|
OnVideo's Weekly Guide to Home Video Releases
Ace Wonder
(2014) Gator Moore, Derek Moreland, Jeff Moreland, Robert Grossman, Jeff Moore, John Robert Moore. In this family/mystery, Ace Wonder is a 10-year-old detective, struggling to find a story line for his latest novel. When his path tangles with Derek Morton, a simple family mystery becomes a very real case of corporate espionage, scientific discovery, and one cold blooded killer. Formats: DVD. (Vertical Entertainment).
The Amazing Spider-Man 2
(2014) Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, Jamie Foxx, Paul Giamatti, Sally Field, Dane DeHaan, Denis Leary, Martin Sheen, Chris Cooper, Colm Feore, Marton Csokas, Chris Zylka, Frank Deal. Formats: 3D/Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack, Blu-ray/DVD Combo, DVD, VOD, Digital, UltraViolet (cloud). Extras: Four deleted scenes, filmmaker commentary, Alicia Keys' "It's On Again" music video. Blu-ray adds six-part, behind-the-scenes documentary "The Wages of Heroism: Making The Amazing Spider-Man 2," nine additional deleted scenes (including "Peter Meets His Father.") (Sony).
Boardwalk Empire: The Complete Fourth Season
(2013) The four-disc set with all 12 episodes of Season Four of the Emmy Award-winning series traces the continuing rise of organized crime and the expansion of Nucky's (Steve Buscemi) empire into far-flung territories, while also taking a closer look at the rapidly expanding role that African Americans played in U.S. culture throughout the 1920s, with the addition of Chalky White's (Michael K. Williams) Onyx Club and a new gangster from Harlem (Jeffrey Wright). Formats: DVD: $59.99, Blu-ray Disc: $79.98, Digital. Extras: "The Onyx Club: A Step Back In Time," "Becoming Harrow," "New Characters," "Season 3: Revisited," commentaries. Blu-ray adds "Boardwalk Chronicle," an interactive, in-feature guide that offers character and location info as well as historical facts that are woven into each episode, "Scouting the Boardwalk," "PaleyFest: Made in NY Boardwalk Empire Panel." (HBO).
A Brony Tale
(2014) Lots of little girls love the cute, cuddly and colorful equine creatures featured in the cartoon series "My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic." Apparently, so do a shocking number of adult males. Bronies, or "Bro Ponies," are a subculture of adult men who are unlikely fans of "My Little Pony." It is a craze that has taken the United States by storm -- there are believed to be more than 3 million Bronies nationwide -- but how does this fit with a culture that has told boys how to act since childhood: Legos, not Barbies! Toy soldiers, not fairies! Why are so many grown men embracing this series made for girls? Are these men just abnormal, or is there something more going on? Brent Hodge asked all these questions while making "A Brony Tale" over a two-year period, and he came up with some startling answers. Traveling across North America, Hodge locates and interviews Bronies in the unlikeliest of circumstances -- bodybuilders, fundraisers, military men. He also follows Canadian actress Ashleigh Ball, the voice of several "My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic" cartoon characters, to the 2012 BronyCon event in New York City, where she meets and embraces these unique, adoring fans. The film, delves deeply into this strange world and challenges some deeply felt preconceptions.
Formats: DVD, VOD. (Virgil Films).
The Empty Hours
(2013 -- Spain) Kristyan Ferrer, Adriana Paz. On the desolated coast of Veracruz, 17 year-old Sebastain takes over running his uncle's small and cozy rent-by-the hour motel. There he meets Miranda, a regular customer who comes to the motel to meet a lover who always keeps her waiting. As Sebastain and Miranda get to know each other, an ambiguous game of seduction begins between them. Formats: DVD. (Strand Releasing).
Fading Gigolo
(2014) Dir.: John Turturro; John Turturro, Woody Allen, Liev Schreiber, Sofia Vergara, Vanessa Paradis, Sharon Stone, Max Casella, Jill Scott, Aida Turturro, Bob Balabani. Murray (Allen) talks his friend Fioravante (Turturro into becoming a gigolo as a way of making some much needed cash after an out-of-the-blue request from his dermatologist. With Murray acting as Fioravante's "manager," the duo quickly finds themselves caught up in the crosscurrents of love and money -- especially when Fioravante falls for a young Hasidic woman. Formats: DVD, Blu-ray Disc. (Millennium Films).
