The film adaptation of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s first Broadway musical tops the DVD releases for the week of Aug. 31.
“In the Heights”: Set in Washington Heights, the Manhattan neighborhood Miranda grew up in, the story concerns a young Dominican bodega owner and an assortment of other characters during a hot summer in the city.
“The earnestly ebullient ‘In the Heights’ firmly established the Miranda signature sound, a blend of hip-hop and Latin music with big, bold, brassy Broadway ballads; a style born and bred of New York City,” writes Tribune News Service critic Katie Walsh in her review of the film. “The play is seemingly a direct descendant of ‘West Side Story,’ or at least in conversation with it, but Miranda’s outlook is far sunnier than the Jerome Robbins classic.”
Directing the film adaptation is Jon M. Chu, who previously helmed “Crazy Rich Asians” as well as several movies in the “Step Up” franchise. “Chu crafts a brash, culturally specific and celebratory film that is a whole lotta musical,” Walsh writes. “There are Busby Berkeley-style musical numbers, a cast of thousands and characters bursting into song and dance at every moment. It’s sincere, deeply felt and completely, refreshingly unabashed about it.”
Also new on DVD
“Spirit Untamed”: The second film in the franchise, this animated feature follows a girl and her unique connection to a wild horse.
“12 Mighty Orphans”: Based on a true story. Luke Wilson plays a high school football coach leading a team of orphans in Depression-era Texas. Also stars Robert Duvall.
“Beasts of No Nation”: Criterion release of the 2015 Netflix film directed by Cary Joji Fukunaga about a child soldier in an unnamed African nation’s civil war.
“Blue Bloods: The Eleventh Season”: The most recent season of the CBS police procedural starring Tom Selleck, which concluded in May after a shortened run of 16 episodes due to the pandemic.
“Fear the Walking Dead: Season 6”: The sixth season of the AMC zombie-apocalypse spinoff introduces a cult leader and his zealous followers.
“NCIS: New Orleans: The Final Season”: The seventh and last season of the CBS series starring Scott Bakula and his team of naval investigators based in the Crescent City.
“The Good Doctor: Season 4”: The titular doctor and his girlfriend deal with an unexpected pregnancy while the medical team struggles to handle the pandemic in the most recent season of the ABC drama.
“Bugsy Malone” (Blu-ray): Remastered to mark its 45th anniversary, this movie musical stars Jodie Foster and Scott Baio in an all-child cast set in the world of 1920s gangsters.
“Mortal Kombat Legends: Battle of the Realms” (Blu-ray): Animated feature finds the Earthrealm champions fighting the forces of an evil warlord in the final Mortal Kombat tournament.
Digital HD
“A Wake”: LGBTQ drama concerning a religious family as the surviving siblings and their parents gather for the wake of a deceased brother.
