DVD/Blu-ray Release Calendar: May 2020

▣ Greed Trailers

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Prolific director Michael Winterbottom re-teams with his frequent star, Steve Coogan (The Trip, Tristam Shandy) for a mockumentary-style satire poking fun at the 1% and the fashion industry. Coogan plays the billionaire owner of a major retailer (a character seemingly inspired by Topshop head Philip Green) who heads to the Greek island of Mykonos for his 60th birthday celebration with a television crew and biographer in tow to capture every moment of the extravagant, Roman Empire-themed festivities—which happen to take place near a beach where Syrian refugees have set up camp. The film (co-written by frequent Armando Iannucci collaborator Sean Gray) has its entertaining moments but pulls its punches, according to reviewers.

▣ Gretel & Hansel Trailers

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Director Oz Perkins has earned a following with his first two horror thrillers— The Blackcoat's Daughter and I Am the Pretty Thing that Lives in the House. With his latest, he updates the classic Grimm fairytale about two young children who stumble upon a house in the woods made of bread and sweets and occupied by a cannibalistic witch. IT's Sophia Lillis takes the lead in the title and the film, playing an older Gretel than in the original tale, and Alice Krige is the hungry witch.

▣ The Lodge Trailers

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Goodnight Mommy directors Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala deliver another slice of psychological horror with this story of Grace (Riley Keogh), a soon-to-be stepmom who is stranded with her fiancé’s kids (Jaeden Martell and Lia McHugh) in a remote winter cabin. When a blizzard traps them inside the lodge, specters from Grace’s dark past begin to haunt them. While some critics believe the film starts out strong before it goes off the rails, others are embracing the filmmaking skill behind the scares.

▣ Ordinary Love Trailers

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Lesley Manville and Liam Neeson play Joan and Tom, a long-married couple in Northern Ireland who still find simple ways to express their love to one another. When Joan is diagnosed with breast cancer, it challenges them in different ways while also allowing them to bond with others who are going through the same thing. Directed by Lisa Barros D’Sa and Glenn Leyburn from the first screenplay by Belfast playwright Owen McCafferty, the film earned solid reviews, with special notice going to Manville and Neeson’s chemistry.

▣ Tigers Are Not Afraid Trailers

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Guillermo del Toro (one of the film's producers), Stephen King, and Neil Gaiman are just some of the vocal celebrity fans of this 2019 Mexican horror fantasy that follows a group of young children who are granted three magical wishes after a drug cartel murders their parents.

▣ Birds of Prey Trailers

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Before the second Suicide Squad movie eventually makes its way to theaters, the one breakout character from 2016’s Suicide Squad, Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn, gets her own spinoff. Joining her from the DC universe are Huntress (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), Black Canary (Jurnee Smollett-Bell) and Renee Montoya (Rosie Perez). They team up to save Cassandra “Cass” Cain (Ella Jay Basco) before Roman Sionis (Ewan McGregor) and his henchman, Zsasz (Chris Messina), can kill her. Directed by Cathy Yan (making only her second feature) from a script by Christina Hodson (Bumblebee), the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn received decent-ish reviews when it reached theaters in February, though critics definitely preferred the character to the movie as a whole, which they found "exhausting" and "numbing."

▣ The Photograph Trailers

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Writer-director Stella Meghie (Everything, Everything, The Weekend) has cast two incredibly charismatic actors (Issa Rae and Lakeith Stanfield) to lead this romance about an estranged daughter (Rae) who discovers a photograph by her deceased mom, a famed photographer, that leads her to delve into her mom’s past. While she’s on this journey, she meets a journalist (Stanfield) working on a story about her mom and finds she has an instant connection with him. With a strong supporting cast (Chanté Adams, Lil Rel Howery, Teyonah Parris, Y'lan Noel, Courtney B. Vance, Rob Morgan, Jasmine Cephas Jones), this is a love story about seeking the truth to find forgiveness.

▣ Vivarium Trailers

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Theoretically released in March, this sci-fi/horror hybrid stars Jesse Eisenberg and Imogen Poots as a couple whose suburban home search turns into a nightmare after they learn that they become trapped inside what appears to be a surreal and supernatural housing development. Critics had mostly positive things to say about a thriller obviously influenced by The Twilight Zone and Black Mirror.

