Saturday, March 29, 2014

Well Go U.S.A.'s SX_Tape On Blu-ray And DVD On May 13


DVD & Blu-ray Release Report, Ralph Tribbey
You know things are not going to go particularly well for those involved when the film opens with a beaten, bloody and confused young woman (Caitlyn Folley — The FP, Happy Endings, etc.) at a crime scene with a police detective hovering over her.   

That’s the opening sequence for Well Go USA May 13 release of DVD and Blu-ray editions of Candyman director Bernard Rose’s return to horror flicks, SX_Tape.

The story jumps back to the beginning with Jill (Folley) and her boyfriend Adam (Ian Duncan) scouting out a “performance” location as a unique presentation venue for Jill’s latest works of art.   This is not an uncommon thing in Los Angeles these days, where artists and musicians have taken to using old warehouses and other abandoned buildings to host meet-at-greet parties to showcase their talents.

Jill, who we will come to learn, is a more than a bit “eccentric” and wants something that will make a statement.   After a bit of foreplay, the two hit upon an shuttered hospital facility — which they break into and Adam begins filming (it is his camera work that will provide the clues as what happened).  
DVD & Blu-ray Release Report, Ralph Tribbey


It’s the perfect place.  It is creepy, rundown and full of … ghostly spirits.   Oh yes, and there’s one other little thing about Jill, she has a sex fetish, and this place absolutely turns her on, hence the title.   

The longer they stay “scouting” out this location the more unhinged she becomes.  But Adam keeps right on filming as her “performance” goes from sexual fetish to out-and-out bizarre in a hurry.   And the two may not be alone in their “scouting” activities! 

Sex, horror and a creepy building (aka: haunted house) with something of a backstory that is way beyond horrific is exactly the mix that genre fans would expect from filmmaker Bernard Rose in any film of his titled SX_Tape.

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


Six-Packs And Mega-Packs From Mill Creek Entertainment In May


DVD & Blu-ray Release Report, Ralph Tribbey
Mill Creek Entertainment expanded its May release slate this past week with more “Six Packs,” a quartet of “Mega Sets” and more, much more!!!

Beginning with the first street date Tuesday of the month, May 6, we find three new double-disc “Six Packs” — that’s six movies spread over two discs and priced at just $14.98 each.

Raunchy Party 6 Pack delivers Fired Up (Nicholas D'Agosto and Eric Christian Olsen skip football camp to become “cheerleaders” … no girls at football camp!!!), Puff, Puff, Pass (title says it all), National Lampoon's Pucked (Jon Bon Jovi organizes an all-woman hockey team!), Bachelor Party Vegas (Kal Penn sets up a bachelor party in Las Vegas for a friend … things quickly get out of control), Bottoms Up (Jason Mewes goes Hollywood and hooks up with none other than Paris Hilton) and Wieners (hilarious road trip in a Wienermobile).

DVD & Blu-ray Release Report, Ralph Tribbey
'80s Teen Dramas brings film fans a six-pack that includes The Legend of Billie Jean (Helen Slater, Keith Gordon and Christian Slater star in this 1985 cult classic), Blame it on the Night (1984, with Nick Mancuso as rock star with new teenage son) Fresh Horses (1988, with Molly Ringwald and Andrew McCarthy from Pretty In Pink reunited in an unlikely love affair), Fast Forward (teen dance drama directed by Sidney Poitier), Little Nikita (1988, River Phoenix stars in this Cold War espionage thriller) and Immediate Family (1989, Glenn Close, James Woods, Mary Stuart Masterson and Kevin Dillon star in this two-couple adoption drama).

Rounding-out the May 6 “Six Pack” selections is Sun-Soaked 6 Pack: Beach Bodies, which features Hardbodies (1984, with Michael Rapport, Gary Wood and Sorrells Pickard as divorcées looking for some beach action), Private Resort (1985, Johnny Depp on the prowl for girls at a luxury Florida resort), Side Out (1990, C. Thomas Howell and Peter Horton on the beach playing volleyball … and more) Calendar Girl (1993, Jason Priestley stars as a teen on a Hollywood roadtrip to meet Marilyn Monroe) Spring Break (1983, David Knell and Perry Lang head to Fort Lauderdale during spring break is period classic) and lastly, Lovelines (1984, Greg Bradford and Mary Beth Evans star in this Valley meets Malibu tale).

DVD & Blu-ray Release Report, Ralph TribbeyAlso on May 6 are two Mega-Movie sets — 100 films spread over 24 discs at priced at just 45 cents each!!!   Selections here are promotionally titled 100 Awesomely Cheesy Movies (which includes everything from Joe Namath starring in C.C. & Company to Elizabeth Taylor in the 1974 drama, The Driver’s Seat) and 100 Treasures of Tinseltown (an amazing selection of 100 films from the 1940s and 1950s … including A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court, Meet John Doe and Outpost in Morocco).

