CSI Plus South Park And More From Paramount Home Media In September

The red carpet has been carefully rolled out and TV series after TV series has been stationed along the way … all leading up to the release of the franchise of franchises.  Paramount Home Media Distribution has orchestrated it perfectly.

The big one … the latest complete season of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation arrives on Sept. 16, although some might argue that Sept. 16 is actually the street date for the really BIG one, South Park: The Complete Seventeenth Season.   It’s a matter of taste, but the preparation has been spot-on.

Beginning with Awkward: Season 3 and Californication: The Seventh Season on Aug. 5 the studio has peppered week after week — through Labor Day and beyond — with the latest editions of their collectible TV-on-DVD series.   Gunsmoke: The Tenth Season, Volume One and Gunsmoke: The Tenth Season, Volume Two follow on Aug. 12; Good Wife: The Fifth Season, Millers: Season One, NCIS Los Angeles: The Fifth Season and NCIS: Naval Criminal Investigation Service - Season Eleven all arrive on Aug. 19; and Criminal Minds: The Complete Ninth Season and Elementary: The Second Season are joined by a special five-disc collection of Now and Again: The DVD Edition on Aug. 26.

Labor Day arrives — the sort of, semi-official kick-off to Christmas-selling season — and Paramount is ready with Bonanza: The Official Seventh Season, Volume One and Bonanza: The Official Seventh Season, Volume Two on Sept. 2; Blue Bloods: The Fourth Season, Dynasty: The Final Season, Volume One and Dynasty: The Final Season, Volume Two and three double-feature selections from the Perry Mason Movie Collection are all in place for delivery to fans on Sept. 9.

And then Sept. 16 dawns with the release of the six-disc collection of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation: The Fourteenth Season.   All 22 episodes starring Ted Danson, Elisabeth Shue, George Eads, Eric Szmanda, Paul Guilfoyle and the amazing Jorja Fox are included in this set.  Bonus nuggets include episode commentaries, deleted scenes and the featurette titled “The Making of Girls Gone Wild.”

But there’s more heading home on Sept. 16!!!    All ten episodes (with commentaries by Trey Parker and Matt Stone) of South Park: The Complete Seventeenth Season will be available on both DVD and Blu-ray.   

A double-disc helping of Burning Love: Seasons Two & Three and a six-disc collection of the latest case files from paradise, Hawaii Five-O: The Fourth Season will also street on Sept. 16 — bonus features include a gag reel, deleted scenes, a featurette titled “The Making of "Ho'onani Makuakane” and more!

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

Virgil Films And Entertainment Tabs Sept. 23 For The DVD Debut Of Filmmaker Pieter Gaspersz’s After

Virgil Films & Entertainment announced this past week that actor-turned-filmmaker Pieter Gaspersz’s debut film behind the camera, After, starring Kathleen Quinlan, will be making its domestic DVD debut on Sept. 23. 

An Aug. 8 limited theatrical release is also planned.

Filmed on location in and around Rochester, New York, we are introduced to the Valentino family during the winter of 2002 … Nora (Quinlan) is the matriarch of the clan, educated, professional and very much the glue that her husband Mitch (John Doman) and their four adult children have come to rely on to hold things together.

But the illusion of strength can be deceiving as financial woes, the stress of a family growing apart (children do move on) and a carefully guarded secret from the past all seem to weigh heavily on Nora these days.   Filmmaker Gaspersz takes these elements and slowly ratchets up the pressure until a tipping point, not only for Nora, but for others in the family as well.

No word just yet on bonus features included with the DVD release.

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

Justin Hayward: Spirits … Live at the Buckhead Theatre, Atlanta On DVD And Blu-ray From Eagle Rock Entertainment On Aug. 17

When you say the name Justin Hayward you will likely get a few blank stares.   But when you say “Moody Blues,” there is a very good chance that the lyrics from “Nights in White Satin” or “Tuesday Afternoon” will come spewing forth.   

