Paramount Home Media Targets Feb. 14 For DVD • Blu-ray • And 4K Ultra HD/Blu-ray Combo Pack Editions Of Denis Villeneuve’s Arrival

With the Oscar buzz rumors running high these days for Best Picture, Best Director and Best Actress nominations, it came as no surprise when Paramount Home Media announced this past week that a three-SKU product offering of director Denis Villeneuve’s film adaptation of Ted Chiang's 1998 short story, “Story of Your Life” — which was retitled for the screen as simply Arrival — would be available on Feb. 14.

With DVD, Blu-ray and 4K Ultra HD/Blu-ray Combo Pack editions being offered on that street-date Tuesday, consumers will be getting a Valentine’s Day present in the form of some sweet viewing choices for Arrival during the run-up to the Oscar telecast on Sunday evening, Feb. 26.  

The nominations will be announced on Tuesday, Jan. 24 and it is more than likely than not that Arrival will be among the Best Picture candidates, as well as Amy Adams as a Best Actress nominee and Denis Villeneuve in the Best Director category.

The ARR comes in at 95 days and box office receipts currently stand at a solid $94.1 million.

As to bonus content, which is limited to the Blu-ray and 4K Ultra HD/Blu-ray Combo Pack editions, there are five production featurettes.   These are: “Xenolinguistics: Understanding Arrival,” “Acoustic Signatures: The Sound Design,” “Eternal Recurrence: The Score,” “Nonlinear Thinking: The Editorial Process” and “Principles of Time, Memory & Language.”

In other release news, Paramount Home Media and Nickelodeon will be teaming up on Feb. 7 for the latest animated adventures of Leah and her genie friends, Shimmer and Shine, with the DVD release of Shimmer and Shine: Friendship Divine.

Eight fun-filled adventures are included in this collection as Leah and her magical twin friends make a new friend named Nila, a mermaid, make trip to the Gem Forest and meet both the Ice and Lightning genies and once again encounter the mischievous Zeta.   It’s all great fun, with teamwork the key to overcoming the many obstacles they face.

Mill Creek Entertainment Announces It March 2017 Blu-ray And DVD Release Calendar

Mill Creek Entertainment announced this past week a 17-strong mix of priced-to-collect DVD and Blu-ray releases for the month of March.   The excitement arrives on back-to-back street-date Tuesdays … Mar. 7 and Mar. 14.

Leading off the month of March on the seventh are five new “instant library” 20 Movie Collection that are various themed as “Action,” “Comedy,” “Horror,” “Westerns” and “Musicals.”   

It is this latter category, 20 Movie Collection: Musicals, that will certainly catch the eye of many film buffs and collectors.   The SRP is just $24.98 for this five-disc set and it includes not one or two of the classic Columbia Pictures’ Rita Hayworth films of the 40s and early 50s, but five … that’s right five!   If Music in My Heart (1940), You’ll Never Get Rich (1941), Tonight and Every Night (1945), Down to Earth (1947) and Miss Sadie Thompson (1953) were purchased separately they would easily cost twice the cost of this package alone.

And there are still 15 additional films included in the mix … how can anyone say no to this deal?   Among the “free” films (if you want to look at it that way) is the 1956 landmark film, director Fred F. Sears’ Rock Around the Clock — showcasing the talents of Bill Haley and the Comets and his iconic “Rock Around the Clock” and The Platters renditions of “The Great Pretender” and “Only You.”

Other films in the mix include director Sidney Salkow’s 1941 film release of Time Out for Rhythm (with Rudy Vallee and Ann Miller), director Leigh Jason’s Carolina Blues (Ann Miller teamed with Kay Kyser), the 1955 Technicolor release of Three For the Show, starring Betty Grable, Jack Lemmon and Marge & Gower Champion, and Mae West stars in the 1943 musical comedy The Heat's On.

For a complete list of all twenty films in the five-disc 20 Movie Collection: Musicals check out the Mill Creek Entertainment website at: millcreekent.com.

