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OnVideo's Weekly Guide to Home Video Releases
American Experience: Cold War Roadshow
Frontline: The Rise of ISIS
(2014) A year ago, few people had heard of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) -- the brutal jihadist group. How did ISIS become a major force so quickly? And what does it mean for the U.S. to be back in Iraq, fighting a new war on terror, less than three years after American troops pulled out of the country? The documentary traces how ISIS gained strength in Syria (ISIS grew out of the disaffection of Iraqi Sunnis who were sidelined and targeted by Shia Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki after the American withdrawal), how they’re funded, how they operate, and how, city by city, from Ramadi to Fallujah to Mosul, they swept across Iraq -- seizing territory, recording and broadcasting mass executions, and drawing recruits from an estimated 80 countries. Formats: DVD. (PBS Distribution).
The Good Lie
(2014) Reese Witherspoon, Corey Stoll, the Lost Boys (a group of real-life Sudanese refugees). Young Sudanese refugees -- orphaned by the brutal civil war in Sudan, which began in 1983 -- given the chance to resettle in America arrive in Kansas, where their encounter with employment agency counselor forever changes all of their lives. Formats: Blu-ray/DVD Combo, VOD, Digital, UltraViolet (cloud). Extras: "The Good Lie Journey," deleted scenes. (Warner).
1,000 Times Good Night
(2014 -- Norway) Juliette Binoche, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Lauryn Canny. Semi-autobiographical drama by filmmaker Erik Poppe, the film is the poignantly personal and incredibly timely story of Rebecca, one of the world's top war photographers. On assignment while photographing a female suicide bomber in Kabul, she gets badly hurt. Back home, another bomb drops when her husband and young daughters - fearful for her safety -- give her an ultimatum: her work or her family. Formats: DVD. Extras: Behind-the-scenes footage on the making of the film, interview with filmmaker Erik Poppe, interviews with stars Juliette Binoche, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau and Lauryn Canny. (Film Movement).
Pride
(2014) Bill Nighy, Imelda Staunton, Paddy Considine, Dominic West, Andrew Scott, George MacKay, Joseph Gilgun, Ben Schnetzer. Formats: DVD, Blu-ray Disc, VOD, Digital, UltraViolet (cloud). Extras: Deleted and extended scenes, "Pride: The True Story" featurette. (Sony).
Sanatorium
(2013) Kate Wood Riley, Ben Rodgers, Don Fanelli, Justin Purnell, Megan Neuringer. Fifty-six years after a patient at the Hillcrest Sanatorium went on a bloody, child-killing rampage before killing himself, a team of ghost hunters - from the popular TV series "Ghost Trackers" - prepares to spend the night at the sanatorium in the hopes of capturing paranormal activity. Instead, they unleash a horrifying force of evil ... hell-bent on their destruction. Formats: DVD, VOD, Digital, UltraViolet (cloud). (After Dark/Lionsgate).
Traffickers
The Trip to Italy
(2014) Director Michael Winterbottom's largely improvised 2010 film "The Trip" took actor-comedians Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon - or semifictionalized versions thereof - on a restaurant tour around northern England. In this witty and incisive followup, Winterbottom reunites the pair for a new culinary road trip, where they retrace the steps of the Romantic poets' grand tour of Italy. Formats: DVD, Blu-ray Disc.(IFC Films).
Wings: Sky Force Heroes
(2014) Voices of Josh Duhamel, Hilary Duff, Rob Schneider, Jesse McCartney, Tom Skerritt, Dallas Lovato, Russell Peters. Dove Family-Approved adventure follow-up to the animated feature "Wings" has cocky young fire fighter Ace defying his Colonel's orders and recklessly attempting a solo mission that leads to disastrous consequences. Formats: DVD, VOD, Digital, UltraViolet (cloud). Extras: "Bringing the Characters to Life: At the Recording Studio" featurette, four award-winning Miniscule shorts. (Lionsgate).
