Mug-Shot Productions Preps Amateur Night at City Hall: The Story of Frank L. Rizzo For A DVD Debut On June 28

Mug-Shot Productions, with sales and distribution expertise provided by MVD Entertainment, has a human interest documentary ready for DVD on June 28 that is perfectly timed for this very controversial election year.  The title in question is Amateur Night at City Hall: The Story of Frank L. Rizzo.  

For residents of Philadelphia the name of Frank Rizzo is no stranger and documentary filmmaker and producer Robert Mugge profiles this “colorful” Philly political legend — sort of a distant cousin of the Daleys of Chicago.  

From cop-on-the-beat to Mayor of Philadelphia, with all of the controversies that trailed in his larger than life wake, his no-nonsense, cut-to-the-quick manner of speaking managed to offend numerous groups over the years … and is highly reminiscent of a certain candidate in this year’s presidential election (one wonders if he has seen Mugge’s film).   

 

And from the vaults and also available on DVD is a restored presentation of writer/director Robert Mugge’s 1976 documentary, George Crumb: Voice of the Whale.  

This is an interesting look at the life and works of avant-garde composer (Grammy Award-winner), writer (Pulitzer Prize-winner) and college professor, George Crumb … literally filmed at the height of his career.   

Elements of Mugge’s film include interaction with fellow composer Richard Wernick and performances of several of Crumb’s notable works, including “Vox Balaenae for Three Masked Players.”

Writer/Director Robert Eggers' The Witch On DVD And Blu-ray From Lionsgate Home Entertainment On May 17

Lionsgate Home Entertainment continues to struggle with its A24 Films output deal when it comes to Blu-ray and DVD.  The latest example is writer/director Robert Eggers’ elegantly mounted 17^th Century horror tale, The Witch.

Apparently May 17 is the street date for both DVD and Blu-ray editions, although we’ve yet to see any sort of formal announcement coming from Lionsgate Home Entertainment (the same happened with Room).   

The ARR for that date is 88 days and currently box office receipts total $23.8 million.

Bonus features include commentary from filmmaker Robert Eggers, a Q&A session titled “Salem Panel” and featurette titled “The Witch: A Primal Folklore.”

Arrow Video Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack Release Of A Restored Presentation Of Director Nico Mastorakis’ The Zero Boys Ready On Apr. 26

Arrow Video, with domestic sales and distribution expertise provided by MVD Entertainment Group, has added writer/director Nico Mastorakis’ 1986 indie cult thriller, The Zero Boys, to its Apr. 26 release calendar.

This newly prepared 2K restoration (supervised and approved by filmmaker Nico Mastorakis) finally does justice to this clever spin on writer Richard Connell’s iconic 1924 short story, “The Most Dangerous Game.”   

The Zero Boys went the direct-to-video route on VHS (through a long-forgotten label) for its initial release and then had a couple of less than stellar DVD releases (if you remember Simitar Entertainment then you have a pretty good idea of just how bad something can be on DVD), but now Arrow Video comes through with an edition that genre fans can finally enjoy in all of its glory.

Basically you have a victim pool, which is common to many horror-themed film releases, that serves as the backbone to this story.  In this case it is a team of paint ball players — Steve (Daniel Hirsch — My Chauffeur, Night Visitors), Larry (Tom Shell — Surf Nazis Must Die, Terminal Force) and Rip (Jared Moses) — and the appropriate knockout girlfriends … yes, that includes Night of the Comet’s Kelli Maroney.   

After a big paint ball contest, which serves to foreshadow their “combat” skills, the victim pool heads out to a secluded spot (actually filmed in the foothills around Los Angeles) to celebrate (you know what that means).   It is on this sojourn that they discover a remote cabin and a cache of dead bodies, which leads to the realization that they are being hunted … and not all will survive the night!

Bonus features include a trio newly-minted video sessions featuring filmmaker Nico Mastorakis, Kelli Maroney and Nicole Rio (Sue) a commentary track featuring Mastorakis and Shock Till You Drop’s Chris Alexander and a gallery of stills.

