Tad The Lost Explorer And The Secret Of King Midas On DVD From Paramount Home Media On Apr. 10

Tadeo Jones, the hero of Spain’s animated feature hit of 2012, returns on Apr. 10 in his latest feature-length adventure, Tad the Lost Explorer and the Secret of King Midas, courtesy of Paramount Home Media.

The Dove Approved (ages 12+) film got an unannounced 100-theatre break in the theatrical “death zone” during the week right after the Thanksgiving holiday to qualify for Oscar consideration.   Once you get past Coco, Ferdinand and the adult-themed Loving Vincent, the other two slots were wide open, so Paramount Classics took a savvy low-risk chance to grab one of the remaining Oscar-nominated spots in the Animated Feature Film category by qualifying the film for Oscar-consideration.

For the record, the ARR for the DVD release of Tad the Lost Explorer and the Secret of King Midas works out to 130 days.

Fans of Tad or Tadeo (English-language version voiced by Trevor White), or just animation fans in general, will not be disappointed in this well-produced adventure that has our hero heading off to Las Vegas to attend an archaeological presentation by his friend, Sara Lavrof (voiced by Alex Kelly), only to see her abducted right off of the stage.   It seems that she has discovered a papyrus that proves the existence of the Necklace of Midas … which gives the wearer the power to turn items to gold!!!

The evil Jack Rackham (voiced by Ramon Tikaram) is the brains behind the kidnapping  and he wants Sara to lead him to the necklace.   So it falls to the often-inept Tad — and his sidekick Mimeo, an Egyptian mummy (voice by Joseph Balderrama) — to follow the clues and rescue Sara.   Belzoni, Sara’s talking parrot and Tad’s dog join the adventure and offer comic relief!

It’s all great fun, so on Apr. 10 join Tad, Mimeo and their animal friends as they seek to rescue Sara from the villainous Jack Rackham in Tad the Lost Explorer and the Secret of King Midas.

Cleopatra Music And Films Salutes David Cassidy On Apr. 6 With The DVD/CD Combo Pack Release Of David Cassidy: I Think I Love You: Greatest Hits Live

It was a magical night in April of 2002 at The Clyde Auditorium in Glasgow, Scotland when the late David Cassidy was riding a resurgence wave following his 2001 release of “Then and Now,” which went Platinum.

On Apr. 6, Cleopatra Music & Films, with sales and distribution expertise provided by MVD Entertainment Group, will be celebrating David Cassidy’s birthday (April 10, 1950) with the DVD/CD Combo Pack re-release of David Cassidy: I Think I Love You: Greatest Hits Live.

This 21-song set list was recorded live at The Clyde Auditorium and includes his greatest hits … kicking off with “I Can Feel Your Heartbeat” and continuing with the likes of “Cherish,” “Rock Me Baby,” “Daydreamer,” “I Write The Songs” and, of course, “I Think I Love You.”

Bonus features include the CD of the concert, a studio version of “I Think I Love You” as a bonus track and a behind-the-scenes documentary.

20th Century-Fox Home Entertainment Looks To Mar. 13 As The Street Date For The Shape Of Water

Last week, we speculated that the Feb. 23 home entertainment launch for Best Picture contender Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri signaled that 20^th Century-Fox was putting their money behind director Gullermo Del Toro’s The Shape of Water as the most likely Best Picture winner.   We further speculated that as early as this week they could target Mar. 13 as the street date for home entertainment products that consumers would be able to select from.

Right on cue, 20^th Century-Fox Home Entertainment announced this past week that Mar. 13 would indeed be the street date for DVD, Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack and 4K Ultra HD/Blu-ray Combo Pack editions of The Shape of Water.

The ARR for that mid-March release date is 102 days and ticket sales currently stand at $44.7 million (that number will easily top $60 million before all is said and done).

The film is nominated for 13 Oscars … besides Best Picture, these include Best Director and Best Original Screenplay for Del Toro and a Best Actress Oscar nod for Sally Hawkins (who really needed to be nominated for Maudie … her performance in that film is even better than her portrayal of Elisa, the love interest of the captive swamp creature here).

As to bonus goodies, there are five featurettes — “A Fairy Tale for Troubled Times,” “Anatomy of a Scene: Prologue,” “Anatomy of a Scene: The Dance,” “Shaping the Waves: A Conversation with James Jean” and “Guillermo del Toro’s Master Class.”

Sony Picture Home Entertainment Moves Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle Quickly To Market On Mar. 20

In something of a surprise move, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment has elected to move director Jake Kasdan’s smash comedy release of Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, starring Dwayne Johnson, Jack Black, Kevin Hart and Karen Gillan, to the home entertainment marketplace in a zippy 88 days by placing it on Mar. 20.

With box office revenues of $352.6 million (and heading highter) holding back a couple of weeks for DVD, Blu-ray and 4K Ultra HD/Blu-ray Combo Pack product offerings wouldn’t have been the end of the world.   Nevertheless, when you are in the stratosphere — in terms of box office receipts — Sony Pictures Home Entertainment can pick any date they damn well please for this blockbuster.

As to bonus features for Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, all consumer home entertainment product selections include a gag reel, the Nick Jonas and Jack Black music video, “Jumanji, Jumanji,” and three featurettes — “Journey Through The Jungle: The Making of Jumanji,” “Meet the Players: A Heroic Cast” and “Attack of the Rhinos.”

