For the period ending August 14, 2020 ... New DVD, Blu-ray and 4K Ultra HD selections added to the DVD & Blu-ray Release Report's database

 

 

DVD New Releases

 

Acorn Media

08/11/20 — Released Gold Digger: Season One (2 disc set)

 

Baker Publishing Group

08/11/20 — Released Matthew Barnett: One Small Step

 

Bayview Entertainment

10/20/20 — Sets Death in Buenos Aires (Spanish)Dream Children, HNN Presents: Bunny the Killer Thing, HNN Presents: Female Werewolf, HNN Presents: If He Hollers (Spanish), HNN Presents: Keeping Rosy, HNN Presents: Psycho-Therapy, HNN Presents: Toro Loco - Bloodthirsty (Spanish), Ravenstein and Sect (Spanish)

 

Breaking Glass Pictures

07/28/20 — Released Pornstar Pandemic

08/11/20 — Released Aquaslash

 

Eye Films Releasing, Inc. (MOD)

08/11/20 — Released Aggressive Behavior

 

Film Movement

08/11/20 — Released White, White Day (Icelandic)

 

Florenzano Films (MOD)

08/11/20 — Released Evil Rises

 

Freestyle Digital Media (MOD)

07/28/20 — Released Dale Archdale

08/11/20 — Released Answer

 

Golden Films (MOD)

08/11/20 — Released Anastasia, Beauty and the Beast, Camelot, Noah's Ark, Princess Castle, Tale of Egypt, Tarzan of the Apes and Treasure Island

 

Gravitas Ventures (MOD)

08/11/20 — Released Dark End of the Street, Queen's Man and Rook

 

Harvest House Publishing

08/04/20 — Released Tony Evans: The Power of Knowing God

 

I-Cine

08/11/20 — Released Hoa Trong Tm (17 disc set), Nam Vung Tro Ve (14 disc set), Nguoi Tinh Bo Gio (14 disc set), Nuch Mat Ngoi Sao (15 disc set) and Sat Thu (12 disc set)

 

Image Entertainment

08/11/20 — Released Playing For Keeps: Season One (2 disc set)

 

Lionsgate Home Entertainment

08/11/20 — G-Loc and I Am Vengeance: Retailiation

 

MVD Entertainment Group

11/06/20 — Sets Chuck Berry: The Original King of Rock 'N' Roll

 

Massacre Video

08/11/20 — Released Love Bites

 

PBS Direct

08/11/20 — Released Arthur: The Ultimate Collection (3 disc set), Asian Amerians (2 disc set), Mae West: Dirty Blonde, NOVA: Eagle Power and Vote (2 disc set)

 

PCN Productions (MOD)

08/04/20 — Released 2020 Sports Classics: 2009 PIAA 2A Football Championship, 2020 PCN Profiles: David Cohen and Pennsylvania Country Roads: Carl Shaffer & Elk Lake School

08/11/20 — Released 2020 Keystone Cuisine: Firehouse Tap and Grille, 2020 The African American Experience: The Denis Farm and 2020 The African American Experience: The Pittsburgh Courier

 

Paramount Home Media

10/20/20 — Sets Great: Season One (4 disc set)

10/27/20 — Sets Bonanza: The Official Eleventh Season, Volume One (4 disc set) and Bonanza: The Official Eleventh Season, Volume Two (3 disc set)

 

Plets Express (MOD)

08/11/20 — Released Union Pacific, Volume 1: Big Boy and Freights in Wisconsin

 

Rarefilmsandmore.com (MOD)

08/11/20 — Released Kutuzov (Russian) and Mask of the Gorilla (German)

 

Smart Mark Video (MOD)

08/11/20 — Released H2O Wrestling: Back in the Saddle Again - Williamstown, NJ, IWA Deep South: Boriss Dukkee's Shitapocalypse and IWA Mid-South: King of the Death Match Tournament 2020 - Cornersville, IN (2 disc set)

 

Steam Train Videos (MOD)

08/11/20 — Released In Search of Steam, Volume 2: Best of 2018

 

Universal Pictures Home Ent.

