The Film Detective Sets 12 For DVD On Sept. 2 Including My Man Godfrey, D.O.A. And More!!!

Industry veteran and film restoration expert, Phil Hopkins, revealed this past week that Sept. 2 will mark the launch of The Film Detective, a new label for both DVD and Blu-ray product offerings that boasts a 3,000-strong film library to select from.

The first wave — all priced at just $9.98 each and featuring classic packaging and closed captioning — will consist of 12 films.

Restored from original film elements in this first group of DVD releases are director John Huston’s 1953 action/comedy, Beat the Devil, starring Humphrey Bogart, Gina Lollobrigida, Jennifer Jones, Peter Lorre and Robert Morley and director Rudolph Maté’s 1950 film noir masterpiece, D.O.A., starring Edmond O'Brien as a murder victim who solves his own murder.

On the comedy front, My Favorite Brunette (1947, with Bob Hope, Dorothy Lamour and Peter Lorre), My Man Godfrey (1936, Carole Lombard and William Powell) and Nothing Sacred (1937, also starring Carole Lombard, who is teamed this time out with Fredric March) are included in this first wave of DVD releases.

War films to select from are The Big Lift (1950, Montgomery Clift stars in the life-and-death story of the Berlin airlift) and Go For Broke (1951, Van Johnson stars in this story of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team).

Rounding out the Sept. 2 selections are Carnival of Souls (1962, director Herk Harvey horror classic) The Last Time I Saw Paris (1954, all-star cast featuring Elizabeth Taylor, Van Johnson, Donna Reed, Walter Pidgeon and Eva Gabor) Salt of the Earth (1954, from blacklisted filmmaker Herbert J. Biberman) and Smash-Up: The Story of a Woman (1947, starring Best Actress nominee Susan Hayward).

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

Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Selects Oct. 7 As The Street Date For Tom Cruise's Edge Of Tomorrow Sci-Fi Thriller

Warner Bros. Home Entertainment has tabbed Oct. 7 as the street for director Doug Liman’s time-loop sci-fi thriller starring Tom Cruise and Emily Blunt, Edge of Tomorrow.

Planned for release are a DVD stand-alone edition and two Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack SKUs — one with, and one without a 3D viewing option.

The ARR is 123 days and domestic ticket sales currently stand at $99.3 million.

An alien invasion force called the “Mimics” gets more than they bargain for when a public relations office, Major William Cage (Cruise), gets assigned to what amounts to a suicide mission for being insubordinate.   Sure enough, he lasts little more that a few minutes in combat against these alien creatures.

End of story?   An action film with Tom Cruise being killed off in the first reel?!?   How does that work?   

Inexplicably this neophyte combatant is caught in a time loop and with each cycle he becomes more adept at delaying what seems to the inevitable, namely, his demise.  And with each “death-loop” he becomes more-savvy on how the invasion might be stopped and the Mimics defeated.

All three buying options include the featurettes titled “Weapons of the Future” and “Creatures Not of This World.”   Exclusive to the Blu-ray editions are deleted scenes and three additional production featurettes — “Operation Downfall – Adrenaline Cut,” “Storming the Beach” and “On the Edge With Doug Liman.”

Also added to Warner Bros. Home Entertainment release calendar this week for delivery on Aug. 19 are DVD edition of director Richard C. Sarafian’s 1973 backwoods thriller, Lolly Madonna XXX (starring Rod Steiger, Robert Ryan and Jeff Bridges … with Season Hubley as the title character) and director Richard Quine’s 1970 film adaptation of the Elmore Leonard novel, Moonshine Wars (teaming Patrick McGoohan with Richard Widmark and Alan Alda).

Lastly, 1938 Samuel Goldwyn production of The Adventures of Marco Polo, starring Gary Cooper as the fabled world traveler will be available once again as a DVD product offering on Aug. 26.

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

The Gift Of Winter And Moscow On The Hudson (And More) Have Been Added To Mill Creek Entertainment's October Release Caledar

This past week Mill Creek Entertainment expanded its October selections of new-to-DVD product offerings with nine additional SKUs.

Included in the mix is the Oct. 21 DVD debut of The Gift of Winter, the 1974 animated special featuring the voices of SNL alumni Dan Aykroyd and Gilda Radner, plus Valri Bromfield (Aykroyd’ former Second City comedy partner) and Gerry Salsberg.

Included with this animated treat — which is priced at just $9.98 — are ten additional Christmas-season themed cartoons and animated shorts — “Jack Frost,” “Snow Foolin’,” “The Candlemaker,” “Santa’s Pocket Watch,” “Hector’s Hectic Life,” “The Christmas Visitor,” “A Christmas Tree,” “Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer,” “Christmas Comes But Once A Year” and “The City That Forgot About Christmas.”

Bonus features include a documentary on the making of “The Gift of Winter.”

