The Criterion Collection Lands Director Alfonso Cuarón’s 2018 Best Foreign Language Oscar-Winner Roma For DVD And Blu-ray Release On Feb 11.

Just when it appeared, as a result of the passage of time, that director Alfonso Cuarón’s 2018 Best Foreign Language Oscar-winner, Roma, might never see the light of day on either DVD or Blu-ray, along comes the Criterion Collection — late in the day on Friday, Nov. 15 — with the announcement that a new 4K digital master of the film (supervised by Cuarón) will be available on Feb. 11 as both DVD (a two-disc set) and Blu-ray product offerings.

The film opened theatrically on Nov. 21, 2018 after playing the film festival circuit beginning in August of 2018 when it had its debut at the Venice Film Festival.   Netflix refused to release box office figures, but combined industry sources put the domestic number at around $3 million.   

If that number is even remotely close to the actual box office take, it means that Roma was a loser as a film production for Netflix, but as a promotional tool, it could be argued that it was a lost-leader used to promote the overall stature of the streaming service.

For the record, the ARR for Roma works out to 445 days.

The distribution positioning and theatrical politics aside, Roma pulled down the aforementioned Best Foreign Language Oscar, plus Best Director and Best Achievement in Cinematography Oscars for Alfonso Cuarón as well.

As to bonus goodies, there is a new documentary titled Road to Roma, a pair of featurettes — “Snapshots from the Set” and “Nothing at Stake” — two additional untitled documentaries — one on the film’s sound and postproduction process and the second focusing on the film’s theatrical campaign and “social impack” in Mexico.

Roma is presented in Spanish with English subtitles.

Film Movement Tabs Dec. 10 For The DVD Debut Of Documentary Filmmaker Jim Brown's Holly Near: Singing For Our Lives

Film Movement has set Dec. 10 for the DVD debut of Emmy-winning documentary filmmaker Jim Brown’s latest folk music film, Holly Near: Singing For Our Lives.   

With previous profiles for the likes of Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger and The Weavers, it was only natural that singer, songwriter and political activist Holly Near would join such a prestigious group as the subject of one of his documentaries.

The film follows Holly Near’s decades-long career as a recording artist, songwriter, actress (Slaughterhouse-Five, The Todd Killings, Minnie and Moskowitz) and women’s rights advocate.   

Beginning in small venues, she once did a two-night gig at McCabe’s Guitar Shop, an intimate (meaning very small), but nevertheless legendary folk venue in Santa Monica back in the early 1970s.  That small venue showcase was shared with none other than fellow newcomer Tom Waits!!  

As her following grew, she began to pack theatres and other concert venues as a headliner.   A true road warrior … her fans keep close tabs on her concert dates and will travel far and wide to catch her music live and tune into her political advocacy.   

A number of contemporaries are interviewed here, who provide insights into her recording and activist career.  These include Jane Fonda (who co-starred with her and Donald Sutherland in director Francine Parker’s 1972 film release of FTA), Gloria Steinem and Ronnie Gilbert (who was featured, along with Holly Near, in director Jim Brown’s 1981 documentary, The Weavers: Wasn't That a Time) … and more.

As to bonus features, Film Movement has included an additional 30 minutes worth of interviews not included in the documentary and there are two live concert performances — “One Good Song” and “Somebody’s Jail.”

For the period ending November 08, 2019 ... New DVD, Blu-ray and 4K Ultra HD selections added to the DVD & Blu-ray Release Report's database

 

DVD New Additions

 

7Idea Productions (MOD)

11/05/19 — Released Willamette Valley Main Line UPs Brooklyn Sub

Acorn Media

11/05/19 — Released Ms. Fisher's Modern Murder Mysteries, Series 1 (2 disc set)

Adult Source Media

11/12/19 — Sets Whistle Blower

BBC Home Entertainment

11/05/19 — Released Good Omens (2 disc set)

Bayview Entertainment

12/03/19 — Sets Kyusho Jitsu & Kata Breakdown, Volume 1, Kyusho Jitsu & Kata Breakdown, Volume 2, Muay Thai & Kickboxing: Basic Techniques and Parkour and Freerunning: Advanced

