Paramount Home Media's Playing With Fire Arrives On DVD And Blu-ray On Feb. 4

Paramount Home Media looks to Feb. 4 for the home entertainment packaged media launch of director Andy Fickman’s “fish out of water” comedy, Playing With Fire, starring John Cena as an outmatched smokejumper in this family-friendly film.

The ARR is 88 days and this Thanksgiving season theatrical entry pulled in an impressive $43.7 million.

Planned for release are a Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack edition as well as a stand-alone DVD product offering.

Jake Carson (John Cena — Daddy’s Home, Blockers, Trainwreck, etc.) is the leader of a group of manly-man “smokejumpers” (fire fighters) — in a remote area of California (Burnaby, British Columbia was the actual shooting location) —who suddenly find themselves responsible for a trio of kids that they’ve rescued from a burning cabin.   

The crew is way, way out of their element as they are faced with a surly teenager, Brynn (Brianna Hildebrand — Deadpool and Deadpool 2), and her younger siblings, Will (Christian Convery) and cute-as-a-button Zoey (Finley Rose Slater in her screen debut).   These trouble-packing kids are to be watched over by Jake and his crew until help arrives.   Of course, help can’t arrive soon enough as chaos quickly ensues.

Meanwhile, a local research scientist, Amy (Judy Greer — 27 Dresses, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, Jurassic World, Halloween, etc.), has a love-hate relationship with Jake (he’s always using her toad-protected water to fight fires) and is wise enough to avoid being saddled with taking over the supervision of the kids, which leaves Jake, Mark (Keegan-Michael Key — The Predator), Rodrigo (John Leguizamo) and the monstrous and “mute” Axe (Tyler Mane) to fend for themselves.   Suddenly fighting forest fires seems safe!!!

Bonus goodies include deleted scenes, a blooper reel, “Storytime with John Cena” and four featurettes — “Lighting Up the Laughs,” “The Director’s Diaries: Read by Star Cast,” “What it Means to be a Family” and “The Real Smokejumpers: This is Their Story.”

In other Blu-ray release news this week from Paramount Home Media, a three-disc DigiBook edition of director Cecil B. DeMille's two presentations of The Ten Commandments — the 1923 silent production (with Theodore Roberts as Moses and Charles de Rochefort as Rameses) and the 1956 Best Picture nominee (with Charlton Heston and Yul Brynner) — will be available on Mar. 10.

Bonus features include commentary from writer Katherine Orrison (“Written in Stone: Making Cecil B. DeMille’s Epic, The Ten Commandments”), documentary filmmaker Laurent Bouzereau;s 2011 feature-length documentary titled The Ten Commandments: Making Miracles and vintage newsreel footage of the film’s premiere.  

Mill Creek Entertainment Double-Ups With The Priced-To-Collection Blu-ray Release Of Wesley Snipes Double Feature (The Contractor and The Fan) On Mar. 17

Mill Creek Entertainment has added the priced-to-collect Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack double feature titled Wesley Snipes Double Feature to its Mar. 17 release calendar.

Already in place are the latest editions to the Ultraman collection on Blu-ray — Ultraman Geed the Movie: Connect the Wishes! and Ultraman Orb the Movie: The Power of Bonds! (both with Digital Copy), as well as two new additions to director Andy Sidaris Blu-ray library of iconic “Bullets, Bombs and Babes” films,  Fit to Kill and Hard Hunted (both also feature Digital Copy).

The latest showcasing Wesley Snipes is the double-feature of director Tony Scott’s 1996 film adaptation of the Peter Abrahams novel, The Fan (with Robert De Niro and Ellen Barkin) and director Josef Rusnak’s 2007 action thriller, The Contractor.

Icarus Films Tabs Feb. 25 For The Domestic DVD Debut Of Director Jeanne Herry's In Safe Hands

Icarus Films rang in the New Year (literally) with the end-of-2019 release announcement for the Distrib Films’ domestic DVD debut of actress-turned-director Jeanne Herry’s Cesar Awards’ nominee for Best Picture, In Safe Hands.  The street date will be Feb. 25.

In Safe Hands began working the film festival circuit during the summer of 2018 and then opened theatrically in France during the Christmas season of the same year.   That qualified the film for Cesar Awards consideration (the French equivalent of our Oscars) and it cleaned up, which is very impressive when you consider that In Safe Hands is only Herry’s second feature film.   