▣ Buffaloed Trailers

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Zoey Deutch has been the best thing in too many bad movies. But this comedy from writer Brian Sacca and director Tanya Wexler (Hysteria) actually marries a decent story to her on-screen charm. Deutch plays Peg Dahl, a high school senior whose hopes of going to an Ivy League school are dashed by a failed scalping scheme she’d hope would pay her tuition. After a stint in prison and a conversation with a debt collector, Peg finds her new calling. The always reliable Judy Greer plays her mother; Jai Courtney is Wizz, her competition; and Jermaine Fowler plays a possible love interest.

▣ Emma. Trailers

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The latest film adaptation of the 1815 novel by Jane Austen isn't quite as modern as, say, 1995's Clueless, but the screenplay (by Eleanor Catton) certainly embraces 21st century themes even if the story remains set in the 19th century. Anya Taylor-Joy (Thoroughbreds, Split) and Johnny Flynn head the cast for photographer-turned-director Autumn de Wilde, and her feature film debut is a good one, say critics.

▣ Onward Trailers

Enough good reviews make Pixar’s latest worth recommending, even though it falls toward the bottom our rankings of every Pixar movie, close to director Dan Scanlon’s other film, Monsters University. Unlike that film (and the studio’s output since 2017’s Coco), this is an original story, one that follows teenage elf brothers, Ian and Barney Lightfoot (voiced by Tom Holland and Chris Pratt) on a quest to bring their father fully back to life for a day because their original attempt stopped at a pair of legs and a waist. With additional voice work by Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Octavia Spencer, and, of course, John Ratzenberger, this might be one that works better for the kids, while the upcoming Soul (coming out this fall, for now) could please the whole family.

▣ Promare Trailers

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Using a bold animation style, Promare, the first feature film from director Hiroyuki Imaishi and studio Trigger (Kill la Kill, Little Witch Academia, Gurren Lagann), captures the epic battle between the Burning Rescue team and Lio Fotia, the leader of a mutant race of flame-wielding beings.

▣ The Way Back Trailers

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One of the final movies released in the Before Times, Gavin O'Connor's drama is probably better than a basketball movie starring Ben Affleck has any right to be. Affleck stars as a one-time phenom who, after a lengthy series of wrong turns, finds himself as a recovering alcoholic whose one home for redemption is a chance to coach at his old high school, which finds itself also far from its glory days. Many critics praised the film's authenticity and emotion as well as Affleck's performance.

▣ Wildlife (2018) Trailers

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Actor Paul Dano’s directorial debut is an adaptation (co-written with Zoe Kazan) of Richard Ford’s novel about the fraying of the marriage of Jerry and Jeanette Brinson (Jake Gyllenhaal and Carey Mulligan) as seen through the eyes of their 14-year-old son (Ed Oxenbould). Wildlife earned excellent reviews from festivals around the world in 2018, and it finally finds a home on disc via this newly remastered Criterion Collection release that adds various interviews and conversations with the filmmaker, cast, and crew.

▣ The Invisible Man Trailers

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Writer-director Leigh Whannell (Upgrade) puts an abusive-ex twist on the oft-filmed invisible man conceit (anyone remember Paul Verhoeven 2000 film Hollow Man starring Kevin Bacon?) that originated in H.G. Wells’ 1897 novel. Elisabeth Moss brings her acting skills to the horror genre to play Cecilia Kass, a woman trapped in violent relationship with a wealthy scientist. With the help of her sister (Harriet Dyer), their childhood friend (Aldis Hodge), and his teenage daughter (Storm Reid), Cecilia escapes and goes into hiding until her ex commits suicide and leaves her part of his fortune. Suspecting his death was a hoax, she must prove to everyone that she is still be hunted by someone nobody can see.

▣ Once Were Brothers: Robby Robertson And The Band Trailers

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The opening night film at last fall's TIFF—and somehow not directed by Martin Scorsese, who merely produces—this documentary from Daniel Roher traces the early career of Robbie Robertson, the Toronto-born songwriter and guitarist for legendary 1960s/70s rock outfit (and occasional Bob Dylan backers) The Band, ending with the group's 1976 farewell concert (famously chronicled by Scorsese in The Last Waltz). Robertson himself narrates the film, and he's joined by famous talking heads ranging from Bruce Springsteen to Eric Clapton.