12/10/19 — Sets Boat Builder, Cannibal (French), Carnivorous, Clash (Tagalog), Corrado (aka: Bad Ass), Crash Burn Love (aka: Petroleum Spirit), Crooked and Narrow, Day of the Comet (French), Home, House of Stronzo, I had a Bloody Good Time at House Harker, Medicine Buddha, Noëlle and Oddsville Christmas

Championship Productions

10/29/19 — Released NABC: 4-Out 1-In and 5-Out Motion Offense, NABC: 4-Out and 5-Out Man Offense and Skill Development, NABC: 5-Man Open Post Offense with Quick Hitters, NABC: Developing Defense Through Practice Drills, NABC: Eliminating Losing Plays to Win More Games, NABC: Make Them Love It: Team Philosophy & Drills, NABC: Protecting the Rim with Man-to-Man Defense, NABC: The More Things Change, The More They Stay the Same, NABC: Transition Into the 4-Out 1-In Motion Offense and NABC: Winning Championships Through Offensive Concepts and Sets

Cinema Guild

11/26/19 — Sets Hotel by the River (Korean) (ARR of 284 days; box office: $27,964)

Film Movement

12/03/19 — Sets Miracle of the Little Prince (French) (ARR of 95 days; box office: $4,920) and That Pärt Feeling: The Universe of Arvo Pärt (ARR of 144 days; box office: $8,812)

First Run Features

10/22/19 — Released Octav (Romanian)

11/19/19 — Sets Genèse (French) (ARR of 88 days; box office: $6,784)

12/10/19 — Sets To Be of Service (ARR of 39 days; box office: $1,904)

Get Digital World (MOD)

11/05/19 — Released Continuity Income Program, Get Your First Website Online For Beginners, Get Your Website on the First Page of Google For Dummies, How To Build A Highly Profitable List By Using This Untapped Viral Strategy! Starting Today!, Rebranding PLR Videos, Work From Home: The Fast Cash Method and World of Content Curation

Gravitas Ventures (MOD)

11/05/19 — Released Boy Genius, Christmas Break-In, Fittest in Dubai, Life Without Basketball, Live the Stream: The Story of Joe Humphreys, London Mitchell's Christmas, Wrong Todd and Yinz

Greenwich Entertainment

12/10/19 — Sets Linda Ronstadt: The Sound of My Voice (ARR of 95 days; box office: $3,969,907)

Hallmark Channel

11/05/19 — Released Christmas Camp, Christmas Everlasting, Godwink Christmas, Joyous Christmas, Road to Christmas and Rocky Mountain Christmas

I-Cine

11/05/19 — Released Bi Mat Cua Phu Nu, Part 1 (14 disc set), Bi Mat Cua Phu Nu, Part 2 (14 disc set), Nang Dau Thoi Dai (10 disc set) and Ty Muoi Vo Song (12 disc set)

Icarus Films

12/17/19 — Sets Standing on Sacred Ground (4 disc set)

John Pechulis Media (MOD)

11/05/19 — Released Along the Lehigh & New England

Kino Lorber

11/05/19 — Released It Always Rains on Sunday, Man Between, Naked Alibi, New Port South and Seven Day to Noon

KnittingLeft.com (MOD)

11/05/19 — Released Entrelac: For Left-Handed Knitters and Knitting Necessities For Left-Handed Knitters, Volume 1

Lionsgate Home Entertainment

12/24/19 — Sets Judy (ARR of 88 days; box office: $22,920,917)

MVD Entertainment Group

01/07/20 — Sets Style Queens Episode 1: Kate Middleton and Style Queens Episode 2: The Kardashians

Magnolia Home Entertainment

01/07/20 — Sets Wrinkles the Clown (ARR of 95 days; box office: $14,421)

Movie Detective (MOD)

11/05/19 — Released Bonnes a Tuer (French), Distinto Amanecer (Spanish), Kyoto (Japanese), L'Horizon (French), La Vita Ricomincia (Italian), Le Dossier Noir (French), Toto le Moko (Italian) and Un Millon en la Basura (Spanish)