For a complete listing of all 100 films in each Mega-Movie collection just head on over to Mill Creek Entertainment’s web site at Mill Creek Entertainment.

DVD & Blu-ray Release Report, Ralph Tribbey
Timed for both Father’s Day and Memorial Day promotions are the May 13 collectible selections from Mill Creek … these are: Secrets of War: Weapons of War and Secrets of War: The Cold War (both of these SKUs feature ten episodes on two discs) and there is also the three-disc collection of True War Stories, which features the complete 39 episodes from the series (20 years in the making).

May 20 is the street-date home to two more Mega-Sets, this time the subject is TV Westerns.   Titled Western TV Heroes, Volume One and Western TV Heroes, Volume Two, each SKU features 300 — THAT’S RIGHT, 300!!! — classic Western TV series episodes priced at just 15 cents each!   

If you can name your favorite Western TV series … it is likely included here!   Again, head on over to http://www.millcreekent.com for a complete listing of all of the selections in each of these Mega Sets.

Rounding-out the DVD product offerings on May 20 are the six-disc set of American the Beautiful (a marvelous collection from the National Parks Exploration Series), a six-disc profile of six presidents in Commanders-In-Chief, Facts of Life: Season One and Inside the Criminal Mind (30 documentary-like profiles spread over six discs).

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




VCI Entertainment Will Release White Zombie On Blu-ray This Coming May 6


DVD & Blu-ray Release Report, Ralph Tribbey
VCI Entertainment announced this past week that May 6 will be the street date for the newly-restored hi-def Blu-ray debut of the Cary Roan Special Signature Edition: White Zombie.

This pre-code horror gem is considered to be the first sound-era zombie film … the film that “launched a thousand ships,” so to speak.  With his legend as Count Dracula from the previous year growing, Bela Lugosi toplined as “Murder” Legendre, a white witch door, or more to the point, a Haitian master of voodoo who controls a army of zombie cane workers and uses these same powers to turn the beautiful Madeline (Madge Bellamy) into his zombie bride.

Bonus features include a newly prepared feature commentary from documentary filmmaker and author Cary Don Rhodes (“White Zombie: Anatomy of a Horror Film,” “Bela Lugosi - Dreams and Nightmares,” etc.), a poster and photo gallery and the original theatrical trailer for the film.

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


Virgil Films And Entertainment Preps Three Docs On DVD For Delivery During June


DVD & Blu-ray Release Report, Ralph Tribbey
Virgil Films & Entertainment has picked three consecutive street-date Tuesdays during the month of June for compelling new-to-DVD documentary releases.   

The month kicks off on June 3 with documentary filmmakers AJ Schnack and David Boone Wilson’s five-year odyssey in chronicling life, entertainment and hard times in the Ozark Mountain community of Branson, Missouri.   Titled We Always Lie To Strangers, their film looks at this unique community of just 10,000 people that is an entertainment mecca for close to eight million visitors annually.

During the filming — which basically intercuts the stories of four different entertainment acts — the impact of the ongoing recession has been pronounced and We Always Lie To Strangers more or less presents a snapshot of what Middle America has suffered through.   The end result is a mesmerizing story that is accompanied by some terrific live performances.

DVD & Blu-ray Release Report, Ralph Tribbey
June 10 marks the arrival of documentary filmmaker Nicole Teeny’s award-winning film, Bible Quiz (Grand Jury Prize at Slamdance … and more).   This is a smart film that takes the viewer into a world that most are likely not to be aware of!

So you think those kids in the National Spelling Bee are smart when they are up there on stage spelling out obscure words.   Wait until you get a look at the teens who compete in the annual National Bible Quiz Championship … they make the spell kids look like amateurs.   

Imagine rattling off (at lightning speed) endless passages from the Bible on demand and in competition with other teams!   Teeny set out to make a documentary about her brother (Christopher Teeny) and the unique competition that he participates in, Bible Quiz, but somewhere along the way her camera picked up and told a far more interesting story.

At core of her brother’s team is JP O’Connor, a high school senior, handsome, bright and one of the best competitors in the country.  Also on his team is a very unlikely teammate, Mikayla Irl, a high school senior who comes from a dysfunctional family and finds that her classmates have come to view her as some sort of freak for competing in something that they cannot hope to understand.  

DVD & Blu-ray Release Report, Ralph TribbeyShe’s driven herself to become an outstanding competitor … and the film makes it pretty clear that her motivations are not just being good at Bible Quiz.   