Batman v Superman: Dawn Of Justice Blu-ray And DVD Release Date Erroneously Reported As July 16 — Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Says Definitly Not July 16

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice will “definitely not” be released on Blu-ray and DVD on July 16, so says a spokesperson for Warner Bros. Home Entertainment.   Period.

Despite stinging reviews from the major market media critics, director Zack Snyder’s Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice had an eye-popping opening weekend of over $170 million.   Since Superman is bulletproof, so too is any movie that features him … so much for the critics and their opinions.

Simultaneously with the release of the film in theatres nationwide, Mark Hughes at Forbes (Magazine) trumpeted a home entertainment launch on July 16 that would include an “Ultimate Cut” — meaning an “R-rated” version — of the film.

Mark Hughes has subsequently revised his online piece.   Link here: Forbes - Mark Hughes

While we suspect that future release dates for major new theatrical releases are being inadvertently triggered these days by VOD/HD release agreements, which trigger online retailers — such as amazon.com — to start taking orders, we suspected that Hughes claim of a July 16 launch date was in error (while likely to be in the ballpark).

July 16 is a Saturday.   We’re not saying that he just grabbed that particular date out of his hat — we could accept July 12, July 15 (a Friday) or July 19 — but unless Warner Bros. Home Entertainment had some national retail event under wraps, which they’ve denied, a Saturday launch would be news indeed. 

A close reading of Hughes’ piece — which has been accepted online as gospel and repeated over and over again — doesn’t offer any source for his “official street date” pronouncement.   Indeed, he refers to the November 2009 “Ultimate Cut” of director Zack Snyder’s Watchman as an example of the type of treatment that a similar presentation of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice could follow — not anything in particular from Warner Bros.   So that much appears to have been speculation, however Snyder himself has confirmed publicly that something is in the works (a ton of extra material is available).

Also missing from the Forbes piece is any reference to the newly launched 4K Ultra HD format of which Warner Bros. Home Entertainment is an early proponent.   Clearly, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice would be a prime candidate for 4K Ultra HD treatment.

What is more reasonable is that Warner Bros. Home Entertainment will release DVD, Blu-ray and perhaps 4K Ultra HD SKUs in July (the window would be in line with current studio release patterns) and then follow up during the Christmas selling season with an “Ultimate” edition of the film.   That’s the pattern followed for Watchman.

In other release news, which has been confirmed by Warner Bros. Home Entertainment, a pair of Clint Eastwood films will be making their Blu-ray debut on May 3.   These are City Heat (1984, directed by Richard Benjamin and co-starring Burt Reynolds) and his 1999 film adaptation of Andrew Klavan’s novel, True Crime.

Director Craig Gillespie’s The Finest Hours Docks As DVD And Blu-ray Selections From Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment On May 24

Director Craig Gillespie’s CGI thrill ride, The Finest Hours, which was adapted for the screen from the 2009 tell-all account by writers Michael J. Tougias and Casey Sherman titled “The Finest Hours: The True Story of the U.S. Coast Guard's Most Daring Sea Rescue,” will be heading home as both DVD and Blu-ray selections from Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment on May 24.

Timed for the Memorial Day weekend, this true-life story of the rescue of the crew of the SS Pendleton (an oil tanker that was literally cut in half — the f/x on this film are outstanding) off of Cape Cod on February 18, 1952 by Petty Officer Bernard C. Webber (Chris Pine) and his patched-together crew arrives with an ARR of 116 days.  

Domestic ticket sales were, however, a disappointing $27.3 million … and that is a shame as this is both a solid, edge-of-your-seat thrill ride and a well-told story.  It is now up to the home entertainment group to bang the promotional drums loudly.  

Bonus features include a pair of featurettes that are common to both release SKUs — “Brotherhood” and “The Finest Inspiration: The U.S. Coast Guard.”  The Blu-ray edition has deleted scenes and three additional featurettes —“Against All Odds: The Bernie Webber Story,” “Two Crews” and “What is Your Finest Hour?”

The Criterion Collection Announces Its June Line Up Of Newly Restored Blu-ray And DVD Product Selections

In its May release announcement, the Criterion Collection placed auteur filmmaker Robert Altman’s The Player on the calendar for delivery as a new 4K restoration on both DVD and Blu-ray on May 24.

