DVD & Blu-Ray Release Report

Tuesday, December 15, 2020

New DVD • Blu-ray • 4K Ultra HD Additions For The Period Ending December 11, 2020

New DVD Additions

Adult Source Media

12/08/20 — Released Family Taboo

BBC Home Entertainment

12/08/20 — Released Death in Paradise, Season Nine (2 disc set) and Father Brown: Season Eight (2 disc set)

Bayview Entertainment

01/19/21 — Sets Herman's Hermits Starring Peter Noone (Pop Legends Live!), HNN Presents: Buddy Bebop vs the Living Dead, My Dead Ones (Portuguese), Phoenix (Mongolian), Project Life (Mongolian), Story of Us (Mongolian), Tareq Aziz: The Other Truth and War (Mongolian)

C Vision (MOD)

12/08/20 — Released Into the North Woods: Exploring Wisconsin Central Branch Lines

Championship Productions

12/01/20 — Released Becoming a Champion 400M Runner: Technique, Strategies & Training

12/08/20 — Released Putting the Defense in Conflict, Reading All 3 Levels in the Run Game & Full Field Reads in the Pass Game and Simple & Efficient Coordination of an Offense

Gravitas Ventures (MOD)

12/08/20 — Released Comfort Farms, Don’t Click, Faith Based, Psychopomp, Sexual Animals and Suffer for Good

I-Cine

12/01/20 — Released Say Nang, Part 1 (16 disc set) and Say Nang, Part 2 (16 disc set)

12/08/20 — Released Phio Sau Bong Toi (12 disc set) and Yeu Trong Dau Thuong (13 disc set)

Icarus Films

01/26/21 — Sets Citizens of the World (Italian)

02/02/21 — Sets Night Shift (French)

Lionsgate Home Entertainment

12/08/20 — Released Dragon Soldiers, Little Penguin: Pororo's Dinosaur Island Adventure and Smiley Face Killers

Magnolia Home Entertainment

12/15/20 — Sets Alone (ARR of 88 days; box office $535,015)

Movie Detective (MOD)

12/08/20 — Released El Escapulario (Spanish), Mira (Dutch), Noite Vazia (Portuguese), Non ti Conosco Piu (Italian), Old Lamps (Czech) and Piege pour Cendrillon (French)

PCN Productions (MOD)

12/08/20 — Released 2020 PA Books: Becoming Philadelphia, 2020 PA Books: Dead Letters, 2020 PA Books: Iconic Pittsburgh, 2020 PA Books: Lost Mountain Penn, 2020 PA Books: Out of the Woods, 2020 PA Books: Philadelphia Battlefields, 2020 PA Books: Playing Politics with Natural Disaster, 2020 PA Books: Tanking to the Top, 2020 PA Books: The Founding Fortunes and 2020 PA Books: Warhol

Pentrex

12/08/20 — Released California Electric Trilogy

Rarefilmsandmore.com (MOD)

12/01/20 — Released Das Spukschloss Im Spessart (German), Der Pastor Mit Der Jazztrompete (German), Funf Gluckspilze (German), Geliebte Hochstaplerin (German), Heimweh Nach Dir Mien Grunes Tal (German), Inspektor Gai (Russian) and Through Fire, Water and Brass Pipes (Russian)

12/08/20 — Released Gas, Inspector Palmu (Finnish), Heisser Hafen Hong Kong (German), Las Bicicletas Son Para El Verano (Spanish), Les Liaisons Dangereuses (French), Mirages (silent-1915)/ Be Silent, My Sorrow, Be Silent (silent-1918) and Women of Niskavuori (Finnish)

Smart Mark Video (MOD)

12/08/20 — Released H2O Wrestling: Pay Your Dues #2 - The Hardway - Williamstown, NJ, IWA Mid-South: Season's Beatings 2020 - Jeffersonville, IN and IWA Mid-South: Wrestlefeast - Jeffersonville, IN

The High School Sports Network (MOD)

