What’s New in Home Video & Pop Culture – January 21st, 2025 – Smile 2, Venom: The Last Dance, The Grifters and more

Things are slowly getting a little busier on the home video front, with two major theatrical releases hitting shelves this week. We also get a new Criterion Collection release — always a welcome thing — and a few other goodies. Read on for the details!

In This Week’s Column:

• Venom: The Last Dance (4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray + Digital Steelbook)
• Smile 2 (4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray + Digital Steelbook)
• The Grifters (4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray)
• A Legend (Blu-ray)
• Ancient Aliens: Season 20 (DVD)

Venom: The Last Dance (4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray + Digital Steelbook)

The Movie: 

The first Venom movie was a surprise to me; not only in how much of a hit it was, but in how much fun I found the film to be, especially after what I considered a pretty lackluster trailer. The second film, then, I was excited for, and that one was a complete disappointment to me.

So now it’s time for Venom: The Last Dance, which ostensibly appears to be the final film in the series. If it is (although it certainly does set itself up quite easily for a spin-off film), I’d say it’s going out on a pretty solid note. This film sees Eddie Brock and his alien symbiote compadre on the run from a government agency who seems to know an awful lot about the symbioses and even has several specimens in a secret lab. (How could that go wrong?!) At the same time, the “overlord” of the symbiote species (The Klyntar, for you purists out there) sends a symbiotic creature to earth to retrieve Venom, meaning that Eddie his being hunted by both the government and an unstoppable alien force.

For my money, this one lands squarely between the first two films I terms of quality. It’s not as fun and well-constructed as the first movie, but it’s certainly miles ahead of the second one. The filmmakers seem to know that it’s the last movie in the series, so they decided to just have fun with it, and that comes across on screen. It’s not a masterpiece by any means, but it’s not a disaster, either.

This week, Venom: The Last Dance comes to home video in all formats, including a 4K Ultra HD Steelbook that is really eye-popping and will be of interest to collectors for sure!

The 4K Video/Audio: 

Not surprisingly, Venom: The Last Dance looks and sounds terrific in 4K Ultra HD. The imagery is extremely sharp, clean and clear, and the visual and special visual effects really shine in Ultra HD. Colors are at a premium and contrasts are strong, with deep, rich black levels. Obviously, the print is clean and devoid of any debris or blemishes. The surround soundtrack immerses your living room in the action, of which there is plenty, as the active surround channels and booming low-end bass ensure your ears are constantly picking up something new. The soundtrack music — which mixes pop/rock songs with an orchestral score — is also balanced well, while the dialogue never gets lost in the mix, resulting in a terrific sound presentation overall.

The Bonus Features: 

• Deleted & Extended Scenes
• Venomous Laughs: Outtakes & Bloopers
• Bonded in Chaos: Tom Hardy
• Author of Mayhem: From Writer to Director
• Venom’s Inner Circle
• Venom Unleashed: The Action & Stunts
• Select Scene PreVis
• One Last Dance – Tom Morello x Grandson Music Video
• Savor the Last Bite: The Venom Legacy
• Brock Bottom: Mrs. Chen Interview

Digital Copy Included: Yes 

The Wrap-Up: 

While the Venom movies never hit the highs of the best Marvel/MCU films, compared to most of Sony’s Spider-Man-related movies (Morbius, Madame Web, Kraven the Hunter), they’re cinematic genius. I enjoyed the third Venom movie a good amount, and this Steelbook is a great way to have it in my collection.

Smile 2 (4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray + Digital Steelbook)

The Movie: 

The first Smile was an effectively creepy movie about an evil force that moved through it’s victims by causing them to hallucinate until they kill themselves. When someone else witnesses this (very violent) suicide, the malevolent force then moves on to that witness. The telltale sign that a victim is possessed is through a supernaturally creepy smile.

Smile 2 picks up right after the first movie ends, with a character from the first film trying to pass the curse on to someone else, with mixed results. This leads to world-famous pop star Skye Riley witnessing one of these suicides and then finding herself haunted by hallucinations that bring up her traumatic past. Skye is just returning to the scene after a car accident a year ago that took the life of her famous boyfriend, during a time when she was notably indulging in drugs and alcohol. As she tries to launch a new world tour, her world starts to horribly crumble around her.

So first, the good: Skye is played by a terrific Naomi Scott, who puts in more work screaming and crying in this movie than I’ve seen in a long time. If there were an Academy Award for Best Performance in a Horror Movie, she’d win it for sure.