That was exciting news indeed for film affectionados, so one can only imagine how much that excitement is amplified when the work of one iconic auteur is followed by news of yet another 4K restoration for an important piece of cinema from another one of the 20^th Century’s great auteurs, Stanley Kubrick.

That’s precisely what the Criterion Collection has in store for their faithful followers on June 28 with the release on DVD and Blu-ray of Kubrick’s 1964 Best Picture nominee starring Peter Sellers, Peter Sellers and Peter Sellers, Dr. Strangelove, or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb.

Bonus features include newly-prepared video sessions with, among others, author Michael Broderick (“Reconstructing Strangelove: Inside Stanley Kubrick's Nightmare Comedy”) and fellow scholar Rodney Hill (“The Encyclopedia of Stanley Kubrick”), as well as David George, son of writer Peter George, whose novel, “Red Alert,” was the basis for the film.

There’s a vintage interview session between The New Yorker’s Jeremy Bernstein and filmmaker Stanley Kubrick, video sessions from 1963 featuring Peter Sellers and George C. Scott and excerpts from the Today Show in 1980 featuring Peter Sellers.

Going to the film vaults on June 14, the Criterion Collection has a new 2K restoration of director Alexander Hall’s 1941 Best Picture nominee, Here Comes Mr. Jordan.

This film adaptation of Harry Segall’s 1938 stage play was nominated for seven Oscars, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor (Robert Montgomery), Best Supporting Actor (James Gleason) and Best Screenplay (Segall shared the Oscar with Sidney Buchman and Seton I. Miller).

Bonus features include a newly prepared video session with film critic Michael Sragow and filmmaker Michael Schlesinger, a vintage interview session with Robert Montgomery’s daughter, Elizabeth Montgomery and a 1942 Lux Radio adaptation of Here Comes Mr. Jordan featuring Cary Grant, Claude Rains, Evelyn Keyes, and James Gleason.

Other DVD and Blu-ray releases on the June release calendar from the Criterion Collection include director Michelangelo Antonioni’s Le Amiche (June 7), Jean Renoir’s early film sound film (1931), La Chienne (June 14) and director René Laloux’s surreal 1973 film release of Fantastic Planet (June 21).

Ariztical Entertainment Will Be Ready With A DVD Release Of Writer/Director Ian Samplin's Hunter On Apr. 26

The Big Apple, summer in the city and needy people who suddenly find something mysterious and exciting dropped literally on their doorstep.   That’s the hook for Ariztical Entertainment’s Apr. 26 DVD debut of writer/director Ian Samplin’s Hunter.

Gavin (Jack Falahee — as Connor in the How to Get Away with Murder television series) is an upwardly mobile millennial.   He should be the center of attention among his peers, but despite his good looks, an on-track career and decent Manhattan digs he remains aloof; an outsider.   He just doesn’t seem to be able to connect to those around him.

His friend, Amy (Ella Hatamian in her film debut, who is actually an up-and-coming filmmaker; producer — Homemakers, Nightmare Code, The Epiphany, etc.), is an attractive young woman, with lovely dark eyes, who puts herself out there.   It rarely works out.   She’s not “connecting” either as witnessed by her latest histoire d'amour, which has just gone up flames.

Needing a place to stay until she can work things out, she accepts Gavin’s invitation to bunk at his place … and that get us to that special “something” that they find on Gavin’s doorstep when they return home from dinner and drinks.

His name is Carter (Giles Matthey — as Claude Crane in the True Blood television series) and he passed out on this particular doorstep; random.   They bring him in, park him on the couch and thus begins a weekend full of Hitchcockian MacGuffins as the two find themselves attracted to the mysterious stranger.   The more they learn about him — his secrets — the more each of them wants to know.   

It soon becomes a competition of seduction … but who is the seducer and who is the seduced?   Is Gavin a drifter; a loner … or a gamer?   Filmmaker Ian Samplin keeps us guessing and allows the sexual pheromones a free reign in Hunter.