Warner Home Video Says Apr. 23 For Gangster Squad

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There is snake bitten and then there is SNAKE bitten!   

That’s the fate of director Ruben Fleischer’s Gangster Squad, the film adaptation of Paul Lieberman’s Mickey Cohen-era crime novel, “Tales from the Gangster Squad.”   Warner Home Video has tabbed this snake-bit crime thriller for a DVD and Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack (both SKUs with UltraViolet) release of Apr. 23.

The ARR works out to 102 days and the box office take was a nice $45.9 million.

First, Gangster Squad was the bumper trailer on the front of Warner Bros. theatrical release of The Dark Knight Rises (literally edited to the front of the film itself) and it ironically featured a gangland massacre at the Grauman's Chinese Theatre.  As a result of the Aurora theatre incident, the cast featured in that concluding sequence to the film had to be reassembled to re-shoot an entire new ending to the film.

That unfortunate re-shoot forced the studio to bump the film out of its original Labor Day weekend slot and into January of 2013.  That was the first bite from the snake.

The casting of Sean Penn in the pivotal role of mobster Mickey Cohen, especially with the notoriety of the Aurora, Colorado incident, was the second bite from the snake as it turned half of the country off from even considering the option of plucking down money to watch the film in a theatrical venue.   

 He has made himself into a polarizing public figure, despite being a damn good actor — the rest of the cast is terrific (Josh Brolin, Ryan Gosling, Nick Nolte, Emma Stone and Giovanni Ribisi).

And then the third bite from the snake comes when the film is given an early January theatrical release date — smack dab in the middle of blizzards and a half-dozen Christmas hold-overs that are pulling in mega-bucks at the local multiplexes (one of the best Oscar races in recent memory).  

Doomed, right?   Dead meat?   A red-ink studio write-off?   No, Gangster Squad, despite having the cards stacked heavily against it, pulled in a respectable $45.9 million in its ill-timed theatrical run ... that means that word of mouth kept people coming to theatres despite all of those snakes crawling in the aisles. 

Now Warner Home Video can add to the film’s success (home entertainment gives Penn-haters the opportunity to enjoy the film and hiss at him in the privacy of their living rooms) … bonus goodies for the home entertainment release include the featurette titled “Tough Guys with Style.”

Exclusive to the Blu-ray SKU are commentary from director Ruben Fleischer (Zombieland, 30 Minutes or Less), two additional featurettes — “Rogues Gallery: Mickey Cohen” and “The Gangland Files” — and deleted scenes (we can hope that this includes the film’s original ending). 

To download this week's complete edition of the DVD and Blu-ray Release Report: DVD & Blu-ray Release Report 

Paramount Home Media's Jack Reacher Heads Home On May 7

Director Christopher McQuarrie’s film adaptation of the Lee Child’s 2005 best seller, “One Shot,” will be heading to the home entertainment market place on May 7 courtesy of Paramount Home Media Distribution.   

Retitled for theatrical release as simply Jack Reacher (McQuarrie prepped the screenplay — which is his strong suit, having won the Oscar in 1996 for his Original Screenplay of The Usual Suspects).   The film pulled in a tasty $79.7 million during domestic theatrical run … the ARR works out to 137 days.

Paramount has a stand-alone DVD SKU in the mix, as well as a Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack (with UltraViolet) edition planned for the Jack Reacher home entertainment launch.

As the Christmas season theatrical release date approached you could hear this drumbeat building from certain sources saying that Tom Cruise wasn’t right for Child’s Jack Reacher, a man of considerable height and weight (something like six-foot-five and 240 pounds).   Of course that’s not Tom Cruise.

What the naysayers failed to take into consideration was the writing skills of Christopher McQuarrie, who delivered the aforementioned The Usual Suspects, plus wrote a top-notch thriller for Tom Cruise with Valkyrie and saved Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol (even though the WGA took the screen credit away from him).   

Jack Reacher, starring Tom Cruise, is a slick (in a positive sense), well-produced, well-written thriller and five minutes into it you don’t give a rip if the novel version of Jack Reacher has lost 10 inches in height and 80 pounds in body mass.   If Cruise and McQuarrie want to reteam for a series of Jack Reacher-based thrillers … go for it.

