MVD Entertainment Group Selects Feb. 12 For The DVD Debut Of Documentary Filmmaker Cindy Marabito's The Dicks From Texas

It took 16 years for documentary filmmaker Cindy Marabito to complete her film, you can certainly call that a labor of love!   Her film, The Dicks from Texas, will be making its DVD debut on Friday, Feb. 12, courtesy of MVD Entertainment Group.

She fell in love with their music; that would be the music of The Dicks, an Austin-based punk band who challenged sensibilities, did things their way and during their four-year run they self-produced a pair of albums and might have slipped away into obscurity.    But fans — fans like Cindy — believed.   The Dicks, although never a big success, became music legends.

So why did it take her so long to complete her film?   It turned out that she had a higher calling … her love of animals.   Specifically, Pit Bulls, quite by accident she became something of a force of nature in rescuing these misunderstood canines.   She even wrote a book about her experiences, “Pit Bull Nation,” and the blog site, Pit Bulls and Other Animals.

From time to time she’d return to the story about The Dicks, about Gary Floyd, the late Glen Taylor … and the rest of the band’s members; their reunion concerts and more.

The final product, The Dicks from Texas, is like a visit to another dimension for those not familiar with the Austin music scene in the 1980s.   For fans, her film is a tribute that they will savor again, and again … and again.   So come join the fun on Feb. 12.

Oh yes, and be sure to check out Cindy’s web site, Reunion Rescue (reunionrescue.com) … this is one filmmaker with the heart of a saint!

Universal Studios Home Entertainment's Oscar Nominees — Trumbo And The Danish Girl — Head To DVD And Blu-ray On Feb. 16 and Mar. 1 Respectively

With little action at the box office — which is incredibly sad — Universal Studios Home Entertainment has elected to move two Oscar-nominated films in the acting category to the home entertainment arena without further delay.

First up is director Jay Roach’s biopic Trumbo, which garnered Bryan Cranston his first Oscar nomination for Best Actor as black listed screenwriter Dalton Trumbo — he already has 11 Emmy nominations (with five wins, including three as the iconic Walter White from Breaking Bad).   It will be available as both DVD and Blu-ray product offerings on Feb. 16.

This Bleecker Street Media indie production, despite positive reviews and the aforementioned Oscar nomination, has only managed to generate $7.4 million in domestic ticket sales.   The ARR works out to 102 days.

Bonus features for both the DVD and Blu-ray SKUs include two production featurettes — “Who is Trumbo?” and “Bryan Cranston Becomes Trumbo.” 

The second film, also with a Best Actor contender, is director Tom Hooper’s film adaptation of David Ebershoff’s 2000 novel loosely based on the life of Lili Elbe, The Danish Girl.   Blu-ray and DVD editions will be retail-ready on Mar. 1.

Despite a Best Actor nomination for Eddie Redmayne (his second in as many years, having won last year for his performance as Stephen Hawking in The Theory of Everything) as Lili Elbe (aka: Einar Wegener) and a Best Supporting Actress nomination for Alicia Vikander (her first, although she could have easily been nominated as well for her performance as the android Ava in Ex Machina) as artist Gerda Wegener, The Danish Girl has only managed to pull in $8.9 million at the box office.

For the record, the ARR for that Mar. 1 street date is a quick-to-market 95 days.  The only bonus goodies, which is common to both the DVD and Blu-ray editions, is the featurette titled, “The Making of the Danish Girl.”

HBO Home Entertainment Has Tabbed Mar. 15 For Blu-ray And DVD Editions Of Game of Thrones: The Complete Fifth Season

HBO Home Entertainment mega-Emmy winning series, Game of Thrones, returns to the realm of DVD and Blu-ray on Mar. 15 with the release of Game of Thrones: The Complete Fifth Season.    

All ten episodes will be packaged as five-disc DVD and four-disc Blu-ray collections.

Bonus goodies include a quartet of deleted scenes, episode commentaries and four featurettes.   Exclusive to the Blu-ray edition are an “In-Episode Guide” and two additional production featurettes — “The Dance of Dragons” and “Histories and Lore.”

Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment Brings The Good Dinosaur To DVD And Blu-ray On Feb. 23

A lightning-quick trip from the local multiplex to the home entertainment market place is what Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment has in planned with a three-SKU helping of director Peter Sohn’s The Good Dinosaur on Feb. 23.

The ARR is a dazzling fast pace of just 88 days — which matches Disney’s previous quickie — Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland back in 2010 — that’s for any film grossing in excess of $100 million.   Ticket sales currently stand at $119.3 million, which came in a little lighter than expected, but solid enough to translate positively when it comes to DVD and Blu-ray sales (plus assorted merchandise).

Planned for delivery on Feb. 23 are a stand-alone DVD edition and two Blu-ray/DVD Combo Packs — one with and one without a 3D viewing option.