12/01/20 — Released 2020 AHSAA Class 1A Football Championship: Linden vs Pickens County - Tuscaloosa, AL, 2020 AHSAA Class 2A Football Championship: Abbeville vs Mars Hill - Tuscaloosa, AL, 2020 AHSAA Class 4A Football Championship: Handley vs Gordo - Tuscaloosa, AL, 2020 AHSAA Class 5A Football Championship: St. Paul's vs Pleasant Grove - Tuscaloosa, AL, 2020 AHSAA Class 6A Football Championship: Spanish Fort vs Pinson Valley - Tuscaloosa, AL, 2020 AIA 4A Football Semifinals; Cactus vs CGUHS - Casa Grande, AZ, 2020 AIA 4A Football Semifinals; Mesquite vs American Leader - Queen Creek, AZ, 2020 AIA 5A Football Championships Semifinals: Campo Verde vs Sunrise Mountain - Peoria, AZ, 2020 AIA 5A Football Semifinals: Notre Dame Prep vs Ironwood - Glendale, AZ, 2020 AIA 6A Football Semifinals: Chaparral vs SDOC - Phoenix, AZ, 2020 AIA 6A Semifinals: Highland vs Boulder Creek - Anthem, AZ, 2020 BlueCross Bowl Football Championship: Alcoa vs Milan - Cooksville, TN, 2020 BlueCross Bowl Football Championship: McCallie vs Memphis University - Cooksville, TN, 2020 BlueCross Bowl Football Championship: Oak Ridge vs Summit - Cooksville, TN, 2020 BlueCross Bowl Football Championship: South Pittsburg vs Fayetteville - Cooksville, TN, 2020 BlueCross Bowl Football Championship: USJ vs Davidson Academy - Cooksville, TN, 2020 CHSAA 2A Football Championship: Lamar vs Eaton - Pueblo, CO, 2020 CHSAA 4A Football Championship: Loveland vs Palmer Ridge - Pueblo, CO, 2020 CHSAA 6-Man Football Championship: Stratton vs Fleming - Pueblo, CO, 2020 CHSAA 8-Man Football Championship: Sanford vs Sedwick County - Pueblo, CO, 2020 MHSAA 1A Football Championship: Biggersville vs Lumberton - Jackson, MS, 2020 MHSAA 3A Football Championship: Magee vs Noxubee - Jackson, MS and 2020 MHSAA 6A Football Championship: Oak Grove vs Oxford - Jackson, MS

12/08/20 — 2020 AIA 2A Football Championships Semifinals: Arizona vs Benson - Gilbert, AZ, 2020 AIA 2A Football Championships Semifinals: St. Johns vs SCVU - Gilbert, AZ, 2020 AIA 3A Football Championships Semifinals: ALA vs Snowflake - Scottsville, AZ, 2020 AIA 3A Football Championships Semifinals: Pusch Ridge vs Yuma Catholic - Scottsdale, AZ, 2020 AIA 4A Football Championships Finals: Cactus vs Mesquite - Phoenix, AZ, 2020 AIA 5A Football Championships Finals: Sunrise Mountain vs Ironwood - Phoenix, AZ, 2020 AIA Open Division Semifinals; Salpointe Catholic vs Hamilton - Chandler, AZ, 2020 AIA OPEN Football Semifinals: Liberty vs. Chandler - Chandler, AZ, 2020 BlueCross Bowl Football Championship: Elizabethton vs Haywood County - Cookeville, TN, 2020 BlueCross Bowl Football Championship: Meigs County vs Peabody - Cooksville, TN, 2020 BlueCross Bowl Football Championship: Oakland vs Brentwood - Cookesville, TN, 2020 CHSAA 1A Football Championship: Strasburg vs Limon - Pueblo, CO, 2020 CHSAA 3A Football Championship: Durango vs Roosevelt - Pueblo, CO, 2020 CHSAA 5A Football Championship: Valor Christian vs Cherry Chreek - Pueblo, CO, 2020 DIAA Volleyball Semifinals: Delaware Military vs Saint Mark's - Wilmington, DE, 2020 DIAA Volleyball Semifinals: WFS vs Padua Academy - Wilmington, DE, 2020 MHSAA 2A Football Championship: Taylorsville vs Calhoun City - Jackson, MS, 2020 MHSAA 4A Football Championship: Poplarville vs Louisville - Jackson, MS, 2020 MHSAA 5A Football Championship: West Jones vs West Point - Jackson, MS, 2020 OSSAA 6A-I Football Championship: Jenks vs Santa Fe - Edmond, OK, 2020 OSSAA 6A-II Football Championship: Bixby vs Choctaw - Edmond, OK, 2020 OSSAA Class 3A Football Championship: Holland Hall vs Lincoln Charter - Edmond, OK, 2020 SCHSL 3A Football Championship: Daniel vs Camden - Columbia, SC and 2020 SCHSL 4A Football Championship: AC Flora vs North Myrtle Beach - Columbia, SC