The Flintstones BLU-RAY DEBUT
(1974) John Goodman, Kyle MacLachlan, Halle Berry, Rick Moranis, Rosie O'Donnell), Elizabeth Perkins, Elizabeth Taylor. Extras: "Discovering Bedrock" featurette, MCA soundtrack presentation, art department concept sketches, opening sequence comparisons, production photographs, teaser trailer, theatrical trailer, commentary with director Brian Levant. (Universal).
Go for Sisters
(2013) LisaGay Hamilton, Yolonda Ross, Edward James Olmos. Written, edited and directed by John Sayles, the film tells the story of Bernice (Hamilton) and Fontayne (Ross), who grew up the closest of friends but took very different paths in life. Twenty years later, those paths cross: Fontayne is a recovering addict fresh out of jail, and Bernice is her new parole officer. But when Bernice's son Rodney goes missing on the Mexican border, his shady partners in hiding are brutally murdered, she needs someone who can navigate Rodney's world without involving the police ... and turns to Fontayne. The pair enlist the services of Freddy (Olmos), a disgraced ex-LAPD detective, and plunge into the underbelly of Tijuana, quickly finding themselves in a potentially deadly cat-and-mouse game with a ruthless gang of human traffickers. Formats: DVD. (Freeestyle Digital Media).
A Good Man
(2014) Steven Seagal, Victor Webster, Tzi Ma, Iulia Verdes, Claudiu Bleont. After an illustrious special ops career ends in disaster, Alexander (Seagal) goes off the grid and attempts to lead a quiet life as a handyman at an apartment complex. But when one of his tenants and her family fall under the thumb of a Russian gangster, Alexander is dragged into an all-out war between rival Chinese and Russian gangs, forcing him to not only defend the family, but bringing him face to face with an old foe. Formats: DVD, VOD, Digital, UltraViolet (cloud). Extras: Behind-the-scenes interviews, deleted scenes. (Lionsgate).
Hey Arnold! The Complete Series
(1996-2001) Sixteen-disc box set featuring all 99 big-city adventures from the classic Nickelodeon animated series. Formats: DVD. (Shout! Factory).
Home Is Where the Heart Is (aka Watercolor Postcards)
(2013) Bailee Madison, Laura Bell Bundy, Conrad Goode, Jonathan Banks, John C. McGinley. Disillusioned actress Sunny returns to her struggling-to-stay-alive hometown of Bent Arrow, Texas, to attend her mother's funeral and provide guardianship for a half-sister she never knew, meets an ex-NFL player who is coping with a heart-wrenching loss by painting watercolor postcards at a roadside stand, and together they come up with a plan to help save the town.
Formats: DVD. (ARC Entertainment).
Jarhead 2: Field of Fire
(2014) Jason Wong, Stephen Lang, Cole Hauser, Esai Morales, Josh Kelly, Danielle Savre, Bokeem Woodbine, Ronny Jhutti. Sequel has battle-scarred Marines helping a Navy SEAL get an Afghan woman famous for her defiance of the Taliban escape the country ... without tanks or air support. Formats: DVD, Blu-ray/DVD Combo, VOD, Digital, UltraViolet (cloud). (Universal).
Leviathan BLU-RAY DEBUT
(1989) Dir.: George P. Cosmatos; Peter Weller, Richard Crenna, Amanda Pays, Daniel Stern, Ernie Hudson, Michael Carmine, Lisa Eilbacher and Hector Elizondo. Extras: New interviews with actors Hector Elizondo, Ernie Hudson and creature effects artists Alec Gillis and Tom Woodruff Jr., theatrical trailer. (Shout! Factory).
Like Water for Chocolate BLU-RAY DEBUT
(1992 -- Mexico) Marco Leonardi, Lumi Cavazos, Regina Torne. Extras: Commentary with Alfonso Arau, Lumi Cavazos and Marco Leonardi. (Lionsgate).
