Mill Creek Entertainment To Release DVD And Blu-ray Sets Of Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt: The Complete Series On Feb. 4

Mill Creek Entertainment revealed the first wave of its February priced-to-collect Blu-ray and DVD release calendar.  

Leading the parade of hits is the Feb. 4 debut — on both DVD and Blu-ray — of Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt: The Complete Series, played by Ellie Kemper (as Erin in The Office TV series, plus such films as Bridesmaids, 21 Jump Street) who stars as a cult captive who spent 15 years in an underground bunker being told that the world has ended).   Once rescued, she elects to make a go of it in New York City (of all places), rather than return home to Indiana.   

With a mixed-matched roommate by the name of Titus (Tituss Burgess — nominated for four Emmys for his performance), who is a Times Square wannabe street performer, she manages to put her life back together.  Carol Kane stars as her screw-loose landlord, while Jane Krakowski is a wealthy socialite who mistakes Kimmy for a nanny and hires her to deal with her 10-year-old son.

All 51 episodes of this comedy series are included in these eight-disc box sets for both the DVD and Blu-ray formats.

Also on the Blu-ray release front in this first way of February, 2020 priced-to-collect release are four new additions to Mill Creek’s popular “Retro VHS” line of Blu-ray film releases.    

Getting the retro treatment this time out is writer/director Fred Walton’s 1979 horror tale, When a Stranger Calls, starring Carol Kane (Oscar-nominee for Best Actress for her performance in Hester Street, plus two-time Emmy-winner for the TV series Taxi … and who also stars in Mill Creek’s Feb. 4 Blu-ray debut of Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt: The Complete Series) as a babysitter who must face a deranged killer (played by Tony Beckley) not once, but twice!!

Kim Basinger (Oscar-winning for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in L.A. Confidential) teams up with Richard Gere in director Richard Pearce’s 1986 detective thriller in the Big Easy (and the nearby swamps), No Mercy.   Bruce Willis stars in director Michael Lehmann’s 1991 film release of Hudson Hawk and two-time Grammy-winner Cindy Lauper co-stars with Jeff Goldblum in director Ken Kwapis’ 1988 adventure/comedy, Vibes … four new “Retro VHS” Blu-ray releases — priced at just $14.98 each — on Feb. 4.

He’s back on Feb. 25!!   Mill Creek Entertainment will bring the fourth installment in the venerable Ultraman television series to Blu-ray on Feb. 25 with the release of the Return of Ultraman … a six-disc set featuring all 51 episodes.

Ultra Seven finished up in 1967 and that was suppose to be the end of the Ultraman cycle, but Japanese audiences loved it and the demand grew and grew until 1971 when a new member to MAT (Monster Attack Force) is brought back to life by “New Ultraman.”   Jiro Dan stars as Hideki Gôh, a famous racecar driver, who sacrifices his life in the opening episode to save a child during a “monster storm” (creature fight) on the streets of Tokyo.    It does not go unnoticed!

Presented in Japanese with English subtitles, Return of Ultraman also includes with Digital Copy and 28-page collectible booklet.

Stayed tuned … this is just the first wave of new February Blu-ray and DVD product offerings from Mill Creek Entertainment.

MVD Entertainment Group Bestows Rewind Collection Status On The Feb. 11 Blu-ray Debut Of Writer/Director Bob Yari's Mind Games

MVD Entertainment Group has a new addition to its MVD Rewind Collection series of Blu-ray releases with the announcement this past week that writer/director Bob Yari’s Mind Games will be released on Feb. 11.

One of the most overlooked films of 1989 — MGM was in the middle of being bought and sold by Kirk Kerkorian to an Italian waiter by the name of Giancarlo Parretti, who, as it turned out, scammed Crédit Lyonnais out of a billion dollars in buying MGM — Mind Games literally got lost in the chaos … and to make matters worse, an old distribution deal with 20^th Century-Fox was still in play that saw the film shuffled over to them for a matter-of-course VHS release.   Gone.

Gone, yes, but not forgotten as MVD has become something of an expert in finding these misplaced cinematic treasures and Mind Games will be right at home in the company’s Rewind Collection clubhouse.

Dana (Edward Albert — Butterflies are Free, Guarding Tess, The Ice Runner) and his wife, Rita (Shawn Weatherly — as Jill on Baywatch), are having a tough go of it, so they decide that a little downtime and a road trip in their motorhome with their son, Kevin (Matt Norero), would be a good opportunity to reset things.   

Lots to see and do … and then there’s this encounter, in the woods, on a quite stream, with a young man by the name of Eric (Maxwell Caulfield — Grease 2, The Boys Next Door, Gettysburg), who seems harmless enough.  For reasons that seem a little odd, Dana invites him to join them on their road trip.

If you were sitting in a theatre back in 1989, you were, about this point in the movie, yelling at the screen … NO!    You already knew that things were about to go south and that pretty boy Eric was really a monster — a psychopath — just waiting for a motorhome full of victims to toy with.   And toy he does!!   

Bonus goodies include two newly-prepared video sessions.   The first with Maxwell Caulfield and Shawn Weatherly, and the second featuring writer/director Bob Yari and producer Mary Apick.   

Cleopatra Entertainment Tabs Feb. 25 As The Street Date For A Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack Presentation Of Glenn Danzig's Verotika

Cleopatra Entertainment, with sales and distribution expertise provided by MVD Entertainment Group, has selected Feb. 25 for the release of a Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack presentation of writer/director, musician and performance artist Glenn Danzig’s eagerly anticipated film anthology, Verotika.

