Mike Spring
Recap
Review
What’s New in Home Video & Pop Culture – April 8th, 2025
It’s not a huge slate of releases for our second week of April, but we do have a few recent box office releases to spotlight, plus a great box set of films you most likely haven’t heard of. Dig in to get all the details!
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In This Week’s Column:
- Love Hurts (4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray + Digital)
- Dog Man (Blu-ray + Digital)
- Hardboiled: Three Pulp Thrillers by Alain Corneau (Blu-ray)
- In Custody/The Proprietor (Blu-ray)
- Rose (Blu-ray)
Love Hurts (4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray + Digital)
The Movie:
Sigh.
I was so excited for Love Hurts. I grew up watching Ke Huy Quan in movies like The Goonies and Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, and I was super excited when he made his return to acting with Everything Everywhere All at Once. For him to be headlining a brand-new action-comedy movie in 2025 seemed like it was too good to be true.
And unfortunately, it was.
Love Hurts is not un-entertaining; it’s fast paced and it has a couple of good action sequences. But it has way more flaws than positive traits, unfortunately.
The story sees unassuming realtor Marvin Gable, who just wants to Sell You A Home. When he receives a mysterious Valentine’s Day card, it unleashes a fury of chaos in his life. It turns out that Marvin used to be a deadly enforcer for his criminal brother, a gangster known as Knuckles, and before he left the trade, he let a lawyer named Rose (Arian Debose) live when Knuckles ordered her killed. Well, now she’s back and everyone wants her, which means everyone is after Marvin, too.
It’s decent enough launching point for an action film. The problems start with the script. It’s pretty awful. Not only is the dialogue hackneyed and cliched, but the characters are completely uninspired as well. A big bad mob leader whose name is Knuckles? Like the echidna? And his big, defining character trait is that he really likes his Boba tea? Really? And the pair of hitmen who spend all of their time discussing one’s impending break up… been there, done that.
Even the action sequences have issues. There is one, admittedly, that takes place in a home that Marvin is selling between four characters that’s fantastic. But several other ones are so violent that they border on brutal. In a film that’s trying to double as a romantic comedy of sorts, maybe seeing people’s teeth getting ripped out of their mouths or getting their eyes stabbed out with a straw might have been a little too far for some members of the audience. Just because John Wick movies exist doesn’t mean that every action movie now needs to be John Wick.
Sigh.
The 4K Video/Audio:
Love Hurts is available on 4K Ultra HD (and other formats) and the 4K format works very well for the film. The picture is crisp and clean with razor sharp clarity, and the colors have a nice balance between realism and “pop.” Which means that things look vibrant without moving into looking unrealistic. The surround soundtrack is where things really shine, though. This is a movie with constant action, and you’ll feel like every punch, kick, and gunshot go whizzing past your head. The dialogue remains centered, and the pop/rock soundtrack is full of vim and vigor. It’s a terrific effort overall.
The Bonus Features:
- Alternate Ending (2 minutes)
- Deleted and Extended Scenes – A collection of eight scenes.
- The Ke to Gable (3 minutes) – A short featurette focusing on Ke Huy Quan.
- The Heart of Love Hurts (7 minutes) – A general behind-the-scenes making-of
- Stunts Hurt – (10 minutes) – A look at the impressive stunt work in the film.
Digital Copy Included: Yes
The Wrap-Up:
Despite all my complaints, Love Hurts isn’t a terrible movie, it just could have been SO much better. The ingredients are all there and there are some fun action scenes, but it’s one of those movies that never feels like it quite clicks into place. So I say again… sigh.
Dog Man (Blu-ray + Digital)
The Movie:
My kids are past the age where we rush out to the theaters to see movies like Dog Man, which is based on the hit books by Dav Pilkey (and are a spin-off of the Captain Underpants books.) That said, my son especially still enjoys the Captain Underpants/Dog Man universe, so while we didn’t go to see it in theaters, we were excited to sit down and watch Dog Man together on Blu-ray. (It’s also available on DVD.)