Magnificent Doll
(1946) Dir.: Frank Borzage; Ginger Rogers, David Niven, Burgess Meredith. One woman's romantic entanglements have historic repercussions in Borzage's "Magnificent Doll." Dorothea "Dolly" Payne (Ginger Rogers) is torn between her affection for Aaron Burr (David Niven), vice president under Thomas Jefferson and something of a scoundrel, and James Madison (Burgess Meredith), a political idealist soon to be known as the "Father of the Constitution." Formats: DVD, Blu-ray Disc. (Olive Films).
The Millers: The First Season
(2013-14) Three-disc set with 23 episodes, $49.98. The show stars Arnett as Nathan Miller, a recently divorced local roving news reporter looking forward to living the single life until his parents' marital problems unexpectedly derail his plans. After Nathan finally breaks the news of his divorce to his parents, his father (Beau Bridges) is inspired to follow suit and stuns the family when he leaves his wife (Margo Martindale) of 43 years. Already in shock, Nathan is even more aghast when his meddlesome mom decides to move in with him. Meanwhile, his absent-minded dad imposes upon Nathan's sister Debbie, her husband Adam and their daughter Mikayla. Now, as Nathan and his sister settle in with their truly impossible parents, they both wonder just how long this is going to last. Formats: DVD. Extras: "Season In Review: Year One" behind-the-scenes featurette, "J.B. (per REQ) Smoove Walks The Streets, "A Conversation With William Arnett: The Actor's Actor." (CBS Home Entertainment/Paramount).
The Mindy Project: Season Two
(2013-14) Three-disc set with 22 episodes, $29.98. Formats: DVD. Extras: Deleted scenes, gag reel. (Universal).
NCIS: The Eleventh Season
(2013-14) Six-disc set with 24 episodes, $64.99. Special Agent Jethro Gibbs (Mark Harmon) continues to guide the elite unit from the Naval Criminal Investigative Service into dangerous waters in order to protect the nation from biological attacks, hospital bombings and an unpredictable terrorist group known as "The Brotherhood of Doubt." This season, the NCIS team is tested like never before when one of their own is taken hostage by a terrorist at large and the mysterious re-emergence of the infamous Privileged Killer takes the team to New Orleans for a two-part episode. Formats: DVD. Extras: "Celebrating 250 Episodes," "NCIS in New Orleans," "Remembering Jackson Gibbs: A Tribute to Ralph Waite," "On the Record" behind-the-scenes soundtrack featurette, "Finding Ellie Bishop," "In the Stills of the Night" featurette on crime scene and evidence photos, "Background Check" featurette on the squad room extras, "Joe Spano: Fornell for real," commentaries on select episodes, additional scenes. (CBS/Paramount).
NCIS: Los Angeles: The Fifth Season
(2013-14) Six-disc set with 24 episodes, $64.99. In the fifth season of the series, the NCIS team stop a mastermind from bombing a train, solves a top-secret vaccine-related murder, and embarks on a rescue mission in Afghanistan to save one of their own. Formats: DVD. Extras: "Unexpected Developments " interviews with the cast and crew, "Crafting Afghanistan" Santa Clarita, Calif. location featurette, "Happy 100th Episode" featurette, "No Crew Is Superior" LL Cool J remix, "The Write Stuff" writing featurette, deleted scenes, commentary on select episodes, Easter Egg. (CBS/Paramount).
Newhart: The Complete Fourth Season
(1985-86) Three-disc set with 24 episodes. In this season (which originally aired on CBS from 1985-86), life at the Stratford Inn gets even more eccentric for Dick (Bob Newhart) and his wife Joanna (Mary Frann). But in their little Vermont town, and for their friends George (Tom Poston), Stephanie (Julia Duffy) and Michael (Peter Scolari), "eccentric" is business as usual.
Formats: DVD. (Shout! Factory).
Once Upon a Time: The Complete Third Season
(2014) Twenty-two episodes. Formats: DVD, Blu-ray Disc. (Disney).
P-51 Dragon Fighter
(2014) Scott Martin, Stephanie Beran, Ozman Sirgood, Robert Pike. As WWII rages on, the Allies are about to push the Germans out of North Africa when the Nazis turn up the heat, unleashing their secret Weapon -- dragons. Now the Allies must assemble a group of the best pilots from different nations to battle this new threat to civilization. Formats: DVD. (Monarch Home Entertainment).
Parenthood: Season 5
(2013-14) Five-disc set with 22 episodes, $44.98. Formats: DVD. (Universal).