Currently the film, which is based on the “Verotik” line of comic books (adult-themed graphic novels is more like it), is playing in selected venues (and generating amazing buzz in the process) … call them events, if you will, that coincide with the current OG Misfits tour.   The next event will be on Dec. 13 in Philadelphia at the Philadelphia Film Center … New York City on Oct. 18 at the AMC Empire 25 Theatre in Times Square sold out, as did the Sitges Film Festival in Barcelona, Spain.

Indeed, by the time Cleopatra Entertainment delivers Verotika (the movie) to home entertainment marketplace on Feb. 25 it will certainly be a red-hot item among fans and possibly one of the most anticipated Blu-ray releases during the first quarter of 2020.

As to the movie itself, it is, by any standards, a “visual feast,” populated by well-endowed females in analogy segments variously titled “The Albino Spider of Dajette” (showcasing the talents of Ashley Wisdom), “Change of Face” (with Rachel Alig as the “Mystery Girl”) and “Drukija, Countess of Blood” (Alice Haig, aka: Alice Tate) … Kayden Kross is Morella, the hostess of the proceedings (think: Elvira).   

The Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack presentation of Verotika also includes a CD of the soundtrack as a bonus.

Bayview Entertainment Celebrates New Year's Eve With The DVD Debut Of Writer/Director Jason Shirley's Innocent Kiss Starring Burt Reynolds

Bayview Entertainment has scored a major DVD release to ring in the New Year.  Yes, it is confirmed that Dec. 31 will be the street date for writer/director Jason Shirley’s Innocent Kiss, which features one of the final on-screen performances of Burt Reynolds.

Reynolds was in preparation for the role of George Spahn in Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time in … Hollywood when he died suddenly of a heart attack.   Sad.  

Filmmaker Jason Shirley got to work with Reynolds in 2016 on his film titled Elbow Grease, which opened at the Sarasota Film Festival in April of that year.   It was perhaps rushed into completion and even though audiences responded well, Shirley felt that some work was needed and the film was withdrawn from further circulation to be re-cut and re-worked.  

Time passed, and as sometimes happens with independent films, they just disappear.   Not so with Jason Shirley’s comedy, true to his word he re-worked it, tightened it up and brought it to the Vancouver Just For Laughs Film Festival in February of this year.   Retitled as Innocent Kiss, it received rave reviews … audiences loved it!!   

Bayview Entertainment got wind of Innocent Kiss and now this down-home comedy will finally be available for the public to enjoy … a nice, fun-filled way to ring in the New Year!!!

Paramount Home Media Prep Two Full Seasons Of Gunsmoke For DVD Release On Feb. 11

Paramount Home Media will be pleasing fans of the legendary Western series, Gunsmoke, on Feb. 11 with the releases on not one, but two full seasons on DVD … Gunsmoke: The Complete 18th Season and Gunsmoke: The Complete 19th Season.

In other release news this week that writer/director Malik Bader’s Killerman, starring Liam Hemsworth as a New York City hustler — with a major problem — has been added to the Dec. 3 DVD release calendar.

The ARR is 95 days and the film’s box office take from its limited showcase theatrical run came in at $291,477.

Documentary Filmmaker Kurt Kuenne’s Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father - 10th Anniversary Special Edition From Oscilloscope Laboratories On Dec. 17

Oscilloscope Laboratories announced this past week that documentary filmmaker Kurt Kuenne’s 2008 documentary, Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father - 10th Anniversary Special Edition, will be available on both DVD and Blu-ray this coming Dec. 17.

The true story begins with the murder of Andrew Bagby in November of 2001.   Kurt Kuenne was his friend, since childhood, and when he learned that Andrew had a newborn son, which he fathered with a woman named Shirley Turner, before his death, he decided — as a loving tribute — to assemble old 8mm and 16mm films of Andrew growing up so that his son, Zachary would know who his father was.   He interviewed family and friends … it would be a nice collection of memories for Andrew’s son.

Meanwhile, Shirley became the prime suspect and fled to Canada with Zachary.   Andrew’s parents followed and began court proceedings to gain custody of the boy.   The wheels of justice ground slowly … and Kuenne’s “family album” tribute mutated into an investigation into the death of his friend.

We will not give away the twist here, but it is sufficient to say that Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father plays more like a film noir thriller than a loving memory book for a son to view as he grows from child to adult.

Bonus features include updates to the story by filmmaker Kurt Kuenne, extended scenes and additional footage of both Andrew and Zachary.

Universal Pictures Home Entertainment Sets Jan. 7 As The Street Date For DVD And Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack Editions Of Writer/Director Justin Dec's Countdown

Universal Pictures Home Entertainment has elected to open the New Year with a Jan. 7 home entertainment package media launch of writer/director Justin Dec’s Countdown, a demonic thriller … or is it just a scary tale about a cursed cell phone app?   

 In any case, the clock is ticking down to a death-day zero for nurse Quinn Harris (Elizabeth Lail), who downloaded a quirky app to her cell phone, and now has just 72 hours to figure out a way to stop it!!!

The ARR is a very quick 74 days and box office receipts currently stand at $24.5 million.

Planned for release are a Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack and a stand-alone DVD.

There don’t appear to be any bonus features, but with that quick-to-market flip from theatrical venues to home entertainment it could be that there are things in the works that didn’t make the press announcement (stay tuned).