We’re just getting started on the 20 Movie Collections.   Just sampling each of the other four collections we find the following (again, head on over to the Mill Creek Entertainment for complete details on each multi-disc collection):

20 Movie Collection: Comedy includes Sally Field and Tom Hanks in Punchline, Matthew Broderick stars with Marlon Brando in The Freshman and Meryl Streep and Shirley MacLaine are teamed in Postcards from the Edge.   For star power, how about the likes of Harrison Ford starring in Hollywood Homicide, Bruce Willis in Hudson Hawk (with Andie MacDowell) and Wild Napalm, teaming Debra Winger with Dennis Quaid … and there are 14 more comedies in this six-disc set.

20 Movie Collection: Westerns features director Robert Rossen’s 1959 gem, They Came to Cordura, starring Rita Hayworth, Gary Cooper, Van Heflin, Richard Conte and Tab Hunter, Cliff Robertson stars in and directs the 1971 film release of J.W. Coop, and Randolph Scott stars in — are you ready for this — six Western classics … A Lawless Street (1955, with Angela Lansbury and Jean Parker), The Tall T (1957, co-starring Maureen O’Sullivan and Richard Boone), Decision At Sundown (also from 1957), Buchanan Rides Alone (1958), Ride Lonesome (1959) and director Budd Boetticher’s 1960 film release of Comanche Station.

20 Movie Collection: Action is loaded with such films as S.W.A.T. (2003, Samuel L. Jackson and Colin Farrell), Basic (also 2003 and also with Samuel L. Jackson, who is teamed with John Travolta), Arnold Schwarzenegger stars in Last Action Hero and Mill Creek Entertainment taps into the Columbia film vaults for such 1970s action classics as The Stone Killer (1973, Charles Bronson), Shamus (1972, teaming Burt Reynolds with Dyan Cannon) and The Anderson Tapes (1971, also with Dyan Cannon, but this time is teamed with Sean Connery).

And last, but certainly not least among the twenty-film collections is the five disc set titled 20 Movie Collection: Horror.  Included here are the unrated director’s cut edition of both Hostel and Hostel: Part II, Anatomy and Anatomy 2 (both films starring Franka Potente) and Hollow Man (the director’s cut) and Hollow Man 2.   Also included in the mix are a series of “creature features” — Bats: Human Harvest, Anaconda, Black Water (a very hungry crocodile), Kaw and Nightwing.

Also on Mar. 7 are a quartet of classic television series being released as double-disc, 20-episode collections and priced at just $9.98 each.   As a bonus, Mill Creek Entertainment will be including their multi-platform streaming option with these for DVD selections — “Purchase, Redeem and Stream!!!”   The classic TV selections are: Beverly Hillbillies, Bonanza, Dragnet and Lone Ranger.

Whoa! Hold on … we are not quite done yet with the Mar. 7 array of new releases.   There are two new Blu-ray releases — these are writer/director Paul Golding’s 1988 sci-fi chiller, Pulse, starring Cliff De Young and Roxanne Hart, and director Mike Nichols’ 2000 sci-fi/comedy, What Planet Are You From?, featuring an all-star cast that includes Garry Shandling, Annette Bening, Ben Kingsley, John Goodman and Greg Kinnear.    Both Blu-ray SKUs are priced at just $9.98 each.

The following week, Mar. 14, Mill Creek Entertainment will release both DVD and Blu-ray editions of the 2007 release of Marco Polo: The Complete Mini-Series (with Ian Somerhalder as Marco Polo and Brian Dennehy as Kublai Khan).   Also getting DVD push on Mar. 14 is Earthsea: The Epic Mini-Series.

There are two kidvid collections included in the month of March second wave —five disc sets of the animated series Wheeled Warriors: The Complete Series and C.O.P.S.: The Complete Series.

And rounding out the Mar. 14 home entertainment releases from Mill Creek Entertainment is the three-disc DVD collection titled 10 Movie Collection: Faces of Horror (the SRP is just $14.98). There are some real genre-fan gems in this mix, including writer/director Fred Walton’s When A Stranger Calls (1979, Carol Kane), Happy Birthday To Me (1981, Melissa Sue Anderson), writer/director Robert Hammer’s Don’t Answer the Phone! and filmmaker Theodore Gershuny’s  Silent Night, Bloody Night.

For a complete listing of the films included in the multi-film collectible releases that are heading home in March (and more), please check out Mill Creek Entertainment website at millcreekent.com.

