Mill Creek Entertainment Adds A Blu-ray Edition Of Director Peter Yates' Suspect To Its Sept. 12 Priced-To-Collect Release Calendar

Mill Creek Entertainment has added two new Blu-ray selections to its Sept. 12 release calendar.  Already in place on that date is the 13-disc Blu-ray collection of Friday Night Lights: The Complete Series.

Getting a Blu-ray push is director Peter Yates’ 1987 courtroom thriller, Suspect, starring Cher, Dennis Quaid, John Mahoney and Liam Neeson.

A whodunit prologue features a Supreme Court Justice (Thomas Barbour) committing suicide and the discovery of the dead body of a clerk from the Justice Department floating in Potomac River.   Her name was Elizabeth Quinn (Katie O'Hare) and a traumatized and homeless Vietnam vet by the name of Wayne Anderson (Liam Neeson) is arrested for her murder.   There is no overt connection between the two events.

It falls to D.C. public defender Kathleen O’Riley (Cher) to go through the motions of defending Anderson as he is a deaf-mute and of little help.   It will be a quick trial and that will be that.

There is just one more element to get the juices flowing and the mystery of it all set in motion.   That comes in the form of a lobbyist/hustler by the name of Eddie Sanger (played by Dennis Quaid), who gets roped into jury duty — for this trial — despite protesting that he has no time for such things.   

As the trial proceeds, he begins to suspect that Anderson is innocent and starts passing notes to O’Riley.   That’s a big no-no, but she is desperate to mount a defense and goes along with it … they become sort of a Holmes and Watson detective team.   

Suspect is a terrific mystery that has a wonderful twist for an ending … on Blu-ray, with an SRP of just $14.98 how can you say no!

Also getting a Blu-ray on Sept. 12 is director Paul Weiland’s 1987 comedy, Leonard Part 6, starring Bill Cosby as a former CIA agent who is brought out of retirement to stop Medusa Johnson (Gloria Foster), the leader of a vegetarian cult and their evil plans of using pets and other assorted animals to kill their masters and take over the world.

Wolfe Has Targeted Sept. 22 For The DVD Debut Of Director Assaad Yacoub's Award-Winning Cherry Pop

Director Assaad Yacoub delivers the laughs — and we mean LAUGHS — on Sept. 22 with the DVD debut — courtesy of Wolfe — of his first feature-length film, Cherry Pop.

The germination for this film was Yacoub’s 2013 student film at the New York Film Academy of the same name, which subsequently went on the film circuit and scored some impressive awards — Best of the Festival at Palm Springs International ShortFest, The IndieFest Film Awards (Best Short Film and the Award of Merit for Best Director) and the Accolade Competition.   

It took awhile — as indie filmmaking often does — to raise the production budget, but here it is, Cherry Pop in all of its drag queen glory.   

Yacoub was able to recruit one hell of a cast, which includes Caldwell “Bob the Drag Queen” Tidicue as Kitten Withawhip (the winner of RuPaul’s Drag Race), Detox Icunt, Misty Violet, Allusia Alusia, Mayhem Miller and more.  

The film is constructed to allow each a moment on stage and then Yacoub brings us backstage where the real show takes place — where the cat fights, the drama and the real intrigues ensue.    

The MacGuffin is the arrival of a newbie named The Cherry (played by Lars Berge), who will be performing for the first time … and The Cherry, as we shall learn, has a “terrible” secret.   Hand-and-hand with this is the bittersweet farewell of Lady Zaza (played by Patrick “Tempest DuJour” Holt), who is calling it quits for very personal reasons.

Cherry Pop is vibrant, colorful and loads of fun … this is one not to be missed come Sept. 22.

Icarus Films Sets The Apology For DVD Release On Sept. 5 And Cinema Novo Arrives On DVD On Sept. 19

Icarus Films has turned its attention to the post-Labor Day period with two new foreign-language imports that will be available on DVD during the month of September.

Up first on Sept. 5 is documentary filmmaker Tiffany Hsiung’s The Apology, the award-winning look at the story of “comfort women” used by the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II.