In fact, the legendary rock group Moody Blues and Justin Hayward are pretty much interchangeable … he wrote both of this icon rock hits and was the Moody Blues frontman for years and years.

Now performing solo (and with others) his 2013 live concert from the Buckhead Theatre in Atlanta, Georgia, which is titled, Justin Hayward: Spirits … Live at the Buckhead Theatre, Atlanta, will be making its way to DVD and Blu-ray courtesy of Eagle Rock Entertainment on Aug. 17.

The 15 song set sports a mixture of Moody Blues standards — the aforementioned “Nights in White Satin” and “Tuesday Afternoon,” plus “Question” and “Your Wildest Dreams,” as well as a half-dozen cuts from Hayward’s Spirits of the Western Sky release — “The Western Sky,” “In Your Blues” and “One Day, Someday.”

Bonus features include 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

Lionsgate Home Entertainment Kicks Off Football Season With The Launch Of Draft Day On DVD And Blu-ray On Sept. 2

With an eye towards the start of the 2014/15 college and professional football season, Lionsgate Home Entertainment has selected Sept. 2 as the street date for both DVD and Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack (with UltraViolet) editions of director Ivan Reitman’s Draft Day — timing is spot-on as the college season gets under the way the week before and the first pro game follows two days later on Thursday Sept. 4.

The ARR is 144 days and the box office take came in at $28.8 million.

Bonus features include deleted scenes, a pair of featurettes — “On The Clock: The Making of Draft Day” and “Welcome to Primetime” — and commentary from screenwriters Rajiv Joseph and Scott Rothman.

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

Kino-Lorber Gains Access To The United Artists Film LIbrary

Kino-Lorber appears to have found the keys to MGM Home Entertainment’s candy store (at least what remains of the United Artists portion of the once vast film library)!   

While there are other companies in the market place with a stronger track record — and likely a better fit for the promotion and distribution of this type of film product — we can’t help but applaud Kino-Lorber for the initial line-up that has been both officially … and unofficially announced.

In a somewhat chaotic release rollout, punctuated by seemly random distribution of their press announcement, a new “Studio Classics” label is being launched by the company on July 22 with DVD and Blu-ray editions of The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes, Sabata, The Scalphunters and Witness for the Prosecution.   

The following week, July 29, Duel at Diablo, Marty, Paris Blues and Separate Tables will be available as both DVD and Blu-ray product offerings.   Aug. 12 brings Breakheart Pass, The Children's Hour, Mr. Majestyk and The Unforgiven to market, while Aug. 26 will mark the arrival of Cast a Giant Shadow, On the Beach, The Party and What's New Pussycat? — all of these films will be available as either Blu-ray or DVD selections.

In the post-Labor Day period look for Across 110th Street, Cotton Comes to Harlem, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, Juggernaut, Elmer Gantry, The Great Train Robbery, Meteor, Run Silent, Run Deep, Taras Bulba, Young Savages and True Confessions.

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

20th Century-Fox Home Entertainment's Belle On Blu-ray Aug. 26

Director Amma Asante’s Belle, an 18^th Century tale of Dido Belle (Mbatha-Raw), the mixed-race daughter of a Royal Navy officer of some standing who is educated as an aristocratic English woman— but without the social standing — will be available on Blu-ray from 20^th Century-Fox Home Entertainment on Aug. 26.

The ARR is 116 days and ticket sales currently stand at $9.2 million.

Bonus features are five featurettes, including one titled “Belle: The Story” and a second showcasing the film’s star, “Gugu Mbatha-Raw Breakout Role.”

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

Screen Media Films Brings Filmmaker Jane Weinstock's The Moment To DVD On Aug. 12

Screen Media Films has picked up writer/director Jane Weinstock’s psychological thriller, The Moment, starring Jennifer Jason Leigh as a world-renowned war photographer who has a break with reality and ends up in a mental hospital.    

Her estranged lover (played by Martin Henderson) has gone missing and she fears that she may be responsible for his disappearance.

The DVD release date is Aug. 12 … The Moment worked the festival circuit during 2013 and a brief theatrical showcase in early June.

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