Cinema Libre Sets Dec. 19 As The DVD Debut Date For Documentary Filmmaker Rick Osuna's The UnAmerican Struggle

Cinema Libre announced this past week that Dec. 19 will be the DVD debut date for author, journalist and documentary filmmaker Ric Osuna’s The UnAmerican Struggle.

The film had its premiere at the San Antonio Film Festival in August of this year and is currently being exhibited at regional screenings, including the Atlanta International Documentary Film Festival, where it won the Best Political Documentary Award, and it was the kick-off film presentation at the Camden Conference in Maine this weekend.

Osuna examines racism, misogyny, sexism and xenophobia in America through interviews with 17 experts currently involved in issues related to inclusion and civil liberties.   Among those participating in The UnAmerican Struggle are Aisha Yaqoob, the Executive Director of the Georgia Muslim Voter Project; Heidi Beirich, Director, The Intelligence Project, Southern Poverty Law Center; Edward Ahmed Mitchell, Executive Director, Georgia Chapter, Council on American-Islamic Relations; and Sir Maejor Page, President of Greater Atlanta, Black Lives Matter. 

Blended in with these interview sessions is video footage from protests of President Donald Trump’s victory, the Women’s March in January and the immigrant rally in February of this year.

MVD Entertainment Group To Release Documentary Filmmaker Salvo Cuccia’s Summer 82: When Zappa Came to Sicily On Blu-ray On Dec. 8

There was Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention in the 1960s and then he went solo, and then they got back together again, and then split and business ups and down.   He just kept plugging along … building a fan base, building a reputation and then in May of 1982 he released the album titled “Ship Arriving Too Late to Save a Drowning Witch,” which spawned the biggest hit of his career, “Valley Girl.”

It was time to hit the road and that leads us to the release news from MVD Entertainment Group.  Documentary filmmaker Salvo Cuccia’s Summer 82: When Zappa Came to Sicily will be arriving on Blu-ray on Friday, Dec. 8.

An unlikely tour stop for a rock ‘n roll legend was Palermo, Sicily, but Zappa wanted to “explore his roots” (Sicily, the birthplace of both his father and grandfather) and so he performed in concert at La Favorita Stadium on July 14, 1982 in Palermo, Sicily.   But this isn’t a concert film, it’s the story of Zappa and Salvo Cuccia, who journeyed with his father from the countryside to see his music idol perform, but he didn’t make it in time to see the performance.

He kept the ticket and thought about the events that unfolded during that tumultuous time in Sicily — think: Mafia; think: murder: think: corruption — and decided to tell his very personal story, which attracted the likes of Zappa’s family to work with him in telling that story.

Dweezil, Moon Unit Zappa and Zappa’s wife Gail, who were all travelling with Frank at the time of the concert — and who had a chance to meet family members — related their experiences of their visit to Sicily.    There was a riot, the police fired tear gas, the concert was — and many described it — “a surreal event.”

Summer 82: When Zappa Came to Sicily is a “road trip” like none other.   Frank Zappa in Sicily … such a time!

Mill Creek Entertainment Expands Its Jan. 16 DVD And Blu-ray Release Calendar With The Addition Of S.W.A.T.: The Complete Series

Mill Creek Entertainment continues to expand its January of 2018 DVD and Blu-ray priced-to-collect release calendar with news this week that S.W.A.T.: The Complete Series will be heading home as a six-disc DVD set on Jan. 16.

All 37 episodes from S.W.A.T.’s two-season run — starring Steve Forrest as Lt. Dan "Hondo" Harrelson — are featured here.   Other members of this elite crime-fighting team are Robert Urich (as Jim Street), Mark Shera (as Dominic Luca) and Rod Perry (as Sgt. David "Deacon" Kay).

Also added to the Jan. 16 release calendar is the four-film DVD collection titled Locked and Re-Loaded, which showcases four films featuring U.S. forces on seemingly impossible missions! 

Featured are director Brian Clyde’s 2014 action flick, Operation Rogue, starring Mark Dacascos as Capt. Max Randall, the leader of a Marine team on a do-or-die rescue mission in Southeast Asia; writer/director Tony Giglio’s Extraction — Jon Foo is Mercy Callo, an elite “Black Ops” soldier who has to fight his way out of Chechnya when his mission goes south — and Jean-Claude Van Damme stars in director Simon Fellows’ Second in Command, which finds Van Damme leading a group of U.S. Embassy Marines against impossible odds when the embassy comes under attack and the ambassador is killed.

Rounding out the quartet of films in the Locked and Re-Loaded collection from Mill Creek Entertainment is director Alex Turner’s 2009 Afghanistan thriller, Red Sands, which finds an Army squad facing more than the Taliban … a malevolent force that they awakened!!!

MIG Music Tabs Friday Dec. 8 For The DVD/CD Combo Pack Debut Of Vanilla Fudge: Live At Sweden Rock 2016

MIG Music, with domestic sales and distribution support provided by MVD Entertainment Group, will be celebrating the 50^th Anniversary of American rockers, Vanilla Fudge, on Friday, Dec. 8, with the DVD/CD Combo Pack release of Vanilla Fudge: Live At Sweden Rock 2016.

On an April day in 1967, Mark Stein, Tim Bogert, Vince Martell and Carmine Appice formed Vanilla Fudge … by August of that year they had their first album, which was simply titled “Vanilla Fudge.”   

Included in the mix was the Billboard Hot 100 hit, “You Keep Me Hangin' On” (their own unique presentation of The Supremes from a year earlier), plus a cover of The Zombies’ “She’s Not There” … indeed, all of the songs presented by Vanilla Fudge in their debut album were covers.

“The Beat Goes On” followed in Feb. of 1968 (which has to be categorized as somewhat experimental … a curiosity of sorts) and then the first original material from the group just four months later with the release of “Renaissance.”

