New Releases for April 23 2024

I AM CUBA (1964) (Criterion Collection)

Both a landmark of radical political cinema and one of the most visually ravishing films ever made, this legendary hymn to revolution shimmers across the screen like a fever dream of rebellion. The result of an extraordinarily ambitious collaboration between the Soviet and Cuban film industries, director Mikhail Kalatozov’s I Am Cuba unfolds in four explosive vignettes that capture Cuban life on the brink of transformation, as crushing economic exploitation and inequality give way to a working-class uprising. Backed by Carlos Fariñas’s stirring score, the dazzling camera work by Sergei Urusevsky—an inspiration for generations of filmmakers to follow—gives flight to the movie’s message of liberation. (BLU-RAY + 4KULTRAHD)

ROLLING THUNDER (1977)

When Major Charles Rane (William Devane, Marathon Man, Interstellar) returns home to San Antonio, Texas, he is given a hero's welcome. He and his friend John Vohden (Tommy Lee Jones, The Fugitive) had endured eight years of physical and mental torture in a POW camp.

Adjusting to his old life isn't going to be easy for Rane. His wife Janet has fallen in love with another man, and his son doesn't remember him. The publicity he receives as a returning hero has attracted the attention of a group of hoodlums. When the group kills Rane's wife and son and leaves him for dead, he and Vohden team up to hunt them down. (BLU-RAY + 4KULTRAHD)

DRIVE-AWAY DOLLS (2024)

Written by Ethan Coen and Tricia Cooke, this comedy caper follows Jamie, an uninhibited free spirit bemoaning yet another breakup with a girlfriend, and her demure friend Marian who desperately needs to loosen up. In search of a fresh start, the two embark on an impromptu road trip to Tallahassee, but things quickly go awry when they cross paths with a group of inept criminals along the way. Directed by Ethan Coen. (DVD and BLU-RAY)

THE NUDE VAMPIRE (1970)

Jean Rollin's second feature film, and his first in color, The Nude Vampire (La Vampire nue) finds the master of the fantastic combining his trademark erotic-vampire themes with an homage to the mystery serials of his youth.

When Pierre (Olivier Martin), the son of a wealthy industrialist, witnesses a beautiful woman (Caroline Cartier) being pursued and captured by men in bizarre masks, he decides to investigate, uncovering a sinister vampire cult... (BLU-RAY)

CITY OF HOPE (1991) 

This gritty inner-city film by John Sayles follows various people living in a troubled New Jersey setting, most notably Nick Rinaldi (Vincent Spano), a disillusioned contractor who has been helped along his whole life by his wealthy father (Tony Lo Bianco). Other characters in this ensemble drama about urban conflict and corruption include Asteroid (John Sayles), an unstable homeless person, and Wynn (Joe Morton), an idealistic young politician. (BLU-RAY)