Wisely, Hsiung avoids trying to report on the tens of thousands of young women who were made sex slaves during the war, and instead focuses on the personal stories of three of these women.  In a sense the clock is ticking and time is running short on sharing the events, the shame and the terror that they’ve kept to themselves throughout the years that followed the war.  Hsiung recognized this and has devoted the time and energy to document what happened.

Referred to as Grandma Gil (South Korean), Grandma Adela (The Philippines) and Grandma Cao (China), they have sought in vein to receive a formal apology from the Japanese government (itself too ashamed to admit publicly what was done).   To move that forward, Hsiung filmed each in turn, who share their experiences; to document for all time this sordid page from the nearly forgotten history of the war.   

Bit by bit, fragments of memories, a piece here, a remembrance there … the horror of it all comes together … we learn with Tiffany Hsiung as she learns, through trust and contact with each of the women what they went through.   It is in that learning process that film achieves its greatest strength.

The Apology is presented in Korean, Tagalog, Mandarin, Japanese and English, with English subtitles.

Brazilian documentary filmmaker Eryk Rocha takes a look at Cinema Novo film movement — a South American equivalent to the French New Wave — in his film of the same name, Cinema Novo.   Icarus Films has tabbed Sept. 19 for the DVD rollout.

Beginning in the 1960s there was a movement among certain filmmakers — such as Glauber Rocha (Rocha’s father and acknowledged founder of the movement), Joaquim Pedro de Andrade and Carlos Diegues — who wanted to be more expressive in the subjects, especially politically, that were being produced, which ran counter to the mainstream, which produced mainly musicals and variety films … and Hollywood-styled cookie cutter productions.

The film opened at Cannes last year and won the Golden Eye for Best Documentary, worked the international film festival circuit and is slated for a limited arthouse run in August.

For students of film — who are often very familiar with the French New Wave — Cinema Novo should be considered must-see viewing.   

The DVD release on Sept. 19 gives them, and the rest of us, the opportunity to explore this unique side street of filmmaking history.

Cinema Novo is presented in Portuguese with English subtitles.

Vinegar Syndrome Announces Its Aug. 29 DVD And Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack Release Calendar

Vinegar Syndrome announced its Aug. 29 release calendar of new DVD and Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack film restorations this past week and leading the way is a real Down Under treasure, director Simon Wincer’s 1979 film, Snapshot (aka: The Day After Halloween, One More Minute).  It will be available as a Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack.

Filmmaker Simon Wincer is perhaps best know to American audiences for films such as Quigley Down Under, D.A.R.Y.L. and Free Willy, but for film buffs his film antecedents extend well beyond these theatrical hits to include Phar Lap, Harlequin, the brilliant World War I mounted infantry story, The Lighthorsemen and his debut feature film, Snapshot.

Angela (Sigrid Thornton — The Man from Snowy River) is just making ends meet at a beauty shop in Sydney and pretty much everyone in her life has ways of putting her down.   That all changes when a high-powered model by the name of Madeline (Chantal Contouri — Thirst) offers her an opportunity to do some modeling work.   

Naturally, things don’t go quite as promised — the just plain weird photographer (Hugh Keays-Byrne — Mad Dog Morgan, Mad Max) lies to her during the photo shoot when he tells her that her face won’t be shown in the advertising if she agrees to go topless.  After that things go pretty much down hill — her own mom even steals what little money she has and someone is stalking her.

It’s great fun — a little creepy at times — but in the end justice is served and there’s a neat twist that you never see coming.

Vinegar Syndrome has a new 2K restoration from the original 35mm camera negative and two viewing options — the domestic theatrical cut and an alternative Australian cut of the film.  

Bonus features include commentary from filmmaker Simon Wincer and the film’s star Sigrid Thornton, who are joined by producer Tony Ginnane and cinematographer Vincent Monton and two featurettes — “Producing Snapshot” and “Not Quite Hollywood.”

In June of 1972 the world of adult filmmaking — and exhibition — changed with the release of Gerard Damiano’s (aka: Jerry Gerard) Deep Throat.   On Aug. 29 Vinegar Syndrome has a new 2K restoration (from the original 35mm camera negative) of his 1984 film release of Throat … 12 Years After.   It will be released as a Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack.

