Director Benjamin Ironside Koppin’s Made Me Do It Ready For DVD Release On May 21

Indican Pictures has tabbed May 21 as the DVD debut date for Benjamin Ironside Koppin’s Made Me Do It.   Fans of genre films — especially crazed serial killer/slasher tales — who were unable to catch the film during its limited theatrical run, can take time out to enjoy a marvelously spun tale of crazy at work!

The transition to the home entertainment arena yields an ARR of just 39 days.

Thomas Berkson (Kyle Van Vorderen) has a problem.   His entire life has been one of abuse and belittlement … the message, to him, which comes through loud and clear, is that you are WORTHLESS!!!   Now it the time has arrived for him to do something about it!! 

We are introduced to the “worthless” Thomas while still a patient at the Saint Paul Psychiatric Hospital.   His beloved aunt, Sharon (Elain Rinehart), raised him, tormented him, home-schooled him and fed him a diet of garbage (nothing healthy) and, sad to say, drove him crazy.   If the truth were to be known, he may have had a genetic head start, but his aunt made certain that the worst of Thomas would someday surface.

What makes him especially creepy is that he likes to draw faces on paper plates and then, with whatever is handy, tape them in a crude sort of way to his face.   At first glance you can’t but think that he’s a pathetic loser, with some problems of course.   But this bargain basement “Michael Myers” should not be — at your own peril — underestimated … he’s a deranged killer through and through.

While Thomas is busy killing off his therapist, escaping the happy farm and going on a murderous rampage, the action shifts to sister and brother Ali (Anna B. Shaffer) and Nick Hooper (Jason Gregory London), who are home alone and clearly future helpless victims … or maybe not.

Filmmaker Benjamin Ironside Koppin does a marvelous job of establishing the character of Thomas, a creepy serial killer with a Michael Myers mask fetish and then throws in some red meat in the form of a Jamie Lee Curtis-like victim who proves to be a lot more resourceful than one would expect.

Made Me Do It is a nice indie twist on the slasher theme and well worth a look-see come May 21. 

Arrow Video Restores Hold Back The Dawn For Blu-ray Release On July 16

Before the novel was published, Paramount Studios had acquired the story and set about to make a movie.   Law suits were threatened, fears of international tensions with Mexico were a concern, problems with the script and the talent erupted during the production and then there was all of that worrisome sex that drew the scrutiny of the Hollywood censors. 

It was quite a feat getting first-time novelist Ketti Frings’ 1940 book, Hold Back the Dawn, to the screen.    It would rollout theatrically in late September of 1941 and despite all of the production issues proved to be a hit, pulling in six Oscar nominations, including Best Picture (losing out to How Green Was My Valley … of course, Citizen Kane should have been the winner), Best Screenplay and a Best Actress nomination for Olivia de Havilland (pitting her against her sister, Joan Fontaine, who won for Suspicion).

Arrow Video, with domestic sales and distribution expertise provided by MVD Entertainment Group, will have a new hi-def transfer (from the original film elements) of Hold Back the Dawn ready for release as a Blu-ray product offering on July 16.

In this tale of romance and betrayal, we meet George Iscovescu (Charles Boyer), a Romanian refugee who has fled Europe at the outbreak of World War II, and now finds himself stuck in Baja California and unable to get into the United States.   A former “dancing” partner (that’s code for sexual liaison) by the name of Anita (played by Pauline Goddard) tells George that she solved the exact same problem by marrying an American and then dumping him once her citizenship was granted … he immediately sets out to do the same thing.

Living in a dollar-a-day dump, George begins to spin his web and in short order along comes a visiting teacher from Southern California by the name of Emily (Olivia de Havilland) and the trap is sprung.   He seduces her, convinces her to marry him and all he has to do is wait four weeks and assure an immigration snoop by the name of Hammock (Walter Abel) that his intensions are honorable.

A lot can happen in four weeks!!!

