Warner Home Video Announces Transcendence (July 22), GWTW: 75th Anniversary (Sept. 30) And More!

Warner Home Video was very busy this past week with announcements for director Wally Pfister’s sci-fi thriller, Transcendence and special editions of such film vault treasures as Gone With The Wind, On Any Given Sunday and Once Upon a Time in America.

The Johnny Depp/Rebecca Hall sci-fi film, Transcendence, will be available on July 22 as Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack (with UltraViolet) and DVD editions.  The ARR is a zippy 95 days and the box office take was $22.9 million.

Way back in 1970 Dennis Feltham Jones’ novel, "Colossus," was adapted for the screen by scripted James Bridges and director Joseph Sargent.   Titled Colossus: The Forbin Project, it was a chilling tale of a super computer becoming sanctioned and then plots to take over the world.  

In 1984 writer/director James Cameron tracked a similar storyline with Skynet turning on the human race in The Terminator.   

In both cases humans developed computer systems to the point of self-awareness and then found that there was hell to pay for their hubris.

In the case of Transcendence, we find Dr. Will Caster (Johnny Depp) working on the same concept … create a self-aware computer that will experience a “technological singularity.”  

There are, however, human beings out to stop him and they call themselves R.I.F.T (short for: “Revolutionary Independence From Technology”) and they come within a whisper of doing him in.   Ironically, by murdering him they set in motion what they feared most as Caster, mortally wounded, infuses his consciousness into the mainframe of the supercomputer that he has designed.

Regenerated into robot form (looking exactly as he did before) Caster systematically hooks into the internet and becomes exponentially more and more intelligent until he arrives at the conclusion that all human being must be assimilated into his worldwide network!!!

When will we ever learn?   Can he be stopped … and at what price?

Bonus features include two featurettes — “What Is Transcendence?” and “Wally Pfister: A Singular Vision.”   Exclusive to the Blu-ray SKU are five additional featurettes — “Guarding the Threat,” “The Promise of A.I.,” “R.I.F.T.,” “It’s Me” and “Singularity.” 

On Sept. 30 Gone With The Wind will be rereleased as Gone With The Wind: 75th Anniversary Ultimate Collector’s Edition.  Bonus nuggets with the Blu-ray collectible edition include footage of Clark Gable and Vivien Leigh attending the film’s premiere in Atlanta, a newly-prepared 32-page booklet on the styles of GWTW and the extended featurette titled “Old South/New South,” which takes a look at the sites depicted in the film and how they are today.

Also streeting on Sept. 30 are two Blu-ray SKUs of Sergio Leone’s 1984 film, Once Upon a Time in America.   There are two buying options for Once Upon a Time in America: Extended Director's Cut — one with and one without the original theatrical cut.

Bonus features include commentary by film historian and critic Richard Schickel, the documentary titled “Once Upon a Time: Sergio Leone” and a 32-page booklet highlighting the restoration of the film to its current status.

Special features (available on all the editions) include commentary by film historian and critic Richard Schickel, and a making-of documentary, “Once Upon a Time: Sergio Leone.”

Elsewhere on the release schedule from Warner Home Video this week are the Sept. 9 Blu-ray release of director Oliver Stone’s On Any Given Sunday: 15th Anniversary Edition - Director's Cut.

Bonus features include commentary from filmmaker Oliver Stone and actor Jamie Foxx, the featurette titled “Anything Can Happen,” a gag reel, unused and extended scenes and screen tests.

A Blu-ray edition of Dreamcatcher will be available on Sept. 16 and Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack and DVD editions of the newest Scooby Doo! original animated feature film, Scooby-Doo! Frankencreepy will debut on Aug. 19.

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

Mill Creek Entertainment Announces First Wave Of August 2014 DVD And Blu-ray Product Offerings

Mill Creek Entertainment announced it first wave of August releases this past week … all priced attractively for consumers looking for summer viewing enjoyment.