She was not only nominated for Best Director, but her film was nominated Best Picture, plus Best Actress nods went to both Sandrine Kiberlain (her ninth nomination, with wins for 9-Month Stretch and To Have (or Not)) and Élodie Bouchez (her third Cesar Award nomination, with wins for both The Dreamlife of Angels and Wild Reeds) and a Best Actor nomination was in the cards for Gilles Lellouche as well, who found himself competing with Jeanne Herry in both the Best Picture and Best Director category for his film, Sink or Swim.

Of note, In Safe Hands had an ever-so-brief arthouse run this past July and arrives on DVD with an ARR of 214 days.

Little Theo is a newborn, just one day old, when his mother decides that the little guy needs someone other than her to raise him.   In France they have a law where the mother can do just that, put the child up for adoption and then clock starts ticking … two months to change her mind.

First in line is Alice (Élodie Bouchez), who has been trying to adopt a child for something like ten years … she is now 41 and the clock is ticking for her as well.  When she first found out that she could not have children of her own, her and her husband got on the list (we see this in flashbacks) … he has since moved on and she has reached the front of the line, will a single mom even considered?

Before this can be finalized, Karine (Sandrine Kiberlain), the social in charge of the case goes down the list of qualified foster care providers and picks Jean (Gilles Lellouche), who — as we learn — came up through the foster care system himself.   

Bureaucracy, paperwork, emotion and tick tock of time … will events conspire against Alice.   Will Theo find a loving home?   In Safe Hands show the system at work … and the emotions of the people who find themselves caught up in it.

In Safe Hands is presented in French with English subtitles.

MVD Entertainment Group Prepares The DVD Debut Of Tom Stern's Clay Pigeon For Mar. 17

MVD Entertainment Group has tabbed Mar. 17 as the DVD debut date for actor/filmmaker Tom Stern’s 1971 action gem, Clay Pigeon.   

We can only speculate as to why it took so long for this film to finally reach the DVD marketplace (rights, etc.), but to fully understand how the film got made in the first place, you have to go back to 1969 and Hells Angels ’69, which was written by and starred Tom Stern.   

After appearing in both The Devil’s Brigade and Angels from Hell the previous year (1968), he then wrote the script for Hells Angels ’69 and teamed up with Jeremy Slate (Stern and Slate had worked together in The Devil’s Brigade), who had, in turn, established himself with Tom Laughlin’s The Born Losers in 1967 and Mini-Skirt Mob in 1968 as an “outlaw” type (it didn‘t hurt that he had worked with John Wayne in both The Sons of Katie Elder and True Grit) and together they delivered a drive-in gem.

Tom Stern took the money — and fame — from the biker flick and parlayed it into a production and distribution deal (with MGM) for Clay Pigeon.   He produced, starred-in and took over the direction at some point.   

Stern plays Joe Ryan, a Vietnam War vet who returns home (a hero) and drops-out.   Long-hair, hippy, Hollywood, he could easily fit in with the street people of Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood.   

Busted for some minor shenanigans, Joe is approached by Federal Bureau of Narcotics (predecessor to the current-day DEA) agent Frank Redford (Telly Savalas) to go undercover in an effort to bust drug lord Henry Neilson, aka: Tallin (Robert Vaughn).   When Joe refuses, Redford sets him up by putting out information that he, Joe Ryan, is actually the mysterious Tallin.   

Joe goes on the run, Tallin and his crew go after him … as do the cops who don’t know that it’s all a double-cross set-up.   Meanwhile, the shifty Redford just sits back and waits for things to play out.   Brutal.    

      

First time on DVD, Clay Pigeon from MVD Entertainment Group on Mar. 17 has to be on your must-see list.

Writer/Director Nicole Conn's More Beautiful For Having Been Broken Arrives On DVD On Apr. 7

Writer/director Nicole Conn’s More Beautiful for Having Been Broken, a heartfelt tale about how love and tenderness can connect people in unexpected ways, will be making its DVD debut courtesy of Wolfe on Apr. 7.

The film opened at Frameline in July of last year and has been working the festival circuit ever since.  Indeed, the Women’s Worldwide Film Festival in Scottsdale is locked in for Feb. 8 and the Mardi Gras Film Festival in Sydney, Australia follows on Feb. 18.   

It is the sort of film that could easily tour for an entire year and more … audiences love it and the reviews have been solid.   But you would expect that from filmmaker Nicole Conn, who has been at this for something like 25 years.   Her Little Man documentary was not a multi-festival award-winner, but a film that would have you laughing and crying at the same moment … she’s that good.

It is important to note that More Beautiful for Having Been Broken is drawn from Conn’s own experiences as documented in the aforementioned Little Man.   With that said, her latest film is not, repeat not, one of those “disease of the week” weepers, but instead a well-told story that never goes quite where you expect it, which is a good thing.