The story sees the origin of Dog Man, who is created when a police officer and his trusty dog are involved in a bombing by the evil Petey the Cat (Pete Davidson). They’re surgically combined to create Dog Man, a super cop who also has the instincts – and bad habits – of a dog. Dog Man sets out to bring down Petey, who now has a clone called Lil Petey, and there’s a new reanimated fish crook in the mix too (played to perfection by Ricky Gervais.)
The film is exactly what you’d expect if you’ve seen the Captain Underpants movie or read any of the Dog Man books. It’s silly and over the top, filled with action and humor, and the animation does a great job of bringing Pilkey’s trademark style to life. It’s silly and chaotic and a bit all over the place, but it’s perfect for kids, who are all of those things, too!
The Bonus Features:
- Feature Commentary With Screenwriter/Director Peter Hastings
- Deleted and Extended Scenes (10 minutes) – Eight deleted scenes with introductions by screenwriter/director Peter Hastings.
- Meet the Pack (5 minutes)
- The Making of Dog Man: A Sarah Hatoff Exclusive (6 minutes)
- Howl to Draw – Flip-O-Rama Style
- Howl to Make Doughnuts for Dogs (5 minutes)
Digital Copy Included: Yes
The Wrap-Up:
Dog Man probably isn’t going to make most adults’ Top 10 Films of 2025 list, but I won’t be surprised at all if it becomes a favorite of many, many kids. It’s definitely one for parents to keep their kids entertained with.
Hardboiled: Three Pulp Thrillers by Alain Corneau (Blu-ray)
The Movie:
This new collection from Radiance brings to Blu-ray three neo-noir pulp thrillers by acclaimed French director Alain Corneau. Corneau might not be a household name for U.S. viewers, or even outside of France, but in cinephile circles, he’s got no small amount of renown. This collection gives us the Blu-ray debuts of Police Python 357 (1975), Serie Noire (1979), and Choice of Arms (1981).
Police Python 357 stars the great Yves Montand as a Dirty Harry-like cop who comes under suspicion for committing murder. I compare him to Dirty Harry on purpose, because it’s well-known that Corneau modeled the film after Dirty Harry in the wake of the Eastwood film’s success. Serie Noire is the most film noir-like movie of the three, as we see a man attempting to save a young girl from prostitution and finding himself driven to extreme measures in order to do so. Finally, Choice of Arms sees a crew of criminals on the run shacking up with a retired mobster. Not surprisingly, it isn’t wrong before things start to go wrong. (It’s also not hard to imagine the film could have been an influence on Quentin Tarantino when he wrote Reservoir Dogs.)
While Corneau made movies into the 2010s, these three movies are all from earlier in his career, in a six year stretch from 1975-1981. They are a bit dated in terms of hairstyles and technology, but in terms of intensity and filmmaking quality, they hold up extremely well.
The Bonus Features:
This set is absolutely loaded with bonus materials, really adding a ton of bang for your buck. Here’s the breakdown:
- Audio commentary by Mike White on Police Python 357
- Maxim Jakubowski on Police Python 357’s source novel and adaptation (2024)
- Archival interview with Alain Corneau and François Périer about Police Python 357 from Belgian Television (1976)
- Série noire set interviews with Alain Corneau, Patrick Dewaere and Miriam Boyer from Belgian Television (1981)
- Série noire: The Darkness of the Soul – An archival documentary featuring cast and crew on the making of the film (2013, 53 mins)
- Archival interview with Alain Corneau and Marie Trintignant about Série noire (2002, 30 mins)
- A visual essay about Jim Thompson adaptations for the screen (2024)
- Introduction by documentary filmmaker Jérôme Wybon (2024)
- Shooting Choice of Arms – interviews with the cast and crew including behind-the-scenes footage (1981)
- Interviews with Deneuve, Montand and Depardieu from the set (1981)
- Interview with Manuela Lazic on Yves Montand in the 1970s (2024)
- Trailers
- Optional English subtitles for each film
- Reversible sleeve featuring designs based on original posters
- Limited edition 80-page booklet featuring new writing by Charlie Brigden, Andrew Male, Nick Pinkerton, Travis Woods, and newly translated archival interviews with Alain Corneau
- Limited edition of 2500 copies, presented in a rigid box with full-height Scanavo cases and removable OBI strip leaving packaging free of certificates and markings
Digital Copy Included: No
The Wrap-Up:
I always love it when I get a chance to learn about older films that I’ve never been exposed to, especially crime genre movies. When they come from another country, that’s almost a guarantee that I’ve never seen it, so this set is a great way to learn about some of an acclaimed director’s best films.