This is a story about two couples — an actual dramatic narrative — and their sexual experiences.   Husband and wife Marsha (Michelle Maren) and Walter (George Payne) look for new ways to spice up their marriage, while their friends Andy (Joey Silvera) and Louise (Sharon Kane) are into all sorts of things (some are pretty risky by 1984).

Bonus features include a pair of featurettes — “Making Michelle” and “Filming Throat” — and an audio session with actress Sharon Kane that is hosted by Casey Scott.

Also being released on Aug. 29 as a Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack is a 2K film restoration of director Joe Sarno’s 1966 experimental film, Red Roses of Passion.  This release kicks off Vinegar Syndrome’s new Sexploitation Signature Series.

Bonus goodies include a video session with Joe Sarno historian Michael Bowen.

Shifting to DVD-only product offerings on Aug. 29, we find director Arthur Nouveau’s (aka: Zebedy Colt) 1975 adult-themed home invasion film, The Intrusion, starring Michael Gaunt as rapist posing as a door-to-door insurance salesman who takes full advantage of housewife Ellen Anderson (Kim Pope) and her next door neighbor, Gail (Lynn Bishop), who unexpectedly stops by for a visit.

This new 2K restoration from 35mm archival elements features a video session with Michael Gaunt that is titled “Becoming the Intruder.”

Cleopatra Music And Films To Release Writer/Director Rolfe Kanefsky’s The Black Room On DVD And Blu-ray On Sept. 26

Cleopatra Music & Films, with sales and distribution expertise provided by MVD Entertainment Group, has selected Sept. 26 for the DVD and Blu-ray debut of writer/director Rolfe Kanefsky’s haunted horror house thriller, The Black Room.

Back in 1973 filmmaker S.F. Brownrigg delivered the cautionary horror tale, Don’t Go in the Basement, this should have been must-see viewing for the Hemdales … a lot of grief would have been avoided.    But then we wouldn’t have much of a movie if they didn’t go investigate the creepy noises, in the basement, in the middle of the night would we!

Jennifer (Natasha Henstridge — Species, Ghosts of Mars, etc.) and her husband Paul (Lukas Hassel — In Sickness, Into the Dark) just got a deal on an unbelievable home.   They will soon discover why it was such a bargain.

Kanefsky, who has delivered such diverse films as Dead Scared (with Brad Dourif), Sex Files: Alien Erotica (Kira Reed Lorsch) and a series of Emmanuelle erotic movies, has cleverly mixed genre here.   We have a possession tale, complete with grisly murders — in a haunted house — that is blended with the elements of erotica associated with the sexploitation genre.    

You see, our demon in the basement gets its kicks and power from sexual seduction and arousal and when you have the likes of Natasha Henstridge, scream queen Tiffany Shepis and Dominique Swain as cast members there is plenty for this demon to work with!!!

Bonus features include commentary from writer/director Rolfe Kanefsky and the film’s star, Natasha Henstridge, plus deleted and extended scenes, a blooper reel and a behind-the-scenes featurette.

Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Picks Nov. 7 For The Release Of Blu-ray And DVD Editions Of Westworld: Season One – The Maze

All the best evidence seems to point to Warner Bros. Home Entertainment clearing the decks for some big news about a WONDERful theatrical release for the home entertainment market.   

That evidence, is both a flurry of new TV-on-DVD and Blu-ray announcements, and a well-timed “reminder” of what is already in the pipeline.   Anytime a studio PR machine cranks up the press release pace on non-theatrical home entertainment product offerings it is usually a tell tale sign that something big is on the way.   They don’t want to swamp the lesser titles by tossing a boulder into the pond.

We suspect that Warner Bros. is doing that just now in anticipation of a mid-September release of director Patty Jenkins’ box office smash, Wonder Woman.  