FBI agent “Max” (McKenzie) De Ridder (Zoe Ventoura — as Melissa in the Aussie television series Packed to the Rafters) is having a tough time.  Her mother, who was her support and mentor, has died and her career is in jeopardy over some questionable decisions.   Without getting into the details, she has to ride out a 90 day suspension and use the time to get her act together.

She retreats to a place she once visited with her mother and happens upon a small-framed kid named Freddie (Cale Ferrin), a “special needs” child suffering from Fanconi Anemia.   They connect … and we quickly learn that he is anything but “special needs.”   He’s a trooper; a force of nature … funny and yet fragile.

We will meet his frosty mother, Samantha (Kayla Radomski — a dancer at heart, she has appeared in such films as Once Upon a Time … In Hollywood, Footloose and was the dance-off robot in Passengers).  

Conflict, white lies, and tension … all give way to friendship and affection, but there is a clock ticking, not only for little Freddie, but for Max and her past.

More Beautiful for Having Been Broken is a solid indie film, great cast (including veterans Bruce Davison, French Stewart and Kay Lenz) and wonderful script from Nicole Conn.   

Bayview Entertainment's DVD Debut Of Director Tom Ryan's The Theatre Of Terror Set For Feb. 25

Bayview Entertainment looks to Feb. 25 for the DVD debut of writer/director Tom Ryan’s anthology horror treat, The Theatre of Terror. 

In the same spirit as the great Amicus Films horror anthology films of the 1970s, The House that Dripped Blood, Asylum and Tales from the Crypt, comes The Theatre of Terror, which features a classic wrap-around story and four short tales of horror and sci-fi.

An iconic theatre (Loew's Jersey Theatre standing in) needs volunteers and Amber (Lauren Renahan — Pretty Fine Things) answers the call, only to find that the place is empty, save for Colin (played by filmmaker Tom Ryan).   He insists on giving her a tour of the grand cinema palace and once inside the lovely Amber is treated to a special screening.

The first of these short films is The Gift, which features Donna (Heather Brittain O'Scanlon — Rearview Mirrors, Tom’s Dilemma), a “working girl,” who accidently kills a “client” and makes a run for it.   She finds herself taking refuge in a rundown curio shop operated by “The Shopkeeper” (Adam Ginsberg — Pretty Fine Things), where she tells him her story of drugs, lost hopes and more … so he gives her a “special” gift.

After that little jolt, Amber watches her second short film courtesy of Colin.  This one is titled The Bookworm, which finds Mark (Scott Gorbach) using his inheritance to buy a complete library of old books … only to discover something more than books comes with his new collection.

Amber is then treated to a third film, Abducted, which has a change of pace as we switch from horror to the horror that lurks within a sci-fi tale.  Here we meet Ned (Russell Hackett) and his dog Boo out camping (and looking for a missing treasure).   He witnesses a UFO landing and soon discovers why people have gone missing in Chavez County!!   

Finally, Colin unspools the fourth film for Amber to “enjoy.”   This one is titled Endangered, and it features a creepy cabin in the woods where three environmentalists — out to save grey wolves — meet a mysterious woman who shares their passion.

And what of Amber?   Feb. 25 and the DVD debut of The Theatre of Terror to find out what happens to her at the hands of the mysterious Colin.

Arrow Video Restores Director Robert Altman's Kansas City For Blu-ray Release On Mar. 03

Arrow Video, with domestic sales and distribution expertise provided by MVD Entertainment Group, has selected Mar. 3 as street date for a new Hi-Def Blu-ray presentation of auteur filmmaker Robert Altman’s 1996 double-kidnapping thriller, Kansas City.

Set in the mid-1930s, small-time grifter Johnny O’Hara (Dermot Mulroney) is kidnapped by hoodlum Seldom Seen (Harry Belafonte) and Blondie O’Hara (Jennifer Jason Leigh), Johnny’s wife, comes up with a unique solution to the problem.   She kidnaps the drug-addled wife (Miranda Richardson) of a well-connected local politician (Michael Murphy) and blackmails him into helping her free Johnny.   

Simple plan … it gets complicated in an Altmanesque way very quickly.

Bonus features include a vintage commentary from Robert Altman and two vintage featurettes — “Robert Altman Goes to the Heart of America” and “Kansas City: The Music.”

There is also a newly-filmed video appreciation with film critic Geoff Andrew (“The Films of Nicholas Ray: The Poet of Nightfall,” “Stranger Than Paradise: Maverick Film-Makers in Recent American Cinema,” etc.).