In Custody/The Proprietor (Blu-ray)
The Movie:
New this week from Cohen Media Group we have a Blu-ray double feature of films by Ismail Merchant, best known for being one half of the Merchant Ivory film production team.
In Custody sees a college student given the assignment by his editor to interview a famed Urdu poet. The poet not only writes in Deven’s language, but he’s something of a hero to him as well. The pair initially have little to connect over but eventually a bond begins to form as they learn to appreciate each other.
The Proprietor, meanwhile, follows Jeanne Moreau’s Adrienne, a woman who survived wartime France and now as an adult finds that her childhood home is being put up for sale. Now a respected writer in New York City, Adrienne wants to buy her home back but is slowed down by lingering secrets and memories from her past, including complicated ones involving her mother and the war.
Both films are pretty straightforward dramas, although The Proprietor fells like the more serious of the two. Both are well-made and well-acted, and even though they fall outside of the type of movie I generally tend to enjoy, I can appreciate the fact that they’re good movies. Fans of this type of more dramatic fare should find them quite enjoyable.
The Bonus Features:
Disc 1: In Custody Bonus Features
• Conversations From the Quad: James Ivory and Nasheed Qamar Faruqi Discuss in Custody
• Three legacy interviews featuring Ismail Merchant, Shashi Kapoor, Shabana Azmi and Om Puri
• Original trailer
Disc 2: The Proprietor Bonus Features
• Audio Commentary by Film Critic Wade Major
• Mahatma & The Mad Boy (1974) short film directed by Ismail Merchant
Digital Copy Included: No
The Wrap-Up:
Cohen Media Group always does a great job with their double features. You get two films debuting on Blu-ray, often foreign or more arthouse in nature, and usually with a theme of some sort. Often it’s the same director for both films (which is the case here), but often there’s a thematic similarity as well. In this case, both films see characters who are writers as a key component of the plot. If dramatic fare is your jam, this is a terrific release for you.
Rose (Blu-ray)
The Movie:
Cohen Media Group has another Blu-ray release out this week: Rose, a French film with some interesting pedigree behind it. It’s the directorial debut of singer-songwriter and actress Aurélie Saada, of the pop group Brigitte. Like Alain Corneau above, she is probably not a household name outside of France or Europe, but she will definitely bring some fans over from the music world.
The 2021 film focuses on 78-year-old Rose (played by award-winning actress Francoise Fabian) whose husband has just died. After grieving, Rose has a few encounters with new people in her life and realizes that while her husband is dead, she isn’t. She begins to fully embrace life and discover new joy in herself. Unfortunately, this is all happening while her grown-up kids’ lives are starting to fall apart, creating a dissonance between her new life and their old ones.
Francoise Fabian is a real gem, giving a tour de force performance that carries the film. It’s hard to watch Rose and not come away from it wanting to reembrace your own life, even if there is also strife and familial drama populating the movie. Especially for a movie from a first-time director, the film surprises with its sure-handedness and confidence.
The Bonus Features:
- Q&A with Director Aurélie Saada moderated by Isil Bagdadi-Sergio, Host & Programmer, Preview Club Film Series at Cinema Arts Centre
- Theatrical trailer
Digital Copy Included: No
The Wrap-Up:
Rose isn’t my usual cup of tea but the performance by Francoise Fabian and the film’s overall ethos were both so captivating that it won me over. Check it out and see if it won’t do the same for you.