Parks and Recreation: Season Six
(2013-14) Three-disc set with 22 episodes, $39.98. Formats: DVD. Extras: "Parks and Recreation in Europe," "The Hapley Group," "Winter Games" promos, 100th episode feature, Rashida and Rob farewells, "T-Dazzle" commercial, Chipp McCapp music video, gag reel. (Universal).
The Quiet Ones
(2014) Jared Harris, Sam Claflin, Olivia Cooke, Erin Richards, Rory Fleck-Byrne, Laurie Calvert, Max Pirkis. Formats: DVD, Blu-ray Disc, VOD, Digital, UltraViolet (cloud). Extras: Commentary with director John Pogue and producer Tobin Armbrust, deleted scenes, gag reel. Blu-ray adds "Welcome to the Experiment: Making The Quiet Ones" documentary, "Manifesting Evil: Visual Effects" featurette. (Lionsgate).
Revolution: The Complete Second Season
(2013-14) All 22 episodes of the series about a family struggling to survive in a world where all technology -- computers, planes, cars, phones, lights -- has been blacked out; what's left is a post-apocalyptic landscape inhabited by ruthless paramilitary groups and heroic freedom fighters. Formats: Five-disc DVD: $59.98, nine-disc Blu-ray/DVD Combo: $69.97, Digital, UltraViolet (cloud). Extras: "Revolution: Heading West" featurette, "Impact Revolution: Conversations With the United Nations" featurette, "United Nations: The Mission Continues" PSA, 2013 Comic Con panel, deleted scenes, gag reel. (Warner).
Rosemary's Baby
(2014) NBC miniseries based on the best-selling novel by Ira Levin. Set in present-day France, the thriller centers on a young married couple who escape New York and move to Paris with hopes of leaving their sad past behind. After a series of unfortunate events, Rosemary and Guy Woodhouse are presented with an offer they can't refuse -- an apartment at the most prestigious address in the city. Problem is, it comes with a haunted past, and an immeasurable price. Formats: DVD, Blu-ray Disc. Extras: "Fear is Born: The Making of Rosemary's Baby" featurette, "Grand Guignol: Parisian Production Design" featurette. (Lionsgate).
The Sacrament
(2013) Amy Seimetz, Joe Swanberg, Kate Lyn Sheil, AJ Bowen. Two reporters journey to a remote Central American compound to document their friend's journey to reunite with his estranged sister, where they find an isolated community of true believers devoted to a shadowy but charismatic figure called "Father" whose utopian claims rapidly take a very dark turn. Formats: DVD, Blu-ray Disc. Extras: Commentary with writer-direcor Ti West, Amy Seimetz and AJ Bowen; "Creating The Sacrament: Revealing the Vision"; "Working With the Director: The Ti West Story"; "Preparing for Takeoff: Behind the Scenes Helicopter Sequence"; AXS TV: A Look at The Sacrament"; theatrical trailer. (Magnolia Home Entertainment).
Scooby-Doo! Frankencreepy
(2014) Original animated feature with two episodes: "A Gaggle of Galloping Ghosts" and "To Switch a Witch," $19.98. Formats: DVD. (Warner).
Silent Mountain
(2014) William Moseley, Eugenia Costantini, Claudia Cardinale, Werner Daehn. At his sister's wedding, young Andreas meets 17-year-old Francesca, but is sent to the front lines of World War I the next day. Determined to withstand the conflict, Andreas fights his way through the mountainous battleground of the Alps to rescue Francesca and escape the escalating combat. Formats: DVD. (Entertainment One).
That's My Man
(1947) Dir.: Frank Borzage; Don Ameche, Catherine McLeod, Roscoe Karns. Virtually unseen by the public for more than 60 years. Don Ameche stars as a bookkeeper who yearns to own a racehorse, and whose dreams materialize when he comes into possession of a promising stallion named Gallant Man. But his passion for racing threatens to spoil his relationship with his wife (Catherine McLeod), who shares Joe's idealism but not his willingness to wager their future on such a high stakes dream. Formats: DVD, Blu-ray Disc. (Olive Films).
Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!