You can see the film franchises lining up like planes on approach to LAX … Fox’s Alien: Covenant on Aug. 15, Disney’s Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 arrives Aug. 22 (see separate announcement piece on that), Universal’s “Dark Universe” launch of The Mummy is set for Sept. 12 (also see separate announcement on that) and the latest installment in the Captain Jack Sparrow saga, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales, has been given an Oct. 3 sail date.   

That leaves open Sept. 19 or Sept. 26 for the latest DC Entertainment super hero rollout (Amazon, Target or Best Buy will likely jump the announcement gun to gain position with possible exclusives).

In the meantime, the big news this week is the long-lead announcement for the Nov. 7 (yes, that’s right, November) three-SKU release of Westworld: Season One – The Maze.   It will be available as a 4K Ultra HD/Blu-ray Combo Pack (in a collectible tin) as well as both DVD and Blu-ray sets.

All configurations are three-disc collections showcasing all ten episodes from the debut season — a debut season that saw an amazing 22 Emmy nominations (is that a record?).

As to bonus goodies, there’s a gag reel, the 2017 Comic Con Panel (which hasn’t taken place yet — San Diego Comic Con this year runs from July 20^th through the 23^rd) and a whopping nine featurettes — “Inside Look with Jonah Nolan and Lisa Joy - Season One,” “Imagining the Main Title,” “The Key to The Chords,” “Welcome to Westworld,” “Crafting the Narrative,” “An Invitation to The Set,” “Welcome to Westworld: About the Series,” “Reality of A.I.: Westworld” and “The Big Moment.”

 

As to other series that Warner Bros. Home Entertainment has in the pipeline, Reign: The Fourth and Final Season, will be heading home on Oct. 10 as a four-disc DVD set.    A complete series collection (17 disc set) will also street on that date.

Already in the release pipeline are: Supergirl: The Complete Second Season (a five disc set on Aug. 22), Flash: The Complete Third Season (six discs on Sept. 5), Supernatural: The Complete Twelfth Season (also six discs and also heading home on Sept. 5), Arrow: The Complete Fifth Season (a five-disc configuration on Sept. 19), Longmire: The Complete Fifth Season (a double-disc set arrives on Sept. 26), iZombie: The Complete Third Season (three-disc set on Oct. 3) and Two Broke Girls: The Complete Fifth and Final Season (also on Oct. 3 as a double-disc set).

Arrow Video Readies 4K Restoration Of A Fish Called Wanda For Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack Release On Sept. 19

Director Charles Crichton’s 1988 jewel-heist comedy, A Fish Called Wanda — written by Monty Python alum John Cleese — has been give a new 4K restoration from the original film negative by Arrow Video and will be arriving at retail outlets on Sept. 19 as a Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack.

MVD Home Entertainment will be directing the sales and distribution efforts in the domestic market.

Fellow Python Michael Palin joins Cleese and America actors Jamie Lee Curtis and Kevin Kline in a comedy of laugh-out-loud errors — mainly because of Kline’s over-the-top jealous behavior as his lover, Curtis, seeks to seduce Archie Leach (Cleese), a fuddy-duddy lawyer, into getting his client to reveal the new hiding place of the pilfered diamonds.   

As to bonus nuggets, John Cleese provides commentary and documentary filmmaker Iain Johnstone’s 1988 feature-length “documentary,” titled John Cleese’s First Farewell Performance, which is actually something of a behind-the-scenes look at the making of A Fish Called Wanda (it’s damn near as funny as the film itself) is also included here.

Other bonuses are two-dozen deleted scenes, director John Cork’s 2003 retrospective, Something Fishy, Robert Powell hosts a sight-seeing tour of the film’s locations in Fish You Were Here, and there are new video sessions featuring composer John Du Prez, production designer Roger Murray-Leach, executive producer Steve Abbott and makeup supervisor Paul Engelen.

The Film Detective Preps Five New Film Restorations For The DVD Collectible Marketplace On July 25

It was revealed this past week that The Film Detective has five new film restorations ready for release to the DVD collectible market place on July 25.

Leading the parade is director Michael Curtiz’s 1958 film adaptation of James Edward Grant’s short story, “Journal of Linnett Moore,” which was retitled for the screen as The Proud Rebel.