Universal Pictures Home Ent.

12/15/20 — Sets Infidel (ARR of 88 days; box office: $4,051,990)

12/22/20 — Sets Kajillionaire (ARR of 88 days; box office: $523,990)

01/26/21 — Sets Come Play (ARR of 88 days; box office: $8,725,140)

Vertical Entertainment

12/08/20 — Released 24^th, Christmas Hero and Proxima

Well Go U.S.A.

01/26/21 — Sets Synchronic (ARR of 95 days; box office: $613,405)

02/09/21 — Sets Jiang Ziya (Mandarin) (ARR of 130 days; box office: $214,336)

Wolfe

02/23/21 — Sets Breaking Fast

New Blu-ray Additions

Adult Source Media

12/08/20 — Released Night Shift Nurses

Code Red

12/08/20 — Released Cry of a Prostitute

Cohen Media Group

12/08/20 — Released Buster Keaton Collection, Volume 4 (2 silent films: Go West (1925), College (1927))

Film Movement

12/08/20 — Released Raining in the Mountain (Mandarin)

FUNimation

12/08/20 — Released Black Clover Season 2: The Complete Collection (10 disc set) and Violet Evergarden: The Complete Series (2 disc set) (with Digital Copy)

Grasshopper Films

12/08/20 — Released Sweetgrass

Gravitas Ventures (MOD)

12/08/20 — Released Comfort Farms, Don’t Click, Faith Based, Psychopomp, Sexual Animals and Suffer for Good

Indiecan Entertainment (MOD)

12/08/20 — Released Girl With No Mouth (Turkish)

KDMG (MOD)

12/08/20 — Released Center of Nowhere

12/15/20 — Sets 79 Parts

Kino Lorber

12/08/20 — Released Fellini's Casanova (Italian), My Science Project, Return of the Musketeers and Rock Hudson Collection (3 film set: Seminole, The Golden Blade, Bengal Brigade) (3 disc set)

Lionsgate Home Entertainment

12/08/20 — Released Smiley Face Killers (with Digital Copy)

Magnolia Home Entertainment

12/15/20 — Sets Alone

Mondo Macabro

12/08/20 — Released Seven Women for Satan (French) and Sins of the Flesh (French)

PCN Productions (MOD)

Paramount Home Media

02/23/21 — Sets John Hughes 5 Movie Collection (5 film set: Pretty in Pink, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Some Kind of Wonderful, Planes, Trains and Automobiles, She's Having a Baby) (3 disc set) (with Digital Copy) and Lady Sings the Blues

Rising Sun Media (MOD)

12/08/20 — Released Devil's Familiar/Season of the Witch, Realm of the Damned and Truth Will Out

Scorpion Releasing

12/08/20 — Released Greek Tycoon

Sentai FilmWorks

12/08/20 — Released 7 Seeds, Part 1 (2 disc set)

Shout! Factory

12/08/20 — Released 2020 World Series Champions: Los Angeles Dodgers (Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack)

Smart Mark Video (MOD)

12/08/20 — Released IWA Mid-South: Wrestlefeast - Jeffersonville, IN

Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (MOD)

12/08/20 — Released Good Neighbor Sam, Notorious Landlady, Operation Mad Ball, Phffft and Under the Yum Yum Tree

Universal Pictures Home Ent.