As a reward for delivering both a successful screenplay and a well-directed action film (a commercial success), Christopher McQuarrie will be writing and directing the next Mission: Impossible entry (tentative for 2015) and he delivered the screenplay for Cruise’s next big action film, All You Need is Kill (March of next year). 

As to bonus goodies, which are all exclusive to the Blu-ray SKU, there are two commentary options — one teaming McQuarrie with Cruise, while the second features composer Joe Kraemer — plus a trio of featurettes: “When the Man Comes Around,” “You Do Not Mess with Jack Reacher: Combat & Weapons” and “The Reacher Phenomenon.”

To download this week's complete edition of the DVD and Blu-ray Release Report: DVD & Blu-ray Release Report 

Universal Studio's Mama Debuts On May 7

Universal Studios Home Entertainment has selected May 7 as the release date for DVD and Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack editions of director Andres Muschietti’s chilling ghost story and mystery, Mama.   

The ARR is 109 days and the scares drummed up from ticket sales during the film’s national multiplex run amounted to a stellar $70.9 million.

Bonus goodies include commentary from director/writer Andrés (Andy) Muschietti and producer/writer Barbara Muschietti, deleted scenes (with optional commentary), Muschietti’s original short film of the same name and the featurette titled “The Birth of Mama.”

To download this week's complete edition of the DVD and Blu-ray Release Report: DVD & Blu-ray Release Report 

The Victorville Massacre From Indican Pictures On May 7

Victorville, it’s that desert community that most breeze past at 70MPH (or faster) on their way from Los Angeles to Las Vegas (and back again).   Filmmaker Jack Arnold did a fly over for the opening sequence from his 1953 sci-fi chiller It Came From Outer Space … other filmmakers have used the surrounding desert for mood, locations showing desolation and so on.

The point is, not much happens there.   Little rain, mild winters (except for those bone-chilling desert nights) and hot summers.   It’s the desert, but it has a water source from the drainage of the nearby San Bernardino mountain range … people go there to get away from Los Angeles; it’s quiet.

That is until now.   It’s the Labor Day weekend and in writer/director Riley Wood’s The Victorville Massacre — due out on DVD from Indican Pictures on May 7 — we learn that the local police have a problem.   There is a serial killer on the prowl in the quiet neighborhoods of this sprawling desert oasis.   

The streets have become a hunting ground … locals have either gone missing or been found murdered and the chief of police (Frank Piciullo) is concerned that the killer might just be getting started.

Against this backdrop of terror, we find that nine of the locals (alert: the victim pool) are going to have a weekend blast.  Five are attractive beauties (alert: a necessity for any good slasher flick), Mary (Briana Baker), Lane (Lisa Lane), Ria (Susannah Hart Jones), Lisa (Jen Nikolaus) and Stephanie (Sonja O’Hara) and their four more-than-eager male companions share a history; they are friends … it will be good times with plenty of alcohol and many (hopeful) sexual encounters.

Of course, in any genre film titled The Victorville Massacre, it is only a matter of time before the serial killer comes knocking as an uninvited guest.   But has filmmaker Riley Wood thrown a curve our way?   Are these victims with a purpose and is the killer actually on the guest list?   

There are lots of twists and turns in The Victorville Massacre.  The blood flows freely and you’ll have to wait until the final act to see if the last man — or, perhaps, woman — standing is the one the chief is actually looking for.   Or, maybe it is just a disgruntled gambler on the way back from Vegas with anger issues!

To download this week's complete edition of the DVD and Blu-ray Release Report: DVD & Blu-ray Release Report

June 4 For The Home Sweet Home DVD Debut From Image Entertainment

It’s Peckinpah’s Straw Dogs with a twist.  That is what will be coming from Image Entertainment on June 4 when Director John KD Graham’s Home Sweet Home makes its DVD debut.

Before we get to the “twist,” let’s just say up front that we know Raquel Cantu is an actress (making her film debut here), but if you didn’t know otherwise you would have to think that Graham had had an in with the local nut house when casting his film.    

“Can we get a work-furlough for THAT one,” as he gestures towards the little blonde over in the corner — likely in a straight jacket, or at least heavily medicated.

She plays Kristi, who is just about five cans short of a six-pack in Home Sweet Home.  Think along the lines of Mallory (Juliette Lewis) in Natural Born Killers and you’ll get the picture … the full picture of just what this lovely little woman is capable of comes in many forms throughout Home Sweet Home (hell of a film debut).