08/11/20 — Released Belgravia (2 disc set)

 

Unobstructed View

08/11/20 — Released American Dharma

 

Vertical Entertainment

08/11/20 — Released Archive (ARR of 32 days; box office: $118,674)

 

Vision Films (MOD)

08/11/20 — Released Accidental Climber and Liza, Liza Skies are Grey

 

Warner Bros. Home Ent.

07/21/20 — Released Castle Rock: The Complete Second Season (3 disc set)

08/25/20 — Sets Deep Blue Sea 3

09/01/20 — Sets Young Sheldon: The Complete Third Season (2 disc set)

09/08/20 — Sets Supergirl: The Complete Fifth Season (5 disc set)

 

Wild Eye Releasing

08/11/20 — Released American Sasquatch

10/13/20 — Sets Return to Splatter Farm

 

Zondervan

08/04/20 — Released Jennie Lusk: Fight to Flourish (with bonus study guide) and Take Back Your Life 08/11/20 — Video Study: A 40-day Interactive Journey To Thinking Right So You Can Live Right

Galatians: Accepted and Free (with bonus study guide)

 

 

Blu-ray New Releases

 

AGFA

09/29/20 — Sets Sometimes Aunt Martha Does Dreadful Things

 

Bill Zebub Productions

08/11/20 — Released Serial Killer Collection

 

Faux Pas Films (MOD)

08/04/20 — Released Candie's Harem

08/11/20 — Released Cellar Secret and Hematic Web

 

Fun City Editions

09/29/20 — Sets Alphabet City

 

FUNimation

08/11/20 — Released Legend of the Galatic Heroes, Season Two (2 Blu-ray/2 DVD Combo Pack) (with Digital Copy)

 

Gravitas Ventures (MOD)

08/11/20 — Released Dark End of the Street, Queen's Man and Rook

 

Kino Lorber

08/11/20 — Released Beyond the Visible: Hilma af Klint (German), Cry Freedom, Date With an Angel, Diva (French), Lucky Grandma (Mandarin), Quest and Tender Mercies

 

MVD Entertainment Group

11/06/20 — Sets Chuck Berry: The Original King of Rock 'N' Roll

 

Meridian Releasing Group (MOD)

08/11/20 — Released Hanging in There and MRG Collective: Horror, Volume 6 (8 short films: Bewere, Dystopia St, Off Fleek, Scuttle, Selfie, Spiral; Still, Wiped)

 

Mondo Macabro

08/11/20 — Released Gemini (Japanese) and Lady Kills/Pervertissima (French)

 

PCN Productions (MOD)

08/04/20 — Released 2020 Sports Classics: 2009 PIAA 2A Football Championship, 2020 PCN Profiles: David Cohen and Pennsylvania Country Roads: Carl Shaffer & Elk Lake School

08/11/20 — Released 2020 Keystone Cuisine: Firehouse Tap and Grille, 2020 The African American Experience: The Denis Farm and 2020 The African American Experience: The Pittsburgh Courier

 

Paramount Home Media

09/22/20 — Sets Most Wanted (with Digital Copy)

 

Plets Express (MOD)

08/11/20 — Released Union Pacific, Volume 1: Big Boy and Freights in Wisconsin

 

Scorpion Releasing

08/11/20 — Released Different Story

 

Sentai Filmworks

08/11/20 — Released Try Knights: Complete Series (2 disc set)

 

Shout! Factory

08/11/20 — Released Phantom of the Opera: Collector's Edition

 

Smart Mark Video (MOD)

08/11/20 — Released Guantos Hardcore Crew: Riesgo Biologico - Lucha Extreme en Curentena and IWA Deep South: Boriss Dukkee's Shitapocalypse

 

Sony Pictures Home Ent.

08/11/20 — Released Blacklist: The Complete Seventh Season (5 disc set)

09/15/20 — Sets Outlander: Season Five (4 disc set) (with Digital Copy)

 

Sony Pictures Home Ent. (MOD)

09/22/20 — Sets Bitter Tea of General Yen, I Love You to Death and Passenger

 

Steam Train Videos (MOD)

08/11/20 — Released In Search of Steam, Volume 2: Best of 2018

 

Unearthed Films

08/11/20 — Released Live Feed

 

VIZ Media

08/11/20 — Released Inu Yasha: Set Two (4 disc set)

 

Vinegar Syndrome

09/29/20 — Released Grave Robbers (Spanish), Memorial Valley Massacre, Spellcaster and Zombie 5: Killing Birds

 

Well Go U.S.A.

