New DVD Additions
Thursday, October 26, 2023
New DVD • Blu-ray • 4K Ultra HD Activity For The Period Ending October 20, 2023
7idea Productions (MOD)
Asuka the Disc Dog (Fred the Blu-ray Dog) (MOD)
Lionsgate Home Entertainment
MVD Entertainment Group Bestows "Rewind Collection" Status On The 4K Ultra HD Release Of Director Rospo Pallenberg's Cutting Class On Jan. 16 (Blu-ray And DVD Editions Also Available)
MVD Entertainment Group will open the New Year with just such a guilty pleasure, which takes the form of a full spread of physical media product offerings of director Rospo Pallenberg’s 1989 direct-to-video slasher flick, Cutting Class. And yes genre fans, this is a “Rewind Collection” release!!
This 4K film restoration — from the original 35mm camera negative — has a street date of Jan. 16 for a 4K Ultra HD/Blu-ray Combo Pack, as well as Blu-ray and DVD editions.
There is just so much to admire about this high school slasher film, even though the body count is rather slim. First, there’s Roddy McDowall as the principal of the school (gotcha, you were thinking about that superstar who also appears here). McDowall plays everything over the top … and in doing so you begin to suspect that he might actually be the killer (red herring alert).
He’s not the killer, but he plays a cocky high school jock who becomes the number one target of the high school slasher.
Another cool thing in this guilty pleasure is the running joke that plays out over the length of the film. Paula (played by Jill Schoelen — fresh from The Stepfather … other films include Curse II; The Bite, The Phantom of the Opera and as Maggie in Popcorn) — the high school hottie — who is the female lead, is told by her father, William Carson (played by Martin Mull), to stay out of trouble while he is gone on a hunting trip.
Rounding out the cast is Donovan Leitch (The In Crowd, The Blob, Glory, etc.) as Brian Woods, who is (spoiler alert) the creepy new kid in school who turns out to be the killer (circle back to Paula’s dad being shot with an arrow for clues).
Cutting Class is a guilty pleasure. Period!
Bonus goodies video sessions with Jill Schoelen and Donovan Leitch, plus the featurette titled “Kill Comparisons.”
Full Moon Features Targets Dec. 12 For The Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack Debut Of Filmmaker Jess Franco's 1977 Film Release Of Blue Rita
This would be iconic cult filmmaker Jess Franco’s 1977 sexploitation, exploitation, alternative reality gem, Blue Rita, which will be arriving on Dec. 12 as a newly prepared Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack product offering.
Martine Fléty (Bangkok Connection, Perversions, Candice Candy) stars as Rita Blue, an ideologue, man-hating, sexual deviant and would-be spy, who runs a nightclub that exists as a “honey pot” for horny secret agents. Once identified, they are drugged, taken prisoner, tortured and dealt with!
Who doesn’t like a good sexploitation film? Along those line, there never has been a bad Nunsploitation film — art no, but they serve their intended audience’s desires and that’s all that counts. They even have top ten lists posted.
However, Franco’s Blue Rita is in a league all it’s own. It goes beyond Nunsploitation (sorry, no Nuns here) with naked women and torture … I think there’s a name for that, but we won’t go there. All you need to know that it is Jess Franco at his excessive, stylish best.
Additionally, there is an extensive Jess Franco trailer collection, a photo gallery (that should be interesting) and a vintage video session (circa 2013) with Chris Alexander and Peter Strickland.
Wednesday, October 25, 2023
Bayview Entertainment's Blu-ray Debut Of Writer/Director Richard Bailey’s The Dark Sisters Will Take Place On Nov. 28
They’ve been at odds, disconnected for some time and now and as the film unfolds we find them reuniting — for a “vacation” — at a remote cabin in the woods (filmed in and around Caddo Lake in Texas). It is a beautiful place, which belies its true nature.
Have they returned to the “scene of a crime,” so to speak? To rid themselves of what has divided them? Shifting back and forth in time, Bailey eases us into the mystery that has marked their lives. Bringing us closer and closer to the “event” that has changed everything … and in doing so ratchets up the tension ever so slowly.
Perhaps they are mirror-like creatures of Jorie and Kaidon. Perhaps not, just strangers. In any case, this story of good and evil enters the final act and yet another stranger from the woods comes into play, the “Hunter,” played by fellow indie filmmaker Christie Vela (The Finale). Has justice arrived?
We won’t give away the ending that marks this unconventional horror from writer/director Richard Bailey. For that you will have to check out the Blu-ray of The Dark Sisters from Bayview Entertainment on Nov. 28.
Lionsgate Home Entertainment Tabs Nov. 21 For A Full-Spread Of Physical Media Product Offerings For Director Scott Waugh’s Expend4bles
The ARR* is a swift-to-market 60 days and domestic box office receipts currently stand at $16.2 million.
