For the period ending July 20, 2018 ... New DVD and Blu-ray selections added to the DVD & Blu-ray Release Report's database

DVD New Additions:

 

 

Artsploitation Films

07/17/18 — Released Perfect Obedience (Spanish)

BBC Home Entertainment

07/17/18 — Released Top Gear from A-Z: The Ultimate Extended Edition

Bayview Entertainment

07/17/18 — Released Ancient Alien America, Antithesis (Italian) and Resort Paraiso (Spanish)

Breaking Glass Pictures

07/17/18 — Released Moss

Championship Productions

07/10/18 — Released Basic Run Pass Option For All Levels, Basic Run: Inside/Outside Zone & Draw,

Drills to Develop Your Defense, Ken French: Building a Motion Offense & Quick Hitters, Pitch & Catch: Quick Passing Game for All Levels, Program Culture & Practice Planning and Secondary Break & Man-to-Man Offense with Counters

Comedy Dynamics (MOD)

07/17/18 — Released Bear With Us, Bryan Callen: Never Grow Up, Doug Stanhope's The Unbookables and I Need You to Kill

Criterion Collection

10/02/18 — Sets Naked Prey,

10/09/18 — Sets Eight Hours Don't Make a Day (German) (3 disc set)

10/16/18 — Sets Shampoo

10/23/18 — Sets Sisters

10/30/18 — Sets Princess Bride (2 disc set)

Different Flowers, LLC (MOD)

07/17/18 — Released Different Flowers

DreamScape Media, LLC

07/17/18 — Released Saving Fiona: The Story of the World's Most Famous Baby Hippo

Eagle Rock Entertainment

07/17/18 — Released J. Balvin: Bruuttal

Echo Bridge Entertainment

07/17/18 — Released 4 Film Collection: Action (4 film set: 96 Minutes, Ironclade, Bounty Killer, Bunraku), 4 Film Collection: Animated (4 film set: Thor: Legend of the Magical Hammer, Under Wraps, Dear Dracula, Adventure Planet), 4 Film Collection: Disaster (4 film set: 10,000 Days, Metal Tornado, 10.3 Earthquake, Seattle Superstorm), 4 Film Collection: Family (4 film set: Return to Nim's Island, Standing Up, A Little Game, Jack of the Red Hearts), 4 Film Collection: Horror (4 film set: The Ward, Frozen, Greystone Park, Stliced) and 4 Film Collection: Western (4 film set: Sweetwater, Gunless, Echoes of War, Autumn)

Gravitas Ventures (MOD)

07/17/18 — Released 1/1, Andover, Baja and Half-Life of Genius: Physicist Raemer Schreiber

Hallmark Channel

07/17/18 — Released In My Dreams and Loving Leah

House of Film, LLC (MOD)

07/17/18 — Released Neruda (Spanish) and Romeo and Juliet

IMV Blueline Records

07/17/18 — Released Cream: Live Rarities

Icarus Films

09/11/18 — Sets Cholesterol: The Great Bluff/Branding Illness

Indican Pictures

08/21/18 — Sets Jet Trash (ARR of 116 days; box office: $20,701)

08/28/18 — Sets American Native

Indie Rights (MOD)

07/17/18 — Released 6 Dynamic Laws for Success in Life, Love & Money, Capps Crossing and Dance Baby Dance

Kino Lorber

07/17/18 — Released Associate, Emma & Lachy Show, Frank McKlusky, C.I. and Modus: Season One (2 disc set)

Leomark Studios (MOD)

07/17/18 — Released Stiffed

Lionsgate Home Entertainment

07/17/18 — Released A.R.C.H.I.E. 2

09/04/18 — Sets Hereditary (ARR of 88 days; box office: $42,948,289)

National Geographic (MOD)

07/17/18 — Released National Geographic: American Inside Out (2 disc set) and National Geographic: The Adventures of Dr. Buckeye Bottoms - Season Two (2 disc set)

PBS Direct

07/17/18 — Released Blackout in Puerto Rico, Trafficked in America and Tunnel: Vengeance - The Complete Third Season (2 disc set)

Parade Deck Films

07/17/18 — Released Amityville Prison (aka: Against the Night)

Paramount Home Media

10/02/18 — Sets Top Wings

Passion River

07/17/18 — Released 44 Pages

Rarefilmsandmore.com (MOD)

07/17/18 — Released Snow Maiden (Russian)

SPV – Laser Media

07/17/18 — Released Grateful Dead: Live in Concert - The Television Broadcasts

Serpent Films (MOD)