The Film Detective Sets Feb. 21 As The DVD Debut Date For Director Louis de Witt’s Joe Bullet

The Film Detective will be teaming with the Gravel Road Entertainment Group on Feb. 21 for the release of a restored special DVD edition of noted South African cinematographer Louis de Witt’s 1973 film, Joe Bullet.

Joe Bullet is film school, it’s Blaxploitation (but if you are a genre fan, Joe Bullet might be unfamiliar to you), it is history too and so much more.

Imagine making an all-black film in South Africa in 1971.   Nelson Mandela was in his seventh year as a prisoner on Robben Island (he would be there for 18 long years) and Apartheid was the law of the land.

In was in this environment that Joe Bullet was made.   It is every bit a Blaxploitation film (as we know them) and it also a martial arts films … and if it would have found its way out of South Africa back then it would have been a theatrical hit.   

That it would be a commercial success in early 1970s in the United States, however, was not to be the case.   It was finished in 1973, and had, according to history, just two theatrical screenings, and was then was promptly banned by the South African government. 

 

How could you have a black action hero?   Ken Gampu was just that, the title character, who takes on the mob, who are trying to intimate The Eagles, a soccer team with championship aspirations.   

The name Ken Gampu should ring some bells, he was featured in such films as The Naked Prey, The Wild Geese, Zulu Dawn and The Gods Must Be Crazy.  But even with a known property, the film was lost for forty years!   Now, thanks to the Film Detective and Gravel Road Entertainment Group the world can finally savor Ken Gampu starring in Joe Bullet on DVD.

Bonus features include commentary by writer Tonie van der Merwe, prolific documentary filmmaker Calum Waddell and Gravel Road Entertainment Group’s Benjamin Cowley and a before and after restoration demo.

Oscilloscope Laboratories Will Release DVD And Blu-ray Editions Of Director Sophia Takal’s Always Shine On Mar. 7

Oscilloscope Laboratories announced this past week that director Sophia Takal’s Always Shine will be available as both DVD and Blu-ray product selections on Mar. 7.

Actor/writer Lawrence Michael Levine and actress-turned-filmmaker Sophia Takal started down the path of getting this arthouse gem made about five years ago, and, with a little help from kickstarter, it was finished in time to make its debut at the Tribeca Film Festival in April of this past year.   

Always Shine then went on a film festival tour — to both awards and solid critical buzz — before being snapped up for theatrical and home entertainment distribution by Oscilloscope.   A brief arthouse theatrical run in November generated ticket sales of $15,762 (and more critical accolades).

This first week in March home entertainment launch yields an ARR of 102 days.

A century-ago famed writer Rudyard Kipling said it best in a poem … “For the female of the species is more deadly than the male.”   

Such is the case here in this “cat-and-cat” — as opposed to “cat-and-mouse” — psychological thriller as “friends” Beth (Caitlin FitzGerald — as Libby in the Masters of Sex TV series, plus such films as Mercy, Manhattan Romance, etc.) and Anna (Mackenzie Davis — as Cameron in the Halt and Catch Fire TV series, plus such films as Freaks of Nature, The Martian, etc.), who are both actresses, decide to spend a little downtime at a cabin in picturesque Big Sur.

If you are a film fan, you might recall Andrew Wyke (Laurence Olivier) and Milo Tindle (Michael Caine) spending a little time together back 1972 in director Joseph L. Mankiewicz’s film adaptation of the Anthony Shaffer play, Sleuth.

If you enjoyed that film, then you are absolutely going to love Always Shine as they are related — like distant cousins are related.   

These beautiful blondes never really settle into their little getaway cottage as their mind games begin on the drive up, get elevated during an encounter at a local water hole and then get down right nasty as the weekend progresses.   Anna is the more talented of the two, but Beth has had a nice run of late making commercials and horror films (nudity involved) and that success has gotten under Anna’s skin.   But Beth is no angel as she plays her own mind games with Anna as well.

Without giving away too much — because this is a film that you really need to get involved in and savor the little twists and digs — let’s just say the suspense is terrific and you are never sure as to whom you should be rooting for.   One thing seems certain, in retrospect, is that both Anna and Beth wanted this trip to Big Sur as sort of a ritual trip to engage in the equivalent of a mixed martial arts “Cage Fight.”   Oh it is so good!

