Wolfe Video's Margarita Ready For DVD On Oct. 29

Dominique Cardona and Laurie Colbert teamed up for Margarita, an award-winning slice-of-life drama that will be making its way to DVD courtesy of Wolfe Video on Oct. 29.

Ben (Patrick McKenna) and Gail Lawson (Claire Lautier) are the picture-perfect, up-scale Canadian family.  Professionals — dentist, doctor and liberal to the core.   They smack of smugness that would make even “limousine liberals” down here cringe.  Snobs, but they are oh so perfect.

They’ve even have a nanny for their daughter, Mali (Maya Ritter), an illegal Mexican alien by the name of Margarita (Nicola Correia Damude), but the daughter is now a teen, so when investments go south and their lifestyle begins to catch up with them (a microcosm of the overall economy) she is tossed to under the bus.

The moment she is gone the Lawson’s realize that she was actually a part of their family and have one of those “come-to-Jesus” moments where they suddenly realize that everything they took for granted was a facade of their own making.   Can they redeem themselves and make things right?   That’s the question! 

With film festival wins at the Barcelona International Gay & Lesbian Film Festival, Créteil International Women's Film Festival and the Toronto Inside Out Lesbian and Gay Film and Video Festival, Wolfe Video has a indie hit on their hands here … and with that Oct. 29 DVD debut date they have plenty of time to bang the promotional drums.

To download this week's complete edition of the DVD and Blu-ray Release Report:  DVD & Blu-ray Release Report

Family-Friendly Flowers For Fannie From VCI Entertainment On Oct. 15

VCI Entertainment has tabbed Oct. 15 as the DVD debut date for writer/director Sharon Wilharm’s Dove Family-Approved and award-winning family-friendly drama, Flowers For Fannie.

Fannie Fairchild (Patricia Binkley) is an aloof old woman who carries a secret with her, her love for George, but no one at her church or in her life knows this.   She spends time with George, at his grave, and shares her feelings; her love, but she recognizes her own mortality and knows that the flowers she leaves and the conversations she has will soon be but a memory.

Louise (Brittany Wilharm) is her “secretary” and she too carries secrets — the love for her parents who died when she was in high school.   Somehow, despite Fannie’s demeanor, the two will find a way to heal each other.

To download this week's complete edition of the DVD and Blu-ray Release Report:  DVD & Blu-ray Release Report

Breaking Glass Pictures' Longing Nights Update

From Madrid, Spain on Nov. 5 comes the DVD debut of writer/director Tiago Leão’s Longing Nights.   Also in Spanish with English subtitles, this self-styled “docudrama” takes a look — a very candid look — at the lives of four 20-somethings living in Madrid as they struggle to find meaning in their lives.

Playing themselves are Aitana, Pierrick, Jorge and Rita who take us on a whirlwind journey through the metropolis of modern Madrid that features clubs, drugs, sex and a variety of relationships that range from the lonely and desperate to the erotic and sensual.

Bonus features include deleted scenes and a photo gallery.

To download this week's complete edition of the DVD and Blu-ray Release Report:  DVD & Blu-ray Release Report

Argo: Extended Edition – Declassified On Blu-ray From Warner Home Video Dec. 3

Last year’s Oscar derby for Best Picture was a nail-biter with Argo, Zero Dark Thirty, Lincoln, Life of Pi and Les Misérables all being worthy contenders.   You would, however, be hard-pressed to find five such films so far this year, but that will change as the post-Labor Day period heralds the arrival of the more “prestigious” films and bids adieu to the loud and expensive summer super hero extravaganzas.

Certainly the Weinsteins will find a way to convince Academy voters that there’s a silk purse in there somewhere — let’s hope not, but they are the best damn marketeers and self-promoters since P.T. Barnum.   They managed to convince voters that Saving Private Ryan was not the Best Picture of 1998 … so never underestimate their powers of persuasion.

One thing seems certain, George Clooney will be in the middle of this year’s Oscar race — he has so many prospects that it is just plain crazy (how savvy has this guy become in picking projects!).   Gravity (Clooney opposite Sandra Bullock in early October) looks promising and the early buzz for both August: Osage County (Harvey has a piece of this, but this is really Clooney’s baby — and what a cast to savor on Christmas Day) and The Monuments Men (directed, starring, produced and written by Clooney — Dec. 18) has all been good.   

Auteur filmmaker Woody Allen could slip in with Blue Jasmine — the box office pattern suggests that strong word of mouth is driving ticket sales and not the underwhelming marketing and PR campaign launched by the studio.  And fellow auteur, Martin Scorsese, has the film adaptation of Jordan Belfort’s best-selling novel, The Wolf of Wall Street, lined up for a near-Thanksgiving launch (what is this, like his tenth film with Leonardo DiCaprio?).

There will be surprises to be sure.   There will be lots of arthouse entries championed, but they rarely make the cut.   It’s a studio game (wink wink, nod nod).

In the meantime, Warner Home Video has announced that last year’s Best Picture winner, Argo, will be getting a double-disc special edition Blu-ray push on Dec. 3 with the release of Argo: Extended Edition – Declassified.