PBS Direct

11/19/19 — Sets For Sama (ARR of 116 days; box office: $9,350)

PCN Productions (MOD)

11/05/19 — Released 2019 PIAA Boys 2A Golf Championship, 2019 PIAA Boys 3A Golf Championship, 2019 PIAA Girls 2A Golf Championship, 2019 PIAA Girls 3A Golf Championship and PA Books: Bosom Friends

Paramount Home Media

02/04/20 — Sets Blaze and the Monster Machines: Knight Riders and Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mania

Shout! Factory

11/05/19 — Released Very Corgi Christmas

Smart Mark Video (MOD)

11/05/19 — Released Combat Zone Wrestling: CZW vs. wXw - Voorhees, NJ, Combat Zone Wrestling: Lyle C. Williams Memorial Show - Voorhees, NJ, Game Changer Wrestling: 2 Cups Stuffed - Hoffman Estates, IL, IWA Mid-South: Angel of Death Marathon - Carrolton, GA and IWA Mid-South: She's Amazing - Jeffersonville, IN

Sony Pictures Home Ent.

12/17/19 — Sets Overcomer (ARR of 116 days; box office: $34,649,890)

Strand Releasing

01/14/20 — Sets Golden Glove (German) (ARR of 109 days; box office: $5,202)

The Teaching Company, LLC

11/05/19 — Released Field Guide to the Planets (4 disc set), Instant Sommelier: Choosing Your Best Wine (2 disc set), Learning German: A Journey Through Language and Culture (4 disc set) and Rise of Communism: From Marx to Lenin (2 disc set

20^th Century-Fox Home Ent.

12/17/19 — Sets Ad Astra (ARR of 88 days: box office: $49,658,397)

Universal Pictures Home Ent.

12/17/19 — Sets Abominable (ARR of 81 days; box office: $58,478,245) and Downton Abbey (ARR of 88 days; box office: $94,479,875)

VIZ Media

11/05/19 — Released Castlevania: Season Two

11/12/19 — Sets Sailor Moon Sailor Stars, Set 2 (3 disc set)

Warner Bros. Home Ent.

11/12/19 — Sets Steven Universe: The Movie

Blu-ray New Additions

 

Acorn Media

11/05/19 — Released Ms. Fisher's Modern Murder Mysteries, Series 1 (2 disc set)

BBC Home Entertainment

11/05/19 — Released Good Omens (2 disc set)

Critical Mass

12/03/19 — Sets Angel Blade: The Complete Series

Eagle Rock Entertainment

11/05/19 — Released Rolling Stones: Bridges to Buenos Aires (Blu-ray/2 CD Combo Pack)

Eastern Star

11/05/19 — Released Ayakashi: Samurai Horror Tales (2 disc set) and Volts V

Freestyle Digital (MOD)

11/05/19 — Released Hex Hollow: Witchcraft and Murder in Pennsylvania

FUNimation

11/05/19 — Released Ace Attorney, Season 2, Part 2 (2 Blu-ray/2 DVD Combo Pack) (with Digital Copy), Pop Team Epic: Season One (2 disc set) and Restaurant to Another World: The Complete Series (2 disc set) (with Digital Copy)

Gravitas Ventures (MOD)

11/05/19 — Released Boy Genius, Christmas Break-In, Fittest in Dubai, Life Without Basketball, Live the Stream: The Story of Joe Humphreys, London Mitchell's Christmas, Wrong Todd and Yinz

Kino Lorber

11/05/19 — Released Hitchcock: British International Pictures Collection (4 silent films: The Ring (silent-1927), The Farmer's Wife (silent-1928), Champagne (silent-1928), The Manxman (silent-1929), plus The Skin Game) (2 disc set), It Always Rains on Sunday, Man Between, Naked Alibi, New Port South, Seven Day to Noon and Woman in Hiding

Lionsgate Home Entertainment

12/24/19 — Sets Judy (Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack) (with Digital Copy)

Naxos

11/05/19 — Released Marin Alsop Conducts and Thomas: Hamlet

Nozomi

11/05/19 — Released Boogiepop Phantom: The Complete Series (2 disc set)

12/03/19 — Sets Mai Mai Miracle (Japanese)