The bonus feature is a video session with filmmaker Sophia Takal.

Icarus Films Readies Two Documentary DVD Releases For Delivery To Retailers On Mar. 14

Icarus Films announced two new DVD releases this past week that will be reaching retailers on Mar. 14.   So let us get right to it!

First up is documentary filmmaker Mac Dara Ó’Curraidhín’s A Boatload of Wild Irishmen, a look at the life and times of the first documentary filmmaker, Robert J. Flaherty.

Someone had to the be first to take a motion picture camera and document everyday life and that distinction goes to Robert J. Falherty and his groundbreaking 1922 silent film, Nanook of the North, which was followed by the 1926 release of Moana.  

His career in film continued until his death in 1951 and along the way he was nominated for an Oscar in 1949 in the category of Best Writing, Motion Picture Story for Louisiana Story.   A Boatload of Wild Irishmen chronicles his life, his relationship with his wife, Frances, and Ó’Curraidhín includes interviews with Inuit and Samoan descendants of the subjects of his first two film triumphs, Nanook of the North and Moana.  

Also heading to DVD on Mar. 14 is the double-disc debut of To Tell the Truth: Two films by Calvin Skaggs and David Van Taylor.

 

This release is actually a two-part examination of the growth and influence of documentary filmmaking.   The first segment is titled “Working for Change” and it covers the period from 1929 to 1941 (from the time that Robert J. Falherty got the ball rolling in the 1920s, through The Depression and the beginnings of World War II.

The second segment is titled “The Strategy of Truth” and it explores the use of documentary filmmaking as a propaganda tool during World War II.

Bonus features include three featurettes — “Alec Baldwin on the Importance of Documentaries,” “Agnes Varda on the Making of Documentaries” and “Film Historian Kevin Brownlow on Leni Riefenstah” — and two short film examples from filmmaker John Huston, “Let There be Light” and “Anatomy of a Jeep.”

Lost Empire Tabs Feb. 28 For The DVD Debut Of Writer/Director Mark Cantu’s Elite

Lost Empire, LLC has tabbed Feb. 28 as the street date for the DVD debut of writer/director Mark Cantu’s all-action “buddy film,” Elite.

San Antonio, Texas serves as the backdrop for this police-genre thriller that teams NCO agent Lieutenant Abbey Vaughn (Allison Gregory) with the only survivor of a “cold case” involving an elite special ops team that was set up and massacred.   His name is Lieutenant Sam Harrigan (Jason Scarbrough — who also co-wrote the script) and of the eight men on that mission, he was the only one to walk away.   

No one cares, the case has been filed away; forgotten.  Enter Vaughn, something of a rookie at such things, who tries to crack it, and that leads her to Harrigan and an uneasy “buddy” alliance.    

The obvious culprit is drug lord Reynaldo Benitez (played by Larry Garza), but as the two work their way through the deadly web of lies and deceit that has gone into the cover up of what actually happened on that fateful day — and who ordered it — the real player calling shots might actually be someone on their side. 

One deadly encounter after another, including a to-the-death combat sequence between Harrigan and an enforcer named Merick (played by MMA fighter Mike Dell).   Elite is a nifty blend of jaw dropping action and a multi-layered mystery … and nothing is as it seems!

Vinegar Syndrome Announces Its February 2017 DVD And Blu-ray Release Calendar

Vinegar Syndrome announced its February slate of new film restorations for the DVD and Blu-ray market place this past week.   The release date for the four-SKU mix will be Feb. 28.

Leading the charge is a new 2K restoration (from original 35mm film elements) of writer/director Rick Roessler’s 1987 gore delight, Slaughterhouse, which will be available as a Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack.

During the late summer of 1987, the film got a limited theatrical break and then headed to the home entertainment market place as a VHS rental from Nelson Entertainment (aka: Embassy Home Entertainment).   Some how fly-by-night indie EPI got a hold of it for the DVD arena back in 2005 and then gone, poof!

Now this father and son slasher flick, starring Don Barrett (Hobgoblins) as Lester Bacon — the proud owner of a run-down meat packing plant — and his mountain-sized son, Buddy (played by Joe B. Barton), will be available for genre fans to once again savor … and it has never looked so good!