Filmed in glorious Technicolor, The Proud Rebel is a post-Civil War romantic drama that is often misclassified as a Western — Illinois farmland in the late 1860s is not the west.   The reason it becomes confusing is that it wasn’t filmed in Illinois (or Minnesota for that matter), but for budgetary reasons The Proud Rebel was filmed in Utah. 

Alan Ladd and his son David star as father and son, with Olivia de Havilland as the romantic lead and Dean Jagger filling in nicely as the villain of the piece (a young Harry Dean Stanton plays his son Jeb, who is just as nasty as the old man).

It’s the Reconstruction period in the south and former Confederate John Chandler (Ladd) is headed north in hope of finding a cure for his son’s inability to speak (a backstory reveals that he witnessed his mother’s murder at the hands of marauding Union soldiers during the war and was rendered mute).  In the town of Aberdeen, Illinois, a doctor by the name of Davis (Cecil Kellaway), evaluates his son’s condition and points him in the direction of a colleague in Minnesota, but before they can leave town they cross paths with the Burleigh clan (Jagger, etc.) and the dirty southerner is railroaded into a thirty day work farm conviction.

Romance follows — Ladd working off his time at de Havilland’s farm — a final violent showdown with the land-grabbing Burleighs and a happy ending all tie The Proud Rebel together into a nice neat dramatic package.

Also on the July 25 release calendar from The Film Detective is director Alfred Zeisler’s 1948 film noir (ish) entry, Parole, Inc., teaming Michael O’Shea with Evelyn Ankers and Virginia Lee, with Turhan Bay as the ruthless criminal mastermind of a parole-for-pay scheme.

The film is told in flashback as Federal Agent Richard Hendricks (Michael O’Shea — Lady of Burlesque, Jack London, The Big Wheel, etc.) is dictating what took place while recovering in the hospital from a beating and gunshot wound.  He had been assigned to go undercover to investigate a parole board racket where career criminals are granted routine paroles well ahead of schedule.   

In some clever writing from prolific scripter Sherman L. Lowe (Valley of the Zombies, The Monster and the Ape, The Phantom, etc.), Hendricks is given a double alias, the first of which is easily ferreted-out by the bad guys, who suspect that he is indeed a plant.   But when they discover that his “true identity” is that of bank robber on the run they embrace him whole-heartedly … one of us, one of us!!  

The wonderful Evelyn Ankers gets to be a bad girl in this one as Jojo Dumont, the owner of The Pasttime Café, which serves as the go-to place for the parole scheme, which turns out to be run by her lover, shyster attorney Barney Rodescu (Turhan Bey).   A shootout at a remote farm brings us back full circle to the opening sequence in the hospital.

Rounding out the July 25 film restorations heading to DVD courtesy of The Film Detective are The Married Virgin (silent 1918 Rudolph Valentino film with Vera Sisson), When’s Your Birthday? (1937, Joe E. Brown comedy) and Raiders of the Border (Johnny Mack Brown rides in this 1944 Monogram Pictures Western).

Universal Pictures Home Entertainment Tabs Sept. 12 For The Home Entertainment Rollout Of The Mummy Starring Tom Cruise

Universal Pictures Home Entertainment has set its home entertainment release gaze to the post-Labor Day period with news this week that producer-turned-director Alex Kurtzman’s The Mummy, starring Tom Cruise, Annabelle Wallis, Sofia Boutella as Princess Ahmanet and Russell Crowe as Dr. Henry Jekyll, will be hitting retail outlets on Sept. 12 as a three-SKU array of consumer buying options.

The ARR for that date for this kick-off entry in Universal’s new Dark Universe extension to its Universal Monsters series is 95 days and domestic box office receipts currently stand right at $78 million.

Planned for release are a stand-alone DVD edition, a Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack and a 4K Ultra HD/Blu-ray Combo Pack.