12/15/20 — Sets Infidel

01/26/21 — Sets Come Play (with Digital Copy)

VIZ Media

12/08/20 — Released Bleach: Set Nine (4 disc set)

Well Go U.S.A.

12/08/20 — Released Possessor: Uncut

01/26/21 — Sets Synchronic

02/09/21 — Sets Jiang Ziya (Mandarin)

New 4K Ultra HD Additions

FUNimation

12/22/20 — Sets Akira (Japanese) (4K Ultra HD/Blu-ray Combo Pack)

Paramount Home Media Preps New Release Blitz For Janaury And February

It was another multi-title announcement week over at Paramount Home Media Distribution … busy, busy, busy, especially at a time when some of the other “Hollywood” studios have seemingly checked out for the year.

Let’s get to it. First up is the five-film, three-Blu-ray disc set titled simply, John Hughes: 5 Movie Collection … that’s pretty clean and very direct and it will be available on Feb. 23. So, what is in this sweet package?

Well, if this is a collection of films showcasing the talents of writer and director John Hughes, then off course there has to be his 1986 landmark film, Pretty in Pink, featuring a marvelous cast … Molly Ringwald, Jon Cryer, James Spader, Andrew McCarthy, and, of course, Harry Dean Stanton. John Hughes wrote the screenplay (Howard Deutch directed).

And, of course, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, which he both directed and wrote … it arrived in theatres just months after Pretty in Pink in 1986. Genius. The kid from WarGames, Matthew Broderick, gets a litter older and becomes a high school legend.

Ferris Bueller’s Day Of is a movie that you can watch over and over and … over again, with Jennifer Grey, Jeffrey Jones, Alan Ruck and Mia Sara joining Broderick in a cast ensemble that also features Ben Stein with one of the greatest lines ever, “Bueller (pause), Bueller? (pause) Bueller (cut to empty chain), Bueller.” Simone (yes, that is Kristy Swanson) pipes up with a very detailed explanation of what happened to the aforementioned Bueller at the 31 Flavors the night before … “Thank You, Simone.”

The Deutch/Hughes combination struck gold again one year later (almost to the date) from the theatrical release of Pretty in Pink in 1987 with the arrival of Some Kind of Wonderful, starring Mary Stuart Masterson, Eric Stoltz and Lea Thompson.

The Christmas movie that same year, 1987, was both directed and written by John Hughes (yeah, yeah, technically it is a Thanksgiving movie, but close enough). It has become a seasonal classic, Planes, Trains and Automobiles, teaming Steve Martin and John Candy as mismatched traveling companions who were on a “routine” flight from New York City to Chicago, but ended up in Wichita and found that getting to Chicago would not be easy (understatement).

And lastly, in February of 1988 — notice a pattern, Pretty in Pink was released in February of 1986 and Some Kind of Wonderful hit theatres in February of 1987 — John Hughes directed and wrote She’s Having a Baby, teaming Kevin Bacon with Elizabeth McGovern.

This will be the 35^th Anniversary of Pretty in Pink (wow, where did the time go) … Pretty in Pink, Ferris Bueller's Day Off and Planes, Trains and Automobiles have been available on Blu-ray as individual releases, but this collection marks the first time that both She's Having a Baby and Some Kind of Wonderful will be available on Blu-ray.

Also getting a Blu-ray release from Paramount Home Media on Feb. 23 is director Sidney Furie’s 1972 biopic, Lady Sings the Blues, starring Diana Ross (nominated for Best Actress) as Jazz legend Billie Holiday.

Bonus features include vintage commentary from director Sidney Furie, producer Berry Gordy and artist manager Shelly Berger. There are also seven deleted scenes and the featurette titled “Behind the Blues: Lady Sings the Blues.”

Arriving on Jan. 12 as both DVD and Blu-ray product offerings is director Mark Tonderai’s backwoods chiller, Spell, starring Omari Hardwick (Kick-Ass, The Guardian, Sparkle, etc.) as an airplane crash victim who awakes in the care of the kindly Elosie (Loretta Devine) at her remote cabin home … but soon discovers that she has other plans for him (and his family).