08/11/20 — Released Valley of the Gods

 

 

 

4K Ultra HD New Releases

 

Warner Bros. Home Entertainment

09/22/20 — Sets Full Metal Jacket (4K Ultra HD/Blu-ray Combo Pack) (with Digital Copy)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Writer/Director Daniel Roby's Most Wanted On Blu-ray From Paramount Home Media On Sept. 29

Paramount Home Media has selected Sept. 22 as the Blu-ray debut date for writer/director Daniel Roby’s true-life suspense drama, Most Wanted, starring Josh Hartnett, Jim Gaffigan and Antoine Olivier Pilon.

 

A Canadian import, with a brief theatrical showcase up there, Most Wanted ran afoul of the Covid-19 pandemic and unfortunately gets a direct-to-video launch in the domestic market.   It is, nevertheless, an A-list thriller based on actual events … a few name changes, some events altered, but basically a true story.

 

A Canadian addict and would-be drug dealer, Daniel (Antoine Olivier Pilon — Mommy), agrees to work with Canadian authorities relating to heroin shipments being smuggled into the country from Thailand.   He’s undercover, working for Canadian authorities … they have his back, what can go wrong?

 

In a word, plenty.   In the real world, the drug bust in Bangkok was all set up and then something went wrong and one of the Canadian agents was killed.   That’s been changed around a bit here, but basically the result turns out the same.   His “cover” abandons him to Thai authorities and Daniel soon finds himself facing the death penalty unless he confesses.  

 

Parallel to this is the real-life Victor Malarek (play by Josh Hartnett), an investigative journalist, who comes across the “human interest” story of a Canadian citizen, Daniel, facing a possible death sentence in Thailand for drug smuggling.   He decides to investigate the background of what happened, but comes up against a stonewall with Canadian authorities.   A cover up.

 

Roby’s film jumps back and forth between Malarek getting to the bottom of what happened and Daniel’s Thai prison existence.   Eventually, Malarek will meet up with and interview Daniel, advise him on a course of action and then set about to be his advocate.

 

It will take eight long years of Malarek working on the story and Daniel surviving in a Thai prison before he is released.   Most Wanted is that story.

 

With the success of The Crown, which chronicles the life and reign of Queen Elizabeth II, it was a natural that the life and times of the great Russian monarch, Catherine the Great, would also get a look-see.

 

In May of this year, HULU launched The Great, a satirical look at Catherine’s rise to power (she is played by Elle Fanning), which spins around the court intrigue involving her husband, Peter III (Nicholas Hoult).   

 

Paramount Home Media announced this past week The Great: Season One — all ten episodes — will be available as a four-disc DVD collection on Oct. 20.

 

So successful was this first season that HULU ordered a full second season … stayed tuned.

 

Bonus features include a gag reel and pair of production featurettes — “Bold and Brash: Inside The Great” and “Palatial Panache: The Style of The Great.”

 

 

 

Fun City Editions New 2K Film Restoration Of Director Amos Poe's Alphabet City Will Be Ready For A Blu-ray Release On Sept. 29

Fun City Editions, working hand in hand with Vinegar Syndrome for film restoration and the production of bonus content, launches on Sept. 29 with the Blu-ray release of a new 2K film restoration (from the 35mm interpositive) of No Wave legend Amos Poe’s 1984 crime drama, Alphabet City.

 

Poe began in the mid-70s with indie films that documented life on the edge in New York City — Blank Generation (1976), an iconic document of the rise of Punk Rock, which was followed by Unmade Beds (1976) and The Foreigner (1978), both featuring Blondie lead recording artist Debbie Harry and Subway Riders in 1981 (with future Harry Potter star, Robbie Coltrane).

 

In the fall of 1983 Poe returned to the streets of Manhattan for a film that represented a distinct change from his earlier, gritty No Wave experimental films.   Experienced, self-assured and familiar with his surroundings, Poe set about to make a neo-noir-ish crime drama starring Vincent Spano (Baby It’s You, Rumble Fish, High Frequency, etc.) as Johnny, a “worker bee” money collector for a local mobster by the name of Gino (Raymond Serra).  

