Every Tuesday, discriminating viewers are confronted with a flurry of choices: new releases on disc and on demand, vintage and original movies on any number of streaming platforms, catalogue titles making a splash on Blu-ray or 4K. This twice-monthly column sifts through all of those choices to pluck out the movies most worth your time, no matter how you\u2019re watching.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n PICK OF THE WEEK: <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Night of the Juggler<\/em><\/strong><\/a>: <\/strong>KL Studio Classics\u2019 new 4K UHD release \u2014 indeed, any contemporary home video release at all \u2014 felt like an impossible dream to fans of this grungy, sleazy, exhilarating 1980 New York City crime movie, which was mired for years<\/a> in licensing and ownership issues. James Brolin stars as a truck driver (and former NYPD officer) whose tween daughter is mistaken for the offspring of a rich developer, and kidnapped by a paranoid, ranting racist who develops a deeply uncomfortable attachment to his victim. It becomes a race against time, as our hero attempts to track down his daughter in a sweaty city (all while eluding a mostly hostile police force). Even fans from its bootleg era will want to give this a fresh look; the cinematography and sound are lively and immersive, and the shadows, darkness and silhouettes of the climax are finally distinct (and impressive). (Includes audio commentary, interviews, featurette, and trailer.) <\/p>\n\n\n\n ON APPLE TV+:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Highest 2 Lowest<\/em><\/strong><\/a>: <\/strong>The most recent collaboration between director Spike Lee and actor Denzel Washington is probably the least successful of their five to date \u2014 and it\u2019s still better than just about anything out there. A riff on Kurosawa\u2019s High and Low<\/em> (see below), it features the same basic setup of the wealthy man who first believes his son has been kidnapped, only to discover it was the similarly-aged son of his loyal chauffeur. (There\u2019s some Night of the Juggler<\/em> in there too, now that you mention it.) The first half, most faithful to the original, is the least successful, with Lee and screenwriter Alan Fox letting the long sequences in the far-removed penthouse play out for too long, with too little life. But once Lee gets to ground level, the picture comes to life; the set piece of the ransom drop, which Lee stages on a subway to Yankee Stadium in the midst of the Puerto Rican Day Parade, is one of the best of his career. And the second half, which divulges wildly from the police procedural elements of original film (and novel), explores fascinating questions and tensions surrounding class and art. <\/p>\n\n\n\n ON BLU-RAY \/ DVD \/ VOD:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Friendship<\/em><\/strong><\/a>:<\/strong> Writer\/director Andrew DeYoung\u2019s vehicle for the singular charms (?) of I Think You Should Leave<\/em> star Tim Robinson opens with a group counseling session flush<\/em> with uncomfortable subtext, and never looks back. Robinson stars as a seemingly bland suburban middle-manager type who strikes up a casual friendship with his new neighbor (Paul Rudd), a TV weatherman who plays local dive bars with his punk band. DeYoung\u2019s script is initially rooted in the discomfort of hanging out with a (comparatively) cool guy when you\u2019re a total square, but soon stakes out territory in the realm of the surreal; the more time we spend with this guy, the more off-putting and concerning his behavior becomes. Upon release, Friendship<\/em> was compared to The Cable Guy<\/em>, but it hews closer to something like Observe & Report<\/em>, primarily thanks to its sense of perspective \u2014 it\u2019s told from the point-of-view of its unhinged character, which gives DeYoung the freedom to go in whatever weird directions present themselves, creating a real (and welcome) sense of danger and uncertainty throughout. (Includes audio commentary, deleted and extended scenes, and Q&A.) (Also streaming on HBO Max<\/em><\/a>.<\/em>)<\/p>\n\n\n\n