The ARR is 74 days and the film’s limited theatrical run during the Halloween period generated box office receipts of $500,104.

Bonus features include deleted scenes and a trio of production featurettes — “The Nightmare Spell,” “Rootwork: Conjuring Spells” and “The Art of Hoodoo.”

Paramount Home Media and Nickelodeon will be teaming up for a trio of new-to-DVD releases during the first quarter of 2021. The first of these, Shimmer and Shine: Magical Mischief, arrives on DVD on Jan. 26.

Included are eight magical adventures, with Zeta conjuring up trouble and Shimmer and Shine doing their best to set things right. We also learn how Zeta and Princess Samira first came to know each other.

On Feb. 2, Blaze & the Monster Machines: Axle City Grand Prix, heads home … and on the same day, look for the DVD debut of Blue's Clues & You: Blue's Sing-Along Spectacular.

Monday, December 14, 2020

Mill Creek Entertainment Tabs Feb. 16 For The Release Of The 90s Kid Star Collection Featuring Six Films In A Double-DVD Package

Mill Creek Entertainment has a six-film, double-disc DVD promotion heading home on Feb. 16 featuring young actors who got their start in the movies in the 1990s. Titled 90s Kid Star Collection, the collection showcases the budding talents of Macaulay Culkin, Anna Chlumsky, Elijah Wood, Devon Sawa, Kellie Martin and Jenny Lewis.

So, what’s included? We start off with director Howard Zieff’s 1991 family-themed blockbuster, My Girl, starring Anna Chlumsky (future six-time Emmy nominee for her role as Amy Brookheimer in the Veep television series) and Macaulay Culkin (who had just rocketed to stardom as Kevin in Home Alone).

The movie proved to be so successful that in 1994 filmmaker Howard Zieff and Anna Chlumsky (along with parents Dan Aykroyd and Jamie Lee Curtis) reunited for My Girl 2, which is also included in this six-film collection from Mill Creek Entertainment.

Next is director William Dear’s 1997 film release of Wild America, co-starring Devon Sawa (fresh from Little Giants … and later films like Final Destination, Idle Hands and Slackers) and Jonathan Taylor Thomas (best known as Randy on the Home Improvement sitcom).

Future “Frodo” in The Lord of the Rings series, Elijah Wood, gets the focus in both the 1992 film from director Richard Donner, Radio Flyer, as well as starring as the title character in director Rob Reiner’s 1994 film adaptation of Alan Zweibel’s novel, North.

Lastly, the 90s Kid Star Collection on DVD from Mill Creek Entertainment on Feb. 16 features director Jeff Kanew’s 1989 comedy, Troop Beverly Hills, showcasing the talents of Kellie Martin (as Lucy Knight on ER and more), Jenny Lewis and more.

Icarus Films Teams With Distrib Films For Two Domestic DVD Debuts • Citizens Of The World (Jan. 26) • Night Shift (Feb. 02)

Icarus Films will be teaming up with France’s premiere film production and distribution company, Distrib Films, during back-to-back weeks for the domestic DVD debuts of both Italian filmmaker Gianni Di Gregorio’s Citizens of the World (Jan. 26), and from France, director Anne Fontaine’s police thriller, Night Shift (Feb. 02).

Writer/director (and actor) Gianni Di Gregorio’s Citizens of the World opened at the Torino Film Festival in November of 2019 and made its way into Italian cinemas in February … and then came the Covid-19 panic, and, well, you know the rest.

There is no point waiting for an domestic arthouse run, so Icarus Films and Distrib Films will be bringing Di Gregorio’s award-winning bittersweet comedy to the domestic home entertainment marketplace on Feb. 02.

Rome, it is here that we are introduced to three “retirees,” who share little in common other than that they are friends and reside in same area. Attilio (Ennio Fantastichini — Open Doors, La Stoffa dei Sogni, Loose Cannons, etc.) is a retired knick-knack dealer, ranging from junk to art, “Il Professore” (played by writer/director Gianni Di Gregorio — Mid-August Lunch, The Salt of Life) has the brains, the books and a very lonely life to show for an empty career, and finally there is, retired laborer and general lay-about, but open-hearted; light-hearted Giorgetto (Giorgio Colangeli — Departures, Salty Air, The Woman of My Life).