 

Johnny’s job is to pick up drug money from the local network of dealers, including Lippy (Michael Winslow — as Larvell Jones in the Police Academy series of movies), and “protection” money from local businesses.  He has taken to “skimming” from the collections and stashing the cash away in the form of an exit strategy.

 

Johnny is also required to do other things for Gino, and it is this latest assignment that brings things to a boiling point.   He is to “torch” a building, not just any building, but one in which his mother (Zohra Lampert) and sister, Sophia (Jami Gertz — Sixteen Candles, Quicksilver, The Lost Boys, etc.), live.   

 

A few things, Johnny has plans to get out of “the business” because he has a wife (played by Kate Vernon — Pretty in Pink, Malcolm X, etc.) and young daughter, he is at odds with his sister — she’s a hooker, but “high class” — and his mother refuses to abandon the rundown tenement.   What’s a young gangster to do?

 

A collection goes awry, Johnny under-reports the take, Gino gets suspicious.   The building doesn’t get torched, Gino gets suspicious, and has some other low life take care of it.   Johnny gets in a shootout with the owner of The Tropicana Nightclub (Kenny Marino) — over “protection” … and Gino decides to cut his losses and orders a “hit” on our boy Johnny.   It’s going to be a long night on the streets of “Alphabet City.”

 

Alphabet City, brutal, violent, filled with nasty people and most of all it is a slice-of-life from the streets of Manhattan.   Bonus goodies include a newly prepared commentary option with filmmaker Amos Poe, who is joined by author. Luc Sante, whose book, “Low Life: Lures and Snares of Old New York,” chronicles the colorful history of Manhattan’s lower eastside (aka: “Alphabet City”), a newly-minted video session with actor Vincent Spano, an extensive image gallery and a new video essay with Irish filmmaker Christopher O’Neill (Me the Seagull and the Sky, Raquel Times Ten, etc.). 

 

 

 

 

AGFA Restores Writer/Director Thomas Casey's Sometimes Aunt Martha Does Dreadful Things For Blu-ray Release On Sept. 29

The American Genre Film Archive (AGFA) has unearthed what is believed as being the only surviving 35mm print of writer/director/producer Thomas Casey’s 1971 indie psycho-thriller, Sometimes Aunt Martha Does Dreadful Things.  It will be available as a Blu-ray edition on Sept. 29.

 

There was a go-round of films like Who Slew Auntie Roo? (1972), What Ever Happened to Aunt Alice? (1969) and What’s the Matter with Helen? (1971) … all about the same time that had these catchy titles.  Probably influenced by the likes of the earlier What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? and the promotional skills of showman/director/producer William Castle ... and maybe even Herschell Gordon Lewis.

 

In any case, down in Florida, Thomas Casey, had written Flesh Feast in 1967 (he was the cinematographer on the film as well), a film that is noted for starring none other than Veronica Lake (in her final screen appearance).   The film didn’t make it to theatres until 1970, and it was about that time that Casey teamed up with Harry Kerwin, who was the “production manager” on Flesh Feast to make Sometimes Aunt Martha Does Dreadful Things.

 

Two jewel thieves and would-be bank-robbers, Stanley (Wayne Crawford, who would later team with Kerwin for God’s Bloody Acre and Barracuda … also starred as Jake Speed in director Andrew Lane’s 1986 film release of Jake Speed) and Paul (Abe Zwick) take it on the lamb after one of their heists goes south.   Paul dons the disguise of Stanley’s Aunt Martha, which should be the perfect cover.   

 

However, instead of keeping a low profile and waiting until things blow over, Stanley, although in a gay relationship with Paul, is drawn to exotic young women.   He brings them home and Aunt Martha becomes very protective … some might even go so far as to say she is deranged.   The body count mounts!!

 

Bonus features include commentary with film historian and archivist Evan Purchell, who is joined by American Genre Film Archive’s Bret Berg, the 1970 short film titled The Drag Queen’s Ball and two additional short films — Gay-In III and Caught in the Can.