(1990) Pedro Almodovar's colorful and controversial tribute to the pleasures and perils of Stockholm syndrome, "Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!" is a rambunctious dark comedy starring Antonio Banderas as an unbalanced but alluring former mental patient and Victoria Abril as the B-movie and porn star he takes prisoner in the hopes of convincing her to marry him. A highly unconventional romance that came on the spike heels of Almodovar's international sensation "Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown," this is a splashy, sexy central work in the career of one of the world's most beloved and provocative auteurs, radiantly shot by the director's great cinematographer Jose Luis Alcaine. New 2K digital restoration, supervised by director Pedro Almodovar and executive producer Agustin Almodovar, with 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack on the Blu-ray.
Formats: Dual Format Blu-ray/DVD Edition & DVD Only Edition. Extras: New documentary on the making of the film including interviews with Pedro and Agustin Almodovar; actors Antonio Banderas, Victoria Abril, Loles Leon, Rossy de Palma, and Penelope Cruz; production manager Esther Garcia; editor Jose Salcedo; and cinematographer Jose Luis Alcaine; new interview with Almodovar collaborator and Sony Pictures Classics co-president Michael Barker; conversation from 2003 between Almodovar and Banderas; footage from the film's 1990 premieres in Madrid and New York; a booklet featuring a 1990 piece about the film by Almodovar, a conversation between filmmaker Ces Anderson and critic Kent Jones, and an interview with Almodovar from 1989. (The Criterion Collection).
Toy Story of Terror
(2013) Voices of Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Joan Cusack, Carl Weathers, Stephen Tobolowsky, Timothy Dalton, Wallace Shawn, Don Rickles. Twenty-two minute short addition to the "Toy Story" franchise. What starts out as a fun road trip for the "Toy Story" gang takes an unexpected turn for the worse when the trip detours to a roadside motel. After one of the toys goes missing, the others find themselves caught up in a mysterious sequence of events that must be solved before they all suffer the same fate. Formats: DVD, Blu-ray Disc. (Disney).
Walker, Texas Ranger: Something in the Shadows
(1994) Chuck Norris is back in action as iconic hero Cordell Walker in this two-part adventure in which he gets tangled up in two investigations at a college where Assistant D.A. Alex Cahill teaches. Formats: DVD, exclusively at Walmart. (CBS/Paramount).
Varsity Blood
(2014) Lexi Giovagnoli, Wesley Scott, Debbie Rochon, Natalie Peyton, Blair Jackson. A pack of small town jocks and cheerleaders with a dark secret head out to a remote farmhouse for a raucous Halloween pasture party, only to be met by an uninvited guest dressed as their high school mascot armed with a bow and arrow, a battle-axe, and an insatiable appetite for butchery.
Formats: DVD. (RLJ/Image Entertainment).
Y Tu Mama Tambien
(2001) The smash road comedy from the Oscar-winning director Alfonso Cuaron is that rare movie to combine raunchy subject matter and emotional warmth. Gael Garcia Bernal and Diego Luna shot to international stardom as a pair of horny Mexico City teenagers from different classes who, after their girlfriends jet off to Italy for the summer, are bewitched by a gorgeous older Spanish woman (Maribel Verdu) they meet at a wedding. When she agrees to accompany them on a trip to a faraway beach, the three form an increasingly intense and sensual alliance that ultimately strips them both physically and emotionally bare. Shot with elegance and dexterity by the great Emmanuel Lubezki, "Y Tu Mama Tambien" is a funny and moving look at human desire. New 2K digital restoration, supervised by director of photography Emmanuel Lubezki and approved by director Alfonso Cuaron, with 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack on the Blu-ray.
Formats: Blu-ray/DVD Dual Format Edition. Extras: "On Y tu mama tambien: Then" and "On Y tu mama tambien: Now," two new pieces on the making of the film, featuring interviews with actors Gael Garcia Bernal, Diego Luna, and Maribel Verdu; Cuaron; co-writer Carlos Cuaron; and Lubezki; new interview with philosopher Slavoj Zizek about the film; on-set documentary from 2001; deleted scenes; "You Owe Me One" (2002), a short film by Carlos Cuaron; trailers; booklet featuring an essay by critic Charles Taylor and character biographies by Carlos Cuaron. (The Criterion Collection).
© 1996 -- 2014 OnVideo. All rights reserved August 19, 2014 (ISSN 1094-3676). |
|