The Mummy comes loaded with bonus goodies, which includes commentary from director Alex Kurtzman, who is joined by actors Sofia Boutella, Annabelle Wallis and Jake Johnson, deleted and extended scenes, and eight production featurettes — “Cruise & Kurtzman: A Conversation Rooted in Reality,” “Rooted in Reality,” “Life in Zero-G: Creating the Plane Crash,” “Meet Ahmanet,” “Cruise in Action,” “Becoming Jekyll and Hyde,” “Choreographed Chaos” and “Nick Morton: In Search of a Soul” and the animated graphic novel titled “Ahmanet Reborn.”

Also getting a post-Labor Day street date this past week from Universal Pictures Home Entertainment is the Bleeker Street production of director Gabriela Cowperthwaite’s biopic, Megan Leavey, starring Kate Mara as the U.S. Marine vet, wounded in combat, who goes to extraordinary lengths to rescue her K9 teammate Rex before he is put down.

The ARR comes in at 88 days and the box office take was $12.5 million.

The only bonus feature included with the home entertainment launch is the featurette titled “Never Give Up.”

Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment Caves And Joins The 4K Ultra HD Camp On Aug. 22 With Director James Gunn's Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2

It started with a Twitter tease from writer/director James Gunn and by Tuesday of this past week (July 11) it was official.   Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment will be ending its boycott of the 4K Ultra HD format with the release of Gunn’s Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 on Aug. 22.

The ARR is 109 days and domestic ticket sales were an out-of-this-world $385.6 million (nearly another half-billion in overseas markets).

In addition to a 4K Ultra HD/Blu-ray Combo Pack, Disney will be serving up a stand-alone DVD edition, a Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack and a double-disc Blu-ray SKU featuring 2D and 3D viewing options (plus various key-retailer special editions).

As to bonus goodies, filmmaker James Gunn (who also delivered the original Guardians of the Galaxy in 2014) will be providing both an introduction to the film and a commentary option, plus there are … a four-part making-of presentation, a gag reel, deleted scenes and The Sneeper and David Hasselhoff team up for the “Guardians Inferno” music video.

Once the 4K Ultra HD gridlock was broken, it was just 48 hours later that the next home entertainment release announcement was made from Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment that will be featuring a 4K Ultra HD/Blu-ray Combo Pack buying option.   This will be the Oct. 3 release of the directing team of Joachim Rønning and Espen Sandberg’s Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales.

The ARR for this home entertainment launch of the fifth film in the Pirates of the Caribbean series works out to 130 days and domestic box office receipts currently stand at $168.8 million (the six-year gap saw over a $70 million drop in tickets vis-à-vis Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides … could this be the end of the line for Captain Jack Sparrow?).

Planned for release are three editions for fans of the series to sort through … the aforementioned 4K Ultra HD/Blu-ray Combo Pack, a Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack and a stand-alone DVD edition (Best Buy and Target will also have exclusives).

Bonus feature include “Bloopers of the Caribbean,” deleted scenes and a seven-part making-of presentation titled “Dead Men Tell More Tales: The Making of a New Adventure.”

Pure Flix Readies Bonus CD For Faith-Based Market Release Of The Case For Christ On Aug. 15

Pure Flix, with general consumer market sales and distribution support provided by Universal Pictures Home Entertainment, will doing something a little extra for the faith-based clientele come Aug. 15.    

That’s the street date for both DVD and Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack editions of director Joe Ginn’s film adaptation of Lee Strobel’s best selling book, The Case for Christ.

The ARR is 130 days and domestic ticket sales for the film’s theatrical run currently stand at $14.7 million.

It’s 1980 and Lee Strobel (played by Mike Vogel — The Help, Cloverfield, Poseidon, etc.), a somewhat smug (think: self-righteous) Chicago Tribune reporter (with a law degree) and a self-avowed atheist, decides to put his wife (Erika Christensen) Leslie’s Christian faith to the test.  He will debunk the existence; the myth of Jesus Christ.   But step by step along his investigative path he arrives at a conclusion that, for him, was life-changing.

What Pure Flix has as a bonus is a soundtrack CD from the film — 11 songs in all — from the album, “The Case for Christ Songs.”

Other bonus goodies common to all SKUs are a video session with Lee and Leslie Strobel, deleted scenes and a series of behind-the-scenes featurettes.