“Snowfall,” “13 Reasons Why”).

From Stephen King (“Mr. Mercedes,” “It,”) and J.J. Abrams (“Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker,” “Westworld”), “Castle Rock” is a psychological horror series set in King’s multiverse. Having premiered on Hulu, it combines the mythological scale and intimate character storytelling of King’s best loved works, while weaving an epic saga of darkness and light that’s played out on a few square miles of Maine woodland.

The fictional Maine town of Castle Rock has figured prominently in King’s literary career: “Cujo,” “The Dark Half,” “IT” and “Needful Things,” as well as novella “The Body” and numerous short stories (“Rita Hayworth” and “Shawshank Redemption”) are set there.

“Castle Rock” is an original suspense/thriller—a first-of-its-kind reimagining that unites King’s themes and worlds, and brings together the author’s most iconic and beloved characters.

The DVD contains all 10 one-hour episodes. A bonus featurette “Annie Wilkes: Mother of Sorrow” is included. The Blu-ray, which includes the Digital code, is available in the U.S. for $29.98 (SRP) and the DVD is available for $24.98 (SRP).