Poor Lester, he was a craftsman, but his slaughterhouse ran into financial problems, closed down and the creditors are after their cash and plan to foreclose on the place, appropriately named The Bacon Slaughterhouse!   No problem, his demented son, who is already into hacking up local teens (a certain sexual tension involved there), can take care of those who would tear down his legacy … put them on the list!   Chop!  Chop!  Chop!

Oh, but it gets better, the local sheriff’s daughter, Liz (Sherry Bendorf Leigh — who became an award-winning stunt person), wants to shoot a horror flick — with her friends — in the abandon meat packing plant.   Can you say “Chop! Chop! Chops!”   Yup, them too … creditors and teens all meet a grisly end at The Bacon Slaughterhouse courtesy of this father and son team.

Bonus nuggets include a commentary option from filmmaker Rick Roessler, producer Jerry Encoe and production designer Michael Scaglione, a newly-prepared video session with actress Sherry Bendorf Leigh (as Liz Borden), a pair of featurettes — “Making a Low Budget Indie” and “Producing Slaughterhouse” — and more!

Also on the Blu-ray release calendar from Vinegar Syndrome on Feb. 28 is a new 2K restoration (from 35mm vault elements) of adult filmmaker Alex de Renzy’s 1977 film release of Babyface.   

Bonus goodies a video session with actress Molly Seagrim and Alex de Renzy’s short film, Parochial Passion Princess.

Rounding out the Feb. 28 selections are the newest edition to Vinegar Syndrome’s popular “Peekarama” adult double-bill DVD series, Peekarama: The Night Bird and Night of the Spanish Fly, and director Bob Chinn’s 1977 film release of The Love Slaves (a new 2K restoration from 35mm archival elements).

ArroW Video To Release Director Emiliano Rocha Minter’s We Are The Flesh On Blu-ray On Feb. 14

Arrow Video, with domestic sales and distribution expertise provided by MVD Entertainment Group, will be serving up Mexican filmmaker Emiliano Rocha Minter’s stunning feature-length debut writing and director effort, We are the Flesh, on Blu-ray on Feb.14.

There is no middle ground here.  There will be no casual observers of this cinema of the surreal as you will either see the film as an allegory — a cinematic metaphor — of human folly and all of its incredible blemishes, misery and irony, or you will be quickly out the door thinking you’ve been exposed to some sort of Daliesque porn or a Fellini-inspired bit of cinéma vérité on acid.

Maria Evoli and Diego Gamaliel play sister and brother in a seemingly post-apocalyptic world in which they have wandered and survived in for some period of time — sort of a Mexican version of Shelly Plimpton and Steven Curry from director Jim McBride’s 1971 film, Glen and Randa.   In any case, they stumble upon the domain of a creep named Mariano (played by Noé Hernández — 600 Millas, La Tirisia, Miss Bala, etc.), who seems to hold a hypnotic influence over the pair and in no time they are into all sorts of depravities.   

We are the Flesh is a surreal trip into a cinematic hell that Dante would be proud of.   Of one thing that all can agree … it is different.

Presented in Spanish with English subtitles, bonus features include a video session with filmmaker Emiliano Rocha Minter and cast members Noé Hernández, María Evoli and Diego Gamaliel, a separate “video essay” by film critic Virginie Sélavy (founder and editor of “Electric Sheep”), a photo gallery and two short films by Minter — Dentro and Videohome.

Cleopatra Records Targets Feb. 14 For The DVD Debut Of The Burningmoore Deaths

Cleopatra Records, with sales and distribution support provided by MVD Entertainment Group, will be bringing the directing team of Jonathan Williams and James A. Colletti’s horror tale, The Burningmoore Deaths, to the DVD arena on Feb. 14.

There are two connected stories here — connected in the sense that the action takes place on two different days, separated by a period of five years, in the same house.   The backstory features the narration of Detective Bruce Hallenbach (Joe Pallister), who describes his response to a 911 call from a Long Island home, where he discovers that four of the five members of the Parrish family have been murdered.    The mother and two of the three boys bludgeoned to death and the father found hung from a tree in the backyard.   Missing is the elder son, James.

Five year later a reality show crew arrives to film an episode of “Gettin’ Hammered,” which will detail how this abandoned and now rundown home will get a complete make over.   Genre fans will recognized this particular group of people as the “victim pool.”

