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OCN Distribution kicks off 2025 with one of the nuttiest films you’ll see this or any year: HUNDREDS OF BEAVERS (108 mins., Cartuna), a zany tale of an applejack salesman who loses it all and vows revenge against the horde of wild beavers who ruined his existence. Silent comedy and slapstick humor abound, but Mike Cheslik’s indie film may have been better off as a half-hour highlight movie than a full feature, as its repetitive nature and lack of dramatic heft (that’s putting it mildly) make for a viewing experience that grows from intriguing to exhausting after just a few minutes.

It’s certainly an audacious attempt at a comedy, shot in B&W with Ryland Brickson Cole Tews starring as “Jean Kayak,” whose run-ins with lots of costumed-suit beavers strives for an eclectic tone with gags that run the gamut from traditional slapstick to a bit gorier than Looney Tunes. It’s also impressive so much was accomplished on a budget reportedly around $150,000 – yet being completely honest, it’s unlikely most viewers are going to cross the finish of this movie’s absurdly overlong running time. “Hundreds of Beavers” overstays its welcome by many minutes, with Cheslik and company having well run out of viable gags long before the movie finally ends. It’s a cheerful romp, but one you wish had been sliced in half (or more).

Cartuna’s new Blu-Ray sports three audio commentaries, deleted scenes, interviews, VFX breakdowns and plenty more in its double-disc set (1.85, 5.1/2.0).

The fascinating imports turned up by Canadian International Pictures extends this month to Michel Brault’s 1974 film ORDERS (108 mins.), a film which won Brault the Best Director honor at the Cannes Film Festival. This searing look at Quebec’s 1970 enactment of the War Measures Act, done following the kidnapping of two politicians, holds ample modern relevance, with CIP’s Blu-Ray sporting a new restoration from the 35mm OCN (1.66, mono) with loads of extras. Among those are an academic commentary; interviews with professor Andre Loiselle, sound recordist Serge Beacuhemin, and professor Sylvain Garel; and a slew of 2020 interviews, archival interviews and supporting documentaries.

Film Movement’s latest releases include CANDY MOUNTAIN (92 mins., 1987, R), a collaboration between co-directors Robert Frank and Rudy Wurlitzer that sends struggling musician Kevin J. O’Connor out on a road trip where he tries to find a legendary, reclusive guitar maker (Harris Yulin). Alex Cox is interviewed in Film Movement’s new 2K Blu-Ray restoration (1.66, mono) with a 16-page booklet and video essay by David N. Meyer…Hideo Gosha’s 1966 thriller CASH CALLS HELL (91 mins.) stars Tatsuya Nakadai as a man serving out a prison sentence when he lines up work tracking down and killing three men as soon as he’s free. Stark B&W cinematography dominate this widescreen, hard-hitting Japanese crime drama, newly restored with a 1080p (2.39) transfer, a video essay by Patrick Macias, featurette, and a 16-page booklet with Steve Macfarlane’s booklet notes…Victor Erice’s CLOSE YOUR EYES (169 mins., 2023) is a sprawling effort from the Spanish filmmaker, his first effort in some 30 years. Film Movement’s Blu-Ray (1.66, 5.1/2.0) sports cast and crew interviews, with the movie in Spanish and offering English subtitles.

A look at one of the golden runs of Marvel Comics, CHRIS CLAREMONT’S X-MEN (81 mins.), profiles the original X-Men creator and his 17 years working on the initial (and greatest) run of the comic. Along the way it also profiles how Marvel de-volved into a stricter corporation tightening its belt on artists like Claremont, with ample inside stories making for a must-view for comic fans. ETR Media’s Blu-Ray (1.78, 2.0) includes commentary by director Patrick Meaney, additional footage and the trailer...DAD & STEP-DAD (79 mins., 2019) offers dead-pan laughs as a 13-year-old finds both his Dad and Stepd attempting to employ their respective parental techniques on him. This expansion of a short of the same name from director Tynan Delong makes for an improvised comedy with some pleasant dramatic beats as well. No Budge’s Blu-Ray (1.78) includes a blooper reel, deleted scenes, the original short, commentary and more.

Chantal Akerman’s final film, NO HOME MOVIE (115 mins., 2015), is newly available from Icarus Films. This 2015 picture chronicles Akerman’s relationship with her mother Natalia, a Holocaust survivor, in a fitting conclusion to the Belgian filmmaker’s offbeat filmography. Also included in the Blu-Ray is the 2015 retrospective I DON’T BELONG ANYWHERE: THE CINEMA OF CHANTAL AKERMAN (67 mins.) from filmmaker Marianne Lambert (1.78, 2.0, subtitled where necessary)…HIPPO (100 mins., 2023) presents a modern reimaginating of the Greek “Hippolytus” tragedy, as portrayed via a video-game playing teen and a Hungarian Catholic immigrant (1080p, 5.1). The disc offers a Making Of with interviews featuring director Mark. H. Rapaport.

Shudder’s January releases include KUSO (94 mins., 2014), a series of horrifying vignettes set after a devastating Los Angeles earthquake (the city can’t catch a break). This 2014 directorial debut of “Steve,” aka Flying Lotus, offers a Blu-Ray commentary by Simon Abrams, interview with Steve, extended scenes and more (2.40, 5.1)…also out from Shudder is THE SACRIFICE GAME (99 mins., 2023), a supernatural variation on “The Holdovers” (kinda sorta) featuring a pair of students who, along with their teacher, has to stop a group of killers who want to resurrect a demon. None of it goes to plan in Jenn Wexler’s film, new on Blu-Ray with commentary, a featurette, music video and stills gallery (2.39, 5.1).