Now the not-so-good: I wish the filmmakers knew that you can actually make a scary movie without resorting to unnecessarily copious amounts of gore. Smile 2 hits a lot of good notes, but every time someone dies, the filmmakers just up the gore level to disturbing levels. I know it’s a horror movie, and I know that it’s their prerogative, but man, it takes me out of the film when it’s so over the top. There’s a thing called restraint and subtlety, people!

This week, Smile 2 hits home video in all formats, including a creepy-looking Steelbook release for the 4K Ultra HD version.

The 4K Video/Audio: 

Smile 2 comes to home video on 4K Ultra HD (as well as on Blu-ray and DVD), and the studio has done a bang-up job with the A/V quality, giving us strong color saturation and crystal clear imagery as well as a very good surround soundtrack that doesn’t miss a beat of a single song. While Smile 2 isn’t a musical, there are a lot of pop music numbers performed by Skye Riley, so that glossy music video sound and  atmosphere is required. A lot of times that can come at the expense of surround effects, but this is a nice, immersive soundfield during the more active scenes, and it also creates a tense atmosphere in the suspenseful scenes by placing sounds all around you that will have your skin crawling. A terrific effort overall.

The Bonus Features: 

• Commentary by Director Parker Finn—Take a peek behind the smile with commentary from writer/director Parker Finn as he goes through the gory details of this terrifying sequel.
• Ear To Ear—Cast and filmmakers dive deep into the SMILE universe and discuss how they brought the director’s vision to life.
• The Rise and Fall of Skye Riley—Naomi Scott brings you into the cursed life of popstar Skye Riley.
• Behind The Music—Take an inside look at the music and choreography from the film.
• A New Smile—SMILE veteran Kyle Gallner gives insight into his character’s gory return and filmmakers break down the film’s intense first moments.
• Smiler: A New Monster—Bigger, bolder, and more insane! Take a behind-the-scenes look at the grotesque monster behind the smile.
• Turn That Frown Upside Down—Meet Lewis, a friend of Skye, and get an in-depth look at the gruesome make-up and prosthetics behind his terrifying smile.
• Show Me Your Teeth—Explore how the filmmakers captured the uniquely horrifying car crash.
• Deleted and Extended Scenes

Digital Copy Included: Yes 

The Wrap-Up: 

There were parts of Smile 2 I liked and parts I didn’t like quite as much; overall, it kind of falls into the “mediocre” category for me. (Although I did love the final scene, which potentially leaves a third film open to a paradigm-shifting reality for the Smile universe.) That said, with the two films combined grossing over $200 million worldwide, I suspect this is far from the last we’ve seen from this franchise.

The Grifters (4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray)

The Movie: 

On the one hand, it’s not hard to see why The Criterion Collection selected The Grifters for its hallowed halls. Directed by acclaimed director Stephen Frears and produced by living legend Martin Scorsese, the film was also nominated for four Academy Awards for Best Director, Best Writing, Best Actress (Anjelica Huston) and Best Supporting Actress (Annette Bening). So, sure, it fits in with the Criterion ethos.

But man, I really do not like this movie. Honestly, I have the vaguest of recollections of renting it on video when it originally came out in 1990 because it had John Cusack in it, but sitting down to watch the new Criterion 4K Ultra HD of the film it was effectively like watching it for the first time. I do remember a vague sense of not really loving the movie, but I hoped that would change. After all, I was much younger then, and I’ve reevaluated so many movies more positively as an adult and found different opinions of them than when I was young. But sitting down to watch it with more seasoned eyes… I still didn’t like it at all.

The film follows Roy Dillon, played by John Cusack, who’s a small-time con man, and his girlfriend, played by Annette Bening, who’s no stranger to the grift herself. Roy was raised by Angelica Huston’s Lilly, who’s in the running for worst mom in the history of moms. When Lilly gets in trouble with her mob bosses and Roy finds a small amount of trouble on his own, their worlds collide and everyone makes the worst decisions possible.

My biggest issue with the movie is that there are not only no sympathetic characters in it, but there’s not even a mildly likable character in the film. Forget having someone to root for, I’m looking for someone in this movie that I can just not actively loathe. And by the end of the movie, I failed to find one. For some people, that works, but for me, it makes for a long, unpleasant viewing experience. Despite a sharp script by Donald E. Westlake, the film never works for me.

The 4K Video/Audio: 

The Grifters was not a big-budget blockbuster to begin with, so the 4K Ultra HD presentation does offer up some audiovisual upgrade, but it’s not a wholly new revelation in terms of A/V quality or anything like that. Image clarity is nice and sharp and the print is free of any blemishes or artifacts, and that’s what you would hope for. The color saturation is solid, with some moments where some real vibrancy shines through. The surround soundtrack focuses mostly on music and dialogue, both of which sound great, but I wouldn’t expect to find a ton of surround activities in your speakers.

