Oscar-Winning Her Heads Home From Warner Home Video On May 13

Warner Home Video announced this past week that May 13 will be the street date for DVD and Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack (with UltraViolet) editions of director Spike Jonze’s Best Picture nominee, Her.

The ARR works out to 144 days and domestic ticket sales came to $25.2 million.

With five Oscar nominations, including Best Picture, an Oscar win for Spike Jonze’s screenplay and a cast featuring Joaquin Phoenix (back from his “retirement”), Amy Adams and Rooney Mara, with Scarlett Johansson as the voice of his electronic  companion, Samantha, it comes as something of a surprise that the film didn’t perform better in its theatrical run.

The weather was certainly a factor.   A crowded Christmas season pushed the film down viewing lists and the theatrical trailer did not fully convey Jonze’s Oscar-winning script.  Indeed, you came away with the impression that Joaquin Phoenix’s character was some sort of nut job.

As with Jonze’s Being John Malkovich and Adaptation, this film has so much going on that trying to cut a trailer to describe the storyline proved to be difficult.   The Oscar for Best Script was well-deserved — a blend of sci-fi with romantic comedy — and the home entertainment push by Warner Home Video will certainly open up this hidden treasure to a much wider audience. 

Set in the near future, Theodore (Phoenix) finds himself alone after his marriage falls apart … he’s a professional “letter writer” for those who can’t put their own feelings into words.   This skill doesn’t seem to have served him very well in his personal life.

With this cloud hanging over him, he decides to purchase the latest electronic marvel, the OS1, which is being pushed in the mass media as the first AI (artificial intelligence) tool.   If you thought texting and cell phones isolated people, the OS1 takes that addiction to the next level.

His OS1 “partner” is Samantha (voiced by Scarlett Johansson), who is like a sex-phone, crisis helpline and best friend all rolled into one.   The more he inputs, the more she evolves (which is another key point to the story missing from the trailer) and the more he becomes dependent on her — it — for his own existence.   The OS1 is basically a drug. 

There is hope.  Theodore begins to make little discoveries about Samantha … which snowball.   We can say this much, Her does end on a positive note with hope of human interaction being restored.

Bonus nuggets include three featurettes — “The Untitled Rick Howard Project,” “How Do You Share Your Life with Somebody” and “Her: Love in the Modern Age.”

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

Mill Creek Entertainment Adds "Six-Packs" To Its Apr. 22 Release Calendar

Mill Creek Entertainment has added two six-film collections to its April release calendar.  Slated for release on Apr. 22 and priced at just $14.98 each are SKUs titled 6 Outrageous Comedies and Teen Comedies. 

6 Outrageous Comedies includes John C. Reilly and Kristen Wiig starring in Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story, Kristen Wiig also teams with Will Arnett and Will Forte (Nebraska) in director Bob Odenkirk’s The Solomon Brothers, plus Just Add Water, Balls Out: Gary The Tennis Coach, Saving Silverman and American Crude are also to be found in this laughfest.

Teen Comedies offers Seth Green and Jennifer Love Hewitt in Can't Hardly Wait, Jon Lovitz and Tia Carrere in High School High, plus Dancer, Texas - Pop. 81, Fired Up, Jason Biggs in Loser and Alicia Silverstone, Benicio Del Toro and Christopher Walken round-out the package with Excess Baggage.

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

The Odd Way Home Arrives On DVD From Breaking Glass Pictures On June 24

There is a sentiment among cartographers that “all maps lie.”  How can you possibly navigate the world you live in when “all maps lie?”

June 24 will see the DVD debut of writer/director Raj (Rajeev) Nirmalakhandan’s The Odd Way Home from Breaking Glass Pictures.   It is a beautifully crafted story about two very different people navigating through unfamiliar terrain — metaphorically speaking — where things that they’ve come to expect in their respective worlds are not necessarily true; where their “life maps” could be lies (large and small).

No person could be further off course than Maya (Rumer Willis — Sorority Row, The House Bunny, Wild Cherry, etc.).   We first meet her while she is getting the snot kicked out her by her ruthless boyfriend — she’s an off-putting individual with a chuck of metal drilled through her nose.   She’s attractive and smart, but she can’t see it.

Maya takes to the road and just starts driving … that is until her car breaks down and she finds herself stranded in some remote corner of New Mexico (filmed on location in and around Las Cruces).

Duncan (Chris Marquette — Just Friends, The Tic Code, etc,) knows exactly where he is at any given moment — of course he hasn’t gone far, never more than a few miles from his grandmother’s home.   He’s autistic, high-functioning, probably more akin to Aspergers in that he dwells on maps and finds himself socially aloof — stuck in endless routines.  

But he can function on his own in that he can get from point A to point B … the purpose of which, of course, eludes him.   

She literally steals his home (a very funny bit) and their adventure begins.   The odd couple’s odd couple on the road!

Filmmaker Raj Nirmalakhandan takes these two very different people and throws them together in a story that absolutely draws you in.   The film is technically well-crafted, the script hits all of the right notes and Rumer Willis shines as the very angry young woman who begins to find peace (and her way) through the calm, accepting soul projected by Marquette. 

He too begins to move beyond his “safe” little world to make discoveries that will never make him quite whole, but perhaps a more complete person.  You have to understand that Duncan is not stupid, he is just stuck in a glass cage — he can see the world all around him, but functioning in it is difficult.

The film has had limited exposure — a few film festivals — and with the June 3 street date, Breaking Glass Pictures has the time to bang the promotional drums.   This could be a real sleeper if handled correctly.