07/17/18 — Released Classic Comedy Movies (2 film set: False Pretenses, I Thank You), Classic Crime Movies (2 film set: Fangs of the Wild, Grief Street), Classic Western Movies (2 film set: Flirting with Fate, Git Along Little Dogies), Classic Western Movies (2 film set: Heldorado, Last of the Hunted Men) and Classic Western Movies (2 film set: Law of the Rio Grande, Lights of Old Santa Fe)

Shout! Factory

07/17/18 — Released Good Place: The Complete Second Season (2 disc set) and Housemaid (Vietnamese)

Smart Mark Video (MOD)

07/03/18 — Released IWA Mid-South: So You Wanna be a Death Match Star

07/10/18 — Released IWA Mid-South: The Cream Rises to the Top - Memphis, IN

Sony Pictures Home Ent.

07/17/18 — Released Sneaky Pete: Season One (3 disc set)

Summer Hill Films

07/17/18 — Released In Critical Condition

Universal Pictures Home Ent.

07/17/18 — Released Expanse: Season Three (4 disc set)

Walt Disney Studios Home Ent.

09/25/18 — Sets Solo: A Star Wars Story (ARR of 123 days; box office: $211,920,767)

Warner Bros. Home Ent.

07/17/18 — Released Cartoon Network: OK KO - Let's be Heroes, Season 1, Volume 1

12/04/18 — Sets Westworld: Season Two - The Door (3 disc set)

Wild Eye Releasing

09/11/18 — Sets Party Night

Blu-ray New Additions:

 

Aniplex of America

07/17/18 — Released Granblue Fantasy, Part 2

Arrow Video

07/17/18 — Releases Case of the Scorpion's Tail (Italian) and Two Films by Hong Sangsoo (2 film set: Woman Is the Future of Man, Tale of Cinema) (Korean)

Artsploitation Films

07/17/18 — Released Hemel (Dutch) and Perfect Obedience (Spanish)

Echo Bridge Home Entertainment

07/17/18 — Released Danny Trejo Double Feature (2 film set: Border Cross, Chavez)

FUNimation

07/17/18 — Released Alice and Zoroku (2 Blu-ray/2 DVD Combo Pack), Monster Hunter Stories Ride On, Season 1 Part 3 (2 Blu-ray/2 DVD Combo Pack), Nanbaka, Part 1 (2 Blu-ray/2 DVD Combo Pack) and Puzzle and Dragons X, Part 3 (2 Blu-ray/2 DVD Combo Pack)

Gravitas Ventures (MOD)

07/17/18 — Released 1/1, Andover, Baja and Half-Life of Genius: Physicist Raemer Schreiber

Indie Rights (MOD)

07/17/18 — Released 6 Dynamic Laws for Success in Life and Love & Money, Capps Crossing

Kino Lorber

07/17/18 — Released Associate, Frank McKlusky, C.I., Irma La Douce and Modus: Season One (2 disc set)

Lionsgate Home Entertainment

09/04/18 — Sets Hereditary (Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack) (with UltraViolet Digital Copy)

MVD Entertainment Group

09/11/18 — Adds Diamonds of Kilimandjaro and Golden Temple Amazons

SRS Cinema (MOD)

07/17/18 — Released Double Feature: Church of the Damned/Bad Magic

Sentai FilmWorks

07/17/18 — Released Long Riders: The Complete Collection (2 disc set)

Shout! Factory

07/17/18 — Released Housemaid (Vietnamese)

Twilight Time

07/17/18 — Released Children of Huang Shi, Cinderella Liberty, Genghis Khan and Revolt of Mamie Stover

Universal Pictures Home Ent.

07/17/18 — Released Expanse: Season Three (3 disc set)

Walt Disney Studios Home Ent.

07/17/18 — Released Journey of Natty Gann, Piglet's Big Movie and Pooh's Grand Adventure: The Search for Christopher Robin

07/31/18 — Sets Star Wars Rebels: The Complete Season Four (3 disc set)

09/25/18 — Sets Solo: A Star Wars Story (with Digital Copy)

Warner Bros. Home Ent. ‘

12/04/18 — Sets Westworld: Season Two - The Door (3 disc set) (with UltraViolet Digital Copy)

 

 

 

 

 

Paramount Home Media Targets Oct. 2 For The DVD Launch Of Nickelodeon's Top Wing

Paramount Home Media will be teaming up with Nickelodeon on Oct. 2 for the DVD debut of the hit CG-animated preschool series, Top Wing.