Bonus features include a newly-prepared commentary by film scholar Adrian Martin (“Once Upon a Time in America,” “Mysteries of Cinema,” etc.), the featurette titled “Love Knows No Borders,” the 1971 interview with the film’s star, Olivia de Havilland, at the National Film Theatre, which is titled “The Guardian Lecture: Olivia de Havilland” and the 1941 Lux Radio Theatre broadcast featuring Charles Boyer, Paulette Goddard and Susan Haywood.

Paramount Home Media Selects July 9 For The Release Of Broad City: Season 5 And Broad City: The Complete Series On DVD

Paramount Home Media announced this past week that Comedy Central’s Broad City: Season 5 will be available as a double-disc DVD product offering July 9.  

The adventures of Abbi Jacobson and Ilana Glazer in New York City — all ten episodes — come to end, not sadly, but with laughs aplenty in their fifth and final season, which comes packed with comedy bits, including one involving a lost sweatshirt that turns into a frantic search for a missing person … Abbi! 

Bonus goodies include outtakes, deleted scenes, selected episode commentary and the on-going “Hack Into Broad City” special feature.

Also arriving on the same date, July 9, is the 11-disc collection of Broad City: The Complete Series, which features all 50 episodes and a bonus disc that comes pack additional bonuses.   Included are four “Behind the Scenes” featurettes, “The Making of Season 5” and the farewell feature, “A NYC Broad City Send-Off Fit for a Queen.”

Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Readies Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack Edition Of A Star Is Born: Encore For Release On June 4

Did it nag at you that Lady Gaga’s character of Ally progressed a little too fast from neophyte song writer/singer to star in Bradley Cooper’s remake of A Star is Born?   

Unless you were fortunate enough to catch the one-week theatrical run of the “Encore Edition” of A Star is Born, you missed out on what was cut from the original theatrical version and this would always remain a mystery.   No problem, mystery — or mysteries — solved as Warner Bros. Home Entertainment announced this past week that the extended cut (Encore) of A Star is Born will be available on June 4 as a Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack (with Digital Copy).   

The Blu-ray, in this Combo Pack presentation, contains the Encore version of the film, which clocks in at roughly 12 minutes longer (136 vs 148 minutes), while the accompanying DVD has the original theatrical cut of the film.

The additional footage includes the “Clover” sequence, where Jack (Bradley Cooper) and Ally write a song together, an a capella performance of “Shallow” by Ally and additional jam or working sessions and some additional footage from the wedding sequence.

Lionsgate Home Entertainment Tabs June 11 For The Home Entertainment Launch Of Director Justin Baldoni’s Five Feet Apart

Lionsgate Home Entertainment announced this past week that director Justin Baldoni’s teenage hospital patient love story, Five Feet Apart, will be streeting on June 11 as both DVD and Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack product offerings.

The ARR is 88 days and domestic multiplex revenues churned up a tasty $45 million.

Stella (Haley Lu Richardson — Edge of Seventeen, Columbus) suffers from cystic fibrosis and sure enough she meets fellow “CF” patient Will (Cole Sprouse — as Patrick in the Grace Under Fire series and Cody in The Suite Life of Zack & Cody) and they fall in love.   It is a doomed romance as they must remain at least six feet apart — but they cheat and drop the distance down to five feet — or they could cross-infect one another and die sooner than anticipated.

Bonus features for this box-of-Kleenex love story include commentary from actor-turned-director Justin Baldoni (his theatrical directing debut), deleted scenes, an alternate ending, footage from the film’s “Theatrical Fan Event” launch and a quartet of featurettes — “Crossing It Off: Making Five Feet Apart,” “On the Set of Five Feet Apart,” “Attention to Detail” and “An Artist's Eye.”

Retailers Jump The Gun With June 11 Order Taking For Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment's Captain Marvel

It is an absolute waste of time trying to keep the children in line.   We speak of the need of big box retailers like Best Buy and Target and their need to maximize sales in a rigged game.   