On Aug. 5 look for double-disc DVD collections of the Helen Hunt and Paul Reiser comedy hit series, Mad About You: The Complete First Season and Mad About You: The Complete Second Season.  

On the same date everyone’s favorite nanny with an attitude, Fran Drescher, will be available in The Nanny: Season One and The Nanny: Season Two (both are two-disc SKUs).

Also streeting on Aug. 5 is the DVD debut of director Henri Charr’s Dove Approved Bigfoot comedy, The Big Goofy Secret of Hidden Pines.

12 years ago Howard (Kevin Grant Brown) and Jill (Elizabeth Lambert) were out hiking in the woods when they came across a baby Bigfoot and did the only sensible thing … they took it home.   They named him Bertie (Sam Rhodes) and basically adopted him as their son to be raised right along side their daughter Ally (Ashley Brinkman). 

 

With the exception of some incredibly large feet (hence the name) and the propensity to grow hair that would make Cousin Itt of the Addams Family envious, Bertie is more or less your normal high school teenager.   The deception seems to have paid off … but things are about to change!

When the mayor of Hidden Falls gets wind of an actual Bigfoot living in the area — and the revenue that could be generated — the search is on and it will take some fast thinking by Bertie’s family and friends to keep him from being a tourist attraction!

Lastly Aug. 5 also brings to kidvid collections to the DVD market place.   Bo on the Go, Move, Groove & Grow! and Dennis the Menace: Lights! Camera! Menace! are both three-disc collections featuring hours of animated adventure and priced at just $12.98 each.

On Aug. 19 Mill Creek Entertainment will be serving two Blu-ray double features priced at just $14.98 each.   S.W.A.T., teaming Samuel L. Jackson and Colin Farrell, is paired with Basic, starring John Travolta and, yes, Samuel L. Jackson!

The other double feature includes director James Mangold’s no-escape horror tale starring John Cusack, Ray Liotta, Amanda Peet, Alfred Molina, Clea DuVall, Rebecca DeMornay and Jake Busey, Identity … which is double-billed with director Nimrod Antal’s backwoods thriller, Vacancy, starring Luke Wilson and Kate Beckinsale.

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

Jethro Tull’s Ian Anderson: Thick As A Brick – Live In Iceland On DVD And Blu-ray On Aug. 26 Courtesy Of Eagle Rock Entertainment

Jethro Tull is no more, so said Ian Anderson a few weeks ago.   He was the founder of the legendary rock group and the icon symbol with his flute playing and vocals, so if he says Jethro Tull is no more, then that’s the way it is.

But fans need not worry as Eagle Rock Entertainment announced this past week that Aug. 26 will mark the DVD and Blu-ray debut of Jethro Tull’s Ian Anderson: Thick As A Brick – Live In Iceland. 

This concert presentation had its beginning in 1972 with the release of the daring album “Thick as a Brick,” which was basically an LP that featured just one song on both sides of the vinyl about a fictitious character named Gerald Bostock from his perspective as a child.

Filmed live at Venue Harpa, Reykjavik, Iceland in June of 2012, Jethro Tull’s Ian Anderson: Thick As A Brick – Live In Iceland finishes the story with the inclusion of “Thick As A Brick 2: Whatever Happened To Gerald Bostock?”  

Child and man as one … 40 years in the making!

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

Indican Pictures' Love Me Still Makes Its DVD Debut On Aug. 5

Indican Pictures has selected Aug. 5 as the domestic DVD debut date for director Danny Hiller’s Love Me Still.   

Convict, wife and brother … all the makings of a neo-noir thriller.   Which is exactly what Hiller serves up in this very British crime drama that swims quite nicely with the likes of Guy Ritchie’s Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and Paul McGuigan’s Lucky Number Slevin. 

