10 Cloverfield Lane (Paramount, Blu-ray, DVD) was a stealth surprise when it came out of nowhere in early 2016. The surprise was that producer J.J. Abrams kept the production under wraps until weeks before its release, when enigmatic banner ads and trailers suddenly appeared on the web. With Abrams as the producer and Cloverfield in the title, it was surely a sequel to the 2008 film, itself a surprise low budget hit that suggested a massive scope just outside of the frame. But how did this claustrophobic psychodrama fit into the narrative of the original monster movie / found footage drama?
I don’t want to spoil any of the surprises, which are deftly played throughout the film. 10 Cloverfield Lane is as circumscribed as Cloverfield was expansive, set almost entirely in a locked underground bunker during what may be the end of the world. That’s what the gruff, unnerving Howard (John Goodman) tells Michelle (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) when she wakes chained to a concrete wall in a locked basement room. He rescued her from a car wreck on a lonely highway, he says, and saved her life by getting her underground before the attacks began. What attacks? Gas, atomic bombs, alien invasion, whatever, the end of the world is nigh and this possibly crazy survivalist is her only hope for survival. The slow-witted handyman Emmett (John Gallagher Jr.), a barely-tolerated third tenant camping out on a cot in the pantry, confirms as much. Something is happening out there and it’s bad. The question they confront: is it worse inside?
It’s a mix of high concept premise and old school thriller and director Dan Trachtenberg makes it all work nicely in his feature debut. In these close quarters it doesn’t take much to set off Howard, who has control issues and a fantasy of a cozy family life under his strict rules. The tension only builds as Michelle starts to unravel the stories the Howard has told her. Winstead is great as the practical, capable Michelle, who begins the film running from commitment and ends up having to commit completely to a plan she can only hope will be borne out by the conclusions drawn from the meager clues at her disposal. Think of it as a different kind of locked room mystery. It’s Goodman, however, who dominates and sells the film. We tend to forget how intimidating and terrifying he can be (see his demonic side in Barton Fink). 10 Cloverfield Lane is reminder of the power of his presence and his ability to turn a slow burn into an inferno of rage under a bearish pose of bullying civility. And don’t worry, the film doesn’t fail its premise in the final act, which adds another dimension to the survival thriller.
10 Cloverfield Lane doesn’t transcend its origins but it certainly fulfills it promises. Taut, teasing, and clever, it delivers an old fashioned tight-quarters thriller with style and keeps audiences on edge to the end.
Blu-ray and DVD. The Blu-ray features commentary by director Dan Trachtenberg and producer J.J. Abrams and 30 minutes of short featurettes, plus bonus DVD and Ultraviolet Digital HD copies of the film.
10 Cloverfield Lane [Blu-ray]
10 Cloverfield Lane [DVD]
Also on Digital HD and Cable and Digital VOD.
45 Years (Paramount, Blu-ray, DVD), starring Charlotte Rampling and Tom Courtenay as a happily married couple suddenly jolted when the distant past of the devoted husband suddenly resurfaces, earned both stars the Silver Bear for acting at the Berlin Film Festival and Rampling the first Oscar nomination of her 50-year career. They are superb in this hushed British drama directed by Andrew Haigh, who also adapted the short story by David Constantine.
You could call it a haunting, or a tale of possession, though in this case it is a memory rather than a spirit that takes root and refuses to leave: a love affair that ended before they even met, a lover who died yet literally resurfaces when her frozen body is churned up by a glacier. The premise is something out of a pulp murder mystery (and in fact was used in an episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents) but here it is an echo of the past that churns up unresolved feelings that Courtenay refuses to discuss but won’t leave alone. While she plans the party to celebrate their 45th wedding anniversary, his mind is elsewhere and her heart feels it. Rampling is a master at playing calculating, cold figures, hard, emotionless women who let nothing through their hard stare and locked expression but here she lets the vulnerability show, while Courtenay is distracted, distant, his mind trapped in a past of what might have been, a love become perfect and idealized because it ended at the height of passion. It’s a different kind of betrayal but it hurts all the same. The cracks in their long, happy, comfortable marriage are all in subtle shifts of behavior, from the furtive glances and sneaking around to the increasing physical distance in their interactions. There are powerful, complex emotions churning under the placid surfaces and Haigh and the actors remind us they leave scars.
No supplements of any kind on Blu-ray or DVD. Not even a trailer. Which is a shame, given the British Blu-ray features filmmaker commentary and a Q&A with the filmmakers and stars.
Also on Digital HD and Cable and Digital VOD.