“Near the Beginning” was the group’s fourth album, which streeted in Feb. of 1969, and “Rock & Roll” followed in Sept. … and then they were gone!   Five “Top 40” hit albums and the group splintered.

Over the years they would have a reunion, depart, reunited, depart, etc. … it’s now 50 years later (WOW, Five – Oh!) and Stein, Martell and Appice are still at it  — Bogert elected to get off the road back in 2008 (a nasty motorcycle accident) — with Pete Bremy (a long-time Vanilla Fudge member and former member of Cactus with Carmine Appice) doing full time duty for the retired Bogert.

This live concert was recorded in front of 35,000 fans at Norje Havsbad in Sweden and featured an 11-song set.   In the mix were “She’s Not There” and “You Keep Me Hangin' On” from the “Vanilla Fudge” album; “Shotgun” from the “Near the Beginning” album and “Season of the Witch” from “Renaissance.”

The remaining song presentations were “I'm A Believer,” “Break On Through,” “Pray for Peace,” “Good Good Livin',” “Take Me for a Little While,” “Gimme Some Lovin'” and “Dazed and Confused.”

The accompanying CD features the same concert mix.

Paramount Home Media Confirms That Producer J.J. Abrams' "Coverfield" Films Will Be Available On Jan. 23 As 4K Ultra HD/Blu-ray Combo Pack Editions

The “Cloverfield” sci-fi films are getting a 4K Ultra HD push in the New Year!  

Paramount Home Media made it official late this past week that both of the J.J. Abrams produced films, director Matt Reeves’ 2008 sci-fi thriller, Cloverfield, and director Dan Trachtenberg’s 2016 film release of 10 Cloverfield Lane, will be available as 4K Ultra HD/Blu-ray Combo Packs on Jan. 23.

No word at deadline as to new bonus features, if any.    Since the Blu-ray discs will be included, we assume that the original bonus content will carry over to these new 4K SKU configurations.   

Cloverfield included commentary from Matt Reeves, four additional scenes, a pair of alternate endings and a quartet of featurettes — “Document 01.18.08: The Making of Cloverfield,” “Cloverfield Visual Effects,” “I Saw It! It's Alive! It's Huge!” and “Clover Fun.”

10 Cloverfield Lane sported a commentary option featuring director Dan Trachtenberg and producer J.J. Abrams and there was a seven-segment “Behind-the-Scenes” collection that are variously titled: “Cloverfield Too,” “Bunker Mentality,” “Duck and Cover,” “Spin-Off,” “Kelvin Optical,” “Fine Tuned” and “End of Story.”

Universal Pictures Home Entertainment Picks Jan. 2 For The Home Entertainment Rollout Of Director Doug Liman's American Made

Universal Pictures Home Entertainment will open the New Year with director Doug Liman’s biopic/adventure, American Made, starring Tom Cruise as Barry Seal, former TWA pilot turned drug smuggler.

Slated for release on Jan. 2, Universal will be shipping DVD, Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack and 4K Ultra HD/Blu-ray Combo Pack editions to retailers on the first street-date Tuesday of 2018.  

The ARR is 95 days and domestic box office receipts currently stand at $48.5 million.

When you smuggle drugs, make deals with Pablo Escobar and the CIA it will eventually end with your blood on the sidewalk.   The trailer gave the impression that Cruise was playing an adult version of “Joel,” his wheeler-dealer character in Risky Business, and maybe that’s the best way to sell a film in which the star ends up being murdered ... there was just no happy ending in store for Barry Seal.

Bonus goodies included deleted scenes and a half-dozen featurettes — “American Storytellers,” “Cruise and Liman: A Conversation,” “In the Wings,” “Shooting American Made,” “Flying High” and “The Real Barry Seal.”

Amazon.Com Ambushes 20th Century-Fox Home Entertainment's Kingsman: The Golden Circle With Pre-Book Orders For A Dec. 12 Launch

Amazon.com jumped the gun this past week and revealed that 20^th Century-Fox Home Entertainment will be filling a December hole with a post-Labor Day theatrical hit.

The week before it was Lionsgate Home Entertainment who dipped into Peter’s pocket to pay Paul with the Dec. 5 home entertainment launch of director Michael Cuesta’s American Assassin, which is a post-Labor Day release being rushed to market in December instead being held back from release until the more traditional first quarter of the New Year.

The ARR was 81 days, which is roughly three weeks faster than the current “Hollywood” studio average for transitioning a theatrical release — grossing $25 million or more — from theatre venues to home entertainment outlets.

This week it was the usual suspect once again, amazon.com, getting out in front of an official announcement from 20^th Century-Fox Home Entertainment on the home entertainment debut of writer/director Matthew Vaughn’s hit action/comedy, Kingsman: The Golden Circle.

The street date — according to amazon.com — will be Dec. 12, which also yields a quick-to-market ARR of just 81 days.   Box office receipts currently stand at $97.3 million … the original, Kingsman: The Secret Service, pulled in $128.3 million during its February/March run back in 2015.   So we have a film franchise in the making here.

Why the rush?   The sad truth is that there are simply not enough hit films (ticket sales of $25 million plus) in inventory to service the December release calendar.   Through the first ten months of this year, we’ve seen 68 films reach this golden circle, while last year — through the same period — “Hollywood” was able to grind out 76 films of that box office caliber.    Just five years ago, 2012, there were 86 films.  

86, 76, 68 … do you see a trend?

So 20^th Century-Fox is the latest studio to forsake Q1’18 opportunities for the more immediate December (Christmas-season) delivery of DVD, Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack and 4K Ultra HD/Blu-ray Combo Pack editions of Kingsman: The Secret Service to consumers.   Will a problem develop for the studio in Q1’18 as a result?