DVD/Blu-ray Release Calendar: May 2018

▣ 12 Strong Trailers

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Adapted from Doug Stanton's book Horse Soldiers, this middling, Jerry Bruckheimer-produced film dramatizes the true story of the first soldiers who fought in Afghanistan after 9/11. Led by their Captain, Mitch Nelson (Chris Hemsworth), the U.S. Special Forces team had to convince Northern Alliance General Dostum (Navid Negahban) to join forces with them to fight their common enemy: the Taliban and their Al Qaeda allies. Also starring are Michael Shannon, Trevante Rhodes, Michael Peña, Austin Stowell, Ben O’Toole, Geoff Stults, Austin Hebert, Kenneth Miller, Kenny Sheard, Jack Kesy, and Elsa Pataky.

▣ Duck Butter Trailers

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The latest from director Miguel Arteta is an intimate lesbian dramedy about two women (Alia Shawkat, Laia Costa) who meet and then decide to take an unconventional approach to dating by compressing events that usually take months into a single 24-hour period. Shawkat co-wrote the screenplay with Arteta, while the Duplass brothers produce. The film premiered at Tribeca last week (to decent if unspectacular reviews) and will also make a brief appearance in theaters this weekend.

▣ In the Fade Trailers

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After the critical success of Head On, The Edge of Heaven (best screenplay at Cannes in 2007), and Soul Kitchen, director Fatih Akin failed to impress most critics with The Cut. But his latest film fared better with reviewers thanks to Diane Kruger’s performance as Katja, a woman who seeks justice and then revenge when her husband and child are killed in a bomb attack. Kruger took home the best actress prize at Cannes last year, while the film itself won a Golden Globe as best foreign-language film.

▣ The Insult Trailers

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Kamel El Basha won the Volpi Cup for Best Actor at the Venice Film Festival for his performance as Yasser, a Palestinian refugee who gets into a legal dispute with Tony (Adel Karam), a Lebanese Christian. An Oscar nominee for best foreign-language film, director Ziad Doueiri’s follow-up to The Attack looks at Lebanon’s complicated history through this modern story.

▣ Mary and The Witch's Flower Trailers

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Carrying on the animation tradition of Studio Ghibli, the debut feature from Studio Ponoc reunites producer Yoshiaki Nishimura and director Hiromasa Yonebayashi of When Marnie Was There. Based on Mary Stewart’s 1971 children's novel The Little Broomstick, the film follows Mary, a young girl in a rural British village who discovers a magical flower that leads her to a mysterious school for witches above the clouds.

▣ Fifty Shades Freed Trailers

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While the previous two Fifty Shades films weren't exactly critical favorites, the concluding chapter in the trilogy is somehow the worst of the bunch, with Rolling Stone's Peter Travers describing his viewing of the film as "sheer torture." Jamie Dornan and Dakota Johnson return as Christian Grey and Anastasia Steele. Now newlyweds, they hope to spend the rest of their lives together in marital bliss, but new threats arise, jeopardizing their (inevitable) happy ending. James Foley, the director of Fifty Shades Darker, returns, as do Kim Basinger, Rita Ora, and Marcia Gay Harden.

▣ Human Flow Trailers

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▣ Black Panther Trailers

It's the best-reviewed Marvel movie of all time. After making a strong impression in Captain America: Civil War, Chadwick Boseman’s T’Challa/Black Panther gets his own movie—and it's the first big-budget, effects-driven feature from director Ryan Coogler (Creed, Fruitvale Station), who is quickly making a name for himself as one of the top directors working today. The story picks up with King T’Challa returning home to Wakanda, where several factions challenge his place on the throne. Going against him is Michael B. Jordan as Erik Killmonger. Protecting the king are Lupita Nyong’o and Danai Gurira as members of the Milaje. In addition to collecting all that critical praise, Panther set box office records this year en route to becoming the #3 all-time highest-grossing film in the United States.

▣ The Other Side of Hope Trailers

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Aki Kaurismäki’s follow-up to 2011’s Le Havre earned him the Silver Bear Best Director award at last year’s Berlin Film Festival. Returning to his native Helsinki, the director has produced another deadpan delight that chronicles the surprising friendship between Khaled, a Syrian refugee and Wikström, a local restaurant owner. Released in the U.S. late last year, the film is getting a Criterion Collection release for its first appearance on disc.