Join the fun on Big Swirl Island with everyone’s favorite Top Wing Academy bird friends, Speedy and Bea and the new cadets who are out to “earn their wings,” Swift, Brody, Penny and Rod.  

Seven fun-filled adventures — or should we call them “missions?” — are included in this DVD collection.   Join the new recruits as they practice their rescue skills — and learn valuable lessons as well — including helping Baddy McBat out of a tight fix, battling pirates and coming to the rescue of Shirley Squirrely … and more!!!

Also heading home on DVD on Oct. 2 is the four-disc, 30-episode collection of The Beverly Hillbillies: The Official Fifth Season (1966/67 season).   Digitally remastered for picture sound, Buddy Ebsen, Donna Douglas, Max Bare, Jr. and Irene Ryan as Granny have never looked better.

Special guests this season included John Wayne, Gloria Swanson, Herbie the Gorilla (George Bellows), Flatt & Scruggs and an out-of-this-world visit featuring three “spacemen” from Mars (Frank Delfino, Billy Curtis and Jerry Maren).

Icarus Films Readies Documentary Filmmaker Anne Georet’s Cholesterol: The Great Bluff For DVD Release On Sept. 11

Icarus Films has tabbed Sept. 11 as the DVD release date for documentary filmmaker Anne Georet’s Cholesterol: The Great Bluff. 

Her film is a direct challenge to the world of medicine and 50-years of an absolute belief that heart disease and cholesterol are linked.  The solution to that linkage has led to billions of dollars being spent on statin drugs and the spawning of an industrialized multi-billion dollar “low fat” food monstrosity.   With Big Pharma and food suppliers (charging a premium) making billions, what incentive is there to actually review the data and adjust any thinking about the subject?

Georet makes the case that studies conducted by physiologist Ancel Keys in the 1950s arrived at conclusions that were crafted by Keys using “cherry-picked” data.  Known as “The Seven Countries Study,” the results became medical gospel.

Researchers interviewed by Georet who proposed alternative links to heart disease, such as too much sugar in the diet, found funding for their studies cut and their academic standing threatened.   Big bucks and the status quo is the 800-pound gorilla in the room.

Filmmaker Anne Georet uses a mix of interviews, with the likes of nutritionist Sylvain Duval and cardiologist and nutritionist Dr. Michel de Lorgeril, to explain how the body uses different “fats” and how cholesterol works.   This is coupled with investigative journalist and author Nina Teicholz (“The Big Fat Surprise”) and her examination of the history of the “science” and the vested interests in keeping things exactly as they are.

The topic of “good” and “bad” cholesterol is also explored, plus there are vintage news clips and advertising examples mixed into Georet insightful presentation.

As a bonus feature, Icarus Films is also including Anne Georget’s documentary feature, Branding Illness, which explores the world of pharmaceutical ads and how Big Pharma creates “diseases” — pre-menstrual dysphoric disease as an example — and then designs the drugs and marketing campaigns to fight the disease they have created.   Prozac, anyone?   

Jesus Franco's Golden Temple Amazons And Diamonds Of Kilimandjaro Make Their Blu-ray Debuts Courtesy Of MVD Entertainment Group On Sept. 11

There are bad movies that are just plain bad.   And then there are bad movies that are good simply because they are so incredibly bad.   These are called “guilty pleasures.”   

Now you can debate which is which all day long.  It is often the case that one individual’s trash can very well be another’s vision of cinematic gold.   But when 99.9 percent of genre fans agree on bad being good, or even great, then it is a GUILTY PLEASURE.   And that is very good … home entertainment libraries are built on such films!

MVD Entertainment Group has a new promotional banner — in addition to its popular Marquee Collection and MVD Rewind Collection line of products — and this is simply titled (pure, simple and direct to the point, that is) MVD Classics.

The first two entries into the MVD Classics mix — and it is important to note — are making their debut as Blu-ray releases and are certainly so bad that they are geniune guilty pleasures.   Both films are two from the late cult filmmaker Jesus Franco, which is another sure sign that MVD has chosen well in assigning them MVD Classic status. 

Both films will be available on Sept. 11, so that will be known as “upgrade” day for genre fans with a taste for the bad (you can go ahead and bury those VHS and DVD versions that you covet in the backyard on Sept. 11, with reverence of course).   These are, Diamonds of Kilimandjaro (1983) and Golden Temple Amazons (started in 1984 and finished with a little help from Alain Petit).