Like we said, the trio have little in common. They meet, they eat, they drink, they talk about all sorts of things … and they share a dream of getting out of Rome, moving to a quiet place in the country, or for that matter, completely out of Italy … all with an eye towards an easier, more-enjoyable and less-expensive life. It is the getting there that makes Di Gregorio’s Citizens of the World so enjoyable … a tribute to friendship and the beauty of Rome.

Citizens of the World arrives on DVD on Jan. 26 and is presented in Italian with English subtitles.

The following street-date Tuesday, Feb. 02, Icarus Films will also be teaming up with Distrib Films for the DVD debut of director Anne Fontaine’s film adaptation of the Hugo Boris’ 2016 novel, “Police,” which was titled for the screen as Night Shift.

This slick thriller had the misfortune of opening at the Berlin International Film Festival in late February of this year and then several grand theatrical premieres throughout France in early March. A major French theatrical release was planned for April, but that didn’t happen.

That was it. Sure, the producers tried to re-start Fontaine’s film with some late-summer film festival revivals, but getting a theatrical run in the United States proved to be fruitless … Icarus Films and the home entertainment marketplace is the next best solution.

One day in the life of three police officers in a Paris police station is at the core of the film. Each of the protagonists sees the day unfold from their own POV, with the subject at hand — beyond their own personal issues (which are plenty) — is the unwanted, unrewarding and distasteful duty of dealing with illegal migration. Human debris that has found their way from North Africa, the Middle East and more to the City of Lights. In ever-increasing numbers the problem grows.

Today’s assignment for the burned-out cops, Virginie (played by three-time César Awards nominee Virginie Efira — An Impossible Love, Sink or Swim, Victoria), her partner and lover, Aristide (Omar Sy — Chocolat, The Intouchables) and the heavy-drinking Erik (Grégory Gadebois — An Officer and a Spy, One of a Kind, Angel and Tony), all of whom work in the same Paris precinct, is to wrangle Asomidin Tohirov (Payman Maadi — Bomb: A Love Story, A Separation), a former Soviet Union refuge (Tajikistan), take him to the airport and send him packing … back to certain death.

Do you do your job? Do you look the other way, knowing Tohirov’s fate. And what of tomorrow after this assignment plays out? Can each of them carry on, or is there “a bridge too far” (so to speak).

Night Shift is presented in French with English subtitles.

Bayview Entertainment's Next HNN Presents Horror Film On DVD Will Be Director Justin Cash Kirkpatrick's Buddy Bebop Vs The Living DVD On Jan. 19

Bayview Entertainment has tabbed Jan. 19 for the latest installment in the company’s popular “HNN Presents” line of independent horror films on DVD.

This time, from the wilds of Kalamazoo, Michigan no less, comes writer/director Justin Cash Kirkpatrick’s Buddy Bebop vs. The Living Dead, a mixed-genre homage to 50’s rock ‘n’ roll legends, date night at the roller rink, mad scientists and the undead.

Buddy, played by Nate Melvin, who has an uncanny resemblance to rock legend Buddy Holly (he’s actually appeared in stage productions of “Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story”), might be the title character or Kirkpatrick’s horror tale (with equal doses of humor and music) — and Buddy does get his “licks” in — but the real focus of the events that unfold are Bobby (William Ellwood), a slicked-back greaser — who could be right off the set of James Dean’s Rebel Without a Cause — and his main squeeze, bebopper girlfriend, Rosie (played by Kelly Dominique, who also starred in Kirkpatrick’s The Mountain Kings).

We get the malt shop set, a backstory about a hush hush research, skip over to a few shots at what’s on slab over at the lab, and then head over to the local roller rink for some date night action. It is here that the mad scientist’s experiment gone awry arrives … a plague of the undead, a zombie hoard.