Bonus features include writer/director Lisanne Sartor’s short film titled Six Letter Word starring Rumer Willis as a mother with an autistic son, plus there is a behind the scenes featurette.

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

Criterion Collection's May And June Release Slate Features Ace In The Hole, Red River, Picnic At Hanging Rock And More!

Let’s just say this right up front.   There are plenty of “modern” filmmakers out there — from indies working on a shoestring to those high-profile studio-backed auteurs — who would make better films if they took time out every now and then and simply watched some of those old moldy, out-of-date black and white cinematic gems from 50, 60 years ago.

Park the ego.  Watch and learn.   Oh yes, enjoy!  

If you need something to watch — whether a filmmaker or film consumer — then you need look no further than the Criterion Collection’s May and June release calendar.

May 6 will see a new 2K digital restoration of director Billy Wilder’s 1951 film noir triumph, Ace in the Hole (aka: The Big Carnival).  Bonus features for this Blu-ray/2 DVD Combo Pack include commentary from film historian Neil Sinyard, a vintage interview with Kirk Douglas and the 1980 documentary titled Portrait of a “60% Perfect Man”: Billy Wilder.

Another black and white treasure with a new 2K restoration is to be found on May 27.   That’s the street for a 2 Blu-ray/2 DVD Combo Pack presentation of director Howard Hawks’ 1948 Western, Red River, starring John Wayne, Montgomery Clift and Joanne Dru.

Bonus features here include two different cuts of the film — a longer “prerelease” version and the final theatrical release — this comes with a video interview with filmmaker Peter Bogdanovich who discusses the two different versions.  He is also featured in a vintage interview with director Howard Hawks.

Elsewhere on the May/June release calendar from the Criterion Collection is a remastered hi-def digital film transfer approved by director Peter Weir of his 1975 film masterpiece, Picnic at Hanging Rock.   It is being made available on June 17 as a Blu-ray/2 DVD Combo Pack.

Also include in his package is his early 1971 film Homesdale, which is making its domestic home entertainment debut.   There is a also a making-of documentary titled A Recollection . . . Hanging Rock 1900 and a new video introduction to the film itself presented by film scholar David Thomson.

June 24 marks the release of a 50^th Anniversary edition of director Richard Lester’s A Hard Days Night.   It will reach fans as both a Blu-ray/2 DVD Combo Pack or as a single-disc DVD product offering.

Other film releases in May include a Blu-ray edition of Overlord (May 13); DVD and Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack SKUs of director Abbas Kiarostami’s Like Someone in Love (in Japanese with English subtitles — the ARR is 459 days and domestic ticket sales from the film’s arthouse run were $221,390) arrive on May 20; and lastly, a new 4K film transfer of director Wes Anderson’s Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou streets as a Blu-ray only edition on May 27.

In June, a Blu-ray/2 DVD Combo Pack of director Douglas Sirk’s 1955 bittersweet romantic drama, All That Heaven Allows, starring Jane Wyman and Rock Hudson will be available on the 10^th of the month; so too will be a Blu-ray/2 DVD Combo Pack of Italian filmmaker Michelangelo Antonioni’s 1962 film, L’eclisse; and finally Hearts and Minds (a Blu-ray/2 DVD Combo Pack) and Judex (a Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack) street on June 17.

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

Eagle Rock Entertainment's Dio: Live In London Heads To DVD And Blu-ray On May 13

Eagle Rock Entertainment announced this past week that May 13 will be the debut date for DVD and Blu-ray SKUs of the unreleased concert, Dio: Live in London - Hammersmith Apollo, 1993.

Filmed live in mid-December at the famed Hammersmith Apollo in London, heavy metal vocalist Ronnie James Dio took to the road with VinnyAppice, Jeff Pilson and Tracy G (aka Tracy Grijalva) to promote the Strange Highways album.

The concert featured an 18 song set, with about half of the number from the album, with the balance Black Sabbath and Rainbow fan favorites.   Included in the mix are “Strange Highways,” “Jesus, Mary & The Holy Ghost,” “Hollywood Black” and “Stand Up and Shout.”

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

Oscilloscope Laboratories Selects May 13 For After Tiller DVD Debut

Documentary filmmakers Martha Shane and Lana Wilson’s After Tiller will arrive on DVD from Oscilloscope Laboratories on May 13.   

The ARR is a leisurely 235 days and the domestic box take for the film’s limited major metro run currently stands at $72,125.

The film takes a look at the lives of four physicians who continue to provide third-trimester (i.e. late-term) abortions and their patients in the aftermath of the May 31, 2009 murder of Wichita, Kansas doctor George Tiller by Scott Roeder (who was subsequently captured and convicted of the crime).    

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

Ariztical Entertainment's Birthday Cake Ready For DVD On May 20

Ariztical Entertainment has selected May 20 as the DVD debut date for actor, writer and director Chad Darnell’s Birthday Cake, a “mockumentary” documenting the often hilarious events leading up to the celebration a gay couple’s biological (there’s a baby mama involved) daughter’s first birthday.

Since the mid-90s Chad Darnell has made a living as a casting director (mainly extras) … it seems to have given him a nice eye for talent in particular and the filmmaking process in general.   With Birthday Cake he takes the step to the feature film arena, after working with short films, including the 2012 award-winning Groom’s Cake upon which this film draws its inspiration.

Judging from the results it appears that everyone had a grand time, well, except for the clown!   Lots of sight gags, terrific dialog and even some commentary on family — both the family that bore them (mothers can be … we will let that go) and the family they’ve created.  

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