What’s New on Digital, DVD/Blu-ray, TV, & Netflix This Week: March 18-24
NEW ON DVD AND BLU-RAY
'Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse' (March 19)
The animated hit takes Spider-Man to new creative heights. It introduces teen Miles Morales, who gets bit by a radioactive spider. But he's not the only Spider-Man in existence, as he learns when the dastardly Wilson Fisk uses a particle accelerator that rips open portals into other universes. The inventive, gorgeous animation and fresh take on the characters has not only made the film a crowd-pleaser, but an Oscar winner.
The movie arrives on 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray, and DVD on March 19 (and is already available on Digital HD). Bonus features include the original short "Spider-Ham: Caught in a Ham," alternate universe mode, and multiple behind-the-scenes featurettes.
'Mary Poppins Returns' (March 12)
The sequel stars Emily Blunt as the magical nanny, who returns to the Banks family to help the grown-up Michael (Ben Whishaw) and his children through a difficult time. Lin-Manuel Miranda plays a lamplighter, while original star Dick Van Dyke makes a special cameo. The movie features brand-new songs, including the Oscar-nominated "The Place Where Lost Things Go."
The movie arrives on 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray, and DVD on March 19 (and is already available on Digital HD). Bonus features include a deleted song, deleted scenes, bloopers, and making-of featurettes.
'Wanda' (March 19): Criterion is releasing Barbara Loden's one and only film — which she wrote, directed, and starred in — with a new 2K restoration by by the UCLA Film & Television Archive, The Film Foundation, and Gucci. The groundbreaking indie, shot intimately in vérité style, follows a woman who loses her family and drifts, alone and homeless, into the rough edges of society.
'Detour' (March 19): Criterion's other release this week is this 1945 fatalistic film noir from director Edgar G. Ulmer. The new 4K restoration was funded by the George Lucas Family Foundation. Made for pennies, the movie centers on a down-on-his-luck pianist (Tom Neal) who finds himself with a dead body and a femme fatale on his hands.
'Far From Heaven' (March 19): Todd Haynes' gorgeously crafted romantic drama stars Julianne Moore as a '50s housewife who discovers her husband is homosexual and then begins a taboo affair with her African-American gardener. The Blu-ray release from Kino comes with the 1080p master, as well as DVD extras including the director's audio commentary.
NEW VIDEO ON DIGITAL, DEMAND, AND STREAMING
'Bumblebee' (March 19)
The "Transformers" spinoff stars Hailee Steinfeld as a teen living in a California beach town in 1987. She discovers the broken-down, battle-scarred Bumblebee in a junkyard and forms an emotional bond with the bot. Not only are the friends soon pursued by a government agency, they discover that Bumblebee isn't the only Transformer on Earth — and the others are not so friendly. Available on Digital HD.
'The Act' (March 20)
Hulu's new anthology series — which stars Patricia Arquette, Joey King, and Chloë Sevigny — tells stranger-than-fiction true crime tales. The first season follows Gypsy Blanchard, a girl seeking to escape her overprotective, toxic mother. But her quest for independence opens a Pandora's box of secrets, one which ultimately leads to murder.
'Cold War' (March 22)
Amazon debuts Paweł Pawlikowski's stunning, acclaimed black-and-white film, which received three Oscar nominations (one for the director himself). The tempestuous romance between a musical director and the young singer he discovers is set against the perilous political landscape of 1950s Eastern Europe.
NEW ON NETFLIX
'Amy Schumer Growing' (March 19)
This marks Schumer's first special since marrying chef Chris Fischer in February 2018 and announcing she was pregnant with their first child in October. The special will feature her R-rated takes on marriage, pregnancy and "you guessed it, sex!"
'The OA' Season 2 (March 22)
The sci-fi/supernatural/mystery thriller finally makes its return after a nearly three-year absence. The new season finds Prairie/OA navigating an alternate reality, one in which she is wealthy, lives in San Francisco, and was never kidnapped. She teams up with a private investigator looking for a missing teen, and they are drawn into a deeper mystery around a house in Nob Hill.
'The Dirt' (March 22)
Sex, drugs, rock and roll — that's what you'd expect from a biopic about the band Mötley Crüe. And you get a lot of it. Hell, the movie stars with Tommy Lee (Colson Baker aka Machine Gun Kelly) performing oral sex on a groupie. It just gets wilder and more outrageous from there.
For more, see what else is new on Netflix in March 2019.
TV WORTH WATCHING
'The Inventor: Out for Blood in Silicon Valley,' HBO (March 18, 9 p.m.)
Award-winning documentary director Alex Gibney turns his lens on the rise and fall of Elizabeth Holmes and Theranos, the one-time multibillion-dollar healthcare company she founded. Holmes was called "the next Steve Jobs" but in just two years, she suffered a shocking downfall when Theranos was deemed to be a "massive fraud" by the SEC.
'The Fix' Series Premiere, ABC (March 18, 10 p.m.)
The new legal drama centers on Maya Travis (Robin Tunney), an L.A. district attorney who suffers a devastating defeat when prosecuting an A-list actor for double murder. She flees for a quieter life in D.C. ... until the same celebrity is suspected of another murder and she's lured back for another chance at justice. Sound familiar? Well, the show was created by Marcia Clark — yes, that Marcia Clark, the infamous prosecutor in the O.J. Simpson trial.
'The Village' Series Premiere, NBC (March 19, 10 p.m.)
The drama follows residents of an apartment building in Brooklyn who have built a bonded family of friends and neighbors. They include a single mom nurse, a young law student and his grandfather, a war veteran, and a mother who is arrested by ICE in front of her song.