Exclusive to the Blu-ray and 4K Ultra HD SKUs are two additional featurettes: “Surviving the Jungle: Spectacular Stunts!” and “Book to Board Game to Big Screen & Beyond! Celebrating The Legacy of Jumanji.”

Kino Lorber Pick Mar. 20 For The Blu-ray Debut Of Director Nathan Juran's 1954 Film Noir Classic Highway Dragnet

Circle Mar. 20 on your must-own DVD and/or Blu-ray release calendar.   Just do it, especially if you are a film noir buff!!!

Finally, finally, finally director Nathan Juran’s 1954 film noir gem, Highway Dragnet (film icon Roger Corman’s first film production credit) will be given a legitimate home entertainment release … not just as a DVD, but as both DVD and Blu-ray product offerings from Kino Lorber on Mar. 20.

Korean War vet, Sgt. Jim Henry (played by Richard Conte, who became a star with his performance as the wise-talking Private Rivera in director Lewis Milestone’s 1945 World War II masterpiece, A Walk in the Sun … plus such film credits as Thieves' Highway, Whirlpool, The Godfather, The Big Combo, etc.) gets into an argument with a blonde floozy (Mary Beth Hughes) at a Las Vegas bar.   The next day she is found dead and Jim is the prime suspect.

He manages to escape the police when they are trying to arrest him and gets away in one of their own police cruisers, which he quickly ditches in the desert.  While making his escape, he notices two women with car trouble and doubles back to hitch a ride with them … it is the perfect cover!!

The women he cons into getting a ride with are Mrs. Cummings (Joan Bennett), one of the country’s top photographers for various publications and her latest model, Susan (Wanda Hendrix — Ride the Pink Horse, Captain Carey, U.S.A., etc.), but instead of just getting beyond the police dragnet and moving on from there, he accepts Mrs. Cummings’ invitation to stay with them at the Apple Valley Inn.

From this point on it becomes a cat-and-mouse game involving Jim, the police (led by Reed Hadley), who remain in hot pursuit and the real killer.  

This Allied Artist theatrical release (in early 1954) is probably the most underrated film noir from the period … it’s about time that it will be available for film buffs, collectors and film noir aficionados to add to their film libraries. 

Universal Pictures Home Entertainment Selects Apr. 10 For The Home Entertainment Launch Of Director Paul Thomas Anderson's Phantom Thread

If you enjoy the movies — whether theatrically or in some other viewing venue — you can only hope that the stories that writer/director Paul Thomas Anderson’s Best Picture nominee, Phantom Thread is three-time Oscar-winner Daniel Day-Lewis’ final film are simply not true.  

This is an actor who has given us performances is such films as My Left Foot (Best Actor), My Beautiful Laundrette, A Room with a View, The Last of the Mohicans, In the Name of the Father (nominated, Best Actor), Gangs of New York (nominated, Best Actor), There Will Be Blood (Best Actor) and Lincoln (Best Actor) that stand the test of time.    

This is not, sadly, one of his best … and even so, not at his best, he is still nominated for Best Actor for his performance as a 1950s era fashion designer, who develops a very, very odd (sorry, no spoilers here) relationship with a waitress (Vicky Krieps — The Colony), who is clearly out — way, way out — of his social circle.

With that said, Universal Pictures Home Entertainment has selected Apr. 10 for the DVD and Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack release of Phantom Thread.  The ARR works out to 106 days and domestic ticket sales were a lackluster $14.1 million.

As to bonus features, there are camera tests with commentary by filmmaker Paul Thomas Anderson, deleted scenes and a pair of featurettes — “House of Woodcock Fashion Show” and “Behind the Scenes Photographs.”  

           

Lionsgate Home Entertainment Puts James Franco's The Disaster Artist In Heavy Home Entertainment Traffic On Mar. 13

With a shrug of the shoulders and a ho-hum publicity launch effort, Lionsgate Gate Entertainment appears to be trying to fly under the radar with its Mar. 13 home entertainment release of DVD and Blu-ray/Combo Pack editions for actor/director James Franco’s The Disaster Artist.

The film earned Franco the Golden Globe for Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy, but the Mar. 13 street date selected by Lionsgate Home Entertainment all but assures that there will be hard-to-come-by sales action for the film in the home entertainment marketplace as it will be up against (get ready, it’s a long list) the likes of Warner Bros. Home Entertainment’s Justice League, both 20^th Century-Fox Home Entertainment’s The Shape of Water (the likely Best Picture-winner) and Ferdinand (competing in the Best Animated Picture category), Universal Pictures Home Entertainment’s I, Tonya (both Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress nominations) and even Sony Pictures Home Entertainment has one of the Best Actor contenders on that same mid-March street date with Call Me by Your Name.   

You would think that both A24 and producer/director James Franco would have to be just a little miffed over that bit of strategic planning … but, as they say, “oh well.”

The ARR is 102 days and domestic box office revenues currently stand right at $21 million.

Bonus features include commentary from actor/director James Franco, his co-star (and brother) Dave Franco and the real-life Tommy Wiseau and Greg Sestero, plus a trio of featurettes — “Oh, Hi Mark!: Making a Disaster,” “Directing a Disaster” and “Just a Guy Leaning on a Wall: Getting to Know Tommy.”