Utopia’s latest, THE LINE (100 mins., 2023), is filmmaker Ethan Berger’s portrait of a college frat brother (Alex Wolff) who becomes conflicted to hazing and its inherent lifestyle – albeit too late. Well-acted and tension-filled, “The Line” is the anti-”Animal House,” and Utopia’s Blu-Ray includes a commentary by Berger and deleted scenes (1.78, 5.1/2.0)…Angie Chen’s MAYBE IT’S LOVE (90 mins., 1984) mixes up genres in an entertaining early ‘80s Hong Kong mishmash of kid detectives and steamy erotic mystery. Kani’s Blu-Ray (1.85) sports a near half-hour interview with Chen, an interview with the producer, the short “The Visit” from 1981, trailers and booklet notes…A couple in a rocky relationship end up buying a new coffee table they soon wish they never had in Caye Casas’ Spanish import THE COFFEE TABLE (91 mins., 2022), now available on Blu-Ray from Cinephobia sporting two commentaries; a director interview; Making Of featurette; still galleries; and a booklet with critic Sam Cohen’s liner notes.

Indie Creeps: Brainstorm Media brings director Daniel Kokotajlo’s STARVE ACRE (98 mins., 2024) to Blu-Ray with a creepy adaptation of Andrew Michael Hurley’s bestselling book. Interviews and a Kim Newman booklet essay are on-hand in the disc (2.39, 5.1 DTS MA)…Alice Maio Mackay’s slasher homage (with a trans twist) CARNAGE FOR CHRISTMAS (70 mins., 2024) debuts on Blu-Ray with interviews featuring the director and star Jordan Gonzalez (2.35, 5.1)…SWEET, SWEET LONELY GIRL (76 mins., 2016) wants to meld the supernatural with a ‘70s Carter-era afterschool special; the results don’t quite pan out but the effort is, at least, there in Alex Calvo’s film. Yellow Veil’s Blu-Ray (1.85) is stacked with extras including commentaries, interviews, an alternate opening and ending.

Also New on 4K UHD & Blu-Ray

VENOM: THE LAST DANCE 4K UHD/Blu-Ray (108 mins., 2024, PG-13; Sony): Sony’s wacky and mostly underwhelming array of standalone features starring Spider-Man supporting players does, at least, go out on something of a bonkers note with this third and, apparently, final entry in Tom Hardy’s “Venom” series. This time around, photographer Eddie Brock and his alien symbiote frenemy Venom are on a road rip, trying to avoid trouble, when they’re catapulted into an adventure featuring Area 51 and the creator of the Symbiotes themselves, leading to a surprisingly emotive ending (for this kind of thing). By this point in the “Venom” franchise you know what to expect, and while these Hardy vehicles failed to match the complexity and heft of Todd MacFarlane’s original comic depictions of the character, they’re not bad, empty cinematic calories for what they are, with “The Last Dance” boasting plenty of outlandish action and comedy – and a lot more entertainment, at least, than “Madame Web” and “Morbius.” Sony’s dazzling 4K UHD offers deleted/extended scenes, Tom Hardy interviews, featurettes, outtakes, a dynamite Dolby Vision HDR (2.39) transfer with Dolby Atmos sound, the Blu-Ray, and a Digital HD copy.

HERE Blu-Ray (104 mins., 2024, PG-13; Sony): Reunion of numerous participants from “Forrest Gump,” from director Robert Zemeckis to stars Tom Hanks and Robin Wright, plays out like yet another of Zemeckis’ late-career “gimmick films.” An adaptation of a Richard McGuire graphic novel by the director and “Gump” screenwriter Eric Roth, this piece about generations interacting within the same “space” — in this instance, a home embodied by a near stationary camera — is a static affair with Zemeckis playing in the digital sandbox again for little benefit. We get a de-aged Hanks and Wright, an older Hanks and Wright, and lots of syrupy emotional beats involving their marriage and family, but none that are surprising or, ultimately, that effective. Scored by Alan Silvestri and shot by Don Burgess, “Here” fizzled out in theaters but comes to Blu-Ray from Sony (1.78, 5.1 DTS MA) sporting a Making Of, deleted scenes and a Digital HD copy.

THE LORDS OF FLATBUSH Blu-Ray (84 mins., 1974; Sony): First-ever Blu-Ray release of the 1974 nostalgia piece about a leather-jacket & bluejeans-wearing Flatbush gang presided over by the likes of future stars Sylvester Stallone, Henry Winkler and Perry King. Stephen Verona and Martin Davidson’s film is episodic in nature, has a few nice moments, and certainly doesn’t overstay its welcome at a lean 84 minutes, but it’s the presence of Stallone and Winkler’s charisma that gives “The Lords of Flatbush” its enduring appeal – something that may have been augmented even more had Richard Gere not gotten canned, reportedly after butting heads with Stallone during production (King was Gere’s replacement). A grainy looking film, Sony has remastered the picture for its debut U.S. Blu-Ray and the results have that remarkably natural, high detail look (1.85, mono) typical of Sony’s catalog releases. While billed as the 50th Anniversary, the sole extra is the trailer on a high bit-rate presentation recommended for the movie’s fans and/or Stallone/Winkler completists.

NEXT TIME: The latest Kino Lorner releases! Until then, don’t forget to drop in on the official Aisle Seat Message Boards and direct any emails to our email address. Cheers everyone!