Bonus nuggets appear to be limited to the Blu-ray editions.   These kick off with Toy Story 3, Up, The Incredibles, etc.), director of photography/lighting Sharon Calahan and supervising technical director Sanjay Bakshi.

commentary from voice-actor-turned-director Peter Sohn (his feature-length debut here), who is joined by co-writer Kelsey Mann, supervising animator Mike Venturini (

There are deleted scenes, the Oscar-nominated short animated film titled Sanjay’s Super Team, five featurettes, an animation promo clip and something called “Dino Bites” (not sure what that is).

Paramount Home Media Will Release Perry Mason: Movie Collection Volume 5 On DVD On Mar. 26

Paramount Home Media brings joy home to fans of Raymond Burr and his classic persona of Perry Mason on Mar. 26 with the DVD debut of six new feature-length courtroom mysteries/cases with the release of Perry Mason: Movie Collection Volume 5.

First on the courtroom docket is “The Case of the Telltale Talk Show Host,” a 1993 gem featuring none other than Regis Philbin as Winslow Keene, the owner of a talk radio station — how ironic — who decides to shake things up a bit.   Meanwhile, Dr. Sheila Carlin (played by Mariette Hartley), the host of one of the shows, has contacted her good friend Della (Barbara Hale) for help … someone seems to be stalking her.

Within hours of Keene announcing the changes, which please no one, he is murdered by a hitman and Dr. Carlin is framed for the killing.  Game on!   Perry not only has to track down the assassin, but figure which talk show host hired him!

Others in the cast include G. Gordon Liddy, Cristina Ferrare, Montel Williams and William R. Moses as Perry’s chief investigator, Ken Malansky. 

“The Case of the Killer Kiss,” (also from 1993) takes us to the set of one of those daytime soap operas, where we find the writers — at the behest of her snooty co-star (Sean Kanan) — are busy writing Kris Buckner (Genie Francis) out of the show … and she’s none too happy about it!!!   

Of course he ends up dead and she is charged with his murder.   In Perry Mason’s last case — he died of cancer prior to the show airing — he has to figure out who framed Kris (who just happens to be Della’s goddaughter) for the murder and why.

With the sad departure of Raymond Burr (who was written out the series by being named to the U.S. Supreme Court), producers first tried Paul Sorvino as defense attorney Anthony Caruso in “The Case of the Wicked Wives” and then settle on Hal Holbrook as defense attorney Wild Bill McKenzie for the final three cases in this long-running and fan pleasing series.   The cases are: “The Case of the Lethal Lifestyle,” “The Case of the Grimacing Governor” and “The Case of the Jealous Jokester.“

Vinegar Syndrome Announces A Feb. 23 Street Date For A 2K Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack Restoration Of Filmmaker Alfredo Zacarías’ 1978 Sci-F Thriller The Bees

That buzzing you hear is the forthcoming Blu-ray debut of filmmaker Alfredo Zacarías’ 1978 sci-fi thriller, The Bees, which will be available for genre fans to enjoy again and again on Feb. 23.

Toss those DVD editions — transferred from VHS — that you’ve coveted over the years and embrace this new 2K (from the 35mm negative) restoration that Vinegar Syndrome has ready for fans, especially fans of Angel Tompkins.

The only people standing between unrelenting swarms of killer bees from South America are scientists John Norman (John Saxon — Enter the Dragon, Queen of Blood, Blood Beast from Outer Space, etc.) and the sultry Sandra Miller (Angel Tompkins — The Teacher, Prime Cut, Walking Tall Part II, etc.).   

Unbridled greed to reap mega-bucks from increased honey production leads some unscrupulous businessmen goes horribly wrong and the terror of these killer hybrids are suddenly loose in California!!!   Their sting is deadly and they have no mercy!

Bonus goodies include a video session filmmaker Alfredo Zacarías.

Indican Pictures Picks Jan. 19 For The DVD Debut Adios Vaya Con Dios

Make no mistake, Indican Pictures DVD debut of Adios Vaya Con Dios on Jan. 19, is a power piece of cinema.   

What happens when young men and women, who have grown up on the mean streets of Aurora and Joliet, Illinois, and who are often at each other’s throats, band together to make this film about events they’ve experienced first hand.   No, no wait, this is not a documentary, but a powerful drama laced with tested loyalties, internecine warfare and unspeakable violence.

Eloy (Al Marchesi — When it Rains, Bender, etc.) has been doing hard time, but is now back in the neighborhood and looking for retribution.   His childhood friend, Rory (Zachary Laoutides, who also delivered the script), is one of the main cogs in the Olmec criminal enterprise and does his best to defuse the volatile situation, but his efforts are to little avail as the violence quickly escalates to all out war.  Make that BRUTAL all out war!!

Inspired by actual events, filmmakers La Raza, Mónica Esmeralda León, Timothy J. Aguado and Marius Iliescu have teamed to deliver a coherent story, with solid technical aspects (especially the special makeup provided by Kaos Leon), that will certainly find you diverting your eyes from time to time, but you are nevertheless riveted at the proceedings from start to final frame.