The Lumineers' First DVD To Hit Retail Outlets On Aug. 20

One of the most amazing — and seemingly unlikely — groups in the music world these days is The Lumineers.   Their music doesn’t quite fit into one of the main chart categories …  if anything, they are a throwback to the roots of folk (with some Delta blues mixed in for good measure).   

Their music is simple; eloquent … beautiful.   They tell stories … they paint pictures with lyrics and blend in musical instruments that are real, not digitally fabricated.   

Regardless of the slot that their music fits into, once you hear “Ho Hey” or “Stubborn Love” you are hooked.  They play small (really small) to medium-sized venues and have built an amazing grassroots following along the way.  

But go beyond this loyal fan base and consider this … their hit “Ho Hey” has posted an eye-popping 81.8 million hits on YouTube since April of last year — that sort of play takes more than just a “niche” following of listeners drawn from the traditional “folk” arena.   Like we said, their music doesn’t fit into one of the main (Billboard) categories, but it sure has attracted quite the following.

With those kind of numbers, it was only a matter of time before the Dualtone Music Group would deliver a DVD of the group’s music for their fans to savor ... it’s a little light on content, but we suspect (hope) that it is just the first of many to follow.  

On Aug. 20 look for The Lumineers: Deluxe Edition, a DVD/CD combo pack featuring the official videos for both “Ho Hey” and “Stubborn Love,” plus two featurettes — “Life Since April 3, 2012” and “From The Road.”

The CD sports the original 11 cuts from their debut album, plus five unreleased “bonus” tracks, including Sawmill Joe’s “Ain't Nobody's Problem,” the haunting “Elouise” and the equally mesmerizing ballad “Slow It Down.”

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To Learn More About Artsploitation Films Aug. 20 DVD Release Of Wither

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Ashes Makes Its DVD Debut Courtesy Of Green Apple Entertainment On Sept. 24

When you think of Ajay Naidu, you immediately drift off to Mike Judge’s 1999 film Office Space and think of Samir.   Indeed, lots of small roles in films and TV series since then — sort of typecast as the go-to character from India (although born in suburban Illinois).  

The point is that you just don’t associate Ajay Naidu as a filmmaker; a director.   Green Apple Entertainment will give you the opportunity on Sept. 24 to reconsider that with the DVD debut of his 2010 first time directorial effort, Ashes.

The film has been working the festival circuit since 2010, piling up wins for acting, directing and the film itself (MIAAC 2010, London Asian Film Festival 2011, Queens World Film Festival 2011, etc.) and now with the move to the home entertainment market place this deeply-felt dramatic tale will have access to a much broader audience.  

The reviews have been solid … those catching the film on DVD will not be disappointed.

A keen visual eye (perhaps acquired from his lengthy career in front of the camera), a solid cast (that belies the indie budget) and a focused (intense) story all mark this debut filmmaking effort from Naidu.   It is an absolute certainty that this will not be his last film as a director … he’s got all of the tools to move beyond the self-produced indie world.

There are two stories woven together here.  Or, perhaps better stated, unraveling here.  The first finds Naidu as a smalltime grass dealer with the handle “Ashes.”   He has a limited clientele (think: ethnic) in New York City and has managed to stay below the radar.

The second element to the film is his relationship with his older brother Kartik (Faran Tahir — Warehouse 13, Iron Man, Star Trek, etc.), a self-aware and seemingly intelligent man who is marching inevitably to the dark world of insanity as his Schizophrenia gains ground over time.   Naidu does what he can to help, but there is an underlying sense of despair; a hopelessness.

With his brother’s health in decline and his own “business” opportunities somewhat limited, the stage is set for his relatively simple world to come unglued when he is approached by Pinky (Firdous Bamji), a drug dealer with a much broader distribution base, who takes him “under his wing” with the promise of a more lucrative lifestyle.

Of course that move to the “big time” has consequences … also included in the cast of Ashes are Piper Perabo as Kartik’s companion — she has issues of her own — Reena Shah, Peter Macon and Heather Burns.   Impressive!

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Virgil Films And Entertainment Selects Oct. 1 For The DVD Debut Of Underground: The Julian Assange Story

On Oct. 1, Virgil Films & Entertainment will release to the domestic DVD market Aussie writer/director Robert Connolly’s film adaptation of Suelette Dreyfus’ 1997 novel, “Underground: Hacking, Madness and Obsession on the Electronic Frontier,” which has been retitled for the screen as Underground: The Julian Assange Story.    

With the new title in place it doesn’t take too much imagination to figure out that this biopic takes a look at the early life – and upbringing — of the editor-in-chief and founder of WikiLeaks.   

The story takes us to suburban Melbourne, Australia in the late 1980s, with the Australian Federal Police hunting for one of the world’s first computer hackers, going by the name Mendax (Assange, played by newcomer Alex Williams), who had already hacked the Pentagon and American military networks.   

 We follow Assange and his friends — the self-styled “International Subversives” — who try to break into computer systems belonging to the most powerful groups in the world using only home computers of the period (did we actually find those things state-of-the-art back then!!!), while fighting with each other (kids will be kids) and the detective charged with tracking them down.