Naked women — Analía Ivars and Katja Bienert — cannibals, naked women, violence, naked women, jungle creatures, naked women and all brought to you courtesy of Jesus Franco.    MVD Entertainment Group has gold with these two Blu-ray collectibles on Sept. 11 and a solid launch to the MVD Classics line!

Indican Pictures Selects Aug. 21 For The DVD Debut Of Filmmaker Charles Henri Belleville's Jet Trash

Indican Pictures has targeted Aug. 21 for the DVD rollout of Scottish filmmaker Charles Henri Belleville’s film adaptation of the Simon Lewis pulp thriller, “Go,” which was retitled for the screen as Jet Trash. 

The film worked the European market with some festival showings to positive buzz and was picked up by Indican Pictures for domestic distribution — both theatrical and home entertainment.   Jet Trash is currently being exhibited in major metro markets (since Apr. 27) by Indican and arrives with an ARR of 116 days. 

Life is good in Goa, India for Welsh slackers Lee (Robert Sheehan — Geostorm, The Road Within, Season of the Witch, etc.) and Sol (Osy Ikhile — The Legend of Tarzan, Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation, Childhood’s End, etc.), who spend their time on the beach getting high and partying.   

But, as we learn through a series of very revealing flashback sequences in and around a seedy London dive known as the Aqua, the fun and partying in Goa is all a bit of a deception.  The pair double-crossed a truly vicious London-based thug — involved in sex trafficking — by the name of Marlowe (Craig Parkinson) and have gone on the run.   

Life is too short to worry and the boys figure that they’ve found the perfect hideout … so it is hang loose and nooooooo worries!

This all changes when Lee’s former girlfriend, the absolutely gorgeous Vix (Sofia Boutella — Atomic Blonde, Star Trek: Beyond, The Mummy), shows up and things take a turn to the dark side.   She too is on the run from Marlowe and if she can find Lee and Sol, then he can to!   Suddenly paradise is starting to look more like a nice out-of-the-way place for a pair of slackers who won’t be missed, by anyone, ever again.

As the tension builds, the same parties and wave-splashed beaches take on an ominous tone as the trio wait for the all-but-certain arrival of Marlowe and his merry band of killers.

In other home entertainment release news from Indican Pictures, documentary filmmaker Steven Ott’s award-winning American Native will be making its DVD debut on Aug. 28. 

The Ramapough Mountain Indians have been fighting a decades-long struggle to gain recognition from U.S. Federal Government.  It is an interesting look at what is at stake when location, location, location comes into the mix. 

Everyone, it seems, including rival tribes, the local whites and even member of the Ramapough Mountain peoples (with their internal conflicts) have conspired against them.   The why of it becomes fairly obvious, if perhaps purposely unspoken, by those who oppose the recognition of the tribe.   They are just 30 miles from downtown Manhattan!

Imagine Indian gaming in the shadow of Manhattan!   Even their friends seem none too keen on the idea … and if you have enemies opposed to you, it can be a death struggle.

Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Will Release Westworld: Season Two – The Door On Dec. 4 As DVD • Blu-ray • And 4K Ultra HD Selections

Warner Bros. Home Entertainment is taking a very long lead for the home entertainment release of one of the best cable series around these days with the assignment of a Dec. 4 street date for Westworld: Season Two – The Door.

This will be a three-SKU presentation, with three-disc collections, featuring all ten episodes, on DVD, Blu-ray and 4K Ultra HD/Blu-ray Combo Pack configurations.

Westworld: Season Two – The Door arrives with bonus nuggets galore, including the ten-part production diary title “Creating Westworld's Reality,” the HBO promo presentation of “Return to Westworld,” the red carpet premiere featuring the cast of Westworld — titled “The Buzz: On the Red Carpet” — and three new featurettes — “Paved with the Best Intentions: The Evolution of the DELOS Corp.,” “Violent Delights Have Violent Ends,” and the three-parter titled “Bring Yourself Back Online.”

Wild Eye Releasing Sets Sept. 11 For The DVD Debut Of Writer/Director Troy Escamilla's Party Night

Wild Eye Releasing, with sales and distribution expertise provided by MVD Entertainment Group, looks to Sept. 11 for the DVD debut of writer/director/producer Troy Escamilla’s haunted house slasher thriller, Party Night.

This is the type of genre film that gives the Hollywood studios nightmares.  Party Night was launched with a Kickstarter funding campaign, featuring a first time director, on micro budget, with a small cast and crew and from start to finish just 16 days to get it done … and you end up with a thoroughly enjoyable ‘80s-style slasher throwback!   A party night indeed!