▣ The 15:17 to Paris Trailers

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Clint Eastwood’s disappointing follow-up to Sully is another film based on a true story. On August 21, 2015, three Americans traveling through Europe thwarted a terrorist attack on Thalys train #9364 bound for Paris. Taking a unique approach that doesn't quite pay off, Eastwood cast the actual heroes—Anthony Sadler, Alek Skarlatos, and Spencer Stone—as themselves. Joining them are professional actors including Jenna Fischer, Judy Greer, Ray Corasani, PJ Byrne, Tony Hale, and Thomas Lennon.

▣ A Fantastic Woman Trailers

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Sebastián Lelio’s follow-up to Gloria offers an empathetic look at the difficulties faced by Marina (Daniela Vega, in a highly praised performance), a transgender woman set adrift after her lover’s sudden death. Woman finished 2017 as one of the year's best-reviewed films and collected numerous awards including an Oscar for best foreign-language feature.

▣ Game Night Trailers

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A murder mystery party gets out of hand for Rachel McAdams, Jason Bateman, and Kyle Chandler in this surprisingly above-average comedy from directors John Francis Daley and Jonathan M. Goldstein (2015’s Vacation). The strong ensemble also includes Jesse Plemons, Sharon Horgan, Billy Magnussen, Chelsea Peretti, Michael C. Hall. Lamorne Morris, and Danny Huston.

▣ Graduation Trailers

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At the 2016 Cannes Film Festival, Cristian Mungiu tied for best director honors for this drama about a doctor who compromises his values to help his daughter keep her scholarship to study in the UK. While a few critics believed the film didn’t quite reach the heights of Mungiu’s Palme D’Or winning 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days or his Cannes actress/screenplay winner Beyond the Hills, otherwise excellent reviews suggest that Graduation is a film that fans of the Romanian New Wave should not miss. Criterion Collection is handling the DVD/Blu-ray release, and is also releasing Mungiu's 2013 film Beyond the Hills today.

▣ On the Beach at Night Alone Trailers

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Of the three films from writer-director Hong Sang-soo that played in festivals last year (Claire’s Camera and The Day After screened at Cannes), On the Beach at Night Alone earned the best reviews. Following the critical success of Right Now, Wrong Then, the writer-director gets even more personal (if that’s possible considering his filmography) with a story starring actress Kim Min-hee (winner of the Berlin festival’s best actress prize) as a famous actress coming to terms with the end of an affair with a married film director, a story that parallels the real-life relationship between Hong and Kim.

▣ Red Sparrow Trailers

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A strong cast—led by a much-praised Jennifer Lawrence—and some visual flair are somewhat wasted on a "brutal," "lurid," "nasty," and "convoluted" spy thriller, according to reviewers. Francis Lawrence (best known for his work in The Hunger Games franchise) directs a cast that also includes Joel Edgerton, Mary-Louise Parker, Matthias Schoenaerts, Charlotte Rampling, and Jeremy Irons.

▣ Wonderstruck Trailers

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Todd Haynes' follow-up to Carol, Metacritic’s best-reviewed movie of 2015, didn't receive the same level of acclaim upon its release last fall, but many critics enjoyed it nevertheless. Based on Brian Selznick’s acclaimed novel, Wonderstruck follows Ben (Oakes Fegley of Pete’s Dragon) and Rose (newcomer Millicent Simmonds), two deaf children exploring New York City 50 years apart. In 1977, Ben searches for answers about the father he has never known, and in 1927 Rose escapes to New York City to see her idol, actress Lillian Mayhew (Julianne Moore).

▣ Annihilation Trailers

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Writer-director Alex Garland’s follow-up to Ex Machina is an adaptation of Jeff VanderMeer’s sci-fi novel, the first in his award-winning Southern Reach trilogy. The enigmatic story follows an expedition team (Natalie Portman, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Gina Rodriguez, Tessa Thompson) as they enter Area X, a mysterious place which Portman’s husband (Oscar Isaac) already explored. It’s not a typical sci-fi yarn (as should be expected from Garland), but in this case even the producers disagreed on the tone and ending of the final cut, resulting in Paramount selling the international rights to Netflix. Nevertheless, the finish product made a positive impression on critics.