Also new and notable: 
La Chienne (Criterion, Blu-ray, DVD), the second sound film by Jean Renoir and arguably his first masterpiece, stars Michel Simon as an unhappily married man who falls for a street hooker (Lucienne Pelletier) who milks him for all he’s worth for her bullying ne’er do well of a pimp (Georges Flamant). The American disc debut is mastered from a new 4K digital restoration from a fine-grain print made from the original negative. Also includes a new restoration of Renoir’s debut sound film On purge bébé (1931), also starring Michel Simon, plus an introduction to the film by Jean Renoir filmed in 1961 for a television showing and the 1967 television program Jean Renoir le patron, a 95-minite interview documentary directed by Jacques Rivette and featuring a conversation between Renoir and Simon, plus a fold-out insert with an essay by film scholar Ginette Vincendeau. Full review to follow.
The Hound of the Baskervilles (1959) (Twilight Time, Blu-ray) from Hammer Films gives the Gothic treatment to the Sherlock Holmes story with Peter Cushing as Holmes, André Morell as Watson, and Christopher Lee as Baskerville. Twilight Time gives this terrific Holmes incarnation its Blu-ray debut in a special edition with two commentary tracks and featurettes, plus a booklet with an essay by Julie Kirgo. Limited edition of 3,000. Full review to follow.
Nikkatsu Diamond Guys: Vol. 2 (Arrow, Blu-ray+DVD) presents three Japanese gangster from the sixties: Buichi Saito’s Tokyo Mighty Guy (1960) with Akira Kobayashi and Ko Nakahirta’s Danger Paws (1962) and Haruhyasu Noguchi’s Murder Unincorporated (1965), both with Jo Shishido. Features a video discussion with Japanese cinema expert Jasper Sharp and a booklet with essays and director profiles.
In Gold (Kino Classics, Blu-ray, DVD), a German science fiction drama from 1934, an idealistic scientist develops an atomic process to transform lead into gold. The film was produced by Ufa and co-stars Brigitte Helm, and the Kino release features the restoration by the Murnau Siftung in Germany.
Star Trek (2009) (Paramount, 4K Ultra HD+Blu-ray+Digital HD) and Star Trek Into Darkness (Paramount, 4K Ultra HD+Blu-ray+Digital HD) offer the respective 4K Ultra HD debuts of the two Star Trek reboots in advance of the third film’s debut in theaters. Star Trek features filmmaker commentary and Into Darkness includes IMAX footage expanded to fill the screen. The other extras are included on a bonus Blu-ray of supplements and both sets include bonus Blu-ray and Ultraviolet Digital HD copies of the film.
Classics and Cult:
Here Comes Mr. Jordan (Criterion, Blu-ray, DVD)
Under the Sun of Satan (Cohen, Blu-ray, DVD)
Romeo Is Bleeding (Twilight Time, Blu-ray)
Inserts (Twilight Time, Blu-ray)
The Hound Of The Baskervilles (1959) (Twilight Time, Blu-ray)
The Member Of The Wedding (Twilight Time, Blu-ray)
The Panic In Needle Park (Twilight Time, Blu-ray)
Rollerball – Encore Edition (Twilight Time, Blu-ray)
The Magnetic Monster (Kino Lorber, Blu-ray, DVD)
Crimson (Kino Lorber, Blu-ray, DVD)
The Brave One (VCI, Blu-ray, DVD)
Jeepers Creepers (Shout! Factory, Blu-ray)
Jeepers Creepers 2 (Shout! Factory, Blu-ray)
Sorceress (Synapse, Blu-ray)
Bad, Bad, Gang! (Impulse, DVD)
TV on disc:
X-Files: The Event Series (Fox, Blu-ray, DVD)
Ballers: The Complete Season One (HBO, Blu-ray, DVD)
Underground: Season One (Sony, DVD)
Granchester: The Complete Second Season (PBS, Blu-ray, DVD)
Power: The Complete Second Season (Starz, Blu-ray, DVD)
The League: Season 7 – The Final Fantasy (Fox, DVD)
Suspects: Series One and Two (Acorn, DVD)
Birds of a Feather: Set 1 (Acorn, DVD)
Star Trek: The Complete Original Series (Paramount, Blu-ray)
More new releases:
London Has Fallen (Universal, Blu-ray, DVD)
Hello, My Name is Doris (Sony, Blu-ray, DVD)
Get a Job (Lionsgate, Blu-ray, DVD)
Eddie the Eagle (Fox, Blu-ray, DVD)
Stand Clear of the Closing Doors (Kino Lorber, DVD)
Toni Braxton: The Movie Event (Lionsgate, DVD)
The Young Messiah (Universal, Blu-ray, DVD)
Bodyguards and Assassins (Well Go, Blu-ray, DVD)
Rabid Dogs (Shout! Factory, Blu-ray+DVD)