Nuclear Blast

11/05/19 — Released Slayer: The Repentless Killogy

PCN Productions (MOD)

11/05/19 — Released 2019 PIAA Boys 2A Golf Championship, 2019 PIAA Boys 3A Golf Championship, 2019 PIAA Girls 2A Golf Championship, 2019 PIAA Girls 3A Golf Championship and PA Books: Bosom Friends

Screen Meda

11/05/19 — Released Corporate Animals

Sentai FilmWorks

11/05/19 — Released My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU Too: The Complete Collection (English dubbed version) (4 disc set)

Shout! Factory

11/05/19 — Released Ambition, Ophelia and Snow Falling on Cedars: Collector's Edition

Smart Mark Video (MOD)

11/05/19 — Released Game Changer Wrestling: 2 Cups Stuffed - Hoffman Estates, IL and IWA Mid-South: Angel of Death Marathon - Carrolton, GA

Sony Pictures Home Ent.

12/17/19 — Sets Overcomer (Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack) (with Digital Copy)

20^th Century-Fox Home Ent.

12/17/19 — Sets Ad Astra (Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack) (with Digital Copy)

Universal Pictures Home Ent.

12/17/19 — Sets Abominable (Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack) (with Digital Copy) and Downton Abbey (Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack) (with Digital Copy)

VIZ Media

11/05/19 — Released Castlevnia: Season Two

4K Ultra HD New Additions

 

20^th Century-Fox Home Ent.

12/17/19 — Sets Ad Astra (4K Ultra HD/2 Blu-ray Combo Pack) (with Digital Copy)

Universal Pictures Home Ent.

12/17/19 — Sets Abominable (4K Ultra HD/Blu-ray Combo Pack) (with Digital Copy)

MVD Entertainment Group To Launch Style Queens DVD Product Line On Jan. 21

MVD Entertainment Group announced this past week that producer/director Tara Pirnia’s Style Queens series will be making its way to the DVD marketplace beginning on Jan. 21 with the debut of both Style Queens: Episode 1 – Kate Middleton and Style Queens: Episode 2 – The Kardashians. 

Speaking at the annual Austin Fashion Week event in 2017, Pirnia commented about her series, “To be a style queen, you have to be on the forefront of style … you don’t necessarily have to be a trendsetter, but someone that people emulate.”  Certainly Kate Middleton, the Duchess of Cambridge, fits the bill in Pirnia’s kickoff to the series.

Stylists Jeannie Mai (host of “Style Pop” and “The Real” television shows) and Daniel Musto (celebrity stylist, creative director and fashion journalist) examine the choices that Kate Middleton makes in her wardrobe, while hairstylist and makeup artist, Xavier Jimenez, provides insides on hair and gives tips on hairstyling.

Style Queens: Episode 2 – The Kardashians shifts from the “royal” stylings of Kate Middleton to the trend-setting ways of the Kardashian clan, who are famous for being famous, but are nonetheless style-setters in their own right.   This episode features Kylie, Kourtney, Khloe and Kris and such wide-ranging style subjects as manicures, vegan cooking, weight loss routines and more … the whole “Kardashian” style is explored.

MVD Entertainment Group will be rolling out more episodes in the series during the early months of 2020.

Icarus Films Teams With Bullfrog Films On Dec. 17 For The DVD Debut Of Documentary Filmmaker Christopher McLeod’s Standing On Sacred Ground

Icarus Films will be teaming up with Bullfrog Films on Dec. 17 for the DVD release of documentary filmmaker Christopher McLeod’s Standing on Sacred Ground, a four-part film series on the disconnect of modern society with their ancestors and the lack of ecological wisdom that flows from that.

This globetrotting look at native cultures and their connection to the world around them is broken into four separate sections, each running 57 minutes.  

The first in the series, Standing on Sacred Ground: Pilgrims and Tourists, shares the common struggle of members of California’s disbanded Winnemen Wintu tribe with the Altai peoples of Western Siberia in Russia, who are fighting for the return of the rivers and the land in their respective areas to the their sacred state.   