Last in the group is the June 17 DVD debut of documentary filmmaker Keri Pickett’s detailed look at the history of “ice shows” in America, The Fabulous Ice Age.

Beginning with New York’s Hippodrome Theatre in 1915 and the arrival of German skater Charlotte Oelschlägel and her “ballet on ice” (she invented the death spiral), the film brings us right up to modern times and Scotty Hamilton, with stops along the way at The Ice Capades, Holiday on Ice and more.

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



Indican Pictures' Smoked Ready Apr. 29 And 5th Street Debuts Apr. 8


DVD and Blu-ray Release Report, Ralph Tribbey
Indican Pictures gets high on comedy Apr. 29 with the DVD debut of the directing team of Joshua Staley and Jamie Dewolf’s stoner black comedy, Smoked.

In a riotous blend of ‘70s Super Fly-type Blaxploitation, Hangover buddy comedies and stoner-stupid comes Smoked, starring Rupert Estanislao (as Smalls), slam poet Jamie Dewolf (as Jimmy) and Geoff Kagan Trenchard (as “Ace”), who combine their IQs to get to somewhere south of 100 when they hit upon what they think is the perfect crime. 

They are going to pull off the heist — disguised as Oakland cops — of a medical marijuana store to get both a much-need cash infusion (they burned down their home and are broke … don’t ask, it’s a drug-related thing) and a stash (the need to get stoned).   Little do they realize, but the legal pot-dispensing store they have targeted is actually a front for drug king Tyrone Shank (L. Abdul Kenyatta).

Shanks has gone legit (snicker, snicker) and this stoner-run place is actually a set up for his drug dealing and money laundering activities.  But our trio of wise guys walk right into this honey trap with their eyes wide open (and pupils fully dilated) and get away with a bundle … or so they think!
DVD and Blu-ray Release Report, Ralph Tribbey


It doesn’t take long for Shank to figure out that the cops — the real cops — are not involved, which means war, death and annihilation upon those who dared to transgress against him.   Enter Smiley (Jaylee Alde), Sniffy (Asher Kennedy) and Salvador (Carlos Aguirre) who are assigned to clean up the mess … the media quickly reports that a new Oakland record for homicides in one day (53!!!) has been achieved as a result of their activities.   But Smalls, Jimmy and Ace are not included in the body count … as of yet!!!

Smoked is great fun — and very over-the-top in its violence — as our trio of stoners tries desperately to stay one puff ahead of Shank’s hired killers!

DVD and Blu-ray Release Report, Ralph Tribbey
Also on the release calendar from Indican Pictures is the Apr. 8 DVD debut of director Alex Meader’s action/revenge thriller, 5th Street.    

The words “the bitch was in the wrong place” pretty much sums up the callous nature of the gang, run by Beto (Christian Monzon) that murdered Joe Montoya’s (played by Eric Arthur Martinez, who also crafted the script) wife. The police are sympathetic, but have had little luck in bringing those responsible to justice … the case grinds on.  

Montoya also has a backstory involving personal contact with law enforcement, so it colors his view of just how much effort they are putting into solving his wife’s murder.  In a clever twist on the revenge motif, Montoya begins to recruit other victims of crime, who too are frustrated with “the system.”

DVD and Blu-ray Release Report, Ralph TribbeyHe, like Charles Bronson’s Paul Kersey in Death Wish, is a motivated individual, but he’s not alone in his quest to find justice.   They will clean up the streets and Beto will die … no trials, no mercy and only one rule — they don’t shoot (execute) anyone in the back!   The only decision left is just how many will die before his revenge is exacted!

Shifting to May 13, we find the DVD debut of documentary filmmaker Stefan Immler’s heartfelt and award-winning feature-length documentary, History of Jazz: Oxygen for the Ears.

DVD and Blu-ray Release Report, Ralph Tribbey
The film has been working the festival circuit, with wins at the Manhattan International Film Festival, the World Music and Independent Film Festival and more … and now makes its way to the home entertainment market place courtesy of Indican Pictures.   

Using Washington D.C. as the touchstone for his story, this seemingly unlikely tour guide, Dr. Stefan Immler, who is an astrophysicist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center (also a professor at the University of Maryland) takes us on a journey that includes a look at the early history, a visit to New Orleans and both interviews and performance segments featuring the likes of Dwayne Adell, Larry Appelbaum, the late Joe Byrd, Ravi Coltrane, Buck Hill, Eric Lewis, Maurice "Brother" Lyles, Esperanza Spalding and more.   

 From working musicians to voices from the halls of academia and the media, Immler casts a wide net in exploring this uniquely American art form.