Kristi (Raquel Cantu) on the prowl in Image Entertainment's Home Sweet Home

As for our story — the one with the “twist” — Gwen (Alexandra Boylan — The Hitchhiker, Bellflower, etc.) has gone belly-up financially and has pretty much run out of options.   She strikes a deal with her brother to return to the family digs (filmed in around picturesque La Luz and Alamogordo in the southern part of New Mexico), spruce it up (mom and dad are deceased) and sell it off.   It should be just enough to get her a fresh start.

There is just one little problem, Kristi and her boyfriend Van (Christopher Demsey) are on the run from the law and have stubbled upon the remote ranch-style home — which Kristi “just loves” by the way — and take up residence.   

Through a series of events, including the unfortunate timing and help from family and friends (we need victims if Kristi is to show off), Gwen finds herself cutoff, alone and forced to do a “home invasion” of her own if she is to survive her encounter with Van and Kristi.   

Gwen (Alexandra Boylan) is the "good guy" with an axe!

Axes, shotguns … it’s a hell of show, the only thing that is missing is the bear trap.     

To download this week's complete edition of the DVD and Blu-ray Release Report: DVD & Blu-ray Release Report 

Virgil Films & Entertainment Gets Addicted To Fame On May 21

You sit there cursing all the “stupid” people for slowing down to look at the car wreck at the side of the road that has ground traffic to a halt.   And then you join them … gawk, gawk and gawk; you join the gawker’s block to see how bad the wreck is that has taken time out of your day and lengthened your commute.

On May 21, Virgil Films & Entertainment gives you the golden opportunity to enjoy a “car wreck” of epic proportions with the release of writer/director David Giancola’s behind-the-scenes footage for the 2007 sexploitation film, Illegal Aliens, which has been spun into the feature-length documentary, Addicted to Fame.

All you have to know about both films is the name Anna Nicole Smith.  She was the “car wreck” of a celebrity, famous for being famous, a Playmate of the Year — called “white trash” (and more) — who had cases about her marriage to a man old enough to be her grandfather go all the way to the United States Supreme Court (not once, but twice) and then died of an “accidental” drug overdose on Feb. 8, 2007 at just 39 years of age.

In retrospect it was easy to see the “Smith” car speeding down the road, wandering in and out of traffic and then SMASH!    What Addicted to Fame does so perfectly is to capture the “driver” behind the wheel on the way to the wreck.

There are no heroes in this documentary, which exists only because Gaincola knew exactly what he was dealing with in casting, for purely exploitative purposes, Anna Nicole Smith in his sexploitation sci-fi comedy, Illegal Aliens.   

Because of the casting of this particular “celebrity with public problems," the film could not obtain a completion bond (insurance), so he crafted insurance of his own, which took the form of a second film crew documenting the daily grind of making Illegal Aliens.   What you end up with is, well, a car wreck … so feel free to gawk (that’s what we do, right?).

To download this week's complete edition of the DVD and Blu-ray Release Report: DVD & Blu-ray Release Report

Well Go U.S.A.'s The Four Ready For Blu-ray And DVD On Apr. 9

In the echo chamber of domestic filmmaking you hear certain names as being the top filmmakers (usually associated with Oscar nominations and commercial success).  Steven Spielberg, Quentin Tarantino, Martin Scorsese, Clint Eastwood and the like are the usual suspects.   

There is no denying their work, but you won’t see on that list the name of director Gordon Chan.   Indie filmmakers should really start taking a good hard look at his work and add films such as Painted Skin, Mural, The Medallion and Fist of Legend as films to study for style, technique and, well, “slickness;” call it filmmaking competency … visual expertise.   

His latest, The Four, will be coming home as DVD and Blu-ray product offerings from Well Go U.S.A. on Apr. 9.

Kinetic, visually exciting and loaded with action is how one can best describe this “riff” on the X-Men, The Fantastic Four and The Avengers … only with period characters (from the Song Dynasty — about a 1,000 years ago), court intrigues, rival clandestine police organizations, deadly violence, a rumored army of the undead and sex.   And this is just the first installment in a planned trilogy!

 

Bonus goodies include deleted scenes and a making-of featurette.   In Cantonese with English subtitles.

To download this week's complete edition of the DVD and Blu-ray Release Report: DVD & Blu-ray Release Report