Word of mouth, word online, word by social media. All of these contributed to the ever-growing popularity of “The Undoing: An HBO Limited Series,” now available on Blu-ray Disc (Warner Bros. Home Entertainment).
As the first HBO original series to grow viewership consistently week after week over the course of its season, the Nicole Kidman and Hugh Grant series obviously has the “it” factor. “It” is a must-see, thriller where two perfectly content people are upended by a cascade of revelations after a violent death. Will one defy the other to protect himself/herself and family?
The limited six-episode series is based on the 2014 novel “You Should Have Known,” and is backed by heavyweights David E. Kelley (creator/writer for this TV version) and Susanne Bier (director).
Kidman and Grant have been friends for years, but this is the first time that they have worked with each other. Those sentiments are discussed in one of the bonus features, “Nicole Kidman and Hugh Grant Introduce the Undoing.” One bonus feature covers how the series was created, and another bonus feature details all the revelations of the series.
Other titles
This is the spring of Godzilla and King Kong! “Godzilla vs. Kong” is released next week in U.S. theaters and on HBO Max, so it makes sense that Warner Bros. Home Entertainment has released “Godzilla” as a 4K Ultra HD and Blu-ray combo pack. “Godzilla,” of course, is the 2014 sci-fi action film in which Godzilla returns to its roots and fights creatures that are enhanced by scientific means. The heroic creature is the star, of course, but Elizabeth Olsen, Ken Watanabe, and Aaron Taylor-Johnson do a great job of bringing their characters to life. The 4K looks stunning. In May, Scream Factory will bring “King Kong,” the 1976 version starring Jessica Lange, to Blu-ray for the first time. That collector’s edition will include the theatrical cut with a new restored theatrical stereo track and an extended TV broadcast cut with a new 2k scan of the additional TV footage from the internegative. The release will also come packed with bonus features including new audio commentary with film historian Ray Morton and several new interviews with cast and crew.
“Breaking News in Yuba County” (Warner Bros. Home Entertainment) shines the spotlight on Allison Janney, who wondrously brings the character of Sue Buttons to life in an entertaining dark comedy. Buttons, a suburban housewife, becomes a local celebrity while searching an entire county to find her missing husband. While trying to prolong her fame, she hilariously dodges an aspiring mobster, a desperate news reporter, a relentless policewoman, her half-sister, and her husband’s deadbeat brother, who are all trying to uncover the truth.
“The Interrogation” (Corinth Films) is a re-creation of the final interrogation of Auschwitz’s Nazi concentration camp commander Rudolf Franz Ferdinand Hoss. Turned in to British troops in 1946 by his own wife, Hoss faced the International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg, Germany, and then the Supreme National Tribunal in Poland, which sentenced him to death by hanging. While imprisoned and awaiting trial, Hoss was interrogated by an investigative judge. During these conversations, Hoss revealed the details and routines that took place at Auschwitz. This re-creation should become must-see viewing for generations to come so that we never forget this travesty.