The rigged game is blockbuster DVD, Blu-ray and 4K Ultra HD releases, especially when it comes to those being released by Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment.   The studio has the Disney Store, which is a captive audience with built-in incentives to buy their home entertainment products directly from the source.

Best Buy and Target compete against this with “Exclusive Editions” that contain extras, ranging from additional content to unique packaging, such as SteelBook presentations.   Because the game is rigged, they have every incentive to jump announcement dates and try to lock in as many orders as possible before the Disney Store opens up for business.

In fairness, all of the players — the studio and the retailers — are acting in their own best interest, which often puts the PR people at Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment at a disadvantage.   They have calendar dates to hit and sign-offs to obtain before official word goes out … if someone jumps the gun, there is little that they can do about it.

The latest in the “jump the gun” victims is that of the writing/directing team of Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck’s Marvel Studios/Walt Disney Pictures’ production of Captain Marvel.   Both retailers are taking pre-orders for June 11.

That street date yields an ARR of 95 days.   Domestic box office receipts are at the blockbuster level with $386.5 million, which means that additional entries in the series will be likely … of note, Brie Larson’s character, Captain Marvel/Carol Danvers, will be in the forthcoming theatrical release of Avengers: Endgame (Apr. 22).

As for SKU configurations, there will be a stand-alone DVD and Combo Pack editions for both the Blu-ray (with DVD) and 4K Ultra HD (with Blu-ray) formats.

Naturally, with orders being taken before the official studio announcement, there are no details (as of yet) with respect to bonus features.   

The Criterion Collection Announces Its July Slate Of Film Restorations Destined For DVD And Blu-ray Release

The Criterion Collection announced a six-strong slate of 2K and 4K film restorations that will be ready during the month of July for release as either DVD or Blu-ray product offering.

As always, it is a subjective call as to what the frontrunner might be, so with that in mind we’ve picked the new 4K film restoration of director Alan J. Pakula’s summer of 1971 thriller, Klute, starring Jane Fonda and Donald Sutherland.  It will be available as double-disc DVD and single-disc Blu-ray editions on July 16.

Bonus features include a newly prepared video session with Jane Fonda (she won the Oscar for Best Actress for her performance here as Bree), who is joined by actress Illeana Douglas, documentary filmmaker Matthew Miele’s newly prepared documentary titled, Pakula: The Whole Damn Thing, a featurette titled “The Look of Klute,” archival interviews with filmmaker Alan J. Pakula and actress Jane Fonda and a vintage short film about the making of Klute shot during the film’s production in New York City.

Another film of interest in the July mix is director Michael Radford’s 1984 remake of George Orwell’s prophetic 1949 novel, 1984.   It will be available as DVD and Blu-ray editions on July 23.

Originally adapted for the screen by director Michael Anderson in 1956, with Edmond O'Brien as Winston Smith and Jan Sterling as Julia, Radford’s update features John Hurt as Smith and Suzanna Hamilton as Julia. 

As to bonuses, there is behind the scenes footage and a trio of newly-prepared video sessions featuring director Michael Radford (Oscar-nominated for Best Director for Il Postino in 1996), cinematographer Roger Deakins (13 Oscar nominations for his cinematography, finally winning for Blade Runner 2049) and author David Ryan (“George Orwell on Screen”).

On the foreign language front during the month of July, The Criterion Collection has writer/director Agnieszka Holland’s 1990 film release of Europa Europa set for July 9 as both DVD and Blu-ray editions; July 9 also sees the three-disc Blu-ray presentation of director Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s BRD Trilogy (The Marriage of Maria Braun, Veronika Voss and Lola) and July 16 finds both DVD and Blu-ray selections of director Marcel Pagnol’s 1938 (1940 for the domestic market) film release of The Baker’s Wife.

And wrapping up the proceedings is a new 4K film restoration of the boorish auteur filmmaker Spike Lee’s 1989 film, Do the Right Thing.   It will be available on July 23 and a double-disc DVD edition and a stand-alone Blu-ray release.