If you are a fan of Sleepaway Camp, Prom Night, Happy Birthday to Me or filmmaker Buddy Cooper’s 1985 horror gem, The Mutilator, then Escamilla’s Party Night is going to be right in your wheelhouse.  

This is a total throwback … none of that self-aware or any motivational justification for the slaughter.   Simple and direct as six high school friends (aka: the victim pool) decide to skip the traditional after-Prom party for a gathering of their own at a creepy house in the woods.   Of course the creepy house in the woods is the hunting ground for an unhinged psychopath! 

As a genre fan you have to pick a favorite to root for … that’s an easy one here, you just have to get on board with the Amy character (play by newcomer Laurel Toupal … perhaps a star is born with her performance here).   You know, as a traditionalist, that the maniacal killer will take this six-pack down one by one … by one.   

Sept. 11, DVD street date, Wild Eye Releasing … Party Night, mark it down!

The Criterion Collection Reveals Its October Of 2018 DVD And Blu-ray Release Calendar

The Criterion Collection announced its October line-up of DVD and Blu-ray releases this past week and there are several films in the mix that will certainly please film buffs, collectors and those looking to upgrade their current library holdings.

October is one of those rare months in which there are five street-date Tuesdays and Criterion has something in the mix for each and every one of them … so let’s get to it.

Kicking off the month on Oct. 2 is Cornel Wilde’s 1965 thrilling “escape” drama, The Naked Prey.   He not only stars in the film — which has precious little dialogue — he also directed and produced the film (Cornel Wilde, in addition to the director/producer credits for The Naked Prey, also produced and directed Beach Red, No Blade of Grass and Sharks’ Treasure).

Filmed on location in the Transvaal and Kruger National Park, which borders on Mozambique and Zimbabwe, we meet up with a hunting safari (circa 1880) that includes Wilde.   One of their members insults the chief of a local tribe and things go down hill quickly from there.   

The safari members are slaughtered in creative ways, with Wilde’s character left for last to “compete” in the “The Lion’s Chance.”   Naked, unarmed and given a head start (think: Rod Steiger in Samuel Fuller’s 1957 film release of Run of the Arrow), he is to be hunted by members of the tribe.   The bulk of the film is built around Wilde’s character overcoming near-impossible challenges to escape death.

Bonus features include a vintage commentary option featuring film scholar Stephen Prince (“Savage Cinema: Sam Peckinpah and the Rise of Ultraviolent Movies,” “The Warrior's Camera: The Cinema of Akira Kurosawa,” etc.) and Paul Giamatti reads from Addison Erwin Sheldon’s 1913 novel, “John Colter’s Escape From the Indians,” which was the inspiration for Don Peters and Clint Johnston’s Oscar-nominated screenplay.

Book-ending the month is the Oct. 30 4K film restoration of director Rob Reiner’s 1987 film adaptation of William Goldman’s 1973 novel, The Princess Bride — Goldman also wrote the screenplay.

The film has been released multiple times on DVD and Blu-ray, but with a new 4K presentation, fans could be lining up early to upgrade their library holdings. 

Bonus features include a vintage 1996 commentary track featuring filmmaker Rob Reiner, author William Goldman, producer Andrew Scheinman and actors Billy Crystal and Peter Falk, plus there are two new featurettes featuring Goldman’s screenplay and book and a newly-prepared video session with art director Richard Holland.

There are also vintage behind-the-scene videos (five in all), an on-set film diary narrated by Cary Elwes and archival video sessions with Rob Reiner, William Goldman and actors Billy Crystal, Cary Elwes, Christopher Guest, Mandy Patinkin, Chris Sarandon, Fred Savage and Robin Wright.

 

Also getting a new 4K film restoration is auteur filmmaker Brian De Palma’s twisted 1973 horror entry, Sisters, starring Margot Kidder, Jennifer Salt … and Margot Kidder (as both Danielle and Dominique).

Bonus goodies include a newly-prepared video session with Jennifer Salt, vintage video sessions with filmmaker Brian De Palma, producer Edward R. Pressman and actors William Finley and Charles Durning and 1970 appearance by Margot Kidder on The Dick Cavett Show.

Rounding out the October DVD and Blu-ray selection are director Hal Ashby’s Shampoo (Oct. 16) and filmmaker Warner Fassbinder’s 1972 mini-series, Eight Hours Don't Make a Day (Oct. 9).