Mickey (Andrew Howard — Blood River, Isle of Dogs, Revolver, etc.) has been languishing in prison for the past eight years.  His wife, Gemma (Alex Reid — The Descent) and young daughter have been left to fend for themselves and are pretty much at the mercy of local thug and drug dealer, Bobby (Geoff Bell — Storage 24, War Horse).

Gemma is Bobby’s mule … she delivers drugs to drop spots for him.   Life is tough, especially for a single mom.   But here’s the tricky part, Bobby is Mickey’s brother and when it looks as though he might be getting out of the slammer Bobby does the only sensible thing.   He kidnaps Gemma and her daughter and hightails it to Ireland, where he promptly takes the “relationship” to the next level.   

Convict, wife and brother … sex, drugs and kidnapping.   This will not go down easily as blood will be shed!

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

Documentary Filmmaker Matt Wolf's Teenage On DVD From Oscilloscope Laboratories On Sept. 9

Teenagers didn't always exist.  That’s the theme of documentary filmmaker Matt Wolf’s Teenage, which will making its DVD debut courtesy of Oscilloscope Laboratories on Sept. 9.

The film worked the festival circuit in 2013 (London Film Festival, Tribeca, etc.) and then received a limited domestic arthouse break … the ARR is 179 days and reported ticket sales currently stand at $40,169.

Working with writer John Savage’s book, “Teenage: The Creation of Youth Culture, 1875-1945,” Wolf blends vintage footage and spoken diaries from the period with the timeline presented in the book to illustrate how the end of child labor patterns in Western culture at the end of the 19^th Century brought about the rise of the youth culture — music, books, mores and more.

Teenage is a fascinating work … one that everyone alive today can relate to!

Bonus features include commentary by filmmaker Matt Wolf and producer Kyle Martin, two featurettes — “Dreaming Documenary: Making Teenage” and “On Set With the Bright Young People.” — and additional archival film footage, including Thomas Edison’s 1897 “Pillow Fight.”

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

Sony Pictures Home Entertainment Selects July 22 For DVD And Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack Editions Of Heaven Is For Real

Sony Pictures Home Entertainment has tabbed July 22 as the street date for DVD and Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack editions of writer/director Randall Wallace’s film adaptation of the best selling book, “Heaven is for Real: A Little Boy's Astounding Story of His Trip to Heaven and Back” … shortened for the screen as simply Heaven is for Real.

The ARR is 95 days and ticket sales at the local multiplex were a brisk $88 million.

Bonus features include deleted scenes and a trio of featurettes.

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

20th Century-Fox Home Entertainment Packs July Calendar With Rio 2 (July 15) And The Other Woman (July 29)

20^th Century-Fox Home Entertainment announced this past week that two recent theatrical hits will be ready for home entertainment viewing during the month of July.

Streeting on July 15 is a three-SKU helping of director Carlos Saldanha’s smash follow-up to his 2011 launch of the Rio animated film franchise.   Rio 2 will be available as a stand-alone DVD product offering and as two Blu-ray viewing choices — one with and one without a 3D presentation of the film.

The ARR is 122 days and the box office tally currently stands at $124.3 million.

Bonus features include a trio of featurettes — “Rio Refresher,” “Birds and Beats: The Singing Talents of Rio 2” and “Nigel the Shakespearean Cockatoo and Friends” — Janelle Monáe’s music video “What is Love?” and a multi-language presentation of “I Will Survive.”

Exclusive to the Blu-ray SKUs are the multi-sectional “Music, Dance, Sing-Along Machine,” a deleted scene and the featurette titled “Boom, Shake, Snap: The Local Sounds of Brazil.”

Two weeks later, July 29, look for director Nick Cassavetes’ comedy hit, The Other Woman, starring Cameron Diaz and Leslie Mann.   Planned for release are both DVD and Blu-ray editions.

The ARR is a quick-to-market 95 days and the box office take was an impressive $81.1 million.

Bonus features include a gag reel and the featurette “Giggle Fit” … exclusive to the Blu-ray SKU are eight deleted scenes.

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