The Bonus Features: 

• Audio commentary featuring director Stephen Frears, actors John Cusack and Anjelica Huston, and screenwriter Donald E. Westlake
• New interview with actor Annette Bening
• Short making-of documentary featuring Cusack, Frears, Huston, Westlake, and production designer Dennis Gassner
• Seduction, Betrayal, Murder: The Making of “The Grifters,” featuring interviews with Frears, Stapleton, editor Mick Audsley, executive producer Barbara De Fina, and coproducer Peggy Rajski
• The Jim Thompson Story, featuring Westlake and Robert Polito, biographer of The Grifters novelist Jim Thompson
• Trailer
• A booklet featuring an essay by critic Geoffrey O’Brien

Digital Copy Included: No 

The Wrap-Up:

I’m not here to dissuade you from liking The Grifters. It’s a well-made, well-shot, and well-acted film; it just didn’t work for me in terms of story and characters. This 4K release from Criterion, though, is a terrific package and any fans of the film should absolutely add it to their collections.

A Legend (Blu-ray)

The Movie: 

Jackie Chan’s latest sees him teaming up with legendary director Stanley Tong for a movie that combines modern-day intrigue with a period action epic. Chan plays an archaeologist whose team discovers a jade amulet and horse fossils near a glacier. Soon after, he and his assistant start having the same dreams of two warrior generals from the Han dynasty fighting to save their kingdom from the Huns and also in a love triangle with a beautiful princess. The film shifts back and forth from the adventure of the past era to the mystery of the pendant and potential discoveries that may follow in the present.

Interestingly, Chan and Yixing Zhang, who plays his assistant, both take on dual roles: they star as the modern-day archaeologists as well as the two generals in the past. Zhang is a young man, but Chan is de-aged through CGI special effects to play the much younger general, which actually works surprisingly well. There are a few scenes where the CGI is evident (mostly those in the rain) but in most cases, you’d swear you were just watching a young Jackie Chan.

Overall, I enjoyed the film. First off, it’s absolutely beautiful. Between the gorgeous locations, the colors, and the special effects, the movie is visually dazzling. It felt like I was watching a 4K Ultra HD release on a standard Blu-ray. The action scenes are also quite impressive. I don’t know what the horse budget was on this film, but it has to be the biggest horse budget any film has ever had. There are so many horses and people on horses in the battle scenes that it’s mind-boggling, and while there may have been some CGI enhancement, there are still hundreds and hundreds of real horses in multiple scenes. (I wish the disc included a making-of feature so we could have learned more about the horses, the CGI, and the locations.) My only real complaint about the film is that the characters are paper-thin; the movie does try to give them some depth, but they never get to the point where I truly cared about any of them. Still, it’s a pretty dazzling film for the most part.

The Bonus Features: 

Sadly, aside from a trailer, the disc is devoid of any extras.

Digital Copy Included: No 

The Wrap-Up: A Legend — despite the bland title — is one of the better Asian action films I’ve seen recently, and Chan is always a favorite in my house. This one is definitely worth tracking down.

Ancient Aliens: Season 20 (DVD)

The Show: 

Okay, I’m seriously running out of things to say about Ancient Aliens. I can’t believe this show has been on for 20 seasons now. But at the same time, I kind of can. I mean, it’s not like they’re ever going to run out of alien-related mysteries to discuss, are they?

While some of the show comes off as the theories of crazy people, most of it is approached from an academic point of view. I’ve made this complaint before, but while Ancient Aliens is easily watchable, the lack of any concrete answers or hard evidence can get frustrating, and it keeps the series from being something I can get really deep into on a regular basis. That said, when they’re diving into more concrete events, I can get really absorbed in it. This season’s episode on The Calvine Photo was quite fascinating.

This newest season collection includes 10 episodes (and it looks like it’s the back half of the season according to episode guides I’ve seen, but they might just be mis-numbered; I’m not an expert.) This season sees episodes on the Mayans, the concept of real-life stargates, alien whistleblowers, UFO pioneer Jacques Vallee, ancient Egyptian tombs, journalist Linda Moulton Howe, and more. It’s the usual mix of interesting topics, slightly goofy theories, and aliens of all kinds.

The Bonus Features: 

As usual with this series, there are no extra features.

Digital Copy Included: No 

The Wrap-Up: If you’re a die-hard fan of Ancient Aliens, this latest season will round out your collection. Some of the past few seasons have featured less episodes, so it’s nice to see the show getting back to full and robust seasons.