Nine minutes worth of trims (mainly backstory of Ben Affleck’s character and trims here and there for pacing) have been added back in, plus the original theatrical cut will also be available on the companion disc.  New features unique to this SKU include two new featurettes — “Ben Affleck’s Balancing Act” and “Argo Declassified” — and a gag reel titled “Argo F*ck! Yourself.”

Included in the package are a 40-page booklet featuring production notes, biographies and behind the scenes photos, plus there’s a reproduction of Tony Mendez’s CIA ID card, a map of Tehran (handy little item) and a reproduction of the fake Argo theatrical one-sheet.

Also getting a Blu-ray release on Dec. 3 is writer/director James L. Brooks’ 1983 Best Picture, Best Director and Best Writing (adapted from Larry McMurtry’s best-seller), Terms of Endearment.

To download this week's complete edition of the DVD and Blu-ray Release Report:  DVD & Blu-ray Release Report

Image Entertainment's I Declare War Debuts On DVD And Blu-ray Nov. 12

The film directing team of Jason Lapeyre and Robert Wilson will see their award-winning film festival hit, I Declare War, reach a much broader audience on Nov. 12 when Image Entertainment releases both DVD and Blu-ray editions.

A limited theatrical break — to further raise awareness — is planned for the Labor Day weekend.

At one level this seems like a story about a kid’s game — just a bunch of pre-teens playing Capture the Flag in the nearby woods; passing adults would see little more than that.   But locked in the telling of the story is a much deeper fable about the transition from a child’s fantasy playground to the world of an adult.

The rules are simple and they are honored.   But one day one of the players breaks from the tried and tested routine of the game and escalates the action to another level.   He gets caught-up in the game … much like adults getting lost in the winning and losing of life’s own battles (metaphors abound).

Despite the chaos that follows, we are given a sense from the filmmakers that unlike the boys in Lord of the Flies, this day will end, the reality of life will kick in once again and everyone will go home to dinner … perhaps a little worse for wear.   But you never know.

Bonus features include two separate commentary options, both featuring filmmakers Wilson and Lapeyre — one with and one without the child actors from the film — and the featurette titled “I Declare War.”

To download this week's complete edition of the DVD and Blu-ray Release Report:  DVD & Blu-ray Release Report

FilmWorks Entertainment To Unleash The Shotokan Man On Nov. 19

You have no doubt heard of the clash of cultures that occurs when the Far East meets the West!   But what happens when you blend the mysteries of the orient with the heart of Dixie … the result is a cultural vortex of unimaginable strangeness!

This is the whacky world of writer/director Bob Clark’s animated film, Shotokan Man, which is making its DVD debut on Nov. 19 from FilmWorks Entertainment.   

In the sleepy hamlet of Westabooga, Alabama, the law is Sheriff Fuquay, an ex-Marine with a love of Japanese culture and a severe case of narcolepsy.   So imagine his delight when a strange Japanese man named Dirk wanders into town one night ... during his lucid moments it is bliss.

And for the wandering Dirk, he has at last found a home and the lovely Rose from the diner fans the passions of his heart, but Dewey — the local redneck kung fu fanatic — has his own plans for Rose and the power of the Double Death Dojo to make sure that he gets what he wants!   The stage is set for an epic battle!   

Bonus features include a photo gallery and downloadable desktops.

To download this week's complete edition of the DVD and Blu-ray Release Report:  DVD & Blu-ray Release Report

 

 

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4 Dead Girls: The Soul Taker On DVD Oct. 8 From Breaking Glass Pictures

The writing and directing team of Mike Campbell and Todd Johnson will have their haunted house thriller, 4 Dead Girls: The Soul Taker, ready for DVD viewing on Oct. 8.

Timed for the Halloween promotional period, Breaking Glass Pictures serves up this supernatural tale of four attractive college co-eds who have pooled their resources for an off-campus home of their own.   Lily (Katherine Browning — Napoleon Bon Appétit, The Carpenter: Part 1 - And So They Die) and her long-time friend Bianca (Tiffany Walker) are joined by Lily’s younger sister, Lori (Ashley Love — Summer Blink) and her lover, Pam (Leah Verrill), for what they feel will be privacy and good times aplenty, but soon discover that too-good-to-be-true rental is haunted by a “soul taker.”

Mike Campbell, who has pretty much done it all — acting, producing, directing and writing — delivers a tasty deadpan turn as Devlin, the owner of the building and the embodiment of a legendary Choctaw soul eater called the Nalusa Chito.   He’s out-and-out creepy and we would offer a word of advice for the young ladies — after their first encounter with this landlord — be sure to check for hidden cameras.   He’s that kind of creepy.

Instead of checking for voyeur cams, they should be checking for exits!   Oops, too late … only the “good” will survive as Devlin only consumes the souls of the bad girls!   He also has the uncanny ability to come and go as he pleases, so there is no place to hide … and no way out of this hell house!

Bonus features include interviews with cast members, deleted scenes and the featurette titled “SFX Creation.”

To download this week's complete edition of the DVD and Blu-ray Release Report:  DVD & Blu-ray Release Report