New Releases for December 17 2024

EASTERN CONDORS (1987) (Criterion Collection) 

Legendary actor-director Sammo Hung delivers a bazooka blast of pure adrenaline in this exemplar of Hong Kong action cinema at its most entertaining. Drawing inspiration from Hollywood war films like The Dirty Dozen, Eastern Condors follows a ragtag band of Asian American prisoners dropped into Vietnam on a secret suicide mission to prevent a cache of weapons from falling into the hands of the Viet Cong, who are more than ready for a fight. Propelled by a dynamic ensemble cast that includes the ever-charismatic Yuen Biao as a black-market trader and a superhuman Yuen Wah as a giggling martial-arts monster, this rip-roaring spectacle offers a nonstop barrage of turbocharged set pieces that defy death, logic, and gravity itself. (BLU-RAY)

GINGER IN THE MORNING (1974) 

A free-spirited young hitchhiker befriends a middle-aged man in this lighthearted charmer. Sissy Spacek, in between her star turns in Badlands and Carrie, plays the title role, and is joined by such stars as Monte Markham, Mark Miller, and Fred Ward. The movie has a great early seventies feel, and may make you yearn for the days when picking up hitchhikers was an everyday thing! (BLU-RAY)

CONCLAVE (2024) 

Conclave follows one of the world's most secretive and ancient events–selecting a new pope. The Church's most powerful leaders have gathered from around the world, locked together in the Vatican halls. Tasked with running this covert process, Cardinal Lawrence (Ralph Fiennes) finds himself at the center of a conspiracy and discovers a secret that could shake the very foundation of The Church. Also starring Stanley Tucci, John Lithgow, Isabella Rossellini and directed by Edward Berger (All Quiet on the Western Front). (DVD and BLU-RAY)

EVIL DOES NOT EXIST (2023) 

In a secluded, snowy mountain village, widower and single father Takumi (Hitoshi Omika) leads a modest life gathering water, wood, and wild wasabi for a friend’s udon shop. Yet this peaceful existence is threatened when a pair of corporate reps (Ryuji Kosaka and Ayaka Shibutani) arrive to launch a glamping site, sparking resistance from community members who fear the project’s potentially pernicious impact on the environment. When Takumi—a respected local figure—is offered the conciliatory role of site caretaker, it becomes unclear where his loyalties lie. Evil Does Not Exist, Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s much-anticipated follow-up to his Academy Award–winning Drive My Car, is a haunting, suspenseful meditation on humankind’s thorny relationship with nature, consumerism, and itself. Inspired by a collaboration with composer Eiko Ishibashi, the director showcases his masterful command of pacing and atmosphere to uncover the destructive forces lurking beneath the thin veneer of civilization. (DVD and BLU-RAY)

DEMOLITION MAN (1993) 

In 2032, arch criminal Simon Phoenix (Wesley Snipes) awakens from a 35-year deep freeze in CryoPrison to find a world where crime is almost non-existent – a serene utopia ripe for the taking. With the police no longer equipped to deal with his 90s-style brutality, they revive 'Demolition Man' Sgt. John Spartan (Sylvester Stallone), the no-holds-barred police officer unjustly sentenced to CryoPrison who originally took Phoenix down. Old-school cop against old-school criminal, settling their scores on the streets of San Angeles? The future won't know what's hit it. (4K ULTRA HD)