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


Breaking Glass Pictures Says That Director Chris Sun's Daddy's Little Girl Heads To DVD On May 13


DVD and Blu-ray Release Report, Ralph Tribbey
Breaking Glass Pictures has added writer/director Chris Sun's Daddy's Little Girl to its May 13 DVD release calendar.

You know that feeling of dread and excitement when you get onboard a roller coaster.   There’s that long, climb to the top … clickety-clack, clickety-clack as the roller coast rackets its way up to the apex and then over you go, hanging on for your life while you scream, often with your eyes closed shut!   That’s pretty much the nature of Daddy’s Little Girl!

From Down Under comes this gut-wrenching, hide-your-eyes horror tale that begins quietly enough with the introduction of Derek (Michael Thomson), his ex-wife and their six year-old daughter, Georgia (Billi Baker).  Events are nicely foreshadowed with a broken window in the little girl’s room at her mom’s place … a chore that needs to be attended to when there is the time to do so.  

DVD and Blu-ray Release Report, Ralph Tribbey
Next comes the terror of this sweet little girl gone missing.  Abducted from her room (remember that window) … and soon found raped and murdered on a nearby beach.   Six months pass and there is no solution to the crime.

You are now at the apex of the ride, from here on out it will be all screams and heart-pounding terror as Derek, quite by accident, discovers the identity of his daughter’s killer.   Does he take this information to the police?   No!   Not a chance!!

Instead, he gathers the tools and the information necessary to carry out an execution of the murderer.   It will not be quick!   It will not be painless!   

When the Aussies do horror, they do it all out … Daddy’s Little Girl will not disappoint horror fans.   It delivers a pure horror “roller coaster” ride.

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

Olive Films Picks Apr. 22 For Blu-ray Debut Of The Pawnbroker


DVD and Blu-ray Release Report, Ralph Tribbey
Olive Films has tagged Apr. 22 as the street date for a newly-prepared Blu-ray edition of director Sidney Lumet’s 1965 film, The Pawnbroker.

Although it made it’s debut at the Berlin International Film Festival in 1964, winning the Silver Berlin Bear for Rod Steiger’s performance as Sol Nazerman, a Nazi concentration camp survivor who now runs a pawnshop on 116th Street in New York City, the film didn’t reach domestic theatres until Apr. of 1965. 

Steiger would earn his second of three Best Actor Oscar nominations, but he lost out to Lee Marvin’s performance in Cat Ballou, … Steiger would come back to win Oscar gold for his acting In the Heat of the Night two years later.

No word on any bonus nuggets included on the Blu-ray at this time.

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



Sony Pictures Home Entertainment's That Awkward Moment Will Be Ready For DVD And Blu-ray On May 13


DVD And Blu-ray Release Report, Ralph TribbeySony Pictures Home Entertainment has picked May 13 as the street date for DVD and Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack editions of writer/director Tom Gormican’s romantic comedy, That Awkward Moment.

The ARR is 102 days and domestic ticket sales at the local multiplex came in a little light at just $26 million.

Bonus features for this Zac Efron comedy about dating (and all of its pitfalls, including taking it to the next step with co-star Imogen Poots) include a gag reel and a pair of featurettes, including one titled “Threesome: More Awkward Moments.”

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


Monday, March 24, 2014

Paramount Home Media Sets June 10 Street Date For Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit


DVD & Blu-ray Release Report, Ralph Tribbey
The late Tom Clancy’s CIA analyst Jack Ryan has been the subject of such edge-of-your seat thrillers as The Hunt for Red October (1990, Alec Baldwin), Patriot Games (1992, Harrison Ford), Clear and Present Danger (1994, also with Ford) and The Sum of All Fears (2002, Ben Affleck).   

As with James Bond, Charlie Chan or Sherlock Holmes, various actors play the same character as their exploits are revisited again and again.   So too with Jack Ryan, who returned to screen after a 12 year absence with Chris Pine taking on the role in Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit.

Paramount Home Media has tabbed June 10 as the street date for DVD and Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack editions of this Kenneth Branagh-directed (who also stars as the chief villain) “re-boot” of the Clancy/Ryan film franchise (updated to reflect a post 9/11 world — with an eerie script that seems to be locked in on what is happening in Russia these days).   

DVD & Blu-ray Release Report, Ralph TribbeyThe ARR comes in at 144 days and the box office take was a nice $50.3 million.

Bonus features are limited to the Blu-ray SKU and include commentary by filmmaker Kenneth Branagh, who is joined by producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura, plus deleted scenes and a quartet of production featurettes — “Jack Ryan: The Smartest Guy in the Room,” “Sir Kenneth Branagh: The Tsar of Shadow Recruit,” “Jack Ryan: A Thinking Man of Action” and “Old Enemies Return.”

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