The film co-stars Oscar-nominee Rachel Griffiths as his on-the-run mother (Muriel's Wedding, Hilary and Jackie, as Brenda from Six Feed Under, etc.) and Anthony LaPaglia as the technology-challenged police detective assigned to the case.

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

Now You See Me From Lionsgate Home Entertainment On Sept. 3

The Hollywood trade press gets so focused on the big summer “tent pole” releases that sometimes they overlook hits that both find an audience and make money for the studio releasing it theatrically.   They, the trade pundits, spend an awful lot of ink talking about the bombs!

How about some good news for a change!   One such summer theatrical hit (without a $200 million production budget), with $113.3 million in ticket sales during its multiplex run, was director Louis Letterrier’s caper film, Now You See Me.   

Lionsgate Home Entertainment has selected Sept. 3 as the street date for DVD and Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack editions (both with UltraViolet) … the ARR comes in at a swift-to-market 95 days.

Bonus features included on the Blu-ray SKU are deleted scenes, a pair of featurettes, an “extended director’s cut” (an additional 16 minutes — likely trims for both rating and time) and commentary from director Louis Leterrier and producer Bobby Cohen.

Also getting a street date — with news coming out of Comic-Con in San Diego this past week — is Hannibal: Season One.   The street date for both Blu-ray and DVD product offerings will be Sept. 24.

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

Paramount Home Media's Dexter Bids Ado On Nov. 5

How many times have we said, “all good things must come to an end?”   It is true … just the way of the world, both for theatrical series and on multi-season television productions.

So it is with a certain degree of gleeful sadness — simply because it is precisely that sort of cable series — that we must report that Paramount Home Media’s Dexter will making the rounds for the last time on Nov. 5 as both DVD and Blu-ray editions of Dexter: The Final Season.

All 12 episodes, only four of which have aired thus far, will be available for fans to savor — speculation is rampant as to how the series will end.   With so many twists and turns thus far, it is fair game for all to ponder as to whether Dexter (Michael C. Hall) survives (is there a better serial killer waiting in the wings?), is he finally caught (oh, the women in his life … will they be is undoing?) or does he walk away clean from Miami Metro?   Bets, anyone?

Also of note, Paramount will streeting specially-package Blu-ray and DVD collections of the entire Dexter series on Nov. 5 (33 DVD discs and 25 Blu-ray discs).   Included is a bonus disc with over three hours of goodies, including the featurettes titled “The Evolution of Dexter Morgan” and “The Code.”

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

Mill Creek Entertainment Has 12-Film DVD Collections Priced To Sell On Aug. 20

How many ways can you do the math?

That’s the challenge for consumers on Aug. 20 when they come face to face with Mill Creek Entertainment’s six-SKU selection of 12-movie DVD collections … all priced at just $9.98 each (and that’s before discounts at retail).

Do you divide the SRP by the number of movies included in each collection … that’s 83 cents for each film.  Just 83 cents each!!!

Do you figure it out as $9.98 for one of your favorite films to own and keep, with 11 free bonus movies thrown in for good measure?   

Either way (or something that you might come up with on your own), there will be loads and loads of happy consumers on Aug. 20 when the likes of American Horror Stories (a three-disc, 12-film collection that includes The Driller Killer, Don’t Look in the Basement and House on Haunted Hill) and Zombies Un-Brained (a 12-film collection led by the all-time Zombie classic, Night of the Living Dead, plus such undead delights as the 1959 gem, Teenage Zombies, starring Katherine Victor as a crazed scientist out to make the local high school kids her slaves, White Zombie and Oasis of the Zombies) hit retail.

Katherine Victor stars in Teenage Zombies

Or, for some real camp film selections, just check out the Best of the Worst (12 infamous cult classics delivered on three-discs … The Mesa of Lost Women, The Beast of Yucca Flats and Eegah can be found here).

Or for those looking to find out if “drugs are bad,” the answer just might be found about the 12 selections on the DVD release of Taboo Tales (Reefer Madness, The Terror of Tiny Town and Sex Madness are all here for the viewing).   

Rounding out the six-SKU DVD pack are the sword and sandal selections contained in Dawn of the Immortals (12 films showcasing such delights as Colossus and the Amazon Queen, Queen of the Amazons and Atlas in the Land of the Cyclops … remember, there are nine more just like these and for the low, low price of $9.98) and Freak Show Cinema (12 new direct-to-video future classics … Tales of the Dead: Grim Stories of Curses, Idol of Evil: Hell is Forever and By the Devils Hands: The 666 Killer are just waiting to be discovered).

For a complete listing of all films included in this Aug. 20 product push please visit Mill Creek Entertainment’s website: Mill Creek Entertainment.

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

Eagle Rock Picks Sept. 17 As The Street Date For A Blu-ray Edition Of Peter Gabriel: Live in Athens 1987

Eagle Rock Entertainment has picked Sept. 17 as the street date for a Blu-ray edition of Peter Gabriel: Live in Athens, 1987.

