Welcome back to another look at highlights arriving on Blu-ray and DVD. Once again, there’s a wide variety of offerings coming your way, with a particular emphasis on documentary films. So, if you can’t make it out to the movies this week or need to keep yourself in quarantine, be sure to give one of these titles a try!

BIG NEW RELEASES!



FACING NOLAN: Major League Baseball pitcher Nolan Ryan is the subject of this documentary. Described as an athlete whose professional career was filled with extremes, the movie goes over many stories from the mound as well as his personal life. These include pitching a game in a blood-covered jersey, as well as his involvement in an...

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Running Time:
114 minutes

By Glenn Kay
For the Sun

This movie was released globally on Netflix on September 1.

Admittedly, I’m not the target audience for “Love in the Villa,” a frothy romance feature that could have just as easily debuted on the Hallmark Channel as it has on Netflix. However, this week marks a slower period for entertainment options. And I was intrigued by the talent behind the camera on this project.

“Love in the Villa” was written and directed by Mark Steven Johnson, whose previous credits include “Daredevil” (2003) and “Ghost Rider” (2007). He also wrote the story for “Christopher Robin” (2018), a recent...

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Running Time: 108 minutes

This film from MGM/United Artists will be released exclusively in theaters on Aug. 26.

The career of director George Miller has involved many leaps from genre to genre. Best known for the “Mad Max” series, he is also responsible for the “Babe” films, animated “Happy Feet” franchise and the medical drama “Lorenzo’s Oil.”

His latest is another left turn, telling a fantastical tale of a woman who encounters a Djinn (which is a genie from Arabic mythology). Several recent movies have used this figure as a monster who terrorizes humans, but this movie takes a different approach to the subject matter. Part folklore...

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Running Time: 93 minutes

This film from Universal Pictures will open exclusively in theaters on Aug. 19.

Movie critics like myself see an awful lot of titles. So many, that after a time one begins to see repetitive patterns and tropes that can become more grating to a reviewer than to an average viewer who isn’t nearly as obsessive about such matters.

“Beast” is a horror film about a group of characters who are stranded in the wild and pursued by a seemingly unstoppable creature. The story doesn’t offer a lot of new twists or surprises. However, a strong and committed cast, visual flair and decent CGI-effects make enough of a difference to...