The Trip to Italy
Director Michael Winterbottom's largely improvised 2010 film "The Trip" took actor-comedians Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon - or semifictionalized versions thereof - on a restaurant tour around northern England. In this witty and incisive followup, Winterbottom reunites the pair for a new culinary road trip, where they retrace the steps of the Romantic poets' grand tour of Italy. During their drives and between bites of fine cuisine, the pals indulge in some sparkling banter and face off against each other with celebrity impersonations. Re-whetting our palates from the earlier film, the characters enjoy mouthwatering meals in gorgeous settings from Liguria to Capri while riffing on subjects as varied as Batman's vocal register, the artistic merits of Alanis Morissette's "Jagged Little Pill" and, of course, the virtue of sequels. Winterbottom trains his camera to capture the idyllic Italian landscape and the gastronomic treasures being prepared and consumed while keeping the film centered on the crackling chemistry between the two leads.
Vitals: Director: Michael Winterbottom. Stars: Steve Coogan, Rob Brydon.
2014, CC, MPAA rating: NR, 108 min., Comedy, Box office gross: $2.873 million, IFC Films.
Pride
Inspired by an extraordinary true story. It's the summer of 1984 and much of blue-collar Great Britain is on strike. r one tiny Welsh village, the strike brings unexpected visitors -- a group of London-based gay and lesbian activists who decide to raise money to support the strikers' families and want to make their donation in person. The two groups, seemingly from worlds apart, discover that standing together makes for the strongest union of all.
Extras: Deleted and extended scenes, "Pride: The True Story" featurette.
Vitals: Director: Matthew Warchus. Stars: Bill Nighy, Imelda Staunton, Paddy Considine, Dominic West, Andrew Scott, George MacKay, Joseph Gilgun, Ben Schnetzer.
2014, CC, MPAA rating: R, 120 min., Comedy, Box office gross: $1.373 million, Sony.
(2014) The program tells the story of one of the most bizarre episodes in the annals of modern history -- the unprecedented barnstorming across America in the fall of 1959 by Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev, the world leader of communism and America's arch nemesis. At the very height of the Cold War, with American schoolchildren practicing duck-and-cover drills, the man who Americans feared could incinerate them in a rain of hydrogen bombs arrived in Washington, D.C. at the invitation of President Eisenhower. For both men, the visit was an opportunity to halt the escalating threats of the Cold War and chart a new course toward peaceful coexistence. For the American press, it was the media blockbuster story of the year. What were Americans to make of this boisterous, rotund and strangely likable Russian dictator and his uncanny ability to upstage even the savviest politician with both charm and charisma? Formats: DVD. (PBS Distribution).
(2014) John Simm, Mira Sorvino, Tory Kittles, James Frain, Millie Brown. Two-disc set with the eight-part paranormal thriller series about a secret society devoted to chasing immortality by seeking refuge in the bodies of the living. As strange, apparently unrelated events start happening, multiple story-lines -- a missing wife, an assassin covering his crimes,, a child on the run -- begin to intertwine to reveal a conspiracy that will forever change our understanding of human nature. Jack Whelan (Simm), a former LAPD cop with a troubled and violent history, finds the quiet idyllic life he has created with his wife, Amy (Sorvino), shattered when she vanishes. Jack is drawn deeper into the mystery when his high school friend, Gary Fischer (Tory Kittles), shows u asking for help with a murder case. Initially dismissive of Gary's claims, the more Jack investigates the more complex and surreal his discoveries become. What Jack uncovers leads him down the dark path of his own past and closer to the terrifying revelations about a secret society known as Qui Reverti. Formats: DVD: $29.98, Blu-ray Disc: $34.98. Extras: Behind-the-scenes featurette featuring interviews with John Simm, Mira Sorvino, Glen Morgan and more. (BBC Home Entertainment).
(2012 -- South Korea) Im Chang-jung, Daniel Choi, Oh Dal-soo, Cho Youn-hee, Cho Dal-hwan, Jeong Ji-yoon. Crime thriller takes place over six hours on a passenger boat with an ongoing black-market organ-trafficking operation, and a desperate husband out to find his missing wife. Young-Gyu was the best. He was an organ dealer, smuggling body parts for sale to the highest bidder. His crew was the best an organized team of professionals with top skills and no conscience. But when one of them dies on the job, the crew scatters. Now he fronts stolen goods, and has fallen in love with Yoo-Ri, a ticket agent at the port terminal. Her father is dying, and when she turns to a ruthless loan shark for help, Young-Gyu goes on a search to find his old partners for one last job. Formats: DVD, Blu-ray, Digital. (Well Go USA).
Decmber 21, 2014
(ISSN 1094-3676).
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