This 17-number set was filmed over three nights at the Lycabettus open-air theatre was the finale to Gabriel’s world concert tour.  He didn’t just have any film crew shoot the proceedings, but recruited auteur filmmaker Martin Scorsese to act as the producer, who in turn brought in his long-standing cinematographer Michael Chapman (Oscar-nominated for Raging Bull) to both direct and handle the filming of the event.

Included in the mix are “This Is The Picture,” “Mercy Street” and “Biko.”  As a bonus, Eagle Rock is including a bonus DVD titled Play, which features an additional 23 songs — “Solsbury Hill,” “Don’t Give Up,” “In Your Eyes,” etc.

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

The Criterion Collection Announces Its October DVD and Blu-ray Release Package

The Criterion Collection, with sales and distribution support provided by Image Entertainment, announced its October DVD and Blu-ray release package this past week.

The selections are an interesting mix of vintage film vault treasures, a Blu-ray collection of the works of actor and auteur filmmaker John Cassavetes and two classic arthouse imports making their way to the Blu-ray format.

On Oct. 8 we will see I Married a Witch on both DVD and Blu-ray.   This 1942 comedy has none other than the alluring Veronica Lake (Sullivan’s Travels) as a vengeful sorceress who has cursed the men of the Wooley clan to always marry the wrong woman.  Criterion gave this timeless comedy a new 2K digital restoration, and includes an audio interview with director René Clair, a trailer and a booklet featuring an essay by filmmaker Guy Maddin.

Also from the vaults on Oct. 22  is director Lewis Allen’s 1944 ghost story, The Uninvited, on both DVD and Blu-ray.   This film follows a pair of siblings (Ministry of Fear’s Ray Milland and The Philadelphia Story’s Ruth Hussey) who buy a lonely cliff-top house in Cornwall, only to discover that it is haunted. The film has a new 2K digital film transfer, a visual essay by filmmaker Michael Almereyda and a booklet featuring an essay by critic Farran Smith Nehme.

Previously released on DVD is the Blu-ray launch on Oct. 22 of John Cassavetes: Five Films.   This amazing collection includes Shadows, Faces, A Woman Under the Influence, The Killing of a Chinese Bookie and Opening Night.

Rounding out the October product offerings are Blu-ray editions of two foreign language imports.  Director Georges Franju’s 1960 haunting “horror” tale Eyes Without a Face … in French, street is Oct. 15 and bonus features include Franju’s post-war documentary, Blood of the Beasts (not for the easily upset).

Streeting on Oct. 29 is Michelangelo Antonioni’s 1961 film, La Notte.

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

Well Go USA Has Zombie Hunter On DVD And Blu-ray Oct. 8

On Oct. 8 be prepared to grab the pop corn, your favorite beverage and turn out the lights for a scary good time with hordes of flesh-munchers on the loose in Well Go U.S.A.’s DVD and Blu-ray release of writer/director Kevin King’s Zombie Hunter.

With nothing but guns, guts and an aging Camero one man — named just Hunter (Martin Copping) — sets out for a Zombie-free promised land and will let nothing stop him in his quest.   As long as the ammo holds out the drug-induced Zombie menace is no match for him.   He’s up to the challenge — because he’s not dead yet — and as he so eloquently puts it, “nothing puts a smile on my face like a mid-day massacre.”

Along the way our boy Hunter happens upon a rag-tag group of survivors, led by none other than Danny Trejo as Father Jesus, a “priest” with a special gift for ax-slashing.   They like Hunter’s plan and throw in with him … but with the smell of human flesh in the air, there seems to be no end to the Zombie onslaught.  Oh yes, and there are more than just Zombies out there, gulp!

This great comic book style of sardonic storytelling is fun, loaded with plenty of gore, sexy women (Clare Niederpruem and Jade Regier, yum!) and, well, Danny Trejo … name me a genre fan who could ask for more!    

Zombie Hunter is just the ticket come Oct. 8!

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

Warner Home Video's The Exorcist Celebrates 40 Years With A Three-Disc Blu-ray Release On Oct. 8

One of the best horror films of the 1970s was director William Friedkin’s The Exorcist.   He cleverly used the medium of sound to create a sense of foreboding and terror that paid huge dividends in the third act — in the hands of a less filmmaker the Linda Blair sequences could have ended up being downright silly.   Pea soup, head a’spinning and priest a’flyin’ … oh my!

On Oct. 8, Warner Home Video will release a three-disc Blu-ray collection titled The Exorcist: 40th Anniversary Edition.  It will feature both the original theatrical cut (1973) and Friedkin’s “Extended Director’s Cut” of the film on separate Blu-ray discs (with three different commentary options — two with Friedkin and one featuring William Peter Blatty).   

The third disc contains two newly-prepared featurettes, “Beyond Comprehension: William Peter Blatty's The Exorcist” and “Talk of the Devil,” plus such vintage goodies as the 1998 BBC documentary, “The Fear of God: 25 Years of the Exorcist,” interviews, radio spots, storyboards and three featurettes. 

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