Cameras are set up and the filming begins.   The various rooms in the house are surveyed for renovation and this is when the slaughter begins as James Parrish (played by Queensrÿche front man Geoff Tate), the missing son, begins picking off the members of the “Gettin’ Hammered” crew — while the video cameras are running — one by one … by one!

What started out to be the documentation of the renovation of an abandoned house turns into a reality show blood bath!    

20th Century-Fox Home Entertainment Preps 4K Ultra HD/Blu-ray Combo Pack Edition of Trolls For Release On Feb. 7

20^th Century-Fox Home Entertainment will be delivering the DreamWorks Animation CGI-animated production of Trolls to the home entertainment market place on Feb. 7 as DVD, Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack and 4K Ultra HD/Blu-ray Combo Pack product offerings.

The ARR is 95 days and box office receipts were a marvelous $151.3 million.

Bonus features common to all consumer release selections include a trio of featurettes — “Travel Through Troll Village,” “The Potion for Stop-Motion” and “Creating Troll Magic” — and deleted scenes.

Exclusive to the Blu-ray and 4K Ultra HD SKUs are two additional featurettes — “Troll 2 Troll” and “Inside the Bunker” — and the interactive “Party Mode” viewing option.

Broad Green Pictures Joins 4K Ultra HD Market With The Feb. 21 Debut Of Director Mark Waters’ Bad Santa 2: Unrated

Broad Green Pictures enters the world of 4K Ultra HD on Feb. 21 with the home entertainment launch of director Mark Waters’ Bad Santa 2: Unrated.   The buying options available to the consumer for this Billy Bob Thornton comedy will be DVD, Blu-ray and a 4K Ultra HD/Blu-ray Combo Pack.

The ARR is a swift-to-market 88 days and domestic ticket sales totaled $17.8 million.

Bonus features common to all home entertainment editions is animated series titled “That’s My Willie.”  Blu-ray and 4K Ultra HD selections include a gag reel, deleted scenes, an alternate opening, an alternate ending, the “Jingle Balls” music video and a pair of featurettes — “Thurman Then & Now” and “Just Your Average Red Band Featurette.”

No 4K Ultra HD For Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment's Mar. 7 Home Entertainment Lauch Of Moana

For Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment 2017 is proceeding pretty much along the same release lines as 2016.   That means no 4K Ultra HD product offerings for their blockbuster hits.

The latest monster theatrical release is the multi-director team of Ron Clements and John Musker’s — with co-directing credits to both Don Hall and Chris Williams — Moana.   This animated monster — with the voice talents of Dwayne Johnson and Auli'i Cravalho — will be available on Mar. 7 as a stand-alone DVD release and two Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack product offerings (one with and one without a 3D viewing option).

The ARR comes in at 102 days and domestic ticket sales currently stand at an impressive $225.4 million.

Bonus features include commentary from co-directors Ron Clements and John Musker, a new mini-movie titled Gone Fishing, featuring Moana characters Moana (Auli'i Cravalho) and Maui (Dwayne Johnson), the animated theatrical short film, Inner Workings, a four-part mini-documentary titled “The Elements of …,” a deleted song (“Warrior Face”), deleted scenes, Alessia Cara’s music video, “How Far I'll Go” and four featurettes — “Voice of the Islands,” “Things You Didn’t Know About …,” “Island Fashion” and “They Know the Way: Making the Music of Moana.”

Lionsgate Home Entertainment Selects Feb. 21 As The Street Date For DVD And Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack Editions Of Manchester By The Sea

Lionsgate Home Entertainment, with little fanfare, has elected to street writer/director Kenneth Lonergan’s critically-acclaimed film, Manchester by the Sea, on the same date as their other sure-to-be Oscar nominated film, Hacksaw Ridge.   The date for both films is Feb. 21, which is the last street-date Tuesday before the Oscar telecast on Sunday, Feb. 26.

The ARR works out to 95 days and ticket sales currently stand at an OK $33.9 million.

Bonus features include a video session with writer/director Kenneth Lonergan (twice Oscar-nominated for his screenplays — Gangs of New York and You Can Count on Me), deleted scenes and the featurette titled “Emotional Lives: The Making of Manchester by the Sea.”