We also get word that help is on the way. There’s even a cameo of Vice President Richard Nixon (Barry Eisen) assuring us that “The King” will put things right. But, while we wait, the body count mounts and Bobby, Buddy and Rosie have to survive date night at the roller rink. Munch, munch, munch.

Buddy Bebop vs. The Living Dead is a nifty blend of 50’s rock ‘n’ roll nostalgia (filmed in black and white, with brilliant colors added here and there for effect), the experimentation of a mad scientist gone south (Leo G. Carroll in Jack Arnold’s 1955 classic, Tarantula, is a great example), the undead on a rampage (think: Night of the Living Dead) and a battle-royal at the end (sorry, not giving away that plot point … but the clues are all here) over the one dose of serum that will save one, but not two legends.

Wild Eye Releasing Sets Feb. 23 For The DVD Release Of Writer/Director Brian McCulley's College Pranks

Wild Eye Releasing, with sales and distribution expertise provided by MVD Entertainment Group, has tabbed Feb. 23 as the DVD debut date for writer/director Brian McCulley’s College Pranks.

Serial killers have their ways of finding victims. Local bars, remote areas, rest stops, side of the road, you name it, they’ve probably included in a movie or two. In College Pranks, the victims are recruited by setting up a “prank” game where they video stupid things that they think of to do around campus and if the “lucky” ones are selected; a chance to win big bucks.

Simple. Victims come willingly and that leads us to Jenn (Shannon McKinnon — Lemon Drop, The Ratchet Raychel Show) and three of her friends, who have made the cut and are given directions to a remote area in the mountains (filmed around Colorado Springs).

Once there, Jenn and her friends ask about directions, are cautioned that strange things have been happening in the local mountains, so be careful. These are college kids, words of advice are quickly ignored.

College Pranks moves from stupid pranks on campus, to a road trip, ignored advice in town and then into the forest where … contestants die!!! Your job is to pick the final victim (does anyone survive, good question) and figure out who is behind this sick game. Feb. 23 from Wild Eye Releasing for all of the answers.

Writer/director Mike Mosallam's Breaking Fast On DVD From Wolfe On Feb. 23

Wolfe looks to Feb. 23 for the DVD debut of writer/director Mike Mosallam’s epicurean, religious and romantic tale, Breaking Fast.

We can all skip the part where we learn that Mosallam’s film opened at the Cinequest Film & Creativity Festival on March 7 of this year and then the dreaded pandemic shoved it to the sidelines. It has been an all-too-common tale of cinematic woe.

We can all agree that 2020, for new films in particular, was a miserable experience. The question then becomes how long can a filmmaker, producers and distributors sit on promising film before moving on. In the case of Breaking Fast that point will arrive on Feb. 23.

We open with an introduction to Mohammad, or just Mo (Haaz Sleiman — as Ali in the Jack Ryan cable series, plus such films as The Visitor, Dorfman in Love, Highland Park, Those People), as the Islamic observance of Ramadan is concluding … and things for him do not go well. His heart, his spirit is broken over tradition and the deceits that must be played out for appearance sake … he’s done with that.

Skip ahead 11 months to the next cycle of Ramadan, the arrival of the first crescent moon and the beginning of the pattern of the fast, the pre-dawn suhur and the sunset arrival of iftar. Mo is not looking forward to this holy period, which brings back painful memories. But things are about to change!!

Mo has a meet-cut encounter with Kal (Michael Cassidy — Night of the Living Deb, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Argo) at Mo’s friend Sam’s (Amin Al-Gurnal) birthday party. They hit it off and a month-long celebration of Ramadan begins, with the culture, the meals, the fasting all playing a part in the growing relationship between Mo and Kal … who, indeed, come from very different worlds.

Filmmaker Mike Mosallam’s Breaking Fast is not your stereotypical gay romance. It’s funny, informative and at times it can be more than what you expect from a genre-themed romantic drama and/or comedy. It’s too bad the Covid-19 pandemic closed it off to the cinematic world. So, the next best thing, on DVD from Wolfe on Feb. 23 (by the way, Ramadan in 2021 begins on Apr. 12, so the timing here is spot-on).