The Shasta Dam is the central focus of the Winnemen Wintu, while the Altais are dealing with both oil and natural gas pipelines and the influx of tourism in this isolated area following the collapse of the Soviet Union.

In the next segment, McLeod turns his focus on such diverse areas as Papua New Guinea and Alberta, Canada in the presentation titled Standing on Sacred Ground: Profit and Loss.   Here the focus is on the Kurumbukari area and that of Basamuk Bay in Papua New Guinea, where the Chinese have set up a large nickel mining operation and have local villagers in opposition to their indifference to both the customs of the region and the Chinese nasty habit of dumping the trailings from their mining operation into Basamuk Bay and polluting it in the process.

This environmental assault takes a different form in the mining of Athabasca tar sands in remote areas of Alberta, Canada.   The central focus here is on the impact such operations have on the sacred Athabasca River and on fishing and wild life.

The third segment is titled Standing on Sacred Ground: Fire and Ice, which connects the peoples of the Gamo Highlands above the Rift Valley in the southwest area of Ethiopia, to those of the Andes in Peru.    At issue is the clash of cultures and how it affects the traditional ways of agriculture and the general rhythm of life in these remote areas.

Filmmaker Christopher McLeod finishes the four-part series with Standing on Sacred Ground: Islands of Sanctuary.  The clash of traditional lifestyles and sacred lands with outside interests are examined with Aboriginal peoples in the Northern Territory of Australia and the arrival of mining operations and the U.S. Navy returning the small island of Kaho`olawe to its original state after using it as a bombing range from the 1940s until 1994 … over 20,000 acres had to be cleared of unexploded bombs costing nearly a half-billion dollars.    Paradise restored.

Paramount Home Media Preps DVD Editions Of Blaze And Monster Trucks And Rise Of The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles For Release On Feb. 4

Paramount Home Media announced this past week that they will be teaming up with Nickelodeon on Feb 4, 2020 for the release of two new DVD additions to the popular Blaze and Monster Trucks and Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles animated series.

The “reimagined” Ninja Turtles — Raphael, Leonardo, Michelangelo and Donatello — are front and center in the DVD collection titled Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mania.   This time out they are up to their turtle elbows in mutants led by Baron Draxum and his Evil League of Mutants.   The teen turtles have to take on Meat Sweats, Repo and Hypno-Potamus, but the web-weaving evil of Big Mama … and if that isn’t enough to give you chills, there’s always the metal-clawed robot menace, Albearto!!

In the DVD release titled Blaze and the Monster Machines: Knight Riders, Blaze and Crusher go for the medieval look and take on the personas of Sir Blaze and Sir Crusher to compete in the Royal Race.   Adventures include a quest to find the missing royal charging station, rescue the king and retrieve the magical Lion’s Sunstone, which is hidden deep in the Great Forest. 

Arrow Video's 2K Film Restoration Of Director José Ramón Larraz’s Edge of the Axe Heads To Blu-ray On Jan. 28

Arrow Video, with domestic sales and distribution support provided by MVD Entertainment Group, will have a 2K film restoration (from the original camera negative) of director José Ramón Larraz’s Edge of the Axe ready for a Blu-ray push on Jan. 28, 2020.

The film had a very limited VHS release back in 1989 (currently listed for $199.00 on Amazon’s marketplace) and has all but disappeared (except for those crappy DVD-R ripoffs), so for most genre fans this slasher flick is all but new to them.

This nerd, Gerald (Barton Faulks — Future Kill) and hot chick, Lillian (played by Christina Marie Lane, who appears to have disappeared after filming was completed), thriller pits these two amateur sleuths against a deranged psychopath who enjoys chop, chop, chopping up young women while wearing a white mask.   

The plot plays out like a mystery, with red herrings thrown in to put audiences off the scent.   Lillian thinks she has figured it out, but has she … or will she be the next pretty young thing to get hacked to pieces?   

As to bonus goodies, there are two commentary options, one with actor Barton Faulks (maybe he can tell us about Christina Marie Lane) and the second featuring The Hysteria Continues, plus there is a newly-prepared video session with Faulks and the featurette titled, “The Pain in Spain.”  You can also watch the film with its Spanish-language track (with English subtitles) or in English.