Also added to the Oct. 21 release calendar is director Paul Mazursky’s 1984 comedy starring Robin Williams, Moscow on the Hudson.   Williams was nominated for a Gold Globe for his performance … Maria Conchita Alonso is his co-star and the SRP is a fan-friendly $9.98.

For those who love Sally Field and her “high flying” late ‘60s family sitcom, Oct. 7 will see the five-disc DVD collection of The Flying Nun: The Complete First and Second Seasons landing at retailers nationwide.   The SRP is a delightful $14.98.

Also added to the release schedule in October by Mill Creek Entertainment are the Oct. 14 multi-part DVD collections of Miracles: The Power of Faith and Moonshine and the Dixie Mafia.

Oct. 14 also features TV Guide Spotlight: TV's Merriest Moments, a collection of a dozen Christmas-themed TV episodes, including Bewitched: A Vision of Sugar Plums, The Cosby Show: Clair's Place and 3rd Rock From the Sun: Jolly Old St. Dick.

Lastly, Oct. 21 will see over three hours of Care Bear fun with the DVD release of Care Bears: 3 Program FUNdle! and the fitness releases of Cardio Blast and Shed 5 Fast  (they come packed under Mill Creek Entertainment’s “Best Self Fitness” promotional banner and are priced at just $9.98 each).

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

Blu-ray And DVD Editions Of Filmmaker James Franco's Child Of God To Be Released By Well Go USA On Oct. 28

Best Actor Oscar nominee James Franco (127 Hours in 2011) writes, directs and stars in the Well Go USA DVD and Blu-ray release of his film adaptation of Cormac McCarthy’s novel, Child of God.   The street date is Oct. 28.

It’s interesting that Franco choose not to play the central character of McCarthy’s anti-societal tale, instead Franco recruited Scott Haze (he had a small role in Franco’s As I Lay Dying) to portray the human being-to-cave dwelling protagonist of the piece.   It is the role that could very ignite his career!

It’s the 1960s, rural Tennessee and Haze has had a break with reality.   Everything that once connected him to society has been stripped away and he has arrived at a mental state that is every bit a tale of horror (and more) that you would expect from any lurid backwood’s tale of depravity.   This one is even tough for genre fans to absorb … not for the squimish!

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

Restored Tootsie Leads The Criterion Collection's November Release Slate

The Criterion Collection announced its November release selections this past week and right at the top of the must-have list of DVD and Blu-ray film release is director Sydney Pollack’s 1982 comedy gem starring Dustin Hoffman, Tootsie.

This newly restored edition features vintage commentary from Pollack, Rocky Lang’s 1982 making-of documentary, Charles Kiselyak’s 2007 documentary, A Better Man: The Making of Tootsie, deleted scenes, wardrobe tests (Dustin Hoffman as Dorothy Michaels) and film critic Gene Shalit’s interview of Dorothy Michaels.

For additional November selections please visit Criterion’s web site: Criterion Collection.

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 Tabs Sept. 9 For The Blu-ray Release Of Young Frankenstein: 40th Anniversary Edition

On Sept. 9 filmmaker Mel Brooks’ Young Frankenstein will celebrate its 40^th Anniversary with the release of a special edition Blu-ray … and 40 lucky fans of this iconic comedy will have the chance to win an autographed photo from the set of the film from Mel Brooks.

Bonus nuggets include commentary from Mel Brooks, vintage interviews with Marty Feldman, Gene Wilder and Cloris Leachman, deleted scenes, production photo galleries (that’s plural), the “Blucher Button” and four featurettes — “Inside the Lab: Secret Formulas to the Making of Young Frankenstein,” “It’s Alive: Creating a Monster Classic,” “Making FrankenSense of Young Frankenstein” and “Transylvanian Lullaby: The Music of John Norris.”

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

VCI Entertainment Sets Oct. 14 For The DVD Release Of La Luchadoras vs El Robot Asesino

VCI Entertainment announced this past week that director René Cardona’s 1969 Eastmancolor sci-fi thriller, La Luchadoras vs El Robot Asesino, will be available on DVD this coming Oct. 14.

A mad scientist, Dr. Orlak (Carlos Agostí), with a penchant for kidnapping and extortion, develops a mechanical man/robot (with fiendish strength) to carry out his diabolical plans.   As it turns out, his plans are far more complex than your run-of-the-mill extortionist … this is about world domination!

The authorities seem helpless to stop his reign of terror, but there is one who will not back down and she is dressed in spandex and every bit a super hero as Batman!   She’s Gaby (Regina Torné), a female wrestler, who goes after Dr. Orlak when her uncle is murdered when he refuses to submit to his demands.   

So when not battling masked adversaries in the ring, Gaby almost single-handedly takes on the evil doctor and his seemingly unstoppable robot ... this will be a battle to the death with the fate of world, no less, hanging in the balance.   Whew!

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