It's A Disaster On DVD From Oscilloscope Laboratories June 4

Dang!  Timing is everything.   You’re at the sort-of-regular Sunday “couples” brunch with your friends, ready to have a good time; get into a bitch session; drink, eat and more, when suddenly the world ends.  Son of a gun, if you could time such an event, wouldn’t having sex on the beach with a super model be a better option?

No matter, that’s the premise of writer/director Todd Berger’s comedy, It’s a Disaster, announced this week for a DVD and Blu-ray launch by Oscilloscope Laboratories on June 4.   

Nearly a full year of film festival competitions (with Best Feature wins at the BendFilm Festival, Edmonton International Film Festival and New Orleans Film Festival) led up to a limited theatrical showcase on Apr. 12, so technically speaking the ARR works outs to 53 days.

This is a tightrope act.  When you start spinning acts of terror into the premise of a comedy, you have to be careful not to cross certain lines … it has to be a plot element and not the subject of the story.   It’s the “thing” that motivates, or in this case, “constrains” the characters, not the act itself.   It’s just the MacGuffin.

With that out of the way, it is OK to laugh out loud with It’s a Disaster, an eight-person ensemble piece (think: stage play) that includes the likes of Julia Stiles, David Cross, Jeff Grace and America Ferrera in the mix.   

As four distinct couples, they’ve all assemble at the Mandrake’s house (Erinn Hayes and Blaise Miller) for their brunch, but just when things get rolling the cable, the phone and then the lights go out.  

Pretty soon the goofy neighbor comes knocking with news that a “dirty bomb” has been set off and a deadly gas cloud is heading their way.   Their only option is to lock themselves in and hope for the best. 

Of course you can see where that is going and Todd Berger wastes no time in lighting the “nails on the chalkboard” fuse.   A brunch with a beginning and ending (even if it runs a little long) is tolerable, but a brunch that goes on and on and on until the world comes to the end is … HELL!

Bonus features include commentary from writer/director Todd Berger, who is joined by cast members David Cross, Kevin Brennan and Jeff Grace, plus there is a behind-the-scenes featurette titled “Tour With Todd” and a Comic-Con 2012 panel discussion.

To download this week's complete edition of the DVD and Blu-ray Release Report:  DVD & Blu-ray Release Report