Planned for release are Combo Pack editions for both the 4K Ultra HD (with Blu-ray) and Blu-ray (with DVD) formats, plus a stand-alone DVD selection.
As to bonus nuggets, filmmaker Scott Waugh (Act of Valor, Hidden Strike) provides commentary, plus there are two featurettes — “Bigger, Bolder, Badder: The Expendables in Action” and “More Than a Team: New Blood Meets Old Blood.”
*ARR
is short for "Asset Rollover Rate," which measures the number of days
between a film's theatrical launch and its subsequent arrival in the
physical media marketplace.
Universal Pictures Home Entertainment Speeds Filmmaker Nia Vardalos' My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3 To Market As Blu-ray And DVD Product Offerings In 53 Days With Oct. 31 Release Date
The ARR is a quick to market 53 days (what’s the rush?) and the domestic box office take currently stands at $28.4 million.
Bonus features include commentary by filmmaker Nia Vardalos, a gag reel, deleted and extended scenes, an extended take of the “Wedding Drum Song’ and two featurettes — “On Set with Nia Vardalos” and “OPA!: The Making of My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3.”
Monday, October 23, 2023
Warner Bros. Discovery Home Entertainment Will Be Releasing A Newly-Minted 4K Ultra HD Edition Of Director Steven Spielberg's The Color Purple On Dec. 05
The film was a commercial success and received eleven Oscar nominations, including Best Picture and Best Actress for Whoopi Goldberg’s portrayal of Walker’s protagonist, Celie Harris (Johnson), but was shutout.
The members of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences seem to have a love-hate relationship with Spielberg … they nominated his pictures over and over again, but only once have they awarded him the Oscar for Best Picture, Schindler’s List (the Saving Private Ryan denial over Weinstein’s Shakespeare in Love was a total disgrace).
Bonus features included with the 4K Ultra HD presentation of The Color Purple are a trio of archival featurettes — “Conversations with the Ancestors: The Color Purple from Book to Screen,” “A Collaboration of Spirits: Casting and Acting The Color Purple” and “Cultivating a Classic: The Making of The Color Purple.”
Director Neill Blomkamp's Gran Turismo Arrives On Nov. 07 From Sony Pictures Home Entertainment As A Full-Spread Of Physical Media Purchasing Options
Inspired by the true-life story of gamer Jann Mardenborough (Archie Madekwe — Midsommar, Beau is Afraid), who became a professional race driver, Sony will be making available stand-along DVD and Blu-ray editions, as well as a 4K Ultra HD/Blu-ray Combo Pack.
The ARR* comes in at 74 days and the domestic box office tally was 43.5 million.
Unfortunately, an Oct. 17 multi-platform VOD window has been inserted (Prime, Vudu, iTunes, etc.), which will give “helpers” a jump-the-starting-line head start on providing their own Blu-ray editions to unsuspecting consumers.
As to bonus features, common to all three release SKUs are two featurettes — “The Plan: The True Story of Jann Mardenborough” and “The Wheels: The Fast-Acting Cast.”
Exclusive to the Blu-ray and 4K Ultra HD/Blu-ray Combo Pack product offerings are deleted and extended scenes and three additional production feaurettes — “The Engine: Driving the Visuals,” “The Pit Crew: Action and Stunts” and “The Garage: The Amazing Automobiles.”
*ARR is short for "Asset Rollover Rate," which measures the number of days between a film's theatrical launch and its subsequent arrival in the physical media marketplace.
Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment Tabs Nov. 28 As The Street Date For DVD And Blu-ray Editions Of The 20th Century Studios' Production Of Director Kenneth Branagh's A Haunting In Venice
Planned for release on that date are stand-alone DVD and Blu-ray purchasing options.
This 20th Century Studios production, which is billed as a sequel to Branagh’s 2022 film release of Death on the Nile, generated $40.9 million in domestic ticket sales and arrives in the physical media marketplace with an ARR* of 74 days.
There will a multi-platform VOD (purchasing and/or rental) and streaming (Hulu) launch on Oct. 31, which will give the sophisticated “helper” community a 30-day window to shop Blu-ray editions of their own to unsuspecting fans of Agatha Christie Poirot mysteries (A Haunting in Venice is Branagh’s third Poirot entry — Murder on the Orient Express and the aforementioned Death on the Nile being the other two).
As to bonus goodies, there are eleven deleted scenes and the featurette titled “Murder, Death and Haunting.”
*ARR is short for "Asset Rollover Rate," which measures the number of days between a film's theatrical launch and its subsequent arrival in the physical media marketplace.
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